Memoirs Books

Book Synopsis WINNER OF THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY PRIZE 2020 ''This is the story of arguably one of the most important, yet least known, events in modern British history. Lee''s journey and fight for justice are both inspiring and enraging'' AKALA What would you do if the people you trusted to uphold the law committed a crime against you? Who would you turn to? And how long would you fight them for? On 28th September 1985, Lee Lawrence''s mother Cherry Groce was wrongly shot by police during a raid on her Brixton home. The bullet shattered her spine and she never walked again. In the chaos that followed, 11-year-old Lee watched in horror as the News falsely pronounced his mother dead. In Brixton, already a powder keg because of the deep racism that the community was experiencing, it was the spark needed to trigger two days of rioting that saw buildings brought down by petrol bombs, cars torched and shops looted.

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Book SynopsisThe most famous slave memoir of the 18th century. Equiano''s Travels recounts the extraordinary life and times of Olaudah Equiano, from his early life in Africa to his struggle for freedom in the West Indies. ''I who had been a slave in the morning, trembling at the will of another, was become my own master, and completely free.'' Olaudah Equiano was only eleven when he was kidnapped from the Kingdom of Benin. His report on the horrors that followed whilst imprisoned on slave ships and on land offers a rare and significant insight into the realities of the transatlantic slave trade.First published in London in 1789, Equiano''s memoirs were an instant success and paved the way for the abolition of slavery in the British Empire.Abridged and edited by Paul Edwards.''A powerful and terrifying read.'' Guardian ''Central to our understanding of Atlantic slavery.'' The Times ''A gripping accounTrade Review'A powerful and terrifying read.' * Guardian *'Central to our understanding of Atlantic slavery.' * The Times *New York Times"}" data-sheets-userformat="{"2":6763,"3":{"1":0},"4":{"1":2,"2":16777215},"6":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"8":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":2}]},"9":0,"12":0,"14":{"1":2,"2":0},"15":"Arial"}" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">'A gripping account from 1789 of life as a slave.' * New York Times *

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Book Synopsis''Brilliant'' Guardian''Exuberant'' Financial Times''Colourful'' The TimesIn June 1986 Diego Maradona, considered by many to be the greatest footballer of all time, proudly hoisted the ''86 Mexico World Championship Cup in his hands.Now over thirty years on from that magical game, and after a life in sports marked by controversy, Maradona tells, for the first time, the untold stories behind that one-of-a-kind World Cup. Mexico ''86 was the pinnacle of Maradona''s career, and in this book he reveals all about every game, what happened afterwards in the locker room, the months leading up to the World Cup, when the team had to go to Mexico City a month early to avoid the overthrowing of the technical director by the Argentine president, Alfonsin, the mystery behind ''El Gran Capitán'' Passarella (''78 World Cup Champion), the strategies and tactics that revolutionised the game, training in a country that was recovering fTrade ReviewBrilliant -- Barney Ronay * Guardian *An exuberant narrator, bursting with telling details . . . enjoyable . . . Maradona's authentic voice of unreason and the best story in World Cup history carry you through -- Simon Kuper * Financial Times *Characteristically colourful -- Matt Dickinson * The Times *Open, honest contemplation * When Saturday Comes *The book's greatest strength is that it feels unmistakeably like 1986 all over again . . . I loved this book. I loved its nostalgia * Irish News *

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Book SynopsisIn July 2012, aged thirty, Juliet Jacques underwent sex reassignment surgery-a process she chronicled with unflinching honesty in a serialised national newspaper column. Trans tells of her life to the present moment: a story of growing up, of defining yourself, and of the rapidly changing world of gender politics. Fresh from university, eager to escape a dead-end job and launch a career as a writer, she navigates the treacherous waters of a world where, even in the liberal and feminist media, transgender identities go unacknowledged, misunderstood or worse. Revealing, honest,humorous, and self-deprecating, Trans includes an epilogue with Sheila Heti, author of How Should a Person Be?Trade ReviewTrans challenges us all, no matter what our gender or sexuality. Ultimately, it makes us look at ourselves, and wonder what price we pay for the identities we assume, or which we have thrust upon us. -- Philip Hoare * New Statesman *Juliet Jacques's Trans ... provides a lyrical exploration of her own gender journey against the background of increasing media interest in transgender issues. Thoughtful and intimate, it's a fine successor to books such as Jan Morris's Conundrum. -- Helen Lewis * Guardian *Powerful and engaging. . . it's hard not to see her as anything other than brave, even as she pushes readers to recognize that what is revolutionary is the very ordinariness of her day-to-day life * New York Times *Brutally honest and funny. * Marie Claire *Provides a lyrical exploration of her own gender journey against the background of increasing media interest in transgender issues. Thoughtful and intimate, it's a fine successor to books such as Jan Morris's Conundrum * Helen Lewis, Guardian, Books of the Year *Challenges us all, no matter what our gender or sexuality. Ultimately, it makes us look at our selves, and wonder what price we pay for the identities we assume, or which we have thrust upon us. * Philip Hoare, New Statesman *Brave and moving, Trans is necessary reading for anyone who cares about gender,power, freedom and desire. Juliet Jacques deals with the forces of cruelty andignorance with hard-won clarity and calm. A vital voice in our turbulent times * Olivia Laing, author of The Trip to Echo Spring *Amarvelously nuanced journey through gender, brilliantly contextualized in thedisparate worlds of pop culture, football, mass media, and the NHS . a terrificread by an accomplished author. * —Kate Bornstein, author of A Queer and Pleasant Danger *Understated and urgent, Jacques comes across as a woman carrying an ambiguity she doesn't seem to want or feel able fully to shed...She confounds the distinction, not just between male and female, but also between the emotional atmospheres which the various trans identities are meant - 'instructed' may be the right word - to personify. -- Jacqueline Rose * London Review of Books *A thoughtful and honest account of the realities of life as a trans woman ... accessible and relatable, regardless of your gender identity * Independent *

