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Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption
by Jane Jeong Trenka Sun Yung Shin Julia Chinyere OparahConfronting trauma behind the transnational adoption system—now back in printMany adoptees are required to become people that they were never meant to be. While transracial adoption tends to be considered benevolent, it often exacts a heavy emotional, cultural, and economic toll on those who directly experience it. Outsiders Within is a landmark publication that carefully explores this most intimate aspect of globalization through essays, fiction, poetry, and art. Moving beyond personal narrative, transracially adopted writers from around the world tackle difficult questions about how to survive the racist and ethnocentric worlds they inhabit, what connects the countries relinquishing their children to the countries importing them, why poor families of color have their children removed rather than supported—about who, ultimately, they are. In their inquiry, the contributors unseat conventional understandings of adoption politics, reframing the controversy as a debate that encompasses human rights, peace, and reproductive justice. Contributors: Heidi Lynn Adelsman; Ellen M. Barry; Laura Briggs, U of Massachusetts, Amherst; Catherine Ceniza Choy, U of California, Berkeley; Gregory Paul Choy, U of California, Berkeley; Rachel Quy Collier; J. A. Dare; Kim Diehl; Kimberly R. Fardy; Laura Gannarelli; Shannon Gibney; Mark Hagland; Perlita Harris; Tobias Hübinette, Stockholm U; Jae Ran Kim; Anh Đào Kolbe; Mihee-Nathalie Lemoine; Beth Kyong Lo; Ron M.; Patrick McDermott, Salem State College, Massachusetts; Tracey Moffatt; Ami Inja Nafzger (aka Jin Inja); Kim Park Nelson; John Raible; Dorothy Roberts, Northwestern U; Raquel Evita Saraswati; Kirsten Hoo-Mi Sloth; Soo Na; Shandra Spears; Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark; Kekek Jason Todd Stark; Sunny Jo; Sandra White Hawk; Indigo Williams Willing; Bryan Thao Worra; Jeni C. Wright.
Outsiders: Five Women Writers Who Changed the World
by Lyndall GordonOutsiders tells the stories of five novelists - Mary Shelley, Emily Brontë, George Eliot, Olive Schreiner, Virginia Woolf - and their famous novels.We have long known their individual greatness but in linking their creativity to their lives as outsiders, this group biography throws new light on the genius they share. 'Outsider', 'outlaw', 'outcast': a woman's reputation was her security and each of these five lost it. As writers, they made these identities their own, taking advantage of their separation from the dominant order to write their novels.All five were motherless. With no female model at hand, they learnt from books; and if lucky, from an enlightened man; and crucially each had to imagine what a woman could be in order to invent a voice of their own. They understood female desire: the passion and sexual bravery in their own lives infused their fictions.What they have in common also is the way they inform one another, and us, across the generations. Even today we do more than read them; we listen and live with them.Lyndall Gordon's biographies have always shown the indelible connection between life and art: an intuitive, exciting and revealing approach that has been highly praised and much read and enjoyed. She names each of these five as prodigy, visionary, outlaw, orator and explorer and shows how they came, they saw and left us changed.
Outsiders: Five Women Writers Who Changed the World
by Lyndall GordonProdigy, visionary, 'outlaw,' orator and explorer. As society's outsiders, the exceptional subjects of this study inspired a new breed of women—and one another.Finalist of the PROSE Award for Best Book in Literature by the Association of American PublishersMary Shelley, Emily Brontë, George Eliot, Olive Schreiner and Virginia Woolf: they all wrote dazzling books that forever changed the way we see history. In Outsiders, award-winning biographer Lyndall Gordon shows how these five novelists shared more than talent. In a time when a woman's reputation was her security, each of these women lost hers. They were unconstrained by convention, writing against the grain of their contemporaries, prophetically imagining a different future. We have long known the individual greatness of each of these writers, but in linking their creativity to their lives as outcasts, Gordon throws new light on the genius they share. All five lost their mothers in childbirth or at a young age. With no female role model present, they learned from books—and sometimes from an enlightened mentor. Crucially, each had to imagine what a woman could be in order to invent a voice of her own. The passion in their own lives infused their fiction. Writing with passionate intelligence of her own, Gordon reveals that these renegade writers inspired a new breed of women who wished to change a world locked in war, violence, exploitation, and sexual abuse.Gordon's biographies have always shown the indelible connection between life and art: an intuitive, exciting and revealing approach that has been highly praised. In Outsiders, she crafts nuanced portraits of Shelley, Brontë, Eliot, Schreiner and Woolf, naming each of these writers as prodigy, visionary, 'outlaw,' orator, and explorer, and shows how they came, they saw, and they left us changed. Today, following the tsunami of women's protest at widespread abuse, we do more than read them; we listen and live with their astonishing bravery and eloquence.
