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The Unfinished Odyssey of Robert Kennedy: A Biography
by David Halberstam&“Far and away the best book written about Senator Kennedy&” from the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and bestselling author (The New York Times). Structured around the 1968 Democratic presidential campaign, The Unfinished Odyssey of Robert Kennedy offers an in-depth exploration of Robert Kennedy, both as a man and a politician. Kennedy&’s mass appeal to minority groups, his antiwar stance, and his support from Catholics made him unlike any other politician of his stature in the late 1960s. Acclaimed journalist David Halberstam dives into Kennedy&’s career, covering his work as US attorney general and campaign manager for his brother John, his run for a New York state senate seat, and his candidacy in the 1968 Democratic presidential primary. Through this crucial period, he charts Kennedy&’s evolution as one of the nation&’s most clear-headed progressives, ultimately revealing a man who—even now—personifies the shift toward a more equal America. This ebook features an illustrated biography of David Halberstam including rare images from the author&’s estate.
Confessions of a Criminal Lawyer: A Memoir
by Seymour WishmanA successful former defense attorney exposes the raw truth about the courtroom "game" and a career spent defending the guiltyAs an advocate for the accused in Newark, New Jersey, criminal lawyer Seymour Wishman defended a vast array of clients, from burglars and thieves to rapists and murderers. Many of them were poor and undereducated, and nearly all of them were guilty. But it was not Wishman's duty to pass moral judgment on those he represented. His job was to convince a jury to set his clients free or, at the very least, to impose the most lenient punishment permissible by law. And he was very good at his job. Reveling in the adrenaline rush of "winning," Wishman gave no thought to the ethical considerations of his daily dealings . . . until he was confronted on the street by a rape victim he had humiliated in the courtroom. A fascinating, no-holds-barred memoir of his years spent as "attorney for the damned," Wishman's Confessions of a Criminal Lawyer is a startling and important work--an eye-opening, thought-provoking examination of how the justice system works and how it should work--by an attorney who both defended and prosecuted those accused of the most horrific crimes.
Guardian Angel: Life and Death Adventures with Pararescue, the World's Most Powerful Commando Rescue Force
by William F. Sine&“A fabulous read, filled with heroism, history, and hi-jinks, as author William F. Sine recounts his life as an Air Force Pararescue Jumper&” (Readers&’ Favorite). US Air Force Pararescue is the most skillful and capable rescue force in the world, taking on some of the most dangerous rescue missions imaginable. PJs (short for para-jumpers), are members of an elite unit whose commando skills are so wide-reaching they often seem like something out of science fiction. They routinely tackle perilous operations that are beyond the capabilities of other rescue organizations, and sometimes dare the seemingly impossible. Since their inception in 1947, PJs have saved more than thirty thousand lives. They can pluck near-frozen climbers off jagged mountaintops and recover shot-down jet pilots stranded deep in hostile territory. In the dead of night, the PJs parachute into ominous, black, twenty-foot-tall waves to save distressed seamen, and they brave the cruelest and most desolate deserts to recover victims. US Air Force pararescuemen have played a prominent role in every armed conflict since the Korean War, rescuing thousands of soldiers from behind enemy lines. Guardian Angel provides a rare glimpse at a PJ&’s mind-blowing adventures. You follow Sgt. Sine&’s trek across exotic lands and share his encounters with mysterious cultures. Learn what it takes to lower from a helicopter onto the slippery decks of storm-tossed ships to rescue dying sailors. Feel what it&’s like to be caught in the middle of a bomb blast so powerful that it tears high-rise buildings in half, and flattens armored vehicles hundreds of yards away. Soar high above towering jungle trees and experience the danger of swinging on a slim cable below a helicopter, while performing a mid-air rescue of a pilot, dangling from his chute a hundred feet above a mountain slope. Go to war in Afghanistan and parachute onto a nocturnal battlefield, surrounded by land mines, to help a mortally wounded soldier. This is a deadly serious business: When things go wrong, they can go terribly wrong. Aircraft crash into mountainsides, killing all onboard, while some PJs live through horrendous helicopter crashes only to struggle with freezing temperatures, snapped limbs and torn flesh in a desperate fight for survival. This book presents true stories of uncommon courage told from the perspective of the actual men in the arena. PJs belong to an exclusive brotherhood and forge unbreakable bonds of loyalty, commitment, and sacrifice. They do these things for their country, to protect their brothers in arms, and to honor their motto: &“That Others May Live.&”
