Biography: general Books

Book SynopsisBERLIN, 1942. The Gestapo arrest eighteen-year-old Bert Lewyn and his parents, sending the latter to their deaths and Bert to work in a factory making guns for the Nazi war effort. Miraculously tipped off the morning the Gestapo round up all the Jews who work in the factories, Bert goes underground. He finds shelter sometimes with compassionate civilians, sometimes with people who find his skills useful and sometimes in the cellars of bombed-out buildings. Without proper identity papers, he survives as a hunted Jew in the flames and terror of Nazi Berlin in part by successfully mimicking non-Jews, even masquerading as an SS officer. But the Gestapo are hot on his trail… Before World War II, 160,000 Jews lived in Berlin. By 1945, only 3,000 remained alive. Bert was one of the few, and his thrilling memoir—from witnessing the famous 1933 book burning to the aftermath of the war in a displaced persons camp—offers an unparalleled depiction of the life of a runaway Jew caught in the heart of the Nazi empire. Trade Review" On the Run in Nazi Berlin should be mandatory reading: a memoir that reads like a thriller, full of suspense, horror, humor, and the unquenchable determination to survive. An important contribution to the literature that reminds us: never forget." -- Jenna Blum, Bestselling author of Those Who Save Us and The Lost Family"[Offers] extraordinary insight... Well-written, readable, and honest, the eyewitness story is enhanced throughout by photographs and documents. This story of this Jewish family touched my heart, and I highly recommend this memoir." -- Denise George, Coauthor of The Lost Eleven and Behind Nazi Lines"a grim and gripping story of survival in a most egregious time." -- Kirkus Reviews

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Book SynopsisAs an African American cultural anthropologist and CEO of an urban research institute, D.B. Maroon is intimately involved with the nation’s struggle to realize its promises equally for all people. Her work is to put those stories into the big picture of American culture—past, present, and future. Intersectional, personal, and hard-hitting in places, while ultimately centering on truth, love and perseverance, Black Lives, American Love weaves the stories of America’s pursuits with Maroon’s own experiences. The result is a personal biography of America offered from the thoughtful viewpoint of a Black anthropologist. The essays take on some of the country’s fiercest debates and most profound challenges with an unflinching style: from the invention of race and debates about the 1619 project, to the rippling impacts of resurgent White Nationalism, the birth of Black Lives Matter Movement, and the ongoing traumas of police brutality. Yet within its pages is the hopeful continuance of the Black community, the striving for better, the grappling with the hurt in order to soothe it with love, and to heal it with peace.Black Lives, American Love is arelentless truth-telling about America’s failures to its Black population—yet itis also a discussion on how we might all do more to secure America’s still vastlybeautiful possibilities of liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all rather than afew.

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Book SynopsisIn 1947, James Hickman shot and killed the landlord he believed was responsible for a tragic fire that took the lives of four of his children on Chicago 's West Side. But a vibrant defense campaign, exposing the working poverty and racism that led to his crime, helped win Hickman 's freedom. With a true-crime writer 's eye for suspense and a historian 's depth of knowledge, Joe Allen unearths the compelling story of a campaign that stood up to Jim Crow well before the modern civil rights movement had even begun. As deteriorating housing conditions and an accelerating foreclosure crisis combine to form a hauntingly similar set of circumstances to those that led to the Hickman case, Allen 's book restores to prominence a previously unknown story with profound relevance today.Trade Review"What I appreciate about Joe Allen's work is that he demonstrates as a historian…the power of information—meticulous, distilled, coherent, principled.” —John Pilger, author of Freedom Next Time "In a remarkable feat of historical excavation and taut storytelling, Joe Allen tells the incredible story of James Hickman, an African-American man who struck back after a black Chicago slumlord and arsonist decimated his family and nearly destroyed his life. A stark look into a past of big city racism and poverty that we shouldn't forget—and an important contribution to the history of social justice in America.” —Alex Heard, author of The Eyes of Willie McGee "James Hickman was one of the hundreds of thousands of black Mississippians to move to Chicago in the 1940s. The nightmarish tragedy that befell the Hickman family there, as well as the actions of the dedicated activists who fought to save Hickman's life by revealing the institutional foundations of that tragedy, are vividly depicted in Joe Allen's important and moving history. Hickman's story illustrates the toxic nature of racial segregation and economic exploitation. The outraged community that united to support Hickman is a refreshing reminder of people's power to organize for change.” —Beryl Satter, author of Family Properties: Race, Real Estate, and the Exploitation of Black Urban America "[A] remarkable book... Allen tells the story in admirably straightforward fashion...[painting] a horrific portrait of the inhumane conditions in which blacks were forced to live in the post WWII Chicago." –Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune "People Wasn't Made to Burn presents the 1947 Hickman trial in Chicago and its revelations as a metaphor for racial prejudice and its effects on the lives of ordinary people. The book's story tells of James Hickman's frustration over his inability to get justice in the arson death of his four children, his subsequent killing of the landlord who was deliberately responsible for the fire, and the efforts of the heroic and conscience-arousing Hickman Defense Committee that enabled him to walk out of court a free man.” —Kenan Heise, author of Chicago Afternoons With Leon

