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Mack The Life: Enhanced Edition
by Lee Mack‘His book is a joy to read, full of homespun wisdom and hilarious asides’ Independent____________________Where do comedians come from? Why is it that one person is a funny bloke down the pub while another actually makes a living by standing up in front of an audience telling jokes? And where does all that material come from? Well, young Lee McKillop used to wonder that too.___________________ Growing up in his parents’ pub, small and wiry in a world of bigger and chunkier specimens, Lee quickly learned that cracking jokes was a way to get attention. After a somewhat random series of jobs, which included being Red Rum’s stableboy and a bingo hall barman, it was as a Great Yarmouth holiday camp entertainer that he had his first crack at telling jokes on stage. It got him some laughs, the sack and a punch in the face.*Now, as Lee Mack, he’s one of our best loved and most successful comedians, both as a live stand-up and on television. In Mack the Life, Lee tells the story of how he got there and gives extraordinary insight into what really makes comics tick. Hilarious and brilliant, it’s the kind of book which reminds you why you learned to read in the first place.*Nearly.
Mad Women: The Other Side of Life on Madison Avenue in the '60s and Beyond
by Jane MaasA New York copywriter reveals what it was like to be a woman in the 1960s male-dominated advertising world depicted in the hit show Mad Men.What was it like to be an advertising woman on Madison Avenue in the ‘60s and ‘70s—that Mad Men era of casual sex and professional serfdom? A real-life Peggy Olson reveals it all in this immensely entertaining and bittersweet memoir.Fans of the show are dying to know how accurate it is: was there really that much sex at the office? Were there really three-martini lunches? Were women really second-class citizens? Jane Maas says the answer to all three questions is unequivocally “yes.” Her book, based on her own experiences and on countless interviews with her peers, gives the full stories, from the junior account man whose wife almost left him when she found the copy of Screw magazine he’d used to find “a date” for a client, to the Ogilvy & Mather’s annual Boat Ride, a sex-and-booze filled orgy, from which it was said no virgin ever returned intact. Wickedly funny and full of juicy inside information, Mad Women also tackles some of the tougher issues of the era, such as unequal pay, rampant, jaw-dropping sexism, and the difficult choice many women faced between motherhood and their careers.
Madame Blavatsky
by Gary LachmanA thoughtful biography of one of the most polarizing pioneers of alternative spirituality, the occult-mystic Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. Pioneer. Visionary. Provocateur. Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky—mystic, occult writer, child of Russian aristocrats, spiritual seeker who traveled five continents, and founder (with Henry Steel Olcott) of the Theosophical Society—is still being hailed as an icon and scorned as a fraud more than 120 years after her death. But despite perennial interest in her life, writings, and philosophy, no single biography has examined the controversy and legacy of this influential thinker who helped define modern alternative spirituality—until now. Gary Lachman, the acclaimed spiritual biographer behind volumes such as Rudolf Steiner and Jung the Mystic, brings us an in-depth look at Blavatsky, objectively exploring her unique and singular contributions toward introducing Eastern and esoteric spiritual ideas to the West during the nineteenth century, as well as the controversies that continue to color the discussions of her life and work. .
Madcap May: Mistress of Myth, Men, and Hope
by Richard KurinMay Yohe was a popular entertainer from humble American origins who married and then abandoned a wealthy English Lord who owned the fabled Hope diamond--one of the most valuable objects in the world and now exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. May was a romantic who had numerous lovers and at least three husbands--though the tabloids rumored twelve. One included the playboy son of the Mayor of New York. May separated from him--twice--and cared for her next husband, a South African war hero and invalid whom she later shot.Crossing the paths of Ethel Barrymore, Boris Karloff, Oscar Hammerstein, Teddy Roosevelt, Consuelo Vanderbilt, and the Prince of Wales, May Yohe was a foul-mouthed, sweet-voiced showgirl who drew both the praise and rebuke of Nobel laureate George Bernard Shaw. Nicknamed "Madcap May," she was a favorite of the press. In later years she faced several maternity claims and a law suit which she won. She was hospitalized in an insane asylum and escaped. She ran a rubber plantation in Singapore, a hotel in New Hampshire, and a chicken farm in Los Angeles. When all else failed, she washed floors in a Seattle shipyard, and during the Depression held a job as a government clerk. Shortly before her death, she fought, successfully, to regain her lost U.S. citizenship.How was this woman, May Yohe, able to charm her way to international repute, live an impossible life, and also find the strength to persevere in light of the losses she suffered--in wealth, citizenship, love, and sanity? Madcap May, assembled from her writings and historical interviews, archival records, newspaper stories, scrapbooks, photographs, playbills, theatrical reviews, souvenirs, and silent film, tells her heretofore lost story.
