Memoirs Books

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Book SynopsisIn this stirring memoir by a member of the first generation of LGBTQ+ activists in Italy, Porpora Marcasciano tells her story and shares the struggles and accomplishments of her fellow activists who achieved so much in the 1970s yet suffered devastating losses during the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s. AntoloGaia offers an insider’s look at the beginnings of the gay liberation movement in Italy and reveals how it was intimately intertwined with other forms of left-wing activism. At the same time, it powerfully conveys the queer joy of a young person from a small village first encountering the vibrant sexual minority communities of Naples, Bologna, and Rome. As Marcasciano starts to embrace her trans identity, she meets the famous anthropologist Pino Simonelli, who introduces her to Naples’s unique femminielli subculture and gives her the name Porporino, which she later shortens to Porpora. In keeping with this story of gender, sexual, and political discovery, AntoloGaia is the first piece of Italian life-writing to use gender-neutral and mixed-gender language. Trade Review"Porpora Marcasciano says of this electrifying memoir that, if she could, she would have written it in verse to better capture the wild anarchic energy of the world that fueled her activism. No need. Her life story is poetry enough. What a gift to English speakers for her story to find us now, when we need the inspiration of as much wild anarchic energy as possible." -- Susan Stryker * author of Transgender History: The Roots of Today's Revolution *"A fascinating look into Italy's radical queer and trans cultures and their fraught relationship with wider left-wing politics, Marcasciano's AntoloGaia is just as much a guide to how to live one's life with courage, conviction, and creativity." -- Juliet Jacques * author of Trans: A Memoir *"This is a book of exploration—of gender, of one’s life, of things one has dared to dream. Like the people we meet, the stories Porpora Marcasciano tells are cradled in a radical trans love, and isn't that one of the best kinds of love? As you read, you too will be cradled and never abandoned." -- Marquis Bey * author of Black Trans Feminism *"This trans memoir by Porpora Marcasciano, someone who felt born into the wrong world, could not come at a better time. Sexual rights for minorities have been on the map since humans have shared their feelings about being in the world, and what a fitting opportunity that a trans story from 1970s Italy has come to light in this beautiful translation." -- Bernadette Wegenstein * coeditor of Radical Equalities and Global Feminist Filmmaking: An Anthology *"Marcasciano's life is a valuable part of trans history, and her account of the queer movement in Italy during the chaotic 1970s is eye-opening." -- Diana Goetsch * author of This Body I Wore: A Memoir *Table of ContentsForeword: "Giving Voice to the Italian Trans Community," Sara Galli and Mohammad Jamali Translator's Note, Francesco Pascuzzi and Sandra Waters Preface to the Italian edition: "The Unbearable Lightness of Gender in History and Biography," Laura Schettini Chapter One Le début (1973–1976) Somewhere in the West Traces of Dreams The Source of Consciousness Coming Out It Happened Trip Other Dimensions Changing the World The Underground Technical Rehearsals of Resistance The Best of Youth Rebel Music Exodus, Displacement, Transition EscapeChapter Two 1977: Dreaming and Utopia And 1977 Exploded! The First Lesbian We Want Everything! Alice in the City, Transversalism, Situationism, Fantasy Strawberries and Blood Between Class and Gender Consciousness Nomadic Tribes The Crush Continuous The Biggest Piazza Was Too Small The Transvestite Cries Out for Revenge in the Presence of the Phallus Porporino La dolce vita Lud With the Faguettes or With the Chavs Being Overwhelmed Flora and Fauna Good Morning, Night The First of May Distress and Self-Awareness Living in a Dream and Not Dreaming about LivingChapter Three Extravagance (1978–1982) Zanza Valentina Sanna Cortese Narciso The Festival of Poets at Castelporziano Capo Rizzuto and Gay Camping Gay Activism and Its First Conference Mario Mieli Royal Family and Self-Defense Techniques Monte Caprino Extravaganza Pisa Desiring Bologna and the Grand Duchy of Pistoia Lesbians and/or Feminists Punk The '80s Began Valerie Theater 1981 and the First Gay New Year Trans Manifesto for 164 Gay Occupations Beaches The CasseroChapter Four Transition, Epic Passage (1983...) Then Night Came! The Gay Plague Blows to the Heart Author Acknowledgments Appendices Timelines Key Words Porpora's Publications Notes on Contributors