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Book SynopsisIn a series of journal entries—some original passages, others revisited and expanded in retrospect—Cherrié Moraga details her experiences with pregnancy, birth, and the early years of lesbian parenting. With the premature birth of her son—when HIV-related mortality rates were at their highest—Moraga, a new mother at 40-years-old, was forced to confront the fragile volatility of life and death; in these recorded dreams and reflections, her terror and resilience are made palpable. The particular challenges of queer parenting prove transformative as Moraga navigates her intersecting roles as mother, child, lover, friend, artist, activist, and more. With an updated introduction and other additions, including an afterword by Rafael Angel Moraga, this revised 25th anniversary edition of Waiting in the Wings is thoughtful and emotive, with prose that is sharp and beautifully written, from the voice of a beloved and incomparable writer. Trade Review“Cherríe Moraga speaks directly, as a powerful voice of a pivotal generation, a generation that is aging and coming to terms with its urgent, collective story.” —Joy Harjo “Cherríe Moraga is a literary giant and spiritual genius whose visionary and courageous work and witness constitutes a prophetic light in our dark times of imperial decay!” —Cornel West “When future generations look back at the first generation of Latino/a literature, Cherríe Moraga's formative work will be one of the cornerstones of what by then will be American Literature. Without her work, many of us would not have felt the solidarity and power or had the critical vocabulary or understanding to give voice to our own stories.” —Julia Alvarez “What Cherríe Moraga brings to Waiting in The Wings is not only her writer's talent for speaking fluently and passionately, but also her enormous courage in speaking what is too often left unspoken—the deeply entwined net of fear and love, despair and exhilaration, that is mothering a child. She makes us feel the terror and beauty of the fragile infant body at threat, the staggering exhaustion of trying to work on too little sleep with never enough time or help. the guilt and despair that drags us down while the work is left undone and we turn to comfort our child. Is it more difficult to be a queer mother? I do not know, but I am strengthened and inspired by the author's open-hearted revelations. I take this book as a gift of love.” —Dorothy Allison “Cherríe Moraga's Waiting in The Wings is a powerful meditation on motherhood and creativity. With eloquence and intensity, it grapples with a number of elemental questions that we, as blood-gushing makers of babies and cultura, must face. It is also a passionate lesson on how to make "familia from scratch," rendering a near-death experience and the enlightenment that follows without sentimentality. Just when we feel—as Chicanas/writers/mothers—that the needs of our children in this world "full of enemy" are too overwhelming, they step forward to renew our sense of outrage, rekindle our hope, and remind us, with a profound and refreshing breath, that this life is worth writing. A spiritually inspiring and brutally wise book.” —Helena Maria Viramontes “Waiting in the Wings is an honest, introspective memoir of evolving lesbian motherhood.” —Kirkus Reviews

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Book SynopsisAn updated edition combining two classic works of Chicana and queer literatures, with a new introduction by renowned writer and luminary, Cherríe Moraga.In celebration of the 40th anniversary of its original publication, this updated edition of Loving in the War Years combines Moraga’s classic memoir with The Last Generation: Poetry and Prose, originally published in 1993, along with additional writings from the late 1990s, The result is a synergy of signature works crucial to the development of the intersectional politics we know today.Cherríe Moraga’s powerful memoir remains as urgent as ever. She explores the contradictions and complexities of her Chicana and lesbian identities, moving gracefully between poetry and prose, Spanish and English, personal narratives and political theory. Moraga recounts navigating the world largely as an outsider in her early years, circling the interconnected societies around her from a distant yet observant perspective. Ultimately, however, her writing serves as a bridge between her cultures, languages, family, and herself, enabling her to look inward to forge connections from what had heretofore been inaccessible parts of her interior world. A touchstone for artists and activists, the works combine to show how deep self-awareness and compassionate engagement with one’s radically changing surroundings are key to building global solidarity among people and political movements. Trade Review“Cherríe Moraga speaks directly, as a powerful voice of a pivotal generation, a generation that is aging and coming to terms with its urgent, collective story.”—Joy Harjo“Cherríe Moraga is a literary giant and spiritual genius whose visionary and courageous work and witness constitutes a prophetic light in our dark times of imperial decay!” —Cornel West“When future generations look back at the first generation of Latino/a literature, Cherríe Moraga's formative work will be one of the cornerstones of what by then will be American Literature. Without her work, many of us would not have felt the solidarity and power or had the critical vocabulary or understanding to give voice to our own stories.” —Julia Alvarez“[Loving in the War Years is] an important book of the purest perception, courage, intensity, power. Innovative, heartachingly beautiful at times, deeply honest—it can act as a change-making book.”—Tillie Olsen"Sophisticated, visceral, rigorous, and relentless, Cherríe Moraga’s writings are as essential as ever. Bridging poetry and politics, her interrogations of the self and society are a lifelong project she has gifted new and returning readers. Even in her earliest writings, Moraga reaches to the future through the bifurcated paths of her personal journey in queerness, Chicanidad, and solidarity with all colonized peoples. Moraga’s indispensable interrogations of language and art demands nothing short of complete freedom for all bodies. It is a war cry that continues to liberate as it echoes across decades and generations." —Carribean Fragoza, author of Eat the Mouth That Feeds You

