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Means of Escape: A War Correspondent's Memoir of Life and Death in Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Vietnam
by Philip Caputo"A riveting memoir of years of living dangerously."—Kirkus ReviewsFor the countless readers who have admired Philip Caputo's classic memoir of Vietnam, A Rumor of War, here is his powerful recounting of his life and adventures, updated with a foreword that assesses the state of the world and the journalist's art. As a journalist, Caputo has covered many of the world's troubles, and in Means of Escape, he tells the reader in moving and clear-eyed prose how he made himself into a writer, traveler, and observer with the nerve to put himself at the center of the world's conflicts. As a young reporter he investigated the Mafia in Chicago, earning acclaim as well as threats against his safety. Later, he rode camels through the desert and enjoyed Bedouin hospitality, was kidnapped and held captive by Islamic extremists, and was targeted and hit by sniper fire in Beirut, with memories of Vietnam never far from the surface. And after it all, he went into Afghanistan. Caputo's goal has always been to bear witness to the crimes, ambitions, fears, ferocities, and hopes of humanity. With Means of Escape, he has done so.
Meant To Be
by James G. VerityBorn in Brooklyn in 1925, James Verity, enters priesthood formation program at age 14. After almost 30 years, he leaves, but always he wants to serve God and man. Powerful and beautiful.
Meant To Be: A Memoir
by Walter AndersonPublished to strong reviews and major media attention, this heartfelt and inspirational rags-to-riches memoir by the highly regarded CEO of Parade Publications tells the emotional story of how he came to terms with an identity and a family that he never knew he had until he reached middle age.Meant To Be begins when Anderson, a 21-year-old Marine returns from service to say goodbye to his dying father and tries to find the answer to a question that has inexplicably haunted him from his earliest years: Was the alcoholic, abusive man who has so tormented him in his childhood his real father? Shockingly, the answer turns out to be "No." Unbeknown to him, at least until that point, his mother, a German Protestant, fell in love during World War II with a Russian Jew and bore his child. Anderson learns this information as a young man but he and his mother keep this secret for another 35 years, until the day Anderson—now an unusually successful publishing executive—meets an unknown brother who, it turns out, has lived a nearly parallel life. Meant To Be is a love story, a journey of self-discovery and spirituality, and a provocative challenge to common notions about the role of heredity in our lives.
Meant to Be
by E. H. WilliamsHistory unravels such irony. During World War II, a dutiful son wearing an American soldier&’s uniform sat in a detention camp across the table from his father, a declared enemy. The war later brought together two identified adversaries across a vast ocean. Governments may declare hostile parties, but humans cross those boundaries.
Meant to Be: The Lives and Loves of a Jersey Girl
by Lauren PizzaWhen Lauren Pizza was thirteen, she died. Caught under a small sailboat, she struggled to reach the surface, only to find that what she thought was up was actually down . . . and that's all she remembers. Ever since being resuscitated by two strangers, Pizza has felt a presence in her life from the spirit world. Is it crazy? Maybe. Her family sure thinks so. Growing up the youngest, and sometimes forgotten, of five in Little Falls, New Jersey, Pizza continues to live the typical life "down the shore" after her accident. She survives high school (barely), goes to college in Dayton, Ohio (which she might have thought was in Florida when she applied), and is ready to settle down with her "perfect" Kennedy-esque boyfriend in Jersey-until she wakes up.Suddenly free and single, Pizza relies on intuition (and perhaps a few signs) and finds herself a job in the city, a grungy apartment in the West Village, and waits for Prince Charming. When he finally arrives, she doesn't recognize him: he drives a red Ferrari, sure, but he has hair like Howard Stern and wears more gold chains than Mr. T. Meant to Be is the story of a blue-collar Jersey girl swept off her feet by an unconventional millionaire, thrust into an entirely new world, where she makes plenty of mistakes and sometimes feels like "I'm from the Jersey Shore" is stapled to her forehead.With humor, gratitude, and trademark Jersey spunk, Lauren tells it like it is: the highs, the lows, the bad twists, the good advice from unlikely places, and the times she wished she could disappear. Underneath the designer clothes and private jets, she's still the same Jersey Girl who took the D train and lived on Snapple. And she wouldn't have it any other way.