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Book SynopsisFrom one of rap’s most personal and evocative writers comes a stirring memoir about how Boosie Badazz, one of the industry’s most controversial figures, was able to overcome insurmountable odds to make his music dreams a reality.A Baton Rouge native who began rapping at age fourteen, Boosie Badazz was already a cult hero in Louisiana when, in 2009, he was sentenced to two years in prison. The next year, he was indicted on even more serious charges, eventually landing him on Death Row. Prosecutors played Boosie’s music in the courtroom in an attempt to paint him as a thug with no chance of redemption. However, against overwhelming odds and the backdrop of a social media campaign to #FreeBoosie, he was freed in March of 2014 with a rare second chance to make his music dreams come true. In this evocative and compelling memoir, Boosie explores the relationship between his life on the streets with his ceaseless tear through the rap industry. From near-death experiences to a ruthless bout with kidney cancer to a life-threatening diabetes diagnosis, Boosie has overcome remarkable challenges to make a name for himself as one of rap’s most influential voices. A redemptive story with an urgent voice, Cross the Tracks is the survival tale of a man who wasn’t sure he would live to see another day...but who rose from the ashes to change the rap industry forever.Trade Review "Boosie is official as a referee’s whistle and so is his masterpiece of a book.” –Snoop Dogg "As someone who has spent countless hours interviewing Boosie, I was amazed at how much I learned about him from reading this book. This is a truly personal look into the mind and heart of not only a rapper, but a father, a friend, and a man. A truly great read."—DJ Vlad, CEO, VladTV “Boosie’s book is as real as the legend himself. You have to read it to believe it.”—Webbie

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Book SynopsisCheck out Little Voice on Apple TV+! Little Voice is inspired by a lost song from Sara Bareilles’s first studio album. This updated New York Times bestselling collection of essays by seven-time Grammy nominated singer songwriter Sara Bareilles “resonates with authentic and hard-won truths” (Publishers Weekly)—and features new material on the hit Broadway musical, Waitress.Sara Bareilles “pours her heart and soul into these essays” (Associated Press), sharing the joys and the struggles that come with creating great work, all while staying true to yourself. Imbued with humor and marked by Sara’s confessional writing style, this essay collection tells the inside story behind some of her most popular songs. Well known for her chart-topper “Brave,” Sara first broke through in 2007 with her multi-platinum single “Love Song.” She has since released seven albums that have sold millions of copies and spawned several hits. “A breezy, upbeat, and honest reflection of this multitalented artist” (Kirkus Reviews), Sounds Like Me reveals Sara Bareilles, the artist—and the woman—on songwriting, soul searching, and what’s discovered along the way.

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Book SynopsisAward-winning actor, rapper, and producer Ice-T unveils a compelling memoir of his early life robbing jewelry stores until he found fame and fortune—while a handful of bad choices sent his former crime partner down an incredibly different path. Ice-T rose to fame in the late 1980s, earning acclaim for his music before going on to enthrall television audiences as Odafin “Fin” Tutuola in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. But it could have gone much differently. In this “poignant and powerful” (Library Journal, starred review) memoir, Ice-T and Spike, his former crime partner—collaborating with New York Times bestselling author Douglas Century—relate the shocking stories of their shared pasts, and how just a handful of decisions led to their incredibly different lives. Both grew up in violent, gang-controlled Los Angeles neighborhoods and worked together to orchestrate a series of jewelry heists. But while Ice-T was discovered rapping in a club and got his first record deal, Spike was caught for a jewelry robbery and did three years in prison. As his music career began to take off, Ice made the decision to abandon the criminal life; Spike continued to plan increasingly ingenious and risky jewel heists. And in 1992, after one of Spike’s robberies ended tragically, he was sentenced to thirty-five years to life. While he sat behind bars, he watched his former partner rise to fame in music, movies, and television. “Propulsive” (Publishers Weekly, starred review), timely, and thoughtful, two men with two very different lives reveal how their paths might have very well been reversed if they made different choices. All it took was a split decision.

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Book SynopsisI could dream in poetry, could summon words for spiritual experience, could name God in twelve ways and in ten times and places in history. Award-winning writer Karen Salyer McElmurray details her life's journey across continents and decades in a poetic collection that is equal parts essay-as-memoir, memoir-as-Künstlerroman, and travelogue-as-meditation. It is about the deserts of India. A hospital ward in Maryland. The blue seas of Greece. A greenhouse in Virginia. It is about the spirit houses of Thailand. The mountains of eastern Kentucky. The depths of the Grand Canyon. A creative writing classroom in Georgia. An attic in a generations-old house. It is about coming to terms with both memory and the power of writing itself. At turns lyrical, poignant, and alluring, McElmurray probes her personal history from the stance of different places, perspectives, and vulnerabilities as she tenderly and fiercely searches for acceptance and a place to call home.

