Biography: general Books

Book SynopsisA New York Times bestseller, My Struggle: Book 1 introduces American readers to the audacious, addictive, and profoundly surprising international literary sensation that is the provocative and brilliant six-volume autobiographical novel by Karl Ove Knausgaard. It has already been anointed a Proustian masterpiece and is the rare work of dazzling literary originality that is intensely, irresistibly readable. Unafraid of the big issuesdeath, love, art, fearand yet committed to the intimate details of life as it is lived, My Struggle is an essential work of contemporary literature.

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Book SynopsisA finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, AutobiographyA contentious, deeply moving ode to friendship, love, and urban life in the spirit of Fierce AttachmentsA memoir of self-discovery and the dilemma of connection in our time, The Odd Woman and the City explores the rhythms, chance encounters, and ever-changing friendships of urban life that forge the sensibility of a fiercely independent woman who has lived out her conflicts, not her fantasies, in a city (New York) that has done the same. Running steadily through the book is Vivian Gornick''s exchange of more than twenty years with Leonard, a gay man who is sophisticated about his own unhappiness, whose friendship has shed more light on the mysterious nature of ordinary human relations than has any other intimacy she has known. The exchange between Gornick and Leonard acts as a Greek chorus to the main action of the narrator''s continual engagement on the street with grocers, derelicts, and doormen; people on the bus, cross-dressers on the corner, and acquaintances by the handful. In Leonard she sees herself reflected plain; out on the street she makes sense of what she sees. Written as a narrative collage that includes meditative pieces on the making of a modern feminist, the role of the flaneur in urban literature, and the evolution of friendship over the past two centuries, The Odd Woman and the City beautifully bookends Gornick''s acclaimed Fierce Attachments, in which we first encountered her rich relationship with the ultimate metropolis.

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Book SynopsisWidely proclaimed a classic work of Christian faith, Life of Christ has been hailed as the most eloquent of Fulton J. Sheen''s many books. The fruit of many years of reflection, prayer, and research, it is a dramatic and moving recounting of the birth, life, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Christ, and a passionate portrait of the God-Man, the teacher, the healer, and, most of all, the Savior, whose promise has sustained humanity for two millenia.With his customary insight and reverence, Sheen interprets the Scripture and describes Christ not only in historical perspective but also in exciting and contemporary terms -- seeing in Christ''s life both modern parallels and timeless lessons. His thoughtful, probing analysis provides new insight into well-known Gospel events.An appealing blend of philosophy, history, and biblical exegesis, from the best-known and most-loved American Catholic leader of the twentieth century, Life of Christ has long been a sour

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Book SynopsisKeesia and Henri Matisse have the same birthday—New Year’s Eve! That’s why she picks him for her artist report. She finds out that over his long career Matisse made paintings, sculpture, books, costumes, and her favorite—his cut-outs, or what Matisse called “drawing with scissors.” The report is filled with about 20 of Matisse’s masterpieces as well as artwork that Keesia has created in his “style” (cut-out leaves, drawings through windows, fauvist animals). As she follows Matisse through his life she discovers why he is considered one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century.

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Book Synopsis'Hitchens presents a George Orwell fit for the twenty-first century.' --Boston Globe In this widely acclaimed biographical essay, the masterful polemicist Christopher Hitchens assesses the life, the achievements, and the myth of the great political writer and participant George Orwell. True to his contrarian style, Hitchens is both admiring and aggressive, sympathetic yet critical, taking true measure of his subject as hero and problem. Answering both the detractors and the false claimants, Hitchens tears down the façade of sainthood erected by the hagiographers and rebuts the critics point by point. He examines Orwell and his perspectives on fascism, empire, feminism, and Englishness, as well as his outlook on America, a country and culture toward which he exhibited much ambivalence. Whether thinking about empires or dictators, race or class, nationalism or popular culture, Orwell's moral outlook remains indispensable in a world that has undergone vast changes in the seven decades since his death. Combining the best of Hitchens' polemical punch and intellectual elegance in a tightly woven and subtle argument, this book addresses not only why Orwell matters today, but how he will continue to matter in a future, uncertain world.

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Book SynopsisWinner of the PEN Award for Biography 2016, this is the only biography of visionary artist Agnes Martin, one of the most original and influential painters of the postwar period.Trade Review'Thorough and illuminating' - Apollo (Shortlisted for Book of the Year)'Scholarly, thoroughly researched … an accessible and fascinating story' - Aesthetica'Doggedly researched and gracefully written… [Princenthal] shines in describing Martin’s earthy good humour and dedication to her art and in capturing the atmosphere in which the artist came of age … it will remain definitive for a good long while' - Wall Street JournalTable of ContentsIntroduction: Abstraction • 1. Northwest Passages • 2. Student/Teacher • 3. Reaching Harbor • 4. Lines of Thought • 5. As Shown • 6. Silence • 7. Departures • 8. Back to the World • 9. Contours Redrawn • Epilogue: Composure

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Book SynopsisA shaman and visionary - not a poet in any ordinary sense - Maria Sabina lived out her life in the Oaxacan mountain village of Huautla de Jimenez. This work includes a presentation from Sabina's recorded chants and an English translation of her oral autobiography, her vida, as written and arranged in her native language.Table of ContentsEditor's Preface THE LIFE Written with Alvaro Estrada The Chants The Folkways Chant From The 1970 Session: Three Excerpts From The Mushroom Velada: Three Excerpts COMMENTARIES & DERIVATIONS Introduction to The Life of Maria Sabina Alvaro Estrada From Teo-Nanacatl: The Mushroom Agape The Uniqueness of Maria Sabina Henry Munn Maria Sabina in Mexico City Homero Aridjis From Fast Speaking Woman Anne Waldman Fast Speaking Woman & the Dakini Principle Anne Waldman The Little Saint of Huautla Jerome Rothenberg The Poet Speaks, the Mountain Sings ... Juan Gregorio Regino The Song Begins Juan Gregorio Regino Selected Bibliography Source Notes and Acknowledgments

