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84 Charing Cross Road (Virago Modern Classics #776)
by Helene HanffINCLUDES AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THE READERS'Your ad in the Saturday Review of Literature says that you specialize in out-of-print books. The phrase 'antiquarian book-sellers' scares me somewhat, as I equate 'antique' with expensive. I am a poor writer with an antiquarian taste in books and all the things I want are impossible to get over here except in very expensive rare editions, or in Barnes & Noble's grimy, marked-up schoolboy copies.'So begins the delightfully reticent love affair between Miss Helene Hanff of New York and Messrs Marks and Co, sellers of rare and secondhand books, at 84 Charing Cross Road, London. For 20 years, this outspoken New York writer and Frank Doel, a rather more restrained London bookseller carry on an increasingly touching correspondence. No doubt their letters would have continued, but in 1969, a letter informed Helene that Frank Doel had died. In the collection's penultimate entry, Helene Hanff urges a tourist friend, ''If you happen to pass by 84 Charing Cross Road, kiss it for me. I owe it so much.'
88 Days to Kandahar
by Robert L. GrenierThe First American-Afghan War, a CIA war, was approved by President George W. Bush and directed by the author, Robert Grenier, the CIA station chief in Islamabad. Forging separate alliances with warlords, Taliban dissidents, and Pakistani intelligence, Grenier launched the "southern campaign," orchestrating the final defeat of the Taliban and Hamid Karzai's rise to power in eighty-eight chaotic days.In his gripping narrative, we meet: General Tommy Franks, who bridled at CIA control of "his" war; General "Jafar Amin," a gruff Pakistani intelligence officer who saved Grenier from committing career suicide; Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan's brilliant ambassador to the US, who tried to warn her government of the al-Qa'ida threat; "Mark," the CIA operator who guided Gul Agha Shirzai to bloody victory over the Taliban; General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani, a cautious man who became the most powerful man in Pakistan, struggling with Grenier's demands while trying to protect his country; and Hamid Karzai, the puzzling anti-Taliban insurgent, a man of courage, petulance, and vacillating moods. Grenier's enemies out in front prove only slightly more lethal than the ones behind his own lines. This first war is won despite Washington bureaucrats who divert resources, deny military support, and try to undermine the only Afghan allies capable of winning. Later, as he directed the CIA's role in the Iraq War, Grenier watched the initial victory squandered. His last command was of CIA's CounterTerrorism Center (CTC), as Bush-era terrorism policies were being repudiated, as the Taliban re-emerged in Afghanistan, and as Pakistan descended into fratricidal violence.
9 1/2 Narrow
by Patricia MorrisroeA funny, poignant coming-of-age memoir told through the shoes that she wore. From baby booties to orthopedic brogues (and all the high and low heels in between) shoes mark important rites of passage, reminding us of both the good and bad times: the road not taken, the prince that got away, the missed opportunities, the traveling, the fun. Most of all, they bring to mind the people we've loved and sometimes lost along the way.Combining tidbits of cultural history, Morrisroe chronicles her life as a bullied Catholic schoolgirl in "Moby Dick" brogues; a besotted college student in granny boots; an aspiring journalist in Annie Hall oxfords; a skeptical bride in her first Manolos; a reluctant fashionista in towering peep-toe pumps; and a concerned daughter, whose elderly mother hoped that her New Balance sneakers would help her regain her old balance. With wit and compassion, she introduces us to an unforgettable cast of characters, from her grandfather, who treated the family to legendary foot rubs, to her husband, whose vast collection of vintage Puma sneakers threatened to overwhelm their apartment and derail their marriage.Morrisroe's "coming-of-age" is, at its heart, the story of a generation of women who've enjoyed a world of freedom and opportunity that was unthinkable to their mothers. Spanning five decades and countless footwear trends, 9 ½ Narrow is, like Love, Loss and What I Wore, about how we remember important events through a coat, or a dress, or in this case, a Beatle boot or Confirmation "wedgie." With her charming sense of humor and irresistible voice, Morrisroe not only recounts her own story but also everywoman's. Funny, candid and unexpectedly poignant, 9 ½ Narrow is about how we grow up, grow older, and finally grow into our own shoes.
