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Seasons in Basilicata
by David YeadonAward-winning travel writer and illustrator, David Yeadon embarks with his wife, Anne on an exploration of the "lost word" of Basilicata, in the arch of Italy's boot. What is intended as a brief sojourn turns into an intriguing residency in the ancient hill village of Aliano, where Carlo Levi, author of the world-renowned memoir Christ Stopped at Eboli, was imprisoned by Mussolini for anti-Fascist activities. As the Yeadons become immersed in Aliano's rich tapestry of people, traditions, and festivals, reveling in the rituals and rhythms of the grape and olive harvests, the culinary delights, and other peculiarities of place, they discover that much of the pagan strangeness that Carlo Levi and other notable authors revealed still lurks beneath the beguiling surface of Basilicata.
Seasons of Her Life: A Biography of Madeleine Korbel Albright
by Ann Blackman Brooke ZimmerWhen Madeleine Korbel Albright was sworn in as secretary of state in January 1997, she made headlines around the world. She was the first woman to rise to the top tier of American government and had a reputation for defining foreign policy in blunt one-liners that voters could understand. When her Jewish heritage was disclosed, people were intrigued by her personal story and wondered how it was possible -- if it were possible -- that she truly could have been ignorant of her past. VeteranTimemagazine correspondent Ann Blackman has written the first comprehensive biography of Madeleine Albright. The book reveals a life of enormous texture -- a lonely, peripatetic childhood in war-ravaged Europe; two harrowing escapes from her homeland, once from the Nazis, then from the Communists; her arrival in America; Madeleine's unhappiness as a teenager in Denver, always the outsider, the little refugee; her marriage into an old American newspaper family with great wealth. When, after twenty-three years, the marriage failed, Albright was devastated. But in many ways, divorce liberated her to pursue a lifelong interest in government and international affairs. From Senator Edmund S. Muskie's office to President Carter's White House to a professorship at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, Albright gained experience and contacts. As a foreign affairs advisor to Democratic vice-presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro and, later, presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, Albright positioned herself to return to government as President Clinton's ambassador to the United Nations and eventually to claim her ultimate prize -- the office of secretary of state. With both insight and compassion, Blackman shows how the changing cultural mores of the last four decades affected Albright and other women of her generation: the self-doubt she experienced when, as a young mother in an era when real mothers didn't work, she decided to take a job on Capitol Hill; the problems she faced as a female professor who was not always taken seriously in the white man's world of foreign policy; the psychological transformation from spending most of her professional life as a staffer who wrote talking points for others to becoming a woman of consequence in her own right; the ups and downs of an ambitious, driven woman who still carries her share of insecurities, now concealed by a veneer of power and celebrity. In writing this landmark book, Blackman drew on archival material in the United States, Britain, and the Czech Republic, as well as interviews with almost two hundred friends and colleagues of Albright and her family, including President Clinton, Czech Republic President Václav Havel, and U. N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, She also spent many hours with Albright herself who, feet up in her Georgetown living room, offered startlingly frank and poignant comments on her life, past and present. The book is enhanced with twenty-five photos, many from the Secretary's personal collection.
Seasons of Hope: Memoirs of Ontario’s First Aboriginal Lieutenant Governor
by James Bartleman2016 Speaker's Book Award — Shortlisted A look back over Bartleman’s seventy years, from his childhood of poverty to becoming the Queen’s representative in Ontario. James Bartleman, Ontario’s first Native lieutenant governor, looks back over seventy years to his childhood and youth to describe how learning to read at any early age led him to dream dreams, empowering him to serve his country as an ambassador. In time, Bartleman’s exciting and fulfilling career as a Canadian diplomat took him to a dozen countries around the world, from Bangladesh to Cuba, and from Australia to South Africa. After a vicious beating in a hotel room robbery in South Africa, however, he was forced to come to terms with a deepening depression. In the end, Bartleman found new meaning in life when he became the Queen’s representative in Ontario and mobilized the public to support his initiatives championing books and education for Native children. Seasons of Hope is the extraordinary story of an extraordinary man, and of his constant journey to hope.