Made With Love: The Meals On Wheels Family Cookbook
by Enid BordenCelebrating the importance of family, Made With Love: The Meals On Wheels Family Cookbook includes recipes from the tables of well-known actors, chefs, writers, and other celebrities along with personal stories about their favorite family meals. Learn to cook: Patti LaBelle's Baja Fish Tacos Cokie Roberts' Artichoke Gratin Al Roker's New Orleans–Style Barbecued Shrimp Judi Dench's Bread and Butter Pudding Other contributors include Helen Mirren, Martha Stewart, former First Lady Barbara Bush, Mario Batali, Paula Deen, Joan Lunden, Kurt Warner, Dr. Maya Angelou, Joan Rivers, and many more. Providing more than a million meals a day for seniors across America, Meals On Wheels Association of America is the oldest and largest national organization of its kind. Each sale of Made With Love: The Meals On Wheels Family Cookbook helps to end senior hunger in America.
Madly Chasing Peace: How I Went from Hell to Happy in Nine Minutes a Day
by Dina ProctorDiscover the 3x3 meditation technique that can turn your life around in this “raw, compelling and deeply inspiring” self-help memoir (Jack Canfield, coauthor of Chicken Soup for the Soul).Many know that thoughts and emotions affect the physical body—but how can you use this knowledge most effectively? Dina Proctor developed the 3x3 meditation technique during her own struggle with suicidal depression and addiction. As a certified life coach, she shares it with her clients. Now, she shares it with readers everywhere.In this book, Proctor recounts her raw, real experience and the 3x3 meditation technique that has been the key to her physical, mental, and emotional healing—leading to better regulation of blood sugar and cholesterol, weight loss, and even improved relationships. The key is not spending hours on end in meditation or visualization practice, but to engage multiple times per day in shorter bursts, to consistently interrupt old thought patterns and negative thinking. If you can spare nine minutes a day, you too can experience its powerful benefits—and in addition to the author’s riveting story of recovery, Madly Chasing Peace provides concrete steps to get you started.
Mae Murray: The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips (Screen Classics)
by Michael G. AnkerichThis story of a silent-film star&’s rise and fall offers &“a lesson about those heady days of early Hollywood and the transience of fame&” (Library Journal). Renowned for her classic beauty and charismatic presence, Mae Murray rocketed to stardom as a dancer in the Ziegfeld Follies, moving across the country to star in her first film, To Have and to Hold, in 1916. An instant hit with audiences, Murray soon became one of the most famous names in Tinseltown. But Murray&’s moment in the spotlight was fleeting. The introduction of talkies, a string of failed marriages, a serious career blunder, and a number of bitter legal battles left the former star in a state of poverty and mental instability that she would never overcome. In this intriguing biography, Michael G. Ankerich traces Murray&’s career from the footlights of Broadway to the klieg lights of Hollywood, recounting her impressive body of work on the stage and screen and charting her rapid ascent to fame and decline into obscurity. Featuring exclusive interviews with Murray&’s only son, Daniel, and with actor George Hamilton, whom the actress closely befriended at the end of her life, Ankerich restores this important figure in early film to the limelight. &“If Billy Wilder hasn&’t made the definitive movie about the delusions of stardom in Sunset Boulevard, Murray&’s story, a blend of absurdity and pathos, would make a terrific one.&” —TheWashington Post Includes photos
Mahatma Gandhi: Nonviolent Power in Action (Bibliographies And Indexes In World History #No. 42)
by Dennis DaltonDennis Dalton's classic account of Gandhi's political and intellectual development focuses on the leader's two signal triumphs: the civil disobedience movement (or salt satyagraha) of 1930 and the Calcutta fast of 1947. Dalton clearly demonstrates how Gandhi's lifelong career in national politics gave him the opportunity to develop and refine his ideals. He then concludes with a comparison of Gandhi's methods and the strategies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, drawing a fascinating juxtaposition that enriches the biography of all three figures and asserts Gandhi's relevance to the study of race and political leadership in America. Dalton situates Gandhi within the "clash of civilizations" debate, identifying the implications of his work on continuing nonviolent protests. He also extensively reviews Gandhian studies and adds a detailed chronology of events in Gandhi's life.