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Book Synopsis'The book of the year. THE book on dogs. And people.' Andrew Dickens, Newstalk ZBMike White began walking his SPCA-rescue huntaway, Cooper, at Wellington's dog parks ten years ago, and since then has become part of a remarkable community of people and their pets.Written with wit, wisdom and heartbreaking poignancy, How to Walk a Dog is a story anyone who has ever owned or loved a dog will relate to. You will laugh, you will cry, and you will learn some of the secrets of living with a dog.Illustrated with drawings from acclaimed cartoonist Sharon Murdoch.Trade ReviewMike White, for decades one of the country's most persuasive journalists, makes a case here as irrefutable as it is moving: throw a stick, make a dog happy, be a better person. He has convinced me. -- Vincent O'SullivanThis wryly affectionate portrait of dogs and their people is a tail-thumpingly delightful read. -- Jane CliftonSo charming and funny and sincere - this is dog lit at its best. -- Steve BrauniasTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. The names we give them 2. The people we meet with them 3. The places we walk them 4. The dogs we meet with them 5. The ways we train them 6. The heartache they cause us 7. The ways we play with them 8. The ways they shame us 9. The jobs we give them10. The ways we say goodbye to them

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Book SynopsisHeartwarming and charming stories of dogs and books from the bestselling author of The Bookseller at the End of the World.Dogs of all shapes and sizes visit Ruth Shaw''s three wee bookshops in Manapouri in the far south of Aotearoa New Zealand. Local dogs, holiday house dogs, travelling dogs: many have great stories, be they funny, sad, strange, bemusing, quirky or sweet.Woven throughout are tales of the very special Hunza, the dog who worked with troubled teens alongside Ruth when she was a youth worker.This is a window into the wonderful world of Ruth and her generous love of people, books and dogs. It''s a must-read for dog fans, book fans and anyone who loved her first book, The Bookseller at the End of the World.

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Book SynopsisSidi Bou Said, Tunisia: on the night after the terrorist attack killing thirty-eight tourists on the nearby beach of Sousse, a woman sits facing the sea, and attempts to take stock. Personal tragedies soon resurface, the unexpected deaths of a dear friend - a fellow writer who died just weeks ago at sea, having forsaken the work that had given his life meaning - and of her father, a quiet man who had left all that he held dear in Tunisia to emigrate to France in his later years. Through childhood memories and the prism of modern French classics, the story of Tunisia's Jewish community is pieced together. Shifting from Tunisia to Paris to a Flaubertian village in Normandy, Colette Fellous embarks on a Proustian lyrical journey, in which she gives voice to loved ones silenced by death and to those often unheard in life. Her love letter and adieu to her native country becomes an archive - or refuge - for stories of human resilience.Trade Review`Colette Fellous' beautiful book, humming and dancing with sensual intelligence, newly vivid in Sophie Lewis's deft, delicate, agile version, takes change and translation as its very themes. It asks us to imagine leaving home, searching for a new home. That home may simply be language itself, a web of knotted meanings. However, if that web serves as a rope bridge slung between places and people, and the bridge is cut and falls, survival is put at stake. This Tilting World explores how, after such a rupture, one woman tries to re-compose the meanings of her life and thereby go on living.' (Michele Roberts). `Fragments: the result of dispersion, of destruction perhaps - but also the indispensable ingredients for a promise of reparation. This duality lies at the heart of the final volume of Colette Fellous's work of remembrance... merely giving shape to intimate material, from which to look out on the world, and welcome in the outside.... Faced with hopeless violence, the mind's eye keeps watch and goes on to foster the struggle for softness that Colette Fellous learnt from Barthes, so that the moment of hiatus is calm and bright - a redemption. This book probes our reaction in the face of a world in shreds.' (Le Monde Des Livres). `A bewitching, hallucinatory elegy to home and exile, love and death, memory and loss. In precise, haunting prose, Fellous evokes the places and relationships, smells and sounds that make up this jigsaw of memories, set against the violence of contemporary events in Tunisia and France.' (Natasha Lehrer). `Colette Fellous (...) has two homelands: her birthplace, Tunisia, and her language, French. Between them is an arc, a tension, an energy: that of a double belonging which does not alienate but provides an opening.' (Le Monde). `[Fellous] enchants with her way of capturing emotions, sensations, moments, and people. She elegantly opens the doors to the past.' (Livres Hebdo). `...a reflection-sensitive and honest-on our present, this impossible present, this threshold between yesterday and a complex future, where we "see how our own lives have been entirely created by political history despite our thinking that they were ours alone, that they were `personal'".' (Diacritik). `Beyond the sadness and the loss, is a great seductive energy - we are drawn by a wish to live and to learn - and Fellous's inimitable way of regarding the world.' (Madame Figaro for Un amour de frere). `Without nostalgic yearning, lithe and fluid in her way of capturing the coruscating nature of words, Fellous weaves past and present into a labyrinth of a book in which she shares her passions: writing, tuning herself to the world and untangling with relish the threads of reality and of thought.' (Le Magazine Litteraire for La preparation de la vie). `Like a true disciple of Barthes, Colette Fellous works in fragments which she stiches together with infinite delicacy, inlaying the fabric of the text with black and white photographs, embroidering its surface with precious details; a sensual constellation of memories, colours and scents... The self as a fragment becomes an art, elegant and sensitive, as Colette Fellous returns to the vestiges of the past.' (Les Inrockuptibles for La preparation de la vie).