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Book SynopsisIn 1913 Marcel Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase exploded through the American art world. This is the story of how he followed the painting to New York two years later, enchanted the Arensberg salon, and—almost incidentally—changed art forever. In 1915, a group of French artists fled war-torn Europe for New York. In the few months between their arrival—and America’s entry into the war in April 1917—they pushed back the boundaries of the possible, in both life and art. The vortex of this transformation was the apartment at 33 West 67th Street, owned by Walter and Louise Arensberg, where artists and poets met nightly to talk, eat, drink, discuss each others’ work, play chess, plan balls, organise magazines and exhibitions, and fall in and out of love. At the center of all this activity stood the mysterious figure of Marcel Duchamp, always approachable, always unreadable. His exhibit of a urinal, which he called Fountain, briefly shocked the New York art world before falling, like its perpetrator, into obscurity. Many people (of both sexes) were in love with Duchamp. Henri-Pierre Roché and Beatrice Wood were among them; they were also, briefly, and (for her) life-changingly, in love with each other. Both kept daily diaries, which give an intimate picture of the events of those years. Or rather two pictures—for the views they offer, including of their own love affair, are stunningly divergent. Spellbound by Marcel follows Duchamp, Roché, and Beatrice as they traverse the twentieth century. Roché became the author of Jules and Jim, made into a classic film by François Truffaut. Beatrice became a celebrated ceramicist. Duchamp fell into chess-playing obscurity until, decades later, he became famous for a second time—as Fountain was elected the twentieth century’s most influential artwork. 'Breezily entertaining...There's a fabulous cast of supporting characters on this busy stage' - The Spectator'A delicious and deeply researched portrait of its time' - New York Times'Part drama, part page-turning history, this paints the complexities of art and love in a seductive light' - Publishers WeeklyTrade Review“Beatrice Wood is effectively the protagonist and certainly the most appealing subject of Spellbound by Marcel: Duchamp, Love, and Art. Her élan is legendary. Hellbent on breaking free of the expectations of her upbringing, Wood seems to me a singular, wild-card creative personality of the twentieth century. Brandon contributes a fair amount to what the milieu was like for a shifting cast of characters who focused and intensified a transformative Zeitgeist. Glimpses into their romantic entanglements provide a flickering, you-are-there perspective.” * Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker *"Spellbound by Marcel is a group biography which charts the triangulated love affair between Duchamp, Beatrice Wood, and Henri-Pierre Roche, and the others who crossed their paths and their beds. The portrait Brandon sketches of Wood is especially winning. She comes across with novelistic vibrancy. A delicious and deeply researched portrait of its time.” * Lauren Elkin, The New York Times Book Review *“Cultural historian and novelist Brandon explores how and why a large group of sophisticated, talented people fell under the spell of the mysterious, enigmatic artist Marcel Duchamp. Drawing on revealing letters, diaries, and memoirs, Brandon’s buoyant, meticulous story begins in 1913 with New York’s Armory Show of new European art, including Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase. The plot thickens as Brandon pauses to discuss Duchamp’s Fountain, a groundbreaking “readymade” piece in the form of an upside-down urinal with puzzling “R. Mutt 1917” lettering. An elaborate, spicy, period piece tell-all.” * Kirkus Reviews *"Drawing on the stories of the Arensbergs and three principal figures in their salon—Duchamp, Beatrice Wood, and Henri-Pierre Roché—Brandon has woven a narrative that intermingles complex romantic entanglements with persistent artistic aspirations." * New York Journal of Books *"Spellbound by Marcel makes for enjoyable reading. The revolving door of affairs, breakups, betrayals, and wild avant-garde stunts is quite juicy. It’s also impressively researched. Brandon speaks with the authority that comes from intimate familiarity with the key players’ own words about their lives." * Daily Art Magazine *"Brandon is a congenial stage manager, adept at presenting and dismissing her dramatis personae. Unblushing, she dispenses salacious gossip, patiently decoding the diaries of Roché." * The Spectator *Praise for Ruth Brandon:"As entertaining as the contemporary works of fiction such lives inspired, Brandon displays a keen understanding of a complex educational system that kept its subjects ignorant even while purporting to enlighten.” * The New Yorker *“[Brandon] never loses her profound empathy and passion for her subjects' travails.” * Kirkus Reviews *“Brandon's chronicles are poignant. It is important to remember what a great, necessary and arduous achievement the education of women was.” * The Wall Street Journal *“A masterly survey. Even when donning her sociologist's hat, Brandon is still lively as well as humane. Fairly sizzling with fascination.” * Washington Times *“As a biographer, she provides brilliantly detailed backgrounds on her subjects, leaving the reader wanting still more. A very interesting look into the struggle to create parity between the sexes in this era. Recommended for both public and academic libraries.” * Library Journal *"A ripping account of celebrity and magic. Brandon has chosen a fascinating subject and written a book that rises to it superbly. A compelling account of a peculiar life.” * The Sunday Times (London) *"Brandon paints a fascinating picture of turn-of-the-century America.” * The Times (London) *

