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Knocked Up
by Rebecca EcklerRebecca Eckler is a popular newspaper columnist who lives the fabulous life and gets paid to write about it. So when a tipsy romp with her fiancé on the night of their lavish engagement party leaves her unexpectedly expecting, she is utterly at a loss. How will a woman who loves nothing more than a night out on the town sipping cocktails with her fellow party girls survive the pregnant life? Knocked Up is the witty, engaging and refreshingly frank chronicle of a modern woman’s journey into motherhood. We follow Eckler from the first trimester (a. k. a. the longest three months of her life), through the “fat months” of the second trimester, on to the “even fatter months” of the third. Flipping the pages of this Bridget-Jones-style diary, we share in Eckler’s discovery of prenatal vitamins and nursing bras, ultrasounds and obstetricians. And we experience her growing horror at the physical symptoms of pregnancy: all-day “morning” sickness, fatigue, varicose veins, and cravings. And the weight gain, oh the weight gain. Who knew the day would come when she could no longer put on her own socks? Along for the ride is a cast of characters as comical as any met in fiction. There’s the Sexy Young Intern, a Sophia Loren look-a-like with her skinny eyes set on Eckler’s job; the glamorous friends who continue to drink Manhattans, while Eckler sips Perrier; and the Cute Single Man who knows just when she needs a carton of ice cream or a game of Scrabble. And then there’s the fiancé, living in another city, who, thanks to the miracle of long-distance phone lines, appreciates better than anybody the highs and lows of the hormonal rollercoaster pregnant Eckler is on. Lighthearted, intimate, and very funny, Knocked Up is the diary of a modern mother-to-be determined not to let pregnancy and motherhood change her life. Not. One. Little. Bit.
Knockin' on Wood
by Lynne BaraschThis biography tells the story of Clayton "Peg Leg" Bates (1907-1998), an African American who overcame the hardship of losing a leg at the age of 12 in a factory accident and went on to become a world-renowned tap dancer.
Knocking at the Open Door: My Years with J. Krishnamurti
by R. E. LeeAn insightful, revelatory and heartfelt narrative that bring out various unknown facets of the ‘world teacher’– J. Krishnamurti – and highlights his distinctive vision for education worldwide… This volume presents an eyewitness account of the practical and everyday relations of the Mark Lee with Krishnamurti (1895–1986) who was a prolific author as well as a renowned and respected educator, and speaker. Such relations reveal warmth and closeness, leading to a deep understanding of some of the unexplained mysteries surrounding the man and his teachings. Mark Lee was first introduced to Krishnamurti’s teachings as a teenager in 1955 and to Krishnamurti himself in 1965. For the next 45 years he worked in the Krishnamurti foundations as teacher, principal, director, and trustee in succession. It was Krishnamurti’s compelling and engaging admonition to ‘be a light unto yourself’ that kept Lee associated with the work of the foundations — a serious challenge — that called for inner discipline, austerity in thinking and living, and rigorous self-awareness. Krishnamurti was associated with several schools in India, England, and the USA from the late 1920s onwards. Five nonprofit foundations were established by him and continue to preserve and disseminate his teachings globally. For students of Krishnamurti’s teachings, Lee’s experiences can serve an informative and useful source of further learning and education. E39
Knocking Myself Up: A Memoir of My (In)Fertility
by Michelle TeaFrom PEN/America Award winner, 2021 Guggenheim fellow, and beloved literary and tarot icon Michelle Tea, the hilarious, powerfully written, taboo-breaking story of her journey to pregnancy and motherhood as a 40 year-old, queer, uninsured womanWritten in intimate, gleefully TMI prose, Knocking Myself Up is the irreverent account of Tea’s route to parenthood—with a group of ride-or-die friends, a generous drag queen, and a whole lot of can-do pluck. Along the way she falls in love with a wholesome genderqueer a decade her junior, attempts biohacking herself a baby with black market fertility meds (and magicking herself an offspring with witch-enchanted honey), learns her eggs are busted, and enters the Fertility Industrial Complex in order to carry her younger lover’s baby.With the signature sharp wit and wild heart that have made her a favorite to so many readers, Tea guides us through the maze of medical procedures, frustrations and astonishments on the path to getting pregnant, wryly critiquing some of the systems that facilitate that choice (“a great, punk, daredevil thing to do”). In Knocking Myself Up, Tea has crafted a deeply entertaining and profound memoir, a testament to the power of love and family-making, however complex our lives may be, to transform and enrich us.