9 Lives by 35: An Olympic Gymnast's Inspiring Story of Reinvention
by Mary SandersOlympic gymnast and Cirque du Soleil acrobat Mary Sanders shares her incredible story of dedication and personal sacrifice that led to success and reinvention.Mary Sanders was handed an Olympic dream by her father from the moment she was born. Determined to follow in his footsteps, the young gymnast struggled through training setbacks, financial hardships, and personal rivalries, under a cloud of grief, to compete in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. But that achievement was only the beginning for a woman determined to reinvent herself and consistently raise her own standards for success.In this revealing memoir, Mary recounts her journey from Olympian to Cirque du Soleil acrobat to entertainment executive working for Shark Tank’s Robert Herjavec while balancing life at home with two children. Through it all, no matter what obstacles are thrown in her path, Mary pushes forward, leaning on her faith, her family, and her enduring optimism to support her in each of her nine lives so far.
9 Rules of Engagement: A Military Brat’s Guide to Life and Success
by Harris FaulknerThe Emmy award-winning news anchor of Outnumbered Overtime with Harris Faulkner and co-host of the talk show Outnumbered shares the lessons she learned growing up in a military family paying homage to the military ideals that shaped her and showing how everyone can benefit from bringing the wisdom of military service into their lives.Born into a military family, Harris Faulkner revered her father, a decorated career officer who served three tours of duty in Vietnam and raised his children with the values and ideals of the U.S. military. Accompanying him from posting to posting, young Harris experienced firsthand how success in life was rooted in the knowledge, integrity, and leadership that came from her military surroundings. Indeed, these formative lessons in leadership and work ethic became the guiding principles for her career as a journalist, lessons she credits with her rise to become one of the top hosts on Fox News.Now, she shares the advice, wisdom, and tools that she absorbed through her military upbringing, examining how these ideals have shaped her professional and personal outlook and how everyone can incorporate them into their own lives. Using her father’s career as the backdrop to her experience, she explores the lessons in courage, duty, patriotism, and responsibility that helped her succeed, demonstrating the truth to the axiom that in military families everyone serves—together. Along the way she also interviews current and former military families, generals and other officers, and tells stories from her father’s career to illuminate how and why the message and mission of the military is so effective at changing lives both on and off the battlefield.Illustrated with sixteen pages of never-before-seen photos of her early life and career, this instructive book, part memoir, part motivational life guide, reminds us of our most important values—the keys to a successful life.
9-1/2 Years Behind the Green Door, a Memoir: A Mitchell Brothers Stripper Remembers Her Lover Artie Mitchell, Hunter S. Thompson, and the Killing that Rocked San Francisco
by Simone CordayBefore the advent of AIDS, the theater and its steamy live shows are a countercultural venue for celebrities in entertainment and sports, and for San Francisco politicians and journalists. Simone Corday, who danced at the O'Farrell and was a girlfriend of the late Artie Mitchell, shares her unique story and her insights. As the only woman insider, she writes about this insular when she was close to the impulsive Mitchells, and a friend of the O'Farrell's honorary Night Manager, Hunter Thompson.
90 Day Geisha: My time as Tokyo Hostess
by Chelsea HaywoodAn introspective journey into the glamorous world—and temptations—of Japanese nightlife, by former model Chelsea Haywood.The hard-drinking, drug-taking, all-night culture that dominates Tokyo&’s Roppongi district can be a surreal place. Overworked Japanese business men will pay handsomely for the services of a hostess—someone to talk to, someone to provide hot towels and drinks, and sometimes just a companion with whom to sing karaoke with all night. Intrigued by rumors of this strange subculture and armed with her 90-day work visa and new husband, Matt, Chelsea throws herself into the lion&’s den. Yet what she discovers about herself and about the inhabitants of this nocturnal life far exceeds her expectations. Hostessing, she comes to find, has &“very little to do with sex, quite a lot to do with psychology, and nothing to do with prostitution.&” Her personality and conversation skills are her top commodity, and Chelsea quickly finds herself charmed by these billionaire men, many of whom are funny, intelligent, even kind, and often, very lonely. But as she becomes more and more attached to her clients, Chelsea soon finds herself getting burned at her own game, as the endless presents, compliments, and destructive atmosphere of alcohol and drugs threaten to take both her marriage, and her sanity, to the edge.