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Book SynopsisIn a sequence of short, condensed entries, Ferenczi’s diary records self-critical reflections on conventional psychoanalytic theory—as well as criticisms of his own experiments with technique—and his obstinate struggle to divest himself and psychoanalysis of professional hypocrisy.Trade ReviewCompelling… Ferenczi was an innovator, an experimenter, someone who was always trying new approaches to the treatment of mental illness, even when his unorthodox techniques placed him in opposition to his analyst and mentor, Sigmund Freud. -- Stuart Schneiderman * New York Times Book Review *Allows the public interested in such matters to assess, far better than before, the range of [Ferenczi’s] professional gifts and the depth of his psychological vulnerability… A welcome addition to the growing number of significant texts illuminating the history of psychoanalysis. -- Peter Gay * London Review of Books *The Diary is the work of a sane mind in full possession of its powers and gives us insight into the day-to-day thoughts of a practitioner whose status as a creative innovator is probably unsurpassed since Freud. It is a very moving book. One is continually amazed by the courage of the man. -- Peter Lomas * Times Literary Supplement *Freud criticised his one-time favourite son for advocating the ‘kissing technique’; Ferenczi believed that ‘only sympathy heals’. This is the 1932 record of his analyses. His work was faltering, doubting, and quite possibly, healing. -- David Flusfeder * The Week *Table of ContentsEditor's Note Acknowledgments Introduction by Judith Dupont Abbreviations The Clinical Diary of Sandor Ferenczi Draft Introduction by Michael Balint Notes for a Preface by Michael Balint Index

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Book SynopsisThe first biography of pioneering female Pop Artist Pauline Boty.Trade Review“The Pop artist Pauline Boty was a mysterious beauty glimpsed in glossy British magazines, her work obscured by that beauty, her output cut short by her early death. Marc Kristal’s exceptional biography brings back to life one of the most compelling figures of sixties London. With exceptional research, intelligent empathy, a talent for contextualizing those times of change and a felicitous style, he brings the many tragedies of her story and the delicious inventions of her oeuvre into full and rewarding focus. One of the best books of its kind I have ever read.” -- Joan Juliet Buck (author)“How wonderful that one of those exciting and innovative women artists of the 60s should be recovered and celebrated in this way.” -- Julie Christie (actress)"All the years of [Marc’s] work…have made a book that captures the meaning of Pauline’s life and work as exactly as is possible." -- Caroline Coon (painter)"An astonishing, rich examination of a personality, a character completely thorough and balanced…The descriptions are vivid and faultless in tone and detail…Right in so many ways about [Boty’s] feminism and its ambiguities. A brilliant job." -- Richard Hollis (graphic designer)“I so enjoyed this… Manages to balance the artist, time period and personal life in a very engaging and original way.” -- Lynn Horsford (film producer) “The book brings Pauline back. I feel I know her now – her secrets, her excitements, her fears, the guys, the painting, the running away, the going forward. Marc Kristal is a magician, who remakes a time, and gives the people in it life again. I thought it was terrific.” -- Michael Lindsay-Hogg (director)“Moving, tenderly handled and illuminating… What has clearly been a labour of love.” -- Poppy Luard (production designer & art director)“I thoroughly enjoyed the book… Most of Pauline’s life and the development of Pop Art was new to me and I found it completely absorbing… The book is very nostalgic and brought the Cromwell Road scene back with a bang.” -- Margaret Matheson (film producer)“I am mightily impressed with [the] storytelling, the ease and forward-motion of [the] lively prose, and of course the tales of all three protagonists.” -- Gordon Rogoff (theatre director & critic)“In this absorbing biography, a vivid collage of voices, and a masterfully written narrative, combine to restore to prominence the life and work of an entirely remarkable woman.” -- Gay Talese (author)"Wonderfully evocative…This book brings Boty to life: brave, flirty and fizzing with promise." -- Laura Freeman, The Times of London“..a rich retelling of the short but intense career of this once-overlooked British Pop artist… an excellent portrait of a vital moment in culture. Kristal has devoted extensive research to the artist’s life and work, interviewing many contemporaries and sifting through copious archives. He has vividly reimaged the artistic milieu of the time, interspersing Boty’s biographical details with voices from the past, including the artist’s own writings.” -- Jonathan Bell, Wallpaper“A valuable and unusual addition to the literature on British Pop Art – and a necessary counterweight to the male domination of the movement.” -- Marco Livingstone (art historian)“Kristal’s book is a study of the fascinating, now distant ambiance of 1960s London, as well as of a unique figure from that time.” -- Martin Gayford, The Spectator * The Spectator *"A fascinating, informative, and illustrated biography... exceptionally well written and presented." * Midwest Book Review *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1 SUBURBAN GIRL 2 WIMBLEDON BARDOT 3 AT THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART: PART 1 ‘The Place’ 4 AT THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART: PART 2 ‘Technicolor’ 5 AT THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART: PART 3 ‘La Boty’ 6 AT THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART: PART 4 ‘Capital-P Pop’ 7 AT THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART: PART 5 ‘To think I’ve got someone like that for a daughter!’ 8 HELLO, CRUEL WORLD 9 THE ART OF ACTING 10 BREAKTHROUGH 11 BREAKOUT 12 ‘A VERY CONFIDENT MAN’ 13 PERSONALITY ON TRIAL 14 PAULINE’S CHOICE 15 JOURNEY’S END 16 GONE Epilogue: Nothing Left in the World Index Acknowledgements Picture credits

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Book SynopsisTold by one of our greatest chroniclers of technology and society, the definitive biography of iconic serial visionary Stewart Brand, from the Merry Pranksters and the generation-defining Whole Earth Catalog to the marriage of environmental consciousness and hacker capitalism and the rise of a new planetary culture—the story behind so many other storiesStewart Brand has long been famous if you know who he is, but for many people outside the counterculture, early computing, or the environmental movement, he is perhaps best known for his famous mantra “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” Steve Jobs’s endorsement of these words as his code to live by is fitting; Brand has played many roles, but one of the most important is as a model for how to live. The contradictions are striking: A blond-haired WASP with a modest family inheritance, Brand went to Exeter and Stanford and was an army veteran, but in California in the 1960s he became an a

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Book SynopsisThe fascinating true story of an Englishwoman who spent 12 years alone in a cave in the Himalayas and became a world-renowned spiritual leader

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Book SynopsisThis book draws on Lee's own notes, letters, diaries and training logs to present the full extent of his training methods. They include nutrition, aerobics, isometrics, stretching, and weight training.Trade Review"All types of knowledge ultimately leads to self-knowledge. So, therefore, these people are coming in and asking me to teach them, not so much how to defend themselves or how to do somebody in. Rather, they want to learn to express themselves through some movement, be it anger, be it determination, or whatever. So, in other words, they're paying me to show them, in combative form the art of expressing the human body." --Bruce Lee"I suggest you read this book and use it to motivate yourself to pursue whatever goals you strive for in life. Here is the record of a man who had to overcome his own obstacles in life, and who achieved success because he believed in himself. Perhaps you can use this inspiration to achieve your own success. Even now, I feel Bruce's presence, and he still motivates me to this day. When I'm lifting weights…I max out my workout by doing one more rep for the old man upstairs and then do one for Bruce. It never fails!" --Allen Joe, from the Foreword"The Bruce Lee Library stands as a definitive presentation of Bruce Lee's magnificent legacy. Each volume belongs on the bookshelf of every serious martial artist." --Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do Nucleus

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Book SynopsisThis is the memoir of Audie Murphy, who was the most decorated American soldier during World War II. Desperate to see action but rejected by both marines and paratroopers because he was too short, Murphy eventualy found a home with the infantry.