Knocking on Heaven's Door: The Path to a Better Way of Death
by Katy ButlerAn exquisitely written, expertly reported memoir and exposé of modern medicine that leads the way to more humane, less invasive end-of-life care--based on the author's acclaimed New York Times Magazine piece. This is the story of one daughter's struggle to allow her parents the peaceful, natural deaths they wanted--and to investigate the larger forces in medicine that stood in the way. When doctors refused to disable the pacemaker that caused her eighty-four-year-old father's heart to outlive his brain, Katy Butler, an award-winning science writer, embarked on a quest to understand why modern medicine was depriving him of a humane, timely death. After his lingering death, Katy's mother, nearly broken by years of nonstop caregiving, defied her doctors, refused open-heart surgery, and insisted on facing death the old-fashioned way: bravely, lucidly, and head on. Against this backdrop of familial love, wrenching moral choices, and redemption, Knocking on Heaven's Door celebrates the inventors of the 1950s who cobbled together lifesaving machines like the pacemaker--and it exposes the tangled marriage of technology, medicine, and commerce that gave us a modern way of death: more painful, expensive, and prolonged than ever before. Caring for declining parents is a reality facing millions who may someday tell a doctor: "Let my parent go." A riveting exploration of the forgotten art of dying, Knocking on Heaven's Door empowers readers to create new rites of passage to the "Good Deaths" our ancestors so prized. Like Jessica Mitford's The American Way of Death and How We Die by Sherwin Nuland, it is sure to cause controversy and open minds.
Knossos and the Prophets of Modernism
by Cathy GereIn the spring of 1900, British archaeologist Arthur Evans began to excavate the palace of Knossos on Crete, bringing ancient Greek legends to life just as a new century dawned amid far-reaching questions about human history, art, and culture. Over the next three decades, Evans engaged in an unprecedented reconstruction project, creating a complex of concrete buildings on the site that owed at least as much to modernist architecture as they did to Bronze Age remains. In the process, he fired the imaginations of a whole generation of intellectuals and artists, whose work would drive movements as disparate as fascism and pacifism, feminism and psychoanalysis. With Knossos and the Prophets of Modernism, Cathy Gere relates the fascinating story of Evans's excavation and its long-term effects on Western culture. Gere shows how Evans's often-fanciful account of ancient Minoan society captivated a generation riven by serious doubts about the fundamental values of European civilization. After the First World War left the Enlightenment dream in tatters, the lost paradise that Evans offered in the concrete labyrinth--pacifist and matriarchal, pagan and cosmic--seemed to offer a new way forward for writers, artists, and thinkers such as Freud, James Joyce, Georgio de Chirico, Robert Graves, Hilda Doolittle, all of whom emerge as forceful characters in Gere's account. Assembling a brilliant, talented, and eccentric cast at a moment of tremendous intellectual vitality and wrenching change, Cathy Gere paints an unforgettable portrait of the age of concrete and the birth of modernism.
Knots in My Yo-Yo String
by Jerry Spinelli"A master of those embarrassing, gloppy, painful, and suddenly wonderful things that happen on the razor's edge between childhood and full-fledged adolescence" (The Washington Post), Newbery medalist Jerry Spinelli has penned his early autobiography with all the warmth, humor, and drama of his best-selling fiction. From first memories through high school, including first kiss, first punch, first trip to the principal's office, and first humiliating sports experience, this is not merely an account of a highly unusual childhood. Rather, like Spinelli's fiction, its appeal lies in the accessibility and universality of his life. Entertaining and fast-paced, this is a highly readable memoir-- a must-have for Spinelli fans of all ages.From the Trade Paperback edition.