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Book SynopsisTaking selfies is not the exclusive preserve of millennials. In Selfies, the niece of French philosopher Simone Weil, also daughter of one of the most brilliant mathematicians of the 20th c., gives a playful twist to the concept of self-representation: taking her cue from self-portraits by women artists, ranging from the 13th c. through the Renaissance to Frida Kahlo and Vivian Maier, Weil has written a memoir in pieces, that is yet unified. Each picture acts as a portal to a significant moment from Weil's own life (as schoolgirl, writer, daughter and mother) and sparks anecdotes tangentially touching on topical issues (from the Palestinian question to the pain of a mother witnessing her son's psychotic breakdown, to the subtle manifestations of anti-Semitism, to ageism, genetics, and a Jewish dog...). Switching from poignant to light-hearted, with Weil's trademark irony and self-deprecating humour, Selfies is a sophisticated, `delightful read', with heartwrenching tendencies. (Front cover photograph: VIVIAN MAIER, Self-portrait, New York, NY, 1955 copyright Estate of Vivian Maier, Courtesy Maloof Collection and Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York. End page photograph of the author by Marc Riboud, courtesy of Catherine Riboud, Paris.)Trade Review'A beguiling series of vignettes, by turns wry, amusing and disturbing, inspired by self-portraits by women artists and reflecting on the images they provoke. An illuminating survey of the author's various identities, in a fractured world, as mother, lover and writer.' - Michele Roberts. 'A new genre is born: the short selfie collection! Lively, inventive, compassionate, aching, morally complex and troubling, I loved these self-portraits more than anything I've read lately.' - Lauren Elkin. 'In Selfies Sylvie Weil uses a work of an artist to set the theme for a snapshot of a past episode in her life. These selfies are exquisite vignettes - intelligent, witty, observant, sometimes poignant, and beautifully written - the elegance of the original French apparent in this fine English translation.' - Piers Paul Read . 'If yesteryear's painted self-portraits were as concerned with pose and presentation as are today's phone selfies, Sylvie Weil is the ideal analyst of what may lie behind the image. In a sequence of transpositions of the work of women portraitists from the Renaissance onwards, she applies their appearance to her experience, and implies a continuity in women's self-presentation. Like them, Sylvie Weil has an illustrious heritage (daughter to Andre a brilliant and renowned mathematician; niece to Simone, a brilliant and renowned philosopher). Unlike them, she moves from the visual to the verbal, expressive of both profound truth and imagination.' - Amanda Hopkinson.Reviews of Sylvie Weil's 'At Home with Andre and Simone', published by Northwestern University Press, USA, 2010 : `...an elegant and witty memoir-cum-reflection.' -The Spectator. 'Sylvie Weil's memoir is simply one of the best books I've read in the past decade. At turns poignant, poetic, and deeply personal' - Paul LeClerc, president, The New York Public Library. 'The missing link in the story of Andre and Simone Weil is Sylvie Weil, daughter of the great mathematician, niece of the legendary philosopher. In her memoirs... the 'merely' personal is transformed into something rich and strange.' -Palle Yourgrau, author of A World Without Time: The Forgotten Legacy of Goedel and Einstein.Table of Contents13 chapters including Self-portrait at the organ, Self-portrait as a capital letter, Self-portrait with postcard, Self-portrait as a visitor, Self-portrait with portrait of my son, Self-portrait as a Chinese mushroom, Self-portrait with dog, Stabat mater, Self-portrait as an author, Self-portrait on the beach, Self-portrait as a maker of idols, Self-portraits in fugitive mirrors, Photobomb selfie.