Outsiders: Five Women Writers who Changed the World
by Lyndall GordonMary Shelley, Emily Brontë, George Eliot, Olive Schreiner and Virginia Woolf: they all wrote dazzling books that forever changed the way we see history. In Outsiders, award-winning biographer Lyndall Gordon shows how these five novelists shared more than talent. In a time when a woman's reputation was her security, each of these women lost hers. They were unconstrained by convention, writing against the grain of their contemporaries, prophetically imagining a different future. Gordon's biographies have always shown the indelible connection between life and art: an intuitive, exciting and revealing approach that has been highly praised. In Outsiders, she crafts nuanced portraits of Shelley, Brontë, Eliot, Schreiner and Woolf, naming each of these writers as prodigy, visionary, 'outlaw,' orator, and explorer, and shows how they came, they saw, and they left us changed.
Outskirts: Living Life on the Edge of the Green Belt
by John Grindrod'Evocative and intelligent' Guardian Discover the secret history of our green belts.The first book to tell the story of Britain's green belts, Outskirts is at once a fascinating social history, a stirring evocation of the natural world, and a poignant tale of growing up in a place, and within a family, like no other.'Illuminating and enjoyable' David Kynaston, SpectatorGreen belts are part of the landscape and psyche of post-war Britain, but have led to conflicts at every level of society - between conservationists and developers, town and country, politicians and people, nimbys and the forces of progress.Growing up on 'the last road in London' on an estate at the edge of the woods, John Grindrod had a childhood that mirrored these tensions. His family, too, seemed caught between two worlds: his wheelchair-bound mother and soft hearted father had moved from the inner city and had trouble adjusting. His warring brothers struggled too: there was the sporty one who loved the outdoors, and the agoraphobic who hated it. And then there was John, an unremarkable boy on the edge of it all discovering something magical.In the green belts John discovers strange hidden places, from nuclear bunkers to buried landfill sites, and along the way meets planners, protestors, foresters and residents whose passions for and against the green belt tell a fascinating tale of Britain today.
Outskirts: Living Life on the Edge of the Green Belt
by John Grindrod'Evocative and intelligent' Guardian Discover the secret history of our green belts.The first book to tell the story of Britain's green belts, Outskirts is at once a fascinating social history, a stirring evocation of the natural world, and a poignant tale of growing up in a place, and within a family, like no other.'Illuminating and enjoyable' David Kynaston, SpectatorGreen belts are part of the landscape and psyche of post-war Britain, but have led to conflicts at every level of society - between conservationists and developers, town and country, politicians and people, nimbys and the forces of progress.Growing up on 'the last road in London' on an estate at the edge of the woods, John Grindrod had a childhood that mirrored these tensions. His family, too, seemed caught between two worlds: his wheelchair-bound mother and soft hearted father had moved from the inner city and had trouble adjusting. His warring brothers struggled too: there was the sporty one who loved the outdoors, and the agoraphobic who hated it. And then there was John, an unremarkable boy on the edge of it all discovering something magical.In the green belts John discovers strange hidden places, from nuclear bunkers to buried landfill sites, and along the way meets planners, protestors, foresters and residents whose passions for and against the green belt tell a fascinating tale of Britain today.