Meanwhile There Are Letters: The Correspondence of Eudora Welty and Ross Macdonald
by Suzanne Marrs Tom NolanIn 1970, Ross Macdonald wrote a letter to Eudora Welty, beginning a thirteen-year correspondence between fellow writers and kindred spirits. Though separated by background, geography, genre, and his marriage, the two authors shared their lives in witty, wry, tender, and at times profoundly romantic letters, each drawing on the other for inspiration, comfort, and strength. They brought their literary talents to bear on a wide range of topics, discussing each others' publications, the process of translating life into fiction, the nature of the writer’s block each encountered, books they were reading, and friends and colleagues they cherished. They also discussed the world around them, the Vietnam War, the Nixon, Carter, and Reagan presidencies, and the environmental threats facing the nation. The letters reveal the impact each had on the other’s work, and they show the personal support Welty provided when Alzheimer’s destroyed Macdonald’s ability to communicate and write. The editors of this collection, who are the definitive biographers of these two literary figures, have provided extensive commentary and an introduction. They also include Welty’s story fragment "Henry,” which addresses Macdonald’s disease. With its mixture of correspondence and narrative, Meanwhile There Are Letters provides a singular reading experience: a prose portrait of two remarkable artists and one unforgettable relationship.
Measure of My Days
by Florida Scott-MaxwellAt eighty-two, Florida Scott-Maxwell felt impelled to write about her strong reactions to being old, and to the time in which we live. Until almost the end this document was not intended for anyone to see, but the author finally decided that she wanted her thoughts and feelings to reach others. Mrs. Scott-Maxwell writes: "I was astonished to find how intensely one lives in one's eighties. The last years seemed a culmination and by concentrating on them one became more truly oneself. Though old, I felt full of potential life. It pulsed in me even as I was conscious of shrinking into a final form which it was my task and stimulus to complete." The territory of the old is not Scott-Maxwell's only concern. In taking the measure of the sum of her days as a woman of the twentieth century, she confronts some of the most disturbing conflicts of human nature--the need for differentiation as against equality, the recognition of the evil forces in our nature--and her insights are challenging and illuminating. The vision that emerges from her accumulated experience of life makes this a remarkable document that speaks to all ages.
Measure of a Man: From Auschwitz Survivor to Presidents' Tailor
by Wynton Hall Martin GreenfieldHe's been called "America's greatest living tailor" and "the most interesting man in the world." Now, for the first time, Holocaust survivor Martin Greenfield tells his incredible life story. Taken from his Czechoslovakian home at age fifteen and transported to the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz with his family, Greenfield came face to face with "Angel of Death" Dr. Joseph Mengele and was divided forever from his parents, sisters, and baby brother.In haunting, powerful prose, Greenfield remembers his desperation and fear as a teenager alone in the death camp-and how an SS soldier's shirt dramatically altered the course of his life. He learned how to sew; and when he began wearing the shirt under his prisoner uniform, he learned that clothes possess great power and could even help save his life.Measure of a Man is the story of a man who suffered unimaginable horror and emerged with a dream of success. From sweeping floors at a New York clothing factory to founding America's premier custom suit company, Greenfield built a fashion empire. Now 86 years old and working with his sons, Greenfield has dressed the famous and powerful of D.C. and Hollywood, including Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama, celebrities Paul Newman, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Jimmy Fallon, and the stars of Martin Scorsese's films.Written with soul-baring honesty and, at times, a wry sense of humor, Measure of a Man is a memoir unlike any other-one that will inspire hope and renew faith in the resilience of man.
Measure of the Rule
by Robert Barr Douglas Lochhead Louise K. MackendrickRobert Barr has been almost completely overlooked by critics and anthologists of Canadian literature, in part because, although he was educated in Canada, he spent most of his life in the United States and England. However, since most of his serious novels are either set in Canada or have some Canadian connection, Barr deserves attention. The Measure of the Rule, originally published in 1907, is the nearest he came to writing an autobiographical novel. It concerns the Toronto Normal School and the experiences there in the 1870s of a young man who undoubtedly is Barr himself. In this novel, Barr is exorcising unhappy memories and is ironic, even bitter, about the school's quality of education, the rigid discipline observed by its staff and their indifference to their students, and the sexual segregation practiced. A number of men under whom Barr actually studied are vividly caricatured. As a realistic study of Ontario's only central teacher-training institution in the late nineteenth century, The Measure of the Rule will appeal both to those interested in Canadian fiction of that period and to those more concerned with the evolution of the system of education established by Egerton Ryerson. Also included with this reprint of the novel is an essay originally published in 1899 and entitled 'Literature in Canada.' In this essay, Barr elaborated upon his opinions of the school system and its quality of education.