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Book SynopsisAfter his conversion, this African boy is sent by God to prepare an American university for its mission in the world.

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Book SynopsisA daring novel that made Christine Angot one of the most controversial figures in contemporary France recounts the narrator's incestuous relationship with her father.

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Book SynopsisStock market multimillionaire at 26. Federal convict at 36. The iconic true story of greed, power and excess.THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER AND MAJOR MOVIE SENSATION, DIRECTED BY MARTIN SCORSESE AND STARRING LEONARDO DICAPRIO''What separates Jordan''s story from others like it, is the brutal honesty'' Leonardo DiCaprioBy day he made thousands of dollars a minute. By night he spent it as fast as he could. From the binge that sunk a 170-foot motor yacht and ran up a $700,000 hotel tab, to the wife and kids who waited for him for at home, and the fast-talking, hard-partying young stockbrokers who called him king and did his bidding, here, in Jordan Belfort''s own words, is the story of the ill-fated genius they called THE WOLF OF WALL STREET.In the 1990s Jordan Belfort became one of the most infamous names in American finance: a brilliant, conniving stock-chopper who led his merry mob on a wild ride out of the canyons of Trade ReviewWhat separates Jordan's story from others like it, is the brutal honesty. * Leonardo DiCaprio *Raw and frequently hilarious. * The New York Times *Reads like a cross between Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities and Scorsese's Goodfellas ... Laugh-out-loud funny. * The Sunday Times *an incredible - and strangely compelling - story of shocking greed and power. * The Sunday Telegraph *The wicked Wolf of Wall Street ... Cocaine. Girls. James Bond cars. Billion-dollar deals and jail for fraud ... the outrageous memoirs of the real Gordon Gekko. * The Daily Mail *This book reads like The Financial World presented by Ozzy Osbourne ... One reads a book like this for tales of excess, and Belfort certainly delivers, to the point where you long for a night in with Dad's Army and something eggy on a plate. * The Mail on Sunday *A truly fascinating read. * Daily Express *Gleefully crass and terribly sad [but] you actually feel for the guy. * Rolling Stone *A rollicking tale of [Jordan Belfort's] rise to riches as head of the infamous boiler room Stratton Oakmont ... Proof that there are indeed second acts in American lives. * Forbes *A cocky bad boy of finance recalls ... [his] career as a master of his own universe ... A hell of a read. * Kirkus *A memoir that reads like fiction ... [about a] vast amount of sex, drugs and risky physical behavior Belfort managed to survive. * Publishers Weekly *For those not completely familiar with Wall Street, this is an important read. Think of it as a tour of the sort of underbelly of the financial market scene, the dark side of which, in some form, is always out there. For those more experienced, this can be, plain and simple, a fun read. * TheStreet.com *

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Book SynopsisNow an eight-part docuseries on Apple TV+ featuring Kim Kardashian, Amy Schumer, Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson, Wanda Sykes, Megan Thee Stallion and more She couldn’t have been more than seven or eight years old. “Go ahead, ask your question,” her father urged, nudging her forward. She smiled shyly and said, “You’re my hero. Who’s yours?”  Many people – especially girls – have asked us that same question over the years. It’s one of our favourite topics. HILLARY: Growing up, I knew hardly any women who worked outside the home. So I looked to my mother, my teachers, and the pages of Life magazine for inspiration. After learning that Amelia Earhart kept a scrapbook with newspaper articles about successful women in male-dominated jobs, I started a scrapbook of my own. Long after I stopped clipping articles, I continued to seek out stories of women who seemed to be redefini

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Book SynopsisAcademic, writer, figure of melancholy, aesthete – Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908–2009) not only transformed his academic discipline, he also profoundly changed the way that we view ourselves and the world around us. In this award-winning biography, historian Emmanuelle Loyer recounts Lévi-Strauss’s childhood in an assimilated Jewish household, his promising student years as well as his first forays into political and intellectual movements. As a young professor, Lévi-Strauss left Paris in 1935 for São Paulo to teach sociology. His rugged expeditions into the Brazilian hinterland, where he discovered the Amerindian Other, made him into an anthropologist. The racial laws of the Vichy regime would force him to leave France yet again, this time for the USA in 1941, where he became Professor Claude L. Strauss – to avoid confusion with the jeans manufacturer.Lévi-Strauss’s return to France, after the war, ushered in the period during which he produced his greatest works: several decades of intense labour in which he reinvented anthropology, establishing it as a discipline that offered a new view on the world. In 1955, Tristes Tropiques offered indisputable proof of this the world over. During those years, Lévi-Strauss became something of a French national monument, as well as a celebrity intellectual of global renown. But he always claimed his perspective was a ‘view from afar’, enabling him to deliver incisive and subversive diagnoses of our waning modernity.Loyer’s outstanding biography tells the story of a true intellectual adventurer whose unforgettable voice invites us to rethink questions of the human and the meaning of progress. She portrays Lévi-Strauss less as a modern than as our own great and disquieted contemporary.Trade Review"Emmanuelle Loyer has produced a meticulously researched, intelligent and sensitive biography worthy of her subject, one of the greatest Francophone intellectuals of the twentieth century. Critical yet generous, her portrait of Claude Lévi-Strauss rings true and comes alive on the page."—Michael Harkin, University of Wyoming "The inspiration that continues to spring forth from the work of Lévi-Strauss is a mystery to many anthropologists. He has told us of the many influences on his work, and commentators have argued for yet others, but they don't really account for his extraordinary originality and independence. Emmanuelle Loyer's thorough account of his life and work may help us resolve this wonderful puzzle."—Maurice Bloch, London School of Economics "This is the first true biography of one of the greatest French intellectuals of the twentieth century, who lived to be 100 years old and who finished his life covered in glory and honours. Emmanuelle Loyer's book is a marvel of intelligence that holds the reader's attention from beginning to end."—Élisabeth Roudinesco, Le Monde "Loyer's biography offers an unprecedentedly rich sense of the man."—Financial Times "Loyer offers a vivid portrait of the anthropologist and his time. But she also invites us to imagine how Lévi-Strauss might endure as a thinker for our century, as much for his own."—Boston Review "deeply researched . . . engaging and engaged"—The New York Review of BooksTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Foreword Adam Kuper Introduction. The Worlds of Claude Lévi-Strauss Part I Yesterday's Worlds (É-1935) Chapter 1 The Name of the Father Chapter 2 Revelations (1908-1924) Chapter 3 Revolutions (1924-1931): Politics vs. Philosophy Chapter 4 Redemption: Anthropology (1931-1935) Chapter 5 The Enigma of the World Part II New Worlds (1935-1947) Chapter 6 France in São Paulo Chapter 7 In the Heart of Brazil Chapter 8 Massimo Lévi with the Nambikwara Chapter 9 Crisis (1939-1941) Chapter 10 A Frenchman in New York City: Exile and Intellectual Invention (1941-1944) Chapter 11 Structuralism Ð the American Years Part III The Old World (1947-1971) Chapter 12 The Ghosts of Marcel Mauss Chapter 13 Manhood Chapter 14 The Confessions of Claude Lévi-Strauss Chapter 15 Structuralist Crystallization (1958-1962) Chapter 16 The Manufacture of Science Chapter 17 The Scholarly Life Chapter 18 The Politics of Discretion Part IV The World (1971-2009) Chapter 19 Immortal Chapter 20 Metamorphoses Chapter 21 Claude Lévi-Strauss, our Contemporary Notes Works by Lévi-Strauss Archives consulted Abbreviations of Works by Lévi-Strauss Illustration credits Index