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Book Synopsis*A New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice Pick* *A Newsweek & Refinery29 Most Anticipated Book of 2021*“Timely and urgent.” —The New York Times“Moving and powerful.” —Chris Hedges, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author Discover the truth behind the discounts. In 2012, an Oregon mother named Julie Keith opened up a package of Halloween decorations. The cheap foam headstones had been five dollars at Kmart, too good a deal to pass up. But when she opened the box, something shocking fell out: an SOS letter, handwritten in broken English. “Sir: If you occassionally buy this product, please kindly resend this letter to the World Human Right Organization. Thousands people here who are under the persicuton of the Chinese Communist Party Government will thank and remember you forever.” The note’s author, Sun Yi, was a mild-mannered Chinese engineer turned political prisoner, forced into grueling labor as punishment for campaigning for the freedom to join a forbidden meditation movement. He was imprisoned alongside petty criminals, civil rights activists, and tens of thousands of others the Chinese government had decided to “reeducate,” carving foam gravestones and stitching clothing for more than fifteen hours a day. In Made in China, investigative journalist Amelia Pang pulls back the curtain on Sun’s story and the stories of others like him, including the persecuted Uyghur minority group, whose abuse and exploitation is rapidly gathering steam. What she reveals is a closely guarded network of laogai—forced labor camps—that power the rapid pace of American consumerism. Through extensive interviews and firsthand reportage, Pang shows us the true cost of America’s cheap goods and shares what is ultimately a call to action—urging us to ask more questions and demand more answers from the companies we patronize.Trade Review"A moving and powerful look at the brutal slave labor camps in China that mass produce our consumer products. Amelia Pang, who puts a human face on the Chinese laborers who work in bondage, makes clear our complicity in this inhuman system. She forces us, like the abolitionists who battled slavery in the 19th century, to place the sanctity of human life before the maximization of profit. It is hard not to finish this book and not be outraged, not only at the Chinese government but the American corporations that knowingly collaborate with and profit from this modern slave trade." --Chris Hedges, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author "Amelia Pang has written a powerful new book that traces what we buy back to those who made it, often under truly torturous conditions." --Scott Simon, host of NPR / Weekend Edition Saturday "Amelia Pang exposes the shadow economy of forced labor in Made in China. Pang adroitly situates readers to Chinese culture and society... [and] sounds an uplifting note of agency and empowerment about the prospective impact of reforming Western consumption." --San Francisco Chronicle "The result of Pang's investigation is this powerful, illuminating book, which serves as a reminder that not only is nothing in life actually free, but it should also never be inexplicably cheap--someone, somewhere, is always paying the price." --Refinery29 "Journalist Pang debuts with a vivid and powerful report on Chinese forced labor camps and their connections to the American marketplace. Cinematic . . . Engrossing and deeply reported, this impressive expose will make readers think twice about their next purchase." --Publishers Weekly, starred review "With clarity and sensitivity, [Pang] exposes the human cost of the global demand for cut-rate products, and provides clear calls to action for individuals, corporations and governments to stem these abuses. Any reader with half a heart will be hard-pressed not to re-examine their own buying habits after reading this incredible, moving account." --Shelf Awareness "A powerful call to action and advice for conscientious consumption . . . Spanning biography, business, and sociology, this well-reported and well-researched account of labor practices shows the impact of the demand for global goods." --Library Journal "A powerful argument for heightened awareness of the high price of Chinese-made products." --Kirkus Reviews "Readers will be drawn into this thoroughly researched narrative and will be awakened by the author's pleas for consumers to be more vigilant about the origin of their goods." --Booklist "The book is an excellent entry-level explanation of Chinese religious and political history, and how human rights abuses intersect with billion-dollar businesses. Pang connects the dots between globalization, Western consumption, and sustainability to create a clear, cohesive picture of the problem, as well as of potential solutions." --BookPage "A cinematic approach to a vital topic, which should be as close to our hearts as cheap goods are to our wallets. Amelia Pang provides close-ups of the individual stories behind labor camps, and wide-angle views of their context and history." --Alec Ash, author of Wish Lanterns: Young Lives in New China "Sun's story shows the inhuman nature of the authoritarian Chinese government. The narrative consists of many people's untold stories. After reading this book, anyone with a conscience will realize it is time to take action for those who are persecuted by the Chinese dictatorship." --Chen Guangcheng, author of The Barefoot Lawyer: A Blind Man's Fight for Justice and Freedom in China "The problem of illegal prison labor being used in the People's Republic of China to manufacture goods for global markets is a longstanding one that keeps resurfacing in new guises. Now with this well-researched and reported book that reads like a detective story, investigative journalist Amelia Pang has opened a new porthole on this pernicious practice." --Orville Schell, Arthur Ross Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society