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Book SynopsisWITH A FOREWORD BY PHILIPPE SANDS AND AN INTRODUCTION BY ANDREY KURKOV'If you read only one book about the war, this is the one to read.' -Henry Marsh, author of Do No Harm'Unforgettable. An immediate history of a cruel war and a personal chronicle of unbearable loss' -Simon Sebag-Montefiore, author of The WorldKilled by shrapnel as he served in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Olesya Khromeychuk's brother Volodymyr died on the frontline in eastern Ukraine. As Khromeychuk tries to come to terms with losing her brother, she also tries to process the Russian invasion of Ukraine: as a historian of war, as a woman and as a sister.In a thoughtful blend of memoir and essay, Olesya Khromeychuk tells the story of her brother - and of Ukraine. Beautifully written and giving unique, poignant insight into the lives of those affected, it is an urgent act of resistance against the dehumanising cruelty of war.'If you want to understand Ukraine's determination to resist, Olesya Khromeychuk's book is essential.' -Paul Mason, author of How to Stop Fascism[A] tender and courageous book... Khromeychuk's clear-sighted prose expresses the pain that thousands, even millions, have felt in every conflict, past and present. -The Literary Review Magazine'A touching and brilliantly written account about grief, and also about strength. I read it in one night.' -Olia HerculesTrade ReviewElegantly written... packed with the sharpness of moments when a death suddenly becomes real * Times Literary Supplement *I admire a book that invites me to grapple with knotty questions. Olesya Khromeychuk has written such a book - beautifully. * Professor Cynthia Enloe, author of Nimo's War *Moving, intelligent and brilliantly written, this is a sister's reckoning with a lost brother, an émigré's with the country of her childhood, and a scholar's with her own suddenly acutely personal subject matter. A wonderful combination of emotional and intellectual honesty. It even manages to be funny. * Anna Reid, author of Borderland: A Journey Through the History of Ukraine *In vivid, intimate prose and with unflinching honesty, Olesya Khromeychuk introduces us to the brother she lost in the war and found in her grief. Poignant, wise and unforgettable. * Dr Rory Finnin, University of Cambridge *[A] tender and courageous book... Khromeychuk's clear-sighted prose expresses the pain that thousands, even millions, have felt, not just in Ukraine now but in every conflict, past and present. * The Literary Review Magazine *With disarming candour and an arresting mix of the mystical and the everyday, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in the impact of Putin's war on Ukrainians * Lucy Ash *A touching and brilliantly written account about grief, and also about strength. I read it in one night. * Olia Hercules *Heartbreaking, agonizing, poetical and unforgettable. An immediate history of a cruel war and a personal chronicle of unbearable loss, beautifully and vividly told by a superb historian and elegant writer in a work that brings every death in Ukraine alive with transcendent grief and love * Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of The World: A Family History *A deeply moving and beautifully written account of her brother's death fighting the Russian invasion of Ukraine. If you read only one book about the war, this is the one to read. * Henry Marsh, bestselling author of 'Do No Harm' *Khromeychuk is a scholar, and as such she brings an insight that is inseparable from her very personal story. She is able to frame the war in Ukraine with the rich particularity of human experience. It's the account only she could write. * Julie Durbin, Current *Khromeychuk shows that the experience of grief transcends individual circumstance and in fact, unites us * Los Angeles Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisThe 1853 memoir and slave narrative by Solomon Northup as told to and written by David Wilson. Northup, a black man who was born free in New York, relates his tale, of being tricked to go to Washington, D.C., where he was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the Deep South. He was in bondage for 12 years in Louisiana before smuggling information to friends and family in New York, who in turn secured his release with the aid of the state. Northup's account provides extensive details on the slave markets in Washington, D.C. and New Orleans, and describes the cotton and sugar cultivation and slave treatment on major plantations in Louisiana. FLAME TREE451: From mystery to crime, supernatural to horror and myth, fantasy and science fiction, Flame Tree 451 offers a healthy diet of werewolves and robots, mad scientists, secret worlds, lost civilizations and escapist fantasies. Discover a storehouse of tales, ancient and modern gathered specifically for the reader of the fantastic. The Foundations titles also explore the roots of modern fiction and brings together neglected works which deserve a wider readership as part of a series of classic, essential books.