Maimonides and Spinoza: Their Conflicting Views of Human Nature
by Joshua ParensUntil the last century, it was generally agreed that Maimonides was a great defender of Judaism, and Spinoza--as an Enlightenment advocate for secularization--among its key opponents. However, a new scholarly consensus has recently emerged that the teachings of the two philosophers were in fact much closer than was previously thought. In his perceptive new book, Joshua Parens sets out to challenge the now predominant view of Maimonides as a protomodern forerunner to Spinoza--and to show that a chief reason to read Maimonides is in fact to gain distance from our progressively secularized worldview. Turning the focus from Spinoza's oft-analyzed Theologico-Political Treatise, this book has at its heart a nuanced analysis of his theory of human nature in the Ethics. Viewing this work in contrast to Maimonides's Guide of the Perplexed, it makes clear that Spinoza can no longer be thought of as the founder of modern Jewish identity, nor should Maimonides be thought of as having paved the way for a modern secular worldview. Maimonides and Spinoza dramatically revises our understanding of both philosophers.
Makers of Modern Medicine
by James J. WalshMiiller entered this school in 1810 and Gorrcs did not resign his professorship until 1814, when owing to the publication of a political work he was obliged to flee from the country. It is not known how much influence Gorres exercised over young Miiller, but some at least of his precious love for the natural sciences, which even in his student days led to the making of natural collections of various kinds, seems to have been imbibed under the influence of the philosopher physiologist. The touching of the orbits of the two men, who were destined, more than any of their fellow-citizens of Coblentz, to influence Germany's future, must always remain an interesting consideration in the lives of both. Johann's parents were, as might have been expected, down in the old Catholic Rhineland in the capital of the spiritual principality of Treves, faithful members of the Roman Catholic Church. Very early in life, Johann conceived the wish to become a priest. His mother, rejoiced at her son's idea, was ready to make every possible sacrifice to secure his education. It was with the intention of education for the priesthood, then, that Johann entered the Sekunden Schule, an old college of the Jesuits, in which Jesuit tradition and methods of education still survived, and in which some of the old Jesuit pupils seem still to have held positions even during Mtiller's time as a student (1810 to 1817). It would appear probable that Ix-causc of the traditions of Jesuit teachings that held over at the school in Coblentz, and perhaps, too, because of the presence of some of the old masters and teachers trained by them, Miiller knew the ancient languages so well. He made his own translations of Plato and Aristotle, and consulted the latter.
Makeup to Breakup: My Life In and Out of Kiss
by Peter CrissLEGENDARY founding KISS drummer Peter “Catman” Criss has lived an incredible life in music, from the streets of Brooklyn to the social clubs of New York City to the ultimate heights of rock ’n’ roll success and excess. KISS formed in 1973 and broke new ground with their elaborate makeup, live theatrics, and powerful sound. The band emerged as one of the most iconic hard rock acts in music history. Peter Criss, the Catman, was the heartbeat of the group. From an elevated perch on his pyrotechnic drum riser, he had a unique vantage point on the greatest rock show of all time, with the KISS Army looking back at him night after night. Peter Criscuola had come a long way from the homemade drum set he pounded on nonstop as a kid growing up in Brooklyn in the fifties. He endured lean years, street violence, and the rollercoaster music scene of the sixties, but he always knew he’d make it. Makeup to Breakup is Peter Criss’s eye-opening journey from the pledge to his ma that he’d one day play Madison Square Garden to doing just that. He conquered the rock world—composing and singing his band’s all-time biggest hit, “Beth” (1976)—but he also faced the perils of stardom and his own mortality, including drug abuse, treatment in 1982, near-suicides, two broken marriages, and a hard-won battle with breast cancer. Criss opens up with a level of honesty and emotion previously unseen in any musician’s memoir. Makeup to Breakup is the definitive and heartfelt account of one of rock’s most iconic figures, and the importance of faith and family. Rock ’n’ roll has been chronicled many times, but never quite like this.