Outskirts: Living Life on the Edge of the Green Belt
by John GrindrodForgotten edgelands, furious battles, suburban mysteries - discover the secret history of our green belts.Green belts are part of the landscape and psyche of post-war Britain, but have led to conflicts at every level of society - between conservationists and developers, town and country, politicians and people, nimbys and the forces of progress.Growing up on 'the last road in London' on an estate at the edge of the woods, John Grindrod had a childhood that mirrored these tensions. His family, too, seemed caught between two worlds: his wheelchair-bound mother and soft hearted father had moved from the inner city and had trouble adjusting. His warring brothers struggled too: there was the sporty one who loved the outdoors, and the agoraphobic who hated it. And then there was John, an unremarkable boy on the edge of it all discovering something magical.In the green belts John discovers strange hidden places, from nuclear bunkers to buried landfill sites, and along the way meets planners, protestors, foresters and residents whose passions for and against the green belt tell a fascinating tale of Britain today.The first book to tell the story of Britain's green belts, Outskirts is at once a fascinating social history, a stirring evocation of the natural world, and a poignant tale of growing up in a place, and within a family, like no other.
Outspoken: My Fight for Freedom and Human Rights in Afghanistan
by Sima SamarThe impassioned memoir of Afghanistan's Sima Samar: medical doctor, public official, founder of schools and hospitals, thorn in the side of the Taliban, nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, and lifelong advocate for girls and women.&“I have three strikes against me. I&’m a woman, I speak out for women, and I&’m Hazara, the most persecuted ethnic group in Afghanistan.&”Dr. Sima Samar has been fighting for equality and justice for most of her life. Born into a polygamous family, she learned early that girls had inferior status, and she had to agree to an arranged marriage if she wanted to go to university. By the time she was in medical school, she had a son, Ali, and had become a revolutionary. After her husband was disappeared by the pro-Russian regime, she escaped. With her son and medical degree, she took off into the rural areas—by horseback, by donkey, even on foot—to treat people who had never had medical help before.Sima Samar's wide-ranging experiences both in her home country and on the world stage have given her inside access to the dishonesty, the collusion, the corruption, the self-serving leaders, and the hijacking of religion. And as a former Vice President, she knows all the players in this chess game called Afghanistan. With stories that are at times poignant, at times terrifying, inspiring as well as disheartening, Sima provides an unparalleled view of Afghanistan&’s past and its present. Despite being in grave personal danger for many years, she has worked tirelessly for the dream she is convinced is an achievable one: justice and full human rights for all the citizens of her country.
Outward Leg
by Tristan JonesAfter seven years ashore and after having his left leg amputated, Tristan Jones decided to return to the sea. He began to piece together Operation Star and found the perfect vessel in a 36-foot trimaran. In October 1983, Jones and his only crew member, Wally Rediske, set out in Outward Leg from San Diego, intending to circumnavigate the world from west to east by sail.The book is the exciting story of Tristan's preparation for this major seagoing event and the chronicle of half of it. Tristan sailed down the western coast of Central America through the Panama Canal to a small Colombian town. There he had to fight for survival among hostile natives, drug dealers, and uncooperative port officers. He went on to Venezuela, Aruba, and the Dominican Republic during its 1984 revolution. Finally he reached New York and crossed the Atlantic to return to St. Katharine's Dock in London where he began his seagoing life thirty years before.
Outwitting the Gestapo
by Betsy Wing Konrad Bieber Lucie AubracThis is Aubrac's account of her participation in the Resistance: though pregnant, she took part in raids to free comrades, including her husband, from the prisons of Klaus Barbie.