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Book Synopsis'Enthralling' Daily MailIn 1998, Françoise Malby-Anthony founded a game reserve with her late husband, dedicating their lives to the protection of these beautiful, troubled animals. The Elephants of Thula Thula is the profound, compelling story of their life's work.Françoise Malby-Anthony is the owner of a game reserve in South Africa with a remarkable family of elephants whose adventures have touched hearts around the world. The herd’s feisty matriarch Frankie knows who’s in charge at Thula Thula, and it’s not Françoise. But when Frankie becomes ill, and the authorities threaten to remove or cull some of the herd if the reserve doesn’t expand, Françoise is in a race against time to save her beloved elephants . . .The joys and challenges of a life dedicated to conservation are vividly described in this charming and moving book. The search is on to get a girlfriend for orphaned rhino Thabo – and then, as his behaviour becomes increasingly boisterous, a big brother to teach him manners. Françoise realizes a dream with the arrival of Savannah the cheetah – an endangered species not seen in the area since the 1940s – and finds herself rescuing meerkats kept as pets. But will Thula Thula survive the pandemic, an invasion from poachers and the threat from a mining company wanting access to its land?As Françoise faces her toughest years yet, she realizes once again that with their wisdom, resilience and communal bonds, the elephants have much to teach us.Trade ReviewFrançoise’s descriptions of the empathetic behaviour of elephants, both towards each other and towards the humans who love them, are beguiling * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisOn May 2, 1973, Black Panther Assata Shakur (aka JoAnne Chesimard) lay in a hospital, close to death, handcuffed to her bed, while local, state, and federal police attempted to question her about the shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike that had claimed the life of a white state trooper. Long a target of J. Edgar Hoover's campaign to defame, infiltrate, and criminalize Black nationalist organizations and their leaders, Shakur was incarcerated for four years prior to her conviction on flimsy evidence in 1977 as an accomplice to murder. This intensely personal and political autobiography belies the fearsome image of JoAnne Chesimard long projected by the media and the state. With wit and candor, Assata Shakur recounts the experiences that led her to a life of activism and portrays the strengths, weaknesses, and eventual demise of Black and White revolutionary groups at the hand of government officials. The result is a signal contribution to the literature about growing up Black in America that has already taken its place alongside The Autobiography of Malcolm X and the works of Maya Angelou. Two years after her conviction, Assata Shakur escaped from prison. She was given political asylum by Cuba, where she now resides. Trade Review"A deftly written book . . . A spellbinding tale." -- The New York Times Book Review"A sober, restrained, but forceful recollection. . . . A must book for those interested in the 'revolutionaries' of the 1960s" -- Chioce"A compelling tale of the impact of white racism on a sensitive and powerful young black woman." -- Library Journal

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Book SynopsisAn examination of WASP culture through the lives of some of its most prominent figures. Envied and lampooned, misunderstood and yet distinctly American, WASPs are as much a culture, socioeconomic and ethnic designation, as a state of mind.From politics to fashion, their style still intrigues us. WASPs produced brilliant reformers—Eleanor, Theodore, and Franklin Roosevelt—and inspired Cold Warriors—Dean Acheson, Averell Harriman, and Joe Alsop. In such dazzling figures as Isabella Stewart Gardner, Edie Sedgwick, Babe Paley, and Marietta Tree they embodied a chic and an allure that drove characters like F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Jay Gatsby mad with desire. They were creatures of glamour, power, and privilege, living amid the splendor of great houses, flashing jewels, and glittering soirées. Envied and lampooned, they had something the rest of America craved. Yet they were unhappy. Descended from families that created the United States, WASPs felt themselves stunted by a civilization that thwarted their higher aspirations at every turn. They were the original lost generation, adrift in the waters of the Gilded Age. Some were sent to lunatic asylums or languished in nervous debility. Others committed suicide. Yet out of the neurotic ruins emerged a group of patriots devoted to public service and the renewal of society. In a groundbreaking study of the WASP revolution in American life, Michael Knox Beran brings the stories of Henry Adams and Henry Stimson, Learned Hand and Vida Scudder, John Jay Chapman and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney to life. These characters were driven by a vision of human completeness, one that distinguishes them from the self-complacency of more recent power establishments narrowly founded on money and technical know-how. WASPs shaped the America in which we live: so much so that it is not easy to understand our problems without a knowledge of their mistakes. They came to grief in Vietnam and through their own toxic blood pride, yet before they succumbed to the last temptation of arrogance, they struggled to fill a void in American life, one that many of us still feel. For all their faults, they pointed—in an age of shrunken lives and diminished possibility—to the dream of a new life.

