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The Swan: A Novel (Break Away Bks.)
by Jim Cohee&“Alternately funny, entertaining, and heartbreaking, The Swan is a fictional memoir about love, death and what a family can―and cannot―endure.&” —Publishers Weekly Indianapolis, 1957. Ten-year-old Aaron Cooper has witnessed the death of his younger sister, Pookie, and the trauma has left him unwilling to speak. Aaron copes with life&’s challenges by disappearing into his own imagination, envisioning being captain of the Kon Tiki, driving his sled in the snowy Klondike, and tiger hunting in India. He is guarded by secret friends like deposed Hungarian Count Blurtz Shemshoian and Blurtz&’s wonder dog, Nipper, who protect him from the Creature from the Black Lagoon—who hides in Aaron&’s closet at night. The tales he constructs for himself, the real life stories he is witness to, and his mother&’s desperate efforts to bring her son back from the brink, all come to a head at an emotional family dinner. &“Funny, poignant and as endearing as its central character, The Swan is a wholly original tribute to childhood resilience.&” —San Jose Mercury News &“Had Kurt Vonnegut, William Saroyan, J. D. Salinger, Carlos Castaneda, Raymond Carver and James Thurber ever gathered at a writer&’s workshop to co-author a short novel, the product might well have been The Swan.&” —Terre Haute Tribune Star &“A surreal study of a grief observed indirectly, The Swan serves as a testament to the unbridled power of childhood vision, even and especially in the wake of tragedy.&” —Bloom magazine
First A Dream
by Jim ClaytonOne of the Forbes 400 wealthiest Americans, former CEO Clayton tells his story, from being born to poor cotton farmers in west Tennessee to building Clayton Homes into one of the top distributors and loaners in the mobile home industry.
The Basketball Diaries: The Classic About Growing Up Hip on New York's Mean Streets
by Jim CarrollThe original classic story about growing up with drugs and sex and about learning to survive on the streets of New York. An urban classic of coming of age.
Memoirs and Misinformation: A novel
by Dana Vachon Jim Carrey"None of this is real and all of it is true." --Jim CarreyFrom movie star Jim Carrey and novelist Dana Vachon, a fearless and semi-autobiographical novel about acting, Hollywood, agents, celebrity, privilege, friendship, romance, addiction to relevance, fear of personal erasure, destruction of persona, our "one big soul," Canada, and apocalypses within and without.Meet Jim Carrey. Sure, he's an insanely successful and beloved movie star drowning in wealth and privilege--but he's also lonely. Maybe past his prime. Maybe even...getting fat? He's tried diets, gurus, and cuddlin' with his military-grade Israeli guard dogs, but nothing seems to lift the cloud of emptiness and ennui. Even the advice of his best friend, actor and dinosaur skull collector, Nicolas Cage, isn't enough to pull Carrey out of his slump.Then Jim meets Georgie: ruthless ingénue, love of his life. And thanks to auteur screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, he has a role to play in a boundary-pushing new picture that may help him uncover a whole new side to himself. Finally, his Oscar vehicle! Things are looking up. But the universe has other plans.Memoirs and Misinformation is a fearless semi-autobiographical novel, a deconstruction of persona. In it, Jim Carrey and Dana Vachon have fashioned a story about acting, Hollywood, agents, celebrity, privilege, friendship, romance, addiction to relevance, fear of personal erasure, our "one big soul," Canada, and a cataclysmic ending of the world--apocalypses within and without.
