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Burke Davis on the Civil War: The Long Surrender, Sherman's March, To Appomattox, and They Called Him Stonewall
by Burke DavisFour captivating and richly detailed Civil War histories from a New York Times–bestselling author. Award-winning author Burke Davis writes with “an eye for narrative detail that turns history into storytelling” in these four classic Civil War narratives (The New York Times Book Review). The Long Surrender: Though Jefferson Davis had planned to escape to Cuba after General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House, a $100,000 bounty was placed on his head. This “marvelous” and “wonderfully written” account chronicles the Confederate president’s flight, capture, and imprisonment—while offering a panoramic history of the last days of the Confederacy (Denver Post). Sherman’s March: Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman’s infamous “March to the Sea” was a crucial turning point in the Civil War. Weaving together hundreds of eyewitness accounts, this riveting history is “bound to startle and inform even students of Civil War literature” (The New York Times). To Appomattox: Drawing on a wide array of firsthand accounts—from soldiers and commanders as well as ordinary citizens—Davis offers a “masterful” and intimately detailed account of the last nine days of the Civil War, from the Siege of Petersburg to the fateful meeting between Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House (The Christian Science Monitor). They Called Him Stonewall: Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was an innovative battlefield strategist who struck terror in the hearts of Union army commanders and inspired Confederate soldiers to victory after victory in the early days of the Civil War. Based on a wealth of first-person sources, including Jackson’s private papers and correspondences, this New York Times bestseller paints “as definitive a picture of Jackson, the officer, and of his generalship, as anyone can hope to read” (Kirkus Reviews).
Slouching Towards Bethlehem: Essays (1960s A Ser.)
by Joan DidionThe “dazzling” and essential portrayal of 1960s America from the author of South and West and The Year of Magical Thinking (The New York Times). Capturing the tumultuous landscape of the United States, and in particular California, during a pivotal era of social change, the first work of nonfiction from one of American literature’s most distinctive prose stylists is a modern classic. In twenty razor-sharp essays that redefined the art of journalism, National Book Award–winning author Joan Didion reports on a society gripped by a deep generational divide, from the “misplaced children” dropping acid in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district to Hollywood legend John Wayne filming his first picture after a bout with cancer. She paints indelible portraits of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes and folk singer Joan Baez, “a personality before she was entirely a person,” and takes readers on eye-opening journeys to Death Valley, Hawaii, and Las Vegas, “the most extreme and allegorical of American settlements.” First published in 1968, Slouching Towards Bethlehem has been heralded by the New York Times Book Review as “a rare display of some of the best prose written today in this country” and named to Time magazine’s list of the one hundred best and most influential nonfiction books. It is the definitive account of a terrifying and transformative decade in American history whose discordant reverberations continue to sound a half-century later.
The White Album: Essays (FSG Classics)
by Joan DidionAn extraordinary report on the aftermath of the 1960s in America by the New York Times–bestselling author of South and West and Slouching Towards Bethlehem. In this landmark essay collection, Joan Didion brilliantly interweaves her own “bad dreams” with those of a nation confronting the dark underside of 1960s counterculture. From a jailhouse visit to Black Panther Party cofounder Huey Newton to witnessing First Lady of California Nancy Reagan pretend to pick flowers for the benefit of news cameras, Didion captures the paranoia and absurdity of the era with her signature blend of irony and insight. She takes readers to the “giddily splendid” Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the cool mountains of Bogotá, and the Jordanian Desert, where Bishop James Pike went to walk in Jesus’s footsteps—and died not far from his rented Ford Cortina. She anatomizes the culture of shopping malls—“toy garden cities in which no one lives but everyone consumes”—and exposes the contradictions and compromises of the women’s movement. In the iconic title essay, she documents her uneasy state of mind during the years leading up to and following the Manson murders—a terrifying crime that, in her memory, surprised no one. Written in “a voice like no other in contemporary journalism,” The White Album is a masterpiece of literary reportage and a fearless work of autobiography by the National Book Award–winning author of The Year of Magical Thinking (The New York Times Book Review). Its power to electrify and inform remains undiminished nearly forty years after it was first published.
