Memoirs Books

Book SynopsisFrom intersex activist Pidgeon Pagonis comes a candid and life-affirming true story of identity, lies, family secrets, and the healing power of truth. Pidgeon Pagonis always felt like their life was a constant attempt to fit in with other girls—a feeling that was only exacerbated when puberty failed to hit. They never understood why…until they uncovered the secret that had haunted their childhood. Bouncing between their Chicago home and the city’s children’s hospital, Pidgeon weathered a series of traumatic surgeries, fabrications, and misdirections. It wasn’t until college that Pidgeon pieced together the puzzle of their identity: they’d been born intersex but raised as a girl, their life shaped by lies that left them physically and mentally scarred. But for Pidgeon, what began as a shameful and traumatic discovery transforms into a painful yet joyous journey of self-love, truth, and healing. Pidgeon’s inspiring memoir is for everyone whose body and spirit defy expectations, a fierce challenge to a system hell-bent on enforcing binary definitions. Ultimately, it’s a celebration of the freedom and empowerment that come from learning the truth about who you are—and living it.Trade Review“A sharp-eyed, candid reading experience.” —Kirkus Reviews “[H]eart-wrenching…Pagonis’s campaign to speak up on behalf of intersex autonomy is galvanizing, and their journey toward found family is moving. This is an inspiring must-read.” —Publishers Weekly “For many years now Pagonis’s activism as an advocate for the intersex community has been indispensable, helping shine a much-needed light on an identity that is so often misunderstood and ignored. Now they’re bringing that enlivening energy to the page with their luminous memoir about the fight for selfhood.” —Electric Literature “A beautifully written and clear-eyed book that goes beyond the basics of what intersex means to show the full mosaic of what it is to be human.” —Shondaland “A powerful, fierce, and vulnerable memoir that situates the fight for intersex rights against the backdrop of adolescence. Pagonis explores the nuance of bodies—of what it means to have a body as a house—and the ways that society and the medical industry have tried to flatten bodies into one-dimensional ideas. This book is a must-read, and as compelling as it is informative.” —Fatimah Asghar, author of When We Were Sisters “A riveting memoir that illuminates one person’s beautiful struggle against a system that denied their truth since birth. Nobody Needs to Know is critical to understanding intersex issues, and it’s also a striking story of growing up and into yourself. Each page brims with a heart-wrenching honesty and irrepressible spirit that anyone can see themselves in. Pidgeon is changing the world and actively destigmatizing the existence of people who aren’t simply male or female. This story inspires an essential process that brings us closer to respecting and appreciating a reality that is not binary and yet is one we all share. Pidgeon is a wonderful human being, a conduit for harmony, and an example of what change and growth can achieve. Please read this book!” —Indya Moore, actor, model, and advocate “A remarkable book by a remarkable person. I highly recommend it; anyone reading this will come away with an awareness and appreciation of the challenges and beauty of a group of people who are as common in our everyday lives as identical twins or redheads yet are mostly invisible or misunderstood.” —Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD, principal of the Neurosequential Network

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Book SynopsisFrom intersex activist Pidgeon Pagonis comes a candid and life-affirming true story of identity, lies, family secrets, and the healing power of truth. Pidgeon Pagonis always felt like their life was a constant attempt to fit in with other girls—a feeling that was only exacerbated when puberty failed to hit. They never understood why…until they uncovered the secret that had haunted their childhood. Bouncing between their Chicago home and the city’s children’s hospital, Pidgeon weathered a series of traumatic surgeries, fabrications, and misdirections. It wasn’t until college that Pidgeon pieced together the puzzle of their identity: they’d been born intersex but raised as a girl, their life shaped by lies that left them physically and mentally scarred. But for Pidgeon, what began as a shameful and traumatic discovery transforms into a painful yet joyous journey of self-love, truth, and healing. Pidgeon’s inspiring memoir is for everyone whose body and spirit defy expectations, a fierce challenge to a system hell-bent on enforcing binary definitions. Ultimately, it’s a celebration of the freedom and empowerment that come from learning the truth about who you are—and living it.Trade Review“A sharp-eyed, candid reading experience.” —Kirkus Reviews “[H]eart-wrenching…Pagonis’s campaign to speak up on behalf of intersex autonomy is galvanizing, and their journey toward found family is moving. This is an inspiring must-read.” —Publishers Weekly “For many years now Pagonis’s activism as an advocate for the intersex community has been indispensable, helping shine a much-needed light on an identity that is so often misunderstood and ignored. Now they’re bringing that enlivening energy to the page with their luminous memoir about the fight for selfhood.” —Electric Literature “A beautifully written and clear-eyed book that goes beyond the basics of what intersex means to show the full mosaic of what it is to be human.” —Shondaland “A powerful, fierce, and vulnerable memoir that situates the fight for intersex rights against the backdrop of adolescence. Pagonis explores the nuance of bodies—of what it means to have a body as a house—and the ways that society and the medical industry have tried to flatten bodies into one-dimensional ideas. This book is a must-read, and as compelling as it is informative.” —Fatimah Asghar, author of When We Were Sisters “A riveting memoir that illuminates one person’s beautiful struggle against a system that denied their truth since birth. Nobody Needs to Know is critical to understanding intersex issues, and it’s also a striking story of growing up and into yourself. Each page brims with a heart-wrenching honesty and irrepressible spirit that anyone can see themselves in. Pidgeon is changing the world and actively destigmatizing the existence of people who aren’t simply male or female. This story inspires an essential process that brings us closer to respecting and appreciating a reality that is not binary and yet is one we all share. Pidgeon is a wonderful human being, a conduit for harmony, and an example of what change and growth can achieve. Please read this book!” —Indya Moore, actor, model, and advocate “A remarkable book by a remarkable person. I highly recommend it; anyone reading this will come away with an awareness and appreciation of the challenges and beauty of a group of people who are as common in our everyday lives as identical twins or redheads yet are mostly invisible or misunderstood.” —Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD, principal of the Neurosequential Network

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Book SynopsisAn intimate memoir about coming of age in a tight-knit working-class family during Iraq’s seemingly endless series of wars. Faleeha Hassan became intimately acquainted with loss and fear while growing up in Najaf, Iraq. Now, in a deeply personal account of her life, she remembers those she has loved and lost. As a young woman, Faleeha hated seeing her father and brother go off to fight, and when she needed to reach them, she broke all the rules by traveling alone to the war’s front lines—just one of many shocking and moving examples of her resilient spirit. Later, after building a life in the US, she realizes that she will coexist with war for most of the years of her life and chooses to focus on education for herself and her children. In a world on fire, she finds courage, compassion, and a voice. A testament to endurance and a window into unique aspects of life in the Middle East, Faleeha’s memoir offers an intimate perspective on something wars can’t touch—the loving bonds of family.Trade Review“Hassan renders her harrowing experiences in an authentic, heartfelt manner, offering important testimony of personal and national courage. A beautifully wrought memoir from a pioneering Iraqi author.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Iraqi poet Faleeha Hassan (A Butterfly’s Voice) revisits a lifetime defined by war in this devastating and gorgeous work…While a sobering narrative, Hassan’s intelligence and resilience combine to yield an incredibly powerful look at the ripple effects of warfare. Her poignant tale of survival is one that readers won’t soon forget.” —Publishers Weekly “Reading War and Me often feels like listening to a new friend tell her life story, complete with jokes, dreams, and detours…It's impossible not to want better for Hassan and her family before the first chapters are done.” —NPR “Hassan, now an American citizen, said she did not write this book for accolades. ‘Maybe one time, one leader will read my book, and he will change his mind to have another war,’ she said. ‘That’s my goal.’ War and Me is a deeply personal view of what years of wars and international sanctions did to the people Hassan loved.” —Philadelphia Inquirer Praise for Faleeha Hassan “Faleeha Hassan, ‘the Maya Angelou of Iraq,’ wields a mighty pen.” —Oprah.com

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Book SynopsisA deeply personal memoir about one woman’s journey to finding her voice and rewriting her story by the creator and host of the award-winning podcast Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books™. Zibby Owens has become a well-known personality in the publishing world. Her infectious energy, tasteful authenticity, and smart, steadfast support of authors started in childhood, a precedent set by the profound effect books and libraries had on her own family. But after losing her closest friend on 9/11 and later becoming utterly stressed out and overwhelmed by motherhood, Zibby was forgetting what made her her. She turned to books and writing for help. Just when things seemed particularly bleak, Zibby unexpectedly fell in love with a tennis pro turned movie producer who showed her the path to happiness: away from type-A perfectionism and toward letting things unfold organically. What unfolded was a meaningful career, a great love, and finally, her voice, now heard by millions of listeners. An honest and moving story about relationships, love, food issues, the writing life, and finding one’s true calling, Bookends will inspire and uplift.Trade Review“Owens (Princess Charming), host of the podcast Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books and cofounder of Zibby Books, chronicles her path from shy, bookish child to busy mom and media company CEO in this zippy debut…Owens’s infectious enthusiasm radiates with charm, as do her earnest reflections on motherhood. Bibliophiles will breeze through this.” —Publishers Weekly “Owens recounts falling in love again after divorce and offers encouragement and advice to mothers and women trying to get it all done. Her insights into dealing with grief are touching, and readers experiencing loss may find solace in her story.” —Kirkus Reviews “This is an endearing memoir reflecting on a woman’s defining moments in life that will likely resonate with Owens’ fans and also readers who enjoy stories about writers with a New York City backdrop.” —Booklist “Bookends, Zibby’s memoir, is a remarkably poignant story about family, relationships, love, life, and finding one’s true calling…Her writing flows off the page and offers something for everyone. If you’ve experienced heartache, depression, relationship pain, weight issues, felt punched in the face by life and loss…come through it alive and kickin’—you will fly through each page of Bookends. Zibby’s inspiring account provides helpful insight and hope to everyone who reads it.” —Quest Magazine “Part literary love story, part family history, it’s a propulsive read that chronicles Owens’s complicated relationships—with food, with romance, with books, with vast wealth—all told with self-effacing warmth…heartfelt and touching.” —Claire Gibson, Avenue Magazine “In this new memoir…she takes on the role of accomplished author herself, as she beautifully reveals the loves and losses that have shaped her life, and discovers what it means to truly find your place in the world.” —Town & Country “When Owens writes with this blend of vulnerability and approachability, the reader feels as if a close friend is sharing her story with you…Bookends is proof that anyone has the power to rewrite their narrative, if only they are open to fully experiencing all that life puts in their path.” —Hippocampus Magazine “Zibby Owens’s Bookends is a candid and charming memoir about the ups and downs of midlife through the lens of reading and books. Zibby, one of the most beloved book influencers in America, shares how books can help us through tough times. An inspiring and hopeful read.” —Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO, Thrive Global “I knew Zibby was an ardent supporter of authors, but I didn’t realize she was such a fantastic writer herself. Insightful, helpful, authentic, and unifying, the tone of this beautifully written, memorable memoir is just so Zibby. A great choice for every busy mom.” —Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Four Winds “Zibby Owens has always been a terrific interviewer of authors, but it wasn’t until I read her book that I realized how deep her passion for literature truly runs. Her story is a valentine to falling in love with the written word, and for a writer—and readers—that’s the sweetest kind of tale.” —Mitch Albom, New York Times bestselling author of The Stranger in the Lifeboat “A tender, intelligent coming-of-age tale, by turns poignant and hilarious, Bookends gripped me from the first sentence. This is the kind of book you hide in the bathroom to finish, ignoring the cries of your kids and the ringing phone. But it’s also a serious meditation on the dangerous constraints of contemporary motherhood and the nature of privilege. I dare you to read it and not fall in love with Zibby!” —Joanna Rakoff, author of international bestselling memoir My Salinger Year “Zibby Owens has such an infectious enthusiasm—for life, for love, for her friends and family, but above all else for books—her prose glows with it. Thus Bookends acts on two levels: it is both a personal journey from mute child to gregarious author, who spends her days talking to and about writers, and a virtual bookshelf, the kind you sometimes find in a summer rental, groaning with well-loved spines.” —Deborah Copaken, New York Times bestselling author of Ladyparts and Shutterbabe “Bookends is a testament to the healing power of literature, love, and above all, allegiance to one’s true self. Zibby Owens guides us, like a comforting friend, through her journey of loss and reinvention, reminding us, in the end, of our endless capacity for love.” —Claire Bidwell Smith, author of The Rules of Inheritance “Lucky for us, Zibby Owens—a relentless cheerleader for authors known and unknown—has paid homage to books and the role reading has played in her endlessly fascinating life by writing her own.” —Katie Couric “There are no words other than: WOW! Zibby’s work is gorgeous, raw, honest, heartbreaking, and funny. Zibby inspires me.” —Allison Pataki, New York Times bestselling author