Memoirs and Misinformation: A novel
by Dana Vachon Jim Carrey"None of this is real and all of it is true." --Jim CarreyMeet Jim Carrey. Sure, he's an insanely successful and beloved movie star drowning in wealth and privilege--but he's also lonely. Maybe past his prime. Maybe even . . . getting fat? He's tried diets, gurus, and cuddling with his military-grade Israeli guard dogs, but nothing seems to lift the cloud of emptiness and ennui. Even the sage advice of his best friend, actor and dinosaur skull collector Nicolas Cage, isn't enough to pull Carrey out of his slump. But then Jim meets Georgie: ruthless ingénue, love of his life. And with the help of auteur screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, he has a role to play in a boundary-pushing new picture that may help him uncover a whole new side to himself--finally, his Oscar vehicle! Things are looking up! But the universe has other plans.Memoirs and Misinformation is a fearless semi-autobiographical novel, a deconstruction of persona. In it, Jim Carrey and Dana Vachon have fashioned a story about acting, Hollywood, agents, celebrity, privilege, friendship, romance, addiction to relevance, fear of personal erasure, our "one big soul," Canada, and a cataclysmic ending of the world--apocalypses within and without.
Hey Ranger 2: More True Tales of Humor and Misadventure from the Great Outdoors
by Jim BurnettIn this sequel to the wildly successful "Hey Ranger: True Tales of Humor and Misadventure from America's National Parks," former ranger Jim Burnett casts his net globally in search of the most outrageous and humorous stories of man in his eternal quest to experience the natural world. Told in Burnett's classic, folksy, conversational style, Hey Ranger 2 will not disappoint as the follow-on to what has become a campground classic.
Hey Ranger!: True Tales of Humor and Misadventure from America's National Parks
by Jim BurnettIn his thirty years with the National Park Service, Jim Burnett has seen it all: boat ramp mishaps that have sent cars into the water; skunks in the outhouse and bears at the dumpster; visitors looking for the bridge over the Grand Canyon.
The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared
by Jim Brozina Alice OzmaWhen Alice Ozma was in 4th grade, she and her father decided to see if he could read aloud to her for 100 consecutive nights. On the hundreth night, they shared pancakes to celebrate, but it soon became evident that neither wanted to let go of their storytelling ritual. So they decided to continue what they called "The Streak." Alice's father read aloud to her every night without fail until the day she left for college. Alice approaches her book as a series of vignettes about her relationship with her father and the life lessons learned from the books he read to her.Books included in the Streak were: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, the Oz books by L. Frank Baum, Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, and Shakespeare's plays.
The Golden Boy of Crime: The Almost Certainly True Story of Norman "Red" Ryan
by Jim BrownFor readers of The Devil in the White City and The Massey Murder, the incredible story of Norman “Red” Ryan—“the Jesse James of Canada” and the “Kardashian” of the 1920s and ’30sDubbed “the Jesse James of Canada,” Norman “Red” Ryan was infamous in the 1920s and ’30s until he was gunned down in an attempted robbery in Sarnia, Ontario. Ernest Hemingway wrote about Ryan’s escape from Kingston Penitentiary for the Toronto Star, Morley Callaghan based a novel on him and stories of Ryan and his crimes filled newspapers and airwaves. One of the first Canadians to be granted parole, he was held up by Prime Minister R. B. Bennett as a model of rehabilitation and became a regular guest at Toronto police picnics. All the while, however, Ryan was continuing a crime spree on the side. Jim Brown, filmmaker and CBC Radio host, tells the incredible true story of “Red” Ryan, a larger-than-life criminal whose fame and legend were much encouraged by the media—he was the “Kardashian” of the time—and whose story endures.
Pennant Race: The Classic Game by Game Account of a Championship Season, 1961
by Jim Brosnan“Brosnan obviously knows his baseball, writes about it wittily, informally and with irony. He is a cynical, tough professional athlete and his book makes wonderful reading.”—New YorkerFrom the author of The Long Season—considered by many to be the greatest baseball book of all time—comes another classic sports memoir by legendary pitcher Jim Brosnan, which chronicles how his team, the Cincinnati Reds, went on to win the 1961 National League pennant.In Pennant Race, Brosnan—with his trademark wise-guy wit and plain-spoken practicality—once again offers a refreshingly candid alternative to hackneyed baseball mythologizing. Day by day, game by game, Brosnan reveals the real lives of professional ballplayers: their exhilaration and frustration, hope and despair, chronic worry over job security, playful camaraderie, world-weary cynicism, and boyish—if cautious—optimism. Although the Reds would ultimately lose the World Series to the Yankees, for Brosnan and his teammates, this was a winning season. Pennant Race vividly captures a remarkable year in the life of a ball club and the golden age of one of Major League Baseball’s most memorable eras.