After Henry: Essays
by Joan DidionIncisive essays on Patty Hearst and Reagan, the Central Park jogger and the Santa Ana winds, from the New York Times–bestselling author of South and West. In these eleven essays covering the national scene from Washington, DC; California; and New York, the acclaimed author of Slouching Towards Bethlehem and The White Album “capture[s] the mood of America” and confirms her reputation as one of our sharpest and most trustworthy cultural observers (The New York Times). Whether dissecting the 1988 presidential campaign, exploring the commercialization of a Hollywood murder, or reporting on the “sideshows” of foreign wars, Joan Didion proves that she is one of the premier essayists of the twentieth century, “an articulate witness to the most stubborn and intractable truths of our time” (Joyce Carol Oates, The New York Times Book Review). Highlights include “In the Realm of the Fisher King,” a portrait of the White House under the stewardship of Ronald and Nancy Reagan, two “actors on location;” and “Girl of the Golden West,” a meditation on the Patty Hearst case that draws an unexpected and insightful parallel between the kidnapped heiress and the emigrants who settled California. “Sentimental Journeys” is a deeply felt study of New York media coverage of the brutal rape of a white investment banker in Central Park, a notorious crime that exposed the city’s racial and class fault lines. Dedicated to Henry Robbins, Didion’s friend and editor from 1966 until his death in 1979, After Henry is an indispensable collection of “superior reporting and criticism” from a writer on whom we have relied for more than fifty years “to get the story straight” (Los Angeles Times).
Lady Audley's Secret
by Mary Elizabeth BraddonA barrister becomes a detective when his friend disappears at an English manor in this classic Victorian novel. Beautiful Lucy Graham charms every man she meets, including wealthy widower Sir Michael Audley. After they marry, he refurbishes his mansion to create a little palace for his new wife, where her future seems bright. Her past, however, is shrouded in darkness, and she’ll do whatever it takes to keep it hidden. Then Sir Michael’s nephew, Robert, a London barrister, comes for a visit with his good friend George Talboys for a week of fishing. But when George mysteriously vanishes, there’s no time to relax. Increasingly suspicious of his new aunt, Robert searches for clues, determined to find his friend and discover exactly who Lady Audley really is. One of the most popular examples of the “sensation novel” craze that swept England during the nineteenth century, Lady Audley’s Secret is said to reflect themes from a real-life crime of the era, the notorious Constance Kent case.
Through Prison Bars: The Lives and Labours of John Howard and Elizabeth Fry
by William H RenderA fascinating look—first published in 1894—at two philanthropists known as the “Prisoner’s Friends” and the early history of prison reform. Prisons in England were once dark, inhumane places lacking any regulations. The facilities were poorly managed and unsanitary, and prisoners were treated like animals. One man and one woman, the “Prisoner’s Friends,” sought to change that. Through Prison Bars is an in-depth account of John Howard and Elizabeth Fry and their work in the prison reform movement in Great Britain and Europe that began in the eighteenth century and continued into the nineteenth. Author William H. Render explores their childhoods and family lives, deeply spiritual backgrounds—Howard was a Calvinist while Fry was a dedicated Quaker—and early days in prison philanthropy, as well as what motivated them to get involved in the first place: Howard’s early days as the high sheriff of Bedfordshire and Fry’s visit to the women’s prison at Newgate in London. Neither Howard nor Fry stopped their work with just one jail. They dedicated their lives to serving God and man, and their stories have the power to inspire similar dedication in generations to come.
Jeremy Lin: From the End of the Bench to Stardom
by Bill DavisThis true story is truly "Lin-sane!" The world is exposed to an individual like Jeremy Lin only once in a generation. His journey has taken him from practicing lay-ups on the court at the local YMCA to hitting last minute game-winners on the grand stage at Madison Square Garden. This book charts Jeremy's life story, from the streets of Palo Alto to the dormitories of Harvard to the major arenas throughout the country. Through exclusive interviews, play-by-plays, and colorful recollections, we get an intimate look at Jeremy's story. It is one of unyielding determination, true faith, and unimaginable success.