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Book SynopsisTold through essays, memoirs, and other musings, this is the story of a radical Jew, academic, and educator from his birth in Ukraine during the Holocaust through the radical 60s and 70s, to the present day as he fights anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism, xenophobia, and hate.Internationally known in Holocaust, genocide, and Jewish studies, Jack Nusan Porter was born in Maniewicz, Ukraine to Jewish Partisans in the 1940s. Through this engaging and thoughtful memoir, we follow Porter as he recounts his personal journey from a DP camp in Linz, Austria to an idyllic childhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he attended Hebrew day school under Reb Twersk. Porter masterfully details his radicalism in the politically and sociologically turbulent 1960s which would later influence his academic work on genocide, Holocaust studies, and international human rights. Constantly re-inventing himself, readers are treated to engaging anecdotes as they navigate through Porter's highs, lows, and in-betweens.Trade Review“This remarkable and compelling book, a combination of memoir and articles by and about the author, provides an in-depth portrait of Jack Porter, a committed Jewish radical who has also retained his commitment to his very specific Jewish faith. It is a unique and highly readable account of his ongoing search for how Jews should relate to the modern world.”– Antony Polonsky, Emeritus Professor of Holocaust Studies, Brandeis University; Chief Historian, Global Education Outreach Project, Museum of Polish Jews in Warsaw“One of the most admired and thoughtful heroes of the Jewish left, Jack Nusan Porter offers a remarkable memoir of his life and work. Vividly recounting mid-century Jewish life in middle America, along with travel to the new State of Israel, Porter gives us a thoughtful window into an extraordinary era that reconstituted Jewish identity after the Shoah.”— Susannah Heschel, Eli M. Black Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies, Dartmouth CollegeTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsPrefacePart One: 1946-1963—Coming to America From Maniewicze to Milwaukee—the Making of a Writer/Activist Milwaukee in the 1940s and 1950s / Diary, 1959 LA in the 1950s and 1960s Habonim/Dror, 1956-1964 Israel, 1962-1963 / Diary, 1963 Golda and Me Part Two: 1962-1971—The Radical Years University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee: Becoming an Activist/Intellectual, 1963-1967; the Milwaukee Riots and Father Groppi; the Beginning of the Counterculture for Me; Hippies, Acid Trips, and Communes Activism Continued, 1967-1971: The 1968 Chicago Convention Riot; the Chicago 8 Rrial; My Relationship to Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Paul Krasner, and Lee Weiner; the Black Student Sit-In at NYU; the Founding of the Radical Jewish Student Movement; the 1960s (Civil Rights, Hippies, Grass, Acid, the Israeli-Arab Six-Day War, Vietnam, Woodstock) My Days and Nights in the Jewish Defense League Northwestern: The Making of a Sociologist Academic Follies Reunions Part Three: 1971-1991—The Transitional Years My Grove Press Days My Nazi-Hunting Days My Native American Days and Nights (Sun Dances, Sweat Lodges, Dealing with Death) Marriage and Settling Down / The Almuly Family / A Jittery Decade, the 1970s—the First Half of the Radical Decade; the Second Half—We Grow Up, Settle Down, and Get Married The Death of a Father The Founding of the IAGS/International Association of Genocide Scholars / Trips to Sarajevo, Iraq, and Other Zones of Conflict A Jew at the Ukrainian Institute No Tenure: The Switch to Real Estate: Hello, Harold Brown and Other Billionaires The Landlord: Dealing with Weirdoes (Crazy Tenants), Wise Guys (Italian, Russian, African American), and Community Organizers (Chuck Turner, Mel King, Ray Flynn) Part Four: 1991-2020—The Stabilizing Years The Death of My Mother Running for Office—Skakes, Fitzie, and Other Kennedys The New Yorker Article The Lost, Confused, and Yet Somehow Productive Years of 1990-2010 (Divorce, Stress—the Mallory-Weiss Syndrome—Death of Second Wife, Alienation from Family yet Traveling the World Lecturing on Genocide and Its Prevention) Rabbi in Paradise (“Key West Rabbi”) Finding Love Again, with Raya, 2011-2017 Back to Harvard and Stability, 2011-2020—Renewed Productivity, Especially with Help from World-Famed Designer and Cousin Allen Porter, Support from My Mentor and Genocide Guide Greg Stanton, and Spiritual and Communal Support from My Sephardic Shul) Toward the Future / Miracles / Mormons / Mahayana Meditation / Finding Peace and Love Again Glossary of TermsAppendixMy Contribution to KnowledgeFamous People I Have Met or Who Have Influenced MeJack Nusan Porter’s Family TreeSources and PermissionsAbout the Author

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Book SynopsisMake Me, Lisa Stathoplos'' searingly honest and dark humored memoir explores how one comes to be. Comes to live in their own skin; exist in their very bones. In 1958 Lisa landed on this earth with a whack and a wail and a highly uncomfortable feeling that she shouldn''t be here. Regardless, here she is. Born into a fusion of the French and the Greeks, Lisa''s wickedly smart and loving family nurtures her from fussy baby, "moody" child, into a passionate, rebellious young woman.Set in the beauty of Southern Maine, with a few forays to the Caribbean, the Atlantic shipping lanes and Greece, Make Me is both as tempestuous and tranquil as the sea when Lisa takes us on her voyage toward acceptance and authenticity. Her stories of growing up Catholic, coming of age beside the turbulent Atlantic Ocean, discovering dance, her activism and becoming a successful professional actor as well as a fishwife, are fraught, rewarding and often hysterically funny.Make Me follows Lisa''s memories in and out of chronological time, landing on the significant ones that shaped her most of all. The language is crisply straightforward, hauntingly witty, and emotionally fathomless. Make Me is an oceanic ride into Lisa''s very soul and should be read by anyone who is becoming who they truly are or has already arrived.