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Book SynopsisA bracing memoir about self-discovery, liberating escape, and moving forward across an adventurous and volatile American landscape. One year. One national park at a time. This is it. No more California. I’m sifting into the underbelly of where the nomads go. After a decade as an assistant to high-powered LA executives, Emily Pennington left behind her structured life and surrendered to the pull of the great outdoors. With a tight budget, meticulous routing, and a temperamental minivan she named Gizmo, Emily embarked on a yearlong road trip to sixty-two national parks, hell-bent on a single goal: getting through the adventure in one piece. She was instantly thrust into more chaos than she’d bargained for and found herself on an unpredictable journey rocked by a gutting romantic breakup, a burgeoning pandemic, wildfires, and other seismic challenges that threatened her safety, her sanity, and the trip itself. What began as an intrepid obsession soon evolved into a life-changing experience. Navigating the tangle of life’s unexpected sucker punches, Feral invites readers along on Emily’s grand, blissful, and sometimes perilous journey, where solitude, resilience, self-reliance, and personal transformation run wild.Trade Review“The author’s unflinching honesty and the boldness of her inner and outer journeys are the two great strengths of a book…[that] succeeds in offering a moving portrait of a woman who came into her own by learning to let go.…Fierce, candid reading.” —Kirkus Reviews “Pennington lyrically describes the wonders of the natural world, and she examines her solo life on the road with unsentimental insight. Readers will relish this hopeful portrayal of personal growth.” —Publishers Weekly “In this visceral memoir, travel writer Pennington depicts a year devoted to visiting 62 U.S. national parks…Pennington’s story of personal growth is told with unflinching insight and immense awe at the natural wonders she encounters; her expressive storytelling is sure to engage and inspire readers.” —Booklist “We can only aspire to the curiosity, pluck, and delight exhibited in Emily Pennington’s Feral despite the boulders and storms life might have tumbled at her.” —Nick Offerman, author of Where the Deer and the Antelope Play and Paddle Your Own Canoe “Emily peels back the superficial layers of van life with unflinching honesty to reveal the beautifully frustrating reality that is life on the road, while also gifting readers with important epiphanies set in our beloved national parks. This is a must read for anyone who values public land, our environment, and compelling storytelling.” —Craig Grossi, author of Craig & Fred and Second Chances “Please read Emily Pennington’s brilliantly written story about her year visiting our national parks. It is filled with the savage beauty, historical depth, and existential joy nature has to share with all of us. Do not miss this extraordinary adventure.” —Lyn Lear, Emmy-nominated filmmaker and environmental activist “Self-improvement, but also connection. The rush of new challenges, but also the tranquility of quiet moments. Emily Pennington travels for all the right reasons, and we’re so lucky she’s brought us along on the adventure of a lifetime.” —Sebastian Modak, editor-at-large at Lonely Planet and former New York Times 52 Places Traveler “Emily’s vivid memoir is for anyone seeking what could be, rather than accepting what is. Her national park journey is a testament to life-changing relationships, finding oneself, and the transformative power of the outdoors.” —Heather Balogh Rochfort, adventure journalist and author of Women Who Hike “Emily was facing major obstacles as she set out on a huge adventure to visit every US national park, from a breakup to the onset of COVID-19. In an awesome Eat, Pray, Love approach to the natural world, she sets out on the adventure of a lifetime, dodging grizzly bears and hiking in some of the world’s remotest places. There’s no one I’d rather go on this journey with.” —Mary Turner, deputy editor, Outside magazine “Emily Pennington knows America’s park system better than most people know their own backyards—it is a privilege to get an intimate glimpse of how that relationship has shaped her.” —Megan Spurrell, senior editor at Condé Nast Traveler “On paper, a plan to visit all sixty-two US national parks in one year sounds like a fun trip—what makes Feral an adventure story worth reading, though, is everything that wasn’t in the plan.” —Brendan Leonard, author of The Camping Life and Sixty Meters to Anywhere “A timely travel memoir that melds together stories of our national park system and the author’s life. This is a book about themes that touch us all: exploration, discovery, and home. Packed with vivid details and brutal honesty, to read Feral is to know Emily.” —Abigail Wise, digital managing director, Outside magazine

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Book SynopsisThe greater freedom is to be who you actually are; to be able to live your life in the way you deem best, free from any sort of restriction to do that, or fear of repercussions for doing so. Egyptian-born and London-raised, Alya Mooro grew up between two cultures and felt a pull from both. Where could she turn for advice and inspiration when it seemed there was nobody else like her? Today, Mooro is determined to explore and explode the myth that she must identify either as ‘Western’ or as one of almost 400 million other ‘Arabs’ across the Middle East. Through countless interviews and meticulous research, as well as her own unique experience, Mooro gives voice to the Middle Eastern women who, like her, don’t fit the mould. Women under pressure to conform to society’s ideals of how a woman should look and behave, what she should want and be. Women who want to think and act and love freely, without feeling that every choice means ‘picking a side’. Women who are two things at once and, consequently, neither. Part memoir, part social exploration, this is a book for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider.

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Book SynopsisAnjelah Johnson had two dreams as a kid: to be an actress and to be a chola. You may know Anjelah Johnson for her viral sketch "Nail Salon" (over 30 million views) or her beloved ghetto-fabulous MadTV character Bon Qui Qui, but it's her clean humor and hilarious storytelling that make her one of the most successful stand-up comedians today. In Who Do I Think I Am? Anjeleh shares hilarious stories about her life, from her irrational fear of death ("Please Don't Die, Okay?") to growing up caught between two worlds ("I'm Mexican/Hella American") to her cultural pride ("Chola Wishes & Caviar Dreams"). Of course, like any good Latina, she offers a choice of stories that are mild ("I Love Jesus But I Will Punch A 'Ho), medium ("Chin-checked by Prince") and spicy ("I'm Dating You Cuz I'm Hungry").The book follows Anjelah's unlikely journey as she transforms from a suburban kid with Aquanet-drenched hair into a conservative Christian who abstains from drinking and premarital sex, into a mall-famous Raider cheerleader, and then an actually famous comedian traveling the world and meeting people from all-walks of life. As she travels the world, Anjelah has eye-opening experiences, and she morphs from square, rigid Anjelah into "Funjelah," and learns that she can still ride with Jesus without squashing the other parts of her personality.Anjelah's stories explore subjects such as embracing--and sometimes trying too hard to embrace--your racial identity, finding your place in the world and chasing your crazy dreams, the messiness of an evolving faith, and searching for belonging and meaning. Through her journey, Anjelah discovers her true identity, found only in the all-encompassing love of God, and encourages readers to have the audacity to dream big and fight to achieve their goals, no matter what obstacles they may face.

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Book SynopsisA National Bestseller!In this intimate memoir, actress and musician Jamie Lynn Spears opens up for the first time, telling her unfiltered story on her own terms. You've read the headlines, but you don't know Jamie Lynn Spears. The world first met Jamie Lynn as a child star, when it was her job to perform, both on set and for the press. She spent years escaping into different characters - on All That, Zoey 101, and even in the role as Britney's kid sister. But as she grew up, faced a teen pregnancy, raised her daughter on her own, pursued a career, and learned to stand on her own two feet, the real Jamie Lynn started to take centre stage - a raw, blemished, and imperfect woman, standing in her own power.Despite growing up in one of America's most tabloid-famous families, Jamie Lynn has never told her story in her own words. In Things I Should Have Said, she talks frankly about the highs and lows, sharing what it was like traveling the world as a kid, how she moved into acting and performing herself, what life as a child star took from her, and the life-changing reality of becoming a teen mom. She talks about how she finally found love and how the mistakes she has made have taught her more than anything else. She also shares vulnerably about how the ATV accident that nearly took her daughter's life brought her back to her faith and caused her to re-evaluate and redirect her life.Frank, courageous, and inspiring, Things I Should Have Said is a portrait of a wife, momma, sister, daughter, actress, and musician doing the best she could to show up for herself and teach her daughters to have the courage to love every part of themselves, too.

