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Africa's Eden
by Cheryl AdamAs a young unmarried mother in the 1960s, Maureen faces stifling disapproval and condemnation from mainstream society. Desperate to create a new life for herself and her baby, she rekindles an old romance and moves to South Africa under Apartheid. But her precarious journey to Africa's Eden is not the paradise she anticipated. Cultures smash against each other, family relationships are strained, there is death and despair, violence and injustice. But there is also humour, fun, family and friendship, as Maureen has to decide where her future lies. Is it here in Africa or back home in distant Eden, in her Australian homeland?
Dream Healer
by AdamHope is a dire need in our present world of turmoil threatened with war, fear, terrorism, and economic downturn. Adam transmits this hope. He is exceptional for his 16 years of age and wise beyond his years and has a special gift for healing. This book portrays the truth on the ultimate healing with love. Everyone, with no exceptions needs to read this book. Each person can learn a great deal from his honest messages. Adam's growth and approach are methodically portrayed and interestingly includes some scientific correlation's and analogies. I have the distinct privilege of being one of Adam's mentors, teachers and friends, so I have closely followed his development with extreme interest. Adam's life has a remarkable balance because not only has Adam become a very talented healer, but also an "A" student in his regular studies in school, and a top ranking athlete in many sports. As well, his family is most loving and supportive. Therefore, the energy that he emanates in his healing is untroubled, pure and fresh.
The Navajo And Pueblo Silversmiths (The\civilization Of The American Indian Ser. #25)
by John AdairProbably no native American handicrafts are more widely admired than Navajo weaving and Navajo and Pueblo silver work. This book contains the first full and authoritative account of the Indian silver jewelry fashioned in the Southwest by the Navajo and the Zuni, Hopi, and other Pueblo peoples. It is written by John Adair, a trained ethnologist who has become a recognized expert on this craft."A volume conspicuously pleasing in its format and so strikingly handsome in its profuse illustrations as to rivet your attention once it chances to fall open. With the care of a meticulous and thorough scholar, the author has told the story of his several years' investigation of jewelry making among the Southwestern Indians. So richly decorative are the plates he uses for his numerous illustrations showing the jewelry itself, the Indians working at it and the Indians wearing it--that the conscientious narrative is surrounded by an atmosphere of genuinely exciting visual experience."--The Dallas Times HeraldThe Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths provides a full history of the craft and the actual names and localities of the pioneer craftsmen who introduced the art of the silversmith to their people. Despite its present high stage of development, with its many subtle and often exquisite designs, the art of working silver is not an ancient one among the Navajo and Pueblo Indians. There are men still living today who remember the very first silversmiths.
Thomas Alva Edison: Inventing the Electric Age
by Gene AdairThomas Alva Edison revolutionized daily life as few people before or after him have done. The light bulb, the phonograph, the motion picture--through these and countless other technological marvels Edison left his mark on the modern world. Although he had little formal education, Edison showed a remarkable talent for practical science by the time he became a teenager. He was in his early twenties when he launched his inventing career in Boston (and later in New York City). In 1867, he established the world's first industrial research laboratory in Menlo Park, N. J. , and within six years, he and his assistants had developed a light-and-power system that amazed the world. Edison's inventions made him a millionaire, but money was always far less important to him than inventing itself. Even in his eighties, Edison stayed busy as he searched for a domestic source for rubber. When he died in 1931, the nation dimmed its lights in tribute.
Island Treasures
by Alma Flor Ada Antonio MartorellThe author of My Name Is María Isabel offers an inspiring look at her childhood in Cuba in this collection that includes Where the Flame Trees Bloom, Under the Royal Palms, five new stories, and more.These true autobiographical tales from renowned Hispanic author and educator Alma Flor Ada are filled with family love and traditions, secrets and deep friendships, and a gorgeous, moving picture of the island of Cuba, where Alma Flor grew up. Told through the eyes of a child, a whole world comes to life in these pages: the blind great-grandmother who never went to school but whose wisdom and generosity overflowed to those around her; the hired hand Samoné, whose love for music overcame all difficulties; the beloved dance teacher who helped sustain young Alma Flor through a miserable year in school; her dear and daring Uncle Medardo, who bravely flew airplanes; and more. Heartwarming, poignant, and often humorous, this wonderful collection encourages readers to discover the stories in their own lives--and to celebrate the joys and struggles we all share, no matter where or when we grew up. Featuring the classic and award-winning books Where the Flame Trees Bloom and Under the Royal Palms, Island Treasures also includes a new collection, Days at La Quinta Simoni, many new family photographs, and a Spanish-to-English glossary.
