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Truly Frank: A Dublin Memoir
by Frank McDonald'Without doubt, it's the memoir of the year' Irish IndependentPassionate, gossipy, opinionated and seriously entertaining, Truly Frank is an instant classic of journalistic memoir. Journalist Frank McDonald is best known as, in the words of Bob Geldof, 'a permanent thorn in the fat arse of municipal pretension'.The scourge of negligent planners, unscrupulous property developers and cynical politicians, and champion of environmental protection and sustainable development, McDonald's work in the Irish Times has been key to grasping how Ireland actually works.McDonald's sense of mission grew out of an endlessly enquiring mind. After a happy 1950s childhood in a conventional Catholic home he ventured forth - into Dublin's hidden gay scene, into student politics at UCD, into the worlds of journalism, architecture and Ireland's beau monde, into a life of travel - always in a spirit of openness and unmitigated curiosity. The rewards in friendship, knowledge and understanding have been immeasurable.Now, in Truly Frank, McDonald tells the stories behind his public and private lives - his long and fruitful career, his activism and legendary battles, his deep ties to family and friends, his four-decade partnership with his spouse Eamon Slater.'Although, as a journalist, I have never shied away from revealing what I believe to be true, revisiting my life and times has been as challenging as it has been therapeutic and even enjoyable ...''A memoir not just of a fascinating life, but of a fascinating city' Caitríona Crowe'Witty and revealing' Cara'There's gossip, a delicious sense of indiscretion and an acutely observed bitchiness' Irish Times'Remarkably honest' Miriam O'Callaghan, RTÉ'Wonderful ... an ideal Christmas present' Ivan Yates, Newstalk'A really honest, open read' Matt Cooper, Today FM'A delightful read' Eamon Dunphy
Elvis and the Colonel: An Insider's Look at the Most Legendary Partnership in Show Business
by Greg McDonald Marshall TerrillA fresh biography of legendary entertainment manager Colonel Tom Parker, with a contrarian and corrective point of view.Colonel Tom Parker, often reviled in his time, led the strategy from the earliest days of Elvis's career. Together, they built the most legendary partnership in show business. For the first time, Colonel Parker's story is told by an insider, Greg McDonald, who worked under Parker for years. Never-before-heard stories of Parker's collaboration with Elvis reveal the man behind the legend and the strategies that made Elvis a commercial groundbreaker.Ingrained lore has it that Parker took advantage of "poor country boy" Elvis to sign the singer who became "The King". But Elvis and the Colonel shows that Elvis was not foolish when it came to business arrangements. This book is full of stories of innovations Parker made with his star client, including:--ingenious merchandising (eg, selling both "I love Elvis" and "I hate Elvis" buttons)--licensing and branding, from suits to toys, ashtrays to guitars--establishing The King as an artist-in-residence in Las Vegas--creating televised concert events, like Elvis' Christmas specialMany of the practices Parker established are still deployed today by most major agencies. Parker's experience as a carny and an immigrant shaped his management style when he was at his peak, showing how he adapted big top practices to the big time. The heart of Elvis and the Colonel is the long, strong, warm and complex relationship between two iconic men.
Souvenirs of a Blown World: Sketches for the Sixties, Writings about America, 1966-1973
by Gregory McdonaldBestselling author of the Fletch series Gregory Mcdonald presents firsthand accounts of major events during the sixties and interviews with Joan Baez, Abbie Hoffman, Krishnamurti, Phil Ochs, Andy Warhol, and others. The year was 1966, and fresh off the heels of his controversial debut novel Running Scared, Mcdonald was hired to write for the Boston Globe with the instruction to "Go and have fun and write about it, and if you end up cut and bleeding on the sidewalk, call the office." Souvenirs of a Blown World is an exuberant account of the people, the encounters, and emotions that raced through the nation during those indelible years.You will follow a war-battered young soldier through the steamy quagmire of Vietnam, attend a barbeque bash in Dallas for the opening of John Wayne's two hundred and first picture, watch Jack Kerouac booze himself into hallucinatory eloquence, and run through the streets of Chicago during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Captured in kaleidoscopic prose, this is the vanished world of America's revolt, the explosive second adolescence that shook old institutions to their foundations . . . the time we must relive and understand if we are to understand and live through our own.