Marlene Dietrich: The Life (Tribuna Ser.)
by Maria RivaNew York Times Bestseller: A “greatly entertaining” biography of the glamorous, mysterious German-born actress, written by her daughter (The New York Times). With intimate detail, author Maria Riva reveals the rich life of her mother, Marlene Dietrich, the charismatic star of stage and screen whose career spanned much of the twentieth century. Opening with Dietrich’s childhood in Schöneberg, Riva’s biography introduces us to an energetic, disciplined, and ambitious young actress whose own mother equated show business with a world of vagabonds and thieves. Dietrich would quickly rise to stardom on the Berlin stage in the 1920s with her sharp wit and bisexual mystique, and wearing the top hat and tails that revolutionized our concept of beauty and femininity. She comes alive in these pages in all her incarnations: muse, collaborator, bona fide movie star, box-office poison, lover, wife, and mother. During World War II, Dietrich would stand up to the Nazis and galvanize American troops, eventually earning the Congressional Medal of Freedom. There were her artistic relationships with Josef von Sternberg (The Blue Angel, Morocco, Shanghai Express), Colette, Erich Maria Remarque, Noël Coward, and Cole Porter, as well as her heady romances. And in her final years, Dietrich would make herself visibly invisible, devoting herself to the immortality of her legend. Capturing this complex and astonishing woman, Maria Riva’s insightful profile of her mother has the depth, range, and resonance of a novel, and takes us on a journey through Europe and old Hollywood during an era that is gone but not forgotten.
Killer: The Autobiography of a Mafia Hit Man (Adrenaline Classics Ser.)
by David Fisher Joey the Hit ManNew York Times Bestseller: This groundbreaking tell-all by a mob hit man is “chilling and compelling—a must-read” (Former FBI agent Joe Pistone, aka Donnie Brasco). The Bronx-born son of a Jewish bootlegger, “Joey the Hit Man” was introduced to crime when he was just eleven years old. For the next thirty years he was a numbers king, scalper, loan shark, enforcer, and drug smuggler. He hijacked trucks, fenced stolen goods, and trafficked in pornography. But Joey really made his name as a Mafia assassin, racking up thirty-eight cold-blooded hits—thirty-five for cash, three for revenge. In Killer, Joey tells the true story of life in organized crime. He exposes the reality of gang wars, discusses how he raised a family while living on the wrong side of the law, and documents the day-to-day business of crime—from making and breaking alliances to staying one step ahead of the cops. He reveals how he faced a grand jury seven times with no convictions (“never lie to your lawyer”) and kept a seven-figure fortune out of reach of the IRS. He lays out in graphic detail the difference between getting paid to kill and doing it for personal reasons. “People think because they saw [The Godfather] they know everything there is to know about organized crime,” Joey contends. In this no-holds-barred account, he reveals the brutal truth behind the Hollywood fantasy. Forty-five years after this true crime classic shocked readers all over the world and set the standard for bestselling Mafia biographies including Joseph Bonnano’s A Man of Honor and Philip Carlo’s Ice Man, the new edition of Killer includes an afterword by coauthor David Fisher that unmasks Joey’s real identity—and the circumstances behind his death that add another layer of mystery to his complicated, colorful, and fascinating life.
Hit #29: Based on the Killer's Own Account
by David Fisher Joey the Hit ManThe New York Times–bestselling author of Killer: The Autobiography of a Mafia Hit Man reveals the true story of his most harrowing contract murder. “Joey the Hit Man” was a Bronx-born hired assassin who achieved widespread notoriety after writing a bestselling memoir and appearing on the David Susskind show. In this “down-to-earth realistic account,” Joey tells the riveting story behind the strangest of his thirty-eight kills (Los Angeles Free Press). In the fall of 1969, a public execution in an Italian restaurant in Brooklyn earned Joey a mention in the New York Daily News and a twenty-grand payout from the mob. On the surface, his next job seemed just as routine: The bosses suspected their trusted numbers controller, Joe Squillante, was skimming the nightly bets to settle personal debts. Joey gave Squillante two weeks to live. But there was one problem: Squillante once had a hit out on Joey too. No clueless patsy, #29 was an unpredictable bull’s-eye, and the contract holder was a dangerous mobster with a personal grudge against Joey. Taking the job meant entering into a game of predator and prey as nerve-racking as the cock of a .38 hammer. From first tail to all-night stakeouts to the intricate planning of the final confrontation, this is the shockingly detailed first-person account of a professional hit. Full of twists, turns, and double crosses, Hit #29 “tells it like it is” and delivers an unforgettable insider’s view of the mob (Kirkus Reviews).