Seasons of My Life
by Hannah HauxwellThe classic and much-loved memoir by Hannah Hauxwell about life in remote Yorkshire in the 1970s.Hannah Hauxwell first came to the nation's attention on Yorkshire television's award-winning documentary TOO LONG A WINTER, when she captured the hearts and imaginations of millions who were captivated by her ability to single-handedly run her family's farm in an isolated area in Yorkshire. Since the age of 35, following the deaths of her parents and uncle, she lived a self-sufficient life without electricity or running water at Low Birk Hatt Farm. What most enchanted people about Hannah was that she survived sixty years of gruelling work and weather with unimpaired serenity and good humour. Her love of the countryside, her passion for animals and her appreciation of the right values make Hannah a remarkable woman and in this classic book she tells her unique and inspiring story. SEASONS OF MY LIFE is an enduring and affectionate look at rural life in a world where everything is changing.
Seasons of My Life
by Hannah HauxwellThe classic and much-loved memoir by Hannah Hauxwell about life in remote Yorkshire in the 1970s.Hannah Hauxwell first came to the nation's attention on Yorkshire television's award-winning documentary TOO LONG A WINTER, when she captured the hearts and imaginations of millions who were captivated by her ability to single-handedly run her family's farm in an isolated area in Yorkshire. Since the age of 35, following the deaths of her parents and uncle, she lived a self-sufficient life without electricity or running water at Low Birk Hatt Farm. What most enchanted people about Hannah was that she survived sixty years of gruelling work and weather with unimpaired serenity and good humour. Her love of the countryside, her passion for animals and her appreciation of the right values make Hannah a remarkable woman and in this classic book she tells her unique and inspiring story. SEASONS OF MY LIFE is an enduring and affectionate look at rural life in a world where everything is changing.
Seasons on Harris
by David YeadonThe Outer Hebrides of Scotland epitomize the evocative beauty and remoteness of island life. The most dramatic of all the Hebrides is Harris, a tiny island formed from the oldest rocks on earth, a breathtaking landscape of soaring mountains, wild lunarlike moors, and vast Caribbean-hued beaches. This is where local crofters weave the legendary Harris Tweed--a hardy cloth reflecting the strength, durability, and integrity of the life there. In Seasons on Harris, David Yeadon, "one of our best travel writers" (The Bloomsbury Review), captures, through elegant words and line drawings, life on Harris--the people, their folkways and humor, and their centuries-old Norse and Celtic traditions of crofting and fishing. Here Gaelic is still spoken in its purest form, music and poetry ceilidh evenings flourish in the local pubs, and Sabbath Sundays are observed with Calvinistic strictness. Yeadon's book makes us care deeply about these proud islanders, their folklore, their history, their challenges, and the imperiled future of their traditional island life and beloved tweed.
Seattle Mystic Alfred M. Hubbard: Inventor, Bootlegger, & Psychedelic Pioneer
by Brad HoldenThe biography of an intriguing man who came to Seattle as an inventor and went on to become a bootlegger, a spy, and a proponent of LSD.Seattle has a long tradition of being at the forefront of technological innovation. In 1919, a mysterious young inventor named Alfred M. Hubbard made his first newspaper appearance with the announcement of a perpetual motion machine that harnessed energy from Earth&’s atmosphere. From there, Hubbard transformed himself into a charlatan, bootlegger, radio pioneer, top-secret spy, millionaire and uranium entrepreneur. In the early 1950s, after discovering the transformative effects of a little-known hallucinogenic compound, Hubbard would go on to become the &“Johnny Appleseed of LSD,&” paving the way for the very first generation of psychedelic disciples and beyond. Join author and historian Brad Holden as he chronicles the life of one of the most fascinating figures to emerge from Seattle&’s past.&“A captivating history of one of America&’s most colorful characters—Al Hubbard. Holden dives into the larger-than-life history of a man whose past intersects with rum running, spy rings, police informants, and psychedelics. Brilliantly told, Holden brings Hubbard&’s enigmatic character to life.&” —Erika Dyck PhD, Professor at the University of Saskatchewan, and author of Psychedelic Psychiatry: LSD from Clinic to Campus &“An engaging biography about the mysterious Al Hubbard, who helped pioneer psychedelic therapy and is credited by Stan Grof with developing the model of the high dose inner-directed session to catalyze a mystical experience.&” —Rick Doblin, PhD, founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) &“This is the remarkable story of Captain Al Hubbard—inventor, con man, secret agent, uranium entrepreneur, and indefatigable LSD apostle, who saw the light while high on psychedelics in the early 1950s and never looked back.&” —Martin A. Lee, author of Acid Dreams—The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond
Seattle Vice: Strippers, Prostitution, Dirty Money, and Crooked Cops in the Emerald City
by Rick AndersonFor more than half a century, Frank Colacurcio and his crime family have been a force in the bars and backrooms of Seattle power and politics, an American crime boss reign to match those of the often-glamorized Mafia dons of New York and Chicago. Seattle Vice tells the story of the Pacific Northwest's most successful strip club owner, Frank Colacurcio, whose excessive appreciation for girls has made him both a millionaire and a convict. He notched his first major felony in his 20s, and now, at the age of 92, faces his sixth. This book is a historic snapshot of Seattle as a place of corruption and vice. And in that snapshot, Frank Colacurcio is the guy in the middle, smiling into the camera.