My Inappropriate Life: Some Material May Not Be Suitable For Small Children, Nuns, Or Mature Adults
by Heather McDonaldIn this hilarious account of her venture into motherhood, New York Times bestselling author and Chelsea Lately writer and star Heather McDonald explains her outrageous attempts to have it all—her way.Following her laugh-out-loud New York Times bestseller You’ll Never Blue Ball in This Town Again, Chelsea Lately writer and star Heather McDonald moves on from dating to motherhood with this new collection of outrageous essays chronicling her attempt to have it all—her way.This self-proclaimed “Real Housewife of Woodland Hills” is determined to achieve A-list status (thus expanding her entourage beyond her three school-age children and a househusband who is infuriatingly bad at collecting neighborhood gossip) and to defeat (or at least be accepted by) the mean neighborhood moms who judge her for taking her kids to a stripper pool party in Vegas. It’s a lot to juggle when she’s also battling Chelsea Handler and coworkers for the crudest practical jokes (just ask her about that “free” Vera Wang dress). . . .
You'll Never Blue Ball in This Town Again: One Woman's Painfully Funny Quest to Give It Up
by Heather McDonaldNew York Times bestselling author, comedian, and Chelsea Lately writer Heather McDonald’s hilarious true story of finding herself in the predicament of being an unwilling virgin at the age of twenty-seven.Can’t a girl dress like a hooker, dance like a stripper, and kiss like a porn star and still be a nineteen-year-old virgin?You’ll Never Blue Ball in This Town Again is the laugh-out-loud story of an attractive Los Angeles woman who found herself in the predicament of being an unwilling virgin. As an actress, writer, and stand-up comedienne, Heather McDonald passed up ample opportunities to have her V-card revoked by handsome, rich, and sometimes even fabulously famous men, but she could not bring herself to do “it” until well after her friends had been deflowered.As Chelsea Handler so lovingly puts it, “Thank God Heather waited twenty-seven years to lose her virginity or she wouldn’t have any material for this book.” Whether in a backseat, a community pool, or a sports stadium, with a frat boy, a doctor, or an A-list celebrity, Heather McDonald knew how to turn those boys blue. Unlike “putting out,” blue balling might not have paid her rent or landed her free trips to Hawaii, but it did provide her with hilarious stories and adventures in her search for true love—and, ultimately, her very own happy ending. Now, Heather McDonald will never blue ball in this town again.
Appointment in Dallas: My Shocking Conversation with the Man Who Confessed to Killing JFK
by Hugh C. McDonaldReprinted Edition"When I first brought the President's head into my telescopic sight, he was leaning forward at an appreciable angle. My crosshairs were exactly on the back of his skull. . . ."With these chilling words the man who fired the fatal shot that killed President John F. Kennedy revealed his role in the assassination to the law-enforcement officer who had hunted him for nearly a decade. In this classic exposé, veteran cop Hugh C. McDonald offers a gripping firsthand account of his personal journey into the dark heart of an unthinkable conspiracy--to bring to light these and other shocking revelations: The astonishing truth about the shooter on the Grassy Knoll. How security lapses allowed an armed assassin easy access to Dealey Plaza. The fallacy of the "Single Bullet" theory. Who fired the bullets that killed JFK, who fired the bullets that didn't. Through the dramatic perspective of an eyewitness to history, Appointment in Dallas provides essential insights into the who, why, and how of the JFK murder, finally answering the questions that have consumed the American public for decades.
Riding the Waves: My Story
by Jane McDonaldTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'Everything is much easier in life when difficult situations are faced with humour and a smile. But, don't get me wrong, that took years to realise. What a journey...'Whether performing in an arena, presenting a number one TV show or recording a top-ten album, Jane McDonald will never forget her Northern roots. Her down-to-earth Yorkshire charm is as much a part of her as her talent for singing, and here she is telling her remarkable story with characteristic wit and warmth, in her own words. A miner's daughter from Wakefield, Jane was a shy child who struggled with anxiety, but she found the courage to overcome her fears and follow her passion for performing. Jane famously hit the big time overnight on TV show The Cruise twenty years ago, but here she talks for the first time about how she survived the dark legacy of that early success, and climbed right back up for a second bite of the cherry. It hasn't all been plain sailing, but in Jane's world tough times make the good times better, and her spirit, heart and humour sparkle from every page.
