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On the Move: A Life
by Oliver SacksWhen Oliver Sacks was twelve years old, a perceptive schoolmaster wrote in his report: “Sacks will go far, if he does not go too far.” It is now abundantly clear that Sacks has never stopped going. From its opening pages on his youthful obsession with motorcycles and speed, On the Move is infused with his restless energy. As he recounts his experiences as a young neurologist in the early 1960s, first in California, where he struggled with drug addiction, and then in New York, where he discovered a long-forgotten illness in the back wards of a chronic hospital, we see how his engagement with patients comes to define his life.<P><P> With unbridled honesty and humor, Sacks shows us that the same energy that drives his physical passions—weight lifting and swimming—also drives his cerebral passions. He writes about his love affairs, both romantic and intellectual; his guilt over leaving his family to come to America; his bond with his schizophrenic brother; and the writers and scientists—Thom Gunn, A. R. Luria, W. H. Auden, Gerald M. Edelman, Francis Crick—who influenced him. On the Move is the story of a brilliantly unconventional physician and writer—and of the man who has illuminated the many ways that the brain makes us human.
On the Move
by Oliver SacksAn impassioned, tender, and joyous memoir by the author of Musicophilia and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. When Oliver Sacks was twelve years old, a perceptive schoolmaster wrote in his report: "Sacks will go far, if he does not go too far." It is now abundantly clear that Sacks has never stopped going. From its opening pages on his youthful obsession with motorcycles and speed, On the Move is infused with his restless energy. As he recounts his experiences as a young neurologist in the early 1960s, first in California, where he struggled with drug addiction and then in New York, where he discovered a long-forgotten illness in the back wards of a chronic hospital, we see how his engagement with patients comes to define his life. With unbridled honesty and humor, Sacks shows us that the same energy that drives his physical passions--weight lifting and swimming--also drives his cerebral passions. He writes about his love affairs, both romantic and intellectual; his guilt over leaving his family to come to America; his bond with his schizophrenic brother; and the writers and scientists--Thom Gunn, A. R. Luria, W. H. Auden, Gerald M. Edelman, Francis Crick--who influenced him. On the Move is the story of a brilliantly unconventional physician and writer--and of the man who has illuminated the many ways that the brain makes us human.
On the Move: A Life
by Oliver SacksWhen Oliver Sacks was twelve years old, a perceptive schoolmaster wrote in his report: "Sacks will go far, if he does not go too far." It is now abundantly clear that Sacks has never stopped going. From its opening pages on his youthful obsession with motorcycles and speed, On the Move is infused with his restless energy. As he recounts his experiences as a young neurologist in the early 1960s, first in California, where he struggled with drug addiction, and then in New York, where he discovered a long-forgotten illness in the back wards of a chronic hospital, we see how his engagement with patients comes to define his life.With unbridled honesty and humor, Sacks shows us that the same energy that drives his physical passions--weight lifting and swimming--also drives his cerebral passions. He writes about his love affairs, both romantic and intellectual; his guilt over leaving his family to come to America; his bond with his schizophrenic brother; and the writers and scientists--Thom Gunn, A. R. Luria, W. H. Auden, Gerald M. Edelman, Francis Crick--who influenced him. On the Move is the story of a brilliantly unconventional physician and writer--and of the man who has illuminated the many ways that the brain makes us human.From the Hardcover edition.