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Book SynopsisHere is the inside story of Fairfield Books: from its beginnings in the cricket coaching that the 45-year-old Stephen Chalke sought in the autumn of 1993 through the journeys around England and Wales that generated his first book 'Runs in the Memory' and on to the publication of 42 titles. The characters are recalled, the issues involved in creating books based on oral testimony considered, and the triumphs and disasters of small-scale publishing described. There are moments of great humour and harrowing tragedy, of unnerving encounters and unexpected revelations. 'Through The Remembered Gate' tells the story of a journey of discovery. Its author starts out with a desire to write but little knowledge of publishing, and with a love of cricket but no significant contacts in the game. By a series of accidents he becomes a chronicler of cricket's past and an established publisher of his own and others' books. Despite its moments of sorrow, it is a tale filled with joys. Into this rich mix the author adds a little of his own back story, revealing how these journeys into cricket's past have led him to see the world of his childhood with a fresh perspective.Trade ReviewStephen Chalke is probably the greatest oral historian of cricket ever. This memoir may be his best book. I urge you to buy it. It tells of Chalke’s 23 years at Fairfield Books, his homespun publishing house (literally a house in this case). There he was everything from MD to writer to delivery man until retirement this year. But that is only the framework, the trellis. Through it runs vivid social history, autobiography, and – in full vibrancy – the lives of county cricketers of the 1950s and 60s. That drabber, brighter, harsher, kinder, poorer, richer age. Paul Coupar-Hennessy, The Cricketer; Through the Remembered Gate is a candid and sympathetic memoir by Stephen Chalke, who since the late 1990s has through his research, writing and publishing transformed our understanding of the postwar game. David Kynaston, choosing it as his Book of the Year in The New Statesman

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Book SynopsisWhat are the right questions to ask when seeking out the true spirit of a nation? In November 2017 the people of Zimbabwe took to the streets in an unprecedented alliance with the military. Their goal, to restore the legacy of Chimurenga, the liberation struggle, and wrest their country back from over thirty years of Robert Mugabe’s rule. In an essay that combines bold reportage, memoir and critical analysis, Zimbabwean novelist and journalist Panashe Chigumadzi reflects on the ‘coup that was not a coup’, the telling of history and manipulation of time and the ancestral spirts of two women – her own grandmother and Mbuya Nehanda, the grandmother of the nation.Trade Review‘In a searing account that explores the heady post-independence days of the eighties, the economic downturn of the nineties, through to the effects of the land reform policies at the end of the century, Chigumadzi weaves together reflections on a nation’s founding spirit’ https://www.thedailyvox.co.za/these-bones-will-rise-again-is-an-intimate-telling-of-zimbabwean-history-shaazia-ebrahim/ -- Jennifer Malec * The Johannesburg Review of Books *‘Best summer books 2018, as picked by writers and cultural figures – part 2’ ‘an extraordinary and thrilling history of Zimbabwe’ https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jul/08/best-summer-holiday-reads-2018-philip-pullman-maggie-ofarrell-nina-stibbe-part-two -- Alex Preston * The Guardian *‘These Bones Will Rise Again reminds its readers of the complexities in the cultures of Africa . . . Panache Chigumadzi’s essay is a welcome addition to the new cannon of decolonised historical literature.’ https://livemag.co.za/book-review-panashe-chigumadzis-these-bones-will-rise-again/ -- Terry Simelane-Mathabathe * Live Mag *http://bookslive.co.za/blog/2018/08/27/i-wanted-to-interrogate-the-legacy-that-belonged-to-me-panashe-chigumadzi-on-these-bones-will-rise-again/ -- Rufaro Samanga interviews Panashe Chigumadzi * Okay Africa *‘By refusing to conceal the marks of its making, Chigumadzi’s essay lays bare the challenges of constructing historical narratives’ http://review31.co.uk/article/view/592/perhaps-she-was-this-perhaps-she-was-that -- Jacqueline Landey * Review 31 *‘Chigumadzi writes of her feeling of dislocation from the land of her birth having been raised in South Africa and her ancestral connection to Zimbabwe. Her sincerity to seek truth carries out beautifully throughout the book.’ https://www.thedailyvox.co.za/these-bones-will-rise-again-is-an-intimate-telling-of-zimbabwean-history-shaazia-ebrahim/ -- Shaazia Ebrahim * The Daily vox *‘the author has masterfully succeeded in providing the reader with a book that is a powerful ode to the various women, both great and small, who took Zimbabwe through its multiple phases of liberation’ http://www.rewritelondon.com/portfolio/book-review-these-bones-will-rise-again/ * Rewrite *‘Panache Chigumadzi passionately places her personal story, connected to the family history and the history of her nation, within a blend of Zimbabwe’s national mythology & socio-political turmoil’ https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/books/non-fiction/2019-05-02-these-bones-will-rise-again-breaks-120-years-of-oppression/ -- Bryan Davis * Sunday Times Books *Opinion: Mugabe Is Dead, but Big Man Politics Lives On https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/10/opinion/robert-mugabe-zimbabwe.html -- Panashe Chigumadzi * New York Times *10 Best Political Activism Books of All Time https://bookauthority.org/books/best-political-activism-books?t=h63snq&s=author&book=1999683307 * Book Authority *Panashe Chigumadzi ZAM Nelson Mandela Lecture 2023 https://youtu.be/LuuV1KFei-0 * ZAM Magazine *