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Book SynopsisKelly Randall Ricketts has spent over half his life in the Campbell River area of Vancouver Island and lived in almost every region of BC, and like many rural British Columbians, he has tried his hand at an astonishing array of occupations from logging to mining to wrangling horses. Add to this a passion for the outdoors, heavyweight boxing, performing his own music and storytelling, and you have the makings of a very lively memoir.In One Inch from Disaster, Ricketts shares his closest calls, most daring feats and most embarrassing mistakes with the nonchalance and wry self-deprecation that comes from living a highly active life. Whether leaping from boat to boat on the crest of a giant wave, driving a bulldozer over a pile of dynamite, changing a tire just feet away from an angry grizzly or picking a fight with a group of Hells Angels, Ricketts rarely let the possibility of danger get in the way of a good story.Featuring hilarity, excitement and occasional moments of true reverence, One Inch from Disaster may inspire even the most confirmed city-dweller to get out and explore the adventures that await on the wilder side of life. On the other hand, the reader may feel grateful to live out these adventures vicariously from the comfort of their home, guided by such a riotous storyteller.

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE QWF MAVIS GALLANT PRIZE FOR NON-FICTIONTHE GLOBE 100: THE BEST BOOKS OF 2022From LAMBDA Literary Award winner Sina Queyras, Rooms offers a peek into the defining spaces a young queer writer moved through as they found their way from a life of chaos to a life of the mind Thirty years ago, a professor threw a chair at Sina Queyras after they’d turned in an essay on Virginia Woolf. Queyras returns to that contentious first encounter with Virginia Woolf to recover the body and thinking of that time. Using Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own as a touchstone, this book is both an homage to and provocation of the idea of a room of one’s own at the centre of our idea of a literary life. How central is the room? And what happens once we get one? Do we inhabit our rooms? Or do the rooms contain us? Blending memoir, prose, tweets, poetry, and criticism, Rooms offers a peek into the defining spaces a young queer writer moved through as they found their way from a life of chaos to a life of the mind, and from a very private life of the mind to a public life of the page, and from a life of the page into a life in the Academy, the Internet, and on social media."With Virginia Woolf alongside them, Queyras journeys through rooms literal and figurative, complicating and deepening our understanding of what it means to create space for oneself as a writer. Their hard-won language challenges us to resist any glib associations of Woolf’s famous ‘room’ with an easy freedom. Inspiring and moving, Queyras’s memoir testifies to Woolf’s continuing generative power."—Mark Hussey, editor of Virginia Woolf's Between the Acts (2011) and author of Clive Bell and the Making of Modernism (2021)"In this beautiful, perceptive book, Sina Queyras moves deftly between the words and wake of Virginia Woolf and their own formation as writer, lover, teacher, friend, and person. Rooms is expert in its depiction of personal and literary histories, and firmly aware of its moment of composition. Reading these pages, I was enticed by Queyras’s curiosity and openness, thrilled by the sharp edges of their anger. Tight prose, electric thinking, self-discovery – it’s all here, all abuzz. Rooms is alive." – Heather Christle, author of The Crying Book"It is impossible not to question the world as we thought we knew it by the end of this book. Sina Queyras painstakingly aims their extraordinary nerve and talent at Virginia Woolf’s idea of a room of one’s own: 'It’s a mistake to consider the room without all of its entanglements.' Taking Woolf’s cue, Queyras explores writing that is not world-building but something far more generous and transformative; as Woolf wrote, 'Literature is open to everybody.'" – CAConrad, author of AMANDA PARADISE: Resurrect Extinct Vibration Trade Review"Using Virginia Woolf’s 'A Room of One’s Own' as a touchstone text, this book blends memoir, poetry and criticism to offer a glimpse into the formative spaces that Queyras navigated on the way to life as a queer writer in the public eye." – The New York Times"Queyras’ Rooms suggests that, in a world where creative expression is mediated by material constraints, what many writers are actually after is the right amount of noise and silence, care without confinement: “somewhere between retreat and community, there is space.”' – Aishwarya Singh, Montreal Review of Books

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Book SynopsisNovelist Robert Olmstead journeys back to his youth on his grandfather’s New Hampshire dairy farm to confront the ghosts that continue to afflict him in this coming-of-age memoir. Robert Olmstead has peopled his fiction with the rough-hewn farmers, loggers, and hired hands of rural New England mountain towns where getting drunk, getting into fights, and getting thrown out of bars are the normal rites of passage. In Stay Here with Me, Olmstead lays bare the acute pain of his father’s alcoholism and the decline of his grandfather, the family patriarch. With delicate sensuality, he also traces the flowering of his first love for a woman who “walks like light would walk if it could.” Authentic, intimate, and intense, Stay Here with Me is about growing up and leaving home and about the acts of rebellion that free the body even as they bind the soul to a place forever. This Nonpa

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Book SynopsisIn the fall of 2010, Abby Norman's strong dancer's body dropped forty pounds and gray hairs began to sprout from her temples. She was repeatedly hospitalized in excruciating pain, but the doctors insisted it was a urinary tract infection and sent her home with antibiotics. Unable to get out of bed, much less attend class, Norman dropped out of college and embarked on what would become a years-long journey to discover what was wrong with her. It wasn't until she took matters into her own hands--securing a job in a hospital and educating herself over lunchtime reading in the medical library--that she found an accurate diagnosis of endometriosis.In Ask Me About My Uterus, Norman describes what it was like to have her pain dismissed, to be told it was all in her head, only to be taken seriously when she was accompanied by a boyfriend who confirmed that her sexual performance was, indeed, compromised. Putting her own trials into a broader historical, sociocultural, and political context, Norman shows that women's bodies have long been the battleground of a never-ending war for power, control, medical knowledge, and truth. It's time to refute the belief that being a woman is a preexisting condition.

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Book SynopsisA compelling collection of personal essays that reminds us of the power of love and writing to connect us, despite the forces that seek to keep us separate. What if we survive by converting what we get into what we need? asks Jennifer Bowen Hicks in a series of linked essays that offer care and attention as balm for our contemporary loneliness. The founding director of one of the most groundbreaking prison writing workshops in the United States, she has seen firsthand the effects of absence and isolation. Reading and writing, she posits, can be radically connective actsproof, finally, that we're not alone. Written during a time when division is constantly being sown between us, The Book of Kin argues powerfully for our need to understand ourselves and each other as full, complex beings worthy of love. From the unexpectedly salvific attentions of a cow to the time-bending drama of watching a child grow into an adult, and from pastoral carceral settings to the spectacle of an antiquated prison rodeo, Bowen Hicks examines a wild spectrum of shapes that care can takeand what happens when its absence is marked. These unflinching, surprisingly funny, and emotionally vulnerable essays are driven by a curiosity to uncover what might be gleaned from various separations, or vanishments, in her own lifefrom the shadow of her own father to disappeared backyard chickensand in American life writ large, where harm is shared, and healing is too. The Book of Kin is a rhapsodic debut that explores the beautiful, determined ways we imperfectly care for one another and how we might keep trying, despite it all.