Measuring Up: A Memoir of Fathers and Sons
by Dan Robson&“Dan Robson&’s book is a heart-wrenching portrait of grief. Anyone who has lost a parent will recognize it, know it intimately as you roll through the stages and finally come to the realization that a parent&’s ultimate gift to a child is showing them how to live.&”—Tanya Talaga, bestselling author of Seven Fallen Feathers A tender memoir of fathers and sons, love and loss, and learning to fill boots a size too big. Dan Robson&’s father is a builder, a fixer. A man whose high-school education is enough not only to provide for his family, but to build a successful business. Rick Robson holds things up. When he dies, nothing in his son&’s world feels steady anymore. In a very real sense, the home his father had built is suddenly fragile. Without its natural caretaker, the house will fall to pieces—and his family shows all the same signs of crumbling. Dan is hit especially hard. He knows he is not the man his father was. Dan never learned the blue-collar skills he admired, because his father wanted him to pursue his dream of becoming a writer. Now that his father is gone, the acknowledgment of his sacrifices and the sheer longing to be close to him again in some way draw Dan to the tools that lie unused in the garage. So begins Dan&’s year of learning the skills his father&’s hands had long mastered, and trying to fill the steel-toe boots left behind. Measuring Up is the story of that journey. Robson picks up where his father left off, working on the house and the truck, as much for the family as for himself. In much the same way that Michael Pollan comes to know his house inside-out in A Place of My Own, Robson learns the mysteries and proud satisfaction of plumbing, carpentry, wiring, and drywalling, and comes to understand how our homes are built. He also comes to see how his home was built by his father, uncovering more than one heartbreaking reminder of the kind of man his father was, and what he meant to his family. Tender and unflinching, Measuring Up is a story of love, mourning, and what it means to use your calloused hands to make the world around you a better place to live.
Measuring the Mosaic
by Rick Helmes-HayesMeasuring the Mosaic is a comprehensive intellectual biography of John Porter (1921-1979), author of The Vertical Mosaic (1965), preeminent Canadian sociologist of his time, and one of Canada's most celebrated scholars. In the first biography of this important figure, Rick Helmes-Hayes provides a detailed account of Porter's life and an in-depth assessment of his extensive writings on class, power, educational opportunity, social mobility, and democracy.While assessing Porter's place in the historical development of Canadian social science, Helmes-Hayes also examines the economic, social, political and scholarly circumstances - including the Depression, World War II, post-war reconstruction, the baby boom, and the growth of universities - that contoured Porter's political and academic views. Using extensive archival research, correspondence, and over fifty original interviews with family, colleagues, and friends, Measuring the Mosaic stresses Porter's remarkable contributions as a scholar, academic statesman, senior administrator at Carleton University, and engaged, practical public intellectual.
Measuring the Quality of Care for Psychological Health Conditions in the Military Health System: Candidate Quality Measures for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder
by Elizabeth M. Sloss Susan D. Hosek Katherine E. Watkins Coreen Farris Harold Alan Pincus Carrie M. Farmer Caroline Epley Kimberly A. Hepner Carol P. Roth Grant R. Martsolf Daniel MandelTo inform improvements to the quality of care delivered by the military health system for posttraumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder, researchers developed a framework and identified, developed, and described a candidate set of measures for monitoring, assessing, and improving the quality of care. This document describes their research approach and the measure sets that they identified.
