Memoirs Books

Book SynopsisFrom treating war casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq to his experiences as a civilian trauma surgeon treating alcoholics, drug addicts, criminals, and the mentally deranged, this book offers an intense look at one man's commitment to his country and to those most desperately in need of aid.

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Book Synopsis"Smart, hilarious, unique-- just terrific." --Anne LamottA thoughtful, witty memoir from the author of How to Be a Person in the World and the popular advice column, Ask Polly. When Heather Havrilesky was a kid during the ''70s, harrowing disaster films dominated every movie screen with earthquakes that destroyed huge cities, airplanes that plummeted towards the ground and giant sharks that ripped teenagers to shreds. Between her parents'' dramatic clashes and her older siblings'' hazing, Heather''s home life sometimes mirrored the chaos onscreen. Disaster Preparedness charts how the most humiliating and painful moments in Havrilesky''s past forced her to develop a wide range of defense mechanisms, some adaptive, some piteously ill-suited to modern life. From premature boxing lessons to the competitive grooming of cheerleading camp, from her parents'' divorce to her father''s sudden death, Havrilesky explores a path from innocence and optimism to self-protection and caution, bravely reexamining the injuries that shaped her, the lessons that sunk in along the way, and the insights that carried her through. Disaster Preparedness is a road map to the personal disasters we all face from an irresistible voice that gets straight to the beauty and grace at the heart of every calamity.

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Book SynopsisWendy McClure is on a quest to find the world of beloved Little House on the Prairie author Laura Ingalls Wilder—a fantastic realm of fiction, history, and places she’s never been to, yet somehow knows by heart. She traces the pioneer journey of the Ingalls family— looking for the Big Woods among the medium trees in Wisconsin, wading in Plum Creek, and enduring a prairie hailstorm in South Dakota. She immerses herself in all things Little House—exploring the story from fact to fiction, and from the TV shows to the annual summer pageants in Laura’s hometowns. Whether she’s churning butter in her apartment or sitting in a replica log cabin, McClure is always in pursuit of “the Laura experience.” The result is an incredibly funny first-person account of obsessive reading, and a story about what happens when we reconnect with our childhood touchstones—and find that our old love has only deepened.

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Book SynopsisA New York City firefighter's emotional and inspiring memoir of learning to run again after a debilitating accident, based on the wildly popular March 2009 piece in Runner's World.On the morning of December 22, 2005, Matt Long was cycling to work in the early morning when he was struck by and sucked under a 20-ton bus making an illegal turn. The injuries he sustained pushed him within inches of his life. Miraculously, more than 40 operations and months later, Matt was able to start his recovery. In spite of the severity of his injuries, Matt found the psychological consequences of the accident nearly as hard to process. He would no longer be able to compete at the highest level.In the 18 months before the accident, he had competed in more than 20 events including several triathlons and marathons and had qualified for running's most prestigious race, the Boston Marathon. After the accident, his doctor told him he'd be lucky if he could even walk without a cane.The Long Run is an emotional and incredibly honest story about Matt's determination to fight through fear, despair, loneliness, and intense physical and psychological pain to regain the life he once had. The book chronicles Matt's road to recovery as he teaches himself to walk again and, a mere three years later, to run in the 2008 New York City Marathon—a gimpy seven-and-a-half hour journey through the five boroughs. "Running saved my life," Matt says, and his embrace of the running community and insistence on competing in the marathon has inspired many, turning him into a symbol of hope and recovery for untold numbers of others.Trade Review“The book is open and honest--at times, almost painfully so--and readers will be horrified by Long's ordeal and inspired by his determination to get back as much of himself as he could.” —Booklist

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Book Synopsis“In this one-of-a-kind celebration of singing with others, I’d call her pitch nearly perfect.”—The Atlantic For Stacy Horn, regardless of what is going on in the world or her life, singing in an amateur choir—the Choral Society of Grace Church in New York—never fails to take her to a place where hope reigns and everything good is possible. She’s not particularly religious, and her voice is not exceptional (so she says), but like the 32.5 million other chorus members throughout this country, singing makes her happy. Horn brings us along as she sings some of the greatest music humanity has ever produced, delves into the dramatic stories of conductors and composers, unearths the fascinating history of group singing, and explores remarkable discoveries from the new science of singing, including all the unexpected health benefits. Imperfect Harmony is the story of one woman who has found joy and strength in the weekly ritual of singing and in the irresistible power of song.