The Crosswicks Journals: A Circle of Quiet, The Summer of the Great-Grandmother, The Irrational Season, and Two-Part Invention (The Crosswicks Journals #3)
by Madeleine L'EngleThe New York Times–bestselling author of A Wrinkle in Time takes an introspective look at her life and muses on creativity in these four memoirs. <P><P>Set against the lush backdrop of Crosswicks, Madeleine L’Engle’s family farmhouse in rural Connecticut, this series of memoirs reveals the complexity behind the beloved author whose works have long been cherished by children and adults alike. <P> A Circle of Quiet: In a deeply personal account, L’Engle shares her journey to find balance between her career as an author and her responsibilities as a wife, mother, teacher, and Christian. <P>The Summer of the Great-Grandmother: Four generations of family have gathered at Crosswicks to care for L’Engle’s ninety-year-old mother, whose health is rapidly declining and once astute mind slipping into senility. L’Engle takes an unflinching look at diminishment and death, all the while celebrating the wonder of life and the bonds between mothers and daughters. <P> The Irrational Season: Exploring the intersection of science and religion, L’Engle uncovers how her spiritual convictions inform and enrich the everyday. The memoir follows the liturgical year from one Advent to the next, with L’Engle’s reflections on the changing seasons in her own life as a writer, wife, mother, and global citizen. <P>Two-Part Invention: L’Engle beautifully evokes the life she and her husband, actor Hugh Franklin, built and the family they cherished. Beginning with their very different childhoods, their life in New York City in the 1940s, and their years spent raising their children at Crosswicks, this is L’Engle’s most personal work yet. <P> Offering a new perspective into her writing and life and how the two inform each other, the National Book Award–winning author explores the meanings behind motherhood, marriage, and faith.
Summary and Analysis of Rise of the Rocket Girls: Based on the Book by Nathalia Holt
by Worth BooksSo much to read, so little time? This brief overview of Rise of the Rocket Girls tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Nathalia Holt’s book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of Rise of the Rocket Girls includes: Historical contextChapter-by-chapter overviewsProfiles of the main charactersDetailed timeline of key eventsImportant quotesFascinating triviaGlossary of termsSupporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work About Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars by Nathalia Holt: When the Jet Propulsion Laboratory first began researching rocket science and the possibilities within space exploration in the middle of the twentieth century, they hired a hyper intelligent group of female mathematicians to work with their staff of engineers. In Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars, Nathalia Holt examines four decades of the JPL’s major accomplishments from interviews and research of these groundbreaking women who were recruited to be “human computers,” Including, from this team of unsung heroes, Barbara Paulson, Helen Ling, Sue Finley, and Sylvia Lundy. As the JPL’s projects evolved from developing missiles and satellites to executing moon landings and planetary exploration projects, the women’s roles grew too, becoming the team responsible for launching America into Space—and they did it all while balancing marriage and children, too. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
Summary and Analysis of the Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Based on the Book by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
by Worth BooksSo much to read, so little time? This brief overview of The Dressmaker of Khair Khana tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Gayle Tzemach Lemmon’s book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of The Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe includes: Historical contextChapter-by-chapter overviewsProfiles of the main charactersDetailed timeline of key eventsImportant quotesFascinating triviaGlossary of termsSupporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work About The Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon: The Dressmaker of Khair Khana is the inspiring true story of Kamila Sidiqi, a young woman who received her teaching certificate the day the Taliban entered and occupied Kabul in 1990. With ingenuity, faith, and leadership, Kamila established a garment business in her living room—employing family members and neighbors—which enabled their survival in during one of the most tumultuous decades in the region. Gayle Tzemach Lemmon tells the uplifting story of the women who, with quiet heroism, not only survived Taliban rule, but supported and protected their families and fellow Afghans. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
The Search for the Green River Killer: The True Story of America's Most Prolific Serial Killer
by Carlton Smith Tomas GuillenNew York Times Bestseller: From the journalists who covered the story, the shocking crimes of Gary Ridgway, America’s most prolific serial murderer. In the 1980s and 1990s, forty-nine women in the Seattle area were brutally murdered, their bodies dumped along the Green River and Pacific Highway South in Washington State. Despite an exhaustive investigation—even serial killer Ted Bundy was consulted to assist with psychological profiling—the sadistic killer continued to elude authorities for nearly twenty years. Then, in 2001, after mounting suspicion and with DNA evidence finally in hand, King County police charged a fifty-two-year-old truck painter, Gary Ridgway, with the murders. His confession and the horrific details of his crimes only added fuel to the notoriety of the Green River Killer. Journalists Carlton Smith and Tomas Guillen covered the murders for the Seattle Times from day one, receiving a Pulitzer Prize nomination for their work. They wrote the first edition of this book before the police had their man. Revised after Ridgway’s conviction and featuring chilling photographs from the case, The Search for the Green River Killer is the ultimate authoritative account of the Pacific Northwest killing spree that held a nation spellbound—and continues to horrify and fascinate, spawning dramatizations and documentaries of a demented killer who seemed unstoppable for decades.