Oval Office Oddities: An Irreverent Collection of Presidential Facts, Follies, and Foibles
by Bill FawcettEvery four years Americans go to the polls to elect a leader--a personage of unimpeachable sobriety and moral standing who will serve as a paragon for the rest of us. But truth be told, presidents and their families are people too--with quirks and character flaws like everyone else ... and plenty of skeletons rattling around in their closets. Oval Office Oddities is a grand compendium of fascinating, sometimes embarrassing presidential facts, gaffes, and oddball behaviors--available in plenty of time for Election Day! White House Whoopee: We've all heard about the dalliances of Clinton and Kennedy-but what were Washington, Jefferson, FDR, and Ike doing behind closed doors? America's Imelda: Mary Todd Lincoln had an endearing little clothing fetish . . . and once purchased 300 pairs of gloves in a single month! Go West, Young Prez: "California Dreamin'" was not a top presidential priority . . . since no Commander in Chief bothered to visit the neglected coast until Rutherford B. Hayes did in 1880. Crazy Jack: Many prominent leaders were absolutely convinced that John Adams was stark raving bonkers!
Over Fields of Fire: Flying the Sturmovik in Action on the Eastern Front 1942–45
by Anna Timofeeva-EgorovaDuring the 1930s the Soviet Union launched a major effort to create a modern Air Force. That process required training tens of thousands of pilots. Among those pilots were larger numbers of young women, training shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts. A common training program of the day involved studying in 'flying clubs' during leisure hours, first using gliders and then training planes. Following this, the best graduates could enter military schools to become professional combat pilots or flight navigators. The author of this book passed through all of those stages and had become an experienced training pilot when the USSR entered the war. Volunteering for frontline duty, the author flew 130 combat missions piloting the U2 biplane in a liaison squadron. In the initial period of the war, the German Luftwaffe dominated the sky. Daily combat sorties demanded bravery and skill from the pilots of the liaison squadron operating obsolete, unarmed planes. Over the course of a year the author was shot down by German fighters three times but kept flying nevertheless. In late 1942 Anna Egorova became the first female pilot to fly the famous Sturmovik (ground attack) plane that played a major role in the ground battles of the Eastern Front. Earning the respect of her fellow male pilots, the author became not just a mature combat pilot, but a commanding officer. Over the course of two years the author advanced from ordinary pilot to the executive officer of the Squadron, and then was appointed Regimental navigator, in the process flying approximately 270 combat missions over the southern sector of the Eastern Front initially (Taman, the Crimea) before switching to the 1st Belorussian Front, and seeing action over White Russia and Poland. Flying on a mission over Poland in 1944 the author was shot down over a target by German flak. Severely burned, she was taken prisoner. After surviving in a German POW camp for 5 months, she was liberated by Soviet troops. After experiencing numerous humiliations as an 'ex-POW' in 1965 the author finally received a top military award, a long-delayed 'Golden Star' with the honorary title of 'Hero of the Soviet Union'. This is a quite unique story of courage, determination and bravery in the face of tremendous personal adversity. The many obstacles Anna had to cross before she could fly first the Po-2, then the Sturmovik, are recounted in detail, including her tough work helping to build the Moscow Metro before the outbreak of war. Above all, Over Fields of Fire is a very human story - sometimes sad, sometimes angry, filled with hope, at other times with near-despair, abundant in comradeship and professionalism – and never less than a large dose of determination!
Over Hill and Dale
by Gervase PhinnOver Hill and Dale is the second volume in Gervase Phinn's bestselling Dales series.'Miss, who's that funny man at the back of the classroom?So begins school-inspector Gervase Phinn's second year among the frankly spoken pupils and teachers of North Yorkshire - the sight of Gervase with his notebook and pen provokes unexpected reactions from the children and adults alike.But Gervase is far from daunted - he is ready to brave the steely glare of the officious Mrs Savage, and even feels up to helping Dr Gore organize a gathering of the Feofees - just as soon as someone tells him what they are! He is still in pursuit of the lovely headteacher Christine Bentley, but will she feel the same?This is a delectable second helping of hilarious tales from the man who has been dubbed 'the James Herriot of schools'. In Over Hill and Dale, Gervase Phinn will have you laughing out loud.'Gervase Phinn's memoirs have made him a hero in school staff-rooms' Daily TelegraphGervase Phinn is an author and educator from Rotherham who, after teaching for fourteen years in a variety of schools, moved to North Yorkshire to be a school inspector. He has written autobiographies, novels, plays, collections of poetry and stories, as well as a number of books about education. He holds five fellowships, honorary doctorates from Hull, Leicester and Sheffield Hallam universities, and is a patron of a number of children's charities and organizations. He is married with four adult children. His books include The Other Side of the Dale, Over Hill and Dale, Head Over Heels in the Dales,The Heart of the Dales, Up and Down in the Dales and Trouble at the Little Village School.