On the Wilder Shores of Love: A Bohemian Life
by Lesley Blanch Georgia de ChamberetMost famous for The Wilder Shores of Love, her book about four women travellers, Lesley Blanch was a scholarly romantic and a bold writer. Her lifelong passion was for Russia, the Balkans and the Middle East. At heart a nomad, she spent the greater part of her life travelling the remote areas her books record so vividly.Edited by her goddaughter Georgia de Chamberet, who was working with her in her centenary year, this book collects together the story of Blanch's marriage, previously published only in French; a selection of her journalism which brings to life the artistic melting pot that was London between the wars; and a selection of her most evocative travel pieces.Illustrated with photos alongside a selection of line drawings by Lesley Blanch
On Writing: On Writers And Writing
by Charles BukowskiSharp and moving reflections and ruminations on the artistry and craft of writing from one of our most iconoclastic, pivoting, and celebrated masters.Charles Bukowski's stories, poems, and novels have left an enduring mark on our culture. In this collection of previously unpublished material--letters to publishers, editors, friends, and fellow writers--Bukowski shares his insights on the art of creation.On Writing reveals an artist brutally frank about the drudgery of work and canny and uncompromising about the absurdities of life--and of art. It illuminates the hard-edged, complex humanity of a true American legend and countercultural icon--the "laureate of American lowlife" (Time)--who stoically recorded society's downtrodden and depraved. It exposes an artist grounded in the visceral, whose work reverberates with his central ideal: "Don't try."Piercing, poignant, and often hilarious, On Writing is filled not only with memorable lines but also with Bukowski's trademark toughness, leavened with moments of grace, pathos, and intimacy.
Once in a Lifetime: Reflections of a Mississippi First Lady
by Elise Varner WinterOnce in a Lifetime reveals the broad range of Elise Varner Winter's activities as first lady of Mississippi during the term of her husband, Governor William F. Winter (1980–1984). Drawn from her personal journal, which she kept daily, this account includes the frustrating moments as well as the exhilarating ones, from keeping house to visiting the White House. The position of a state's first lady is one of the most public of roles. Yet few people know what a first lady actually does. In Elise Winter's memoir, her sense of history, her talent, and her perseverance to record her activities and observations provide a unique opportunity for the reader to understand what life in the Mississippi Governor's Mansion was really like on a daily basis. This book reveals her traditional roles—planner of elegant dinners, sophisticated hostess, hands-on gardener, and steward of the Mansion and its historic collection of antique furniture and decorative arts. But she emerged as a modern first lady, intensely interested in public education and in the state penitentiary, for which she developed several important initiatives. She recounts fascinating events from Governor Winter's administration, its tensions and its accomplishments, such as passage of the Education Reform Act, a success in which Elise Winter played an indispensable role. Many of the issues of thirty years ago remain critical today—insufficient funding for education, budget deficits, prison overcrowding, and the need for prison reform. Elise Winter observes everyone and everything with a fresh eye for detail and describes them all with honesty, clarity, and simplicity. Her observations reflect her intellect and insight, as well as her sense of humor. This is a woman's story, a human story, about hopes and doubts, about setting high standards and sometimes feeling inadequate, and about the imperative of continual efforts to make her state a better place for all who live there.
Once Upon a Time in Russia: The Rise of the Oligarchs—A True Story of Ambition, Wealth, Betrayal, and Murder
by Ben MezrichThe bestselling author of Bringing Down the House (sixty-three weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and the basis for the hit movie 21) and The Accidental Billionaires (the basis for the Academy Award-winning film The Social Network) delivers an epic drama of wealth, rivalry, and betrayal among mega-wealthy Russian oligarchs--and its international repercussions.Once Upon a Time in Russia is the untold true story of the larger-than-life billionaire oligarchs who surfed the waves of privatization to reap riches after the fall of the Soviet regime: "Godfather of the Kremlin" Boris Berezovsky, a former mathematician whose first entrepreneurial venture was running an automobile reselling business, and Roman Abramovich, his dashing young protégé who built a multi-billion-dollar empire of oil and aluminum. Locked in a complex, uniquely Russian partnership, Berezovsky and Abramovich battled their way through the "Wild East" of Russia with Berezovsky acting as the younger man's krysha--literally, his roof, his protector. Written with the heart-stopping pacing of a thriller--but even more compelling because it is true--this story of amassing obscene wealth and power depicts a rarefied world seldom seen up close. Under Berezovsky's krysha, Abramovich built one of Russia's largest oil companies from the ground up and in exchange made cash deliveries--including 491 million dollars in just one year. But their relationship frayed when Berezovsky attacked President Vladimir Putin in the media--and had to flee to the UK. Abramovich continued to prosper. Dead bodies trailed Berezovsky's footsteps, and threats followed him to London, where an associate of his died painfully and famously of Polonium poisoning. Then Berezovsky himself was later found dead, declared a suicide. Exclusively sourced, capturing a momentous period in recent world history, Once Upon a Time in Russia is at once personal and political, offering an unprecedented look into the wealth, corruption, and power behind what Graydon Carter called "the story of our age."