Summary and Analysis of The Romanovs: Based on the Book by Simon Sebag Montefiore
by Worth BooksSo much to read, so little time? This brief overview of The Romanovs tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Simon Sebag Montefiore’s book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of The Romanovs: 1613–1918 includes: Historical contextChapter-by-chapter overviewsImportant quotesFascinating triviaGlossary of termsSupporting material to enhance your understanding of the original workAbout The Romanovs by Simon Sebag Montefiore: Award-winning historian Simon Sebag Montefiore’s The Romanovs delves into the reign of the Romanovs, Russia’s most infamous ruling family, showing how the formidable clan rose to power and held on to it for more than three hundred years. In a sweeping chronological narrative of tsars and tsarinas, Sebag Montefiore’s well-researched biography details the drama that characterized Russia’s greatest dynasty, shedding light on the monarchs’ lives and actions. Beginning with Michael’s accession in 1613—marking the end of the Time of Troubles—and ending with the family’s tragic massacre in 1918, The Romanovs shows how generations of Russian tsars ruled autocratically, through violence, greed, and intrigue. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
Summary and Analysis of The Real Jane Austen: Based on the Book by Paula Byrne
by Worth BooksSo much to read, so little time? This brief overview of The Real Jane Austen tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Paula Byrne’s book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things includes: Historical contextChapter-by-chapter overviewsDetailed timeline of key eventsProfiles of the main charactersImportant quotesFascinating triviaGlossary of termsSupporting material to enhance your understanding of the original workAbout The Real Jane Austen by Paula Byrne: The Real Jane Austen forgoes the style of a conventional biography, and uses personal mementos as jumping-off points to explore the life of the celebrated author of Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and other classics of the British literary canon. The objects—a cocked hat, a vellum notebook, and a royalty check—illuminate various compelling aspects of Jane Austen’s life and personality. Although early biographies suggest she led a quiet, uneventful life, Austen was aware of the realities of the French Revolution, the slave trade in the West Indies, and the Napoleonic Wars, and she was influenced by the people and events of her day. Whether traveling throughout England or writing in the comfort of her home, the real Jane Austen was a complex and driven woman whose work has been loved for generations. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
Summary and Analysis of Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: Based on the Book by the Countess of Carnarvon
by Worth BooksSo much to read, so little time? This brief overview of Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey tells you what you need to know—before or after you read the Countess of Carnarvon’s book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle includes: Historical contextChapter-by-chapter overviewsProfiles of the main charactersDetailed timeline of key eventsImportant quotesFascinating triviaGlossary of termsSupporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work About Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey by the Countess of Carnarvon: Lady Almina, the 5th Countess of Carnarvon, was known for throwing fabulous parties at Highclere Castle during the Edwardian era and for turning her home into a hospital for wounded soldiers during World War I. Her biography provides a view of what it was like to live during a time of great joy and of immense sorrow, all in the place that inspired the Emmy Award–winning period drama Downton Abbey. Lady Fiona Carnarvon, the 8th Countess of Carnarvon, knows Highclere Castle—her current residence, which has been in her husband’s family since 1679—better than just about anyone. Drawing from the family’s personal archives of photographs, letters, household records, and journals, Lady Fiona give readers an inside view of the famous English country home and the remarkable woman at the center of it all. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
Summary and Analysis of Patient H.M.: Based on the Book by Luke Dittrich