Shade It Black: Death and After in Iraq
by Jess Goodell John HearnA female marine&’s &“absorbing memoir&” recounting her work with the remains and personal effects of fallen soldiers and her battle with PTSD (Publishers Weekly). In 2008, CBS chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan candidly speculated about the human side of the war in Iraq: &“Tell me the last time you saw the body of a dead American soldier. What does that look like? Who in America knows what that looks like? Because I know what that looks like, and I feel responsible for the fact that no one else does . . .&” Logan&’s query raised some important yet ignored questions: How did the remains of American service men and women get from the dusty roads of Fallujah to the flag-covered coffins at Dover Air Force Base? And what does the gathering of those remains tell us about the nature of modern warfare and about ourselves? These questions are the focus of Jessica Goodell&’s story Shade It Black: Death and After in Iraq. Goodell enlisted in the Marines immediately after graduating from high school in 2001, and in 2004 she volunteered to serve in the Marine Corps&’ first officially declared Mortuary Affairs unit in Iraq. Her platoon was tasked with recovering and processing the remains of fallen soldiers. With sensitivity and insight, Goodell describes her job retrieving and examining the remains of fellow soldiers lost in combat in Iraq, and the psychological intricacy of coping with their fates, as well as her own. Death assumed many forms during the war, and the challenge of maintaining one&’s own humanity could be difficult. Responsible for diagramming the outlines of the fallen, if a part was missing she was instructed to &“shade it black.&” This insightful memoir also describes the difficulties faced by these Marines when they transition from a life characterized by self-sacrifice to a civilian existence marked very often by self-absorption. In sharing the story of her own journey, Goodell helps us to better understand how post-traumatic stress disorder affects female veterans. With the assistance of John Hearn, she has written one of the most unique accounts of America&’s current wars overseas yet seen.
Axis Sally: The American Voice of Nazi Germany
by Richard LucasA &“fascinating, well-researched account&” of Mildred Gillars, the failed actress who turned on her country and became a Nazi propagandist during WWII (Publishers Weekly). One of the most notorious Americans of the twentieth century was a failed Broadway actress turned radio announcer named Mildred Gillars (1900–1988), better known to American GIs as &“Axis Sally.&” Despite the richness of her life story, there has never been a full-length biography of the ambitious, star-struck Ohio girl who evolved into a reviled disseminator of Nazi propaganda. At the outbreak of war in September 1939, Gillars had been living in Germany for five years. Hoping to marry, she chose to remain in the Nazi-run state even as the last Americans departed for home. In 1940, she was hired by the German overseas radio, where she evolved from a simple disc jockey and announcer to a master propagandist. Under the tutelage of her married lover, Max Otto Koischwitz, Gillars became the personification of Nazi propaganda to the American GI. Spicing her broadcasts with music, Gillars&’s used her soothing voice to taunt Allied troops about the supposed infidelities of their wives and girlfriends back home, as well as the horrible deaths they were likely to meet on the battlefield. Supported by German military intelligence, she was able to convey personal greetings to individual US units, creating an eerie foreboding among troops who realized the Germans knew who and where they were. After broadcasting for Berlin up to the very end of the war, Gillars tried but failed to pose as a refugee, and was captured by US authorities. Her 1949 trial for treason captured the attention and raw emotion of a nation fresh from the horrors of the Second World War. Gillars&’s twelve-year imprisonment and life on parole, including a stay in a convent, is a remarkable story of a woman who attempts to rebuild her life in the country she betrayed.
