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Almost Nothing: The 20th Century Art And Life Of Józef Czapski
by Eric KarpelesA compelling biography of the Polish painter and writer Józef Czapski that takes readers to Paris in the Roaring Twenties, to the front lines during WWII, and into the late 20th-century art world.Józef Czapski (1896–1993) lived many lives during his ninety-six years. He was a student in Saint Petersburg during the Russian Revolution and a painter in Paris in the roaring twenties. As a Polish reserve officer fighting against the invading Nazis in the opening weeks of the Second World War, he was taken prisoner by the Soviets. For reasons unknown to this day, he was one of the very few excluded from Stalin’s sanctioned massacres of Polish officers. He never returned to Poland after the war, but worked tirelessly in Paris to keep alive awareness of the plight of his homeland, overrun by totalitarian powers. Czapski was a towering public figure, but painting gave meaning to his life. Eric Karpeles, also a painter, reveals Czapski’s full complexity, pulling together all the threads of this remarkable life.
Almost Somewhere: Twenty-Eight Days on the John Muir Trail (Outdoor Lives)
by Suzanne RobertsWinner of the National Outdoor Book Award in Outdoor Literature It was 1993, Suzanne Roberts had just finished college, and when her friend suggested they hike California&’s John Muir Trail, the adventure sounded like the perfect distraction from a difficult home life and thoughts about the future. But she never imagined that the twenty-eight-day hike would change her life. Part memoir, part nature writing, part travelogue, Almost Somewhere is Roberts&’s account of that hike. John Muir wrote of the Sierra Nevada as a &“vast range of light,&” and that was exactly what Roberts was looking for. But traveling with two girlfriends, one experienced and unflappable and the other inexperienced and bulimic, she quickly discovered that she needed a new frame of reference. Her story of a month in the backcountry—confronting bears, snowy passes, broken equipment, injuries, and strange men—is as much about finding a woman&’s way into outdoor experience as it is about the natural world Roberts so eloquently describes. Candid and funny, and finally, wise, Almost Somewhere not only tells the whimsical coming-of-age story of a young woman ill-prepared for a month in the mountains but also reflects a distinctly feminine view of nature. This new edition includes an afterword by the author looking back on the ways both she and the John Muir Trail have changed over the past thirty years, as well as book club and classroom discussion questions and photographs from the trip.
Almost There: The Family Vacation, Then and Now
by Curtis GillespieWe all have memories of family vacations: the cross-country marathon drive, the camping trip, a couple lazy weeks at the lake, a helter-skelter month in Europe, four days in Disneyland. The variations may be endless, but the common denominator is that there are always stories to tell. The family vacation, with all its funny, sad, relaxing, stressful, frustrating, and exhilarating moments, shapes us, and helps us create an understanding of who we are and of those we travel with. In his humourous new book, Almost There, award-winning writer Curtis Gillespie explores the meaning of our family vacations, the memories created by them, and how we use these memories to define our relationship with our families and ourselves. Using his own history of family vacations as a backdrop, Gillespie explores how the meaning and symbolism of the family vacation has shifted throughout the decades. For years, families drove across the country or relaxed at a lakeside cottage. Now even the middle-class travel with their nannies or go on a Disney cruise … or take their nannies with them on a Disney cruise. As he sifts through memories and explores family vacation history, Gillespie ultimately discovers that not only is how we choose to vacation an expression of who we are as individual families, but that the very nature of the family vacation reflects, and sometimes even predicts, societal change. The family vacation is something we all share; the laughter, the tears, the moments, the memories. In Almost There, Curtis Gillespie reminds us how important these moments in our lives are, and how important they will continue to be.