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Book SynopsisA Vulture 2023 Best Book of the Year“I was in the car the first time music seemed strange: the instruments less distinct, the vocals less crisp.” John Cotter was thirty years old when he first began to notice a ringing in his ears. Soon the ringing became a roar inside his head. Next came partial deafness, then dizziness and vertigo that rendered him unable to walk, work, sleep, or even communicate. At a stage of life when he expected to be emerging fully into adulthood, teaching and writing books, he found himself “crippled and dependent,” and in search of care. When he is first told that his debilitating condition is likely Ménière’s Disease, but that there is “no reliable test, no reliable treatment, and no consensus on its cause,” Cotter quits teaching, stops writing, and commences upon a series of visits to doctors and treatment centers. What begins as an expedition across the country navigating and battling the limits of the American healthcare system, quickly becomes something else entirely: a journey through hopelessness and adaptation to disability. Along the way, hearing aids become inseparable from his sense of self, as does a growing understanding that the possibilities in his life are narrowing rather than expanding. And with this understanding of his own travails comes reflection on age-old questions around fate, coincidence, and making meaning of inexplicable misfortune. A devastating memoir that sheds urgent, bracingly honest light on both the taboos surrounding disability and the limits of medical science, Losing Music is refreshingly vulnerable and singularly illuminating—a story that will make readers see their own lives anew.Trade ReviewPraise for Losing Music"An acute and very beautiful book."—Teju Cole, author of Known and Strange Things: Essays“Understatedly elegant [. . .] In articulating what is now gone, Mr. Cotter vibrantly evokes the sensations of life before the beginning of the end of his hearing [. . .] Notwithstanding the personal catastrophe that deafness represents, it did give Mr. Cotter the ideal subject, transformed through literary grace, for a book. [. . . ] Losing Music comes closer to expressing the transcendent sensation by nearly being music itself. Its author turned adversity into quiet triumph. Evidence that Mr. Cotter's ear is still keen for the melodies of language sings from every page.”—Wall Street Journal “In his moving memoir, John Cotter anticipates a world without sound. Losing Music offers a compelling portrait of how deafness isolates people from even those closest to them. [. . .] More broadly, he also challenges us to better understand how any disability radically alters a person's sense of self."—Washington Post“In this bracing memoir, essayist Cotter recounts his experience with an incurable inner ear disorder….The result is a poignant reflection on disability.”—Publishers Weekly“Cotter writes about the embodied experience of hearing loss vividly and within a network of contexts: that of caregiving and that of medical science’s many unsolved mysteries.”—Maddie Crum, The Vulture"Losing Music explodes an individual experience of illness into a cultural and medical reckoning; with a sociologist’s rigor and a poet’s lyricism, Cotter takes readers on an odyssey through the social history of disability, the brutal bureaucracy of the American healthcare system, and the intimate violence of living in a volatile body. But this memoir is just as much a love letter to sound itself as it is a chronicle of loss; your world will sound different after reading it."—Charley Burlock, Oprah Daily "More than about Ménière's, Losing Music is a powerful addition to the memoir canon—hard-hitting, beautiful, profound—a story of finding safe ground in a world regularly buffeted by very rough seas."—The Millions“Cotter makes clear in his remarkable memoir, Losing Music, one of Ménière’s cruelest elements is its imprecision [. . .] It’s unclear to Cotter—and any of us—how much time we have left to consume, love, and share art. Through describing that uncertainty, Cotter reveals its value.”—On the Seawall“What happens when something you’ve loved your whole life becomes something that causes you pain? That’s a question at the center of John Cotter’s new memoir, which chronicles his diagnosis with a condition that’s likely Ménière’s Disease—and the physical and psychological effects that it had on him. It’s a harrowing and insightful look at a challenging time in its author’s life.”—Inside Hook“In an affecting debut memoir, novelist and essayist Cotter recounts the health crisis that transformed his sense of self and connection to his world [. . .] A gracefully rendered, candid chronicle of trauma.”—Kirkus Reviews“Devastating and beautiful. Losing Music is pieced together in a particularly uncanny way, like scraps of conversation that gradually coalesce into an immensely powerful and meaningful whole.”—Sam Sacks, editor, Wall Street Journal“John Cotter’s memoir examines hearing loss, challenges with the American healthcare system, adaptation to disability, and questions of fate, coincidence, and making meaning from misfortune. This is a moving and vulnerable story.” —Kathy Baum, 5280 Magazine"[Losing Music] deepens our understanding of sound, human connection, and what it means to be (and remain) alive."—Shelby Smoak, Washington Independent Review of Books“Lighthouse writing instructor John Cotter’s memoir examines loss, challenges with the American health care system, adaptation to disability, and questions of fate, coincidence, and making meaning from misfortune. This is a moving and vulnerable story.”—Kathy Baum, Tattered Cover, Denver, CO“Cotter first notices that music sounds off, and then he’s plagued by vertigo. A memoir about dramatically changing one’s life and dealing with a mysterious illness. I highly recommend!”—Caitlin Luce Baker, Island Books, Mercer Island, WA“This is a memoir about the loss of an important sense—hearing. It’s also about what was gained as Cotter was compelled to contemplate his short personal history, his goals and the meaning of life. The diagnosis came quickly and at a young age—a rare disease, origins not understood and for which there is no known treatment. Quitting his work, he travels cross-country in search of help. Meanwhile, he has to come to grips with the loss of so many strengths he had become accustomed to, and to learn about the language and other taboos related to disability. And to think about the many, many people who have suffered their own similar losses, through war, accidents or just plain happenstance. This short memoir is moving, in some ways frightening, but also hopeful. There is life after loss. It’s a matter of perseverance, bravery and accepting change.”—Linda Bond, Auntie’s Book Shop, Spokane, WA“I read Losing Music in part to examine my own ailments, which are similar to John Cotter’s: tinnitus, hearing loss, vertigo, and the anxiety that can accompany them. I was relieved that my symptoms pale in comparison, but Cotter’s story tracking the severity of his condition is both enlightening and a bit terrifying. Throughout his memoir, Cotter describes the impacts to his personality, the challenges of communication with others, and the marital stress he and his wife have dealt with. The search for medical treatment led him through the long history of Meniere’s disease. He found that many attempted ‘cures’ were horrific failures, and that in fact, little or no progress has been made over the last one hundred years. His journey laced all the way back to Jonathan Swift and Beethoven, who is also hearing impaired. This story is deeply reflective and moving, full of sorrow, hope and how to cope after being humbled by a crippling disease. I’m grateful that Cotter was able to overcome his obstacles to tell his story.”—Todd Miller, Arcadia Books, Spring Green, WI“Heart-wrenching . . . When the mysterious symptoms that turn out to be Meniere’s disease encroach upon up-and-coming college professor and writer John Cotter’s soul-satisfying work and domestic life, its degrading effects on his hearing and sense of balance slam down an unwanted wall between his aspirations and the world beyond . . . An ill-understood condition, Meniere’s drives the dispirited Cotter to pursue any number of clinics across the country for help in dealing with this isolating ‘new normal’ of greatly diminished hearing and unpredictable bouts of vertigo. Cotter is a grounded and reflective narrator of these struggles, and he envelopes the reader in grieving for the losses, little and big, as well as rejoicing in his numerous hard-won but successful adaptations, and concurrent optimism for what is to come. An added bonus: his historical anecdotes about changing attitudes and outlooks toward Meniere’s can be as entertaining as they are, at other times, flummoxing. Losing Music is the outstanding work of a straightforward memoirist with a wry sense of humor who feels very much like a good friend.”—Susan Braunstein, New Rochelle Public Library, New Rochelle, NY“This memoir by John Cotter has made me think more about disabled people, homeless people, suicidal people, and lonely people, and I want to learn more—a lot more about Jonathan Swift—and how to help more people and be more compassionate. How many books can you say that about?”—Mollie Mitchell, HearthFire Books, Evergreen, CO“Losing Music is a stunning, expansively beautiful book. Not just because of John Cotter's precise and vivid language on a sentence level, but also because of how it moves so tenderly through the vanishing of sound, and not just sound, but songs—points of connection that can be taken for granted. And even beyond this reality, Losing Music is not solely a sad book. It is also a book of comforts, of joys, of closeness. I am thankful for all of its movements.”—Hanif Abdurraqib, author of A Little Devil in America“John Cotter brings sound to the page as something tactile: abrasive, elusive, fluid, textured, a current between body and mind. He fashions language into a velvety pocket in a harsh world. Losing Music is a phenomenal book about what it's like to be sick and suffering, and in it, I recognize not only the isolating nature of illness, but also a powerful intimacy with one's own changing self.”—Elissa Washuta, author of White Magic“Losing Music is a vertiginous journey of loss and discovery triggered by the onset of an unpredictable and mysterious disability. With poetic energy, John Cotter describes the roaring and swirling particulars of Ménière’s disease, while he grapples with universal questions of meaning and suffering. The memoir effortlessly blends personal stories with delightful deep dives into sound dynamics, inner-ear anatomy, and eighteenth-century author Jonathan Swift, who becomes a much needed friend—‘articulate, accessible, free with his time,’ and, I might add, darkly funny, dramatic, and brilliant, not unlike Cotter himself.”—M. Leona Godin, author of There Plant Eyes: A Personal and Cultural History of Blindness“I’m not sure what I’d do if my body became a seemingly unsolvable mystery, and I can’t know how I’d handle the fear, frustration, and despair, but I doubt I’d have either the fortitude or the imagination to do what John Cotter has achieved in this book. Losing Music is a remarkable memoir: unsettling, insightful, and gorgeously written. I’ll be pressing this book into many people’s hands.”—Maggie Smith, author of Goldenrod: Poems“I think the hardest thing for a personal writer to do is think well and feel well at the same time. John Cotter’s writing is bursting with as much intellect as heart. It’s as clear-eyed and incisive as it is moving. It’s what nonfiction should be.”—Lucas Mann, author of Captive Audience and Lord Fear“Losing Music is a fascinating, heartbreaking, deeply personal story from one of the most talented essayists around. It’s a book about art and illness, the betrayals of the body, and what is kept and what is lost as time goes by.”—Justin Taylor, author of Flights and Riding with the GhostPraise for Under the Small Lights“John Cotter’s prose is lyric, his images unforgettable, his characters richly complicated. From the first sentence to the last, I was captivated by this story and the characters that call out to the reader with mystery and beauty and terror, like voices in the night. Under the Small Lights is a book to be savored, and John Cotter is an exciting new voice in contemporary fiction.”—Laura van den Berg, author of The Third Hotel“John Cotter has a way with words. He has a way with dialogue, with setting a scene, with crystallizing description and insight into just a handful of words. He has a way of wrapping his observations about lost generations, about the charade of the Bohemian lifestyle, about the fragility of ideals when they crash into immovable objects, into the characters themselves. . . . Cotter treats these themes with a rare intelligence and subtlety and a certain warmth for these characters who are charming and contemptible by turns. Cotter is going to be a writer to remember, and this is a great book. You should read it.”—Tampa Bay (FL) Creative Loafing“Under the Small Lights is the kind of book I always look for and rarely find: a mellow meditation on friendship and romance and the romance of friendship told in prose straightforward and lovely. [Cotter’s] characters are urbane and articulate, foolishly impulsive, and heartbreakingly earnest. It’s been a long time since I’ve encountered a bildungsroman this successful, let alone a novella this bighearted.”—Josh Russell, author of Yellow Jack“[Cotter] writes with insight, nuance, and respect for the complexity of these young people’s lives. The prose is lyrical and lucid; the scenes are powerful and vivid.”—The Rumpus“One of the strongest aspects of [Under the Small Lights] is Cotter’s ease with natural-sounding dialogue, which sparks, shambles, and darts along—the rhythm of you and your friends goofing on each other. . . . The book also has the substantial advantage of having a great atmospheric beginning, excellent action-packed climax, and a poignant ending. Under the Small Lights is a very good read.”—New Pages“[Under the Small Lights] moves through a series of scenes that surface like memories, wandering the way our attention spans and affections will, from friend to friend until our rash decisions blast everything away, or until we have to make new friends or risk the inevitable outcome that accompanies emulating / lusting after / emphatically loving your friends …What might otherwise be construed as a group of selfish kids is instead a group of self-aware kids, who are easier to relate to and easier to love.”—Lit Pub Table of ContentsIPrelude 5A New Life 15Sound Shadow 35On the Beach 61The Polar Vortex 85No Satori 113INTERMEZZOFour Music Lessons 137IIThe Trauma Test 151Lost Things Dreams 177The Hundred Oceans of Jonathan Swift 201 Other Lives 231Shocked Quartz 253Coda 263Notes 275Acknowledgments 283