General Albert C. Wedemeyer
by John J. MclaughlinLike many heroes of the Second World War, General Albert C. Wedemeyer's career has been largely overshadowed by such well-known figures as Marshall, Patton, Montgomery, and Bradley. Wedemeyer's legacy as the main planner of the D-Day invasion is almost completely forgotten today, eclipsed by politics and the capriciousness of human nature. Yet during America's preparation for the war, Wedemeyer was the primary author of the "Victory Program" that mobilized US resources and directed them at crucial points in order to secure victory over the Axis. In the late 1930s, he had the unique experience of being an exchange student at the German Kriegsakademia, the Nazis' equivalent of Fort Leavenworth's Command and General Staff School. As the only American to attend, he was thus the only ranking officer in the US who recognized the tactics of blitzkrieg once they were unleashed, and he knew how to respond. As US involvement in the European conflagration approached, Wedemeyer was taken under the wing of George C. Marshall in Washington. Wedemeyer conceived the plans for US mobilization, which was in greater gear than realized at the time of Pearl Harbor. The Victory Program, completed in the summer of 1941, contained actual battle plans and called for the concentration of forces in England in preparation for an early cross-channel invasion into France. However, to Wedemeyer's great disappointment (reflecting Marshall's), he was not appointed to field command in the ETO once the invasion commenced; further, he had run afoul of Winston Churchill due to the latter's insistence on emphasizing the Mediterranean theater in 1943. Perhaps because of Churchill's animosity, Wedemeyer was transferred to the Burma-China theater, where a year later he would replace General Stilwell. Ultimately, Wedemeyer's service in the Asian theater became far more significant, though less known. Had the US political establishment listened to Wedemeyer's advice on China during the years 1943-48, it is possible China would not have been lost to the Communists and would have been a functioning US ally from the start, thus eliminating the likelihood of both the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Despite Wedemeyer's key position at the crux of modern history, his contributions have been overlooked in most accounts of World War II and the Cold War beyond. In this work, we gain an intimate look at a visionary thinker who helped guide the Allies to victory in their greatest challenge, but whose vision of the post-war world was unfortunately not heeded.
Candy Darling: Memoirs of an Andy Warhol Superstar
by Candy Darling James RasinA look into what moved Andy Warhol's greatest muse Located at 33 Union Square West in the heart of New York City's pulsing downtown scene, Andy Warhol's Factory was an artistic anomaly. Not simply a painter's studio, it was the center of Warhol's assembly-line production of films, books, art, and the groundbreaking Interview magazine. Although Warhol's first Factory on East 47th Street was known for its space-age silver interior, the Union Square Factory became the heart, brain, eyes, and soul of all things Warhol--and was, famously, the site of the assassination attempt that nearly took his life. It also produced a subculture of Factory denizens known as superstars, a collection of talented and ambitious misfits, the most glamorous and provocative of whom was the transgender pioneer Candy Darling. Born James Slattery in Queens in 1944 and raised on Long Island, the author began developing a female identity as a young child. Carefully imitating the sirens of Hollywood's golden age, young Jimmy had, by his early twenties, transformed into Candy, embodying the essence of silver-screen femininity, and in the process became her true self. Warhol, who found the whole dizzying package irresistible, cast Candy in his films Flesh and Women in Revolt and turned her into the superstar she was born to be. In her writing, Darling provides an illuminating look at what it was like to be transgender at a time when the gay rights movement was coming into its own. Blessed with a candor, wit, and style that inspired not only Warhol, but Tennessee Williams, Lou Reed, and Robert Mapplethorpe, Darling made an indelible mark on American culture during one of its most revolutionary eras. These memoirs depict a talented and tragic heroine who was taken away from us far too soon.