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Book SynopsisWALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLERGOLD MEDAL WINNER OF THE 2016 INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER BOOK AWARDS ("IPPY”)Lene Fogelberg is dying—she is sure of it—but no doctor in Sweden, her home country, believes her. Love stories enfold her, with her husband, her two precious daughters, her enchanting surroundings, but the question she has carried in her heart since childhood—Will I die young?—is threatening all she holds dear, even her sanity. When her young family moves to the US, an answer, a diagnosis, is finally found: she is in the last stages of a fatal congenital heart disease. But is it too late?A young woman risks everything to save her own life in this “unusual, riveting medical drama crafted with deep emotion and exquisite detail” (BookPage).Trade Review2016 IPPY Gold Medal Winner in Autobiography/Memoir2016 International Book Award Finalist in Autobiography/Memoirs2015 Best Book Awards Finalist in Autobiography/Memoir“Fogelberg’s poetic sensibility shines . . . Vivid, heartfelt, and carefully crafted, this memoir will resonate with readers. Beautiful Affliction is more than an illness narrative; its meditations on mortality will appeal to all who love the fragile and impermanent.” —Lucy Bryan, Rain Taxi Review of Books “Fogelberg, a poet, structures her saga well, writing in alternating chapters about growing up with her 'monster,' and arriving in the United States, where her condition is diagnosed and she has corrective open-heart surgery. Beautiful Affliction is an unusual, riveting medical drama crafted with deep emotion and exquisite detail.” —Alice Cary, BookPage“In Beautiful Affliction, a gorgeously rendered, poetic memoir/medical mystery, we meet Lene Fogelberg, a wife and mother living a fairy tale existence, except for the fact that she knows she is dying and her doctors don’t believe her.” —Allison Tyler, Off the Shelf“In her breathtaking memoir, Beautiful Affliction, Lene Fogelberg elegantly unites the savagery and raw beauty of the natural world with the wisdom and poignant insight of a young wife and mother. Exquisite imagery and poetic prose pulse through this powerful, emotionally gripping story. With Beautiful Affliction, Lene Fogelberg gives us a gorgeously written story to savor and share.” —Terri Giuliano Long, USA Today best-selling author of In Leah's Wake“Gripping, powerful, touching, beautiful. A memoir about a woman who fights to remain alive because of her daughters and her husband. A story everyone can relate to and will want to read to the inspiring end.” —Mette Ivie Harrison, author of Ironmom and New York Times Notable Book, The Bishop's Wife“Brilliantly paced, weaving glimpses of the author's past into an ever-tightening noose that engulfs Lene and her young family in adulthood, this memoir left me as breathless as if I'd read a thriller about an unstoppable killer circling its victim. Beautiful Affliction grips the reader and won’t let go until the very last page.” —Rita M. Gardner, award-winning author of the memoir The Coconut Latitudes“Beautiful Affliction is an important and beautiful book about the ways in which our health impacts our lives, and the courage, strength, and healing that can result with persistence. A wonderfully honest and sincere memoir.” —Laura Pritchett, author of Stars Go Blue and winner of the PEN USA Award“Heart-rending and suspense-filled, Fogelberg’s Beautiful Affliction is a graceful meditation on love, marriage, motherhood, and the quotidian precious moments that make a life with young children. Fogelberg’s miraculous story is a gift to readers, both for its exquisite prose and for its humble reminder: Life is short; love deeply.” —Laura Nicole Diamond, USA Today best-selling author of Shelter Us“Beautiful Affliction is a deeply moving and important memoir about a young woman fighting for her life. It’s a suspenseful page-turner and also the work of a poet. Fogelberg’s breathtaking odyssey will remind the reader of the beauty, fragility, and ephemerality of life. I absolutely love this book. It was an inspiration to read, and it will stay with me for a long time.” —Alice Eve Cohen, award-winning author of The Year My Mother Came Back and What I Thought I Knew

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Book SynopsisDiscovering Mahler is the fourth and final volume of Donald Mitchell's unique studies of Mahler and his music. It fills the remaining gaps in the scrutiny of Mahler's works in the series, principally the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Symphonies, with the Ninth and Tenth. Discovering Mahler is the fourth and final volume of Donald Mitchell's unique studies of Mahler and his music. This new publication fills the remaining gaps in the scrutiny of Mahler's works in the series, principally the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Symphonies, with the Ninth and Tenth. It begins with a substantial survey of Mahler's music, commissioned for the sixth edition of Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1980), but here printed in full for the first time. A striking feature throughout this collection is the examination of the revelatory role of the performer; this is epitomized in transcripts of significant conversations about the Fifth and Seventh Symphonies with, respectively, Riccardo Chailly and Bernard Haitink. The concluding section consists of major lectures and celebratory essays, some here published for the first time in English. These form a fascinating and frequently moving personal testament to a lifetime, and specifically fifty working years, of discovering Mahler. Donald Mitchell's three previous studies of Mahler are among the enduring monuments of postwar Mahler literature. He was awarded the Gustav Mahler Medal of Honour of the International Gustav Mahler Society in Vienna in 1987, and was appointed CBE in 2002.Trade ReviewHandsomely presented with plentiful reproductions of concert programmes, manuscripts and photographs, this is a unique homage...an encyclopedia of fresh thinking which can only inspire more new ideas in the reader. -- David Nice * BBC MUSIC *What Donald Mitchell doesn't know about Mahler isn't worth knowing...Mitchell excels at coolly unpicking how Mahler assembled his vastly ambitious works from myriad sources and influences. A lifetime's work distilled. -- Philip Clark * CLASSIC FM MAGAZINE *Highly recommended. * CHOICE *So many richly rewarding essays...a milestone in the literature. WUNDERHORN [Newsletter of the Mahler Society of New York] * . *An excellent, comprehensive volume. * AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE *A retrospective celebration of Donald Mitchell's astonishing contribution to Mahler scholarship over fifty years...His great scholarship never obscures his tremendous enthusiasm and sense of wonder and this remains as infectious now as it was several decades ago. * MUSIC & LETTERS *Table of ContentsVision Scrutiny Reflections Resonance

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