Under the Royal Palms: A Childhood in Cuba
by Alma Flor AdaThe author recalls her life and impressions growing up in Cuba.<P><P> Winner of the Pura Belpre Medal
Descartes's Secret Notebook: A True Tale of Mathematics, Mysticism , and the Quest to Understand the Universe
by Amir D. AczelRené Descartes (1596–1650) is one of the towering and central figures in Western philosophy and mathematics. His apothegm “Cogito, ergo sum” marked the birth of the mind-body problem, while his creation of so-called Cartesian coordinates have made our physical and intellectual conquest of physical space possible. But Descartes had a mysterious and mystical side, as well. Almost certainly a member of the occult brotherhood of the Rosicrucians, he kept a secret notebook, now lost, most of which was written in code. After Descartes’s death, Gottfried Leibniz, inventor of calculus and one of the greatest mathematicians in history, moved to Paris in search of this notebook—and eventually found it in the possession of Claude Clerselier, a friend of Descartes. Leibniz called on Clerselier and was allowed to copy only a couple of pages—which, though written in code, he amazingly deciphered there on the spot. Leibniz’s hastily scribbled notes are all we have today of Descartes’s notebook, which has disappeared. Why did Descartes keep a secret notebook, and what were its contents? The answers to these questions lead Amir Aczel and the reader on an exciting, swashbuckling journey, and offer a fascinating look at one of the great figures of Western culture.
The Mystery of the Aleph
by Amir D. AczelThe history of infinity emphasizing the people who were interested in the concept. Stresses philosophical and religious importance of mathematical ideas throughout history. Fascinating even if math is not your strong suit.
Pendulum
by Amir D. AczelHe was neither a mathematician nor a trained physicist and yet Léon Foucault always knew that a mysterious force of nature was among us. Like Newton, Galileo, Copernicus, and others before him, Foucault sensed a dramatic relationship between the rotating skies above and the seemingly motionless ground beneath our feet. But it wasn't until 1851 -- in Paris, inside the Panthéon, and in the company of fellow amateur scientist Napoleon III -- that Foucault swung a pendulum and demonstrated an extraordinary truth about the world: that it turns on its axis. Pendulum is a fascinating journey through the mind and findings of one of the most important and lesser-known characters in the history of science. Through careful research and lively anecdotes, world-renowned author Amir D. Aczel reveals the astonishing range and breadth of Foucault's discoveries. For, in addition to offering the first unequivocal proof of Earth's rotation, Foucault gave us the modern electric compass and microscope, was a pioneer in photographic technology, and made remarkable deductions about color theory, heat waves, and the speed of light. At its heart, Pendulum is a story about the illustrious period in France during the Second Empire; the crucial triumph of science over religion; and, most compelling, the life of a struggling, self-made man whose pursuit of knowledge continues to inform our notions about the universe today.
A Strange Wilderness: The Lives of the Great Mathematicians
by Amir D. AczelThe international bestselling author of Fermat&’s Last Theorem explores the eccentric lives of history&’s foremost mathematicians. From Archimedes&’s eureka moment to Alexander Grothendieck&’s seclusion in the Pyrenees, bestselling author Amir Aczel selects the most compelling stories in the history of mathematics, creating a colorful narrative that explores the quirky personalities behind some of the most groundbreaking, influential, and enduring theorems. Alongside revolutionary innovations are incredible tales of duels, battlefield heroism, flamboyant arrogance, pranks, secret societies, imprisonment, feuds, and theft—as well as some costly errors of judgment that prove genius doesn&’t equal street smarts. Aczel&’s colorful and enlightening profiles offer readers a newfound appreciation for the tenacity, complexity, eccentricity, and brilliance of our greatest mathematicians.