Gore Vidal: A Biography
by Fred KaplanThis &“fascinating&” biography of an iconic American author and public intellectual &“is so full of incident and celebrity . . . a pageant of entertaining stories&” (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). Few writers of recent memory have distinguished themselves in so many fields, and so consummately, as Gore Vidal. A prolific novelist, Vidal also wrote for film and theater, and became a classic essayist of his own time, delivering prescient analyses of American society, politics, and culture. Known for his rapier wit and intelligence, Vidal moved with ease among the cultural elite—his grandfather was a senator, he was intimate with the Kennedys, and one of his best friends was Tennessee Williams. For this definitive biography, Fred Kaplan was given access to Vidal&’s papers and letters. The result is an insightful and entertaining portrait of an exceptional and mercurial writer.
Henry James: The Imagination of Genius, A Biography
by Fred KaplanA stunning biography of the magisterial author behind The Portrait of a Lady and The AmbassadorsHenry James is an absorbing portrait of one of the most complex and influential nineteenth-century American writers. Fred Kaplan examines James&’s brilliant and troubled family—from his brother, a famous psychologist, to his sister, who fought with mental illness—and charts its influence on the development of the artist and his work. The biography includes a fascinating account of James&’s life as an American expatriate in Europe, and his friendships with Edith Wharton and Joseph Conrad. Compressing a wealth of research into one engrossing and richly detailed volume, Henry James is a compelling exploration of its subject.
Dickens: A Biography (Princeton Legacy Library #1541)
by Fred KaplanThe engaging biography of one of the most celebrated and enduring authors of Western literature Charles Dickens grew up in harsh poverty and became one of the world&’s most beloved authors. Biographer Fred Kaplan takes a brilliant, multifaceted approach in his examination of Dickens&’s life: his fraught marriage and relationships; the ever-present effects of his humble beginnings; his extensive, but carefully managed, public life; and his friendships with famous writers. Dickens unearths the complex passions that drove both the man and his work, illuminating why the legendary author—just like the characters in his fiction—has remained a mammoth figure in Western literature.
Thomas Carlyle: A Biography
by Fred KaplanPulitzer Prize finalist: &“The definitive biography&”of the Victorian-era writer and historian (The Times Literary Supplement). A Pulitzer finalist that draws upon years of research and unpublished letters, Thomas Carlyle examines the life of the Victorian genius. Carlyle was the author of Sartor Resartus and The French Revolution: A History, and he possessed one of literature&’s most flamboyant prose styles. Despite a childhood beset by anxiety and illness, Carlyle was indefatigable in his literary production. Fred Kaplan delves into the author&’s intense personal life, which includes his turbulent marriage to author Jane Baillie Welsh and his disillusionment with religion. Kaplan is a devoted and sensitive explicator, vividly resurrecting both Carlyle and his Victorian setting.
Martin Heidegger
by George SteinerA rich and evocative study of one of modern history&’s most compelling and controversial philosophers by a literary and critical grand master In Martin Heidegger, George Steiner delves into the life and work of the prolific German philosopher. His deft analysis lays bare the intricacies of Heidegger&’s work and his influence on modern society, offering a clear and accessible analysis of the philosopher&’s more difficult ideas, from the human condition and language to being and the meaning of time. Written with Steiner&’s trademark eloquence and precision, Martin Heidegger is the seminal look at the man and his groundbreaking ideas—the perfect study for scholars, Heidegger fanatics, and curious readers alike.
Killing the Dream: James Earl Ray and the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
by Gerald PosnerA deep dive into James Earl Ray&’s role in the national tragedy: &“Superb . . . a model of investigation . . . as gripping as a first-class detective story&” (The New York Times). On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was killed in Memphis, Tennessee, by a single assassin&’s bullet. A career criminal named James Earl Ray was seen fleeing from a rooming house that overlooked the hotel balcony from where King was cut down. An international manhunt ended two months later with Ray&’s capture. Though Ray initially pled guilty, he quickly recanted and for the rest of his life insisted he was an unwitting pawn in a grand conspiracy. In Killing the Dream, expert investigative reporter Gerald Posner reexamines Ray and the evidence, even tracking down the mystery man Ray claimed was the conspiracy&’s mastermind. Beginning with an authoritative biography of Ray&’s life, and continuing with a gripping account of the assassination and its aftermath, Posner cuts through phony witnesses, false claims, and a web of misinformation surrounding that tragic spring day in 1968. He puts Ray&’s conspiracy theory to rest and ultimately manages to disclose what really happened the day King was murdered.