Almost a Family
by John DarntonFrom the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and best-selling author: a beautifully crafted memoir of his lifelong chase after his father's shadow.John was eleven months old when his father, Barney Darnton--a war correspondent for The New York Times--was killed in World War II, but his absence left a more profound imprint on the family than any living father could have. John's mother, a well-known Times reporter and editor, tried to keep alive the dream of raising her two sons in ideal surroundings. When that proved impossible, she collapsed emotionally and physically. But along the way she created such a powerful myth of the father-hero who gave his life for his family, country, and the fourth estate that John followed his footsteps into the same newsroom. Decades after his father's death, John and his brother, the historian Robert Darnton, began digging into the past to uncover the truth about their parents. To discover who the real-life Barney Darnton was--and in part who he himself is--John delves into turn-of-the-century farm life in Michigan, the anything-goes Jazz Age in Greenwich Village, the lives of hard-drinking war correspondents in the Pacific theater, and the fearful loneliness of the McCarthy years in Washington, D.C. He ends his quest on a beach in Papua New Guinea, where he learns about his father's last moments from an aged villager who never forgot what he saw sixty-five years earlier.From the Hardcover edition.
Almost a Woman: A Memoir (A Merloyd Lawrence Book)
by Esmeralda SantiagoFollowing the enchanting story recounted in When I Was Puerto Rican of the author&’s emergence from the barrios of Brooklyn to the prestigious Performing Arts High School in Manhattan, Esmeralda Santiago delivers the tale of her young adulthood, where she continually strives to find a balance between becoming American and staying Puerto Rican. While translating for her mother Mami at the welfare office in the morning, starring as Cleopatra at New York&’s prestigious Performing Arts High School in the afternoons, and dancing salsa all night, she begins to defy her mother&’s protective rules, only to find that independence brings new dangers and dilemmas.
Almost the Perfect Murder: The Killing of Elaine O’Hara, the Extraordinary Garda Investigation and the Trial That Stunned the Nation: The Only Complete Inside Account
by Paul WilliamsFrom Ireland's leading crime journalist, Paul Williams, comes the definitive account of the case that gripped the nation.'A book that had to be written' Ray D'Arcy, RTÉ Radio 1 For over a year, everyone assumed missing Dublin woman Elaine O'Hara had ended her own life. But after her remains were found, the police discovered that Elaine was in thrall to a man who had spent years grooming her to let him kill her. That man was Graham Dwyer, a married father of three and partner in a Dublin architecture practice. Almost the Perfect Murder details the exhaustive investigation - one of the most complex and chilling in Irish criminal justice history - that allowed gardaí to build a case against Dwyer. And it outlines the twists and turns that happened during the dramatic trial that followed. 'An example of doggedness and tenacious police work, which saw that justice was done, and seen to be done' Irish Independent'Fascinating' Pat Kenny, Newstalk 'It is very rare for murder to involve the degree of calculation revealed in this case' Irish Times
Almuerzo gratis
by Rex OgleThe highly anticipated Spanish language edition of Free Lunch, Rex Ogle’s award-winning and groundbreaking memoir about hunger, poverty, and hope. Ganador del Premio YALSA a la Excelencia en No Ficción "Un poderoso retrato de la pobreza en medio de la crueldad y el optimismo". —Kirkus Reviews, reseña destacada Almuerzo gratis es la historia de los esfuerzos de Rex Ogle por abrirse camino en su primer semestre de sexto grado como niño pobre en un distrito escolar rico: decidir con quién sentarse, no poder unirse al equipo de fútbol americano, además de lidiar con nuevos compañeros de clase y con una profesora que de solo mirarlo lo tilda de problemático. Y en lugar de darle dinero para el almuerzo, la madre de Rex lo inscribe en el programa de almuerzo gratis. Ni ella ni su novio tienen trabajo, y la vida en su casa está marcada por estallidos de violencia. Implacable y realista, la desgarradora autobiografía de Rex Ogle es una historia de adversidades entrelazadas con esperanza y momentos de gracia. La voz de Rex es convincente y auténtica, lo que hace de Almuerzo gratis una obra honesta, oportuna y esencial que ilustra la experiencia de la pobreza en Estados Unidos.