Project Girl
by Janet McdonaldA harrowing, angry, articulate, and often funny account of a brilliant African-American woman's rocky road from the housing projects in Brooklyn to life as a lawyer in Paris; a truly American story about African-American identity, opportunity, and cultural clashes.
Hello, World! Music (Hello, World!)
by Jill McDonaldLearn from home and explore the world with these fun and easy board books!Every young child loves to listen to music, bang on drums, and pound the keys of a piano. Now here's a Hello, World! board book that can teach babies and toddlers all about musical instruments and the sounds they make—with colors, shapes, sizes, and super-simple facts.Hello, World! board books introduce first nonfiction concepts to babies and toddlers. Told in clear and easy terms with read-aloud sound words ("Plink! There are 88 keys on a piano, and they each make a different sound") and featuring bright, cheerful illustrations, Hello, World! makes learning fun for young children. And each page offers helpful prompts for engaging with your child. It's a perfect way to bring science and culture into the busy world of a toddler, where learning never stops. Look for all the books in the Hello, World! series: • Solar System• Weather• Backyard Bugs• Birds• Dinosaurs• My Body• How Do Apples Grow?• Ocean Life• Moon Landing• Pets• Arctic Animals• Construction Site• Rainforest Animals• Planet Earth • Reptiles• Cars and Trucks • Music• Baby Animals• On the Farm• Garden Time• Planes and Other Flying Machines• Rocks and Minerals• Snow
My Years with General Motors
by John Mcdonald Catharine Stevens Alfred P. Sloan Jr.With his involvement in General Motors spanning forty-five years, the author gives an account of the progress of General Motors.
Life Inside the Dead Man's Curve: The Chronicles of a Public-Safety Helicopter Pilot
by Kevin McDonald&“A warm compassionate story of helicopters in rescue missions&” (Igor Sikorsky Jr., aviation historian). Travis County STAR Flight, in Austin, Texas, is recognized as one of the premier public-safety helicopter programs in the United States. Life Inside the Dead Man&’s Curve is a firsthand account of the tragedy and triumph witnessed by STAR Flight crews as they respond to a myriad of emergencies, everything from traumatic injuries to rescues―and more. The author, Kevin McDonald, recounts how he turned his passion for flying into an extraordinary career filled with real-life twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. From his early days as a naval aviator, to his twenty years as a STAR Flight pilot, Kevin takes the reader on a powerful, emotional roller coaster ride. Even if you&’re not an aviation enthusiast, you need to strap in for this read. This is more than a book about flying helicopters―it&’s a book about life, life inside the dead man&’s curve. &“A delightful, informative homage to a life of flight.&” —Kirkus Reviews
A Colossal Failure of Common Sense: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers
by Lawrence G. McDonald Patrick RobinsonOne of the biggest questions of the financial crisis has not been answered until now: What happened at Lehman Brothers and why was it allowed to fail, with aftershocks that rocked the global economy? In this news-making, often astonishing book, a former Lehman Brothers Vice President gives us the straight answers—right from the belly of the beast. In A Colossal Failure of Common Sense, Larry McDonald, a Wall Street insider, reveals, the culture and unspoken rules of the game like no book has ever done. The book is couched in the very human story of Larry McDonald&’s Horatio Alger-like rise from a Massachusetts &“gateway to nowhere&” housing project to the New York headquarters of Lehman Brothers, home of one of the world&’s toughest trading floors. We get a close-up view of the participants in the Lehman collapse, especially those who saw it coming with a helpless, angry certainty. We meet the Brahmins at the top, whose reckless, pedal-to-the-floor addiction to growth finally demolished the nation&’ s oldest investment bank. The Wall Street we encounter here is a ruthless place, where brilliance, arrogance, ambition, greed, capacity for relentless toil, and other human traits combine in a potent mix that sometimes fuels prosperity but occasionally destroys it. The full significance of the dissolution of Lehman Brothers remains to be measured. But this much is certain: it was a devastating blow to America&’s—and the world&’s—financial system. And it need not have happened. This is the story of why it did.