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Book SynopsisA Book Riot and Shelf Awareness “Best Book of 2021“Places do not belong to us. We belong to them.”The child of South Asian migrants, Kazim Ali was born in London, lived as a child in the cities and small towns of Manitoba, and made a life in the United States. As a man passing through disparate homes, he has never felt he belonged to a place. And yet, one day, the celebrated poet and essayist finds himself thinking of the boreal forests and lush waterways of Jenpeg, a community thrown up around the building of a hydroelectric dam on the Nelson River, where he once lived for several years as a child. Does the town still exist, he wonders? Is the dam still operational?When Ali goes searching, however, he finds not news of Jenpeg, but of the local Pimicikamak community. Facing environmental destruction and broken promises from the Canadian government, they have evicted Manitoba’s electric utility from the dam on Cross Lake. In a place where water is an integral part of social and cultural life, the community demands accountability for the harm that the utility has caused.Troubled, Ali returns north, looking to understand his place in this story and eager to listen. Over the course of a week, he participates in community life, speaks with Elders and community members, and learns about the politics of the dam from Chief Cathy Merrick. He drinks tea with activists, eats corned beef hash with the Chief, and learns about the history of the dam, built on land that was never ceded, and Jenpeg, a town that now exists mostly in his memory. In building relationships with his former neighbors, Ali explores questions of land and power―and in remembering a lost connection to this place, finally finds a home he might belong to.Trade Review"Embedded in [Northern Light] . . . is the higher call to slow down and pay close attention to the injustices wrought upon the people of Cross Lake, including, as a result, its troubled youth. And to truly feel what it's like to be there, to reclaim a land that possesses you in return." —Minneapolis Star Tribune "This lyrical memoir is a balm for the soul." —Literary Hub, "Recommended Climate Readings for March 2021" "Ali's prose shines when recalling his interactions with members of the Pimicikamak community and friends. Those concerned with environmental justice or the plight of Indigenous peoples will want to give this a look." —Publishers Weekly "[Ali's] experiences are relayed in sensitive, crystalline prose, documenting how Cross Lake residents are working to reinvent their town and rebuild their traditional beliefs, language, and relationships with the natural world . . . Though these topics are complex, they are untangled in an elegant manner." —Foreword Reviews (starred review) "A world traveler, not always by choice, ponders the meaning and location of home . . . Ali alerts readers to the First Nations' struggles to fend off an open-pit titanium mine, a gas pipeline, and other water projects, taking care to include many Indigenous voices . . . A graceful, elegant account even when reporting on the hard truths of a little-known corner of the world." —Kirkus Reviews "Kazim Ali, an acute observer and listener, has helped bring voices of the Cross Lake community into our hearing. In this latest book, he shines some northern light over essential questions about identity, power, governance, and justice for all peoples." —Anchorage Daily News "One of Northern Light's greatest strengths is Ali's ability to weave between his personal connection to the land and the history of the people who call it home . . . Ali's gift as a writer is the way he is able to present his story in a way that brings attention to the myriad issues facing Indigenous communities, from oil pipelines in the Dakotas to border walls running through Kumeyaay land." —San Diego Union-Tribune "Ali moves from writing a memoir to something else, something larger than the story of one person, one family, or even one place . . . Northern Light transcends any one of these categorizations to become something much larger than the sum of its parts, a provocative consideration of what it means to belong to a place—and whether or not a place can ever belong to a person." —Shelf Awareness "Ali, known as a poet, brings his poetic sensibility to his literary reportage and descriptions of Cross Lake . . . The result is prose that brings lyrical beauty, dignity, and life to a place that has not received the respect it rightly deserves . . . Northern Light complicates our preconceived definitions of home, belonging, and identity, begging the reader to make every visit to their hometown a more nuanced, and perhaps more generous, experience." —The Adroit Journal "Ali's ethical imaginary is as finely honed and illuminating as his prose . . . What a privilege his fine book is, what a joy to spend a week in Cross Lake beside Ali." —World Literature Today "This lyrical tale of reconnection and self-discovery deserves all the attention it can get." —Foreword Reviews "Ali's book grapples with place, ecosystem, 'home,' and how sometimes home is not an identifiable place. Through Ali's memories of living near the Nelson River in Canada, he discusses the survivance of a community and concerns of exploitation and colonialism . . . I've already learned so much regarding this community and place I had not known of before." —Ecotone Magazine “Ali’s lyrical, hypnotic storytelling takes us on an unlikely journey to a place that only now exists in his childhood memories: a remote industrial community in the boreal forest of northern Canada. I was mesmerized by the voice of a poet who methodically and artistically recounts his once-i- a-lifetime journey to connect with a Cree tribe called the Pimicikamak, the original owners and occupiers of the land and water that mesmerized him as a child. The human landscape Kazim Ali creates in his work, interweaving his own familial and cultural disruption – with those of the Pimicikamak Cree is intriguing and profound.”—Darrel McLeod, author of Mamaskatch "In a cross-cultural exploration of home, Kazim Ali faces the reckoning of his family's legacy in the destruction of indigenous lands when he is welcomed to a Cree tribe known as the Pimicikamak. Poetically and precisely, Ali gives us an example of the ways we can learn to reconcile with the impact of our history with a story that shows the ways in which water connects all of us from lakes, rivers, and across oceans." —Riley Jay Davis, Next Chapter Booksellers "In this slim memoir, Ali gives us a view of his childhood memories and the reality of what he finds upon return to the small community of his youth. Not Jenpeg, Manitoba Canada, but rather the Pimicikamak community. Here he learns of the damage done by the power company and the way the community members have responded and are dealing with the issues that damage has caused. Ali's gentle narrative points to the underlying story in a way that is both enlightening and enriching. Thank you." —Linda Bond, Auntie's Bookstore Praise for Kazim Ali “Reading Ali is an act of redemption even when the worst is spiked and wired with hatred and danger. His perspective on time is both a challenge and a balm.”—The Rumpus “Ali's lyrics are crafted with a controlled, delicate quality that never stops questioning, never stops teaching, never stops astounding.”—American Poet “Lyrical, political, humorous, light and deep—Ali strikes out in many directions. . . . The resulting harmonies—and even the discord—are beautiful.”—Justin Torres, author of We the Animals “A master of so many genres and forms—poetry, fiction, essay, memoir—Ali seems to manage the ultimate feat: to slip free from the limitations of these categories.”—Rahul Mehta, author of Quarantine “Ali’s forceful use of musicality is incantatory, pushing his lyrics from the realm of the everyday into the unknown or even the sublime. . . . Ali also finds tension between the pulls of prayer and silence, void and profusion, the hidden and the overt. The result is a charged space in which a very contemporary voice takes on an elemental and numinous sheen.”—Publishers Weekly “The speed and energy of this language, and its confident movement, are undeniable and compelling. There is a lovely plenitude in the embroidery woven out of these journeys, inner and outer the rich and nuanced tracings of contemporary experience Ali offers here are reward enough.”—Georgia Review “What a gift Ali’s Inquisition is, what a generosity, in its sustained and sustaining inhabitation of the mystery. That, without ignoring heartbreak or rage, it understands that we are always 'at the end of knowing,' and shows us how we might reside there. And from which residence, Inquisition reminds me: love.”—Ross Gay, author of The Book of Delights “Ali extends to us a living and moving wondering in Silver Road—an active and rational thinking, yes, though poured from the vessel of body, its clay, breath and frailty. . . . Here, I can 'stare into the dark of Nothing to see.' Then see both ancient and newborn constellations of theory, beliefs and dreaming; see the intersections; see relationships. . . . Ali’s admission of aloneness . . . causes the space of loneliness itself to collapse.”—Layli Long Soldier, author of Whereas

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Book SynopsisAn immersive blend of chicken-keeping memoir and culture reporting by a journalist who accidentally became obsessed with her flock.Since first domesticating the chicken thousands of years ago, humans have become exceptionally adept at raising them for food. Yet most people rarely interact with chickens or know much about them. In Under the Henfluence, culture reporter Tove Danovich explores the lives of these quirky, mysterious birds who stole her heart the moment her first box of chicks arrived at the post office.From a hatchery in Iowa to a chicken show in Ohio to a rooster rescue in Minnesota, Danovich interviews the people breeding, training, healing, and, most importantly, adoring chickens. With more than 26 billion chickens living on industrial farms around the world, they?re easy to dismiss as just another dinner ingredient. Yet Danovich?s reporting reveals the hidden cleverness, quiet sweetness, and irresistible personalities of these birds, as well as the complex human-chicken relationship that has evolved over centuries. This glimpse into the lives of backyard chickens doesn?t just help us to understand chickens better?it also casts light back on ourselves and what we?ve ignored throughout the explosive growth of industrial agriculture. Woven with delightful and sometimes heartbreaking anecdotes from Danovich?s own henhouse, Under the Henfluence proves that chickens are so much more than what they bring to the table.

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Book SynopsisCircumstances impelled Victor Grossman, a U.S. Army draftee stationed in Europe, to flee a military prison sentence: especially the icy pressures of the McCarthy Era. Grossman – a.k.a. Steve Wechsler, a committed leftist since his years at Harvard and, briefly, as a factory worker – left his barracks in Bavaria one August day in 1952, and, in a panic, swam across the Danube River from the Austrian U.S. Zone to the Soviet Zone. Fate – i.e., the Soviets – landed him in East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic. There he remained, observer and participant, husband and father, as he watched the rise and successes, the travails, and the eventual demise of the GDR socialist experiment. A Socialist Defector is the story, told in rare, personal detail, of an activist and writer who grew up in the U.S. free-market economy; spent thirty-eight years in the GDR’s nationally owned, centrally administered economy; and continues to survive, given whatever the market can bear in today’s united Germany. Having been a freelance journalist and traveling lecturer – and the only person in the world to hold diplomas from both Harvard and the GDR’s Karl Marx University – Grossman is able to offer insightful, often ironic, reflections and reminiscences, comparing the good and bad sides of life in all three of the societies he has known. His account focuses especially on the socialism he saw and lived – the GDR’s goals and achievements; its repressive measures and stupidities – which, he argues, offers lessons now in our search for solutions to the grave problems facing our world. This is a fascinating and unique historical narrative; political analysis told with jokes, personal anecdotes, and without bombast.

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Book SynopsisEssays on raising a family and creating sustainable communities in diverse cultural and ecological landscapes

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Book SynopsisFor the first time in paperback, a powerful and raw glimpse behind the scenes of the Black Panther Party Making Revolution is Don Cox’s revelatory, even incendiary account of his years in the Black Panther Party. He had participated in many peaceful Bay Area civil rights protests but hungered for more militant action. His book tells the story of his work as the party’s field marshal in charge of gunrunning to planning armed attacks—tales which are told for the first time in this remarkable memoir—to his star turn raising money at the Manhattan home of Leonard Bernstein (for which he was famously mocked by Tom Wolfe in Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers), to his subsequent flight to Algeria to join Eldridge Cleaver in exile, to his decision to leave the party following his disillusionment with Huey P. Newton’s leadership. Cox would live out the rest of his life in France, where he wrote these unrepentant recollections in the early 1980s, enjoining his daughter to promise him that she would do everything she could to have them published.Trade Review“Complex, provocative.... A gripping record of a fraught era.”—Kevin Canfield, San Francisco Chronicle“Plainspoken and direct, Cox's writing achieves an eloquence that makes it exceedingly readable, never losing the drama of the story he is telling.”—Ron Jacobs, CounterPunch“An excellent addition to the pantheon of Panther literature.”—Publishers Weekly“Intimate and exciting...a valuable primary-source recollection from a turbulent time.”—Kirkus Reviews