Aloha Crossing
by Pamela Bauer MuellerFrom the book jacket: A year has passed since puppy raiser Diego handed Aloha's harness over to her blind partner Kimberly Louise. Now Diego is traveling to Georgia to visit his beloved friend again! This heartwarming story follows the exciting cross-country adventures and moving scenarios of a diverse group of family and friends. Although Aloha is a central figure in this intriguing story, she shares the stage with human actors who make this more than a tale about a blind woman and her guide dog. Learning from the devoted Aloha's example, they discover they are capable of weathering any storm and triumphing over every setback. From the opening chapter where Aloha rescues Kimberly Louise from the wheels of an unseen car, through the consequences of a horrific storm and finally to the riveting last chapter, we identified with the unfolding relationship forged between a blind person and canine partner. We thrilled as teenager Diego evolved from Aloha's puppy raiser to Miss Kimberly Louise's friend and eventually to hero. sequel to Hello, Goodbye, I Love You:
Alone At Sea: The Adventures of Joshua Slocum
by Ann SpencerThe true story of Canada's greatest sailor, the first to sail around the world single-handedly.When Joshua Slocum sailed into port in Massachusetts on June 27, 1898, he was the first man ever to have completed a voyage around the world without technology, money or companion. It took him three years to cover the 46,000 miles, and along the way he was chased by pirates, buffeted by storms, and narrowly escaped death by sharks. When a goat ate his charts, he managed to navigate through the Caribbean by memory and intuition.This is the true-life adventure story of an extraordinary man, who ran away to sea at sixteen and never looked back. Born on a farm in Nova Scotia, he apprenticed on voyages to China, Hong Kong and Indonesia; met and married his wife in Sydney, Australia, and raised his family aboard sailing vessels in ports around the world. He survived mutinies, lost cargoes, terrible storms, and treacheries at sea before resolving on his voyage around the world in a dilapidated oyster sloop he named The Spray. After settling down and writing his memoirs, he set sail on November 14, 1909, and was never seen again.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Alone I Fly: A Wellington Pilot's Desert War
by Bill BaileyThe riveting firsthand account of an RAF pilot&’s adventures in World War II—from life-and-death situations to unusual posts that test his usual good humor. After several years at sea, Sgt Bill Bailey arrived in Cairo in 1942 as a new recruit to the RAF, hoping to fulfill his ambition to fly bombers. Within hours of his arrival he is sent on his first bombing mission as second pilot in a 104 Squadron Wellington. Hit by enemy gunfire, his aircraft suffered continual loss of altitude until hitting a rock outcrop and disintegrating. Bailey came to lying alone on a precipitous ledge and soon realized that he was the sole survivor. To stay alive in temperatures of over 100 degrees, he trudged over seemingly endless dunes at dusk and dawn, his energy gradually fading. Though he ultimately found shelter in an abandoned German reconnaissance truck, he gradually resigned himself to death. But with a last desperate inspiration Bailey realized that it might be possible to attract attention by heliograph. He found enough equipment in the truck and rigged a mast with the mirror at the top and commenced signaling, eventually being rescued by a Long Range Desert Patrol. After recuperation, Bailey rejoined his squadron and was given a new crew with whom he completed his tour. He was then sent to Malta where much to his amazement he was made ground controller of a satellite fighter airfield. This is Bailey&’s uniquely harrowing and humorous account of situations beyond his control—both in and out of the cockpit—during the Second World War.
