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The Secret History: A Novel of Empress Theodora
by Stephanie ThorntonWhere Theodora went, trouble followed.... In sixth-century Constantinople, one woman, Theodora, defied every convention and all the odds and rose from common theater tart to empress of a great kingdom, the most powerful woman the Roman Empire would ever know. The woman whose image was later immortalized in glittering mosaic was a scrappy, clever, conniving, flesh-and-blood woman full of sensuality and spirit whose real story is as surprising as any ever told.... After her father dies suddenly, Theodora and her sisters face starvation and a life on the streets. Determined to survive, Theodora makes a living any way she can-first on her back with every man who will have her, then on the stage in a scandalous dramatization of her own invention. When her daring performance grants her a backdoor entry into the halls of power, she seizes the chance to win a wealthy protector-only to face heartbreak and betrayal. Ever resilient, Theodora rises above such trials and, by a twist of fate, meets her most passionate admirer yet: the emperor’s nephew. She thrives as his confidant and courtesan, but many challenges lie ahead. For one day this man will hand her a crown. And all the empire will wonder-is she bold enough, shrewd enough, and strong enough to keep it? READERS GUIDE INCLUDED .
The Secret Ingredient: Recipes for Success in Business and Life
by Gigi Butler Bud SchaetzleGigi Butler of Gigi’s Cupcakes shares her personal success story, her hard-won business acumen, and the life-changing inspiration that she’s gained from a challenging life. Each chapter includes a delicious dessert recipe for cupcakes and more!As a young child, Gigi knew that if she wanted to succeed, she had to work hard and offer a service that people wanted to buy. At age seven, she sold eggs out of her little red wagon to neighbors. At age fifteen, she bought cleaning supplies and started a cleaning service out of her rural California home. When she moved to Nashville at nineteen, she had her heart set on becoming a country music star. She cleaned houses by day and took every singing opportunity she could find by night. But when she found herself still doing the same thing at age thirty, she realized that God had better plans for her. If she wouldn’t be a successful singer, she decided she would grow a business that she could be proud of. An extraordinary baker throughout her life, she decided to open a cupcake shop with all the money she could pull together. With the help and support of her family, she was able to open her first store in a prime Nashville location. The news of her cupcakes spread quickly, and the franchise became a huge success. In The Secret Ingredient, Gigi shares how her failure led her to explore her passion for baking and how she became a successful businesswoman. With spunk and humor, she weaves her hard-won wisdom and business acumen into the fun, fascinating, and instructive stories of her life. Each inspirational chapter concludes with a treasured family recipe for cupcakes and other scrumptious desserts. For anyone with big dreams, Gigi’s message is simple: believe in yourself, walk with integrity, work hard, and trust in God. Your life may not turn out exactly how you expected or hoped, but it will be so much better than you could have ever imagined.
The Secret Kingdom
by Pat Robertson Bob SlosserThe author of New York Times bestseller The New World Order confronts the tougest issues of the '90s by setting forth ten principles to help obtain peace, love, and financial security. A classic work, now revised, this book has sold in excess of 500,000 copies.
The Secret Lies Within: An Inside Out Look at Overcoming Trauma and Finding Purpose in the Pain
by Anne Beiler Emily SutherlandThe Secret Lies Within in an inside-out look at the trauma and pain so many people experience in this lifetime and how breaking the silence is the first step to freedom. Many people experience trauma or pain and keep it to themselves, letting it become a secret that holds them captive. They live with pain, blame, and shame, unsure of what to do or how to break free. The secrets grow, causing people to become increasingly silent while they hope and pray for better days, struggling to believe they will ever come.The Secret Lies Within is an honest, vulnerable, and courageous narrative about nearly losing everything, breaking the silence of secrets, and finding purpose in pain. Auntie Anne Beiler, founder of the international franchise Auntie Anne’s pretzels, shares her journey through the loss of a child, sexual abuse, and the resulting trauma that haunted her for years, reminding readers they are not alone in their pain. Anne weaves brief stories of other brave individuals throughout her own and presents a picture of hope for those who have experienced trauma. Those with deep secrets of their own are encouraged to break their silence and are shown the power to overcome through confession and reach a whole new level of freedom.
The Secret Life of Cowboys
by Tom Groneberg"One of the stories I tell myself when I am trying to fall asleep is that I have tried. I've tagged along after myself in the pages of my own modern Western, and every few years is another chapter to the story. The myth of the cowboy. I chased a dream and it kicked me in the teeth. Yet I find myself falling for it again and again."Across the rugged and beautiful landscape of the contemporary American West, Tom Groneberg paints an unsparing portrait of his flawed, funny, and sometimes triumphant efforts to become a cowboy. It is a classic tale: a young man, facing a future he doesn't want to claim, has an inspiration -- Go West.Leaving behind his friends and family, Groneberg follows his heart and heads to a resort town in the Colorado Rockies, where he earns his spurs as a wrangler leading tourists on horseback. Like an old saddle blanket, the tale unfolds, revealing the clean threads of a new story. Groneberg moves to Montana, working for wages at a number of ranches before getting a chance to become the owner of a sprawling ranch, fifteen square miles of grass and sky.In lean but passionate prose, Groneberg demystifies the image of cowboy as celluloid hero and introduces us to the tough and kindhearted men who teach him how to be a real cowboy, the woman who teaches him how to love, and their son, who teaches him how to be a man. The Secret Life of Cowboys is both a coming-of-age story as stunning as the land itself and a revealing look at America's last frontier.