The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World
by A. J. JacobsPart memoir and part education (or lack thereof),The Know-It-All chronicles NPR contributor A. J. Jacobs's hilarious, enlightening, and seemingly impossible quest to read the Encyclopaedia Britannica from A to Z. To fill the ever-widening gaps in his Ivy League education, A. J. Jacobs sets for himself the daunting task of reading all thirty-two volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. His wife, Julie, tells him it's a waste of time, his friends believe he is losing his mind, and his father, a brilliant attorney who had once attempted the same feat and quit somewhere around Borneo, is encouraging but unconvinced. With self-deprecating wit and a disarming frankness,The Know-It-All recounts the unexpected and comically disruptive effects Operation Encyclopedia has on every part of Jacobs's life -- from his newly minted marriage to his complicated relationship with his father and the rest of his charmingly eccentric New York family to his day job as an editor atEsquire. Jacobs's project tests the outer limits of his stamina and forces him to explore the real meaning of intelligence as he endeavors to join Mensa, win a spot on Jeopardy!, and absorb 33,000 pages of learning. On his journey he stumbles upon some of the strangest, funniest, and most profound facts about every topic under the sun, all while battling fatigue, ridicule, and the paralyzing fear that attends his first real-life responsibility -- the impending birth of his first child. The Know-It-All is an ingenious, mightily entertaining memoir of one man's intellect, neuroses, and obsessions, and a struggle between the all-consuming quest for factual knowledge and the undeniable gift of hard-won wisdom.
The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World
by A. J. Jacobs33,000 pages 44 million words 10 billion years of history 1 obsessed man Part memoir and part education (or lack thereof), The Know-It-All chronicles NPR contributor A.J. Jacobs's hilarious, enlightening, and seemingly impossible quest to read the Encyclopaedia Britannica from A to Z. To fill the ever-widening gaps in his Ivy League education, A.J. Jacobs sets for himself the daunting task of reading all thirty-two volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. His wife, Julie, tells him it's a waste of time, his friends believe he is losing his mind, and his father, a brilliant attorney who had once attempted the same feat and quit somewhere around Borneo, is encouraging but, shall we say, unconvinced. With self-deprecating wit and a disarming frankness, The Know-It-All recounts the unexpected and comically disruptive effects Operation Encyclopedia has on every part of Jacobs's life -- from his newly minted marriage to his complicated relationship with his father and the rest of his charmingly eccentric New York family to his day job as an editor at Esquire. Jacobs's project tests the outer limits of his stamina and forces him to explore the real meaning of intelligence as he endeavors to join Mensa, win a spot on Jeopardy!, and absorb 33,000 pages of learning. On his journey he stumbles upon some of the strangest, funniest, and most profound facts about every topic under the sun, all while battling fatigue, ridicule, and the paralyzing fear that attends his first real-life responsibility -- the impending birth of his first child. The Know-It-All is an ingenious, mightily entertaining memoir of one man's intellect, neuroses, and obsessions and a soul-searching, ultimately touching struggle between the all-consuming quest for factual knowledge and the undeniable gift of hard-won wisdom.
The Know-It-Alls: The Rise of Silicon Valley as a Political Powerhouse and Social Wrecking Ball
by Noam CohenThe world&’s tech giants are at the centre of controversies over fake news, free speech and hate speech on platforms where influence is bought and sold. Yet, at the outset, almost everyone thought the internet would be a positive, democratic force, a space where knowledge could be freely shared to enable everyone to make better-informed decisions. How did it all go so wrong? Noam Cohen reports on the tech libertarians of Silicon Valley, from the self-proclaimed geniuses Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman and Mark Zuckerberg to the early pioneers at Stanford University, who have not only made the internet what it is today but reshaped society in the process. It is the story of how the greed, bias and prejudice of one neighbourhood is fracturing the Western world.