Alone I Fly: A Wellington Pilot's Desert War
by Bill BaileyThe riveting firsthand account of an RAF pilot&’s adventures in World War II—from life-and-death situations to unusual posts that test his usual good humor. After several years at sea, Sgt Bill Bailey arrived in Cairo in 1942 as a new recruit to the RAF, hoping to fulfill his ambition to fly bombers. Within hours of his arrival he is sent on his first bombing mission as second pilot in a 104 Squadron Wellington. Hit by enemy gunfire, his aircraft suffered continual loss of altitude until hitting a rock outcrop and disintegrating. Bailey came to lying alone on a precipitous ledge and soon realized that he was the sole survivor. To stay alive in temperatures of over 100 degrees, he trudged over seemingly endless dunes at dusk and dawn, his energy gradually fading. Though he ultimately found shelter in an abandoned German reconnaissance truck, he gradually resigned himself to death. But with a last desperate inspiration Bailey realized that it might be possible to attract attention by heliograph. He found enough equipment in the truck and rigged a mast with the mirror at the top and commenced signaling, eventually being rescued by a Long Range Desert Patrol. After recuperation, Bailey rejoined his squadron and was given a new crew with whom he completed his tour. He was then sent to Malta where much to his amazement he was made ground controller of a satellite fighter airfield. This is Bailey&’s uniquely harrowing and humorous account of situations beyond his control—both in and out of the cockpit—during the Second World War.
Alone Time: Four Seasons, Four Cities, and the Pleasures of Solitude
by Stephanie RosenbloomA wise, passionate account of the pleasures of travelling soloIn our increasingly frantic daily lives, many people are genuinely fearful of the prospect of solitude, but time alone can be both rich and restorative, especially when travelling. Through on-the-ground reporting and recounting the experiences of artists, writers, and innovators who cherished solitude, Stephanie Rosenbloom considers how being alone as a traveller--and even in one's own city--is conducive to becoming acutely aware of the sensual details of the world--patterns, textures, colors, tastes, sounds--in ways that are difficult to do in the company of others.Alone Time is divided into four parts, each set in a different city, in a different season, in a single year. The destinations--Paris, Istanbul, Florence, New York--are all pedestrian-friendly, allowing travelers to slow down and appreciate casual pleasures instead of hurtling through museums and posting photos to Instagram. Each section spotlights a different theme associated with the joys and benefits of time alone and how it can enable people to enrich their lives--facilitating creativity, learning, self-reliance, as well as the ability to experiment and change. Rosenbloom incorporates insights from psychologists and sociologists who have studied solitude and happiness, and explores such topics as dining alone, learning to savor, discovering interests and passions, and finding or creating silent spaces. Her engaging and elegant prose makes Alone Time as warmly intimate an account as the details of a trip shared by a beloved friend--and will have its many readers eager to set off on their own solo adventures.
Alone Together: My Life with J. Paul Getty
by Theodora Getty GastonTheodora "Teddy" Getty Gaston—now one hundred years old—reveals the glamorous yet painful story of her marriage to J. Paul Getty. As formidable as Getty was, his wife was equally strong-minded and flamboyant, and their clutches and clashes threw off sparks. She knew the vulnerable side of Getty—he underwent painful plastic surgery and suffered terrible phobias—that few, if any, saw.A vivid love story, Alone Together is also a fascinating glimpse into the twentieth century from the vantage point of one of its most remarkable couples. This is how the other half lived—dinner dances, satin gowns, beach houses, hotel suites, first-class cabins on the Queen Mary. Teddy's extra-ordinary life story moves from the glittering nightclubs of 1930s New York City to Mussolini's Italy, where she was imprisoned by the fascist regime, to California in the golden postwar years, where Paul and Teddy socialized with movie stars and the elite.But life with one of the world's richest men wasn't all glitz and glamour. Though terrifically charismatic in person, Getty grew more miserly as his wealth increased. Worse, he often left Teddy and their son, Timothy, behind for years at a time while he built planes for the war effort in the 1940s or brokered oil deals—he was the first American to lease mineral rights in Saudi Arabia, which made him, at his death, the richest man in the world. Even when Timothy was diagnosed with a brain tumor, Getty complained about medical bills and failed to return to the United States to support his wife and son. When Timothy died at age twelve, the marriage was already falling apart.Teddy's unrelenting spirit, her valiant friendship, and her winning lack of vanity transform what could have been a sob story into a nuanced portrait of a brilliant but stubbornly difficult man and the family he loved but left behind, as well as an enchanting view into a bygone era. This was a life lived from the heart.