The Long Season
by Jim BrosnanThe classic inside account of a baseball year by a major league pitcher.
The Long Season: The Classic Inside Account of a Baseball Year, 1959
by Jim Brosnan“Takes readers inside the clubhouse, the dugout, and the bullpen-not to mention the airplane, the train and the hotel room-in ways no sportswriter ever has.” — Washington Post“Rich and always interesting....This is the most authentic and convincing book about baseball I have ever read.” — Los Angeles Times“Funny, candid, and even more interesting because it doesn’t chronicle an exceptional season (something Brosnan reserved for his second book, Pennant Race, 1962), this book was a game changer.” — Booklist“One of the best baseball books ever written. It is probably one of the best American diaries as well.” — New York Times
Survival on the Death Railway and Nagasaki: A Pow Story Of Survival On The Death Railway And Nagasaki [large Print 16pt]
by Jim BrigginshawThis is a remarkable and unique story of Jim Brigginshaw. Having been captured by the Japanese after the fall of Singapore in 1942, Jim was first sent to work in Burma, to build what has become known as the Death Railway. Unlike many of his comrades, Jim survived this ordeal, only to be transferred to Nagasaki, Japan, where he was sent to work in the mines of Sendryu.Jim describes how the conditions in the 'Hell pits of Sendryu' were even worse than those experienced in Burma, but were ultimately the reason why he survived the war. On the 9th August 1945, the Americans, dropped the second nuclear bomb on Nagaski. Jim was fortunately underground at the time, but through this book re-lives the harrowing aftermath of the attack when the ground shook violently.
I'm Not High
by Jim BreuerA hilarious memoir from comedian Jim Breuer, with inside stories from his career in comedy as well as deeply personal moments from his life. With his goofy smile, sleepy eyes, and stoner's laugh, Jim Breuer might not appear to be the most introspective comedian out there. The fact that he made his mark playing Goat Boy on Saturday Night Live and a recalcitrant toker in the stoner classic Half Baked likely doesn't help his reputation at all. But in I'm Not High, we meet a whole new Jim Breuer. Jim dishes on everything from the SNL years to his early adventures in film. The cast of characters includes Chris Farley, Dave Chappelle, and Tracy Morgan-who all taught Jim lasting lessons about the high-stakes game of fame. He also chronicles the role family has played in keeping him honest. Whether he's arguing with his wife about religion, taking care of his kids, or helping his ailing father get through the day with his dignity intact, it's clear that some of Jim's best material comes from his best moments as a son and a dad and a husband. .
Until You Are Dead, Dead, Dead: The Hanging of Albert Edwin Batson
by Jim Bradshaw Danielle MillerIn 1902, on a prairie in southwest Louisiana, six members of a farming family are found murdered. Albert Edwin Batson, a white, itinerant farm worker, rapidly descends from likely suspect to likely lynching victim as people in the surrounding countryside lusted for vengeance. In a territory where the locals were coping with the opening of the prairies by the railroad and the disorienting, disruptive advances of the rice and oil industries into what was predominantly cattle country, Batson, an outsider, made an ideal scapegoat. Until You Are Dead, Dead, Dead tells the story of the legal trials of Batson for the murder of six members of the Earll family and of the emotional trial of his mother. She believed him innocent and worked tirelessly, but futilely, to save her son's life. More than two dozen photos of Batson, his mother, and the principals involved in his arrest and convictions help bring this struggle to life.Though the evidence against him was entirely circumstantial, most of the citizenry of southwest Louisiana considered him guilty. Sensational headlines in national and local newspapers stirred up so much emotion, authorities feared he would be lynched before they could hang him legally. Even-handed, objective, and thorough, the authors sift the evidence and lament the incompetence of Batson's court-appointed attorneys. The state tried the young man and convicted him twice of the murders and sentenced him each time to death. Louisiana's governor refused to accept the state pardon board's recommendation that Batson's final sentence be commuted to life in prison. A stranger in a rapidly changing land, Batson was hanged.