Making Piece
by Beth M. Howard"You will find my story is a lot like pie, a strawberry-rhubarb pie. It's bitter. It's messy. It's got some sweetness, too. Sometimes the ingredients get added in the wrong order, but it has substance, it will warm your insides, and even though it isn't perfect, it still turns out okay in the end."When journalist Beth M. Howard's young husband dies suddenly, she packs up the RV he left behind and hits the American highways. At every stop along the way-whether filming a documentary or handing out free slices on the streets of Los Angeles-Beth uses pie as a way to find purpose. Howard eventually returns to her Iowa roots and creates the perfect synergy between two of America's greatest icons-pie and the American Gothic House, the little farmhouse immortalized in Grant Wood's famous painting, where she now lives and runs the Pitchfork Pie Stand.Making Piece powerfully shows how one courageous woman triumphs over tragedy. This beautifully written memoir is, ultimately, about hope. It's about the journey of healing and recovery, of facing fears, finding meaning in life again, and moving forward with purpose and, eventually, joy. It's about the nourishment of the heart and soul that comes from the simple act of giving to others, like baking a homemade pie and sharing it with someone whose pain is even greater than your own. And it tells of the role of fate, second chances and the strength found in community.
Making Thatcher's Britain
by Ben Jackson Robert SaundersMargaret Thatcher was one of the most controversial figures of modern times. Her governments inspired hatred and veneration in equal measure and her legacy remains fiercely contested. Yet assessments of the Thatcher era are often divorced from any larger historical perspective. This book draws together leading historians to locate Thatcher and Thatcherism within the political, social, cultural and economic history of modern Britain. It explores the social and economic crises of the 1970s; Britain's relationships with Europe, the Commonwealth and the United States; and the different experiences of Thatcherism in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The book assesses the impact of the Thatcher era on class and gender and situates Thatcherism within the Cold War, the end of Empire and the rise of an Anglo-American 'New Right'. Drawing on the latest available sources, it opens a wide-ranging debate about the Thatcher era and its place in modern British history.
Making Zen Your Own
by Janet Jiryu AbelsIn this book, Janet Jiryu Abels traces the life stories of twelve Chinese Zen masters who, together, shaped what was to become known as Zen's Golden Age. She presents their biographies, describes their teachings, and shows how their lives and teachings can inspire those who practice Zen today. The book is a presentation of ancient Zen insight vividly relevant for the twenty-first century, addressing both the needs of both new and longtime Zen practitioners. Its singular distinction is in bringing Zen history, ancestral teachings, and present-day application of those teachings into one work. Although the book is based on scholarly sources and historical records, Abels stresses the humanity of these Zen ancestors, showing that they were not formed from a generic mold but were individuals with quirks, senses of humor, heartfelt enlightenment experiences, varied ways of living, and unique ways of expressing Zen. She tells their stories in a lively, accessible manner, shedding light on their paradoxical teachings with clarity and simplicity. She also shows that they all faced the same challenges that Zen practitioners face today. Interwoven among the stories and teachings are Abels' own insights into the dharma of Zen, as well as practical applications and encouragements that readers can bring to their individual practice of the Way. These insights are based on her more than ten years as a Zen teacher. She is the founder and co-resident teacher of Still Mind Zendo in New York City.