Facts and Fancies: Essays Written Mostly for Fun
by Paul TaylorWitty and whimsical writings about the dance of life by the legendary choreographer. This wonderful new book by one of the preeminent dancers and choreographers consists of a range of pieces of fact and fiction that run from thoughts on friendliness and country living to animosity and city life. Taylor&’s first book since his autobiography (Private Domain, 1995, Alfred A. Knopf) is a romp through his playful mind, with chapter titles such as: Why I Make Dances, The Redheaded Spiritualist, Martha Close Up, Clytemnestra, How to Tell Ballet from Modern, and In the Marcel Proust Suite of L&’Hotel Continental. &“No other dancer ever looked like Paul Taylor, that strapping, elastic, goofy hunk of a guy, and no one else&’s dance works look like his either—not the deep, dark ones or the zany ones or the uplifting ones. His vocabulary, his tone are unique and unmistakable. The same thing is true, it turns out, about his writing. His style is utterly his own, and like all real style it isn&’t a calculated voice but a reflection of the way his quirky mind works.&” —From the foreword by Robert Gottlieb &“Taylor has not cultivated one writing persona, but has unleashed a raft of voices in a raft of forms: travesty, comedy, fiction, essay, satire, allegory, poetry, fable, epistle. While many of these selections are humorous, as anyone familiar with Taylor&’s choreography knows, even in the sunniest of his dances, there are often threatening clouds on the horizon. And the canny Taylor recognizes when to swap his Janus masks for maximum emotional wallop.&” —From the introduction by Suzanne Carbonneau
My New Orleans, Gone Away: A Memoir of Loss and Renewal
by Peter M. WolfIn the wake of Katrina's devastation, a Jewish man looks back on his secular NOLA childhood.
The Lion and the Cross: A Novel of Saint Patrick and Ancient Ireland
by Joan Lesley HamiltonThe man who would become Ireland's beloved patron saint confronts his destiny during the tumultuous Dark Ages in this vibrant, enthralling novel In 410 CE, arrogant sixteen-year-old Magonus Sucatus Patricius denounces Christianity as a religion for cowards when the Roman legions withdraw, leaving Britain vulnerable to raiders from the west. Determined to wield a sword despite being the grandson of a priest, the affluent young man is taken captive by barbarians and sold into slavery to a cruel Irish king. On a mountaintop in Eire, a shepherd strips him of his grand Roman name and calls him Padraic, marking him a man of no consequence. Set against the magnificent backdrop of ancient Ireland and based on available historical facts, Saint Patrick's Confession, and Celtic myth, this gripping novel follows Patrick as he finds his faith while fighting to escape bondage in Eire. Friendship with a king, love for a queen, and enmity with the druids who fear his God will embroil him in a civil war in a land from which he will struggle to flee--only to be called to return.
Imperial Woman: The Story of the Last Empress of China (Colophon #Vol. 3)
by Pearl S. BuckFrom the Nobel Prize–winning author of The Good Earth: the New York Times–bestselling biography of Tzu Hsi, the concubine who became China&’s last empress. In Imperial Woman, Pearl S. Buck brings to life the amazing story of Tzu Hsi, who rose from concubine status to become the working head of the Qing Dynasty. Born from a humble background, Tzu Hsi falls in love with her cousin Jung Lu, a handsome guard—but while still a teenager she is selected, along with her sister and hundreds of other girls, for relocation to the Forbidden City. Already set apart on account of her beauty, she&’s determined to be the emperor&’s favorite, and devotes all of her talent and cunning to the task. When the emperor dies, she finds herself in a role of supreme power, one she&’ll command for nearly fifty years. Much has been written about Tzu Hsi, but no other novel recreates her life—the extraordinary personality, together with the world of court intrigue and the period of national turmoil with which she dealt—as well as Imperial Woman. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Pearl S. Buck including rare images from the author&’s estate.