Alone among the Living: A Memoir of the Floyd Hoard Murder
by G. Richard HoardThe son of a Georgia prosecutor killed by a car bomb offers a &“compelling&” account of the crime and its effect on his life (Booklist). When I was twenty I came face to face with the old man convicted of paying five thousand dollars for the murder of my father. From the gripping first line of this true story, you will follow a young man&’s journey through grief and despair to acceptance and forgiveness. On August 7, 1967, prosecutor Floyd &“Fuzzy&” Hoard was killed by a car bomb in his own front yard in Jackson County, Georgia. Summoning the memories of the events surrounding that day, Alone among the Living is G. Richard Hoard's remembrance of the father he lost on that day, and of his subsequent struggle to come to terms with the murder. &“A chronicle of grief and anger and confusion as Hoard tries to come of age without his father's help…A compelling story of loss, acceptance, and forgiveness.&”—Booklist &“He writes of the universal struggle to make sense of a world that often seems ruled by chaos and to find one&’s place in it.&”—Athens Banner-Herald
Alone at Dawn: Medal of Honor Recipient John Chapman and the Untold Story of the World's Deadliest Special Operations Force
by Dan Schilling Lori LongfritzThe astonishing true account of John Chapman, Medal of Honor recipient and Special Ops Combat Controller, and his heroic one-man stand during the Afghan War, as he sacrificed his life to save the lives of 23 comrades-in-arms.In the predawn hours of March 4, 2002, just below the 10,469-foot peak of a mountain in eastern Afghanistan, a fierce battle raged. Outnumbered by Al Qaeda fighters, Air Force Combat Controller John Chapman and a handful of Navy SEALs struggled to take the summit in a desperate bid to find a lost teammate. Chapman, leading the charge, was gravely wounded in the initial assault. Believing he was dead, his SEAL leader ordered a retreat. Chapman regained consciousness alone, with the enemy closing in on three sides.John Chapman's subsequent display of incredible valor--first saving the lives of his SEAL teammates and then, knowing he was mortally wounded, single-handedly engaging two dozen hardened fighters to save the lives of an incoming rescue squad--posthumously earned him the Medal of Honor. Chapman is the first airman in nearly fifty years to be given the distinction reserved for America's greatest heroes.Alone at Dawn is also a behind-the-scenes look at the Air Force Combat Controllers: the world's deadliest and most versatile special operations force, whose members must not only exceed the qualifications of Navy SEAL and Army Delta Force teams but also act with sharp decisiveness and deft precision--even in the face of life-threatening danger.Drawing from firsthand accounts, classified documents, dramatic video footage, and extensive interviews with leaders and survivors of the operation, Alone at Dawn is the story of an extraordinary man's brave last stand and the brotherhood that forged him.
Alone atop the Hill: The Autobiography of Alice Dunnigan, Pioneer of the National Black Press (A\sarah Mills Hodge Fund Publication)
by Alice DunniganThe memoir of &“the first African American female reporter to gain entry into the closed society of the White House and congressional news correspondents&” (Hank Klibanoff, coauthor of the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Race Beat). In 1942 Alice Allison Dunnigan, a sharecropper&’s daughter from Kentucky, made her way to the nation&’s capital and a career in journalism that eventually led her to the White House. With Alone Atop the Hill, Carol McCabe Booker has condensed Dunnigan&’s 1974 self-published autobiography to appeal to a general audience and has added scholarly annotations that provide historical context. Dunnigan&’s dynamic story reveals her importance to the fields of journalism, women&’s history, and the civil rights movement and creates a compelling portrait of a groundbreaking American. Dunnigan recounts her formative years in rural Kentucky as she struggled for a living, telling bluntly and simply what life was like in a Border State in the first half of the twentieth century. Later she takes readers to Washington, D.C., where we see her rise from a typist during World War II to a reporter. Ultimately she would become the first black female reporter accredited to the White House; authorized to travel with a U.S. president; credentialed by the House and Senate Press Galleries; accredited to the Department of State and the Supreme Court; voted into the White House Newswomen&’s Association and the Women&’s National Press Club; and recognized as a Washington sports reporter. In Alone Atop the Hill, &“Dunnigan&’s indelible self-portrait affirms that while the media landscape has changed, along with some social attitudes and practices, discrimination is far from vanquished, and we still need dedicated and brave journalists to serve as clarion investigators, witnesses, and voices of conscience (Booklist, starred review).