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Book SynopsisWinner, Mountain Literature (Non-Fiction) Award, Banff Mountain Book Festival 2018Nick Bullock is a climber who lives in a small green van, flitting between Llanberis, Wales, and Chamonix in the French Alps. Tides, Nick's second book, is the much-anticipated follow-up to his critically acclaimed debut Echoes. Now retired from the strain of work as a prison officer, Nick is free to climb. A lot. Tides is a treasury of his antics and adventures with some of the world's leading climbers, including Steve House, Kenton Cool, Nico Favresse, Andy Houseman and James McHaffie. Follow Nick and his partners as they push the limits on some of the world's most serious routes: The Bells! The Bells! and The Hollow Man on Gogarth's North Stack Wall; the Slovak Direct on Denali; Guerdon Grooves on Buachaille Etive Mor; and the north faces of Chang Himal and Mount Alberta, among countless others. Nick's life can be equated to the rhythm of the sea. At high tide, he climbs, he loves it, he is good at it; he laughs and jokes, scares himself, falls, gets back up and climbs some more. Then the tide goes out and he finds himself alone, exposed, all questions and no answers. Self-doubt, grieving for friends or family, fearful, sometimes opinionated, occasionally angry - his writing more honest and exposed than in any account of a climb. Only when the tide turns is he able to forget once more.Tides is a gripping memoir that captures the very essence of what it means to dedicate one's life to climbing.Table of ContentsPrologue: Living Scared; 1 Love and Hate; 2 Immortal?; 3 Nothing More; 4 The Cutting Lap; 5 The Rain; 6 The Emotional Tightrope; 7 Bad Shit; 8 Deception; 9 The Web; 10 Cravings; 11 Death or Glory; 12 Slave to the Rhythm?; 13 Bittersweet Desire; 14 Strange Eden; 15 How Soon is Now?; 16 You Only Live Twice; 17 The Cathedral; 18 Trapped; 19 Evening Redness in the West; 20 Into the Shadow; 21 Similar to a Scottish Quarry; 22 Best Before; 23 Death of Paradise; 24 The Pitfalls of a Peroni Supermodel; 25 What Were His Dreams?; 26 Balloons; 27 That's Rowdy Dude; 28 Over the Top; 29 Flames; 30 Dreams and Screams; 31 Just Beneath the Surface; 32 The Light of the Moon; 33 The Mountain Soundtrack; 34 Please Queue Here; 35 Dawn to Dusk to Dawn; 36 Threshold Shift; Postscript.

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Book SynopsisIt's Chris Jagger's turn to lift the lid on one of the most colourful and exotic periods in British cultural history as he unrolls an insider's tale of growing up among the bombsites and ration books of post-war Dartford, weaving through the glittery underground of late 1960s countercultural London, spending months in India before most trod that path, the highs and lows of acting and film work, and pursuing his own unique musical adventures that have resulted in a number of albums and gigs across the world. Ultimately though it's the beguiling story of a close-knit family and deep brotherly ties, which endure from both sides of the spectrum.

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature.In the summer of 2012, a team of six climbers set out to attempt the first ascent of one of the great unclimbed lines of the Himalaya - the giant Mazeno Ridge on Nanga Parbat, the world's ninth highest mountain. At ten kilometres in length, the Mazeno is the longest route to the summit of an 8,000-metre peak. Ten expeditions had tried and failed to climb this enormous ridge. Eleven days later two of the team, Sandy Allan and Rick Allen, both in their late fifties, reached the summit. They had run out of food and water and began hallucinating wildly from the effects of altitude and exhaustion. Heavy snow conditions meant they would need another three days to descend the far side of the 'killer mountain'. 'I began to wonder whether what we were doing was humanly possible. We had climbed the Mazeno and reached the summit, but we both knew we had wasted too much energy. In among the conflicting emotions, the exhaustion and the elation, we knew our bodies could not sustain this amount of time at altitude indefinitely, especially now we had no water. The slow trickle of attrition had turned into a flood; it was simply a matter of time before our bodies stopped functioning. Which one of us would succumb first?' In Some Lost Place is Sandy Allan's epic account of an incredible feat of endurance and commitment at the very limits of survival – and the first ascent of one of the last challenges in the Himalaya.Trade Review'This is a worthy addition to the canon of great British mountaineering literature, and also boasts beautiful colour photos and diagrams that dovetail perfectly with the narrative.' – Press and JournalTable of ContentsPrologue PART 1 – THE MAGIC BUS 01 Team Spirit 02 Mentors 03 The Road to Nanga Parbat PART 2 – MAZENO 04 The Dividing Line 05 Mind the Gap 06 Splitting Up 07 Pushing On PART 3 – THE SUMMIT 08 In Some Lost Place 09 The Edge of Extinction 10 Descent 11 Return Acknowledgements Index

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Book SynopsisDr Harry Silmanâs WW2 diary, detailing life as a POW tending to fellow combatants during forced labour on the Burma Railway. Edited with historical context.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“When you read Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn you know that you are reading and being read by one of the greatest men of the bloody 20th century. . . . He wouldn’t be muzzled. . . . He is also frank. Solzhenitsyn never hesitated to reveal to his readers the truth of things, including his own soul.” —The American Conservative“This long-awaited translation does not disappoint, offering insights into [Solzhenitsyn’s] work on The Red Wheel, his family life in Vermont, and his responses to the rapidly evolving political circumstances of what proved to be Soviet Communism’s waning years. . . . Between Two Millstones provides interesting insights into not just Solzhenitsyn but also the landscape he inhabited . . . [and] may be the most pleasurable read in his catalog—an opportunity to spend time with the writer in pleasant refuge.” —The American Spectator“In Between Two Millstones Solzhenitsyn blends several literary genres—autobiography, essay, and a touch of diary. . . . Readers encounter a great-souled Russian and Christian man in medias res, as he thinks, feels, lives his way through the years of separation from his beloved homeland.” —Will Morrisey Reviews"Outsiders see things those on the inside cannot see. Alexis de Tocqueville penetrated American democracy as no American could. In a similar fashion, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s Between Two Millstones[, Book 2]: Exile in America, 1978-1994 presents a view of America that few Americans could have grasped." —Law & Liberty“The thread unifying the second volume of Between Two Millstones . . . is Solzhenitsyn’s ongoing research and writing of The Red Wheel, his cycle of four novels (with more planned) spanning Russian history from the eruption of World War I in August 1914 to December 1917, just after the Bolshevik Revolution. . . . For Solzhenitsyn, fiction can be an instrument of truth, as it was for many of his Russian predecessors.” —Los Angeles Review of Books"Solzhenitsyn assumes a Tolstoyan mien (unwittingly or deliberately?). Striving for his works’ publication in Russia, he envisioned his exegi monumentum would restore Russia’s glory and soul. Thus in this second book . . . he corrects the lies and misinterpretations his works and appearances suffered from Soviet invectives as well as Western misperceptions. . . . Recommended." —Choice"This memoir exemplifies the difficult question of belonging. Without slipping into clichés, Solzhenitsyn challenges both émigré and American alike to seek the truth, not only of one’s own existence, but also that of a nation." —Modern Age“Today, as America seems more fractured than ever before, Solzhenitsyn’s reflections on how to restore Russia to a state of ordered liberty seem especially pertinent. . . . Solzhenitsyn is an inspiration—as a thinker, an artist, and a warrior who never tired of the battle.” —City Journal"Perhaps the lengthiest but most important single episode recounted in Book 2 is Solzhenitsyn’s account of working with his biographer, Michael Scammel. For anyone familiar with this affair, reading this autobiographical account offers a fascinating first-hand view into the complicated professional relationship between the two men. For those who are unfamiliar, it is an edge-of-your-seat intellectual thriller, a rollercoaster of literary intrigue." —The University Bookman“The last volume of Solzhenitsyn’s memoirs, the recently translated second part of Between Two Millstones, . . . casts the Gorbachev years as an eerie repeat of 1917.” —The New York Review of BooksTable of ContentsPublisher’s Note Foreword to Book 2 PART TWO (1978–1982) 6. Russian Pain 7. A Creeping Host 8. More Headaches PART THREE (1982–1987) 9. Around Three Islands 10. Drawing Inward 11. Ordeal by Tawdriness 12. Alarm in the Senate 13. Warm Breeze PART FOUR (1987–1994) 14. Through the Brambles 15. Ideas Spurned 16. Nearing the Return APPENDICES List of Appendices Appendices (25–36) Notes to the English Translation Index of Selected Names General Index