The Rule of Three (The Sisters Club)
by Megan McdonaldThe play's the thing when sibling rivalry takes center stage in a funny, spot-on, all-new Sisters Club story by the inimitable creator of Judy Moody. Alex has always been the Actor-with-a-capital-A in the Reel family, and middle-sister Stevie has always been content behind the scenes. But when the school play turns out to be a musical, Stevie (the natural-born singer of the family), decides that she may just be tired of being the Sensible One. Maybe, for once, she'd like to be the one in the spotlight! Alex isn't so keen on vying for the same role as her younger sister, however, and soon the dueling divas -- with little sister Joey egging them on -- are engaged in a fierce competition to find out who's got what it takes to play the Princess. Has Stevie broken the rules by going for what she wants -- or will it be Alex who hands down the biggest betrayal of all?
What a Fool Believes: A Memoir
by Michael McDonald Paul ReiserA sweeping and evocative memoir from the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, Grammy Award–winning, platinum selling singer-songwriter Michael McDonald, written with his friend, Emmy Award–nominated actor, comedian, and #1 New York Times bestselling author Paul Reiser.Doobie Brothers. Steely Dan. Chart topping soloist. Across a half-century of American music, Michael McDonald’s unmistakably smooth baritone voice defined an era of rock and R&B with hit records like “What A Fool Believes,” “Takin’ It to the Streets,” “I Keep Forgettin’,” “Peg,” “It Keeps You Running,” “You Belong to Me,” and “Yah Mo B There.”In his candid, freewheeling memoir, written with his friend, the Emmy Award-nominated actor and comedian Paul Reiser, Michael tells the story of his life and music. A high school dropout from Ferguson, Missouri, Michael chased his dreams in 1970’s California, a heady moment of rock opportunity and excess. As a rising session musician and backing vocalist, a series of encounters would send him on a wild ride around the world and to the heights of rock stardom—from joining Steely Dan and becoming a defining member of The Doobie Brothers to forging a path as a breakout solo R&B artist.Interwoven with the unforgettable tales of the music, Michael tells a deeply affecting story of losing and finding himself as a man. He reckons with the unshakeable insecurities that drove him, the drug and alcohol addictions that plagued him, and the highs and lows of popularity. Along the way he relays the lessons he’s learned, and that if he’s learned anything at all it’s that there’s often little correlation between what you get and what you deserve.Filled with unbelievable stories and a matchless cast of music greats including James Taylor, Ray Charles, Carly Simon, and Quincy Jones, What a Fool Believes is a moving and entertaining memoir that is sure to be a classic.
Kokoda Front Line
by Neil McDonaldDamien Parer was without doubt Australia?s greatest war photographer. He helped create the Anzac legend ? and many, many of our iconic war images are his photographs. He served his apprenticeship as a stills photographer on the famous Chauvel film, 'Forty Thousand Horsemen', and was appointed Official Photographer covering the Australian fighting in the early days of World War II in Greece and Syria, and Tobruk. His most famous documentary is 'Kokoda Front Line!' , made during the darkest days of the campaign in mid-1942 (it went on to win Australia?s first Academy Award). His photographs and films brought the war home to Australians ? and are now an integral part of our military history. He died in action ? shot by Japanese machine gun fire, as he filmed an American advance on Peleliu. Originally published as WAR CAMERAMAN: THE STORY OF DAMIEN PARER, and later in an expanded form as DAMIEN PARER'S WAR, this colourful and authoritative story of a great Australian includes many of his most iconic photographs.