Once Upon A Time In The West...Country
by Tony HawksYou can take the man out of the city, but is the countryside ready for him? Comedian and born and bred townie, Tony Hawks is not afraid of a challenge - or indeed a good bet. He's hitchhiked round Ireland with a fridge and taken on the Moldovan football team at tennis, one by one. Now the time has come for his greatest gamble yet - turning his back on comfortable city life to move to the wilds of the West Country.With his partner Fran in tow and their first child on the way, he embraces the rituals of village life with often absurd and hilarious results, introducing us to an ensemble of eclectic characters along the way. One minute he's taking part in a calamitous tractor run, the next he's chairing a village meeting, but of course he still finds time for one last solo adventure before fatherhood arrives - cycling coast to coast with a mini pig called Titch.In the epic battle of man vs countryside, who will win out?
Once Upon A Time In The West...Country
by Tony HawksYou can take the man out of the city, but is the countryside ready for him? Comedian and born and bred townie, Tony Hawks is not afraid of a challenge - or indeed a good bet. He's hitchhiked round Ireland with a fridge and taken on the Moldovan football team at tennis, one by one. Now the time has come for his greatest gamble yet - turning his back on comfortable city life to move to the wilds of the West Country.With his partner Fran in tow and their first child on the way, he embraces the rituals of village life with often absurd and hilarious results, introducing us to an ensemble of eclectic characters along the way. One minute he's taking part in a calamitous tractor run, the next he's chairing a village meeting, but of course he still finds time for one last solo adventure before fatherhood arrives - cycling coast to coast with a mini pig called Titch.In the epic battle of man vs countryside, who will win out?
Once Upon A Time In The West...Country
by Tony HawksYou can take the man out of the city, but is the countryside ready for him? Comedian and born and bred townie, Tony Hawks is not afraid of a challenge - or indeed a good bet. He's hitchhiked round Ireland with a fridge and taken on the Moldovan football team at tennis, one by one. Now the time has come for his greatest gamble yet - turning his back on comfortable city life to move to the wilds of the West Country.With his partner Fran in tow and their first child on the way, he embraces the rituals of village life with often absurd and hilarious results, introducing us to an ensemble of eclectic characters along the way. One minute he's taking part in a calamitous tractor run, the next he's chairing a village meeting, but of course he still finds time for one last solo adventure before fatherhood arrives - cycling coast to coast with a mini pig called Titch.In the epic battle of man vs countryside, who will win out?(P)2015 Hodder & Stoughton
One For My Baby: A Sinatra Cocktail Companion
by Tom SmithThe book introduces us to Sinatra's life and art seen from an unconventional point of view: Ol' Blue Eyes' prodigious appetite for alcohol. Drinking was an integral part of his character, his lifestyle and (by extension) his creative output. This book also functions as a practical cocktail manual, containing more than 30 detailed recipes for preparing and presenting fancy drinks he was known to enjoy himself; as well as providing information on some of Sinatra's own personal drinking lore and some of the traditions he followed or inspired. There are also accounts of some of his favorite watering holes (from legendary saloons such as Toots Shor's and Jilly's to Villa Capri or Monte's Venetian Room), profiles of famous drinking buddies (such as Humphrey Bogart or Mike Romanoff) and a selection of drinking stories. The book begins with an essay looking at the role drink played throughout his life and ends with a consideration of his most enduring persona--The Last Saloon Singer. In between there are chapters on Classic Bourbon drinks, the Martini, Exotic Booze, Hangover Remedies and The Rat Pack.