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Book SynopsisA gently powerful memoir about deepening your relationship with your homeland. For the first time in more than twenty-five years, Greg Sarris—whose novels are esteemed alongside those of Louise Erdrich and Stephen Graham Jones—presents a book about his own life. In Becoming Story he asks: What does it mean to be truly connected to the place you call home—to walk where innumerable generations of your ancestors have walked? And what does it mean when you dedicate your life to making that connection even deeper? Moving between his childhood and the present day, Sarris creates a kaleidoscopic narrative about the forces that shaped his early years and his eventual work as a tribal leader. He considers the deep past, historical traumas, and possible futures of his homeland. His acclaimed storytelling skills are in top form here, and he charts his journey in prose that is humorous, searching, and profound. Described as "jewellike" by the San Francisco Chronicle, Becoming Story is also a gently powerful guide in the art of belonging to the place where you live.Trade Review"Sarris recounts the hard-won knowledge of Coast Miwok, Pomo, and other Indigenous peoples. He also imagines a possible future in which at least some Native lands are restored to their pre-contact health and serve as models for what the world might learn from Indigenous peoples, if it’s not too late to put such lessons to use."—M.T. Hartnell, Alta"A fascinating and evocative memoir in essays."—Kirkus, starred review"Sarris gathers from gossip, myth, dreams and science to investigate the imperishable power of story itself and how it helps us locate and claim a sense of home. … In clean, thoughtful prose with jewellike detail—whether pondering Yosemite, his childhood babysitter, a secret cave or the oak tree outside his house—these meditations enchant."—Joan Frank, San Francisco Chronicle"Greg Sarris’s Becoming Story is a thoughtful, poignant collection of essays that feels at once inevitable and serendipitous. Sarris, an accomplished writer […] is exactly the person one would expect to produce such an intimate reflection of modern Native American life, and to reveal the delicate interconnections between his personal story, the story of his people, and the places that have shaped those people since time immemorial."—Rain Taxi"Greg Sarris's resonant memoir explores identities, heritages, and the legacies of places. … The book details California's troubled history of European conquest, Manifest Destiny, and the suppression and subversion of Indigenous ways of life. It laments that the state's mystical, resourceful Indigenous cultures were invaded by Spanish rancheros in the 1800s, after which California's environmental harmony began to suffer. … Testifying to the impacts of people on the land, the powerful memoir Becoming Story lauds the power of language when it comes to leaving tracks for others to follow."—Foreword Reviews"In this powerful memoir-in-essays, Greg Sarris explores questions about home, connection, and belonging in vivid prose that is both humorous and profound."—Laura Schmitt, Electric Literature"Like Oakland author Tommy Orange, Sarris has portrayed Native American life in a non-romantic, realistic way in his past work. Becoming Story maintains this, but also takes on a more dreamlike quality, as Sarris evokes memories from his past and incorporates landscape, weaving them into a whole narrative."—Kary Hess, The Bohemian"In Sarris's latest work, Becoming Story, he invites us into an intimate and communal California Indian world. Part memoir, part history, part ethnography, the work has echoes of Momaday's The Way to Rainy Mountain. He shares, with refreshing honesty, his family roots—their depths and dislocations, as well as the their strong sinews that the forces of settler colonialism and American genocide could not sever. His narrative reminds us that the roots of our tribal identities "remember" and, ultimately, restore(y) us."—Theresa Gregor, Asst. Prof of American Indian Studies at Cal State University, Long Beach"Sarris’ Northern California landscapes are sacred texts, peopled with elk, pronghorn, osprey, and lizards. Traversing different lives, Becoming Story is a heartfelt contemplation of one man’s decades-long journey of returning home."—San Francisco Book ReviewTable of ContentsContents Seasons Frost Iris Osprey Scar Places Fidel’s Place Bluebelly The Charms of Tolay Lake Regional Park Osprey Talks to Me One Day After the Fall Trees The Ancient Ones If Oprah Were an Oak Tree Ancestors The Last Woman from Petaluma Maria Evangeliste Acknowledgments About the Author

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Book SynopsisMichelle Knight-now known as Lily Rose Lee-captured the world's attention May 2013, when she and fellow kidnapping victims Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus were found and freed after years of imprisonment and torture. Michelle was a young single mother when she was kidnapped by a Cleveland school bus driver named Ariel Castro. Her story of the horrors she endured for more than a decade afterward, and the hope she sustained, became the #1 New York Times bestseller Finding Me in 2014. In her second book-to be published on the fifth anniversary of her escape-she answers the question: How do you heal after great tragedy? Organized thematically (finding hope, finding friendship, finding love), Michelle shares her experience of rebuilding her life, and offers her thoughts on how anyone who has suffered greatly can learn to find new meaning and purpose.

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Book SynopsisObservations on the people, culture, and history of Japan from a long-time resident riding the rails along the less-traveled western coastline.This journey the length of Japan takes the reader off the beaten tracks to explore some of the country's remoter regions along the Japan Sea—from Wakkanai in northern Hokkaido to Ibusuki in southern Kyushu—in a fascinating mix of travelogue, anecdote, and personal memoir. At each of the thirty stops along the journey the author, who has lived in Japan for thirty years, goes in quest of the spirit of place, determined to highlight what makes it special. Mixing comments on landscape and culture, the author was inspired by Alan Booth and Donald Richie and brings a contemporary perspective to his writing. The text provides some practical information on travel by rail and railway lines, but goes into far more depth and personal observation than a conventional guidebook for tourists.Trade Review"John Dougill's honest observations and deeply personal style leave a lasting impression."—Nikkei Asia"Skillfully combining history, culture, food, society, literature, and old-fashioned observation, Dougill educates as well as entertains, soothing the restless spirit of the traveler who is determined to visit every place they read or hear about."—Rebecca Otowa, author of At Home in Japan"Dougill takes delight in every aspect of Japan, from the fish and pickles he has for dinner, to a weird conversation with a stranger that takes a surprise turn. I know of no Japan journey that is so full of joy as this one."—Alex Kerr, author of Lost Japan and Another Kyoto"Erudite and deftly constructed, Dougill offers an original point of view and a sense of literary composition yoked with a deep knowledge of the country and culture."—Stephen Mansfield, author of Tokyo: A BiographyTable of ContentsPreface Introduction: Japan’s Railways HOKKAIDO 1) Wakkanai 2) Asahikawa 3) Sapporo 4) Otaru 5) Shiraoi 6) Hakodate TOHOKU 7) Aomori 8) Akita 9) Tsuruoka 10) Sado Island 11) Niigata (Joetsu-Myoko) HOKURIKU 12) Toyama 13) Kanazawa 14) Fukui 15) Tsuruga (Obama-Fukuchiyama) CHUGOKU 16) Tottori 17) Matsue 18) Izumo 19) Tsuwano 20) Hagi 21) Shimonoseki KYUSHU 22) Fukuoka 23) Iki Island 24) Karatsu-Imari 25) Hirado 26) Nagasaki 27) Shimabara 28) Kumamoto 29) Kagoshima 30) Ibusuki

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Book SynopsisWhen the New Yorker writer Rebecca Mead relocated to her birth city, London, with her family in the summer of 2018, she was both fleeing the political situation in America and seeking to expose her son to a wider world. With a keen sense of what she'd given up as she left New York, her home of thirty years, she tried to knit herself into the fabric of a changed London. The move raised poignant questions about place: What does it mean to leave the place you have adopted as home and country? And what is the value and cost of uprooting yourself?In a deft mix of memoir and reportage, drawing on literature and art, recent and ancient history, and the experience of encounters with individuals, environments and landscapes in New York City and in England, Mead artfully explores themes of identity, nationality and inheritance. She recounts her time in the coastal town of Weymouth, where she grew up; her dizzying first years in New York where she broke into journalism; the rich process of establishing a new home for her dual-national son in London. Along the way, she gradually reckons with the complex legacy of her parents. Home/Land is a stirring inquiry into how to be present where we are, while never forgetting where we have been.Trade ReviewA lyrical, often elegiac inquiry into the nature of place and identity * TLS *Exquisite detail . . . [With] many arresting images and diverting anecdotes . . . [Mead] has an exacting eye and a gift for trenchant phrasing. * New York Times *A timely and powerful read...In embracing the complexities and paradoxes of home and belonging, Mead also finds solace, even joy. She captures brilliantly the bittersweetness of being far from home, a way of life whose sacrifices are outweighed by a feeling of living deliberately...a remarkable exploration of how being mindful of the past can enrich and imbue with urgency our everyday lives. * Los Angeles Times *Inventive . . . [Mead] deftly layers historical research with autobiography to unsettle familiar ideas of homecoming - and of memoir-writing. . . . At a time when little feels truly sturdy, Mead's book is a reminder that having a place to return to, and a history to explore, is a luxury * The Atlantic *Beautifully written . . . [Mead's] non-linear approach never disorientates - rather, it invigorates, creating as it does a rich patchwork of overlapping ideas and recollections. . . . This is an artfully crafted memoir which offers a clear-eyed examination of home, roots, belonging, and personal and national identity. * Star Tribune *Unfailingly insightful, precise, and well written . . . Since she hadn't lived in England for more than 30 years, the experience was a curious mix of homecoming and alienation, the distinct strands of which Mead disentangles with nuance and writerly sensitivity. * Kirkus Reviews *In her work at The New Yorker, Rebecca Mead has so often turned her wry, generous, graceful and precise attention to the lives of others - here, in this winsome memoir of departure and reversal, it's such a pleasure to read her excavating her own roots. Home/Land is about unexpected mobility, about historical chance and accident, about the way a series of unknowns accrue into a life; above all, it demonstrates the way displacement and longing has shaped Mead's manner of seeing into a profound gift. -- Jia Tolentino, author of TRICK MIRRORCompassionate, witty, at moments wonderfully exuberant, and at others, melancholy and wistful. Home/Land is a stirring book of memories and meditations, filled with the wild beauty of the English coast, the noise of SoHo's streets, and the great literature that captures the spirit of getting lost and finding home. Rebecca Mead made me fall in love with London and, at the same time, fall back in love with New York. -- Merve Emre, author of THE PERSONALITY BROKERSIt might seem peculiar to describe a book as at once digressive and rigorous, but Rebecca Mead's superb Home/Land somehow manages the trick. This is an elegant, graceful and poignant memoir about decision and happenstance - a reflection upon what we inherit and what we assemble, and how the accidents of our days give way to a life of shapeliness and coherence. -- Gideon Lewis-Kraus, author of A SENSE OF DIRECTIONIn her fine memoir of leaving and returning, Rebecca Mead confronts her American and English identities and explores with a precision at once surgical and elegiac the "questionable gift" of a "lost place to long for." Her journey is personal, full of ambivalence about the "chilly, moated island" she encounters after giving up the New York that freed her, but it is also a subtle exploration of an era when the "buried was coming to the surface." In Home/Land, past and present, loss and reconciliation, exist in exquisite symbiosis. -- Roger Cohen, author of THE GIRL FROM HUMAN STREET