90 Minutes in Heaven
by Cecil Murphey Don PiperAfter colliding with a semi-truck, Don Piper died and went to heaven. Ninety minutes later he returned to life on earth. After years of silence, he is now sharing his life-changing story.
90 Seconds to Midnight: A Hiroshima Survivor's Nuclear Odyssey
by Charlotte DeCroes Jacobs90 Seconds to Midnight tells the gripping and thought-provoking story of Setsuko Nakamura Thurlow, a thirteen-year-old girl living in Hiroshima in 1945, when the city was annihilated by an atomic bomb. Struggling with grief and anger, Thurlow set out to warn the world about the horrors of a nuclear attack in a crusade that has lasted seven decades. In 2015 Thurlow sparked a rallying cry for activists when she proclaimed at the United Nations, &“Humanity and nuclear weapons cannot coexist.&” With that, she shifted the global discussion from nuclear deterrence to humanitarian consequences, the key in crafting the landmark Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Regarded as the conscience of the antinuclear movement, Thurlow accepted the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. With the fate of humanity at stake and with the resolve of her samurai ancestors, Thurlow challenged leaders of the nuclear-armed states. On January 22, 2021, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons went into effect, banning nuclear weapons under international law. Critical historical events need a personal narrative, and Thurlow is such a storyteller for Hiroshima. 90 Seconds to Midnight recounts Thurlow&’s ascent from the netherworld where she saw, heard, and smelled death and her relentless efforts to protect the world from an unspeakable fate. Knowing she would have to live with those nightmares, Thurlow turned them into a force to impel people across the globe to learn from Hiroshima, to admit that yes, it could happen again—and then to take action.
90-Day Geisha: My Time as a Tokyo Hostess
by Chelsea HaywoodAn introspective journey into the glamorous world--and Dionysian temptations--of Japanese nightlife The hard-drinking, drug-taking, all-night culture that dominates Tokyo's Roppongi district can be a surreal place. Intrigued by rumors of this strange subculture and armed with her 90-day work visa and new husband, Matt, Chelsea throws herself into the lion's den. Yet what she discovers about herself and about the inhabitants of this nocturnal life far exceeds her expectations.
900 Miles from Nowhere: Voices from the Homestead Frontier
by Steven R. KinsellaIt was on the vast American prairie that people from around the world seized the opportunity for personal and economic freedom promised by free land. Traveling across oceans and continents, these hard-nosed, pragmatic people began arriving in the 1860s with shovels and ploughs, convinced they were part of something important. They were. Putting hand to plough and breaking the sod for their first crude homes, these hardy settlers left an indelible thumbprint on American history and on the country's character. Though many of their ventures ended in failure, their risks permanently enhanced the nation's diversity and its sense of independence and resourcefulness. 900 Miles from Nowhere is the heartfelt chronicle of the daily lives and personal struggles of Great Plains homesteaders, told in their own voices through many never-before-published letters, diaries, and photographs. Believing absolutely that they could control their own destiny, they bet everything they owned, even in the face of insurmountable obstacles. This is the remarkable and ever-inspiring story of life on the grasslands that stretch from Canada to Mexico.
920 O'Farrell Street: A Jewish Girlhood in Old San Francisco
by Harriet L. Levy Charlene AkersThe girlhood memoir of Harriet Lane Levy, friend and neighbor of Alice B. Toklas, provides an intimate and detailed glimpse into San Francisco's Victorian past.
98 Degrees...
by Kristin SparksDrew, Jeff, Nick and Justin. They're four fine guys who are taking the music world by storm with their winning combination of R&B and pop. Where did they come from? Where do they see themselves going? What inspires their fabulous songs? And what's going on in their personal lives? Find out the sizzling inside story on this scorchingly sexy band!