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Book SynopsisPresents the memoir of a man hungry for the logistics of travel: getting there, staying there, and feeling at home on any continent. Woven into Geoffrey Weill’s entertaining anecdotes is an informative account of a lost era in travel.Trade Review“Like a telegram from a long-lost and infinitely more glamorous era, All Abroad evokes the thrill and mystery of travel without an ounce of nostalgia. Yes, there are the grandest of hotels, ocean liners and Swiss trains in this book, but also incidents of cruel discrimination and heartbreaking family secrets- all from one of the godfathers of the modern travel business, Geoffrey Weill. Absolutely brilliant.”- Luke Barr, New York Times bestselling author of Provence, 1970;“If like me, you adhere to the adage that it's the journey and not the destination that matters, then this utterly fascinating tale of a man's obsessive travel and obsession with every detail of traveling is the book for you! But this is so much more than just a glamorous travelogue. It's a tender memoir of an eccentric family scattered across the globe, a searing commentary on institutionalized antisemitism and a celebration of the life of a joyous nomad named Geoffrey Weill.”- Alan Cumming

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Book SynopsisAs immigrants and others are engulfed by dominant societies, the connection to their ancestral tongues is routinely severed. Julie Sedivy takes on the science and politics of language loss, offering lessons for the renewal and preservation of heritage languages, alongside her own moving story of language loss and accompanying personal crisis.Trade ReviewAt once an eloquent memoir, a wide-ranging commentary on cultural diversity, and an expert distillation of the research on language learning, loss, and recovery. * The Economist *Engrossing and poignant. -- Irina Dumitrescu * Times Literary Supplement *Engagingly describes the disorienting and sometimes shattering experience of feeling one’s native language atrophy as a new language takes hold…[A] beautifully written book…Sedivy elegantly captures why the language(s) we use are so dear to us and how they play a central role in our identities. If we believe multilingualism is valuable, then we must work to preserve language contexts while embracing linguistic diversity. -- Fernanda Ferreira * Science *As a child trying to fit in with her new surroundings, Sedivy quickly forgot much of her Czech…Relearning Czech as an adult offered redemption, and Sedivy’s book is in part an account of how through that act of learning she has found ways to bind disparate aspects of her identity…Beyond the striking anecdotes from her own biography, Sedivy’s book is at its best when she brings insights from psycholinguistics to the page. -- Gavin Francis * New York Review of Books *In this insightful and informative analysis, Julie Sedivy examines what happens to memory, dreams, and even the sense of self when you enter another language. It is a book which speaks to the condition of countless people who have changed language and culture in our globalized world. -- Eva Hoffman, author of Lost in Translation: A Life in a New LanguageJulie Sedivy’s book is not just a study of what it means to cradle more than one language or more than one culture, perhaps even more than one identity—it is a profound elegy to memories that endure despite displacement and the many time zones that define our lives. -- André Aciman, author of Homo Irrealis: Essays[A] moving and deeply personal account…Sedivy also makes a case for saving endangered languages…The connection between language and memory is…beautifully rendered…An astute, thoughtful volume. * Publishers Weekly *With implications for communities and identities, Memory Speaks is an astute linguistic investigation, showing that language is something both in people and of them. * Foreword Reviews (starred review) *One of the finest books I have ever read about language: a wise and humane amalgam of poetry and scientific rigor, rooted in Julie Sedivy’s deeply-felt personal experience. Full of compassion and sharp-edged insights, Memory Speaks will touch all of us who care about the tongues we speak and about the countless tongues now falling into oblivion. -- Mark Abley, author of Spoken Here: Travels among Threatened LanguagesAt last, a go-to book on bilingualism and why it matters. One part science and one part personal history, Sedivy’s book guides us through the eternal question of how we handle two or more languages. It leaves us monolinguals looking deprived rather than as the default. -- John H. McWhorter, author of Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter—Then, Now, and ForeverBeautifully told. It is also packed with a tour of the science on bilingualism, in which [Sedivy] is an expert, as well as the controversial topic of how one’s native language influences thought. As if that were not enough for this fascinating book, she…illuminates what is lost when a language dies. * The Economist *Fascinating…In a panoramic vista of how we inhabit language and how it inhabits us, with openness and curiosity, Sedivy studies the process of losing one’s language and also provides several paths to reviving and reclaiming one’s lost self. -- Aqsa Ijaz * Dawn *A graceful blend of personal memoir with the author’s scholarly field of psycholinguistics, Memory Speaks offers generalist readers an opportunity to appreciate the marvelous complexity of human language—an ancient technology that our digital age’s most hyped AI, telematics and algorithms have yet to match. You don’t need to be an academic linguaphile—or even an everyday Wordle enthusiast—to reap rewards from this provocative book. -- Christine Wiesenthal * Alberta Views *