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Book Synopsis2019 Banff Mountain Book Competition Category Finalist in Mountain Literature 2019 Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature Finalist "If you climbed during that era, you'll turn each page eagerly to find out what happens next (even though you know). If you didn't, you'll likely do the same.... In many ways, Hangdog Days reads as the great American climbing novel. Smoot accepts Todd [Skinner]'s call to join him, and brings us along." -Gripped Fast-paced history-cum-memoir about rock climbing in the wild-and-wooly '80s Highlights ground-breaking achievements from the era Hangdog Days vividly chronicles the era when rock climbing exploded in popularity, attracting a new generation of talented climbers eager to reach new heights via harder routes and faster ascents. This contentious, often entertaining period gave rise to sport climbing, climbing gyms, and competitive climbing--indelibly transforming the sport. Jeff Smoot was one of those brash young climbers, and here he traces the development of traditional climbing "rules," enforced first through peer pressure, then later through intimidation and sabotage. In the late '70s, several climbers began introducing new tactics including "hangdogging," hanging on gear to practice moves, that the old guard considered cheating. As more climbers broke ranks with traditional style, the new gymnastic approach pushed the limits of climbing from 5.12 to 5.13. When French climber Jean-Baptiste Tribout ascended To Bolt or Not to Be, 5.14a, at Smith Rock in 1986, he cracked a barrier many people had considered impenetrable. In his lively, fast-paced history enriched with insightful firsthand experience, Smoot focuses on the climbing achievements of three of the era's superstars: John Bachar, Todd Skinner, and Alan Watts, while not neglecting the likes of Ray Jardine, Lynn Hill, Mark Hudon, Tony Yaniro, and Peter Croft. He deftly brings to life the characters and events of this raucous, revolutionary time in rock climbing, exploring, as he says, "what happened and why it mattered, not only to me but to the people involved and those who have followed."Trade Review"Hangdog Days" by Washington-based climber Jeff Smoot details rock climbing's often hilarious growing pains of the 1970s and 1980s. The parallels between then and now struck me, even as our sport has changed tremendously. Now it's the same conflict, different issues; the same challenge, higher bar; the same stakes, different rules.--Chris Weidner "The Daily Camera" An engaging account of the changes that took place in American rock climbing in the '70s and '80s told with great verve, through the stories of some fascinating characters from died-in-the-wool bottom-up traditionalists to top-down rap-bolters.-- "2019 Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature shortlist" As a direct result of the people and climbing Smoot describes, we have sport climbing, gyms, comps, bouldering as we know it, and so many other things that were once unthinkable and that now form the bedrock of all serious climbing efforts. As such, I highly recommend this sensitive and fascinating account to anyone interested in how we got here.--David Smart, Gripped founding editor "Ontario Climbing" If you climbed during that era, you'll turn each page eagerly to find out what happens next (even though you know). If you didn't, you'll likely do the same.... In many ways, Hangdog Days reads as the great American climbing novel. Smoot accepts Todd [Skinner]'s call to join him, and brings us along.--Tom Valis "Gripped" Impressively informative, exceptionally well written, thoroughly engaging in organization and presentation, Hangdog Days: Conflict, Change, and the Race for 5.14 is an extraordinary and unique sports history that is unreservedly recommended.--Micah Andrew "Midwest Book Review" In his book Hangdog Days, Jeff Smoot chronicles the controversial method of "hangdogging" a climbing route and the debate that raged during the 1980s in climbing circles about this method.... Part history and part memoir, Smoot's book uses his personal experiences as a climber and freelance rock-climbing magazine writer as the vehicle to narrate the sport's rocky transition from the purview of a few grizzled climbers to a phenomenon that attracted younger and more eager climbers wanting to climb harder routes once thought impossible to scale. Smoot's story incorporates the biggest names of the era--everyone from John Bachar to Todd Skinner to Lynn Hill. Each one adds to the debate about the ethics of hangdogging a route.--Eric Patterson "Foreword Reviews" It's awesome. Highly recommend it.--Chris Kalous "The Enormocast" Smoot does an incredible job of making the reader question their own climbing ethics and wonder what the future holds for our crags. If you're into reading on the history of specific climbs or nerding out about Yosemite/Joshua Tree/Smith Rock, this one's for you.-- "monopkt." Smoot effortlessly weaves his own experiences through a wildly colorful historical record filled with fistfights, sabotaged routes, and even death threats.... Hangdog Days is at its heart a tribute to Skinner and the groundbreaking (and yes, sometimes controversial) ways he helped redefine the sport itself.--Shawnte Salabert "Adventure Journal" Smoot tracks the evolution of climbing, from the early hard free climbs of Yosemite to indoor climbing gyms, and introduces readers to climbing luminaries like John Bachar, Alan Watts, Lynn Hill, and Hugh Herr (a double amputee), and he delves into his relationship with a charismatic free climber, Todd Skinner, to whom the book is dedicated...this crisply written memoir provides solid information on a crucial historical period in a sport of increasing popularity.--Brenda Barrera "Booklist" This rollicking book is a welcome trip back to the 1980s, the decade of greatest change--and conflict--in America, when resting on the rope and rap bolting were taboo.... With engaging writing and research, Smoot's book is a pleasure, even as it details the uglier incidents (bolt wars, Yosemite rope-shitting, Index crack-greasing!) in American climbing. Without the 1980s, our sport would not be where it is today, a lesson Hangdog Days artfully conveys.-- "Climbing" Hangdog Days recalls the colorful personalities and ethical struggles that spurred a revolution in rock climbing. This fun trip back in time will motivate you to climb harder.--Paul Piana, climber and writer Full of Homeric characters, epic struggles, heroes and heartbreaks, all played out on an international stage--fans of adventure narratives can't do much better than Hangdog Days.--John Long, writer and climber In Hangdog Days, Jeff Smoot offers an enlightening behind-the-scenes perspective on this fantastic era and its memorable characters. I was climbing in the areas he describes where and while these scenes were playing out. He captures them vividly.--Hans Florine, climber and writer Powerful, moving, compelling, outrageous, fascinating--Hangdog Days captures eighties climbing perfectly. If you're a climber and you can read, this book's for you.--Cam Burns, writer and editor Well-researched and fun with flashes of neon--Smoot's Hangdog Days captures all the wild color of climbing in the late '70s through the '80s.--Lynn Hill, climber