by Worth BooksSo much to read, so little time? This brief overview of Patient H.M. tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Luke Dittrich’s book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of Patient H.M.: A Story of Memory, Madness, and Family Secrets includes: Historical contextChapter-by-chapter overviewsProfiles of the main charactersDetailed timeline of key eventsImportant quotesFascinating triviaGlossary of termsSupporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work About Patient H.M. by Luke Dittrich: Patient H.M. tells the extraordinary true story of Henry Molaison, a young man who underwent a lobotomy in 1953 in hopes of curing his epilepsy. Instead, he suffered extensive memory loss and would became the most studied patient in the history of neuroscience. Luke Dittrich, whose grandfather performed the surgery, artfully combines family history, medical science, and investigative journalism to create a suspenseful and unsettling narrative on the search to understand the most elusive of scientific research topics: the human memory. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
Deadly Obsessions: Three True Crime Sagas
by Joan BarthelThree true crime classics of love, murder, and the mob by a Pulitzer Prize finalist who writes with “honest and gritty realism” (Phoenix Gazette). Award-winning author Joan Barthel uncovers the dark secrets behind some of the strangest cases in the history of American crime in these three captivating works of “first-class journalism” (The New York Times). A Death in California: When twice-divorced Beverly Hills socialite Hope Masters fell in love with a handsome advertising executive, she thought her life was finally turning around—until she woke up to find a gun in her mouth and her fiancé dead in the next room. The killer was a new acquaintance who’d been visiting the couple’s Sierra Nevada ranch. Even more bizarre, however, was what happened at the end of the long, nightmarish weekend in which Masters saw everything she cared about destroyed: She began to fall in love with her tormenter. “Superbly documented, brilliantly written. The suspense will keep readers caught to the very last page” (Ann Rule, bestselling author of The Stranger Beside Me). A Death in Canaan: When eighteen-year-old Peter Reilly arrived home from the Teen Center one night to discover his mother lying naked on the bedroom floor with her throat slashed, local police made him their prime suspect. After eight hours of interrogation and a polygraph test, Reilly confessed. But the townspeople of Canaan, Connecticut, couldn’t believe the naïve teenager was capable of such a gruesome crime. With the help of some celebrities, including Mike Nichols and William Styron, the community rallied to the boy’s defense. Barthel’s “riveting” account of this fascinating and frightening case was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize (People). Love or Honor: Police officer Chris Anastos was happily married and satisfied with his work on the NYPD’s anti-crime unit—until he was asked to go undercover to investigate links between the Italian mob and a Greek criminal network in Queens. For five years he moved back and forth between his comfortable home life and a murky, underground world of wise guys, pimps, and thieves. But when he fell in love with the beautiful, raven-haired daughter of a Long Island capo, Anastos faced his gravest threat yet. “For devotees of cop tales and mob lore . . . Tantalizing” (The New York Times Book Review).
Double Homicide: Two Tales of True Crime
by John CostonTwo riveting true crime sagas—of a mother who murdered her two sons, and a sex-crazed serial killer who terrorized Montana—together in one volume. In this terrifying collection, veteran reporter and former Wall Street Journal editor John Coston recounts the disturbing crimes of Ellen Boehm and Wayne Nance, two seemingly ordinary citizens who killed for the most twisted and selfish reasons. Sleep, My Child, Forever: Single mom Ellen Boehm appeared to be a devoted mother. But in reality, she was unequipped for motherhood, financially strapped, and desperate. Within a year of each other, her sons, ages two and four, died mysteriously, and Boehm&’s eight-year-old daughter suffered a near-fatal accident when a hair dryer fell into the girl&’s bath. Det. Sgt. Joseph Burgoon of St. Louis Homicide soon unraveled a labyrinth of deception, greed, and obsession that revealed a cold-blooded killer whose get-rich-quick scheme came at the cost of her children&’s lives. To Kill and Kill Again: To neighbors, Wayne Nance appeared to be an affable, considerate, and trustworthy guy. No one knew that he was the &“Missoula Mauler,&” a psychopath responsible for a series of sadistic sex slayings that rocked the idyllic town between 1974 and 1986. His victims included a preacher&’s wife, a teenage runaway, and a female acquaintance. Then, one September night, Nance pushed his luck, preying on a couple that lived to tell the tale.