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Book SynopsisPowerhouse Reno attorney and former star of The Contender Joey Gilbert shares his secrets for success in his new book The Championship Formula: Winning in Every Possible Area of Your Life with Your Fists Up! Using stories from his life, Gilbert points to the habits and decisions that made him a boxing champion, helped him found his law practice, and led him through the fight for medical freedom.Inside The Championship Formula, you''ll discover the habits that got Joey Gilbert through law school. You''ll find out the three things he does every single day to ensure continued success. And you''ll discover the Championship Formula - what you can do to become a CHAMP. You''ll also get to know someone who struggled through great adversity - someone who''s honest with you about the worst days of his life. Whether you''re struggling or just looking for an extra edge, you won''t want to miss The Championship Formula.

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Book SynopsisLetters From a Yankee Doughboy is a collection of more than 125 letters written by Private 1st Class Raymond W. Maker describing his everyday service in combat during World War I. These letters, edited by Private Maker’s grandson, Major Bruce H. Norton (USMC retired) are accompanied by 365 pocket-diary entries that Raymond religiously kept throughout the year 1918.Private Maker was assigned to Company C, 101st Field Signal Battalion, as a wireman, whose duty was to repair and replace the communications lines that were destroyed by artillery and mortar barrages during the horrific battles that took place between German infantry forces and the 26th “Yankee” Division of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), in France, from October of 1917 until the end of the war.Assigned to the 104th Infantry Regiment, Private Maker saw the very worst of ground warfare. He fought at the Battle of Belleau Wood; was gassed by German artillery forces at the Battle of Château-Thierry and was wounded by artillery fire outside of Verdun, just one day before the Armistice was signed. The theme of his letters will vividly evoke memories in the tens of thousands of men and women who have served their country and their friends and loved ones.As a postscript, toward the end of the war, Raymond took the key to the North Gate of Verdun as a battlefield keepsake and mailed it home to his sister, instructing her to “keep that key, as someday it will be of value.” On November 11, 2018 – the centenary of Armistice Day – the author returned that key to Thierry Hubscher, the Director of the Mémorial de Verdun, to be placed on display in that great Museum, closing a 100-year chapter in Raymond’s life.

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Book Synopsis"Jâozef Czapski (1896-1993) lived many lives--as a soldier, public figure, historical witness, memoirist, essayist, and painter. His ninety-six years nearly span the twentieth century in its entirety. He was a student in St. Petersburg during the RussianRevolution and a painter in Paris in the Roaring Twenties. As a Polish reserve officer fighting against the invading Nazis in the opening weeks of the Second World War, he was taken prisoner by the Soviets and survived the Katyn Massacre. He never returned to Poland, working tirelessly in Paris to keep awareness of the plight of his homeland alive, overrun by totalitarian powers. Czapski was a towering public figure, but painting gave meaning to his life. Eric Karpeles, also a painter, reveals Czapski''s full complexity, pulling together all the threads of this remarkable life"--

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Book SynopsisA classic of alternative biography and feminist writing, this empathetic and witty book gives due to a "lesser" figure of history, Mary Ellen Peacock Meredith, who was brilliant, unconventional, and at odds with the constraints of Victorian life. “Many people have described the Famous Writer presiding at his dinner table. . . . He is famous; everybody remembers his remarks. . . . We forget that there were other family members at the table—a quiet person, now muffled by time, shadowy, whose heart pounded with love, perhaps, or rage.” So begins The True History of the First Mrs. Meredith and Other Lesser Lives, an uncommon biography devoted to one of those “lesser lives.” As the author points out, “A lesser life does not seem lesser to the person who leads one.” Such sympathy and curiosity compelled Diane Johnson to research Mary Ellen Peacock Meredith (1821–1861), the daughter of the famous artist Thomas Love Peacock (1785–1866) and first wife of the equally famous poet George Meredith (1828–1909). Her life, treated perfunctorily and prudishly in biographies of Peacock or Meredith, is here exquisitely and unhurriedly given its due. What emerges is the portrait of a brilliant, well-educated woman, raised unconventionally by her father only to feel more forcefully the constraints of the Victorian era. First published in 1972, Lesser Lives has been a key text for feminists and biographers alike, a book that reimagined what biography might be, both in terms of subject and style. Biographies of other “lesser” lives have since followed in its footsteps, but few have the wit, elegance, and empathy of Johnson’s seminal work.