The Artist and the Mathematician
by Amir AczelNicolas Bourbaki, whose mathematical publications began to appear in the late 1930s and continued to be published through most of the twentieth century, was a direct product as well as a major force behind an important revolution that took place in the early decades of the twentieth century that completely changed Western culture. Pure mathematics, the area of Bourbaki's work, seems on the surface to be an abstract field of human study with no direct connection with the real world. In reality, however, it is closely intertwined with the general culture that surrounds it. Major developments in mathematics have often followed important trends in popular culture; developments in mathematics have acted as harbingers of change in the surrounding human culture. The seeds of change, the beginnings of the revolution that swept the Western world in the early decades of the twentieth century -- both in mathematics and in other areas -- were sown late in the previous century. This is the story both of Bourbaki and the world that created him in that time. It is the story of an elaborate intellectual joke -- because Bourbaki, one of the foremost mathematicians of his day -- never existed.
Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo (Vintage International)
by Oscar Zeta AcostaBefore his mysterious disappearance and probable death in 1971, Oscar Zeta Acosta was famous as a Robin Hood Chicano layer and notorious as the real-life model for Hunter S. Thompson's "Dr. Gonzo," a fat, pugnacious attorney with a gargantuan appetite for food, drugs, and life on the edge. Written with uninhibited candor and manic energy, this book is Acosta's own account of coming of age as a Chicano in the psychedelic sixties, of taking on impossible cases while breaking all the rules of courtroom conduct, and of scrambling headlong in search of a personal and cultural identity.
The Revolt of the Cockroach People
by Oscar Zeta AcostaThe further adventures of "Dr. Gonzo" as he defends the "cucarachas" -- the Chicanos of East Los Angeles. Before his mysterious disappearance and probable death in 1971, Oscar Zeta Acosta was famous as a Robin Hood Chicano lawyer and notorious as the real-life model for Hunter S. Thompson's "Dr. Gonzo" a fat, pugnacious attorney with a gargantuan appetite for food, drugs, and life on the edge. In this exhilarating sequel to The Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo, Acosta takes us behind the front lines of the militant Chicano movement of the late sixties and early seventies, a movement he served both in the courtroom and on the barricades. Here are the brazen games of "chicken" Acosta played against the Anglo legal establishment; battles fought with bombs as well as writs; and a reluctant hero who faces danger not only from the police but from the vatos locos he champions. What emerges is at once an important political document of a genuine popular uprising and a revealing, hilarious, and moving personal saga.
Cubano Be, Cubano Bop: One Hundred Years of Jazz in Cuba
by Leonardo Acosta Daniel Whitesell Paquito D'RiveraBased on unprecedented research in Cuba, the direct testimony of scores of Cuban musicians, and the author's unique experience as a prominent jazz musician, Cubano Be, Cubano Bop is destined to take its place among the classics of jazz history. The work pays tribute not only to a distinguished lineage of Cuban jazz musicians and composers, but also to the rich musical exchanges between Cuban and American jazz throughout the twentieth century.The work begins with the first encounters between Cuban music and jazz around the turn of the last century. Acosta writes about the presence of Cuban musicians in New Orleans and the "Spanish tinge" in early jazz from the city, the formation and spread of the first jazz ensembles in Cuba, the big bands of the thirties, and the inception of "Latin jazz." He explores the evolution of Bebop, Feeling, and Mambo in the forties, leading to the explosion of Cubop or Afro-Cuban jazz and the innovations of the legendary musicians and composers Machito, Mario Bauzá, Dizzy Gillespie, and Chano Pozo. The work concludes with a new generation of Cuban jazz artists, including the Grammy award-winning musicians and composers Chucho Valdés and Paquito D'Rivera.