The Time Is Noon: A Novel
by Pearl S. BuckA woman looks back on her long, rocky path to fulfillment in this revealing novel by the New York Times–bestselling author of The Good Earth. Considered one of the most personal and autobiographical novels by the Nobel and Pulitzer Prize–winning author, The Time Is Noon tells the story of Joan Richards and her journey of self-discovery during the first half of the twentieth century. As a child, Joan finds her individuality obscured by her place in her family and her small town. In her adulthood, her struggle to discover her true self continues—but is inhibited by an unhappy marriage. After breaking free from her husband, she begins a stark reassessment of the way she&’s been living—and to her surprise, learns to appreciate all that lies ahead—in this elegant novel of chances lost and reclaimed, a beautifully affirming story of one woman&’s journey to maturity. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Pearl S. Buck including rare images from the author&’s estate.
My Several Worlds: A Personal Record
by Pearl S. BuckThe extraordinary and eventful personal account of the life of Pearl S. Buck, the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize for LiteratureOften regarded as one of Pearl S. Buck's most significant works, My Several Worlds is the memoir of a major novelist and one of the key American chroniclers of China. Buck, who was born to missionary parents in 1892, spent much of the first portion of her life in China, experiencing the Boxer Rebellion first hand and becoming involved with the society with an intimacy available to few outside observers. The book is not only an important reflection on that nation's modern history, but also an account of her re-engagement with America and the intense activity that characterized her life there, from her prolific novel-writing to her loves and friendships to her work for abandoned children and other humanitarian causes. As alive with incident as it is illuminating in its philosophy, My Several Worlds is essential reading for travelers and readers alike. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Pearl S. Buck including rare images from the author's estate.
A Bridge for Passing: A Meditation on Love, Loss, and Faith (Los Jet De Plaza Y J Series)
by Pearl S. BuckThe Nobel Prize–winning and New York Times–bestselling author&’s memoir of making a movie in 1960s Japan, while mourning the loss of her husband. Pearl S. Buck&’s children&’s story, The Big Wave, about two young friends whose lives are transformed when a volcano erupts and a tidal wave engulfs their village, was eventually optioned as a movie. A Bridge for Passing narrates the resulting adventure, the story of the people involved in the movie-making process (including Polish director Tad Danielewski), their many complications while shooting, and the experience of working in Japan at a time when memories of the war remained strong. As much as all this, the book is a poignant reflection on personal crisis, and relates Buck&’s grief over the death of her husband of twenty-five years, Richard Walsh, who was also her editor. A Bridge for Passing offers an intimate view of postwar Japan mixed with Buck&’s heartrending meditation on loss and love. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Pearl S. Buck including rare images from the author&’s estate.
Mapping the Territory: Selected Nonfiction
by Christopher BramThe first collection of nonfiction from the author Tony Kushner calls &“one of the best novelists writing in the world today&” Over a thirty-year period, novelist Christopher Bram witnessed, and lived through, the powerful experiences of coming out, the AIDS epidemic, gay marriage, and the social changes that have occurred in lower Manhattan. From the title piece, which maps the state of gay fiction, to &“A Body in Books,&” about the gay books that changed the author&’s life, the essays in Mapping the Territory form a coherent autobiographical account of Bram&’s life. This work wouldn&’t be complete without &“Homage to Mr. Jimmy,&” his account of how his novel Father of Frankenstein grew from his imagination and writing into the Oscar-winning movie Gods and Monsters. Mapping the Territory is a thoroughly engaging and compelling look into a great American writer.