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Book SynopsisFocuses on art and exile, examining what it means to be an immigrant artist from a country in crisis. This title tells the stories of artists, including the author, who create despite, or because of, the horrors that drove them from their homelands and that continue to haunt them.Trade ReviewWinner of the 2013 Association of Caribbean Writers Grand Prize for Literature Winner of the 2011 Bocas Lit Fest OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature in Nonfiction Finalist for the 2010 Book of the Year Award in Biography and Autobiography, ForeWord Reviews A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice for 2010 One of Mosaic Magazine's Best Books for 2010 "Danticat is at her best when writing from inside Haiti... As [her] recollections show, her singular achievement is not to have remade the actual Haiti, but to have recreated it. She has wound the fabric of Haitian life into her work and made it accessible to a wide audience of Americans and other outsiders... Danticat's tender new book about loss and the unquenchable passion for homeland makes us remember the powerful material from which most fiction is wrought: it comes from childhood, and place. No matter her geographic and temporal distance from these, Danticat writes about them with the immediacy of love."--Amy Wilentz, New York Times Book Review "A lean collection of jaw-breaking horrors side by side with luminous insights... In Danticat's many remarkable stories and pensees from the gut, one locates the inimitable power of truth. Authorship becomes an act of subversion when one's words might be read and acted on by someone risking his or her life if only to read them."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Danticat's writing is crisp and clear, reminiscent of what the very best essay writing once aspired to be... Not just another writer's book about writing, this volume delves into the suffering that affects artists who suspend themselves from time and place to create... Her book should be read by students, historians and lovers of well-crafted writing."--Nedra Crowe-Evers, Library Journal "Danticat is a marvelous writer, blending personal anecdotes, history and larger reflections without turning the immigrant writer into a victim, misunderstood by all."--Sandip Roy, San Francisco Chronicle "[Edwidge Danticat's] mission as a writer has been to speak from the diaspora for Haiti's disfranchised and silenced... That responsibility weighs heavily in these essays, which dwell on her personal sorrows as much as those of the Haitian masses... Her unlettered Haitian relatives call her a jounalis, a journalist writing with a purpose. She doesn't let them down."--Amanda Heller, Boston Globe "Danticat's prose is spare and piercing; she doesn't waste words. Her ideas are never cloaked in layers of metaphor, yet every sentence has a lyrical, persuasive quality... Within this stirring collection, one theme struck me more strongly than any other: for artists, the drive to create triumphs over everything else. Or it should... Creating dangerously means telling the truth--working without or in spite of fear."--Jennifer Levin, Santa Fe New Mexican "Whether she is profiling a courageous Haitian photojournalist, writing about a visit to relatives in a rural village, or meditating on the career of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Danticat is always also writing about her responsibilities as a part of what is called, in Creole, the dyaspora... [T]houghtful, powerful."--Adam Kirsch, Barnes and Noble Review "Whether the topic is Haiti's war of independence, 9/11, the artist, musician and actor Jean-Michel Basquiat, the January earthquake and its aftermath, Danticat writes with a compassionate insight but without a trace of sentimentality. Her prose is energetic, her vision is clear, the tragedies seemingly speaking for themselves."--Betsy Willeford, Miami Herald "Danticat's writing is inviting, beautiful and honest."--Color Online "[Danticat] avoids grandiose claims about the insightfulness of the exile--while honouring the complexity of the immigrant artist's role, with its precariousness and its drive to make connections."--Scott McLemee, National "What is best in this collection are the vivid portraits of the author's childhood in Haiti (and then as a book-obsessed teenager visiting the library in Brooklyn), intermingled with return journeys to visit relatives, collect sacks of coffee and observe the nation changing. There are sharp thoughts on Basquiat, Hurricane Katrina and the 2010 Haitian earthquake."--Steven Poole, Guardian "Focused on her medium of 'word art,' though incorporating theater and visual arts, Danticat pieces together a multi-essay response to the creatives' lament ... how do, why do and should we create, in this at-best messy and at-worst dangerous world?"--Kristin Theil, Oregonian "Have you ever started reading a book which draws you in within the first few sentences and leaves you unable to put it down until the very last word and then, because it amazed and moved you more than anything you can remember, you immediately read it again? ... Create Dangerously, is one of those books... Danticat is that rare writer who can make you smile as your soul aches. Although Create Dangerously is not an easy book to read it is disturbing and particularly controversial in places it is, nonetheless, a consistently passionate, deeply thought-provoking and highly important book which should be read, reread and then passed on to new hands."--Josh Rosner, Canberra Times "Danticat's voice offers a plaintive, entreating call for recognition of the suffering of so many in the world, and of their irrepressible desire to make life more meaningful by embracing art despite it all, no matter the cost."--Kerri Shadid, Blogcritics.org "Throughout Create Dangerously, Ms. Danticat catalogs through personal narratives many of the dilemmas that immigrant writers face: readers and critics who question the 'veracity' of the stories; the accompanying guilt from the accusation of being a 'parasite,' and my personal favorite, the 'intrusion' into the lives of family and friends."--Geoffrey Philp blog "Danticat's essays and her memoir are highly finessed and subtle. She breaches the vertiginous fault lines between the real and the surreal, between writing and archeiropoietos, between lot bo dlo, and anba dlo... [Create Dangerously] asks us to consider art and literature as vehicles for authenticity and self-expression, however dangerous that might be. This achievement is effortless and utterly compelling, with not one syllable or sentiment below guapa."--Michelle Cahill, Mascara Literary Review "That Danticat engages and re-engages [the] complicated, important, and perennial questions of living and creating is one of the many reasons to read this book."--Danielle Georges, Women's Review of BooksTable of ContentsCHAPTER 1: Create Dangerously: Th e Immigrant Artist at Work 1 CHAPTER 2: Walk Straight 21 CHAPTER 3: I Am Not a Journalist 41 CHAPTER 4: Daughters of Memory 59 CHAPTER 5: I Speak Out 73 CHAPTER 6: The Other Side of the Water 87 CHAPTER 7: Bicentennial 97 CHAPTER 8: Another Country 107 CHAPTER 9: Flying Home 115 CHAPTER 10: Welcoming Ghosts 127 CHAPTER 11: Acheiropoietos 137 CHAPTER 12: Our Guernica 153 Acknowledgments 175 Notes 177 Index 183