Know My Name: A Memoir
by Chanel Miller<P><P>The riveting, powerful memoir of the woman whose statement to Brock Turner gave voice to millions of survivors <P><P>She was known to the world as Emily Doe when she stunned millions with a letter. Brock Turner had been sentenced to just six months in county jail after he was found sexually assaulting her on Stanford's campus. <P><P>Her victim impact statement was posted on BuzzFeed, where it instantly went viral--viewed by eleven million people within four days, it was translated globally and read on the floor of Congress; it inspired changes in California law and the recall of the judge in the case. Thousands wrote to say that she had given them the courage to share their own experiences of assault for the first time. <P><P>Now she reclaims her identity to tell her story of trauma, transcendence, and the power of words. It was the perfect case, in many ways--there were eyewitnesses, Turner ran away, physical evidence was immediately secured. But her struggles with isolation and shame during the aftermath and the trial reveal the oppression victims face in even the best-case scenarios. <P><P>Her story illuminates a culture biased to protect perpetrators, indicts a criminal justice system designed to fail the most vulnerable, and, ultimately, shines with the courage required to move through suffering and live a full and beautiful life. <P><P>Know My Name will forever transform the way we think about sexual assault, challenging our beliefs about what is acceptable and speaking truth to the tumultuous reality of healing. It also introduces readers to an extraordinary writer, one whose words have already changed our world. Entwining pain, resilience, and humor, this memoir will stand as a modern classic. <P><P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
Know the Night
by Maria MutchAn unforgettable memoir on the experience of isolation and the miraculous power of human connection. As a baby, Gabriel's first words and affinity for sign language enthralled his adoring parents. When these words fell away, and his medical diagnoses multiplied, Maria Mutch committed herself entirely to her son's care. Then, for about two years, Gabe slept very little, drawing mother and son into a nocturnal existence of almost constant wakefulness. In breathtaking prose, Maria shares the intensely personal challenges and revelations brought about by this period. As Gabe's sleeping hours dwindled, care took place within an isolated, often frightening world, in which Maria's desire for connection and meaning expanded. She became fascinated with stories of Antarctic exploration, and found a companion in Admiral Richard E. Byrd, an explorer who lived by himself in the polar darkness for months in 1934 and later wrote about his struggle for survival in a book called Alone. Reimagining Byrd's story and interweaving it with her own, Maria illuminates a search for love, understanding and comfort against the terrors of the unknown that will resonate with anyone who has lain awake in the dark, or longed to protect a loved one. Know the Night is a powerful journey into the mysteries of nighttime and the human mind, and a testament to the extraordinary bond between mother and child.
Know We Are Here: Voices of Native California Resistance
by Terria SmithAn essential look at the ways California’s Native nations are resisting colonialism today, from education reform to protests against environmental injustice and beyond.Collecting over twenty-five essays written by more than twenty California Indian authors, Know We Are Here surveys many of the ways California’s Indigenous communities are resisting the legacies of genocide. Focusing on the particular histories, challenges, and dynamics of life in Native California—which are often very different from elsewhere in the United States—the book collects essays from writers across the state. It encompasses the perspectives of both elders and the rising generation, and the contributors include activists, academics, students, memoirists, and tribal leaders. The collection examines histories of resistance to colonialism in California, the reclaiming of cultures and languages, the connection of place and nature to wellness in tribal communities, efforts to overhaul the racist presentation of California Indians in classrooms and popular culture, and the meanings of solidarity in Native California. Unifying the book is an introduction by Terria Smith (Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians), editor of the renowned and long-running magazine News from Native California. This book is an indispensable resource for California Indian readers, educators of all levels in California, and students in Native studies courses nationally.