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Book SynopsisThe true story of a Jewish refugee boy, Erich, who arrived in this country from Nazi-occupied Europe three days before the start of the war. He was just four, and would never see his parents again. His earliest memories are of the tiny room he slept in off the bedroom of the couple he called mutti and fater but who were the Kreibichs, his foster parents. Traumatised by the separation from his birth family he blocks out, from then to now, all memory of his life before, even failing to recognise his eldest brother when he turns up years later. Erich must come to terms with the realisation that the Kreibichs are not his real parents, to learn of his past, his family and how he came on the Kindertransport. The book follows his unusual journey from orphan refugee boy to man, and from Vienna to Buckingham Palace!

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Book SynopsisCan you remember a time when there were no mobile phones or computers? When TV sets had tiny screens that only showed a picture in black & white? When there were no MacDonalds or KFCs? When our currency was Pounds, Shillings and Pence? Well Dennis Platt can remember, and he is writing about his youth in Salford only fifty to sixty years ago. Millennials and those born in the last two decades of the 20th century will be astonished by the wealth of information he provides. Fortunately, Dennis has an amazing memory for detail and it is this that makes this book a fascinating read.

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Book SynopsisThis is the story of a Yorkshire lad, who, aged three, was taken to live in South Africa. A rapscallion, or worse, Peter Conway came to the attention of the Johannesburg police and then, the South African Defence Force. As Peter’s scrapes escalated, he was shrewdly manipulated into serving, first the Apartheid South African Government and then, following Nelson Mandela’s assumption of the Presidency, the new masters of this achingly beautiful land. Intelligence officer, infantryman in the Bush War in Angola, Hells Angel, brothel keeper, drug smuggler and mercenary, Peter was all these and more. In 2004, together with Simon Mann, Mark Thatcher and others, Peter participated in the Wonga Coup, the failed attempt to overthrow the Government of Equatorial Guinea. Finally, the venality and cynicism of modern South African governance became too much and in 2012, aged forty-six, Peter abandoned the land of his dreams to live in England and write this memoir. Thy Will be Done discloses a frighteningly violent dysfunctionality, bordering upon anarchy, both in present-day South Africa and elsewhere in that continent. It is no read for the faint-hearted, but for those interested in one of the fastest growing and yet most dangerous parts of our world, it’s a must.