The Awakening of HK Derryberry: My Unlikely Friendship with the Boy Who Remembers Everything
by Andy Hardin Jim BradfordThe Awakening of HK Derryberry is the inspiring story of how one man was willing to step out of his upper middle-class world into the life of a young, disabled boy with a dismal future. Little did Jim Bradford know the transformational potential of that friendship--for HK and himself. HK Derryberry came into the world with the odds stacked heavily against him. He was taken from his unmarried mother's womb three months prematurely when she was killed in a car wreck. After ninety-six days of seesawing between life and death, HK's grandmother took him home. One Saturday morning Jim Bradford, a successful businessman in his mid-fifties, happens into Mrs. Winner's Chicken and Biscuits and sees a nine-year-old's head pressed down against a black plastic boom box with a crooked antenna and three strips of silver duct tape stretched across the battery cover. He can't help but notice the long, white plastic braces on each of the child's legs. Mr. Bradford learns that HK's grandmother is forced to bring him to the fast-food restaurant where she works, leaving him to sit alone all day at a small table, with only his boom box for company. On subsequent Saturdays Jim feels drawn back to the restaurant to meet with HK and begins spending every weekend with him. Eventually it becomes apparent that buried beneath HK's severe disabilities is one spectacular ability. He is diagnosed with Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM), which involves superlative powers of recollection that enable him to remember everything that has happened to him since the age of three. Less than one hundred people have been diagnosed with HSAM, but none of them have the physical disabilities of HK Derryberry.
Stephen and Matilda: The Civil War of 1139-53
by Jim BradburyStephen's reign was one of the darkest periods of English history. He had promised Henry I that he would support the king's daughter, Matilda, as the rightful heir to the English throne, but when Henry dies in December 1135 he broke his promise and quickly made himself king. Like many of the nobles, he was unwilling to yield the crown to a woman. Civil wars and the battle for the English Crown dominated his reign, and this fascinating book examines the conflict between Stephen and his cousin. The campaigns, battles and sieges of England's first civil war are explored, including the two major battles at the Standard adn Lincoln, which show that Stephen always held more ground than his opponents and was mostly on the offensive. The two sides finally reached a compromise, after 14 years, with the Treaty of Wallingford - Stephen would rule unopposed until his death but the throne would then pass to Henry of Anjou, Matilda's son. Full of colourful characters, this is a fascinating story of rivalry for the English throne which throws new light on a neglected aspect of Stephen's reign.