Know What I Mean? Reflections on Hip-hop
by Michael Eric DysonWhether along race, class or generational lines, hip-hop music has been a source of controversy since the beats got too big and the voices too loud for the block parties that spawned them. America has condemned and commended this music and the culture that inspires it. Dubbed "the Hip-Hop Intellectual" by critics and fans for his pioneering explorations of rap music in the academy and beyond, Michael Eric Dyson is uniquely situated to probe the most compelling and controversial dimensions of hip-hop culture. Know What I Mean?addresses salient issues within hip hop: the creative expression of degraded youth that has garnered them global exposure; the vexed gender relations that have made rap music a lightning rod for pundits; the commercial explosion that has made an art form a victim of its success; the political elements that have been submerged in the most popular form of hip hop; and the intellectual engagement with some of hip hop's most influential figures. In spite of changing trends, both in the music industry and among the intelligentsia, Dyson has always supported and interpreted this art that bloomed unwatered, and in many cases, unwanted from our inner cities. For those who wondered what all the fuss is about in hip hop, Dyson's bracing and brilliant book breaks it all down.
Know Your Place
by Faiza ShaheenThe chance of Cameron and Johnson going to Oxford and becoming MPs was one in 10,000, whereas it was close to one in 10 million for me - 10 times more unlikely than getting struck by lightning. Why should anyone have to work 1,000 times harder to do the same thing as anyone else? And why would we set society up to work this way? Dr Faiza Shaheen is a self-confessed stats geek and social mobility success story: from a working class background, she got into Oxford and is now a leading statistician, ceo of CLASS thinktank, and a visiting professor at NYU. But when her mother died after her benefits were cut by austerity measures, she decided to embark on a career in politics. When she lost in the 2019 election to incumbent Iain Duncan Smith, Shaheen decided to reframe her story, and set her own narrative against the statistics she researches. The result is Know Your Place: how society sets us up to fail - part memoir, part polemic, this is a personal and statistical look at how society is built, the people it leaves behind, and what we can do about it. For readers of Invisible Women and Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race, this is a compelling and insightful read which will change the way we think about opportunity in Britain.
Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters
by Nancy Pelosi Amy Hill HearthWhen Nancy Pelosi became the first woman Speaker of the House, she made history. She gavelled the House to order that day on behalf of all of America's children and said, "We have made history, now let us make progress." Now she continues to inspire women everywhere in this thought-provoking collection of wise words--her own and those of the important people who played pivotal roles in her journey. In these pages, she encourages mothers and grandmothers, daughters and granddaughters to never lose faith, to speak out and make their voices heard, to focus on what matters most and follow their dreams wherever they may lead. Perhaps the Speaker says it best herself in the Preface: "I find it humbling and deeply moving when women and girls approach me, looking for insight and advice. If women can learn from me, in the same way I learned from the women who came before me, it will make the honor of being Speaker of the House even more meaningful." This is a truly special book to share with all the women you know. It is a keepsake to turn to again and again, whenever you need to be reminded that anything is possible when you know your power.