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Book SynopsisShows how W H Auden can speak to us throughout life, suggesting how, despite difficulties and change, we can celebrate understanding, acceptance, and love for others.Trade Review"[T]he book comes alive when Smith connects his own moral and intellectual growth to his appreciation of the poet... Anyone interested in the intellectual underpinnings of Smith's warm and humane novels should read this book, which would also make a good introduction to Auden for serious younger readers."--Regina Marler, New York Times Book Review "Poets need readers who aren't poets, and it is delightful to see an established novelist answer the call."--Lachlan MacKinnon, Times Literary Supplement "[McCall Smith's] little book, part of Princeton's Writers on Writers series, is a joy, start to finish."--Philadelphia Inquirer "Mystery scribe Alexander McCall Smith explains to us What W.H. Auden Can Do For You, an appreciation of the poet that should appeal even to those only familiar with his work via 'Four Weddings and a Funeral.'"--Eugenia Williamson, Boston Globe "Alexander McCall Smith plumbs the British poet's modern resonance in this charming, quirky, slim volume, a deft weave of biography, textual analysis and memoir. It's a must-read for Auden fans--even more for those who know his work only from a British rom-com... That there's only kindness in the telling marks the moral generosity McCall Smith says the great poet has taught him. He's learned a bunch of other stuff as well. And if you read his quietly wise book, you'll learn it, too."--Anne Kingston, Maclean's "McCall Smith traces the trajectory, both of [Auden's] travels and the resultant poems ... in a pitch-perfect conversational tone... His is a gift of charm, and of clarity of image--both of which he uses to the best of his ability here, in the creation of a book that is both the perfect jumping-on point for those coming late (forty-odd years after his death) to Auden and the perfect celebration for those who, like Mr. McCall Smith and this reader, have long revered and loved this odd little man and his teeth-rattlingly good poetry... What W. H. Auden Can Do for You speaks to each of the poet's major works with equal aplomb and gives each its proper niche in the man's life, and, in doing so, presents a thumbnail for each of the Seven Ages of this man, from the Voyager to 'the mature Auden, the Auden of settled views, the religious Auden; and finally the cantankerous and complaining Auden of late middle-age,' each lovingly wrought... What W. H. Auden Can Do for You is a wonderful work, one that more than holds its own with the other authors canonized in Princeton's series, Walt Whitman, Susan Sontag, and Arthur Conan Doyle. And if it accomplishes what it sets out to do--to make the case that reading the poetry of W. H. Auden allows for the spontaneous combustion of the human intellect--then Alexander McCall Smith will have done something pretty great for us all as well."--Vinton Rafe McCabe, New York Journal of Books "This book shows us many Audens, not least the cantankerous, carpet-slippered panacea the bulk of us know and love... [B]eautifully put together. For those of us who have waded through a morass of arduous criticism on Auden, it is nice to be reminded why this poet means so much for so many. For those who have not, McCall Smith's book is a great place to start."--Neilson MacKay, NewCriterion.com "[O]f all the volumes I've read about him, and all the tributes paid, the most remarkable and in a sense the most lovable is a highly personal, 137-page book by Alexander McCall Smith, What W.H. Auden Can Do For You."--Robert Fulford, National Post "[M]aybe the name of this book is the most radical, insightful thing about it: the notion that Auden is, as McCall Smith writes, 'a healer,' and that this is healing is collective. It's not just what Auden can do for you alone, but for all of us."--Alex Nazaryan, Newsweek "[A] charming, insightful, personal look at one of the 20th century's great poets."--Colette Bancroft, Tampa Bay Times "Not only does What W.H. Auden Can Do for You express Smith's deep admiration of Auden's poetry, but his paean to the messy maestro also makes for a charming, honest look at Auden's failings... Still, Smith's passion for the poet cannot help but inspire us... [He] wisely counsels us to turn to the poems themselves to assess how much light they shed on our lives and loves. We won't be disappointed. For as Isabel Dalhousie knows so well, reading poetry may put us on the right track, after all."--Arlice Davenport, Wichita Eagle "Novelist Alexander McCall Smith has written a short, personal book about another abiding poet: Wystan Hugh Auden, dead these 40 years... McCall Smith feels enormous gratitude to Auden, and he is a keen proselytiser for poetry: its unique force and moral necessity... With poems like Lullaby and Muse'e des Beaux Arts, Auden transcended his obscure vocabulary and arcane interests to become that rarest of creatures, a necessary poet--the creator of works that people chant to themselves on beaches and read to the bereaved or the newly married. Again and again we return to this strange, weathered scholar poet because he helps us to live."--Peter Rose, Sydney Morning Herald "For some people The Art of War is a touchstone. A guide to living and to life. For others it is Tao Te Ching or even The Tao of Pooh. In his latest book, number one detective Alexander McCall Smith has an admission to make: his own personal touchstone is Anglo-American poet W.H. Auden... If you are a fan of Auden's work, this is a must-read."--Jones Atwater, January Magazine "McCall Smith makes an excellent case for a young generation to get acquainted with the life trajectory of Auden as poet and as struggling human."--Barbara Berman, TheRumpus.net "[C]harming, and easily told... [B]eautifully produced."--Fiona Sampson, New Humanist "[A] thoughtful and generous guide to more than the selected poems of W.H. Auden. An uplifting, pocket-sized vade mecum it made me rethink how I read, why poetry can be relevant both to everyday life and great events and it was refreshingly illuminating on the ways we age."--Caroline Jackson, Tablet "Any interested in literature and poetry will find this a memorable, insightful analysis!"--James A. Cox, California Bookwatch "McCall Smith restores the link between poetry and life, a link that encourages us to linger and reflect on every line or couplet. He demonstrates that Auden was capable of compressing a great deal of thought allusively into a few words, and suggests a technique that we can then apply ourselves... The main point about this little book is that it will attract readers to Auden, and furthermore suggest what is now almost a subversive idea, at least among intellectuals, that literature is not primarily the fodder for unreadable treatises and suety theories, but a way of finding or deepening the meaning of our lives."--Anthony Daniels, New Criterion "Sheer delight in the written and spoken word beams forth from Alexander McCall Smith's overview of the life of the one of the greatest 20th century poets, the Anglo-American poet, W. H. Auden, and his work in What W.H. Auden Can Do for You. The fluency and vigor of McCall Smith's writing gives a strength and momentum to the text that encourages one to read the whole book through without pause. The accessible way in which the author introduces even some of the most complex topics that are covered in Auden's poetry makes this a gem for non-academics and scholars alike."--Lois Henderson, Bookpleasures.com "What W. H. Auden Can Do for You is a graceful and personal response of gratitude for Auden, celebrating the resonance, reverence, and rebellion of the man who believed 'truth is catholic, but the search for it is protestant.'"--Mark Oakley, Church Times "The main point about this little book is that it will attract readers to Auden, and furthermore suggest what is now almost a subversive idea, at least among intellectuals, that literature is not primarily the fodder for unreadable treatises and suety theories, but a way of finding or deepening the meaning of our lives."--Anthony Daniels, New Criterion "[A] charming little book."--Robert Fulford, National Post "Entertainingly dense yet poetically informative, I found What W.H. Auden Can Do For You a more than inspiring read, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone remotely interested in poetics and the sometimes shameful ways of the world."--David MarxTable of ContentsAuthor's Note vii 1. Love Illuminates Again ... 1 2. Who Was He? 7 3. A Discovery of Auden 19 4. Choice and Quest 33 5. The Poet as Voyager 39 6. Politics and Sex 45 7. If I Could Tell You I Would Let You Know 55 8. What Freud Meant 65 9. A Vision of Agape 75 10. That We May Have Dreams and Visions 91 11. And Then There Is Nature 99 12. Auden as a Guide to the Living of One's Life 123

