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Life Among the Savages
by Shirley JacksonIn a hilariously charming domestic memoir, America's celebrated master of terror turns to a different kind of fright: raising childrenIn her celebrated fiction, Shirley Jackson explored the darkness lurking beneath the surface of small-town America. But in Life Among the Savages, she takes on the lighter side of small-town life. In this witty and warm memoir of her family's life in rural Vermont, she delightfully exposes a domestic side in cheerful contrast to her quietly terrifying fiction. With a novelist's gift for character, an unfailing maternal instinct, and her signature humor, Jackson turns everyday family experiences into brilliant adventures.
Life Among the Savages
by Shirley JacksonShirley Jackson, author of the classic short story "The Lottery", was known for her terse, haunting prose. But the writer possessed another side, one which is delightfully exposed in this hilariously charming memoir of her family's life in rural Vermont. Fans of Please Don't Eat the Daisies, Cheaper by the Dozen, and anything Erma Bombeck ever wrote will find much to recognize in Shirley Jackson's home and neighborhood: children who won't behave, cars that won't start, furnaces that break down, a pugnacious corner bully, household help that never stays, and a patient, capable husband who remains lovingly oblivious to the many thousands of things mothers and wives accomplish every single day. "Our house", writes Jackson, "is old, noisy, and full. When we moved into it we had two children and about five thousand books; I expect that when we finally overflow and move out again we will have perhaps twenty children and easily half a million books". Jackson's literary talents are in evidence everywhere, as is her trenchant, unsentimental wit. Yet there is no mistaking the happiness and love in these pages, which are crowded with the raucous voices of an extraordinary family living a wonderfully ordinary life.
Life among the Savages
by Shirley JacksonShirley Jackson, author of the classic short story The Lottery, was known for her terse, haunting prose. But the writer possessed another side, one which is delightfully exposed in this hilariously charming memoir of her family's life in rural Vermont. Fans of Please Don't Eat the Daisies, Cheaper by the Dozen, and anything Erma Bombeck ever wrote will find much to recognize in Shirley Jackson's home and neighborhood: children who won't behave, cars that won't start, furnaces that break down, a pugnacious corner bully, household help that never stays, and a patient, capable husband who remains lovingly oblivious to the many thousands of things mothers and wives accomplish every single day. "Our house," writes Jackson, "is old, noisy, and full. When we moved into it we had two children and about five thousand books; I expect that when we finally overflow and move out again we will have perhaps twenty children and easily half a million books. " Jackson's literary talents are in evidence everywhere, as is her trenchant, unsentimental wit. Yet there is no mistaking the happiness and love in these pages, which are crowded with the raucous voices of an extraordinary family living a wonderfully ordinary life. Continuously in print since 1948, Jackson's Haunting of Hill House has been bought by Dreamworks. .
Madame de Pompadour
by Amanda Foreman Nancy MitfordWhen Madame de Pompadour became the mistress of Louis XV, no one expected her to retain his affections for long. A member of the bourgeoisie rather than an aristocrat, she was physically too cold for the carnal Bourbon king, and had so many enemies that she could not travel publicly without risking a pelting of mud and stones. History has loved her little better. Nancy Mitford's delightfully candid biography re-creates the spirit of eighteenth-century Versailles with its love of pleasure and treachery. We learn that the Queen was a "bore," the Dauphin a "prig," and see France increasingly overcome with class conflict. With a fiction writer's felicity, Mitford restores the royal mistress and celebrates her as a survivor, unsurpassed in "the art of living," who reigned as the most powerful woman in France for nearly twenty years.
Mapping the Darkness: The Visionary Scientists Who Unlocked the Mysteries of Sleep
by Kenneth MillerThirty-two days underground. No heat. No sunlight. 4 June 1938. Nathaniel Kleitman and his research student make their way down the seventy-one steps leading to the mouth of Mammoth Cave. They are about to embark on one of the most intrepid and bizarre experiments in medical history, one which will change our understanding of sleep forever. Undisturbed by natural light, they will investigate what happens when you overturn one of the fundamental rhythms of the human body. Together, they enter the darkness. When Kleitman first arrived in New York, a penniless twenty-year-old refugee, few would have guessed that in just a few decades he would revolutionise the field of sleep science. In Mapping the Darkness, Kenneth Miller weaves science and history to tell the story of the outsider scientists who took sleep science from the fringes to a mainstream obsession. Reliving the spectacular experiments, technological innovation, imaginative leaps and single-minded commitment of these early pioneers, Miller provides a tantalising glimpse into the most mysterious third of our lives.