Over It: How to Face Life’s Hurdles with Grit, Hustle, and Grace
by Lolo JonesOver It is a high-octane dose of encouragement, storytelling, and hard-won advice from Lolo Jones, three-time Olympian and world champion hurdler and bobsledder.Lolo is perhaps better known today not for all the races she&’s won but for the millisecond mistake that cost her an Olympic gold medal over a decade ago. With stunning authenticity about her own struggles, longings, and losses, she shows us how to face our challenges head-on and keep working to overcome them.Lolo challenges us to:handle failure while pursuing our dreams;recognize the difference between achieving a goal and experiencing success;turn our most painful moments into the most successful;use thankfulness and faith to develop healthy hindsight; andgive and receive forgiveness as the path back to life.Growing up in a broken home, Lolo learned to shoplift at a young age just to eat at night and sometimes slept on the basement floor of the Salvation Army. While her father was in prison, her mother worked multiple jobs, and Lolo realized she needed to be self-motivated, singularly focused, and unwilling to quit if she wanted to succeed.Reflecting on her own challenging spiritual journey, Lolo invites us to rest in God who can make all the difference in overcoming obstacles with both strength and joy.
Over My Head
by Claudia L. OsbornFrom the Book: A Doctor's own story of head injury from the inside looking out.
Over My Head: A Doctor's Own Story Of Head Injury From The Inside Looking Out
by Claudia L. OsbornLocked inside a brain-injured head looking out at a challenging world is the premise of this extraordinary autobiography. Over My Head is an inspiring story of how one woman comes to terms with the loss of her identity and the courageous steps (and hilarious missteps) she takes while learning to rebuild her life. The author, a 45-year-old doctor and clinical professor of medicine, describes the aftermath of a brain injury eleven years ago which stripped her of her beloved profession. For years she was deprived of her intellectual companionship and the ability to handle the simplest undertakings like shopping for groceries or sorting the mail. Her progression from confusion, dysfunction, and alienation to a full, happy life is told with restraint, great style, and considerable humor.
Over My Head: A Doctor's Own Story of Head Injury from the Inside Looking Out
by Claudia L. OsbornThis physician&’s &“inspiring&” account of overcoming a devastating brain injury &“will assist patients, families, and friends enduring the same difficulties&” (Library Journal). Locked inside a brain-injured head looking out at a challenging world is the premise of this extraordinary memoir chronicling the long process of adjustment and rehabilitation after a fateful, helmetless bike ride. In Over My Head, Claudia Osborn, a doctor and clinical professor of medicine, recounts coming to terms with the loss of her identity and the courageous steps (and hilarious missteps) she took while learning to rebuild her life. For years, Osborn was deprived of the career she loved and the intellectual companionship of her professional colleagues—and the ability to handle the simplest undertakings like shopping for groceries or sorting the mail. Her progression from confusion, dysfunction, and alienation to a full, happy life is told here with restraint, great style, and considerable humor. &“Exceptionally well-written and engaging.&” —Publishers Weekly
Over Our Dead Bodies: Undertakers Lift the Lid
by Todd Harra Kenneth McKenzieDiscover a more lighthearted side of the funeral industry in this collection of real-life stories from the authors of Mortuary Confidential.Not knowing what to do, I sat on the church steps and waited. As the gravity of my failure began to well up in me, I began to cry . . . I Had Lost The Hearse!Funerals and the all the things that accompany them are traditionally somber, contemplative events in which the bereaved look to their undertaker to guide them through that most difficult of times.Of course, sometimes tradition gets thrown under the bus.From a dysfunctional family who turn their mother&’s wake into a full-blown riot, to funeral crashers looking for free meals, to a horse-drawn hearse taking the dearly departed for the ride of their afterlife, these accounts from actual undertakers will have you laughing, thinking, and gasping in disbelief. A literal graveyard of wild coincidences, slapstick humor, and touching moments, Over Our Dead Bodies explores the lighter side of the dead, the living, and the lone undertaker who must make it all go as planned—even if it doesn&’t.Praise for Mortuary Confidential&“Outrageous funeral stories, dipped in beauty and morbid humor.