One Good Life
by Jill NystulThe blogger behind One Good Thing by Jillee shares her never-before-told life story alongside the tips and wisdom that have earned her millions of devoted followers.Jill Nystul started her blog, One Good Thing by Jillee, as a means to take steps forward after emerging from rehabilitation from alcohol dependence and battling a slew of equally tough issues that tested her confidence as a wife and mother. Her goal was to pursue her passion and help others along the way--one day at a time and one step at a time--by writing about one good thing each day.It is clear that Nystul's ability to appreciate the little things has resonated with readers everywhere. Fans have fallen in love with her crafty household endeavors, delicious recipes, and words of wisdom. One Good Life presents "75 Good Things by Jillee," fifty of which have never before been published, intertwined with Nystul's personal story, revealed here for the first time. Drawing from her own experiences, Nystul shows how she has overcome tremendous hardship to finally re-embrace her faith and appreciate, each day, one good thing.
One Man Against the World: The Tragedy of Richard Nixon
by Tim WeinerTHE RIVETING STORY OF A DRAMATIC AND DISASTROUS PRESIDENCY Here is the first history of President Richard Nixon with all of his secret tapes and documents, many declassified in the past two years. Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner Tim Weiner presents a devastating portrait of a tortured and tormented man. In gripping prose, the author shows how, in Nixon's mind, the conflict in Vietnam and the crimes of Watergate were one war, fought on two fronts. A brilliant politician, Nixon rose by force of will from a crowded shack in rural California to the White House. But, as president, Nixon trusted no one--not his Cabinet, not his closest advisers, not the American people. Elected to unite a nation as discordant as it was at the close of the Civil War, Nixon disdained domestic policies and programs. He wanted above all to create what he called "a generation of peace"--by asking the world's leading Communist dictators to help him end the Vietnam War. Nixon saw antiwar American citizens as opponents no less dangerous than the enemy in Vietnam. He fought his foes without mercy. Abroad, his best weapons were B-52 bombers. One Man Against the World lets the reader listen in as Nixon, gripped by rage and insomnia, calls down death and destruction. At home, Nixon used undercover agents, warrantless wiretaps, break-ins, and burglaries as tools of intelligence gathering against Democratic Party leaders and the antiwar legions. His henchmen--including his attorney general and his closest White House advisers--went to prison for their crimes. Almost all his presidency is recorded on tape or preserved on paper. Together these materials create a remarkable record of the most intimate and damning conversations between the president and his confidants. Only recently, after forty years of struggle, has much of this jaw-dropping information been made public. One Man Against the World is a work of new insight into Richard Nixon--a man who saw enemies everywhere and, standing alone, took up arms against them. Nixon saw himself not only as the leader of the free world but "the world leader." Yet he was addicted to the gutter politics that ruined him. His political suicide has no equal in American history. That was his tragedy to bear."
One Man Against the World: The Tragedy of Richard Nixon
by Tim WeinerThe New York Times BestsellerA shocking and riveting look at one of the most dramatic and disastrous presidencies in US history, from Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner Tim WeinerBased largely on documents declassified only in the last few years, One Man Against the World paints a devastating portrait of a tortured yet brilliant man who led the country largely according to a deep-seated insecurity and distrust of not only his cabinet and congress, but the American population at large. In riveting, tick-tock prose, Weiner illuminates how the Vietnam War and the Watergate controversy that brought about Nixon's demise were inextricably linked. From the hail of garbage and curses that awaited Nixon upon his arrival at the White House, when he became the president of a nation as deeply divided as it had been since the end of the Civil War, to the unprecedented action Nixon took against American citizens, who he considered as traitorous as the army of North Vietnam, to the infamous break-in and the tapes that bear remarkable record of the most intimate and damning conversations between the president and his confidantes, Weiner narrates the history of Nixon's anguished presidency in fascinating and fresh detail. A crucial new look at the greatest political suicide in history, One Man Against the World leaves us not only with new insight into this tumultuous period, but also into the motivations and demons of an American president who saw enemies everywhere, and, thinking the world was against him, undermined the foundations of the country he had hoped to lead.