Mary Lincoln: Biography of a Marriage
by Ruth RandallMary Todd Lincoln is probably one of the most maligned women in history. Some biographers claim that she was insane--she had tremendous griefs in her life. She did have a serious problem about spending money--addicted to shopping--and always afraid of poverty. The book gives us a good sense of the time in which Mary lived--a southerner whose sympathies were with the north and with the abolitionist movement.
A Mind that Found Itself: An Autobiography (classic Reprint)
by Clifford Whittingham BeersA Mind That Found Itself by Clifford Whittingham Beers, is derived from as human a document as ever existed; and, because of its uncommon nature, perhaps no one thing contributes so much to its value as its authenticity. It is an autobiography, and more: in part it is a biography; for, in telling the story of the authors life, which he must relate the history of another self-a self which was dominant from his twenty-fourth to twenty-sixth year. During that period, unlike he had ever been been, or what he has been since. The biographical part of his autobiography might be called the history of a mental civil war, which he fought single-handed on a battlefield that lay within the compass of his skull.
Nisei Daughter
by Monica Itoi SoneMonica Sone grew up struggling with her identity in a part-American, part-Japanese world. Her memoir describes pre-war Seattle and the conflict she experienced between her two sides.
Only Believe: Smith Wigglesworth, The Man Who Believed In Miracles.
by Ron BrownSmith Wigglesworth was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, in 1859 into a very poor working-class family. But by the time of his death in 1948, the influence he had on many thousands of people worldwide was simply incredible. Smith Wigglesworth was a simple uneducated man who became a plumber by trade and believed in divine healing. He changed the lives of many sick and terminally ill people through his healing ministry in many different countries around the world. He is also credited to have raised people from the dead through the power of the Holy Spirit. He believed that if you have total trust in God, then all things are possible, including divine healing. During my time of research on this story, I came across so many incredible stories about this man and his healing ministry that if only half of them are true, he still was a truly exceptional man.
The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti: A New England Legend
by Howard FastA novel based on the controversial case of two immigrants executed for murder in 1927, from the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Spartacus. Seven years, two trials, and three appeals after their arrest for robbery and murder in 1920, anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti await execution in their prison cells. Supporters around the world have passionately argued their innocence, particularly when Celestino Madeiros, a young mobster, confesses to the murders along with other members of his gang. But no retrial is ordered; on August 23, 1927, Sacco and Vanzetti are executed. Howard Fast&’s heartrending fictional account offers a window into the thoughts and feelings of a presumed-innocent Sacco and Vanzetti, and is a withering indictment of the American justice system. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Howard Fast including rare photos from the author&’s estate.
Queen Jezebel (Catherine de Medici #3)
by Jean PlaidyThe final novel in the classic Catherine de' Medici trilogy from Jean Plaidy, the grande dame of historical fiction. The aging Catherine de' Medici and her sickly son King Charles are hoping to end the violence between the feuding Catholics and Huguenots. When Catherine arranges the marriage of her beautiful Catholic daughter Margot to Huguenot king Henry of Navarre, France's subjects hope there will finally be peace. But shortly after the wedding, when many of the most prominent Huguenots are still celebrating in Paris, King Charles gives an order that could only have come from his mother: rid France of its "pestilential Huguenots forever." In this bloody conclusion to the Catherine de' Medici trilogy, Jean Plaidy shows the demise of kings and skillfully exposes Catherine's lifetime of depraved scheming.