Alone in Antarctica: The First Woman to Ski Solo Across the Southern Ice
by Felicity AstonIn the whirling noise of our advancing technological age, we are seemingly never alone, never out-of-touch with the barrage of electronic data and information.Felicity Aston, physicist and meteorologist, took two months off from all human contact as she became the first woman -- and only the third person in history - to ski across the entire continent of Antarctica alone. She did it, too, with the simple apparatus of cross-country, without the aids used by her prededecessors - two Norwegian men - each of whom employed either parasails or kites.Aston's journey across the ice at the bottom of the world asked of her the extremes in terms of mental and physical bravery, as she faced the risks of unseen cracks buried in the snow so large they might engulf her and hypothermia due to brutalizing weather. She had to deal, too, with her emotional vulnerability in face of the constant bombardment of hallucinations brought on by the vast sea of whiteness, the lack of stimulation to her senses as she faced what is tantamount to a form of solitary confinement.Like Cheryl Strayed's Wild, Felicity Aston's Alone in Antarctica becomes an inspirational saga of one woman's battle through fear and loneliness as she honestly confronts both the physical challenges of her adventure, as well as her own human vulnerabilities.
Alone in Plain Sight Expanded Edition: Searching for Connection When You're Seen but Not Known
by Ben HigginsAre you tired of people knowing who you are but no one really knowing you?As the star of the twentieth season of The Bachelor, Ben Higgins looked like he had it all together. Instead, Ben felt dissatisfied, fearful, and deeply alone. Like so many of us, he thought of himself as the kid who never got picked for the game, the person always on the outside of the joke, the friend who knew a lot of people but was never truly known. He wondered if he mattered at all.In this expanded edition of Alone in Plain Sight, Ben shares with inspiring vulnerability how he found the deeper connection he longed for. He offers insight onhow to understand ourselves more deeply so that we are free to connect with others;how shared pain can bridge even the widest gaps between two very different people;how marriage and fatherhood have shaped his understanding of vulnerability and connection;how the God who longs for relationship with us is the answer to our need for connection; andin an all-new chapter, how radical generosity, service, and community building can lead to an even greater depth of relationship. In a disconnected world, it is possible to have lasting purpose and peace. You are already known. You are already loved. You are already seen. Discover how to live out how much you matter as you embrace the true meaning of your one incredible life.
Alone in the Mainstream: A Deaf Woman Remembers Public School (Gallaudet New Deaf Lives #1)
by Gina A. OlivaWhen Gina Oliva first went to school in 1955, she didn’t know that she was “different.” If the kindergarten teacher played a tune on the piano to signal the next exercise, Oliva didn’t react because she couldn’t hear the music. So began her journey as a “solitary,” her term for being the only deaf child in the entire school. Gina felt alone because she couldn’t communicate easily with her classmates, but also because none of them had a hearing loss like hers. It wasn’t until years later at Gallaudet University that she discovered that she wasn’t alone and that her experience was common among mainstreamed deaf students. Alone in the Mainstream recounts Oliva’s story, as well as those of many other solitaries. In writing this important book, Oliva combined her personal experiences with responses from the Solitary Mainstream Project, a survey that she conducted of deaf and hard of hearing adults who attended public school. Oliva matched her findings with current research on deaf students in public schools and confirmed that hearing teachers are ill-prepared to teach deaf pupils, they don’t know much about hearing loss, and they frequently underestimate deaf children. The collected memories in Alone in the Mainstream add emotional weight to the conviction that students need to be able to communicate freely, and they also need peers to know they are not alone.