Seattle's Music Venues (Images of America)
by Jolie Dawn BergmanThe varieties of music venues in Seattle have been as vital and vibrant for the people of the Emerald City as the genres that have graced these famous halls. These houses of music have nurtured the entertainment legacy of this region. Each holds a beautiful, haunting, and unique history that has helped shape the Pacific Northwest�s musical culture, which, in turn, has helped shape our community. Out of the ashes of the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, the vaudeville age took Seattle by storm. The cultural and community centers harmonized with operas and symphonies. From the 1962 World�s Fair to world-famous street musicians, Seattle�s Music Venues will take the reader on a pictorial journey through 100 years of images compiled from the photographic collections of the Seattle Public Library, Seattle Municipal Archives, Library of Congress, and the author�s personal collection.
Seawolves: First Choice
by Daniel E. KellyThey called themselves Seawolves . . . The men of SEALs, PBRs, and SF called them saviors . . . Created in 1967, the HAL-3 helicopter squadron--aka Seawolves--provided quick-reaction close air support to SEALs, PBR River Rats, and Special Forces advisers and their troops. During the five years of the unit's existence, the seven detachments of Seawolves amassed stunning statistics: 78,000 missions, 8,200 enemy kills, 8,700 sampans sunk, and 9,500 structures destroyed. These 200 men collected a total of 17,339 medals. This is the story of one of those men. . . . Taking enemy fire while braced against the rocket pod of a Huey gunship and shooting an M-60 freehand in 110 mph winds was just part of Dan Kelly's job in Vietnam. As a gunner in the all-volunteer Seawolves, he served with distinction until three bullets bought him a trip home. Here is his amazing story of the Seawolves--a harrowing tale of unsung heroism and undaunted courage in combat.
Seaworthy
by T. R. PearsonWelcome to the daring, thrilling, and downright strange adventures of William Willis, one of the world’s original extreme sportsmen. Driven by an unfettered appetite for personal challenge and a yen for the path of most resistance, Willis mounted a single-handed and wholly unlikely rescue in the jungles of French Guiana and then twice crossed the broad Pacific on rafts of his own design, with only housecats and a parrot for companionship. His first voyage, atop a ten-ton balsa monstrosity, was undertaken in 1954 when Willis was sixty. His second raft, having crossed eleven thousand miles from Peru, found the north shore of Australia shortly after Willis’s seventieth birthday. A marvel of vigor and fitness, William Willis was a connoisseur of ordeal, all but orchestrating short rations, ship-wreck conditions, and crushing solitude on his trans-Pacific voyages. He’d been inspired by Kon-Tiki, Thor Heyerdahl’s bid to prove that a primitive raft could negotiate the open ocean. Willis’s trips confirmed that a primitive man could as well. Willis survived on rye flour and seawater, sang to keep his spirits up, communicated with his wife via telepathy, suffered from bouts of temporary blindness, and eased the intermittent pain of a double hernia by looping a halyard around his ankles and dangling upside-down from his mast. Rich with vivid detail and wry humor, Seaworthy is the story of a sailor you’ve probably never heard of but need to know. In an age when countless rafts were adrift on the waters of the world, their crews out to shore up one theory of ethno-migration or tear down another, Willis’s challenges remained refreshingly personal. His methods were eccentric, his accomplishments little short of remarkable. Don’t miss the chance to meet this singular monk of the sea. From the Hardcover edition.