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Book SynopsisThe bestselling historian and journalist James Rosen provides the first comprehensive account of the brilliant and combative Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia, whose philosophy and judicial opinions defined our legal era. With SCALIA: Rise to Greatness, 1936–1986, the opening instalment in a two-volume biography, acclaimed reporter and bestselling historian James Rosen provides the first comprehensive account of the life of Justice Antonin Scalia, whose singular career in government—including three decades on the Supreme Court—shaped American law and society in the twenty-first century. A decade in the making, Rise to Greatness tells the story of the kid from Queens who became the first Italian American on the Court and one of the most profoundly influential figures of our time. This volume takes us from Scalia’s birth to his ascension to the Court, providing a fresh and probing look at his Catholic upbringing and education; his stints in academia and published works, some of them obscure and long-overlooked; and his service in the Nixon and Ford administrations, when Scalia played a central role in reforming the U.S. intelligence community and in the approval of sensitive covert operations. Deeply researched and based on unparalleled access to documentary and personal sources, and written with an intellectual rigor and wit befitting its subject, Rosen’s narrative reads like a novel while presenting startling new insight into the life, mind, career, faith, and legacy of the man whom family and friends called “Nino.” The result is a compelling portrait of an American legend with whom the author personally corresponded, broke bread, drank wine, and braved the streets of the capital as a (nervous) passenger in the justice’s famously speedy BMW. Rosen has unearthed previously unpublished writing from every phase of Scalia’s career, including private Supreme Court emails, and has interviewed Scalia’s family, classmates, students, colleagues from the Nixon, Ford, and Reagan administrations, priests, poker buddies, hunting companions, and fellow judges and justices. Rise to Greatness is a landmark of modern biography, a rich and moving study, accessible to lay readers, that brings to life a towering figure of American history. It is the book Scalia fans, and all citizens interested in history and the law, have long awaited.

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Book SynopsisDessau, Germany, 1939. A 49-year-old veteran of the Great War hobbles over to his sleek, green racing car, hands his walking stick to his mechanic and awkwardly pulls his damaged leg into the bowels of the machine. His hosts, the glamorous young drivers of the Nazi state-sponsored Silver Arrows team, share bemused grins as he rolls up his sleeves, dons an old-fashioned leather racing cap and pulls down his goggles. A few minutes later, to the astonishment of the Germans, the mostly selffunded car flashes past at over 200mph, setting a host of new international records. Goldie moves from the brutality of an Edwardian public school, through the jungles of Ceylon and into the blood-soaked trenches of the Somme. The book follows Goldie Gardner as he emerges into the post-war world, trying to make sense of what has happened, finding friendship and love, and searching for a way to prove himself. Motor racing and record breaking seem to offer a solution, but what follows is a story of obsession that establishes him as one of the most extraordinary record breakers of all time but leads to heartbreak, betrayal and eventually taking one risk too many.

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Book SynopsisChristian Dior: The Illustrated World of a Fashion Master is a stunning illustrated biography of legendary designer Christian Dior from internationally renowned fashion illustrator Megan Hess.Discover the key moments of Dior's fascinating life and iconic items from the fashion world that he created. Dior's love of flowers, creativity, femininity and good-luck charms were woven into everything he designed, and his New Look remains iconic to this day.Elegantly enclosed by a hardback cover and ribbon, Megan's beautiful illustrations follow Dior through three distinct chapters: the highs and lows of his early life, set against a backdrop of bohemian and wartime Paris; the couture house that he built into an empire in just ten years; and the incredible legacy he left behind for one of fashion's most influential brands.Christian Dior is a celebration of a man whose life was as remarkable as the clothes that he created, brought to life on the page by the expert hand of Megan Hess.Trade ReviewMegan Hess's [book] stands out; rather than simply chronicling his life and times, the internationally renowned fashion artist has given us an illustrated account. * Homes and Interiors Scotland *

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Book SynopsisThe Independent's 2017 Book of the Year and a 2020 London Eater recommended read for lockdown'If Malcolm Gladwell were to write a book about wine, the results wouldn't linger much more pleasurably on the palate than this accessible, adventurous, amusing and informative book by Bianca Bosker' - The Times Professional journalist and amateur drinker Bianca Bosker didn't know much about wine - until she discovered the world of elite sommeliers who dedicate their lives to the pursuit of flavour. Fascinated by their fervour and seemingly superhuman sensory powers, she set out to uncover what drove their obsession, and whether she, too, could become a 'cork dork.' With boundless curiosity, humour and a healthy dose of scepticism, Bosker takes the reader inside underground tasting groups, exclusive New York City restaurants, mass-market wine factories and even a neuroscientist's fMRI machine as she attempts to answer the most nagging question of all: what's the big deal about wine? Funny, counterintuitive and compulsively readable, Cork Dork does for drinking what Kitchen Confidential did for dining out, ensuring you'll never reach blindly for the second cheapest bottle on the menu again.Trade ReviewAccessible, adventurous, amusing and informative * The Times *Perhaps the most purely pleasurable book about wine ever written, this account of Bianca Bosker's journey from clueless wine boor to certifiable wine bore is everything wine writing so seldom is: nimble, self-aware, funny. -- George Reynolds * Eater London *Bosker's journey into this sodden universe is thrilling, and she tells her story with gonzo élan. * New York Times *Remarkably entertaining. Bosker is a talented writer, a thorough reporter and is unfailingly funny. * San Francisco Chronicle *such a good story, so brilliantly written...Make this the first book you buy in 2018. YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK. * JancisRobinson.com *A marvelous journey through the mad, manic, seductive subculture of wine and wine lovers. * Susan Orlean *I loved this book. It's not just about wine. It's about learning how to listen to your senses, to more deeply experience and appreciate the world around you, and everyone could use another glass of that. * Mary Roach *A brilliant feat of screwball participatory journalism. * Jay McInerney *excellent -- Martin Moran * The Sunday Times Ireland *

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Book SynopsisFinalist, Dartmouth Book Award for Non-Fiction, and Taste Canada Awards (Culinary Narratives)Nominated for 3 Gourmand AwardsAn Atlantic BestsellerA Hill Times Top 100 SelectionFebruary 2016. Antigonish, Nova Scotia.Tareq Hadhad was worried about his father: Isam did not know what to do with his life. Before the war began in Syria, Isam had run a chocolate company for over twenty years. But that life was gone now. The factory was destroyed, and he and his family had spent three years in limbo as refugees before coming to Canada. So, in an unfamiliar kitchen in a small town, Isam began to make chocolate again.This remarkable book tells the extraordinary story of the Hadhad family — Isam, his wife Shahnaz, and their sons and daughters — and the founding of the chocolatier, Peace by Chocolate. From the devastation of the Syrian civil war, through their life as refugees in Lebanon, to their arrival in a small town in Atlantic Canada, Peace by Chocolate is the story of one family. It is also the story of the people of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and so many towns across Canada, who welcomed strangers and helped them face the challenges of settling in an unfamiliar land.Trade Review"Jon Tattrie expertly weaves the extraordinary story of the Hadhad family’s journey from Syria to Canada with a portrayal of the Antigonish community that came together to support them. Peace by Chocolate is a timely tale of triumph, a story about the gift of community and the power of determination, and one family’s passion for chocolate. We need more heartwarming stories like this, especially today." -- Ayelet Tsabari, author of The Art of Leaving"An important, compassionate book, which everyone should read. It will change how you think about Syrian refugees. Peace by Chocolate will open your heart and mind and move you to reach out to people in need. This is a book about never losing hope." -- Tima Kurdi, author of The Boy on the Beach