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Book Synopsis'Shadowman is an emotional and powerful read, deeply honest and very personal, and at times made bearable only by Johnny Daukes' ability to find comedy in horrific circumstances. An astonishing piece of work' - David Quantick This is no ordinary autobiography. In 2003 Johnny Daukes acknowledged to himself and confessed to his younger brother that he had been sexually abused as a child. This was by a man in charge of a boys' club in Oxford, run by the Catholic organisation Opus Dei. In 1984 the abuser married their older sister and the couple went on to have ten children. In 1992 Johnny formed the band FIN and they released records, toured extensively and received a great deal of press and national airplay. He also went on to become a successful voice-over artist, screenwriter and director. Later in life Johnny came to realise that these projects – his lyrics, sketches and scripts – were in fact the documents, or records, of a life that had been corrupted. Shadowman is an extraordinary memoir about childhood abuse and one man's unwitting attempt to examine and understand the past through creativity and art. 'What a unique book Johnny Daukes' Shadowman is. On the surface it's memoir but at its heart it's a book that wrestles with big questions about pain, art, memory and love' - Mat Osman 'Johnny Daukes' compelling memoir navigates both darkness and exhilaration with intensity and painful candour but also joy and wit. This is a book that is often melancholy but never mawkish and at its heart is an affirming appetite for life.' - Stuart Maconie AUTHOR: Johnny Daukes is a writer, musician, film editor, voice artist. He was the singer/songwriter of 90s indie-band FIN, became a comedy writer with sketch shows on BBCR4 (Radio9 & The Scanner), BBC3TV (The Message) and voiced 16 series of C4's Eurotrash. He wrote and directed the 2011 feature film Acts of Godfrey (starring Simon Callow), released solo albums including Promise that was album of the week in The Sunday Times and Rough Trade. His sitcom Cracking Up ran for two series on BBCR4 and he has latterly cut feature films including Finding Your Feet, Fisherman's Friends and Settlers.

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Book SynopsisIlana Estelle grew up not knowing she had been born with cerebral palsy, and it took forty-six years for her to find out. With work on herself, from the point of her cerebral palsy diagnosis, it would go on to take her until her fifties, to get her autism diagnosis. Ilana's journey from angry, confused child to the 'real' her took enormous inner strength and courage. Then the global pandemic struck. In The Covid Years: A Story, Ilana shares her overwhelming physical and mental struggles within the chaos of the pandemic. Navigating the daily turbulence and ever-changing rules and restrictions, Ilana explains how these things jarred with her physical, mental, and emotional needs leaving her constantly out of control and panicked. Locked down and frightened for her life, Ilana turned once again to writing, a process that helped her cope and reach out beyond life, within her 'four walls'. The Covid Years shows how one woman learned to deal with stress, anxiety, and on-going self-isolation through introspection and the healing power of words, and a determination to reconnect to the outside world. A must-read for anyone wanting to shed light on their own personal journey through Covid-19. AUTHOR: Ilana's cerebral palsy diagnosis was hidden from her until the age of forty-six. That diagnosis was a lifechanging moment that allowed Ilana to look at her life experiences differently. Months after her diagnosis, she set up her website The CP Diary. Ilana spends her days writing and blogging about things that contribute to her health and wellbeing. She uses her experiences to write, bringing clarity into her life. She writes about health and wellbeing, advocating positivity, empathy and understanding through her blog, and across social media. Ilana who is passionate about the environment and is an animal advocate, lives with her husband in Yorkshire. When she is not writing, Ilana enjoys days out exploring the beautiful north Yorkshire countryside. This is her third book.

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Book SynopsisThis book is more than an autobiographical account of the career of a young graduate from Australia who spent his life working as a United Nations official. It is in fact, a critical, indispensable debriefing of a UN insider’s account as it follows the life of a development practitioner for more than three decades within the global aid sector.It also goes where few others have dared to go before, providing first-hand insights into the realities of a UN career official’s life. While many throughout the world may wish to join the “UN family” or have already become part of the development sector, it is presumed they all have a vision to act as vehicles for positive social change. However, expectations can and may differ once realities have sunk in. The book opens a unique space in the international aid sector – particularly, population security – around elements of personal and professional rewards and costs.Trade Review“This book will certainly educate IR students in the sort of career possible for a humanitarian aid official in the UN system. … Students of IR will find much to prepare them for the competitiveness of UN recruitment. It will show them the highs and lows of UN service, and the reality that serendipity and good luck, and (still better) friends in the right places, often determine our career trajectory.” (Martin Duffy, E-International Relations, e-ir.info, October 14, 2022)Table of Contents

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Book SynopsisFrom art school student to designer for Nike, Topshop, and Google, Kate Moross has lived the life that young graphic artists dream of. But it hasn't always been a smooth ride, and in this informative memoir and guide Moross offers true insider's tips on how to make it in a highly competitive field. Written in an approachable, forthright, and refreshingly honest tone, Make Your Own Luck features chapters on how to thrive in art school, developing your own style, how to self-promote, collaboration with other artists, how to deal with "copycats," and when to consider working for free. She also touches on the fine points of music packaging and videos, how to find an agent, and looks back on the touchstone moments that helped shape her career. Designed to mimic Moross's signature bold, brightly coloured style, this book is filled with dozens of examples of her work for companies such as Google, Adidas, and Nokia, as well as musicians including Simian Mobile Disco, Jessie Ware, Zomby, and Pictureplane. Irreverent and packed with enormously helpful tips for designers of all stripes, Make Your Own Luck is certain to become an indispensable guide for anyone interested in graphic art as a vocation or hobby.