Seaworthy: A Swordboat Captain Returns to the Sea
by Linda GreenlawLinda Greenlaw hadn't been blue-water fishing for ten years, since the great events chronicled in The Perfect Storm and The Hungry Ocean, when an old friend offered her the captaincy on his boat, Seahawk, for a season of swordfishing. She took the bait, of course, and thus opened a new chapter in a life that had already seen enough adventure for three lifetimes. The Seahawk turns out to be the rustiest of buckets, with sprung, busted, and ancient equipment guaranteed to fail at any critical moment. Life is never dull out on the Grand Banks, and no one is better at capturing the flavor and details of the wild ride that is swordfishing, from the technical complexities of longline fishing and the nuances of reading the weather and waves to the sheer beauty of the open water. The trip is full of surprises, "a bit hardier and saltier than I had hoped for," but none more unexpected than when the boat's lines inadvertently drift across the Canadian border and she lands in jail. Seaworthy is about nature -- human and other; about learning what you can control and what you do when fate takes matters out of your control. It's about how a middle-aged woman who sets a high bar for herself copes with challenge and change and frustration, about the struggle to succeed or fail on your own terms, and above all, about learning how to find your true self when you're caught between land and sea.
Second Best: My Dad and Me
by Calum BestTHE SUNDAY TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLERCalum Best should have had it all. As the only son of world-famous footballing legend George Best and his first wife Angie, a gorgeous English model, Calum was born into a world of privilege and opportunity.But his father’s fame came at a price, and George’s playing career was soon overshadowed by his playboy lifestyle and an increasing dependence on the comforting embrace of alcohol. Whilst his tumultuous later years could never diminish the memories of the peerless, often breathtaking, quality of his football, they had a profound effect on Calum.Growing up with his mother in California, Calum’s visits to see his father in England were all too rare, and he cherished every moment he could spend in the company of the man he adored. But as George’s alcoholism spiralled out of control, inebriation frequently led to violence and George’s self-destruction spilled over onto his son.Vivid, deeply moving, brave and honest, Second Best is the heart-breaking story of their relationship. It is a powerful tale of love and suffering, of an absent father and his wayward son, and of a family torn apart by addiction.
Second Chance: A Mother's Quest for a Natural Birth after a Cesarean
by Thais Nye DerichOn the joyful day of her son&’s birth, Thais Derich never questioned going to the hospital. A week later, she walked out physically, spiritually, and emotionally injured, and fully disabused of the idea that the medical field would ever put her best interests before protocol, money, and legal concerns. The next three years of her life were spent recovering from that day, and preparing herself to do things her way when she became pregnant again. And then she did get pregnant again—and that resolve was put to the test. A universal story about betrayal and trust and the roller coaster ride in between, Second Chance illuminates the many ways in which our healthcare system is broken when it comes to helping women give birth, and gives a voice to all the mothers who have walked away from their delivery experiences wondering what the hell just happened.
Second Chance: The Autobiography
by Mark ToddThe London 2012 Olympic medalist on his stunning comeback.Mark Todd's eventing career is the stuff of legends and encompasses one of the greatest sporting comebacks of all time.When he 'retired' from competing in eventing in 2000, he had already been named 'Rider of the Century' for his natural empathy with a horse and his extraordinary success, which included back-to-back Olympic gold medals, five Burghley wins and three Badminton victories. He has also show jumped to Olympic level and trained winners on the racecourse. Considered a legendary horseman by his peers, he seemed to have done it all.He returned to train racehorses in his native New Zealand but, eight years later, the idea of a comeback took root, part dare, part personal challenge to see if he could still cut it in a changed sport. Within eight months, he was riding at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and in 2011 he hit the headlines by becoming the oldest rider to win Badminton. This was soon eclipsed by his stunning win at the London 2012 Olympics, however. The story of his progress from dairy farmer to world renown, is told with typically laid-back humour, but it reveals the fierce determination, discipline and personal sacrifice which lies behind the relaxed outlook.