Meatless Days
by Sara SuleriIn this finely wrought memoir of life in postcolonial Pakistan, Suleri intertwines the violent history of Pakistan's independence with her own most intimate memories--of her Welsh mother; of her Pakistani father, prominent political journalist Z. A. Suleri; of her tenacious grandmother Dadi and five siblings; and of her own passage to the West. "Nine autobiographical tales that move easily back and forth among Pakistan, Britain, and the United States. . . . She forays lightly into Pakistani history, and deeply into the history of her family and friends. . . . The Suleri women at home in Pakistan make this book sing. "--Daniel Wolfe,New York Times Book Review "A jewel of insight and beauty. . . . Suleri's voice has the same authority when she speaks about Pakistani politics as it does in her literary interludes. "--Rone Tempest, Los Angeles Times Book Review "The author has a gift for rendering her family with a few, deft strokes, turning them out as whole and complete as eggs. "--Anita Desai, Washington Post Book World "Meatless Daystakes the reader through a Third World that will surprise and confound him even as it records the author's similar perplexities while coming to terms with the West. Those voyages Suleri narrates in great strings of words and images so rich that they left this reader . . . hungering for more. "--Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune "Dazzling. . . . Suleri is a postcolonial Proust to Rushdie's phantasmagorical Pynchon. "--Henry Louise Gates, Jr. ,Voice Literary Supplement
Meatless Days
by Sara SuleriIn this finely wrought memoir of life in postcolonial Pakistan, Suleri intertwines the violent history of Pakistan's independence with her own most intimate memories of her Welsh mother; of her Pakistani father, prominent political journalist Z. A. Suleri; of her tenacious grandmother Dadi and five siblings; and of her own passage to the West. "Nine autobiographical tales that move easily back and forth among Pakistan, Britain, and the United States. . . . She forays lightly into Pakistani history, and deeplyinto the history of her family and friends. . . . The Suleri women at home in Pakistan make this book sing. " Daniel Wolfe, "New York Times Book Review" "A jewel of insight and beauty. . . . Suleri's voice has the same authority when she speaks about Pakistani politics as it does in her literary interludes. " Rone Tempest, "Los Angeles Times Book Review" "The author has a gift for rendering her family with a few, deft strokes, turning them out as whole and complete as eggs. " Anita Desai, "Washington Post Book World" ""Meatless Days" takes the reader through a Third World that will surprise and confound him even as it records the author's similar perplexities while coming to terms with the West. Those voyages Suleri narrates in great strings of words and images so rich that they left this reader . . . hungering for more. " Ron Grossman, "Chicago Tribune" "Dazzling. . . . Suleri is a postcolonial Proust to Rushdie's phantasmagorical Pynchon. " Henry Louise Gates, Jr. , "Voice Literary Supplement""
Meatless Days (Flamingo Ser.)
by Sara Suleri GoodyearIn this finely wrought memoir of life in postcolonial Pakistan, Suleri intertwines the violent history of Pakistan's independence with her own most intimate memories—of her Welsh mother; of her Pakistani father, prominent political journalist Z.A. Suleri; of her tenacious grandmother Dadi and five siblings; and of her own passage to the West. "Nine autobiographical tales that move easily back and forth among Pakistan, Britain, and the United States. . . . She forays lightly into Pakistani history, and deeply into the history of her family and friends. . . . The Suleri women at home in Pakistan make this book sing."—Daniel Wolfe, New York Times Book Review "A jewel of insight and beauty. . . . Suleri's voice has the same authority when she speaks about Pakistani politics as it does in her literary interludes."—Rone Tempest, Los Angeles Times Book Review "The author has a gift for rendering her family with a few, deft strokes, turning them out as whole and complete as eggs."—Anita Desai, Washington Post Book World "Meatless Days takes the reader through a Third World that will surprise and confound him even as it records the author's similar perplexities while coming to terms with the West. Those voyages Suleri narrates in great strings of words and images so rich that they left this reader . . . hungering for more."—Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune "Dazzling. . . . Suleri is a postcolonial Proust to Rushdie's phantasmagorical Pynchon."—Henry Louise Gates, Jr., Voice Literary Supplement
Meaty: Essays
by Samantha IrbyAs a writer and performer, Samantha Irby is a force of nature. As the genius behind the hilarious blog BITCHES GOTTA EAT, she's your sharp-tongued best friend who can't help but tell it like it is. In her debut essay collection MEATY, Samantha Irby explodes onto the page with essays about laughing her way through her ridiculous life of failed relationships, taco feasts, bouts with Crohn's Disease, and more. Written with the same scathing wit and poignant bluntness long-time readers have come to expect from her riotous blog, MEATY takes on subjects both highbrow and low-from why she can't be mad at Lena Dunham, to the anguish of growing up with a sick mother, to how to prepare your disgusting meat carcass for some new, hot sex, to why she wants to write your mom's Match.com profile.