One Man’s Everest: The Autobiography of Kenton Cool
by Kenton CoolKenton Cool is the finest alpine climber of this generation. His accomplishments are staggering. He has summited Everest twelve times. He is the first person in history to climb the three Everest peaks, the so-called Triple Crown, in one climb, a feat previously thought impossible. He was nominated for the prestigious piolet d'Or in 2004 for climbing a previously unclimbed route on Annapurna III. In 2012 he fulfilled the Olympic Games pledge of placing a 1924 gold medal on the Everest summit. He is the only Briton to have skied down two 8000-metre mountains, and in 2009 he guided Sir Ranulph Fiennes to the summit of Everest, helping to raise over £3 million for Marie Curie Cancer Care.His accomplishments are all the more extraordinary considering an incident in the summer of 1996 which tore Kenton's world apart. Whilst climbing in Wales, he broke a handhold on a route aptly called 'Major Headstress' and fell to the ground with such force that he shattered both his heel bones. Initially told he would never walk unaided again, Kenton spent four weeks in hospital, had three operations, three and a half months in a wheelchair and months of rehab. Today he is still in pain and after a long day in the mountains it's not uncommon to see him struggling to walk or moving around on his hands and knees. Yet he still climbs.'Why do you do it?' people ask him. This book tells why.
One More Step
by Neal Bascomb Bonner PaddockIn 2008, Bonner Paddock summited 19,341-foot-high mount kilimanjaro, the world's tallest freestanding mountain. Four years later, he earned the elite triathlete title kona Ironman. Thousands have done each individually. Bonner is the first person with cerebral palsy to do both.Bonner Paddock grew up just wanting to be ordinary. Despite his skinny legs and habit of tripping over nothing, he fought to keep up with his athletic older brothers, learned to battle riptides with his grandfather on close watch, and did everything he could to feel like a regular kid, even when it became clear he wasn't. After being diagnosed with cerebral palsy at age eleven, Bonner didn't let it limit him--instead he simply ignored its existence. For the next eighteen years, he guarded the truth about his health, building a normal life and keeping his secret from everyone--most of all himself.But the sudden death of a friend's young son named Jake, a boy who also suffered from cerebral palsy, forced Bonner to reevaluate who he was. No longer content striving for normal, he began to pursue one breathtaking experience after another in Jake's memory, never hiding from his physical limitations and, in the process, raising international awareness about cerebral palsy. T is appetite for challenges led him to the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro where, pushing his fragile body to the brink and barely surviving, he braved one mountain only to discover that he still had farther to climb.Embracing his weaknesses to understand his strengths, he then pursued the ultimate adventure: testing his mind, body, and will at the Ironman in Kona, Hawaii, a race regarded by many as the hardest on earth. Along the way he forged a renewed bond with his family and launched a foundation to help disabled children in Africa and at home.In the end, his remarkable journey took him across the globe and introduced him to a compelling cast of characters--from Tanzanian mountain guides to top-class surgeons, to disabled children, to champion athletes--all of whom inspired his quest. Infused with his irresistible charisma, courage, and heart, and illustrated with sixteen pages of color photos, One More Step is a gripping story of human perseverance that demonstrates how our lives are not defined by limits, but by the moments and lessons that push us past them.