Knowing Him by Heart: African Americans on Abraham Lincoln
by Rodney O. Davis Douglas L. Wilson Michael Burlingame Richard Carwardine Edna Greene Medford James Oakes Matthew Pinsker Gerald J Prokopowicz John R Sellers Jennifer L Weber Frederick Douglass H. Ford Douglas Thomas Hamilton Robert Hamilton Jabez P Campbell Henry McNeal Turner Daniel Alexander Payne Henry Highland Garnet Philip A Bell Edward M Thomas Alfred P Smith Frances Ellen Harper George B Vashon Thomas Strother Ezra R Johnson Alexander T Cps James Smith Alexander T Augusta Jeremiah B Sanderson Osborne P Anderson Thomas Morris Chester James H Hudson John Proctor Robert Purvis Hannah Johnson Leonard A Grimes Jeremiah Asher John Willis Menard Henry African Civilization Society William Florville Henry Johnson Thomas R Street John H Morgan Mattild Burr Amos G Beman Richard H Cain Jean Baptiste Roudanez Arnold Bertonneau George E North Carolina Freedmen Don Carlos Rutter George E Stephens James W.C Pennington S. W. Africano" Annie Davis S. W. Chase Sojourner Truth Martin Delany George Washington Isaac J Hill Alexander H Newton Jacob Thomas Angeline R Demby Henry O Wagoner George W Le Vere Elizabeth Keckley Paul Trevigne Thomas N.C Liverpool H Cordelia Emmanuel K Love William S Scarborough John Mercer Langston Peter H Clark Ews Hammond Charles W Anderson Booker T Washington Harriet Tubman Julius F Taylor Ida B Wells-Barnett Paul Laurence Dunbar Elizabeth Thomas Archibald H Grimke Elizabeth Keckly William A Sinclair Jesse Max Barber Mary Church Terrell T. Thomas Fortune Reverdy C Ransom W. E. Du Bois William Monroe Trotter Maude K Griffin Hightower T Kealing Silas X Floyd George L Knox Thomas S Inborden George W Henderson William Pickens Kelly Miller Etta M. Cottin John M Gandy Fred R Moore Sylvanie F Williams Harry C Smith James H Magee James L Curtis John W. Bowen Sr Cora J Ball Thomas Nelson Baker Josephine Silone Yates James Weldon Johnson William H Lewis John H Murphy Sr Robert R Wright Sr Theophile T Allain Oliva Ward Bush-Banks Richard W Gadsden Edward A Johnson Alice Dunbar-Nelson Hubert H Harrison Carter G Woodson Robert R Moton Georgia Douglas Johnson Langston Hughes Charles Chesnutt Walter White Lamar Perkins Samuel A Haynes William E Lilly Robert L Vann William Lloyd Imes Eugene Gordon Arthur W Mitchell Grace Evans Aaron H Payne Claude McKay Roscoe Conkling Simmons Joel A Rogers Mary McLeod Bethune John Hope Franklin Ella Baker Luther Porter Jackson Willard Townsend Ralph J Bunche Roy Wilkins Mordecai W Johnson Carl J Murphy Jackie Robinson Martin Luther King Jr Thurgood Marshall Edith Sampson Benjamin Quarles St. Clair Drake Charles H Wesley Daisy Bates Julius Malcolm X Gwendolyn Brooks Julius Lester Lerone Bennett Jr Henry Lee Moon John H Sengstacke Norman E. Hodges Arvarh E. Strickland Mary Frances Berry Vincent Harding Clarence Thomas Barbara Jeanne Fields Henry Louis Gates Jr Barack ObamaThough not blind to Abraham Lincoln's imperfections, Black Americans long ago laid a heartfelt claim to his legacy. At the same time, they have consciously reshaped the sixteenth president's image for their own social and political ends. Frederick Hord and Matthew D. Norman's anthology explores the complex nature of views on Lincoln through the writings and thought of Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Mary McLeod Bethune, Thurgood Marshall, Malcolm X, Gwendolyn Brooks, Barbara Jeanne Fields, Barack Obama, and dozens of others. The selections move from speeches to letters to book excerpts, mapping the changing contours of the bond--emotional and intellectual--between Lincoln and Black Americans over the span of one hundred and fifty years. A comprehensive and valuable reader, Knowing Him by Heart examines Lincoln’s still-evolving place in Black American thought.
Knowing Jesse A Mother's Story of Grief Grace and Everyday
by Marianne LeoneJesse Cooper was an honor-roll student who loved to windsurf and write poetry. He also had severe cerebral palsy and was quadriplegic, unable to speak, and wracked by seizures. He died suddenly at age seventeen. In fiercely honest, surprisingly funny, and sometimes heartbreaking prose, Jesse’s mother, Marianne Leone, chronicles her transformation by the remarkable life and untimely death of her child. An unforgettable memoir of joy, grief, and triumph, Knowing Jesse unlocks the secret of unconditional love and speaks to all families who strive to do right by their children.