Malvinas. La trama secreta (Edición definitiva)
by Ricardo Kirschbaum Eduardo Van Der Kooy Oscar Raúl CardosoEdición ampliada del primer best seller de la primavera democrática. Tres jóvenes periodistas del diario Clarín publicaron en 1983 un librollamado a ser clave en más de un sentido. Por un lado, «Malvinas, latrama secreta» servía para entender qué había pasado realmente en esaguerra inaudita, cuyas heridas estaban aún en carne viva. Por otro, ellibro fue fundamental por marcar un hito en el terreno de la másrigurosa investigación periodística. Y finalmente, «Malvinas# llegabapara dejar en claro todo lo que había cambiado en la Argentina en apenasun año: palabras que se amontonaban allí donde solo había silencio,revelaciones reemplazando al oscurantismo, libertad en lugar derepresión.Esta edición ampliada incorpora un importante número de documentosdesclasificados reveladores del rol que asumieron las potenciasmundiales en el conflicto: la U.R.S.S. apoyando a los militaresargentinos y los Estados Unidos asumiendo sin medias tintas el papel dealiados de Gran Bretaña. De cualquier modo, estas nuevas pruebas no hancambiado la potencia ni la estructura original del relato. Como bienaclaran los autores: «Hemos sido, lo somos todavía, cronistas de lahistoria e investigadores periodísticos.De esa compulsión y de ese contrato dimos nuestra versión de aquellaguerra. En esta edición hemos hecho ajustes imprescindibles, dediferente magnitud, para que el texto pueda ser comprendido en el sigloXXI con una visión más vasta de la que teníamos en los últimos meses dela dictadura y en el umbral de la democracia, cuando amanecía la décadade los 80».
Man Made: In Which a Dad Learns to Be a Man for His Son
by Joel SteinThe smudge looked suspiciously penis- like. The doctor confirmed: "That's the baby's penis!" which caused not celebration, but panic. Joel pictured having to go camping and fix a car and use a hammer and throw a football and watch professionals throw footballs and figure out whether to be sad or happy about the results of said football throwing. So begins his quest to confront his effete nature whether he likes it or not (he doesn't), by doing a twenty-four-hour shift with L.A. firefighters, going hunting, rebuilding a house, driving a Lamborghini, enduring three days of boot camp with the U.S. Army, day-trading with $100,000, and going into the ring with UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture. Seeking help from a panel of experts, including his manly father-in-law, Boy Scouts, former NFL star Warren Sapp, former MLB All-Star Shawn Green, Adam Carolla, and a pit bull named Hercules, he expects to learn that masculinity is defined not by the size of his muscles, but by the size of his heart (also, technically, a muscle). This is not at all what he learns.
Man Up
by Carlos Andres GomezInspired by the award-winning poet and actor’s acclaimed one-man play, a powerful coming-of-age memoir that reimagines masculinity for the twenty-first-century male. Award-winning poet, actor, and writer Carlos Andrés Gómez is a supremely gifted storyteller with a captivating voice whose power resonates equally on the live stage and on the page. In one of his most moving spoken-word poems, Gómez recounts a confrontation he once had after accidentally bumping into another man at a club. Just as they were about to fight, Gómez experienced an unexplainable surge of emotion that made his eyes well up with tears. Everyone at the scene jumped back, as if crying, or showing vulnerability, was the most insane thing that Gómez could possibly have done. Like many men in our society, Gómez grew up believing that he had to be ready to fight at all times, treat women as objects, and close off his emotional self. It wasn’t until he discovered acting that he began to see the true cost of squelching one’s emotions-and how aggression dominates everything that young males are taught. Statistics on graduation rates, employment, and teen and young-adult suicide make it clear that the young males in our society are at a crisis point, but Gómez seeks to reverse these ominous trends by sharing the lessons that he has learned. Like Hill Harper’s Letters to a Young Brother, Man Up will be an agent for positive change, galvanizing men-but also mothers, girlfriends, wives, and sisters-to rethink and reimagine the way all men interact with women, deal with violence, handle fear, and express emotion. .