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Book SynopsisVogue's Best Books of the YearSunday Times' Best Memoirs of the YearA New York Times Book of the YearNew Yorker Book of the YearA frank, smart and captivating memoir by the daughter of Apple founder Steve Jobs.__________________________________________________Born on a farm and named in a field by her parents - artist Chrisann Brennan and Steve Jobs - Lisa Brennan-Jobs's childhood unfolded in a rapidly changing Silicon Valley. When she was young, Lisa's father was a mythical figure who was rarely present in her life. As she grew older, her father took an interest in her, ushering her into a new world of mansions, holidays and private schools. His attention was thrilling, but he could also be cold, critical and unpredictable. When her relationship with her mother grew strained in high school, Lisa decided to move in with her father, hoping he'd become the parent she'd always wanted him to be.Small Fry is Lisa Brennan-Jobs's poignant story of a childhood spent between two imperfect but extraordinary homes. Scrappy, wise and funny, young Lisa is an unforgettable guide through her parents' fascinating and disparate worlds. Part portrait of a complex family, part love letter to California in the seventies and eighties, Small Fry is an enthralling book by an insightful new literary voice.Trade ReviewA remarkable book...a gorgeously written evocation of 1980s California. * Sunday Times *Beautifully written...The sum of such memories might have been maudlin but Brennan-Jobs is rescued by unsentimental honesty, literary grace and wry humour. * The Times *Brennan-Jobs is a deeply gifted writer...[Small Fry] has that defining aspect of a literary work: the stamp of a singular sensibility. In the fallen world of kiss-and-tell celebrity memoirs, this may be the most beautiful, literary and devastating one ever written. * New York Times Book Review *Small Fry isn't about eliciting sympathy or seeking revenge. Instead she tries to get to the bottom of a relationship mired in awkwardness and unpredictability. * The Guardian *A memoir of uncommon grace, maturity and spare elegance. * San Francisco Chronicle *An epic, sharp coming-of-age story from the daughter of Steve Jobs...an exquisitely rendered story of family, love, and identity. Brennan-Jobs benefits from her father's story, but her prose doesn't require his spotlight to shine. * Kirkus Reviews *This sincere and disquieting portrait reveals a complex father-daughter relationship. * Publishers Weekly *As clear-eyed, amusing, honest, unsentimental and sad as any memoir I've read in years. No other book or film has captured Steve Jobs as distinctly as this one has. -- Phillip LopateHere is a literary coming-of-age memoir of the highest order, the story of a child trying to find her place between two radically different parents, identities and worlds. Compassionate, wise and filled with finely-wrought detail, Small Fry is a wonder of a book, and Lisa Brennan-Jobs is a wonder of a writer. -- Jamie Quatro, author of FIRE SERMONA gorgeous, compelling work of art and a dazzling coming-of-age story. This is a lovely, sweetly intimate portrait, a story told through the eyes of a daughter whose father struggled with his own origins - and who almost became the father she hoped he would be. -- Susan CheeverWriting with enlightened panache and dry humor, she's as keen a witness to the ambience of the Bay Area in the 1980s and 1990s...as she is to the behavior of the adults around her... Never having felt safe in any of her father's houses, Ms. Brennan-Jobs has built her own house in memoir form... It's alive in all the rough edges of its feelings, and it's home. * Wall Street Journal *

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Book SynopsisOver the past three years, the notorious @GSElevator Twitter feed has offered a hilarious, shamelessly voyeuristic look into the real world of international finance. Hundreds of thousands followed the account, Goldman Sachs launched an internal investigation, and when the true identity of the man behind it all was revealed, it created a national media sensation - but that's only part of the story. Where @GSElevator captured the essence of the banking elite with curated jokes and submissions overheard by readers, Straight to Hell adds John LeFevre's own story - an unapologetic and darkly funny account of a career as a globe-conquering investment banker spanning New York, London, and Hong Kong. Straight to Hell pulls back the curtain on a world that is both hated and envied, taking readers from the trading floors and roadshows to private planes and after-hours overindulgence. Full of shocking lawlessness, boyish antics, and win-at-all-costs schemes, this is the definitive take on the deviant, dysfunctional, and absolutely excessive world of finance.Trade ReviewMakes the Wolf of Wall St look like a pussycat. * Daily Mail *LeFevre is a pretty loathsome human being. * The Times *His story reads like a frat boy's fever dream of the high-flying life: morning drinking, late-night drinking, and drinking all the hours in between. * Publishers Weekly *[A] sleazy catalogue of vice. * Wall Street Journal *Details midday cocaine binges, dodgy deals and epic booze benders that make movie The Wolf Of Wall Street look like a poodle. * The Sun *This book is going to annoy and offend a lot of people, with good reason. * Euromoney.com *

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Book SynopsisOne LGBTQ family’s inspiring, heartfelt story of the many alternative paths that lead to a loving family, with lessons for every parent Trystan and Biff had been dating for just a year when the couple learned that Biff’s niece and nephew were about to be removed from their home by Child Protective Services. Immediately, Trystan and Biff took in one-year-old Hailey and three-year-old Lucas, becoming caregivers overnight to two tiny survivors of abuse and neglect. From this unexpected start, the young couple built a loving marriage and happy home—learning to parent on the job. They adopted Hailey and Lucas, tied the knot, and soon decided to try for a baby that Trystan, who is transgender, would carry. Trystan’s groundbreaking pregnancy attracted media fanfare, and the family welcomed baby Leo in 2017. In this inspiring memoir, Trystan shares his unique story alongside universal lessons that will help all parents through the trials of raising children. How We Do Family is a refreshing new take on family life for the LGBTQ community and beyond. Through every tough moment and touching memory, Trystan shows that more important than getting things right is doing them with love.

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Book SynopsisA major autobiography of a remarkable life that broke down racial barriers, transformed institutions, and energized the struggle for justice, by the former president of the Ford Foundation“Frank has that quality of honesty and authenticity and people trusted him . . . and because very disparate people trusted him, he could bring them together across their differences.” —Gloria Steinem Franklin Thomas was one of the most influential people of our time. As former president of the Ford Foundation (the first African American to hold this position), former president of the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation (the first community development organization of its kind), member of countless corporate boards, and a key player in facilitating the end of the apartheid era in South Africa, Thomas shaped public policy, philanthropy, and the movement for human rights for over half a century. An Unplanned Life offers an insider’s account of some of the most crucial transformations of the contemporary era: efforts to rebuild America’s cities, struggles to reform philanthropy, and the quest to establish a global order based on human rights and racial equity. As a story of firsts, Franklin’s memoir also chronicles a formative era, when a generation of African Americans first broke through into the halls of power, navigating complicated and sometimes treacherous cultural and political currents. Much of Franklin Thomas’s life was marked by his desire to stay out of the spotlight, and to let his accomplishments speak for themselves. Now, in An Unplanned Life, we have Thomas’s full story, in all of its nuance, drama, and richly narrated detail.Trade ReviewPraise for An Unplanned Life: “[Thomas’s] vision is of an inclusive America, in which every generation works to see that the promise of America includes ‘more and more of its people, that the American identity be rooted in a person’s willingness to commit to the ideal of America and to work toward its realization.’ That viewpoint alone makes this book worth reading.”—The Washington Post“Thomas achieved an historic sociopolitical impact within the Black community, the United States, and on an international level. . . . Thomas’s extraordinary life, lived in service to community, equality, and basic human rights, will inspire readers to accept the mantle of bettering society.”—Library Journal (starred review)“In a memoir that privileges the public over the private, Thomas imparts the political, cultural, and economic milieu from which he emerged and the world he indelibly shaped. . . . A vividly detailed record of significant accomplishments.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)“Thomas’s narrative is written in exacting detail. . . . This portrait of selfless civic duty will encourage readers to think beyond the limits of their ambitions.”—Publishers Weekly“Few people can provide a better window into the transformation of modern philanthropy than Frank Thomas. And in doing so, Frank provides us all with essential lessons in ethical leadership.”—Lee Bollinger, president, Columbia University“An Unplanned Life is both a vivid memoir and a rich history of New York—and America—at a critical turning point.”—Sharon Rockefeller, president and CEO, WETA“Frank Thomas blazed a path like no other—through government, philanthropy, and civic life. This brilliant memoir perfectly captures the man whose impact on our lives is still felt today.”—Indra Nooyi, former chair and CEO, PepsiCo

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Book SynopsisPoet and novelist Jim Christy explores the history of the great Alcan Highway.

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Book SynopsisIn celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War: The definitive Civil War classic as Sam wanted it revised complete with his edits, new perspectives, authoritative text, and images of his changes. Company Aytch has reigned as one of the most memorable and honest depictions of the American Civil War since its original publication in 1882. Sam R. Watkins's firsthand account of life as a Confederate soldier eloquently captured the realities of war, the humor and pathos of soldiering, and the tragic, historic events in which he participated. Although there have been other versions of Company Aytch published, this is the first with new material and revisions by Sam Watkins himself. Featuring over forty images, including his own pencil-marked edits, this volume combines the ageless text with Sam's intended revisions a treasure for lovers of history, academia, and Civil War enthusiasts alike.Trade Review“This is a marvelous expansion of the best memoir of a fighting soldier south of the Mason-Dixon Line we have.” —Ken Burns, producer of the PBS documentary The Civil War “All of us have something to celebrate in this edition of Company Aytch with Sam’s own revisions.” —Robert Hicks, author, The Widow of the South ""Long considered indispensible reading for any Civil War buff, the book's droll candor and sense of irony provide an unforgettable glimpse into the experience—both the drudgery and the extraordinary—of the average Civil War soldier."" —The History Channel's Daily History “Watkins’s revision and additions enhance and refine his story. Some of them are pointed, others hilarious, but they all add depth to one of the must-read soldier narratives.” —William C. Davis, Director of the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies at Virginia Tech ""Historians, documentarians, and novelists—from Ken Burns to Margaret Mitchell—all rely, for Civil War period detail, on the text of Company Aytch . . . this edition, revised according to Watkins's notes from the 1890s, includes many corrections and additions and should be considered the definitive text of the book."" —Ralph Bowden, Chapter 16 ""When it comes to books about the Civil War, many people agree wholeheartedly, Company Aytch is the best ever written."" —GenealogyBlog ""The Civil War memoir of Sam Watkins, veteran of every hard-fought battle of Company H, First Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, remains the premier source of the private's view of that colossal struggle. . . . This volume is an updated, well-edited—by his great-granddaughter—republication of Watkins's original 1882 work. . . . No serirous student of the Civil War should be without a copy."" —Roanoke Times