98% Funky Stuff: My Life in Music
by Maceo ParkerRevealing the warm and astonishing story of an influential jazz legend, this personal narrative tells the story of a man's journey from a Southern upbringing to a career touring the world to play for adoring fans. It tells how James Brown first discovered the Parker brothers--Melvin, the drummer, and Maceo on sax--in a band at a small North Carolina nightclub in 1963. Brown hired them both, but it was Maceo's signature style that helped define Brown's brand of funk, and the phrase "Maceo, I want you to blow!" became part of the lexicon of black music. A riveting story of musical education with frank and revelatory insights about George Clinton and others, this definitive autobiography arrives just in time to celebrate the 70th birthday of the author--one of the funkiest musicians alive--and will be enjoyed by jazz and funk aficionados alike.
99 Bottles: A Black Sheep's Guide to Life-Changing Wines
by André Hueston MackA highly opinionated, vibrantly illustrated wine guide from one of the country’s most celebrated—and unorthodox—sommeliers and winemakers. In this entertaining, informative, and thoroughly unconventional wine guide, award-winning sommelier, winemaker, and wine educator Andre Mack presents readers with the 99 bottles that have most impacted his life. Instead of just pairing wines with foods, Mack pairs practical information with personal stories, offering up recommendations alongside reflections on being one of the only African-Americans to ever work at the top level of the American wine industry. Mack’s 99 bottles range from highly accessible commercial wines to the most rarefied Bordeaux on the wine list at The French Laundry, and each bottle offers readers something to learn about wine. This window into Mack’s life combines a maverick’s perspective on the wine industry with an insider’s advice on navigating wine lists, purchasing wine, and drinking more diverse and interesting selections at home. 99 Bottles is a one-of-a-kind exploration of wine culture today from a true trailblazer.
999 - My Life on the Frontline of the Ambulance Service
by Dan FarnworthDan Farnworth brings vividly to life his astonishing experiences as a medic working on the frontline of the UK Ambulance Service. When the 999 call goes out, he has little idea what he will find - and how he will cope with the challenges he faces when he gets there. Having worked in the emergency services for more than fifteen years, Dan Farnworth has seen it all. There was the time he was called to take away a dead body - only for the 'corpse' to jolt back into life and demand to know what he was doing in her house. Earlier in his career, he unwittingly disturbed a crime scene as he shared the sad news of the victim's death with her son. Along with the 18,000 other paramedics in the UK who serve us day and night, Dan constantly finds himself pushed into extraordinary circumstances where he not only has to deal with those he has been sent to help, but also their worried families and friends - and even with irate drivers who object to his ambulance getting in their way as he desperately works to save someone's life. There is a special camaraderie among paramedics, and 999 - Life on the Frontline is packed with stories that are sometimes sad, occasionally hilarious, often moving but always inspirational. However, the work also takes its emotional toll, and Dan won an ITV NHS Heroes Award after setting up the Our Blue Light Campaign that helps those in his profession suffering from PTSD - something that struck him after a truly shocking event. His story will make you see our ambulance service in a completely new way.
99: Gretzky: His Game, His Story
by Roy Macgregor Al StrachanWhether wearing his Edmonton oil-drop, the black and silver colours of L.A., or the famous Rangers sweater from New York, all hockey fans agree that Wayne Gretzky was the best hockey player of all time. His point totals, his puck control, and the manner in which he conducted himself both on and off the ice reflected the very best of the game. You can't talk about Gretzky without talking about his records and achievements: 50 goals in just 39 games, 9 Hart Trophies, 10 Art Ross Trophies, 4 Stanley Cups, 215 points in a single season, and, of course, retiring with 2856 points. Each record is a remarkable achievement by the game's most remarkable player, and each will be broken down in this book. Published with Wayne Gretzky's approval and written with his cooperation, this is the Gretzky biography that his fans have so anxiously awaited. Veteran sports journalist Al Strachan has enjoyed an extremely close friendship with Gretzky for well over 25 years, and during this time Strachan has reported on every aspect of his professional career. The two have spent thousands of hours talking about the game and such details as Wayne's move to L.A., managing the 2002 Canadian Olympic team and coaching in Phoenix. Their close friendship has offered each man the opportunity to discuss the game that they both love, and in this book Strachan takes readers on a most remarkable journey and details the life of Wayne Gretzky like it has never been told.