Second Chance: The Autobiography
by Mark ToddThe London 2012 Olympic medalist on his stunning comeback.Mark Todd's eventing career is the stuff of legends and encompasses one of the greatest sporting comebacks of all time.When he 'retired' from competing in eventing in 2000, he had already been named 'Rider of the Century' for his natural empathy with a horse and his extraordinary success, which included back-to-back Olympic gold medals, five Burghley wins and three Badminton victories. He has also show jumped to Olympic level and trained winners on the racecourse. Considered a legendary horseman by his peers, he seemed to have done it all.He returned to train racehorses in his native New Zealand but, eight years later, the idea of a comeback took root, part dare, part personal challenge to see if he could still cut it in a changed sport. Within eight months, he was riding at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and in 2011 he hit the headlines by becoming the oldest rider to win Badminton. This was soon eclipsed by his stunning win at the London 2012 Olympics, however. The story of his progress from dairy farmer to world renown, is told with typically laid-back humour, but it reveals the fierce determination, discipline and personal sacrifice which lies behind the relaxed outlook.
Second Chance: Three Presidents and the Crisis of American Superpower
by Zbigniew BrzezinskiAmerica’s most distinguished commentator on foreign policy, former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, offers a reasoned but unsparing assessment of the last three presidential administrations’ foreign policy. Though spanning less than two decades, these administrations cover a vitally important turning point in world history: the period in which the United States, having emerged from the Cold War with unprecedented power and prestige, managed to squander both in a remarkably short time. This is a tale of decline: from the competent but conventional thinking of the first Bush administration, to the well-intentioned self-indulgence of the Clinton administration, to the mortgaging of America’s future by the "suicidal statecraft” of the second Bush administration. Brzezinski concludes with a chapter on how America can regain its lost prestige. This scholarly yet highly opinionated book is sure to be both controversial and influential.
Second Chances: A Marine, His Dog, and Finding Redemption
by Craig GrossiThe author of the heartwarming Craig and Fred tells the deeply emotional and inspiring story of the next phase of their lives together: working closely with prison inmates in Maine who raise and train puppies to become service dogs.Former US Marine Craig Grossi and his dog Fred appeared on the "Today Show' and 'Rachael Ray', and in schools, bookstores, and military bases across America as they told the uplifting story of how Craig found Fred, a stray, while serving in Afghanistan--and brought him home. During their travels, Craig was invited to speak at Maine State Prison—the penitentiary that inspired Stephen King’s famous “Shawshank.” While there, he met a group of very special inmates, participants in a program run by the non-profit America’s Vet Dogs.Craig discovered that many of the prisoners are veterans—former soldiers serving their country in an entirely different way: by transforming purebred Labrador Retrievers from floppy puppies into indispensable companions for disabled vets. These service dogs literally and figuratively open doors for men and women, offering hope and a renewed sense of freedom. Yet these disabled vets are not the only lives changed by these dogs. The inmates who train them “are given a purpose, they’re given experience, and most importantly they’re given a sense of self-worth,” Craig explains. “The men at Maine State are given a second chance—something that I believe everyone deserves.” For Craig, the visit had a profound impact. “There was something special going on inside its walls and it was calling out to me. I quickly realized that the program and its men had something to show the world.”In this emotionally powerful book, he introduces these men and challenges us to look deeper, to see them as human beings deserving of a new shot at life. “We’re quick to give second chances to celebrities, politicians and famous athletes when they screw up,” Craig reminds us, “but when it comes to those who’ve been convicted for their mistakes, we too often dismiss them as forever lost.” Second Chances poignantly shows that no life is irredeemable and that each of us can make a difference if given the opportunity.