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Book SynopsisFrom the bestselling author of The Vagina Monologuesa powerful, life-changing examination of abuse and atonementnow in paperback, timed to its theatrical opening in New York.A triumph of artistry and empathy. Naomi KleinA crucial step forward . . . This is an urgently needed book right now. Jane FondaCourageous, transformative, and yes--healing. Anne LamottLike millions of women, Eve Ensler has been waiting much of her lifetime for an apology. Sexually and physically abused by her father, Eve has struggled her whole life from this betrayal, longing for an honest reckoning from a man who is long dead. After years of work as an anti-violence activist, she decided she would wait no longer; an apology could be imagined, by her, for her, to her. The Apology, written by Eve from her father''s point of view in the words she longed to hear, attempts to transform the abuse she suffered with unflinching truthfulness, compassion, and an expansive vision for the future. Through The Apology Eve has set out to provide a new way for herself and a possible road for others, so that survivors of abuse may finally envision how to be free. She grapples with questions she has sought answers to since she first realized the impact of her father's abuse on her life: How do we offer a doorway rather than a locked cell? How do we move from humiliation to revelation, from curtailing behavior to changing it, from condemning perpetrators to calling them to reckoning? What will it take for abusers to genuinely apologize?Remarkable and original, The Apology is an acutely transformational look at how, from the wounds of sexual abuse, we can begin to re-emerge and heal. It is revolutionary, asking everything of each of us: courage, honesty, and forgiveness.

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Book SynopsisWinner of the New York City Book AwardFrom the beloved author of Insomniac City, a poignant and profound tribute in stories and images to a city amidst a pandemic.A bookstore where readers shout their orders from the street. A neighborhood restaurant turned to-go place where one has a shared drink--on either end of a bar--with the owner. These scenes, among many others, became the new normal as soon as the world began to face the COVID-19 pandemic.In How We Live Now, author and photographer Bill Hayes offers an ode to our shared humanity--capturing in real time this strange new world we?re now in (for who knows how long?) with his signature insight and grace. As he wanders the increasingly empty streets of Manhattan, Hayes meets fellow New Yorkers and discovers stories to tell, but he also shares the unexpected moments of gratitude he finds from within his apartment, where he lives alone and--like everyone else--is staying home, trying to keep busy and not bored as he adjusts to enforced solitude with reading, cooking, reconnecting with loved ones, reflecting on the past--and writing.Featuring Hayes?s inimitable street photographs, How We Live Now chronicles an unimaginable moment in time, offering a long-lasting reminder that what will get us through this unprecedented, deadly crisis is each other.

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Book Synopsis“Giovanni Ruscitti has written a wonderful book of special relevance for all North and South Americans whose ancestors have migrated from Asia, Europe, and Africa. His journey to the land of his forefathers is so meaningful not only because of the discovery of what connects us ‘Americanos’ to the rest of the world but also the journey within. A trip in which we all feel recognized. Bravo maestro!”—Hernando de Soto, finalist for Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, and author of Mystery of CapitalAmazon #1 Bestseller Cobblestones, Conversations, and Corks is a passionate and deeply moving story about a father-son relationship; a culture rooted in family, food and wine; and an ancestral small town in Central Italy that was left behind after World War II. On November 11, 1943, the Nazis invaded Cansano, forcing its two thousand inhabitants to make a tough decision—fight and be killed or sent to a POW camp, stay behind as servants to the Nazis, or move into the unforgiving mountains of Abruzzo while the Nazis used their village as a home base. Giovanni Ruscitti’s family chose the latter and spent the next few months living in horrendous winter conditions in the rugged mountains. When the war ended, they returned to a village so ravaged by the Nazis that, today, the town has less than two hundred citizens and remains in a dilapidated state. In this memoir, Ruscitti visits Cansano for the first time with his family, including parents Emiliano and Maria. As he walks Cansano’s cobblestones, his father’s stories and life are illuminated by the town piazza, the steep valley, and the surrounding mountains. He relives the tales of his parents’ struggles during World War II, their extreme post-war misery and poverty, their budding romance after, and their decision to immigrate to the US in search of the American Dream.Ruscitti’s adventure is not just an exploration of his homeland but reveals what family, culture, wisdom, and love really means. And what our heritage really tells us about who we are.Trade Review“Moving memoir…The author lucidly combines the personal and the political…A thoughtful consideration of the meaning of a person’s sense of self and the nuanced ways in which it is constituted by elements that preceded the individual and elude full comprehension. As a result, the author’s recollection transcends the particulars of his own life and should resonate with readers similarly gripped by the struggle to understand their origins. A captivating, candid, and insightful account about a man’s Italian heritage.” —Kirkus Reviews“A deftly scripted, inherently engaging, and ultimately inspiring account of the impact of war upon a community and a family…A story of survival and immigration—especially timely in today's denigration of the value and causes of immigrants to America by families seeking asylum from the horrors and aftermath of war, and for a better life for themselves and their children…A compelling read from cover to cover.” —Midwest Book ReviewAt the end of the day, Ruscitti proves that not only can you go home again, you can also go home for the first time. 4.5 out of 5 stars. —Manhattan Book Review “Giovanni Ruscitti’s father Emilio urged his son to ‘tell our story.’ This remarkable memoir fulfills not only that promise but describes the hopes and dreams of immigrants who brought to this country their traditions, their love of family, and a unity that survived the melting pot of the American experience. This first-generation Italian-American author has created a beautiful, intimate, and touching portrait of not only a father’s love but a family’s commitment to each other and what we all hope to know—where we came from and who we are. It is a story that preaches the art of living life in full, with joy and compassion.” —Dan Luzadder, Pulitzer-Prize-winning author and journalist “This touching and inspirational book is a must-read for all walks of life. The United States was built from immigrant families with these shared experiences.” —Bobby Stuckey, James Beard Award winner, and author of Friuli Food and Wine: Frasca Cooking from Northern Italy's Mountains, Vineyards, and Seaside “Giovanni Ruscitti has written a wonderful book of special relevance for all North and South Americans whose ancestors have migrated from Asia, Europe, and Africa. His journey to the land of his forefathers is so meaningful not only because of the discovery of what connects us ‘Americanos’ to the rest of the world but also the journey within. A trip in which we all feel recognized. Bravo maestro!” —Hernando de Soto, finalist for Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, and author of Mystery of Capital “After reading Cobblestones, Conversations, and Corks, I was filled with immense pride. Giovanni Ruscitti’s book is an eloquent and poetic tribute to his father and his family. It’s a work of art that made me laugh and cry.” —Vic Lombardi, thirty-three-time Emmy-winning sportscaster “I’m in the middle of the NFL playoffs and couldn’t put the book down. I had to finish it. Readers will love Ruscitti’s book!" —Mike Shanahan, two-time Super Bowl champion head coach

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Book SynopsisIn this tribute to today’s vibrant quilting community, prize-winning quilter and teacher Thomas Knauer showcases a stunning collection of quilts from a wide range of contemporary makers, accompanied by their testimonials about what inspires and imbues their craft with meaning. From temperance quilts to the AIDS quilt, there’s a rich history of individuals and communities using fabric and thread to connect with others and express themselves, both personally and politically. Why We Quilt blends bits of this history with the stories and work of today’s leading quilters, highlighting themes of tradition, community, consumerism, change, and creativity. With a unique die-cut cover and a richly layered design, this book will enthrall designers, quilters, and all types of handcraft enthusiasts.

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Book SynopsisWith or Without Me is a book for everyone – believer or unbeliever, Christian or atheist– who refuses to surrender to the idea that there are easy answers to the big questions in life.Doubt about God’s goodness in the face of grief is natural. With or Without Me is one woman’s unsparing and eloquent memoir about the inadequacy of religion and philosophy to answer her emotional pain. Yet Esther Maria Magnis’s rejection of God is merely the beginning of a tortuous journey back to faith – one punctuated by personal losses retold with bluntness and immediacy. Magnis knows believing in God is anything but easy. Because he allows people to suffer. Because he’s invisible. And silent. “A must read for anyone who has ever pondered the meaning of life” – Lydia S. Dugdale, Author of The Lost Art of DyingTrade Review“I have not known anyone since Nietzsche who shows so shockingly what a catastrophe it is to not believe in God." —Robert Spaemann"There are not many who dare to speak of God as unabashedly as Esther Maria Magnis." —Public ForumWith or Without Me is utterly necessary. Breathtakingly honest with unflinching rawness, this book is a must read for anyone who has ever pondered the meaning of life. —Lydia S. Dugdale, author of The Lost Art of Dying: Reviving Forgotten WisdomSeldom have I read a Christian book that possessed such raw energy and passion. With or Without Me is an honest account of death, bereavement and grief which lays bare what it means to love and lose. —Inspire MagazineFaith is like a piece of quartz that Magnis turns over in her palm, examining all its angles, the sharp edges and the shine. This lends With or Without Me a thoughtful and introspective quality, contemplative without being meandering... She deftly balances the transcendent and immanent as she recounts her walk towards God, yet never reduces her discussion of faith to abstractions. —Today's American CatholicEsther Maria Magnis addresses traditional philosophy and religion head on in this unflinching memoir, which details her difficult sojourn away from the Christian faith and then back to it. Amid the spate of personal deconstruction narratives of the past few years, readers will appreciate this German author’s distinct perspective. With or Without Me is essential reading for anyone who has ever doubted God’s goodness in the midst of personal loss. —Christian CenturyMagnis recounts with brutal honesty the depth of her loss. —War Cry Magazine, UK

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Book SynopsisIn this engaging book we see how an 18-year-old miner shoveling ore from deep in the ground in Utah suddenly found himself, only two years later, 30,000 feet in the air over Nazi Germany, piloting a Flying Fortress in the first wave of America's air counteroffensive in Europe. Like thousands of other young Americans, Ray Brim was plucked by the U.S. Army to be a combat flyer, and was quickly pitted against the hardened veterans of the Luftwaffe. Brim turned out to have a natural knack for flying, however, and was assigned to the select squadron developing lead Pathfinder techniques, while experimenting with radar. He was among the first to test the teeth of the Luftwaffe's defenses, and once those techniques had been honed, thousands of other bomber crews would follow into the maelstrom, from which 80,000 never returned.This work gives us vivid insights into the genesis of the American air campaign, told with the humor, attention to detail and humility that captures the heart and soul

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