99: Stories of the Game
by Wayne GretzkyOne of the greatest sports figures of all time salutes his heroes and takes us inside the game as few others can. From minor-hockey phenomenon to Hall of Fame sensation, Wayne Gretzky rewrote the record books, his accomplishments becoming the stuff of legend. Dubbed "The Great One," he is considered by many to be the greatest hockey player who ever lived. No one has seen more of the game than he has--but he has never discussed in depth just what it was he saw. For the first time, Gretzky discusses candidly what the game looks like to him and introduces us to the people who inspired and motivated him: mentors, teammates, rivals, the famous and the lesser known. Weaving together lives and moments from an extraordinary career, he reflects on the players who inflamed his imagination when he was a kid, the way he himself figured in the dreams of so many who came after; takes us onto the ice and into the dressing rooms to meet the friends who stood by him and the rivals who spurred him to greater heights; shows us some of the famous moments in hockey history through the eyes of someone who regularly made that history. Warm, direct, and revelatory, it is a book that gives us number 99, the man and the player, like never before.From the Hardcover edition.
> e-mail trouble
by S. Paige BatyIn this daring, postmodern autobiography, S. Paige Baty recounts her search for love and community on the Internet. Taking Jack Kerouac's On the Road as a point of departure, Baty describes both an actual road trip to meet the object of an e-mail romance and the cyber-search for connection that draws so many people into the matrix of the Internet. Writing in a bold, experimental style that freely mixes e-mails, poems, fragments of quotations, and puns into expository text, she convincingly links e-mail trouble with "female trouble" in the displacement of embodied love and accountable human relationships to opaque screens and alienated identities. Her book stands as a vivid feminist critique of our culture's love affair with technology and its dehumanizing effect on personal relationships.
A Mother’s Tears for a Missing Son: A Challenging Spiritual Experience
by Dolly HillsA Mother's Tears for a Missing Son is a first hand account of my personal journey when my son mysteriously disappears in remote Alaska wilderness. It describes the adventures of a free spirited young man who lived on the edge of life and whose choices brought him and his family to an unforeseen outcome of bizarre twists and turns. The expansiveness of the environment offers a setting where the unexpected can happen at a moment's notice. A Mother's Tears for a Missing Son is a story of hope, faith, and trust, with a determination to never give up. I struggled to maintain endurance and courage, through an intense time of grief. As the story unravels, I realized the many opportunities for growth as I navigated my way through a devastating experience with resilience and came to understand the need to fully embrace and process the grief – while enduring personal tragedy. Ultimately, a sense of peace predominates.
A $500 House in Detroit: Rebuilding an Abandoned Home and an American City
by Drew PhilpDrew Philp, an idealistic college student from a working-class Michigan family, withdraws from the comforts of life on a university campus in search of a place to live where he can make a difference. He sets his sights on Detroit, the failed metropolis of abandoned buildings, widespread poverty, and rampant crime—a complicated source of national fascination, often stereotyped and little understood. Arriving with no job, no friends, and no money, Philp is naïvely determined to fix the huge, broken city with his own hands and on his own terms. A year later, he saves up and buys a ramshackle house for five hundred dollars in the east side neighborhood known as Poletown and moves in. Philp gets what he pays for. The roomy Queen Anne he now owns has been abandoned for a decade and is little more than a clapboard shell on a crumbling brick foundation, filled with heaping piles of trash (including most of a chopped-up minivan), and missing windows, heat, water, electricity, and a functional roof. The landscape of the surrounding neighborhood resembles an urban prairie: overgrown fields dotted with houses that haven’t been demolished or burned to the ground—some of them well-maintained by Detroiters who have chosen to remain in the city, but many, like the Queen Anne, left vacant and in complete disrepair. Based on a BuzzFeed essay that resonated with millions of readers, A $500 House in Detroit is Philp’s raw and earnest account of rebuilding everything but the frame of his house, nail by nail and room by room. It’s also the story of a young man finding his footing in the city, the country, and his own generation. As he assimilates into the community of Detroiters around him, Philp guides readers through the city’s vibrant history and engages in urgent conversations about gentrification, racial tensions, and class warfare. We witness his concept of Detroit shift, expand, and evolve as his plan to save the city gives way to a life forged from political meaning, personal connection, and collective purpose. Part social history, part brash generational statement, part comeback story, A $500 House in Detroit is an intimate account of the tentative revival of an American city—home by home and person by person—and a glimpse at a new way forward for generations to come.