Knowing Mandela: A Personal Portrait
by John CarlinEqual parts freedom fighter and statesman, Nelson Mandela bestrode the world stage for the past three decades, building a legacy that places him in the pantheon of history's most exemplary leaders.As a foreign correspondent based in South Africa, author John Carlin had unique access to Mandela during the post-apartheid years when Mandela faced his most daunting obstacles and achieved his greatest triumphs. Carlin witnessed history as Mandela was released from prison after twenty-seven years and ultimately ascended to the presidency of his strife-torn country.Drawing on exclusive conversations with Mandela and countless interviews with people who were close to him, Carlin has crafted an account of a man who was neither saint nor superman. Mandela's seismic political victories were won at the cost of much personal unhappiness and disappointment.Knowing Mandela offers an intimate understanding of one of the most towering and remarkable figures of our age.
Knowing the Score: My Family and Our Tennis Story
by Judy MurrayThe Sunday Times bestsellerJudy Murray provides the ultimate insight into life with her tennis champion sons Andy and Jamie.What happens when you find you have exceptional children? Do you panic? Put your head in the sand? Or risk everything and jump in head first?As mother to tennis champions Jamie and Andy Murray, Scottish National Coach, coach of the Fed Cup, and general all-round can-do woman of wonder, Judy Murray is the ultimate role model for believing in yourself and reaching out to ambition. As a parent, coach, leader, she is an inspiration who has revolutionised British tennis. From the soggy community courts of Dunblane to the white heat of Centre Court at Wimbledon, Judy Murray’s extraordinary memoir charts the challenges she has faced, from desperate finances and growing pains to entrenched sexism.We all need a story of ‘yes we can’ to make us believe great things are possible. This is that story. Longlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award ‘Quite simply, she is inspirational, passionate and great fun’ Observer
Knowing When to Stop: A Memoir
by Ned RoremA thrilling, poignant, and bold memoir of the early years and accomplishments--both musical and sexual--of renowned contemporary composer Ned Rorem<P> Ned Rorem, arguably the greatest composer of art songs that America has produced in more than a hundred years, is also revered as a diarist and essayist whose unexpurgated writings are at once enthralling, enlightening, and provocative. In Knowing When to Stop, one of the most creative American artists of our time offers readers a colorful narrative of his first twenty-seven years, expertly unraveling the intriguing conundrum of who he truly is and how he came to be that way. As the author himself writes, "A memoir is not a diary. Diaries are written in the heat of battle, memoirs in the repose of retrospect." But careful thought and consideration have not dulled the sharp point of Rorem's pen as he writes openly of his life and loves, his missteps and triumphs, and offers frank and fascinating portraits of the luminaries in his circle: Aaron Copland, Truman Capote, Jean Cocteau, Martha Graham, Igor Stravinsky, Billie Holliday, Paul Bowles, and Alfred C. Kinsey, to name a few. The result is an early life story that is riveting, moving, and intimate--a magnificent self-portrait of one of the great minds of this age.
The Known: A Canadian Woman's Experience with Witchcraft in Mexico
by Margaret J. TallisMargie was an educated Canadian woman who married an educated Mexican man. If you would have mentioned "witchcraft" to her in those days, she would have laughed. They had a good life, remodeling a colonial house together, when her husband, an architect, started bringing home food from a woman's house. "How nice!" Margie thought. The woman, someone Margie never met, knew their favorite foods--Mexican as well as non-Mexican. Her husband had met the woman's son while singing in a church choir and took an interest in him. "So like Javier," Margie thought. He was a gentle man, always thinking of others. But soon after the food started arriving, Javier changed. He stayed out all night. His behavior became erratic. He became irresponsible and violent. Margie suspected an affair, alcohol, narcotics. But as his behavior became more and more unexplainable, so did hers. She saw wavy black lines in the air. She stared at flowers, mesmerized by their colors; she lost weight-her skin stretched tight against the framework of her face. And he, hallucinating, no longer in control of his mind, did not recognize her on the street. It was only a visit to a doctor that gave her the answer. She and her husband had been victims of poisoning and witchcraft.