Meb For Mortals: How to Run, Think, and Eat like a Champion Marathoner
by Scott Douglas Meb Keflezighi<p>Train like Olympic marathoner and 2014 Boston Marathon winner Meb KeflezighiWith his historic win at the 2014 Boston Marathon, Meb Keflezighi cemented his legacy as one of the great champions of long-distance running. <p>Runners everywhere wanted to know how someone two weeks away from his 39th birthday, who had only the 15th best time going into the race, could defeat the best field in Boston Marathon history and become the first American man to win the race in 31 years. <p>Meb For Mortals describes in unprecedented detail how three-time Olympian Keflezighi prepares to take on the best runners in the world. More importantly, the book shows everyday runners how to implement the training, nutritional, and mental principles that have guided him throughout his long career, which in addition to the 2014 Boston win includes an Olympic silver medal and the 2009 New York City Marathon title.
Mecano: El grupo español más importante de la historia
by Javier AdradosLa biografía definitiva y autorizada de Mecano. Hace cuarenta años que un adolescente llamado José María Cano le pidió a su hermano, Nacho, y a su novia, Ana, que le acompañaran en sus conciertos como cantautor por colegios mayores y bares de Madrid. En ese ambiente conocieron al productor musical Miguel Ángel Arenas, el "Capi", quien les recomendó que la voz principal fuera la de Ana y les consiguió un contrato con CBS. Así nació Mecano, sin imaginar que se convertiría en el fenómeno pop más importante de nuestra historia. Pero aún hay muchas preguntas sin responder sobre el grupo que ha vendido más de veinticinco millones de discos en todo el mundo. ¿Cómo se construyó Mecano? ¿Por qué provocaron esa feroz animadversión en los grupos de la movida madrileña? ¿Qué causó las tensiones entre los miembros de la banda que les llevaron a disolverse? Esta biografía es la respuesta a todos los interrogantes, un recorrido por la historia del grupo que aun a pesar de su desaparición, no ha dejado de sonar en ninguna de las emisoras de radio. La música de Mecano es presente
Med Head: My Knock-down, Drag-out, Drugged-up Battle with My Brain
by James Patterson Hal FriedmanCory Friedman woke up one morning when he was five years old with the uncontrollable urge to twitch his neck. From that day forward his life became a hell of irrepressible tics and involuntary utterances, and Cory embarked on an excruciating journey from specialist to specialist to discover the cause of his disease. Soon it became unclear what tics were symptoms of his disease and what were side effects of the countless combinations of drugs. The only certainty is that it kept getting worse. Simply put: Cory Friedman's life was a living hell. This is the true story of Cory and his family's decades-long battle for survival in the face of extraordinary difficulties and a maddening medical establishment. It is a heart-rending story of struggle and triumph with a climax as dramatic as any James Patterson thriller.
Medal Winners: How the Vietnam War Launched Nobel Careers
by Raymond S. GreenbergAs the ground war in Vietnam escalated in the late 1960s, the US government leveraged the so-called doctor draft to secure adequate numbers of medical personnel in the armed forces. Among newly minted physicians’ few alternatives to military service was the Clinical Associate Training Program at the National Institutes of Health. Though only a small percentage of applicants were accepted, the elite program launched an unprecedented number of remarkable scientific careers that would revolutionize medicine at the end of the twentieth century. Medal Winners recounts this overlooked chapter and unforeseen byproduct of the Vietnam War through the lives of four former NIH clinical associates who would go on to become Nobel laureates. Raymond S. Greenberg traces their stories from their pre-NIH years and apprenticeships through their subsequent Nobel Prize–winning work, which transformed treatment of heart disease, cancer, and other diseases. Greenberg shows how the Vietnam draft unintentionally ushered in a golden era of research by bringing talented young physicians under the tutelage of leading scientists and offers a lesson in what it may take to replicate such a towering center of scientific innovation as the NIH in the 1960s and 1970s.
Medal Winners: How the Vietnam War Launched Nobel Careers
by Raymond S. GreenbergAs the ground war in Vietnam escalated in the late 1960s, the US government leveraged the so-called doctor draft to secure adequate numbers of medical personnel in the armed forces. Among newly minted physicians’ few alternatives to military service was the Clinical Associate Training Program at the National Institutes of Health. Though only a small percentage of applicants were accepted, the elite program launched an unprecedented number of remarkable scientific careers that would revolutionize medicine at the end of the twentieth century. Medal Winners recounts this overlooked chapter and unforeseen byproduct of the Vietnam War through the lives of four former NIH clinical associates who would go on to become Nobel laureates. Raymond S. Greenberg traces their stories from their pre-NIH years and apprenticeships through their subsequent Nobel Prize–winning work, which transformed treatment of heart disease, cancer, and other diseases. Greenberg shows how the Vietnam draft unintentionally ushered in a golden era of research by bringing talented young physicians under the tutelage of leading scientists and offers a lesson in what it may take to replicate such a towering center of scientific innovation as the NIH in the 1960s and 1970s.