The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America
by Jim AcostaFrom CNN’s veteran Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta, an explosive, first-hand account of the dangers he faces reporting on the current White House while fighting on the front lines in President Trump’s war on truth. In Mr. Trump’s campaign against what he calls “Fake News,” CNN Chief White House Correspondent, Jim Acosta, is public enemy number one. <P><P>From the moment Mr. Trump announced his candidacy in 2015, he has attacked the media, calling journalists “the enemy of the people.” Acosta presents a revealing examination of bureaucratic dysfunction, deception, and the unprecedented threat the rhetoric Mr. Trump is directing has on our democracy. When the leader of the free world incites hate and violence, Acosta doesn’t back down, and he urges his fellow citizens to do the same. <P><P>At CNN, Acosta offers a never-before-reported account of what it’s like to be the President’s least favorite correspondent. Acosta goes head-to-head with the White House, even after Trump supporters have threatened his life with words as well as physical violence. From the hazy denials and accusations meant to discredit the Mueller investigation, to the president’s scurrilous tweets, Jim Acosta is in the eye of the storm while reporting live to millions of people across the world. <P><P>After spending hundreds of hours with the revolving door of White House personnel, Acosta paints portraits of the personalities of Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, Sean Spicer, Hope Hicks, Jared Kushner and more. Acosta is tenacious and unyielding in his public battle to preserve the First Amendment and #RealNews. <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America
by Jim AcostaA New York Times bestseller.From CNN’s veteran Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta, an explosive, first-hand account of the dangers he faces reporting on the current White House while fighting on the front lines in President Trump’s war on truth, featuring new material exclusive to the paperback edition. In Mr. Trump’s campaign against what he calls “Fake News,” CNN Chief White House Correspondent, Jim Acosta, is public enemy number one. From the moment Mr. Trump announced his candidacy in 2015, he has attacked the media, calling journalists “the enemy of the people.”Acosta presents a damning examination of bureaucratic dysfunction, deception, and the unprecedented threat the rhetoric Mr. Trump is directing has on our democracy. When the leader of the free world incites hate and violence, Acosta doesn’t back down, and he urges his fellow citizens to do the same.At Mr. Trump’s most hated network, CNN, Acosta offers a never-before-reported account of what it’s like to be the President’s most hated correspondent. Acosta goes head-to-head with the White House, even after Trump supporters have threatened his life with words as well as physical violence.From the hazy denials and accusations meant to discredit the Mueller investigation, to the president’s scurrilous tweets, Jim Acosta is in the eye of the storm while reporting live to millions of people across the world. After spending hundreds of hours with the revolving door of White House personnel, Acosta paints portraits of the personalities of Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, Sean Spicer, Hope Hicks, Jared Kushner and more. Acosta is tenacious and unyielding in his public battle to preserve the First Amendment and #RealNews.
The Enemy of the People \ El enemigo del pueblo (Spanis edition): Una época peligrosa para contar la verdad en América
by Jim AcostaDel veterano corresponsal de la Casa Blanca de la CNN, Jim Acosta, un explosivo relato de primera mano sobre los peligros que enfrenta al informar sobre la actual Casa Blanca mientras se encontraba en la primera línea de una Guerra con el presidente Trump por contar la verdad.En la campaña de Trump contra lo que él presidente llama "Noticias falsas", el corresponsal principal de la CNN en la Casa Blanca, Jim Acosta, es el enemigo público número uno. Desde el momento en que el Sr. Trump anunció su candidatura en 2015, ha atacado a los medios de comunicación y ha llamado a los periodistas "el enemigo del pueblo".Acosta presenta un examen condenatorio de la disfunción burocrática, el engaño y la amenaza sin precedentes que la retórica que dirige el señor Trump en nuestra democracia. Cuando el líder del mundo libre incita al odio y la violencia, Acosta no retrocede y exhorta a sus conciudadanos a hacer lo mismo. En el canal de televisión más odiado por el Sr. Trump, CNN, Acosta ofrece un informe nunca narrado de lo que es ser el corresponsal más odiado del presidente. Acosta se enfrenta con la Casa Blanca, incluso después de que los partidarios de Trump hayan amenazado su vida con palabras y con violencia física. Desde los nebulosos rechazos y acusaciones que pretenden desacreditar la investigación de Mueller hasta los escandalosos tuits del presidente, Jim Acosta está en el ojo de la tormenta mientras informa a millones de personas en todo el mundo. Después de pasar cientos de horas en suspenso con el personal de la Casa Blanca, Acosta pinta retratos de las personalidades de Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, Sean Spicer, Hope Hicks, Jared Kushner y más. Acosta es tenaz e inflexible en su batalla pública para preservar la Primera Enmienda y lo que él llama #RealNews (#noticiasreales).