One of Us: Inspiration for the Netflix film 22 July - from the bestselling author of The Bookseller of Kabul
by x Asne SeierstadTHE STORY OF ANDERS BREIVIK AND THE INSPIRATION FOR THE NETFLIX FILM 22 JULY, FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE BOOKSELLER OF KABULOn 22 July 2011 Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 of his fellow Norwegians in a terrorist atrocity that shocked the world. One of Us is the definitive account of the massacres and the subsequent trial. But more than that, it is the compelling story of Anders Breivik and a select group of his victims. As we follow the path to their inevitable collision, it becomes clear just what was lost in that one day.SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA NON-FICTION DAGGER 2015A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
One Righteous Man
by Arthur BrowneA history of African Americans in New York City from the 1910s to 1960, told through the life of Samuel Battle, the New York Police Department's first black officer. When Samuel Battle broke the color line as New York City's first African American cop in the second decade of the twentieth century, he had to fear his racist colleagues as much as criminals. He had to be three times better than his white peers, and many times more resilient. His life was threatened. He was displayed like a circus animal. Yet, fearlessly claiming his rights, he prevailed in a four-decade odyssey that is both the story of one man's courageous dedication to racial progress and a harbinger of the divisions between police and the people they serve that plague twenty-first-century America. By dint of brains, brawn, and an outsized personality, Battle rode the forward wave of African American history in New York. He circulated among renowned turn-of-the-century entertainers and writers. He weathered threatening hostility as a founding citizen of black Harlem. He served as "godfather" to the regiment of black soldiers that won glory in World War I as the "Hellfighters of Harlem." He befriended sports stars like Joe Louis, Jesse Owens, and Sugar Ray Robinson, and he bonded with legendary tap dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. Along the way, he mentored an equally smart, equally tough young man in a still more brutal fight to integrate the New York Fire Department. At the close of his career, Battle looked back proudly on the against-all-odd journey taken by a man who came of age as the son of former slaves in the South. He had navigated the corruption of Tammany Hall, the treachery of gangsters like Lucky Luciano and Dutch Schultz, the anything-goes era of Prohibition, the devastation of the Depression, and the race riots that erupted in Harlem in the 1930s and 1940s. By then he was a trusted aide to Mayor Fiorello La Guardia and a friend to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Realizing that his story was the story of race in New York across the first half of the century, Battle commissioned a biography to be written by none other than Langston Hughes, the preeminent voice of the Harlem Renaissance. But their eighty-thousand-word collaboration failed to find a publisher, and has remained unpublished since. Using Hughes's manuscript, which is quoted liberally throughout this book, as well as his own archival research and interviews with survivors, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Arthur Browne has created an important and compelling social history of New York, revealed a fascinating episode in the life of Langston Hughes, and delivered the riveting life and times of a remarkable and unjustly forgotten man, setting Samuel Battle where he belongs in the pantheon of American civil rights pioneers.
One Thousand Wells
by Jena Lee Nardella Donald MillerJena Nardella, cofounder of Blood:Water and one of Christianity Today's 33 Under 33, shares how her passion for saving the world grew into a humbler long-term calling of loving the world in all its brokenness in this beautifully written memoir.Ten years ago, Jena Lee Nardella was a fresh-out-of-college, twenty-something with the lofty goal of truly changing the world. Armed with a diploma, a thousand dollars, and a dream to build one thousand wells in Africa, she joined forces with Grammy Award-winning band Jars of Clay to found Blood:Water and begin her mission. Jena's dream for her nonprofit turned that initial $1 into $20, and then $100, and today into more than $25 million. Working throughout eleven countries in Africa, Blood:Water has provided healthcare for over 62,000 people in HIV-affected areas and has partnered with communities to provide clean water for more than one million people in Africa. But along the way she faced many harsh realities that have tested her faith, encountered corruption and brokenness that nearly destroyed everything she'd fought for, and taught her that wishful thinking will not get you very far. Jena discovered that true change comes only when you stop trying to save the world and allow yourself to love it, even when it breaks your heart. With a fresh, intelligent, and winsome voice, Jena Lee Nardella weaves an evocative personal narrative filled with honest and hard-won lessons that demonstrate the amazing things that can happen when you fight for your dreams.