Alone in the Mainstream: Looking Back on Public School as a Deaf or Hard of Hearing Child (Deaf Lives #14)
by Gina A. OlivaIn 1975, federal legislation initiated drastic changes in the education of deaf and hard of hearing children. Public Law 94-142, later known as IDEA, proposed to provide the “Least Restrictive Environment” for all such children. In the years since, advocates for deaf and hard of hearing children have raised the alarm that mainstream educational settings can cause language and social deprivation for these children. In Alone in the Mainstream, author Gina A. Oliva documents her experience as a “solitaire,” the only deaf or hard of hearing student in her school. Oliva felt alone because she couldn’t communicate easily with her classmates and because she had no peers who shared a similar experience. As an adult, when she began her career at Gallaudet University, she realized that she wasn’t alone and that her experience was widely shared with other mainstreamed students. She decided to write about this commonality and invited other solitaires to reflect on their own experiences in emails and essays. Collective themes of isolation, low expectations, and low self-esteem emerged. Alone in the Mainstream blends Oliva’s personal narrative with the reflections of sixty other solitaires and makes the case that deaf and hard of hearing children need each other. This twentieth anniversary edition is a reminder that little has changed for deaf and hard of hearing students in public school settings. Oliva brings this new edition up to date with observations, resources, and discussion questions that accompany her appeal for all deaf and hard of hearing children and their families to have access to sign language, to develop a deaf identity, and to be part of a deaf community.
Alone in the Woods: Cheryl Strayed, My Daughter, and Me
by Micah PerksWhat do you do when fate hands you a wild daughter? As Micah recounts her struggles to raise a brave daughter and to keep her safe at the same time, she also tells the story of her own sometimes humorous, sometimes harrowing two-week solo adventure in the Adirondack Mountains as a teenager. Micah Perks’ candid short memoir takes an insightful look at women and the wild, the wildness she experienced as a child on a commune in the Adirondack wilderness, the ways women and wildness are depicted in movies and books like Cheryl Strayed’s best-selling memoir Wild, and the wilderness she discovers inside her own daughter.
Alone on the Ice: The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration
by David Roberts"An important missing story from the heroic age of Antarctic exploration."--Laurence Gonzales, author of Deep Survival On January 17, 1913, alone and near starvation, Douglas Mawson, leader of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, was hauling a sledge to get back to base camp. The dogs were gone. Now Mawson himself plunged through a snow bridge, dangling over an abyss by the sledge harness. A line of poetry gave him the will to haul himself back to the surface. Mawson was sometimes reduced to crawling, and one night he discovered that the soles of his feet had completely detached from the flesh beneath. On February 8, when he staggered back to base, his features unrecognizably skeletal, the first teammate to reach him blurted out, "Which one are you?" This thrilling and almost unbelievable account establishes Mawson in his rightful place as one of the greatest polar explorers and expedition leaders. It is illustrated by a trove of Frank Hurley's famous Antarctic photographs, many never before published in the United States.
Alone on the Wall (Expanded edition): Alex Honnold And The Ultimate Limits Of Adventure
by David Roberts Alex HonnoldIncluding two new chapters on Alex Honnold’s free solo ascent of the iconic 3,000-foot El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. On June 3rd, 2017, Alex Honnold became the first person to free solo Yosemite's El Capitan—to scale the wall without rope, a partner, or any protective gear—completing what was described as "the greatest feat of pure rock climbing in the history of the sport" (National Geographic) and "one of the great athletic feats of any kind, ever" (New York Times). Already one of the most famous adventure athletes in the world, Honnold has now been hailed as "the greatest climber of all time" (Vertical magazine). Alone on the Wall recounts the most astonishing achievements of Honnold’s extraordinary life and career, brimming with lessons on living fearlessly, taking risks, and maintaining focus even in the face of extreme danger. Now Honnold tells, for the first time and in his own words, the story of his 3 hours and 56 minutes on the sheer face of El Cap, which Outside called "the moon landing of free soloing…a generation-defining climb. Bad ass and beyond words…one of the pinnacle sporting moments of all time."