A 'Family' Business: The Life And Times Of Joey 'The Fixer' Silvestri
by Dennis N. Griffin Joey SilvestriThis true crime memoir of Mafia-controlled NYC goes from mean streets to shadowy back rooms and the glittering Copacabana at its peak.Joe Silvestri was a tough kid from Queens who went on to be one of New York&’s most respected mafia muscle man. He worked security at the glamorous Copacabana, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Tom Jones and Frank Sinatra. He was there as a guest of Sammy Davis, Jr., the night Mickey Mantle and other legendary Yankees got involved in the infamous &“basebrawl.&”They called him The Fixer because he had a talent for making problems go away. He knew how to use his fists when necessary, and he always followed Mob protocol when having a sit down with an adversary: You never break bread with the enemy. Award-winning Mob author Dennis Griffin joins forces with Joey &“the Fixer&” Silvestri to tell a tale of a bygone era when organized crime dominated New York City. It was a place where neighborhood bosses controlled their turf, and your best friend might suddenly become your deadly enemy. It was Joey&’s world, and his stories bring it to life in all its drama, glamour, and violence.
A 1950s Holiday in Bognor Regis
by Shirley Lewis Sylvia EndacottBognor Regis is situated on the south coast of Britain overlooking the English Channel. After more than two centuries as a seaside resort, the town is still attracting visitors, in no small part due to the clarity of its air. On the 18th of January 1787, the resort's founder, Sir Richard Hotham, laid a foundation stone marking the town as a "public bathing place ", a description that Bognor Regis has continued to earn and enjoy ever since. Throughout the decades seaside holidays have changed to reflect current fashions. Bognor Regis has been no different; rather like the ebb and flow of the tide, visitor numbers have risen, fallen and risen again according to the various fashions of the day. Accessibility by train from London was a major contributor to the number of visitors in the resort's early years. Coaches and Sunday school outings then came into prominence, followed eventually by the arrival of the car. As leisure time and money became more plentiful for all, a Sunday outing was replaced by a week at the seaside, then a fortnight's break. Today many people choose Bognor Regis for a weekend away or a four day mid-week break, spending their main holiday time abroad as is the current fashion. Whatever the reason, the attraction of the sea is still strong and will continue to draw people from the towns and cities to the beaches for a paddle in the sea. Bognor Regis continues to attract visitors to its friendly beaches and by its regular appearance at the top of the National Sunshine League.
A 1960s Childhood: From Thunderbirds to Beatlemania
by Paul FeeneyDo you remember Beatlemania? Radio Caroline? Mods and Rockers? The very first miniskirts? Then the chances are you were born in the or around 1960.To the young people of today, the 1960s seems like another age. But for those who grew up in this decade, school life, 'mod' fashions and sixties pop music are still fresh in their minds. From James Bond to Sindy dolls and playing hopscotch in the street, life was very different to how it is now. After the tough and frugal years of the fifties, the sixties was a boom period, a time of changed attitudes and improved lifestyles. With chapters on home and school life, games and hobbies, music and fashion, alongside a selection of charming illustrations, this delightful compendium of memories will appeal to all who grew up in this lively era. Take a nostalgic look at what it was like to grow up during the sixties and recapture all aspects of life back then.
A 1960s East End Childhood
by Simon WebbDo you remember playing in streets free of traffic? Dancing to the Beatles? Watching a man land on the Moon on TV? Waking up to ice on the inside of the windows? If the answer is yes, then the chances are that you were a child in the 1960s. This delightful compendium of memories will appeal to all who grew up in the East End during the Swinging Sixties. With chapters on games and hobbies, school and holidays, this wonderful volume is sure to jog memories for all who remember this exciting decade.