Second Innings: My Sporting Life
by Andrew FlintoffFast bowler, six-hitter, popular hero, one of the lads, king of the jungle - Andrew Flintoff is all of those things.Second Innings, is his searingly honest yet uplifting autobiography, Flintoff reveals unseen, surprising sides to his career and personality.The restless need to push and challenge himself that led him to take up professional boxing. The complex and troubled relationship with discipline, alcohol and authority during his exhilarating cricket career. The search for an authentic voice as a player, free from the blandness and conformity of modern professionalism. Is Flintoff the last of his kind, in any sport?Through all his highs and lows, triumphs and reversals, this book reveals a central tension. There is 'Fred' - performer, extrovert, centre of attention. Then there is 'Andrew' - reflective, withdrawn and uncertain. Two people contained in one extraordinary life. And sometimes, inevitably, keeping the two in balance proves too much.We are taken backstage, seeing the mischief and adventure that has defined Andrew Flintoff's story. Above all, we observe the enduring power of fun, friendship and loyalty - the pillars of Flintoff's career. At ease with his faults as well as his gifts, Andrew Flintoff has sought one thing, even more than success: to be himself.If you enjoyed Do You Know What?, you'll enjoy this memoir of Freddie's sporting career.
Second Innings: My Sporting Life
by Andrew FlintoffFast bowler, six-hitter, popular hero, one of the lads, King of the Jungle - Andrew Flintoff is all of those things, and a whole lot more.Who can forget the hero of England's 2005 Ashes-winning team; the captain who endured humiliating defeat in Australia in 2006-07; the maverick whose encounter with a pedalo in the 2007 World Cup brought all the wrong headlines; the competitor who fought off injury to help regain the Ashes in 2009; the TV performer always looking for a new challenge?But through all his highs and lows, triumphs and reversals, there has been a central tension in his life. There is 'Fred' - entertainer, extrovert, centre of attention. Then there is 'Andrew' - reflective, withdrawn and uncertain. Two people contained in one extraordinary life. And sometimes, inevitably, keeping the two in balance proves impossible.Now, in Second Innings, he reveals the unseen sides of his career and personality: the complex and troubled relationship with discipline, excess and authority; the search for an authentic voice as a player, free from the blandness and conformity of modern professionalism; the restless need to push himself that led him to take up professional boxing and, in an even more unexpected twist, to return to the cricket field.At ease with his faults as well as his gifts, Andrew Flintoff displays characteristic humour and often startling honesty as he takes the reader backstage to witness the mischief and adventure that have defined his story, and, above all, to experience the enduring power of fun, friendship and loyalty - the pillars of his remarkable career.
Second Innings: My Sporting Life
by Andrew FlintoffFast bowler, six-hitter, popular hero, one of the lads, king of the jungle - Andrew Flintoff is all of those things.Second Innings, is his searingly honest yet uplifting autobiography, Flintoff reveals unseen, surprising sides to his career and personality.The restless need to push and challenge himself that led him to take up professional boxing. The complex and troubled relationship with discipline, alcohol and authority during his exhilarating cricket career. The search for an authentic voice as a player, free from the blandness and conformity of modern professionalism. Is Flintoff the last of his kind, in any sport?Through all his highs and lows, triumphs and reversals, this book reveals a central tension. There is 'Fred' - performer, extrovert, centre of attention. Then there is 'Andrew' - reflective, withdrawn and uncertain. Two people contained in one extraordinary life. And sometimes, inevitably, keeping the two in balance proves too much.We are taken backstage, seeing the mischief and adventure that has defined Andrew Flintoff's story. Above all, we observe the enduring power of fun, friendship and loyalty - the pillars of Flintoff's career. At ease with his faults as well as his gifts, Andrew Flintoff has sought one thing, even more than success: to be himself.(P)2015 Hodder & Stoughton
Second Life: 'Unexpected, funny, beautiful' Claire Dederer, author of Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma
by Amanda HessOne of TIME Magazine's Most Anticipated Books of 2025 . One of LitHub's Most Anticipated Books of 2025.'Unexpected, intellectually rigorous, funny, beautiful' Claire Dederer, author of Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma'What a book! Has the lyricism and intelligence of a literary masterpiece, and the urgency of a thriller' Marianne Levy, author of Don't Forget to Scream'So interesting, astute and beautifully crafted. I loved it' Lucy Jones, author of MatrescenceIn the summer of 2020, when Amanda Hess was pregnant for the first time, a routine ultrasound screening detected a mysterious abnormality in her baby. Without hesitation, she reached for her phone, looking for answers online. But rather than allaying her anxieties, her search unleashed a destabilizing onslaught of data and technology, and she was vulnerable - more than ever - to conspiracy, myth, judgement, commerce and obsession. In Second Life, Hess tells her deeply personal story of a pregnancy that falls outside the fêted category of 'normal'. But this is also a story about all of us. For as she made her way through a bizarre digital world of pregnancy apps, prenatal genetic tests, gender reveal videos, rare disease Facebook groups, 'freebirth' influencers and hospital reality shows, Hess realised that ideas of eugenics, surveillance, ableism and hyper-individualism are being sold through shiny technologies to a new generation of parents.At once funny, surreal and heartbreaking, Second Life asks compelling questions about how our most fundamental human experiences are fractured and reshaped by technology.