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Book SynopsisA biography of a Jewish woman, a writer who hosted a literary and political salon in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Germany, written by one of the twentieth century''s most prominent intellectuals, Hannah Arendt.Rahel Varnhagen: The Life of a Jewish Woman was Hannah Arendt’s first book, largely completed when she went into exile from Germany in 1933, though not published until the 1950s. It is the biography of a remarkable, complicated, passionate woman, and an important figure in German romanticism. Rahel Varnhagen also bore the burdens of being an unusual woman in a man’s world and an assimilated Jew in Germany.She was, Arendt writes, “neither beautiful nor attractive . . . and possessed no talents with which to employ her extraordinary intelligence and passionate originality.” Arendt sets out to tell the story of Rahel’s life as Rahel might have told it and, in doing so, to reveal the way in which assimilation defined one person’s destiny. On her deathbed Rahel is reported to have said, “The thing which all my life seemed to me the greatest shame, which was the misery and misfortune of my life—having been born a Jewess—this I should on no account now wish to have missed.” Only because she had remained both a Jew and a pariah, Arendt observes, “did she find a place in the history of European humanity.”

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Book SynopsisIn the 116 year history of the Nobel Prize in Physics, only two women have won the award; Marie Curie (1903) and Maria Mayer (1963). During the 60 years between those awards, several women did work of similar calibre. This book focuses on those women, providing biographies for each that discuss both how they made their discoveries and the gender-specific reception of those discoveries. It also discusses the Nobel process and how society and the scientific community's treatment of them were influenced by their gender.

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Book SynopsisWinner of the Will Eisner Comic Industry Award for the BEST COMICS-RELATED BOOK 2023! In 100 iconic objects and artifacts, Charles M. Schulz explores and explains the life and times of the creator of Peanuts, America’s most beloved comic strip series.Charles M. Schulz: The Life and Art of the Creator of Peanuts in 100 Objects explores the man behind one of America’s most iconic comic strips and its beloved cast of characters—Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the rest of the Peanuts Gang. Through 100 preserved and cataloged artifacts, delve into Charles M. Schulz’s Minnesota youth in 1920s America, Schulz’s WWII Army service, and Schulz’s path to fame through his post-war comic series Li’l Folks and five decades of Peanuts. From Schulz’s first published drawing featured in Ripley’s Believe It or Not! to his 2001 Congressional Gold Medal, the 100 artifacts bring the details of the singular artist to life. Along with provocative, witty, and wise quotes, fan-favorite strips, and more, this book is a must-have for any Peanuts fan. 100 OBJECTS: Carefully curated artifacts from Charles M. Schulz’s home and studio—including medals and awards, family photos, rare comic art, and more—tell the story of this beloved artist’s life, career, and the times in which he lived. EXPLORE AMERICANA: From his youth in 1920’s Minnesota through the turbulent 60s and beyond, Charles Schulz’s life spans the rich history of the American Century. CLASSIC STRIPS: Includes timeless Peanuts comic strips featuring Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the whole Peanuts Gang. FASCINATING FACTS: Fans of Peanuts will find never-before-seen items that give them an intimate look at the creation of the acclaimed comic strip series. OFFICIAL ACCOUNT: Created in collaboration with the Charles M. Schulz estate, the book provides an exclusive look into the life of one of America’s most revered artists.

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Book SynopsisWorld famous at twenty-four, brilliant and reckless, hard-living and scandalous, Stephen Crane wrote The Red Badge of Courage before he ever experienced war first-hand. So true was his portrait of a young man who runs from his first confrontation with battle that Civil War veterans argued about whose regiment Crane had been in. Considered by H.G. Wells as “beyond dispute, the best writer of our generation,” Crane was also famous in his time as an unforgettable personality, an Adonis with tawny hair and gray-blue eyes that Willa Cather described as “full of luster and changing lights.” A lover of women and truth at any cost, Crane, in his short life, paid dearly for both. He alienated the New York police when he testified against a policeman on behalf of a prostitute falsely accused of soliciting, forcing him to live the rest of his short life as an expatriate in England. Reporting on the Spanish American War, Crane described the Rough Riders blundering into a trap after arriving in Cuba, infuriating Roosevelt. He died tragically young, leaving behind a handful of fine short stories, including The Open Boat and The Blue Hotel, along with war reporting, novels, and poetry.Trade Review“A brilliant and powerful portrait of Stephen Crane that stands as a monument to biography as a literary art. Filled with fresh insights into Crane’s personality, informed by an astonishing mastery of the entire body of his writing, and based on exhaustive research in all the available primary sources, this magnificent book is by far the best biography written of the creator of The Red Badge of Courage.” —Stephen B. Oates “Davis . . . cuts through the [Crane] legend and romance with what appears to be a sharp, clean scalpel . . . It is his work, not his influence, that still commands our attention. Linda Davis has done it, and him, what looks to be full justice.” —Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post “Davis has written an impressive biography, with many fascinating facts about Crane’s rough-and-tumble career, series of romantic liaisons and adventurous writing.” —Herbert Mitgang, The New York Times “Linda H. Davis gives us not only a complete and engaging account of Crane’s brief life, but also a compelling invitation to reread his work.” —James Hynes, The American Scholar “Informative and affectionate . . . It’s evident that the biographer likes her subject; her affection for Crane’s eccentricities, nerve, and courage animates her work.” —John Noel Turner, The Boston Globe “With Davis’ superb Badge of Courage . . . readers can be captivated anew by the personality and story of this strangely charismatic, tragically doomed novelist, poet and journalist . . . Davis’s great achievement is in making the reader care about Crane—to share his frustrations, be annoyed by his shortcomings and genuinely regret his early demise.” —Neil A. Grauer, The Baltimore Sun “Davis’s life of Crane, initially inspired by curiosity and fueled by increasing admiration for the man and his work, is what a life should be—well-written, fair-minded, and spirited.” —The Atlantic “This biography will serve as the best guide to an American original.” —Ralph B. Sipper, San Francisco Chronicle “Vividly evokes a young writer who lived as hard as he wrote, and who left behind some of the best American fiction of his time.” —Greg Johnson, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution “Crane couldn’t have asked for a more just, accurate, or eloquent biographer.” —Donna Seaman, Booklist “Outstanding . . . beautifully done.” —Roger Bishop, BookPage "(Crane) is a biographer’s dream . . . the Crane who emerges from these pages is fascinating.” —Brooke Horvath, The Plain Dealer “Engrossing . . . [Davis] makes real the remarkable author who vowed he ‘would not be bossed by anyone’ and who dedicated himself to the conquest of fear, both in his life and in his writing . . . Her book does what quality literary biography ought to do –sparks fresh fascination with the writing that established Crane’s fame.” —Vince Kohler, The Sunday Oregonian