Plata como cancha: Secretos, impunidad y fortuna de César Acuña
by Christopher AcostaUna exhaustiva investigación periodística que revelan secretos, impunidad y fortuna del político peruano César Acuña Este no es un perfil oficial ni una biografía autorizada. Es más bien la exposición de un proceder, de una conducta. El periodista Christopher Acosta Alfaro escarba en la narrativa que el actual candidato a la presidencia del Perú, César Acuña, ha urdido durante años tanto política como comercialmente. Y demuestra que solo su fortuna ha sido capaz de crear un sistema que compensa atropellos y silencia agraviados. Valiéndose de una exhaustiva investigación que incluye expedientes judiciales y fiscales, resoluciones gubernamentales, informes de inteligencia, acuerdos confidenciales, así como un amplio acceso al círculo más íntimo del político y empresario, el autor de Plata como cancha saca a la luz las piezas de un rompecabezas donde el poder y el dinero se solapan entre sí, en las historias que se cuentan aquí por primera vez. «Si César Acuña no fuera rico —señala Acosta Alfaro en estas páginas—, estaría, muy probablemente, preso».
Presidentes por accidente: Castillo y Boluarte. Corrupción, golpe y suerte
by Christopher AcostaEL MEJOR PERIODISTA DE INVESTIGACIÓN TRAS LA HUELLA DEL ACCIDENTE QUE LLEVÓ A PEDRO CASTILLO Y DINA BOLUARTE A LA PRESIDENCIA Si a Pedro Castillo lo conocíamos poco, a Dina Boluarte, menos. ¿Quién es la mujer que, tras un fallido golpe de Estado, asume el poder del país? ¿Quién el hombre que intenta retenerlo, convencido de una traición de quien lo sucede? Presidentes por accidente, la nueva investigación periodística de Christopher Acosta -autor del bestseller Plata como cancha-, nos revela detalles hasta ahora desconocidos, no solo de las biografías y las personalidades de Castillo y Boluarte, sino de cómo estas explican las controvertidas decisiones que adoptaron tras colocarse la banda presidencial. Boluarte llega a la presidencia ahorrándose aquello que más temen los candidatos de una campaña electoral: el escrutinio de sus actos públicos y sus vidas privadas. Este libro llena ese vacío. Acorralado por las investigaciones en su contra, Castillo cierra su paso por el Gobierno con un número temerario y espectacular: el de un clavadista que se lanza a una piscina que sabe sin agua. Pero ¿son en verdad ambos personajes tan diferentes como se presentan? Estas páginas delinean el doble perfil de nuestros dos últimos presidentes, pero son también una apasionante crónica política colmada de intrigas, traiciones y corrupción. Una historia que demuestra que para Castillo y Boluarte la presidencia es algo que les sucede: un acontecimiento en sus vidas.
No Way Home: A Dancer's Journey from the Streets of Havana to the Stages of the World
by Carlos AcostaCarlos Acosta, the Cuban dancer considered to be one of the world's greatest performers, fearlessly depicts his journey from adolescent troublemaker to international superstar in his captivating memoir, No Way Home.Carlos was just another kid from the slums of Havana; the youngest son of a truck driver and a housewife, he ditched school with his friends and dreamed of becoming Cuba's best soccer player. Exasperated by his son's delinquent behavior, Carlos's father enrolled him in ballet school, subjecting him to grueling days that started at five thirty in the morning and ended long after sunset. The path from student to star was not an easy one. Even as he won dance competitions and wowed critics around the world, Carlos was homesick for Cuba, crippled by loneliness and self-doubt. As he traveled the world, Carlos struggled to overcome popular stereotypes and misconceptions; to maintain a relationship with his family; and, most of all, to find a place he could call home. This impassioned memoir is about more than Carlos's rise to stardom. It is about a young man forced to leave his homeland and loved ones for a life of self-discipline, displacement, and physical hardship. It is also about how the heart and soul of a country can touch the heart and soul of one of its citizens. With candor and humor, Carlos vividly depicts daily life in communist Cuba, his feelings about ballet -- an art form he both lovesand hates -- and his complex relationship with his father. Carlos Acosta makes dance look effortless, but the grace, strength, and charisma we see onstage have come at a cost. Here, in his own words, is the story of the price he paid.