Man Up: Reimagining Modern Manhood
by Carlos Andres GomezInspired by the award-winning poet and actor's acclaimed one-man play, a powerful coming-of-age memoir that reimagines masculinity for the twenty-first-century male. Award-winning poet, actor, and writer Carlos Andrés Gómez is a supremely gifted storyteller with a captivating voice whose power resonates equally on the live stage and on the page. In one of his most moving spoken-word poems, Gómez recounts a confrontation he once had after accidentally bumping into another man at a club. Just as they were about to fight, Gómez experienced an unexplainable surge of emotion that made his eyes well up with tears. Everyone at the scene jumped back, as if crying, or showing vulnerability, was the most insane thing that Gómez could possibly have done.Like many men in our society, Gómez grew up believing that he had to be ready to fight at all times, treat women as objects, and close off his emotional self. It wasn't until he discovered acting that he began to see the true cost of squelching one's emotions--and how aggression dominates everything that young males are taught.Statistics on graduation rates, employment, and teen and young-adult suicide make it clear that the young males in our society are at a crisis point, but Gómez seeks to reverse these ominous trends by sharing the lessons that he has learned. Like Hill Harper's Letters to a Young Brother, Man Up will be an agent for positive change, galvanizing men--but also mothers, girlfriends, wives, and sisters--to rethink and reimagine the way all men interact with women, deal with violence, handle fear, and express emotion.
Man of War: My Adventures in the World of Historical Reenactment
by Charlie Schroeder“A rollicking good ride. ” —Jay Winik, bestselling author of April 1865 It’s the middle of a heat wave, and Charlie Schroeder is dressed in heavy clothing and struggling to row a replica eighteenth-century bateau down the St. Lawrence River. Why? Months earlier, Schroeder realized he knew almost nothing about history. But he wanted to learn, so the actor—best known for his role as Mr. Pussy on Sex and the City—spent a year reenacting it. Man of War is Schroeder’s hilarious account of the time he spent chasing Celts in Arkansas, raiding a Viet Cong village in Virginia, and flirting with frostbite en route to “Stalingrad” in Colorado. Along the way, he illuminates just how much the past can teach us about the present. .
Manchester City Ruined My Life
by Colin ShindlerColin Shindler has previously written of his deep love for Manchester City in the bestselling Manchester United Ruined My Life and three other previous books. Now he tells the story of his sorrowful disenchantment with his home town club as, on the instruction of its new foreign owners, it turns itself remorselessly into a global brand. Trophyless since 1976, in 2011 Manchester City won the FA Cup and set off on their quest for the Premiership and the Champions League. In their zeal to win every competition the new Manchester City has spent money with wild abandon, signing outstandingly talented players as well as a few ordinary ones but in almost every case at hugely inflated prices. From the nail-biting win over Gillingham in the League Two Play Off final at Wembley in 1999 to the climax of the 2011 season, Shindler watches his team get steadily more successful and, to his own bewilderment, feels steadily more alienated from it. This is the story of a frustrated romantic who finds in the glitz and glamour of the current media-obsessed game a helter-skelter of artificially fabricated excitement. As he details how football courses through his veins Shindler tells how it intersects with his own life, a life that has been marked by family tragedy, and how he finally found personal redemption even as his team lost its soul.
Manchester City Ruined My Life
by Colin ShindlerColin Shindler has previously written of his deep love for Manchester City in the bestselling Manchester United Ruined My Life and three other previous books. Now he tells the story of his sorrowful disenchantment with his home town club as, on the instruction of its new foreign owners, it turns itself remorselessly into a global brand. Trophyless since 1976, in 2011 Manchester City won the FA Cup and set off on their quest for the Premiership and the Champions League. In their zeal to win every competition the new Manchester City has spent money with wild abandon, signing outstandingly talented players as well as a few ordinary ones but in almost every case at hugely inflated prices. From the nail-biting win over Gillingham in the League Two Play Off final at Wembley in 1999 to the climax of the 2011 season, Shindler watches his team get steadily more successful and, to his own bewilderment, feels steadily more alienated from it. This is the story of a frustrated romantic who finds in the glitz and glamour of the current media-obsessed game a helter-skelter of artificially fabricated excitement. As he details how football courses through his veins Shindler tells how it intersects with his own life, a life that has been marked by family tragedy, and how he finally found personal redemption even as his team lost its soul.