Alone on the Wall: Alex Honnold And The Ultimate Limits Of Adventure
by David Roberts Alex HonnoldThe life and death-defying feats of Alex Honnold, a visionary climber of the sort that comes along only once in a generation. Only a few years ago, Alex Honnold was little known beyond a small circle of hardcore climbers. Today, at the age of thirty, he is probably the most famous adventure athlete in the world. In that short time, he has proven his expertise in many styles of climbing and has shattered speed records, pioneered routes, and won awards within each discipline. More spectacularly still, he has pushed the most extreme and dangerous form of climbing far beyond the limits of what anyone thought was possible. Free soloing, Honnold's specialty, is a type of climbing performed without a rope, a partner, or hardware--such as pitons, nuts, or cams--for aid or protection. The results of climbing this way are breathtaking, but the stakes are ultimate: if you fall, you die. In Alone on the Wall, Honnold recounts the seven most astonishing climbing achievements so far in his meteoric and still-evolving career. He narrates the drama of each climb, along with reflective passages that illuminate the inner workings of his highly perceptive and discerning mind. We share in the jitters and excitements he feels waking in his van (where he lives full time) before a climb; we see him self-criticize in his climbing journal (a veritable bible for students of the sport); and we learn his secrets to managing fear--his most enviable talent. Veteran climber and award-winning author David Roberts writes part of each chapter in his own voice, and he calls on other climbers and the sport's storied past to put Alex's tremendous accomplishments in perspective. Whenever Honnold speaks in public, he is asked the same two questions: "Aren't you afraid you're going to die?" and "Why do you do this?" Alone on the Wall takes us around the world and through the highs and lows in the life of a climbing superstar to answer those fascinating questions. Honnold's extraordinary life, and his idiosyncratic worldview, have much to teach us about risk, reward, and the ability to maintain a singular focus, even in the face of extreme danger.
Alone to Everest
by Earl DenmanThe story of some of Earl Denman’s mountaineering exploits to Africa, culminating in his journey in 1947 through Tibet to Everest with Tenzing Norgay (later to become one of the first two individuals known to reach the summit of Mount Everest) is here told for the first time.Alone to Everest tells the remarkable story of a remarkable man. Among many present-day accounts of hardship and adventure, it stands out as the testimony of a man for whom modern civilisation and modern equipment mean little, and who is happiest, as he says, “walking barefoot on warm grass or wet rocks; in probing deep into cool, quiet forests; in days of healthy activity and evenings of restfulness spent beside a warming fire.” Denman’s achievements in the Belgian Congo—where with only local guides as companions he became one of the first men to climb all eight of the high and remove Virunga Mountains—made him realise that he would never rest until he had made a similar expedition to the highest mountain in the world. At the time £250 was all he had in the world; his equipment was of the simplest and cheapest. His journey by sea and land to Darjeeling was made under great difficulties. His meeting with Karma Paul, who introduced him to Tenzing and his friend Ang Dowa, was entirely fortuitous; he was expressly forbidden to enter Tibet (Nepal at that time was entirely closed to the Western world). Yet with all these handicaps he and the two Sherpas set off alone from Darjeeling, made their way, with many mishaps, through Sikkim and Tibet to the Rongbuk monastery, and thence to Everest itself. Appalling weather conditions finally drove them back, but not before they had attained a height of 23,500 feet.Everest has now been climbed, and no doubt will be again. But Denman’s feat, though superficially unsuccessful, remains a triumph against fantastic odds.