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Rescuing Socrates is a warm, appealing narrative of how it feels to be ‘thrust into a conversation’ with fellow students about life’s most ‘serious and unsettling questions.’"---Martha Bayles, Wall Street Journal"[A] combination memoir and call to arms. . . . Despite those who claim that these are merely works by dead, possibly irrelevant white men, Montás argues that the Great Books approach has a fundamentally democratizing impulse."---John McWhorter, New York Times"Thanks to Montás . . . Socrates had a good 2021."---George F. Will, Washington Post"[An] earnest defense of the humanities, which is also a personal testament to the power of a liberal education."---Thomas Chatterton Williams, The Atlantic"One can only hope that Rescuing Socrates rescues others as well."---Naomi Schaefer Riley, Commentary"Montás undertakes his defense of the great books with simplicity and humility. . . . In the face of public conversations marked by fear, anger, and hostility, Montás chooses the path of vulnerability. In that, he shows the wisdom of a person who has navigated real conflict, away from the seminar table."---Zena Hitz, Commonweal Magazine"This is an important, and timely, book about why the western canon still matters and about how great books can change lives, especially impoverished black and brown ones."---Lindsay Johns, Times Literary Supplement"A heartbreakingly honest immigrant tale of displacement, loss, wrenching readjustment and self-discovery, this book also offers a gripping account of how participation in the great conversation over justice, ethics, citizenship and the nature of the good life can subvert hierarchies of privilege, redeem lost souls, open minds and transform lives."---Steve Mintz, Inside Higher Ed"Rescuing Socrates is a valuable and thoughtful book both sociologically and educationally, making a contribution to the ongoing debate over the past, present, and future of liberal-arts education in the United States."---M. D. Aeschliman, National Review"[Montás] weaves a compelling personal narrative together with a forceful argument that reading classic texts, even those originating in predominantly white, Eurocentric cultures, is an important opportunity for underserved students of color to transform themselves and transform the inequitable social structures within which they are embedded"---Brian Rosenberg, Chronicle of Higher Education"Montás returns the humanities to its revolutionary home, reminding us that we are, after all, talking about such radical and subversive thinkers as Augustine, Plato, Freud, and Gandhi. He teaches us, presumably like he teaches his Core Curriculum students, what those thinkers were after—and what reading them makes possible."---Jonathan Tran, Christian Century ​"[An] insightful work. . . . Few colleges and universities still require study of Great Books as part of their curricula, but Montás makes a compelling case for the life-changing results of such pedagogy; he notes how, as an émigré from the Dominican Republic, he benefited from the breadth and depth of these approaches." * Library Journal *"That’s why the perspective of Roosevelt Montás, author of Rescuing Socrates: How the Great Books Changed My Life and Why They Matter for a New Generation, is so badly needed. . . . In this part memoir, part call to action, Montás argues that reading great literature and philosophy can make working-class people’s lives more meaningful and that everyone should have the opportunity to read great books."---Liza Featherstone, Jacobin"By taking us through his reading and rereading of books over the course of a life, Montás can articulate what is rarely articulated well about great books education."---Jonathan Marks, Washington Examiner"The strength of Montás’ argument lies in his acknowledgement of the power and responsibility of undergraduate education."---Grace Phan Jones, American Purpose"A timely and much-needed book. . . . If administrators and education advocates take the message of Rescuing Socrates to heart, then our students, our schools, and our nation might yet see a brighter future."---Matthew Levey, City Journal"Montás convincingly makes the argument that the classics enrich any life pursuit. By doing so, his story should appeal to anyone who cares about education. There is something here to illuminate and inspire."---Nathaniel Grossman, Fordham Institute"[An] important book."---Matthew Bianco, Circe Institute"Rescuing Socrates turns out to be a magnificent exercise in rescuing us."---Douglas V. Henry, Law & Liberty"Here is the very model of intellectual dialogue: Freud speaking to Montás and Montás considering thoughtfully and speaking back—a demonstration of the fact that the value of liberal arts education is to be found in the experience itself rather than in bean-counter terms such as ‘learning outcomes’ or starting salaries."---Matthew Stewart, James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal"Montás’ defense of the great books is both disarming and brave."---Benjamin Storey and Jenna Storey, American Purpose"Montás’s inspiring defense of the humanities is as galvanizing as his own story. . . . Even if one is not fond of a liberal arts and humanistic education, he may still want to read Roosevelt Montás for the sheer humanity of his book."---Paul Krause, Merion West"Eminently quotable and engagingly written, Rescuing Socrates is a rich resource for those who care about liberal education."---Eric Adler, Front Porch Republic"Rescuing Socrates is the best defence of a liberal education I have read. . . . Montás writes so movingly, and with such erudition, that he himself is the best advertisement for the liberal education he champions."---Daniel James Sharp, Areo Magazine"A robust and unapologetic argument that liberal education, centered around the great books, should be the foundation of every university education. . . . Rescuing Socrates makes a strong case for liberal education at a time when it needs ardent defenders."---Nathaniel Peters, Law & Liberty ​​​​​​​"An impassioned argument for the essential value of the humanities in education."---David Luhrssen, Shepherd Express"Whereas many today see an irreversible crisis in higher education, Montás sees fertile ground for renewal."---Luis Parrales, Public Discourse"A beautiful, powerful, personal argument on behalf of great books programs."---William Deresiewicz, Liberties"Rescuing Socrates is a fascinating and illuminating read that foregrounds the value of the liberal arts, in particular for students from low-income and other disenfranchised backgrounds. Montás exposes the lie that the great works are unsuitable for or irrelevant to people from such backgrounds, and in fact demonstrates the exact opposite: exposure to these texts is most essential for the most disenfranchised."---Finnian Murphy, AC Review of Books