&” —Caleb Wilde, author of Confessions of a Funeral Director&“Curious, wildly honest stories that need to be told, but just not at the dinner table.&” —Dana Kollmann, author of Never Suck a Dead Man&’s Hand&“As unpredictable and lively as a bunch of drunks at a New Orleans funeral.&” —Joe R. Lansdale, author of Moon Lake&“Sick, funny, and brilliant! I love this book.&” —Jonathan Maberry, Bram Stoker Award–winning author of They Bite! And Rot & Ruin&“These true mortuary tales are poignant—and suddenly, gaspi
Over Seas of Memory: A Novel
by Michaël FerrierBased loosely on the author’s life, this novel recounts the narrator’s journey following the footsteps of his Mauritius-born grandfather, Maxime, who abruptly boarded a boat bound for Madagascar in 1922 and never returned. Michaël Ferrier tells a tale of discovery as well as the elusive, colorful story of Maxime’s life in Madagascar, which included a stint as an acrobat in a traveling circus and, later, as a diver and artist on marine expeditions. Maxime’s story is one of adventure but also romance. He falls in love with a refined young Pauline Nuñes, Ferrier’s grandmother, whose well-to-do family of Indian merchants owns a hotel famous for playing the latest music—including American jazz—and throwing popular dances and parties. Over Seas of Memory weaves these personal stories with the island’s history, including its period as a Vichy-governed territory at the center of what was termed “Project Madagascar,” the Nazi plan to relocate Europe’s Jewish population to the island. As Ferrier interlaces his family’s intimate story with the larger story of colonialism’s lasting and complicated impact—including the racial and ethnic divisions it fomented—he engages with critical issues in contemporary France concerning national and cultural identity.
Over The Back Fence: Conflicts on the United States/Canadian Border From Maine to Alaska
by Elizabeth TowerMost Americans do not think of Canada as a foreign country--Canadians are their cousins, sometimes literally as well as figuratively. But Canadian historian Pierre Berton pointed out the difference in a speech in Alaska in 1997: "I know Americans sometimes irritate Canadians by saying, 'Oh, you're just like we are.' Well, we aren't you know, and we know it. We speak the same language, we wear the some clothes and watch a lot of the same movies. But there is an enormous difference between us. Canada is a nation created by the British Colonial System. It's a part of us, just as the Revolution and the Civil War are part of you." Over the Back Fence helps to further explain these differences. Conflicts on both coasts, resulting from incomplete knowledge of North American geography, threatened to result in war. They were settled diplomatically, but in the War of 1812 cousins fought each other on the border. Recent attention to Homeland Security has made Americans marginally aware of the boundary between the United States and Canada that has been virtually invisible for more than 100 years. Canadians, the majority of whom live within 100 miles of the border, cross it frequently and fear that new restrictions will interfere with trade that is essential to both countries.
Over The Edge
by Michael FleemanHe Called It A Tragic Accident. On a May evening in 1998, the idyllic marriage of wealthy Lake Tahoe couple Peter and Rinette Bergna ended in a crush of metal as their truck plunged 800 feet down a Sierra-Nevada mountainside. Peter was thrown from the vehicle and lived. Rinette, strapped in her seat, died on impact. In time, the grieving widower would meet a new woman, and put the tragic past behind him. Two-and-a-half years later, his life took another fateful turn... Authorities Called It A Crime. Bergna, esteemed art appraiser and son of one of California's most prominent attorneys, was indicted for the murder of his wife. Was Rinette's death really an accident-or deliberate homicide to free a controlling killer from a financially and emotionally trying marriage? The contradictory twists and turns of the case resulted in a hung jury. But it was the second trial that would yield even more surprises as a divided community waited for the final stunning verdict.