Medal of Honor: Enhanced Version
by Peter CollierOn October 25, 2010, Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta became the first living person since the Vietnam War to receive the United States’ highest military decoration, and both he and Sergeant Leroy Petry (the second inductee) rightly take their place in the pages of this third edition of Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty. The book includes 144 contemporary portraits of recipients by award-winning photographer Nick Del Calzo and profiles by National Book Award nominee Peter Collier. First published on Veterans Day 2003, this New York Times bestseller has now been updated and augmented to include new essays plus:• Letters from all living presidents • A foreword by Brian Williams • Profiles of Sergeant Giunta and Sergeant Petry There are also essays by Tom Brokaw, Senator John McCain, and Victor Davis Hanson, and a multimedia DVD with historic footage and recipients’ first-person reflections. The Medal of Honor recipients in the book fought in conflicts from World War II to Afghanistan, serving in every branch of the armed services.
Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty
by Peter CollierContemporary portraits of 144 recipients of the Medal of Honor by National Book Award nominee Peter Collier. The Medal of Honor recipients in the book fought in conflicts from World War II to Afghanistan, serving in every branch of the armed services. All were interviewed specifically for this book. First published on Veterans Day 2003, this New York Times bestseller has now been updated and augmented to include new essays plus: Letters from all living presidents; a foreword by Brian Williams; and profiles of Sergeant Giunta and Sergeant Petry, who were awarded the Medal of Honor after the publication of the first edition. There are also essays by Tom Brokaw, Senator John McCain, and Victor Davis Hanson. The Medal of Honor recipients in the book fought in conflicts from World War II to Afghanistan, serving in every branch of the armed services. All images described. Second edition.
Medal of Honor: Third Edition
by Peter Collier Nick Del CalzoOn October 25, 2010, Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta became the first living person since the Vietnam War to receive the United States’ highest military decoration, and both he and Sergeant Leroy Petry (the second inductee) rightly take their place in the pages of this third edition of Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty. The book includes 144 contemporary portraits of recipients by award-winning photographer Nick Del Calzo and profiles by National Book Award nominee Peter Collier. First published on Veterans Day 2003, this New York Times bestseller has now been updated and augmented to include new essays plus:• Letters from all living presidents • A foreword by Brian Williams • Profiles of Sergeant Giunta and Sergeant Petry There are also essays by Tom Brokaw, Senator John McCain, and Victor Davis Hanson, and a multimedia DVD with historic footage and recipients’ first-person reflections. The Medal of Honor recipients in the book fought in conflicts from World War II to Afghanistan, serving in every branch of the armed services.
Medallion Status: True Stories from Secret Rooms
by John Hodgman“[An] affecting and hilarious meditation on fame and prestige as seen through the lens of an airline loyalty program.” —The AV ClubA hilarious and honest new book in which John Hodgman, New York Times bestselling author of Vacationland, leaves vacation behind and gets back to work as a still somewhat famous person . . . and then loses his jobAfter spending most of his twenties pursuing a career as a literary agent, John Hodgman decided to try his own hand at writing. Following an appearance to promote one of his books on The Daily Show, he was invited to return as a contributor. This led to an unexpected and, frankly, implausible career in front of the camera that has lasted to this very day, or at least until 2016.In these pages, Hodgman explores the strangeness of his career, speaking plainly of fame, especially at the weird, marginal level he enjoyed it. Through these stories you will learn many things that only John Hodgman knows, such as how to prepare for a nude scene with an oboe, or what it feels like to go to a Hollywood party and realize that you are not nearly as famous as the Property Brothers, or, for that matter, those two famous corgis from Instagram. And there are stories about how, when your television gig is canceled, you can console yourself with the fact that all of that travel that made your young son so sad at least left you with a prize: platinum medallion status with your airline.Both unflinchingly funny and deeply heartfelt, Medallion Status is a thoughtful examination of status, fame, and identity--and about the way we all deal with those moments when we realize we aren't platinum status anymore and will have to get comfortable in that middle seat again.