Queen of the Dark Chamber
by Christiana TsaiIt is a time of heavy persecution in China. Christiana Tsai becomes a follower of Christ. An autobiography, Queen of the Dark Chamber exposes Christiana&’s severe suffering because of her conversion. Through her, however, the light and life of the gospel and the glory of Christ is revealed. Step into her life and taste the bitterness of sin around her and the brilliant sweetness of Christ&’s light in the midst of trial.
Queen of the Dark Chamber
by Christiana TsaiIt is a time of heavy persecution in China. Christiana Tsai becomes a follower of Christ. An autobiography, Queen of the Dark Chamber exposes Christiana&’s severe suffering because of her conversion. Through her, however, the light and life of the gospel and the glory of Christ is revealed. Step into her life and taste the bitterness of sin around her and the brilliant sweetness of Christ&’s light in the midst of trial.
Raquela: A Woman of Israel
by Ruth GruberA National Jewish Book Award–winning biography: A look at the early years of Israel&’s statehood, experienced through the life of a pioneering nurse.During her extraordinary career, nurse Raquela Prywes was a witness to history. She delivered babies in a Holocaust refugee camp and on the Israeli frontier. She crossed minefields to aid injured soldiers in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and organized hospitals to save the lives of those fighting the 1967 Six-Day War. Along the way, her own life was a series of triumphs and tragedies mirroring those of the newly formed Jewish state.Raquela is a moving tribute to a remarkable woman, and an unforgettable chronicle of the birth of Israel through the eyes of those who lived it.
Roger Williams
by Perry MillerBiography focusing on the impact of the individual on the American tradition.
Shreyarthini Sadhana
by Narhari Dwarakadas Parikh"મરહૂમ કિશોરલાલભાઈ મરનારાંની પાછળ તેમનાં સ્મારકો, જીવનચરિત્રો વગેરે કરવાની વિરુદ્ધ હતા. મરણ પૂર્વે થોડાં વર્ષ અગાઉ ‘મરણવિધિ’ નામના એમના એક લેખે જબ્બર પ્રસિદ્ધિ મેળવેલી. પણ એમના અવસાન પછી આ જીવનચરિત્ર લખાવા અંગેની ચર્ચામાં એક શ્રદ્ધેય મુરબ્બીની દલીલે ચુસ્ત વલણવાળા મિત્રોને નિરુત્તર કર્યા?: ‘પોતાના દેશકાળ અને સમકાલીન સમાજને પોતાના પ્રખર વિચારબળ, અવિરત કર્મયોગ અને નિર્મળ ચારિત્ર્યગુણોથી પ્રભાવિત કરનાર વ્યક્તિઓ અને વિભૂતિઓનાં જીવનચરિત્રો ન લખવાં તો શું વ્યસની, દુરાચારી, સટોડિયા, કાળાબજારિયા કે સિનેમા સ્ટારનાં જ ચરિત્રો લખીલખાવીને પ્રજાને ઉચે ચડાવવાની આશા રાખવી?” આ પછી સ્વર્ગસ્થના નિકટતમ મિત્ર અને જીવનભરના સાથી શ્રી નરહરિભાઈએ આ ચરિત્ર લખવાનું માથે લીધું. ... *** આ ગ્રંથરૂપે શ્રી નરહરિભાઈએ કરેલા ચરિત્રનિરૂપણ વિશે તેમ જ તેની રચના વિશે લખવાની ધૃષ્ટતા ન કરું. એમના જેવા સમત્વશીલ અને નિકટતમ સાથીએ જાતે અપંગ છતાં અત્યંત પ્રેમ અને ભાવથી આવડો પરિશ્રમ ખેડીને આ ચરિત્ર લખવાનું માથે લીધું અને શુષ્ક લેખાતા વિષયોની રજૂઆતમાં પણ classic (ક્લાસિક)નો દરજ્જો પામેલી એમની અનેક ગ્રંથરચનાઓમાં એક નિર્મળ શાંત classic (ક્લાસિક)નો ઉમેરો કર્યો એથી વધુ અનુરૂપ અને સોહામણું બીજું શું હોઈ શકે? જે યોગ્યતાપૂર્વક કિશોરલાલભાઈએ ગાંધીજીની પાછળ ‘હરિજન’ પત્રોનું સંપાદન કર્યું તે જ યોગ્યતાપૂર્વક નરહરિભાઈએ ચરિત્રગ્રંથનું નિર્માણ કર્યું છે. —સ્વામી આનંદ"
The Story of Eli Whitney
by Jean Lee LathamA biography of Eli Whitney tracing his long legal journey to win rights over his pirated cotton gin and to fulfill his government contract for ten thousand muskets with interchangeable parts.