Mandela: The Life of Nelson Mandela
by Rod GreenThere can't be many people who have never heard of Nelson Mandela. His has become a household name, a name respected by everyone everywhere, from grandmothers to schoolchildren. Not so many people would recognise his other names, and he is a man who has been known by many names throughout his life. Nelson Rolihlahla Dalibhunga Mandela came from what most people would regard as a poor background, yet his family were aristocrats among the Xhosa people of the Transkei in South Africa. From the time he was a boy he was destined, as his father before him had been, to become an advisor at the court of the Xhosa king, but no one could have predicted that young Rolihlahla would one day become an outlaw known as 'The Black Pimpernel' or a statesman of international standing - President Mandela.This is a fully illustrated life story of Nelson Mandela with a unique collection of photographs from throughout his life.
Manual of Painting and Calligraphy: A Novel
by José SaramagoA disgruntled portrait artist in 1970s Portugal turn to writing in the Nobel Prize-winning author’s debut novel, now available in English translation.Manual of Painting and Calligraphy was José Saramago’s first novel. Written eight years before the critically acclaimed Baltasar and Blimunda, it is a story of self-discovery set in Portugal during the last years of Antonio Salazar’s dictatorship. It tells the story of a struggling artist who is commissioned to paint a portrait of an influential industrialist.Disheartened by his squandered talent, the artist soon undergoes a creative and political awakening when he discovers the possibilities of writing. The brilliant juxtaposition of a passionate love story and the crisis of a nation foreshadows the themes of Saramago’s major works.
Many Subtle Channels: In Praise of Potential Literature
by Daniel Levin BeckerWhat sort of society could bind together Jacques Roubaud, Italo Calvino, Marcel Duchamp, and Raymond Queneau-and Daniel Levin Becker, a young American obsessed with language play? Only the Oulipo, the Paris-based experimental collective founded in 1960 and fated to become one of literature’s quirkiest movements. An international organization of writers, artists, and scientists who embrace formal and procedural constraints to achieve literature’s possibilities, the Oulipo (the French acronym stands for workshop for potential literature) is perhaps best known as the cradle of Georges Perec’s novel A Void, which does not contain the letter e. Drawn to the Oulipo’s mystique, Levin Becker secured a Fulbright grant to study the organization and traveled to Paris. He was eventually offered membership, becoming only the second American to be admitted to the group. From the perspective of a young initiate, the Oulipians and their projects are at once bizarre and utterly compelling. Levin Becker’s love for games, puzzles, and language play is infectious, calling to mind Elif Batuman’s delight in Russian literature in The Possessed. In recent years, the Oulipo has inspired the creation of numerous other collectives: the OuMuPo (a collective of DJs), the OuMaPo (marionette players), the OuBaPo (comic strip artists), the OuFlarfPo (poets who generate poetry with the aid of search engines), and a menagerie of other Ou-X-Pos (workshops for potential something). Levin Becker discusses these and other intriguing developments in this history and personal appreciation of an iconic-and iconoclastic-group.
Manzanar to Mount Whitney: The Life and Times of a Lost Hiker
by Hank UmemotoIn 1942, fourteen-year-old Hank Umemoto gazed out a barrack window at Manzanar Internment Camp, saw the silhouette of Mount Whitney against an indigo sky, and vowed that one day he would climb to the top. Fifty-seven years and a lifetime of stories later, at the age of seventy-one, he reached the summit. Part memoir and part hiker's diary, Manzanar to Mount Whitney gives an intimate, rollicking account of Japanese American life California before and after World War II. As he wanders through the mountains of California's Inland Empire, Umemoto recalls pieces of his childhood on a grape vineyard in the Sacramento Valley, his time at Manzanar, where beauty and hope were maintained despite the odds, and his later career as proprietor of a printing firm, all with grace, honesty, and unfailing humor. And all along, the peak of Mount Whitney casts its shadow, a symbol of freedom, beauty, and resilience.