Dance to the Piper
by Joan Acocella Agnes De MilleBorn into a family of successful playwrights and producers, Agnes de Mille was determined to be an actress. Then one day she witnessed the Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova, and her life was altered forever. Hypnotized by Pavlova's beauty, in that moment de Mille dedicated herself to dance. Her memoir records with lighthearted humor and wisdom not only the difficulties she faced--the resistance of her parents, the sacrifices of her training--but also the frontier atmosphere of early Hollywood and New York and London during the Depression. "This is the story of an American dancer," writes de Mille, "a spoiled egocentric wealthy girl, who learned with difficulty to become a worker, to set and meet standards, to brace a Victorian sensibility to contemporary roughhousing, and who, with happy good fortune, participated by the side of great colleagues in a renaissance of the most ancient and magical of all the arts."
Twenty-eight Artists and Two Saints
by Joan AcocellaHere is a dazzling collection from Joan Acocella, one of our most admired cultural critics: thirty-one essays that consider the life and work of some of the most influential artists of our time (and two saints: Joan of Arc and Mary Magdalene). Acocella writes about Primo Levi, Holocaust survivor and chemist, who wrote the classic memoir,Survival in Auschwitz; M. F. K. Fisher who, numb with grief over her husband’s suicide, dictated the witty and classicHow to Cook a Wolf; and many other subjects, including Dorothy Parker, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Saul Bellow. Twenty-Eight Artists and Two Saintsis indispensable reading on the making of art—and the courage, perseverance, and, sometimes, dumb luck that it requires.
Alfred Hitchcock
by Peter AckroydA gripping short biography of the extraordinary Alfred Hitchock, the master of suspense. Alfred Hitchcock was a strange child. Fat, lonely, burning with fear and ambition, his childhood was an isolated one, scented with fish from his father's shop. Afraid to leave his bedroom, he would plan great voyages, using railway timetables to plot an exact imaginary route across Europe. So how did this fearful figure become the one of the most respected film directors of the twentieth century? As an adult, Hitch rigorously controlled the press's portrait of him, drawing certain carefully selected childhood anecdotes into full focus and blurring all others out. In this quick-witted portrait, Ackroyd reveals something more: a lugubriously jolly man fond of practical jokes, who smashes a once-used tea cup every morning to remind himself of the frailty of life. Iconic film stars make cameo appearances, just as Hitch did in his own films: Grace Kelly, Cary Grant, and James Stewart despair of his detached directing style and, perhaps most famously of all, Tippi Hedren endures cuts and bruises from a real-life fearsome flock of birds. Alfred Hitchcock wrests the director's chair back from the master of control and discovers what lurks just out of sight, in the corner of the shot.
A Brief Guide to William Shakespeare (Brief Histories)
by Peter AckroydAn accessible and entertaining journey through the life, times, and work of the Bard - Enigma. Master of language. The greatest comedian in history? The most famous writer in the world. But isn't he a little bit boring? This is an essential guide for anyone who has previously avoided the Bard, and is the perfect introduction for first time students or seasoned theatre lovers. The book contains a full commentary of all the plays by bestselling and reknowned writer Peter Ackroyd as well as full descriptions of the cast and the drama; not forgetting the best speeches, and the wit and wisdom from across the works. There is also an opportunity to explore the poems and a complete set of sonnets, as well as an investigation of who the dark lady might have been.Contains:The complete sonnets; the greatest speeches; the best lines.Perfect for students struggling through their first play or for theatre lovers anywhere.Entertaining, accessible, Shakespeare without the boring bits.