The Strength Within
by Annie PatemanDecember 1979, Annie was three months pregnant with her second child and in excruciating pain. She couldn't walk, couldn't stand, couldn't sleep. In just a year, Annie had gone from being an active young woman to almost entirely incapacitated.Going from one doctor to another, after 18 months, Annie finally had a diagnosis - it was a malignant Ewing's tumour the size of a tennis ball on her knee. Cancer. Almost in the same breath, Annie was told she would have to have her leg amputated above the knee and then told the baby wouldn't survive the surgery…they both defied the odds. She was 26 years old and 26 weeks pregnant.Annie has demonstrated amazing courage sharing her story and overcoming adversity, further setbacks and living life to the full, encouraging the reader to believe there is light at the end of the tunnel, even when you can't see it.
Willa Cather: A Critical Biography
by E. K. Brown Leon EdelE.K. Brown wrote an appreciation of Cather's work which was presented on the occasion of her 70th birthday. Cather was so enamored with it that after some friendly correspondence with Brown, it was agreed that after her death, he would embark on a full length critical biography. However, at the early age of 45, Brown unexpectedly died leaving the work incomplete. In stepped Leon Edel who managed to complete the work with the help of Miss Edith Lewis -- Miss Cather's literary executrix and trustee -- and the copious notes that Brown had left behind.
You'll Never Find My Body
by Don Lasseter Ronald E. BowersThe author of Meet Me for Murder shares the true crime story of a LA prosecutor working to prove a man guilty of murder—without a body.No evidence . . .On April 22, 1991, three young children waited for their mother, Ann Racz, to return with a takeout dinner. Instead, their father showed up with a small bag of cold French fries and said their mother had gone away. Ann&’s children didn't believe it. Neither did her friends. And neither did the police. But there was zero evidence that anything had happened to Ann.No body . . .Los Angeles detectives dug furiously into the case, grilling John Racz and searching for clues. But without a body, the investigation stalled, and three children grew up wondering what had happened to their loving mother—and if their father had killed her.And a killer in plain sight . . .Fourteen years later, a brilliant female prosecutor defied the legal establishment and delved into the cold case, uncovering shocking information about Ann and her relationship with John. Suddenly, a crusading prosecutor was up against the most difficult kind of murder case of all: to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that John Racz had murdered his wife—even though her body was never found . . . With sixteen pages of photos
Annapurna: The First Conquest of an 8,000-Meter Peak (Lyons Press Ser.)
by Maurice HerzogOne of Sports Illustrated&’s Top 100 Sports Books of All Time: A gripping firsthand account of one of the most daring climbing expeditions in history. #1 New York Times Bestseller Annapurna I is the name given to the 8,100-meter mountain that ranks among the most forbidding in the Himalayan chain. Dangerous not just for its extreme height but for a long and treacherous approach, its summit proved unreachable until 1950, when a group of French mountaineers made a mad dash for its peak. They became the first men to accomplish the feat, doing so without oxygen tanks or any of the modern equipment that contemporary climbers use. The adventure nearly cost them their lives. Maurice Herzog dictated this firsthand account of the remarkable trek from a hospital bed as he recovered from injuries sustained during the climb. An instant bestseller, it remains one of the most famous mountaineering books of all time, and an enduring testament to the power of the human spirit.