Second Life: 'Unexpected, funny, beautiful' Claire Dederer, author of Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma
by Amanda HessOne of TIME Magazine's Most Anticipated Books of 2025 . One of LitHub's Most Anticipated Books of 2025.'Unexpected, intellectually rigorous, funny, beautiful' Claire Dederer, author of Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma'What a book! Has the lyricism and intelligence of a literary masterpiece, and the urgency of a thriller' Marianne Levy, author of Don't Forget to Scream'So interesting, astute and beautifully crafted. I loved it' Lucy Jones, author of MatrescenceIn the summer of 2020, when Amanda Hess was pregnant for the first time, a routine ultrasound screening detected a mysterious abnormality in her baby. Without hesitation, she reached for her phone, looking for answers online. But rather than allaying her anxieties, her search unleashed a destabilizing onslaught of data and technology, and she was vulnerable - more than ever - to conspiracy, myth, judgement, commerce and obsession. In Second Life, Hess tells her deeply personal story of a pregnancy that falls outside the fêted category of 'normal'. But this is also a story about all of us. For as she made her way through a bizarre digital world of pregnancy apps, prenatal genetic tests, gender reveal videos, rare disease Facebook groups, 'freebirth' influencers and hospital reality shows, Hess realised that ideas of eugenics, surveillance, ableism and hyper-individualism are being sold through shiny technologies to a new generation of parents.At once funny, surreal and heartbreaking, Second Life asks compelling questions about how our most fundamental human experiences are fractured and reshaped by technology.
Second Life: A West Bank Memoir
by Janet Varner GunnA fascinating memoir interweaving Gunn's experiences as a human rights worker in Deheishe, a Palestinian refugee camp, and those of Mohammad Abu Aker who was critically shot during a stone throwing demonstration, living in the camp with his family as a "living martyr" until his death at 19 in 1990. Gunn's perspective is from the inside: what it means to live in a camp, under curfew, her efforts to obtain medical attention for the young man, the strength of these families and their humor. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc. , Portland, Or.
Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age
by Amanda Hess&“Second Life is a tender, perceptive account of pregnancy and early motherhood—and a stylish confrontation with the demented landscape of digital parenting content.&” —Anna Wiener, author of Uncanny ValleyAs an internet culture critic for The New York Times, Amanda Hess had built a reputation among readers as a sharp observer of the seductions and manipulations of online life. But when Hess discovered she was pregnant with her first child, she found herself unexpectedly rattled by a digital identity crisis of her own.In the summer of 2020, a routine ultrasound detected a mysterious abnormality in Hess&’s baby. Without hesitation, she reached for her phone, looking for answers. But rather than allaying her anxieties, her search sucked her into the destabilizing morass of the internet, and she was vulnerable—more than ever—to conspiracy, myth, judgment, commerce, and obsession.As Hess documents her escalating relationship with the digital world, she identifies how technologies act as portals to troubling ideologies, ethical conflicts, and existential questions, and she illuminates how the American traditions of eugenics, surveillance, and hyper-individualism are recycled through these shiny products for a new generation of parents and their children.At once funny, heartbreaking, and surreal, Second Life is a journey that spans a network of fertility apps, prenatal genetic tests, gender reveal videos, rare disease Facebook groups, &“freebirth&” influencers, and hospital reality shows. Hess confronts technology&’s distortions as they follow her through pregnancy and into her son&’s early life. The result is a critical record of our digital age that reveals the unspoken ways our lives are being fractured and reconstituted by technology.