The Poetry of Jack Kerouac: Scattered Poems, The Scripture of the Golden Eternity, and Old Angel Midnight
by Jack KerouacFrom the iconic New York Times–bestselling author of On the Road: Three revolutionary collections of poetry in one volume. Rebelling against the dry rules and literary pretentiousness he perceived in early twentieth-century poetry, Jack Kerouac pioneered a poetic style informed by oral tradition and driven by concrete language with neither embellishment nor abstraction. In these three groundbreaking collections, the legendary Beat writer offers a spontaneous, uncensored perspective on everything from religion to the structure of language itself. Scattered Poems: Bringing together selections from literary journals and his private notebooks, Scattered Poems exemplifies Kerouac’s innovative approach to language. Populated by hitchhikers, Chinese grocers, Buddhist saints, and cultural figures from Rimbaud to Harpo Marx, the poems evoke the primal and the sublime, the everyday and the metaphysical. The Scripture of the Golden Eternity: During an unexplained fainting spell, Kerouac experienced a flash of enlightenment. A student of Buddhist philosophy, he recognized the experience as “satori,” a moment of life-changing epiphany. The knowledge he gained in that instant is expressed in this volume of sixty-six prose poems with language that is both precise and cryptic, mystical and plain. His vision proclaims, “There are not two of us here, reader and writer, but one golden eternity.” Old Angel Midnight: A spontaneous writing project in the form of an extended prose poem, this sonorous and spiritually playful book is one of Kerouac’s most boldly experimental works. Collected from five notebooks dating from 1956 to 1959—a time in which Kerouac was immersed in Buddhist theory—Old Angel Midnight captures the rhythms of the universe and secrets of the subconscious with stunning linguistic dexterity.
American Murder: Three True Crime Classics
by Darcy O'BrienThree “riveting” accounts of horrific crimes and the twisted minds behind them by an Edgar Award–winning author (Publishers Weekly). A father’s ultimate betrayal, a savage killing spree that terrorized Los Angeles, and the brutal slaying of a rich man’s college-aged daughter. In this heart-stopping true crime collection, New York Times–bestselling author Darcy O’Brien uncovers the dark underside of the American dream. Murder in Little Egypt: Dr. John Dale Cavaness selflessly attended to the needs of his small, southern Illinois community. But when Cavaness was charged with the murder of his son Sean in December 1984, a radically different portrait of the physician and surgeon emerged. Throughout the three decades he had basked in the admiration and respect of the people of Little Egypt, Cavaness was privately terrorizing his family, abusing his employees, and making disastrous financial investments. In this New York Times bestseller, as more and more grisly details come to light, so too does rural America’s heritage of blood and violence become clear. The Hillside Stranglers: For weeks, the body count of sexually violated, brutally murdered young women escalated. With increasing alarm, Los Angeles newspapers headlined the deeds of a serial killer they named the Hillside Strangler. But not until January 1979, more than a year later, would the mysterious disappearance of two university students near Seattle lead police to the arrest of a security guard—the handsome, charming, fast-talking Kenny Bianchi—and the discovery that the strangler was not one man but two. The Hillside Stranglers is the disturbing portrait of a city held hostage by fear and a pair of psychopaths whose lust was as insatiable as their hate. A Dark and Bloody Ground: On a sweltering evening in August 1985, three men breached Roscoe Acker’s alarm and security systems, stabbed his daughter to death, and made off with over $1.9 million in cash. The killers were part of a hillbilly gang led by Sherry Sheets Hodge, a former prison guard, and her husband, lifetime criminal Benny Hodge. The stolen money came in handy shortly afterward, when they used it to lure Kentucky’s most flamboyant lawyer, Lester Burns, into representing them. “The smell of wet, coal-laden earth, white lightning, and cocaine-driven sweat rises from these marvelously atmospheric—and compelling—pages” (Kirkus Reviews).
Fatal Deceptions: Three True Crime Tales of Passion, Murder, and Deceit
by Joe SharkeyThis collection by a New York Times journalist gathers three horrifying true accounts of crimes of passion, ambition, and fear. Author Joe Sharkey delivers three gripping accounts of betrayal and murder in this compelling American true crime collection. Above Suspicion: Soon to be a major motion picture starring Emilia Clarke and Jack Huston, this true account tells the story of the only FBI agent to confess to murder. Assigned to Pikeville, Kentucky, rookie Mike Putnam cultivated paid informants and busted drug rings and bank robbers. But when one informant fell in love with the bureau’s rising star, their passionate affair ended with murder. Deadly Greed: On October 23, 1989, Charles Stuart reported that he and his seven-months-pregnant wife, Carol, had been robbed and shot by a black male. By the time police arrived, Carol was dead, and soon the baby was lost as well. Stuart then identified a suspect: Willie Bennett. The attack incited a furor during a time of heightened racial tension in the community. But even more appalling, Stuart’s story was a hoax—he was the true killer. Death Sentence: John List was working as the vice president of a Jersey City bank and had moved his mother, wife, and three teenage children into a nineteen-room mansion in Westfield, New Jersey when he lost his job and everything changed. Fearing financial ruin and the corruption of his children’s souls by the free-spirited 1970s, he came up with a terrifying solution: He would shoot his entire family and vanish, taking on a new life and a new identity.