Big Bend: A Homesteader's Story
by J.O. Langford Fred GipsonA first-hand account of a chronically ill man who uproots his family to settle on the banks of the Rio Grande, written with the author of Old Yeller. To the wild and fabulous country where the Rio Grande makes its big bend, J. O. Langford came in 1909 with his wife and daughter in search of health and a home. High on a bluff overlooking the spot where Tornillo Creek pours its waters into the turbulent Rio Grande, the Langfords built their home, a rude structure of adobe blocks in a land reputed to be inhabited only by bandits and rattlesnakes.Big Bend is the story of the Langfords&’ life in the rugged and spectacularly beautiful country which they came to call their own. Langford&’s account is told with the help of Fred Gipson, author of Old Yeller and Hound Dog Man. &“Big Bend. . . is the story of a way of life, beautiful in its simplicity, a story that can be read again and again for it is a book of substance.&” —New York Herald Tribune &“Not a big book this, but as warming to the senses and to the heart as a mesquite fire on the open hearth. It is, also, a book that reflects a commonality of the Western experience of this Nation—a homesteader&’s story.&” —San Francisco Chronicle &“This is one of those rare books of actual experience with the smooth continuity of the best fiction.&” —Houston Chronicle
The Colditz Story
by Major P ReidColditz was the last stop for prisoners of war during WWII. Those who persisted in escaping from other camps were sent to the impregnable fortress of Colditz Castle, situated on a rocky outcrop high above the River Mulde. Once within the walls of the castle, the Germans reasoned, escape was impossible. And yet many prisoners attempted escape and many succeeded Pat Reid was one of those men. Appointed 'Escape Officer' by his fellow inmates, he masterminded many of the attempts. From tunnelling, to hiding in rubbish sacks, disguising themselves as German officers and even leaping from the castle walls, nothing was too dangerous or foolhardy compared to imprisonment by the enemy. Reid's own escape, in 1942, was both one of the most simple and the most daring. First published in 1952, The Colditz Story is a classic escape story in the tradition of The Great Escape and The Wooden Horse.
The Colditz Story
by Major R ReidColditz was the last stop for prisoners of war during WWII. Those who persisted in escaping from other camps were sent to the impregnable fortress of Colditz Castle, situated on a rocky outcrop high above the River Mulde. Once within the walls of the castle, the Germans reasoned, escape was impossible. And yet many prisoners attempted escape and many succeeded Pat Reid was one of those men. Appointed 'Escape Officer' by his fellow inmates, he masterminded many of the attempts. From tunnelling, to hiding in rubbish sacks, disguising themselves as German officers and even leaping from the castle walls, nothing was too dangerous or foolhardy compared to imprisonment by the enemy. Reid's own escape, in 1942, was both one of the most simple and the most daring. First published in 1952, The Colditz Story is a classic escape story in the tradition of The Great Escape and The Wooden Horse.
The Court of Last Resort: The True Story of a Team of Crime Experts Who Fought to Save the Wrongfully Convicted
by Erle Stanley GardnerThe creator of Perry Mason’s Edgar Award–winning account of miscarriages of justice, wrongful convictions, legal battles, and landmark reversals. In 1945, Erle Stanley Gardner, noted attorney and author of the popular Perry Mason mysteries, was contacted by an overwhelmed California public defender who believed his doomed client was innocent. William Marvin Lindley had been convicted of the rape and murder of a young girl along the banks of the Yuba River, and was awaiting execution at San Quentin. After reviewing the case, Gardner agreed to help—it seemed the fate of the “Red-Headed Killer” hinged on the testimony of a colorblind witness. Gardner’s intervention sparked the Court of Last Resort. The Innocence Project of its day, this ambitious and ultimately successful undertaking was devoted to investigating, reviewing, and reversing wrongful convictions owing to poor legal representation, prosecutorial abuses, biased police activity, bench corruption, unreliable witnesses, and careless forensic-evidence testimony. The crimes: rape, murder, kidnapping, and manslaughter. The prisoners: underprivileged and vulnerable men wrongly convicted and condemned to life sentences or death row with only one hope—the devotion of Erle Stanley Gardner and the Court of Last Resort. Featuring Gardner’s most damning cases of injustice from across the country, The Court of Last Resort won the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime. Originating as a monthly column in Argosy magazine, it was produced as a dramatized court TV show for NBC.