Ongoingness: The End of a Diary
by Sarah Manguso“[Manguso] has written the memoir we didn’t realize we needed.” —The New YorkerIn Ongoingness, Sarah Manguso continues to define the contours of the contemporary essay. In it, she confronts a meticulous diary that she has kept for twenty-five years. “I wanted to end each day with a record of everything that had ever happened,” she explains. But this simple statement belies a terror that she might forget something, that she might miss something important. Maintaining that diary, now eight hundred thousand words, had become, until recently, a kind of spiritual practice.Then Manguso became pregnant and had a child, and these two Copernican events generated an amnesia that put her into a different relationship with the need to document herself amid ongoing time.Ongoingness is a spare, meditative work that stands in stark contrast to the volubility of the diary—it is a haunting account of mortality and impermanence, of how we struggle to find clarity in the chaos of time that rushes around and over and through us.“Bold, elegant, and honest . . . Ongoingness reads variously as an addict’s testimony, a confession, a celebration, an elegy.” —The Paris Review“Manguso captures the central challenge of memory, of attentiveness to life . . . A spectacularly and unsummarizably rewarding read.” —Maria Popova, Brain Pickings
Online Gravity: The Unseen Force Driving the Way You Live, Earn, and Learn
by Paul X. MccarthyThe Freakonomics of the digital economy, offering fascinating insights into the new rules that are reshaping the online worlds of business, education, and leisure.Are you concerned that technology and the web are moving too quickly for you to keep up? Are you worried about the future of your career in the face of an increasingly global and competitive workforce? We all worry about change. And the changes being brought about by unseen forces in the global economy are profound. Do you know someone who has lost their job in the last five years working in IT, media, finance, or retail? These industries and many others are already feeling the pinch of online gravity: the invisible forces of the online world that govern its role in the global economy--and its effect on you. Industry expert Paul X. McCarthy reveals how online businesses are fueled by a starkly different set of economic rules than those existing purely offline. He calls these forces "online gravity," which favor the creation of planet-like super-businesses (such as Amazon and Google) from surprising and unpredictable quarters. As more and more traditional industries such as media, music, travel, photography, and even banking are steadily consumed and transformed by giant online enterprises, more and more of the world is feeling online gravity's increasingly powerful pull. For anyone interested in the future of global technology, economics, or business, Online Gravity is an indispensible book that explains how you can harness these forces to improve your career, your health, your wealth--and even the prospects of the next generation.
The Only Average Guy
by John FilionThe first book to go beyond the scandal and distraction of the world's most infamous local politician, and reveal what drives Rob Ford and the many voters who steadfastly support him. Eye-opening and at times frightening, The Only Average Guy cuts through the uproar that followed Ford everywhere. A journalist before entering politics, Filion peels back the layers of an extremely complicated man. Weaving together the personal and political stories, he explains how Ford's tragic weaknesses helped propel him to power before leading to his inevitable failure. Through Ford, the book also explains the growing North American phenomenon by which angry voters are attracted to outspoken candidates flaunting outrageous flaws. For fifteen years, Toronto city councillor John Filion has had an uncommon relationship with Rob Ford. Sitting two seats away from the wildly unpredictable councillor from Etobicoke, who served as mayor from 2010 to 2014, Filion formed an unlikely camaraderie that allowed him to look beyond Rob's red-faced persona, seeing a boy still longing for the approval of his father, struggling with the impossible expectations of a family that fancied itself a political dynasty.
The Only Woman in the Room
by Eileen PollackA bracingly honest exploration of why there are still so few women in the hard sciences, mathematics, engineering, and computer science In 2005, when Lawrence Summers, then president of Harvard, asked why so few women, even today, achieve tenured positions in the hard sciences, Eileen Pollack set out to find the answer. A successful fiction writer, Pollack had grown up in the 1960s and '70s dreaming of a career as a theoretical astrophysicist. Denied the chance to take advanced courses in science and math, she nonetheless made her way to Yale. There, despite finding herself far behind the men in her classes, she went on to graduate summa cum laude, with honors, as one of the university's first two women to earn a bachelor of science degree in physics. And yet, isolated, lacking in confidence, starved for encouragement, she abandoned her ambition to become a physicist.Years later, spurred by the suggestion that innate differences in scientific and mathematical aptitude might account for the dearth of tenured female faculty at Summer's institution, Pollack thought back on her own experiences and wondered what, if anything, had changed in the intervening decades. Based on six years interviewing her former teachers and classmates, as well as dozens of other women who had dropped out before completing their degrees in science or found their careers less rewarding than they had hoped, The Only Woman in the Room is a bracingly honest, no-holds-barred examination of the social, interpersonal, and institutional barriers confronting women--and minorities--in the STEM fields. This frankly personal and informed book reflects on women's experiences in a way that simple data can't, documenting not only the more blatant bias of another era but all the subtle disincentives women in the sciences still face.The Only Woman in the Room shows us the struggles women in the sciences have been hesitant to admit, and provides hope for changing attitudes and behaviors in ways that could bring far more women into fields in which even today they remain seriously underrepresented.