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Book SynopsisIn 2008 the art critic Tom Lubbock was diagnosed with a brain tumour. The tumour was located in the area controlling speech and language, and would eventually rob him of the ability to speak. He died early in 2011. Marion Coutts was his wife.In short bursts of beautiful, textured prose, Coutts describes the eighteen months leading up to her partner's death. This book is an account of a family unit, man, woman, young child, under assault, and how the three of them fought to keep it intact.Written with extraordinary narrative force and power, The Iceberg is almost shocking in its rawness. It charts the deterioration of Tom's speech even as it records the developing language of his child. Fury, selfishness, grief, indignity and impotence are all examined and brought to light.Yet out of this comes a rare story about belonging, an 'adventure of being and dying'. This book is a celebration of each other, friends, family, art, work, love and language.Trade ReviewThe book's truth is so pure and compressed, as though Coutts had condensed the coal of her experience into a diamond. Encountering it is like a near-death experience, at once traumatic and profoundly, permanently illuminating. Love itself is in these pages: not a representation of love, but love, pure and simple. The book reeks of it. * New York Times *An exquisitely expressed portrait of three lives operating in the shadow of catastrophe... This is human trauma, profoundly and beautifully told. * Independent on Sunday *Not quite like any other bereavement memoir... it reads like a huge juggernaut, its inevitable awful ending hurtling towards you at full speed from the first page. * Evening Standard *Readers should be warned that sharing such a grief as closely as this marvellous book compels one to do is painful... This is a book that clearly had to be written... And certainly it ought to be read by anyone who ever pauses to consider our mortality. -- Diana Athill * Sunday Telegraph *Marion Coutts has written a fierce love letter-cum-elegy in The Iceberg... This is far more than just another book about grief. -- Marina Warner * Observer *The Iceberg is mesmerising, harrowing and radiant. There are times when to go on reading is almost unbearable, yet it is impossible to put it down. -- Cressida Connolly * Mail on Sunday *It is a memoir quite unlike any other. It has the strength of an arrow: taut, spiked, quavering, working to its fatal conclusion... The Iceberg is an extraordinary story told in an extraordinary way. * The Sunday Times *In writer and artist Marion Coutts' unflinching yet uplifting memoir... she becomes a chronicler of what it means to be human. * Financial Times *Searing, shocking, unflinching, profoundly moving. * Spectator *At times so painful that it's hard to keep reading, this is nonetheless an unexpectedly reassuring book. * Books of the Year, Daily Mail *The writing is lyrical, textured, perfectly paced; the sentences short so that we feel Coutts's moments of panic, her quickened heartbeat... [A] startlingly beautiful and inspiring pioneer text * Independent *Hey - want to uncontrollably weep your eyes out? Read Marion Coutts describing her husband dying of a brain tumour. * @caitlinmoran *The Iceberg is a depiction of loss so raw it couldn't but melt the coldest of hearts. But Coutts is also something of an alchemist when it comes to language, her prose a uniquely beautiful landscape of emotion. * Independent, Books of the Year *An almost sculpted account of her and her infant son's endurance as her art critic husband died of a brain tumour: it is grand beyond words. * The Scotsman, Books of the Year *Harrowing but spellbinding... communicates in an original, challenging way the changes in her life after her husband, Tom Lubbock, was diagnosed with a brain tumour - well deserves its acclaim. * Guardian, Books of the Year *One of the most compelling and challenging books of the year. It has the strength of an arrow: taut, spiked, quivering, working to its fatal conclusion. * The Sunday Times, Books of the Year *Marion Coutt's memoir of her husband Tom Lubbock's last days following the diagnosis of a brain tumour is as devastating as you might expect. Yet such is the intensity and passion of her writing, it's also strangely exhilarating. * Josh Cohen, The Guardian, Books of the Year *The most heartbreaking memoir of the year... The writing is raw with grief, and offers no pat lessons or easy answers. * Independent on Sunday, Books of the Year *A perfect piece of writing, it does justice to a terrible situation, giving it grace and even glory. -- Claire Tomalin * The Week *Deeply affecting and beautifully written. * Literary Review *

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Book SynopsisFrom the playgrounds of Glasgow to the villages of Bangladesh; from religious rites to ancient superstitions; from the world's richest people to its powerless and enslaved, Lorna Gibb's masterful Childless Voices paints a global portrait of people without children. Brilliantly grouped by thematic commonality (Those who long, Those who were denied, Those who Choose, etc) the book is a testament to the power of listening, and the power of sharing stories. It is an essential, moving and surprising book on a subject which touches everyone.

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Book SynopsisIt is the 1970s in LA, and Jacaranda Leven - child of sun and surf - is swept into the dazzling cultural milieu of the beautiful people. Floating on a cloud of drink, drugs and men, she finds herself adrift, before her talent for writing, and a determined literary agent, set her on a course for New York and a new life.Sex & Rage is a recently re-discovered classic from author Eve Babitz, herself a muse to many an artist, writer and musician in the 1970s. A semi-autobiographical novel, it charts the highs and lows of a life lived at the limits, and transports the reader to a sunnier, dreamier, more reckless time and place.Trade ReviewAs cool, sharp and delicious as a perfectly executed Mint Julep. Babitz writes with wit and clarity - and always, always with a whole lot of heart -- ELIZABETH DAYBabitz writes like no one else, but if she sounds like anyone, it is Nora Ephron writing songs for Lana del Rey. Sex & Rage is seductive, funny and infuriating - it's a slacker siren song, a novel about writers and writing and a heavenly holiday to '70s LA all at once -- DAISY BUCHANANPure pleasure - a perpetual-motion machine of no-stakes elation and champagne fizz * * New Yorker * *Babitz's style is cool, conversational, loose, yet weighted with a seemingly effortless poetry * * Guardian * *Gritty, glamorous, toxic and intoxicating * * The New York Times * *Babitz's talent is in the telling. She surfs between prose and poetry, describing tenderness and cruelty with equally weighted vividness, and lacerates with her wit. Even though the book is forty years old, the title is more resonant than ever . . . Jacaranda's greatest dilemmas feel painfully contemporary * * Independent * *Eve Babitz is to prose what Chet Baker, with his light, airy style, lyrical but also rhythmic, detached but also sensuous, is to jazz * * Vanity Fair * *A beautiful stylist . . . The joy of Babitz's writing is in her ability to suggest that an experience is very nearly out of language while still articulating its force within it * * New Republic * *The portrait of the artist as an ever-evolving young woman * * W * *