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Book SynopsisAcclaimed photographer Kosti Ruohomaa is widely known for his photographs of hard scrabble Yankees in mid-century Maine. No one was more acutely aware than Ruohomaa that his work was capturing a way of life that was rapidly fading. Before his work in Maine, however, Ruohomaa started out with Disney, then went on to become a freelance photographer for the Black Star Agency, where he was a regular contributor to Life, National Geographic, Look, and Ladies Home Journal. His true passion, however, was documenting the lives of the people of Maine. In this biography by curator Deanna Bonner-Ganter, of the Maine State Museum, Kosti's life and work is made relevant and important to an audience that may be unfamiliar with his work.

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Book SynopsisA daring and magnificent historical narrative nonfiction account of Iceland's most famous female sea captain who constantly fought for women's rights and equality-and who also solved one of the country's most notorious robberies.Every day was a fight for survival, equality, and justice for Iceland's most renowned female fishing captain of the 19th century.History would have us believe the sea has always been a male realm, the idea of female captains almost unthinkable. But there is one exception, so notable she defies any expectation.This is her remarkable story.Captain Thurídur, born in Iceland in 1777, lived a life that was both controversial and unconventional. Her first time fishing, on the open unprotected rowboats of her time, was at age 11. Soon after, she audaciously began wearing trousers. She later became an acclaimed fishing captain brilliant at weather-reading and seacraft and consistently brought in the largest catches. In the Arctic seas where drownings occurred with terrifying regularity, she never lost a single crewmember. Renowned for her acute powers of observation, she also solved a notorious crime. In this extremely unequal society, she used the courts to fight for justice for the abused, and in her sixties, embarked on perilous journeys over trackless mountains.Weaving together fastidious research and captivating prose, Margaret Willson reveals Captain Thurídur's fascinating story, her extraordinary courage, intelligence, and personal integrity.Through adventure, oppression, joy, betrayal, and grief, Captain Thurídur speaks a universal voice. Here is a woman so ahead of her times she remains modern and inspirational today. Her story can now finally be told.

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Book SynopsisInstant New York Times BestsellerFrom the host of Everything Iconic with Danny Pellegrino comes a collection of stories you'll be glad didn't happen to you.Think of the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you. Was it the time your high school cheer squad taunted you in front of the entire town? Was it the time your best friend's mom caught you streaking in all your naked, self-conscious glory? What about the time you accidentally threw a tooth at your dry cleaner or took an urn into Kohl's for some holiday shopping?For Danny Pellegrino, the answer is all of the above.Growing up as a closeted gay kid in small-town Ohio wasn't easy, and Danny has the stories to prove it. But coming of age in the 90s still meant something magical to Danny. The music, film, and celebrity moments of his youth were truly iconic, and his love for all things pop culture connected him to a world larger than the one he knew in the suburban Midwest. And through all the pains of growing up, Danny could always look to that world for hope-whether that meant bingeing The Nanny until he had the confidence of Fran Fine, belting out Brandy songs until his heartaches were healed, or watching semi-clothed Ryan Phillippe scenes until his cheeks burned from blushing.With refreshing honesty and jaw-dropping absurdity, Danny invites readers to experience his most formative moments in life-from his hometown in Ohio to his hit podcast and career in entertainment today. How Do I Un-Remember This?is an unfiltered and all-too-relatable glimpse into Danny's life and the heartfelt and hilarious moments that shaped it. Although he wouldn't change them for the world, these stories are-unfortunately-true.

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