Open Every Door: Mary Mottley – Mme. Marie de Tocqueville
by Sheila Le Sueur Claudine Martin-YurthMary Mottley, or Mme. Marie de Tocqueville, the English wife of French political thinker and historian Alexis de Tocqueville, seemed to be buried in the dustbins of 19th century French history until Sheila Le Sueur came along. Upon coming to the U.S. from Jersey, where Sheila survived the Nazi Occupation, Sheila was determined to learn everything she could about democracy. Her research eventually brought her to a C-SPAN series about Alexis de Tocqueville based on his classic, Democracy in America. Eventually Sheila learned that Tocqueville was married, but none of the biographers seemed to have much information about his wife, Mary Mottley. Writes Sheila: "Most biographers and Tocqueville analysts delivered the polite message that information about Mary Mottley was not a welcome contribution to the Tocqueville family legacy. Therefore, the less said about her, the better. I was incensed. This seemed to be highly unfair. For some reason, I didn't believe Alexis's choice of a lifetime partner was wrong for him. I felt Mary Mottley must have been an admirable person in her own right, and I set about to learn more about her." A special touch to this extraordinary book about a woman who Sheila learned was indeed a true soulmate for her husband, is a generous sample of Alexis's letters to Mary, translated from the French by Claudine Martin-Yurth. Alexis's love letters to Mary confirm without a doubt that the two were true friends, confidantes and kindred spirits.
Open Heart, Open Mind
by Clara HughesFrom one of Canada's most decorated Olympians comes a raw but life-affirming story of one woman's struggle with depression.In a world where winning meant everything, her biggest competitor was herself. In 2006, when Clara Hughes stepped onto the Olympic podium in Torino, Italy, she became the first and only athlete ever to win multiple medals in both Summer and Winter Games. Four years later, she was proud to carry the Canadian flag at the head of the Canadian team as they participated in the opening ceremony of the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. But there's another story behind her celebrated career as an athlete, behind her signature billboard smile. While most professional athletes devote their entire lives to training, Clara spent her teenage years using drugs and drinking to escape the stifling home life her alcoholic father had created in Elmwood, Winnipeg. She was headed nowhere fast when, at sixteen, she watched transfixed in her living room as gold medal speed skater Gaétan Boucher effortlessly raced in the 1988 Calgary Olympics. Dreaming of one day competing herself, Clara channeled her anger, frustration and raw ambition into the endurance sports of speed skating and cycling. By 2010, she had become a six-time Olympic medalist. But after more than a decade in the gruelling world of professional sports that stripped away her confidence and bruised her body, Clara began to realize that her physical extremes, her emotional setbacks, and her partying habits were masking a severe depression. After winning bronze in the last speed skating race of her career, she decided to retire from that sport, determined to repair herself. She has emerged as one of our most committed humanitarians, advocating for a variety of social causes both in Canada and around the world. In 2010, she became national spokesperson for Bell Canada's Let's Talk campaign in support of mental health awareness, using her Olympic standing to share the positive message of the power of forgiveness. Told with honesty and passion, Open Heart, Open Mind is Clara's personal journey through physical and mental pain to a life where love and understanding can thrive. This revelatory and inspiring story will touch the hearts of all Canadians.