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Book SynopsisNominated for the National Book Critics Circle AwardIn this long-awaited and candid memoir, Hitchens re-traces the footsteps of his life to date, from his childhood in Portsmouth, with his adoring, tragic mother and reserved Naval officer father; to his life in Washington DC, the base from which from he would launch fierce attacks on tyranny of all kinds. Along the way, he recalls the girls, boys and booze; the friendships and the feuds; the grand struggles and lost causes; and the mistakes and misgivings that have characterised his life.Hitch-22 is, by turns, moving and funny, charming and infuriating, enraging and inspiring. It is an indispensable companion to the life and thought of our pre-eminent political writer.Trade ReviewIf Hitchens didn't exist, we wouldn't be able to invent him. * Ian McEwan *Christopher Hitchens is one of the great conversationalists of our age and his wit, style and erudition are brilliantly deployed in this glittering autobiography. Hitch-22 sparkles with funny stories, treasurable quotations, witty apercus and deft descriptions. * Sunday Times *A pert yet elegantly written memoir. * Sunday Telegraph *A fascinating account of the influences - political, cultural and philosophical - on Hitchens's intellectual development... A funny, sad, incisive, and serious narrative... He is our son and one of our most gifted writers. We should take pride in that and be busting our guts to get him back. * Spectator *Table of Contents1: Yvonne 2: The Commander 3: Fragments from an Education 4: Cambridge 5: The Sixties: Revolution in the Revolution 6: Chris or Christopher? 7: The Fenton Factor 8: Martin 9: Portugal to Poland 10: A Second Identity: On Becoming an (Anglo) American 11: Changing Places 12: Salman 13: Mesopotamia from Both Sides 14: Something of Myself 15: Thinking Thrice about the Jewish Question. 16: Edward Said in Light and Shade (and Saul) 17: Decline, Mutation, or Metamorphosis?

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Book Synopsis'Immensely powerful and is an extraordinary testament to the human desire for survival' Daily MailA harrowing and inspiring true story of a young boy's abusive childhood, from internationally bestselling author Dave Pelzer. Brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother - Dave became a slave; he was no longer a boy, but an 'it'. His bed was an old army cot in the basement, his clothes were torn and unwashed, and when he was allowed the luxury of food it was scraps from the dog's bowl. The outside world knew nothing of the nightmare played out behind closed doors. But throughout Dave kept alive dreams of finding a family to love him. This book covers the early years of his life and is an affecting and inspirational book of the horrors of child abuse and the steadfast determination of one child to survive. It is the first book in the My Story trilogy.'Heartfelt... cannot fail to move you' HeatTrade ReviewThis heartfelt true story of one child's courage to survive cannot fail to move you - HEATHis tale will both break and warm your heart - DAILY MIRRORA remarkable true story... Truly touching, and emotionally shocking. A marvel - BESTWhat has made Dave Pelzer's story a bestseller is that it is also a story of redemption. It is a story where love, kindness, patience and endurance triumph - DAILY MAIL

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Book SynopsisNorah Vincent became an instant media sensation with the publication of Self-Made Man, her take on just how hard it is to be a man, even in a man's world. Vincent spent a year and a half disguised as her male alter ego, Ned, exploring what men are like when women aren't around. As Ned, she joined a bowling team, took a high-octane sales job, went on dates with women (and men), visited strip clubs, and even managed to infiltrate a monastery and a men's therapy group. At once thought-provoking and pure fun to read, Self-Made Man is a sympathetic and thrilling tour de force of immersion journalism.Trade ReviewThis captivating account will forever change the way you see men - and perhaps yourself * Marie Claire *An addictive, enthralling read...breathtaking -- Viv Groskop * Observer *Beautifully written...a brave and fascinating book * Sunday Times *Funny, compelling and human -- Sarah Vine * The Times *Intelligent, articulate and perceptive... one of the most sympathetic renderings of masculinity you're likely to read -- Lionel Shriver * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisIn this memoir of personal discovery, loss and renewal, Claire Bloom looks beyond the stage and unveils her true identity. One of the most beautiful and gifted actresses of her generation, Claire Bloom's achievements in theatre and television have been celebrated throughout the world. Bloom traces her fatherless years in the 1930s to her apprenticeship in the British theatre and her rise as an actress in Charles Chaplin's Limelight before she was 20. She recounts professional and personal relationships with Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Anthony Hopkins and Paul Schofield, and tells of her long entanglement with Richard Burton. She recalls failed marriages to Rod Steiger and Hillard Eskins, and the book concludes with a stark account of the most important relationship of her life, with writer Philip Roth.

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Book Synopsis'In the first decade of the twentieth century, it was not a good time to be born black, or woman, in America.' So begins this stunning portrait of Vivian Baxter Johnson: the first black woman officer in the Merchant Marines, purveyor of a gambling business and rooming house, and mother to Maya Angelou, beloved and bestselling author I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS.'A brilliant writer, a fierce friend and a truly phenomenal woman' BARACK OBAMAAnyone who's read the classic, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, knows Maya Angelou was raised by her paternal grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. In Mom & Me & Mom, Angelou details what brought her mother to send her away and unearths the well of emotions Angelou experienced long afterward as a result. While Angelou's six autobiographies tell of her out in the world, influencing and learning from statesmen and cultural icons, Mom & Me & Mom shares the intimate, emotional story about her own family.'She moved through the world with unshakeable calm, confidence and a fierce grace . . . She will always be the rainbow in my clouds' OPRAH WINFREY 'She was important in so many ways. She launched African American women writing in the United States. She was generous to a fault. She had nineteen talents - used ten. And was a real original. There is no duplicate' TONI MORRISONTrade ReviewExtraordinary . . . a jaw-dropper of a memoir -- Viv Groskop * Red *A brilliant writer, a fierce friend and a truly phenomenal womanThe poems and stories she wrote . . . were gifts of wisdom and wit, courage and graceShe moved through the world with unshakeable calm, confidence and a fierce grace . . . She will always be the rainbow in my clouds -- Oprah WinfreyShe was important in so many ways. She launched African American women writing in the United States. She was generous to a fault. She had nineteen talents - used ten. And was a real original. There is no duplicate -- Toni Morrison

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