Malta's Greater Siege & Adrian Warburton DSO* DFC** DFC (USA): The Most Valuable Pilot In The Raf
by Paul McDonaldThis is a true historical account of war in the air, at sea and on land in the battle for Malta's survival in the Second World War. It was a battle which decided the outcome of the war in North Africa and the Mediterranean. Adrian Warburton, the airman described in the subtitle by Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Tedder, went missing in 1944 in a single-seat American aircraft. He had flown at least 395 operational missions mostly from Malta. Unusually for a reconnaissance pilot, 'Warby' as he was known was credited with nine aircraft shot down. He lay undiscovered for sixty years. He is the RAF's most highly decorated photo-recce pilot.In Malta, Adrian met Christina, a stranded dancer turned aircraft plotter in the secret world deep beneath Valletta's fortress walls. She too was decorated for heroism. Together, they became part of the island's folklore. How important was Malta and the girl from Cheshire to the man behind the medals? This tale takes the form of a quest opening in a cemetery in Bavaria and closing in another in Malta. In between, the reader is immersed within the tension and drama surrounding Malta's Greater Siege retracing the steps of the main characters over the forever changed face of the island following its heroic victory.
Black Widow
by R. Robin McdonaldMarie Hilley had everyone fooled -- the husband she murdered, the mother, mother-in-law and daughter she poisoned, the son she abandoned. Who could believe that this petite brunette -- charming wife and model mother -- was a killer? The true story of the Hilley poisonings.
The Bedford Companion to Shakespeare: An Introduction with Documents
by Russ McdonaldProviding a unique combination of well-written, up-to-date background information and intriguing selections from primary documents, The Bedford Companion to Shakespeare introduces students to the topics most important to the study of Shakespeare in their full historical and cultural context.
John Knox for Armchair Theologians
by Suzanne McdonaldThis volume in the popular Armchair series presents a short and reader-friendly introduction to the tumultuous life and theology of the fiery reformer John Knox. As leader of the Scottish Reformation, Knox notably came into conflict with the Roman Catholic Church, particularly Queen Mary. He was also an outspoken advocate for education and care for the poor, and is widely regarded as the founder of the Church of Scotland. Each chapter includes a description of Knox's activities as well as a discussion of key texts that introduce Knox's theological convictions. Expertly written by Suzanne McDonald, and featuring witty illustrations from Ron Hill, this book offers an intriguing introduction to the life and work of this major theological figure.
Winged Warriors: The Cold War from the Cockpit
by Thomas McDonaldPaul McDonald is a former RAF fast-jet pilot whose flying career spanned 34 years. He is not a typical senior RAF officer having been brought up on a council estate in a bleak northern industrial town. He became a pilot by accident and struggled to gain his wings. He spent 14 years on operational tours overseas including 2 tours at the height of the Cold War on a Tornado tactical nuclear squadron in Germany, only 15 minutes from responding to an anticipated Soviet onslaught. Earlier he served on a low-level photo reconnaissance squadron on NATO's vulnerable southern flank. He was decorated for gallantry in 1980 and later served in Kuwait as the Senior RAF Adviser, including Operation Desert Fox, the air war against Iraq in 1998.
An Improbable Life: The Autobiography
by Trevor McDonaldSir Trevor McDonald is an extraordinary man - and he has led an improbable life. Now in his 80th year, he is known and loved by people the world over for his humility, charm and natural ease. As a natural storyteller and communicator, he has few equals. In An Improbable Life, Sir Trevor recounts his personal experience of world events and interviews with globally famous - or notorious - figures. He has witnessed war and death and risked his own life to meet and talk with despots and liberators. We read about his first trip to South Africa, and obtaining the first British television interview with Nelson Mandela; his reflections on the Windrush generation; and experiencing Barack Obama's momentous inauguration as President of the USA. We are also present at his dramatic meetings with Saddam Hussein (the first and only one by a British television correspondent) and Muammar Gaddafi.Engaging, intimate and moving, this is the life story of an exceptional journalist and broadcaster who over decades has expertly revealed to us history in the making.
The New York Times Book of the Dead: Obituaries Of Extraordinary People
by William McDonaldThe obituary page of The New York Times is a celebration of extraordinary lives. This groundbreaking book includes 300 of the most important and fascinating obituaries the Times has ever published. The obituary page is the section many readers first turn to not only see who died, but to read some of the most inspiring, insightful, often funny, and elegantly written stories celebrating the lives of the men and women who have influenced on our world. William McDonald, The Times' obituary editor who was recently featured in the award-winning documentary Obit, selected 320 of the most important and influential obits from the newspaper's archives. In chapters like "Stage and Screen," "Titans of Business," "The Notorious," "Scientists and Healers," "Athletes," and "American Leaders," the entries include a wide variety of newsmakers from the last century and a half, including Annie Oakley, Theodore Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin, Marilyn Monroe, Coco Chanel, Malcolm X, Jackie Robinson and Prince.