The Journals of May Sarton Volume One: Journal of a Solitude, Plant Dreaming Deep, and Recovering
by May SartonNow in one volume: Three exquisite meditations on nature, healing, and the pleasures of the solitary life from a New York Times–bestselling author. In a long life spent recording her personal observations, poet, novelist, and memoirist May Sarton redefined the journal as a literary form. This extraordinary volume collects three of her most beloved works. Journal of a Solitude: Sarton’s bestselling memoir chronicles a solitary year spent at the house she bought and renovated in the quiet village of Nelson, New Hampshire. Her revealing insights are a moving and profound reflection on creativity, oneness with nature, and the courage it takes to be alone. Plant Dreaming Deep: Sarton’s intensely personal account of how she transformed a dilapidated eighteenth-century farmhouse into a home is a loving, beautifully crafted memoir illuminated by themes of friendship, love, nature, and the struggles of the creative life. Recovering: In this affecting diary of one year’s hardships and healing, Sarton focuses on her sixty-sixth year, which was marked by the turmoil of a mastectomy, the end of a treasured relationship, and the loneliness that visits a life of chosen solitude. By turns uplifting, cathartic, and revelatory, Sarton’s journals still strike a chord in the hearts of contemporary readers. Through them, in the words of the Los Angeles Times, “we are able to see our own experiences reflected in hers and we are enriched.”
Eyewitness to World War II: Guadalcanal Diary, Invasion Diary, and John F. Kennedy and PT-109
by Richard TregaskisThree classic accounts of WWII from a reporter who &“shaped America&’s understanding of the war, and influenced every account that came after&” (Mark Bowden). Volunteer combat correspondent Richard Tregaskis risked life and limb to give American readers a soldier&’s–eye view of the Second World War. These three tales of bravery and sacrifice shed light on the Greatest Generation&’s darkest hours. Guadalcanal Diary: In August 1942, Tregaskis landed with the US Marines on Tulagi and Guadalcanal Islands in the South Pacific for the first major Allied offensive against Japanese forces. He details the first two months of the campaign and describes the courage and camaraderie of young marines who prepared for battle knowing that one in four of them wouldn&’t make it home. An instant #1 New York Times bestseller and the basis for a popular film of the same name, Guadalcanal Diary is a masterpiece of war journalism that &“captures the spirit of men in battle&” (John Toland). Invasion Diary: In July 1943, Tregaskis joined the Allied forces in Sicily and Italy and documented some of the fiercest fighting of the war, from bombing runs over Rome to the defense of the Salerno beachhead against heavy artillery fire to the fall of Naples. In compelling and evocative prose, Tregaskis depicts the terror and excitement of life on the front lines and his own harrowing brush with death when a chunk of German shrapnel pierced his helmet and shattered his skull. Invasion Diary is &“required reading for all who want to know how armies fight&” (Library Journal). John F. Kennedy and PT-109: In the early morning hours of August 2, 1943, the Japanese destroyer Amagiri sliced into US Navy motor torpedo boat PT-109 near the Solomon Islands. Ten surviving crewmembers and their young skipper, Lt. John F. Kennedy, clung to the wreckage. Over the next three days, the privileged son of a Boston multimillionaire displayed extraordinary courage and leadership as he risked his life to shepherd his crew to safety and coordinate a daring rescue mission deep in enemy territory. Lieutenant Kennedy earned a Navy and Marine Corps Medal and a Purple Heart, and the story of PT-109 captured the public&’s imagination and helped propel Kennedy all the way to the White House. Acclaimed war correspondent Tregaskis—who once beat out the future president for a spot on the Harvard University swim team—brings this remarkable chapter in American history to vivid life.