Mary Walker Wears the Pants
by Carlo Molinari Cheryl HarnessThe story of Mary Edwards Walker, the doctor and women's rights activist who served in the Civil War and received the Medal of Honor. Mary Edwards Walker was unconventional for her time: She was one of the first women doctors in the country, she was a suffragist, and she wore pants! And when the Civil War struck, she took to the battlefields in a modified Union uniform as a commissioned doctor. For her service, she became the only woman ever to earn the Medal of Honor. This picture book biography tells the story of a remarkable woman who challenged traditional roles and lived life on her own terms. This is a fixed-format ebook, which preserves the design and layout of the original print book.
Skin: Talking About Sex, Class, and Literature
by Dorothy AllisonA collection of critical essays from award-winning author Dorothy Allison about identity, gender politics, and queer theory, now with a new prefaceLambda Award and American Library Association&’s Stonewall Book Award–winning author Dorothy Allison is known for her bold and insightful writing on issues of class and sexuality. In Skin, she approaches these topics through twenty-three impassioned essays that explore her identity—from her childhood in a poor family in South Carolina to her adult life as a lesbian in the suburbs of New York—and her sexuality. In &“Gun Crazy,&” Allison delves into what guns meant to the men and women around her when she was growing up. She gives insight into the importance of speaking professionally about sexuality in &“Talking to Straight People,&” and articulates the danger women feel about revealing their personal desires, even within feminist communities, in &“Public Silence, Private Terror.&” Allison is fearless in her discussion of many social and political taboos. Compelling and raw, Skin is an honest and intimate work—perfect for Dorothy Allison fans and new readers alike.
The Paris Diary & The New York Diary, 1951–1961: 1951-1961
by Ned RoremIn the earliest published diaries of Ned Rorem, the acclaimed American composer recalls a bygone era and its luminaries, celebrates the creative process, and examines the gay culture of Europe and the US during the 1950sOne of America&’s most significant contemporary composers, Ned Rorem is also widely acclaimed as a diarist of unique insight and refreshing candor. Together, his Paris Diary, first published in 1966, and The New York Diary,which followed a year later, paint a colorful landscape of Rorem&’s world and its famous inhabitants, as well as a fascinating self-portrait of a footloose young artist unabashedly drinking deeply of life. In this amalgam of forthright personal reflections and cogent social commentary, unprecedented for its time, Rorem&’s anecdotal recollections of the decade from 1951 to 1961 represent Gay Liberation in its infancy as the author freely expresses his open sexuality not as a revelation but as a simple fact of life. At once blisteringly honest and exquisitely entertaining, Rorem&’s diaries expound brilliantly on the creative process, following their peripatetic author from Paris to Morocco to Italy and back home to America as he crosses paths with Picasso, Cocteau, Gide, Boulez, and other luminaries of the era. With consummate skill and unexpurgated insight, a younger, wilder Rorem reflects on a bygone time and culture and, in doing so, holds a revealing mirror to himself.
Critical Affairs: A Composer's Journal
by Ned RoremAcclaimed composer Ned Rorem delights and provokes with a fearless collection of vivid memories, critiques, and musings on life, music, and his world<P> Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer Ned Rorem has been lauded for his art songs, symphonies, operas, and other orchestral works. With Critical Affairs, as with his other literary works, the great maestro once again demonstrates that he is a master of words as well as music. Winner of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award, Critical Affairs opens a window into the brilliant mind of a multi-talented artist and acute observer of the world around him. Rorem is fearless--sometimes shameless--in critiques of his contemporaries and their work. He gives glowing praise to those who merit it and tears down those he feels do not with a sharp and cunning wit. His remembrances of past challenges and conquests, both artistic and sexual, alternately scandalize and mesmerize, and his thoughts on everything from Walt Whitman to rock music carry weight and substance. Through it all, the author retains his unique charm and grace, whether he's confidently confessing a shocking personal indiscretion or remembering with lyrical fondness a late musical giant who helped to shape his extraordinary career.