Ball Four: The Final Pitch (RosettaBooks Sports Classics #1)
by Jim BoutonThe 50th Anniversary edition of &“the book that changed baseball&” (NPR), chosen by Time magazine as one of the &“100 Greatest Non-Fiction&” books. When Ball Four was published in 1970, it created a firestorm. Bouton was called a Judas, a Benedict Arnold, and a &“social leper&” for having violated the &“sanctity of the clubhouse.&” Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn tried to force Bouton to sign a statement saying the book wasn&’t true. Ballplayers, most of whom hadn&’t read it, denounced the book. It was even banned by a few libraries. Almost everyone else, however, loved Ball Four. Fans liked discovering that athletes were real people—often wildly funny people. David Halberstam, who won a Pulitzer for his reporting on Vietnam, wrote a piece in Harper&’s that said of Bouton: &“He has written . . . a book deep in the American vein, so deep in fact that it is by no means a sports book.&” Today Ball Four has taken on another role—as a time capsule of life in the sixties. &“It is not just a diary of Bouton&’s 1969 season with the Seattle Pilots and Houston Astros,&” says sportswriter Jim Caple. &“It&’s a vibrant, funny, telling history of an era that seems even further away than four decades. To call it simply a &‘tell all book&’ is like describing The Grapes of Wrath as a book about harvesting peaches in California.&” Includes a new foreword by Jim Bouton's wife, Paula Kurman &“An irreverent, best-selling book that angered baseball&’s hierarchy and changed the way journalists and fans viewed the sports world.&” —The Washington Post
Bleeding Orange: Fifty Years of Blind Referees, Screaming Fans, Beasts of the East, and Syracuse Basketball
by Jim Boeheim Jack McCallumNew York Times BestsellerIn this candid autobiography, Syracuse head coach and long time college basketball fixture Jim Boeheim reflects on his life, his teachers, and the game he loves.Jim Boeheim walked onto the Syracuse campus as a freshman in 1963 . . . and never walked off. A man who has been written off at various stages of his career and criticized for being disagreeable, Boeheim has experienced it all—triumph, despair, redemption; controversy, heartbreak, and scandal; championships, epic disappointments, colorful personalities, NCAA investigations.His combative personality helped ignite what was arguably the most competitive college basketball conference ever: the Big East of the 1980s, when he and Syracuse battled with Big John Thompson of Georgetown, roly-poly Rollie Massimino of Villanova, feisty Jim Calhoun of Connecticut, and beloved Looie Carnesecca of St. John’s, turning the Big East into a Coaches Conference and the Best Show in College Basketball. Boeheim talks about those days and the coming battles with powerhouses North Carolina and Duke, now that Syracuse has joined the Atlantic Coast Conference.From his association with Syracuse greats Dave Bing (a college teammate), Pearl Washington, and Derrick Coleman, to the Olympics—where he coached players such as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Durant—Boeheim has learned many lessons that have helped his team and continue to encourage him now as he nears seventy.His unprecedented fifty-year career as a player, assistant, head coach and icon has given him unique insight into coaching and the college game, knowledge he now shares.
Three Generations of Railwaymen
by Geoff Body Ian Body Jim BodyWhen Jim Body joined Great Northern Railway in 1916, he could never have imagined that it would become ‘the family business’, with both his son Geoff and his grandson Ian taking to the rails. Through the eyes of three generations of Bodys, the rail industry changed beyond recognition, going through two world wars, grouping, nationalisation, the end of steam and privatisation before ending up as the industry we know today. With tales that include being suspected of spying, dealing with dramatic flooding, and the first Glastonbury Festival, Three Generations of Railwaymen is a rare behind-the-scenes look at one family’s life and experiences in the railway industry
The Golden Ham: A Candid Biography of Jackie Gleason
by Jim BishopIn his foreword, Jim Bishop says of Jackie Gleason that when the comedian read the manuscript for the Fust time “he did not ask that anything be either omitted or altered. And yet there were parts of this biography that made him wince.”For The Golden Ham is candid biography. To it Mr. Bishop brought his painstaking interest in detail, his reporter’s curiosity, his layman’s interest in the world of the theater, and his detachment. And most important, he began and ended his job with Jackie Gleason’s guarantee that nothing Bishop wrote would be censored.The result is a kind of theatrical biography that is entirely new and, like Gleason himself, is made up of a great deal of a great many things. As Bishop says:“There are several Jackie Gleasons. I know some of them. There is Gleason the comedian. Millions know him, and he’s a great talent. Then there is Gleason the producer and Gleason the writer. Some people know these....Gleason the businessman—second-rate, but he thinks he’s good at it—and then there is Gleason the thinker (apt and fast) and Gleason the man (fat, out of shape, but light on his feet) and Gleason the tenement-house kid from Brooklyn (nervy and not a bit surprised that he’s on top) and Gleason the lover, Gleason the musician, Gleason the moody, and Gleason the lonely, tormented soul.”This is a book about Jackie Gleason. If you like him, it may make you like him more, or less, depending on the kind of person you are. If you never liked him, it may change your mind a little. If you never had any special attitude toward Jackie Gleason, you will have one by the time you have finished this book.