Over The Front In An Aeroplane, And Scenes Inside The French And Flemish Trenches [Illustrated Edition]
by Ralph PulitzerIncludes 16 photographs of the author and the planes in which he flew in.Perhaps the most influential journalist of his generation, Ralph Pulitzer was heir to a vast fortune and a publishing empire that rivalled even the Hearst organisation in the early years of the Twentieth Century. As Europe descended into the vicious fighting of the First World War, the American giant across the Atlantic was courted by the Allies to throw off her isolationist policy and join the Allied cause. As part of this political and propaganda offensive the French authorities decided to invite Mr Pulitzer on an aerial tour of the Frontlines, providing him unprecedented access to the view of the conflict from the skies above. Shortly after his whirlwind tour of the French frontlines, the author penned this book about his experiences of the trenches, men and fighting carried on the Western Front; to critical acclaim.
Over Time: My Life as a Sportswriter
by Frank DefordAn unconventional tale as wide-ranging as Deford's remarkable career, in which he has chronicled the heroes and the characters of just about every sport in nearly every medium, from the 1960s until today.
Over Time: My Life as a Sportswriter
by Frank DefordA New York Times bestseller: The “entertaining” memoir by the legendary American sportswriter (Chicago Tribune). Frank Deford joined Sports Illustrated in 1962, and over the following decades became one of the most beloved figures in sports journalism—renowned for everything from his NPR commentaries to his status as a Lite Beer All Star. From the Mad Men-like days of SI in the sixties, to the early NBA, to Deford’s visit to apartheid South Africa with Arthur Ashe, Over Time is packed with intriguing people and stories. Interwoven through his personal history, Deford lovingly traces the entire arc of American sportswriting from the lurid early days of the Police Gazette, through Grantland Rice and Red Smith and on up to ESPN, in a “wildly entertaining” memoir (Booklist, starred review). “Equal doses of self-deprecating humor and anecdotal history of American sports journalism.” —Chicago Tribune “Insightful remembrances of stars like Wilt Chamberlain and Billie Jean King . . . [Deford is] sports writing’s Sinatra.” —San Francisco Chronicle “Endearing . . . imparts a sense of a life well lived and fully enjoyed.” —The New York Times
Over and Above
by Captain John E. GurdonA fictionalized World War I memoir by RAF pilot John Everard Gurdon, &“an evocative picture of the daily life of the squadron and its characters&” (Western Front Association).Over and Above was first published in 1919 soon after John Everard Gurdon, aged just twenty, had been invalided out of the RAF following a brief but incident-filled stint as a flyer on the Western Front. It is Gurdon&’s first and best book, repeatedly reprinted for two decades, variously titled Winged Warriors or Wings of Death. Billed as a novel, it is not so much that as a fictionalized account of his own service flying career, with names changed, incidents rearranged. True, it tells of &“exciting raids over enemy lines and towns, desperate fights against fearful odds, chivalry shown to an unchivalrous foe . . .&” but the narrative turns darker as men become wearier, new comrades arrive and are killed, and those who remain try to hold onto meaning in increasingly unintelligible circumstances, a mirror to Gurdon&’s own experiences. Written in the style of the era and by and for a class which put great store in maintaining a slangy, backslapping cheerfulness, no matter how grim things were, with chums wishing each other &“beaucoup Huns&” before embarking on a &“show&” in &“beastly&” weather, this book is a classic to rank with Winged Victory by V. M. Yeates, and which should never have been out of print. This new edition retains exactly the original script but has been updated with an introduction by John Gurdon&’s granddaughter Camilla Gurdon Blakeley and an extended illustrated appendix by renowned historian Norman Franks.