Known and Strange Things: Essays
by Teju ColeA blazingly intelligent first book of essays from the award-winning author of Open City and Every Day Is for the Thief With this collection of more than fifty pieces on politics, photography, travel, history, and literature, Teju Cole solidifies his place as one of today's most powerful and original voices. On page after page, deploying prose dense with beauty and ideas, he finds fresh and potent ways to interpret art, people, and historical moments, taking in subjects from Virginia Woolf, Shakespeare, and W. G. Sebald to Instagram, Barack Obama, and Boko Haram. Cole brings us new considerations of James Baldwin in the age of Black Lives Matter; the African American photographer Roy DeCarava, who, forced to shoot with film calibrated exclusively for white skin tones, found his way to a startling and true depiction of black subjects; and (in an essay that inspired both praise and pushback when it first appeared) the White Savior Industrial Complex, the system by which African nations are sentimentally aided by an America "developed on pillage." Persuasive and provocative, erudite yet accessible, Known and Strange Things is an opportunity to live within Teju Cole's wide-ranging enthusiasms, curiosities, and passions, and a chance to see the world in surprising and affecting new frames.
Known and Unknown: A Memoir
by Donald RumsfeldVisit www.rumsfeld.com for more.Discover the enhanced e-book edition of Known and Unknown offering an unprecedented reading experience for a memoir by a major public figure. For web-connected readers, it features more than 500 links to never-before-available original documents from Donald Rumsfeld's extensive personal archive. It includes State Department cables, correspondence, and memoranda on topics such as Vietnam, Watergate, the days following 9/11, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and much more. Available in ePub and Adobe Reader.Like Donald Rumsfeld, Known and Unknown pulls no punches. With the same directness that defined his career in public service, Rumsfeld's memoir is filled with previously undisclosed details and insights about the Bush administration, 9/11, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It also features Rumsfeld's unique and often surprising observations on eight decades of history: his experiences growing up during the Depression and World War II, his time as a Naval aviator; his service in Congress starting at age 30; his cabinet level positions in the Nixon and Ford White Houses; his assignments in the Reagan administration; and his years as a successful business executive in the private sector. Rumsfeld addresses the challenges and controversies of his illustrious career, from the unseating of the entrenched House Republican leader in 1965, to helping the Ford administration steer the country away from Watergate and Vietnam, to bruising battles over transforming the military for the 21st century, to the war in Iraq, to confronting abuse at Abu Ghraib and allegations of torture at Guantanamo Bay. Along the way, he offers his plainspoken, first-hand views and often humorous and surprising anecdotes about some of the world's best known figures, from Margaret Thatcher to Saddam Hussein, from Henry Kissinger to Colin Powell, from Elvis Presley to Dick Cheney, and each American president from Dwight D. Eisenhower to George W. Bush. Rumsfeld relies not only on his memory but also on previously unreleased and recently declassified documents. Thousands of pages of documents not yet seen by the public will be made available on an accompanying website. Known and Unknown delivers both a fascinating narrative for today's readers and an unprecedented resource for tomorrow's historians. Proceeds from the sales of Known and Unknown will go to the veterans charities supported by the Rumsfeld Foundation.
Known and Unknown: A Memoir
by Donald RumsfeldRumsfeld addresses the challenges and controversies of his career, from the unseating of the entrenched House Republican leader in 1965, to helping the Ford administration steer the country away from Watergate and Vietnam, to bruising battles over transforming the military for the 21st century, to the war in Iraq, to confronting abuse at Abu Ghraib and allegations of torture at Guantanamo Bay.