The Mark Hellinger Story: A Biography of Broadway and Hollywood
by Jim BishopMark Hellinger, beloved newspaperman, whose Broadway column was read daily by 22,000,000 people, and whose years as a Hollywood producer were marked by such outstanding successes as “High Sierra,” “The Killers,” and “Naked City,” died in 1947 in his forty-fifth year. In this book, Jim Bishop, who was his secretary, takes us behind the scenes to live again, the life of a man who “went everywhere, saw everything, and did everything—without exultation or remorse.”Rich with the nostalgic echoes of a note-too-distant past, THE MARK HELLINGER STORY is a magnificent account of a fabulous era—Broadway of the twenties and thirties, from the colossal glamour of the Follies, Vanities, and Scandals to the trenchant wit and lilting tunes of the Little Shows, with the heady smell of printer’s ink and the roar of the night presses; the vast canvas of Hollywood in the silent days, and its sudden rebirth with sound.It is the story, too, of a man who crammed into a lifetime more living than most people will ever know. In the words of Jim Bishop, Hellinger “spent time as though he had stolen it and couldn’t find a fence.”
Real Men Don't Apologize
by Jim BelushiIn this "guys guide to life," the star of the hit TV show According to Jim talks about how men can continue to be real men while still managing to make things work with the opposite sex. Jim Belushi is a national celebrity who has starred in numerous movies as well as the current hit TV show airing on ABC, According to Jim. His "guy's guy" take on things led to a huge following among both men and women who cant get enough of Jim and his irrepressible take on life. Now he's sharing his unique perspective with a funny new book about dating, marriage, and sex that is sure to hit home with every redblooded American male and the women who love them. Any guy will relate to Belushi's self-discovered advice from the school of hard knocks. In character with his TV show, Belushi has strong opinions on how real men should act, and he relates his ideas with the trademark irreverent humor that has made him famous. Sample chapters from Real Men Dont Apologize! include: How to Be a Man How to Get a Phone Number Boot Camp for Men Sex and the Single Man Over 18 and many more!
The Last Editor: How I Saved the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times from Dullness and Complacency
by Jim BellowsThe innovative newspaper editor chronicles his storied career in this memoir, featuring sidebars from the like of Tom Wolfe, Katherine Graham, and more.The Last Editor is the memoir of Jim Bellows, the editor whose David-and-Goliath battles changed the face of the newspaper business. Bellows struggled to save major competitors of America’s three most powerful newspapers: the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times. In doing so, he developed major talent from rough cuts and brought a new generation of writers to the mainstream press.The Last Editor is a unique memoir of a man who loved a fight—highlighted with commentary from his colleagues in letters and sidebars from the biggest names in media. Sidebars from Tom Wolfe, Ben Bradlee, Art Buchwald, Katherine Graham, Mary McGrory, William Safire, just to name a few, and 16 pages of black-and-white photos, provide behind-the-scenes insights to the triumphs and controversies of the man who shaped the industry.“This is a lively, engaging recollection of the glory days of newspapers with amusing stories of the fabled men and women of journalism at a time when many American cities supported at least two newspapers.” —Booklist
Life's That Way
by Jim BeaverA remarkable memoir that shows the capacity of the human heart to heal after the challenge of having to say goodbye. Even the hardest lessons contain great gifts. Jim Beaver and his wife Cecily Adams appeared to have it all-following years of fertility treatments, they were finally parents and they were building their dream home and successful Hollywood careers. Life was good. But then their daughter, Maddie, was diagnosed as autistic. Weeks later, Cecily, a non-smoker, was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer. Sadly, after 14 years of marriage, Jim became a widower and a single dad. Faced with overwhelming grief, Jim reached out to family and friends by writing a nightly email-a habit he established when Cecily was first diagnosed. Initially a cathartic exercise for Jim, the prose became an unforgettable journey for his readers. Life's That Way is a compilation of those profound, compelling emails.