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Book SynopsisPresident Jimmy Carter, this edition features a new foreword by Lachlan Forrow, president of The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship.Trade ReviewOut of My Life and Thought shatters the old myth and allows us to glimpse the real Albert Schweitzer, a man whose moral example is as relevant and compelling... as it was in the 1930s on first publication. Eloquent and heartfelt. Los Angeles TimesTable of ContentsForeword to the 60th Anniversary Edition, by Lachlan Forrow, M.D.Foreword to the 1998 Edition, by President Jimmy CarterPreface, by Rhena Schweitzer Miller and Antje Bultmann Lemke1. Childhood, School, and University2. Paris and Berlin, 1898–18993. The First Years in Strasbourg4. Study of the Last Supper and the Life of Jesus, 1900–19025. Teaching Activities at the University of Strasbourg: The Quest of the Historical Jesus6. The Historical Jesus and the Christianity of Today7. My Work on Bach8. On Organs and Organ Building9. I Resolve to Become a Jungle Doctor10. My Medical Studies, 1905–191211. Preparing for Africa12. Literary Activities During My Medical Course13. First Activities in Africa, 1913–191714. Garaison and St. Rémy15. Back in Alsace16. Physician and Preacher in Strasbourg17. The Book of African Reminiscences18. Günsbach and Journeys Abroad19. The Second Period in Africa, 1924–192720. Two Years in Europe: The Mysticism of Paul the ApostleEpilogueChronologyBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisA memoir of life, experience, and education of a Lakota child in the late 1800s. The author describes the home life and education of Indian children. Like other boys, he played with toy bows and arrows in the tipi before learning to make and use them and became schooled in the ways of animals and in the properties of plants and herbs.Trade Review"The book is replete with information. Standing Bear details many native beliefs and interpretations, as well as the symbolism, of the things of nature that guided the very lives of the Lakota, and makes lucid many conceptions that white people have usually regarded as mere superstition because not understood."—Saturday Review of Literature

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