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Book SynopsisIn 1981 ten prisoners died on hunger strike in a jail, ten miles west of Belfast. First called Long Kesh during internment (1971-1971), then the Maze Prison, then the H-Blocks, it was rarely out of the national and international news forty years ago, especially when one of the prisoners, Bobby Sands, was elected as an MP before he died after sixty-six days without food.Jim (Jaz) McCann was an eyewitness to these events. Arrested at twenty after attempting to kill a police officer, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. He and hundreds of others refused to wear a prison uniform, protested that they were political prisoners, and were locked in their cells, where they wore only a blanket, for over four years in grim conditions.Jaz McCann knew several of the hunger strikers and in this remarkable testimony he recalls his life in the IRA, the deprivation of seventeen years behind bars, his friends and comrades, including several of the hunger strikers, his participation in the mass prison breakout in 1983, and the electoral rise of Sinn Féin following these events which had a profound effect on the subsequent political complexion of Ireland.It is an immensely honest and raw account, full of pathos and dark humour, from a former combatant and is an important contribution to Troubles' literature.

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Book SynopsisPlotting was the natural consequence of the isolation we were detained in,' wrote John Sarsfield Casey, a Fenian prisoner in Pentonville in 1866, facing deportation. The prisoners established lines of communication to keep connected to each other and to the outside world.Republicans constantly defied and resisted authority. They smuggled; they planned escapes; and they disseminated news and told their stories in a literature which was central to morale and the integrity of the struggle.In Captive Columns Eoghan Mac Cormaic looks at the literature of the republican press which saw the production of over sixty prison titlesoften handwritten or typed. From the pinpricked sheets of toilet paper in Pentonville to Bobby Sands' poetry, written on toilet paper and smuggled out to be published, this is an astonishing story which has never been examined in such detail before.

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Book Synopsis**Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY) Winner**An incredible, untold story of survival and acceptance that sheds light on one of the darkest chapters in Japanese history.This book tells the story of Kazuo Odachi who—in 1943, when he was just 16 years-old—joined the Imperial Japanese Navy to become a pilot. A year later, he was unknowingly assigned to the Kamikaze Special Attack Corps—a group of airmen whose mission was to sacrifice their lives by crashing planes into enemy ships. Their callsign was "ten dead, zero alive."By picking up Memoirs of a Kamikaze, readers will experience the hardships of fighter pilot training—dipping and diving and watching as other trainees crash into nearby mountainsides. They'll witness the psychological trauma of coming to terms with death before each mission, and breathe a sigh of relief with Odachi when his last mission is cut short by Japan's eventual surrender. They'll feel the anger at a government and society that swept so much of the sacrifice under the rug in its desperation to rebuild.Odachi's innate "samurai spirit" carried him through childhood, WWII and his eventual life as a kendo instructor, police officer and detective. His attention to detail, unwavering self-discipline and impenetrably strong mind were often the difference between life and death. Odachi, who is now well into his nineties, kept his Kamikaze past a secret for most of his life. Seven decades later, he agreed to sit for nearly seventy hours of interviews with the authors of this book—who know Odachi personally. He felt it was his responsibility to finally reveal the truth about the Kamikaze pilots: that they were unsuspecting teenagers and young men asked to do the bidding of superior officers who were never held to account.This book offers a new perspective on these infamous suicide pilots. It is not a chronicle of war, nor is it a collection of research papers compiled by scholars. It is a transcript of Odachi's words.Trade Review"…[an] eye-opening and informative account…Enhanced with helpful historical sidebars and footnotes, Odachi's memoir humanizes a much-mythologized aspect of the war in the Pacific. WWII history buffs and Japanophiles will savor the many insights." --Publishers Weekly"…expertly translated…Odachi provides personal insight on the last days of empire, and his stories of crime in Tokyo give this memoir life. This book deserves a spot next to Yasuo Kawahara's classic autobiography Kamikaze." --Library Journal"In preparing the English edition, Ohta and Bennett took great care to provide context to help international audiences understand the historical and cultural background of Odachi's story. Augmented by the meticulously researched details, the focus is fixed on telling Odachi's life in his own words. While the subject matter is often heavy, the text is laced with humorous anecdotes and wry comments, allowing Odachi's personality to come through." --The Japan Times

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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