The Socialite Who Killed a Nazi with Her Bare Hands and 143 Other Fascinating People Who Died This Past Year: The Best of the New York Times Obituaries, 2013
by William McDonaldReturning for its second year but reimagined in a new impulse format, with a new title, new cover, new mission, and new sensibility, here is The Socialite Who Killed a Nazi with Her Bare Hands, a pithier, quirkier collection of the 164 best page-turning obituaries from The New York Times. <P><P>Written by top journalists, each story is a gem of a bio, a full life in miniature. There’s the famous: Steve Jobs, including the story of how he was reunited with a sister he never knew, the novelist Mona Simpson. And the almost famous: Ruth Stone, a poet who worked in relative obscurity until she won the National Book Award at the age of 87. The behind-the-scenes, like Arch West, inventor of the Dorito, who pulled America’s snacks out of the 1950s doldrums and created a $5-billion-a-year product, and the out-there, like self-styled anarchist and maverick artist (and real estate mogul and museum director) Bob Cassilly, who died at the controls of his bulldozer while building “Cementland” in St. Louis. And because of the chronological organization of the book, the stories, one next to the other, make for an addictive-as-salted-peanuts book: Mark O. Hatfield, the celebrated antiwar Republican senator from Oregon, next to Nancy Wake of the title, the impoverished New Zealander who grew up to become a high-society hostess and heroine of the French Resistance—the socialite who did, indeed, kill a Nazi with her bare hands.
Spanish John
by John McDonellThe republication of the memoirs of Colonel John McDonell of Scottas (1728-1810) will be welcomed by Highlanders the world over. Neither romantic novel nor learned history can conjure up for us so vividly as this unashamedly prejudiced eyewitness account of the atmosphere of the aftermath of "the '45," the fierce loyalties and bitter hatreds, the high principles and barefaced villainy. We meet the ineffectual Stuart King, the saintly Duke of York, the unspeakable Captain Fergusson and many a minor character, each playing his part in the long drawn out British War of Succession and the death throes of Celtic society. The monograph traces John McDonell's story from his adventurous journey from Scotland to Rome at the age of 12 to his emigration to North America thirty-three years later.
Quiet Street: On American Privilege
by Nick McDonellA bold and deeply personal exploration of wealth, power, and the American elite, exposing how the ruling class—intentionally or not—perpetuates cycles of injustice"[A] story about American inequity, and how it mindlessly, immorally, reproduces itself. Unlike most such stories, however, this one left me believing in the possibility...of drastic change." —Maggie Nelson, author of On FreedomNick McDonell grew up on New York City&’s Upper East Side, a neighborhood defined by its wealth and influence. As a child, McDonell enjoyed everything that rarefied world entailed—sailing lessons in the Hamptons, school galas at the Met, and holiday trips on private jets. But as an adult, he left it behind to become a foreign correspondent in Iraq and Afghanistan.In Quiet Street, McDonell returns to the sidewalks of his youth, exhuming with bracing honesty his upbringing and those of his affluent peers. From Galápagos Island cruises and Tanzanian safaris to steely handshakes and schoolyard microaggressions to fox-hunting rituals and the courtship rites of sexually precocious tweens, McDonell examines the rearing of the ruling class in scalpel-sharp detail, documenting how wealth and power are hoarded, encoded, and passed down from one generation to the next. What&’s more, he demonstrates how outsiders—the poor, the nonwhite, the suburban—are kept out.Searing and precise yet ultimately full of compassion, Quiet Street examines the problem of America&’s one percent, whose vision of a more just world never materializes. Who are these people? How do they cling to power? What would it take for them to share it? Quiet Street looks for answers in a universal experience: coming to terms with the culture that made you.