The Secret Life of Dorothy Soames: A Foundling's Story
by Justine CowanA gripping memoir and revelatory investigation into the history of the Foundling Hospital and one girl who grew up in its care - the author's own mother.'Extraordinary ... A fascinating, moving book: part history of the Foundling Hospital and the development of child psychology, part Cowan's own story, and part that of Cowan's mother' LUCY SCHOLES, TELEGRAPH Growing up in a wealthy enclave outside San Francisco, Justine Cowan's life seems idyllic. But her mother's unpredictable temper drives Justine from home the moment she is old enough to escape. It is only after her mother dies that she finds herself pulling at the threads of a story half-told - her mother's upbringing in London's Foundling Hospital. Haunted by this secret history, Justine travels across the sea and deep into the past to discover the girl her mother once was.Here, with the vividness of a true storyteller, she pieces together her mother's childhood alongside the history of the Foundling Hospital: from its idealistic beginnings in the eighteenth century, how it influenced some of England's greatest creative minds - from Handel to Dickens, its shocking approach to childcare and how it survived the Blitz only to close after the Second World War.This was the environment that shaped a young girl then known as Dorothy Soames, who was left behind by a mother forced by stigma and shame to give up her child; who withstood years of physical and emotional abuse, dreaming ofescape as German bombers circled the skies, unaware all along that her own mother was fighting to get her back.'As a social history of the Foundling Hospital, this is a fascinating read' SUNDAY TIMES'Page-turning and profoundly moving' VIRGINIA NICHOLSON'A gripping true story' Christina Baker Kline, bestselling author of ORPHAN TRAIN'Breathtaking' Adrienne Brodeur, bestselling author of WILD GAME
The Secret Life of Dorothy Soames: A Memoir
by Justine Cowan“Far from growing up in the wealthy, fox-hunting circles she had always suggested, her mother had in fact been raised in a foundling hospital for the children of unwed women.” — Editor’s Choice, The New York Times Book Review“Extraordinary … fascinating, moving.” —The Telegraph“This emotional and transatlantic journey is a page-turner.” — Editor’s Pick, Amazon Book Review“Book groups will find as much to discuss here as they have with The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, and Educated by Tara Westover.” — BookListRecommended by The New York Times, The Saturday Evening Post, Amazon Book Review, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus and more, Justine Cowan’s remarkable true story of how she uncovered her mother’s upbringing as a foundling at London’s Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children has received acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. In the U.K., it has been featured in The Mail on Sunday, The Daily Mail, The Daily Mirror and The Spectator. The Telegraph calls it “extraordinary and Glamour magazine chose it as the best new book based on real life. The story begins when Justine found her often volatile mother in an unlit room writing a name over and over again, one that she had never heard before and would not hear again for many years – Dorothy Soames. Thirty years later, overcome with grief following her mother’s death, Justine found herself drawn back to the past, uncovering a mystery that stretched back to the early years of World War II and beyond, into the dark corridors of the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children. Established in the eighteenth century to raise “bastard” children to clean chamber pots for England’s ruling class, the institution was tied to some of history’s most influential figures and events. From its role in the development of solitary confinement and human medical experimentation to the creation of the British Museum and the Royal Academy of Arts, its impact on Western culture continues to reverberate. It is the reason we read Dickens’ Oliver Twist and enjoy Handel’s Messiah each Christmas. It was also the environment that shaped a young girl known as Dorothy Soames, who bravely withstood years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of a sadistic headmistress—a resilient child whose only hope would be a daring escape as German bombers rained death from the skies. Heartbreaking, surprising, and unforgettable, The Secret Life of Dorothy Soames is the true story of one woman’s quest to understand the secrets that had poisoned her mother’s mind, and her startling discovery that her family’s fate had been sealed centuries before.
The Secret Life of Dorothy Soames: A Memoir
by Justine Cowan“Far from growing up in the wealthy, fox-hunting circles she had always suggested, her mother had in fact been raised in a foundling hospital for the children of unwed women.”—Editor’s Choice, The New York Times Book Review“Extraordinary … fascinating, moving.”—The Telegraph“This emotional and transatlantic journey is a page-turner.” — Editor’s Pick, Amazon Book Review“Book groups will find as much to discuss here as they have with The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, and Educated by Tara Westover.” — BookListRecommended by The New York Times, The Saturday Evening Post, Amazon Book Review, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus and more, Justine Cowan’s remarkable true story of how she uncovered her mother’s upbringing as a foundling at London’s Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children has received acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. In the U.K., it has been featured in The Mail on Sunday, The Daily Mail, The Daily Mirror and The Spectator. The Telegraph calls it “extraordinary and Glamour magazine chose it as the best new book based on real life. The story begins when Justine found her often volatile mother in an unlit room writing a name over and over again, one that she had never heard before and would not hear again for many years – Dorothy Soames. Thirty years later, overcome with grief following her mother’s death, Justine found herself drawn back to the past, uncovering a mystery that stretched back to the early years of World War II and beyond, into the dark corridors of the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children. Established in the eighteenth century to raise “bastard” children to clean chamber pots for England’s ruling class, the institution was tied to some of history’s most influential figures and events. From its role in the development of solitary confinement and human medical experimentation to the creation of the British Museum and the Royal Academy of Arts, its impact on Western culture continues to reverberate. It is the reason we read Dickens’ Oliver Twist and enjoy Handel’s Messiah each Christmas. It was also the environment that shaped a young girl known as Dorothy Soames, who bravely withstood years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of a sadistic headmistress—a resilient child whose only hope would be a daring escape as German bombers rained death from the skies. Heartbreaking, surprising, and unforgettable, The Secret Life of Dorothy Soames is the true story of one woman’s quest to understand the secrets that had poisoned her mother’s mind, and her startling discovery that her family’s fate had been sealed centuries before.
The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson: A Novel
by Jerome Charyn"In this brilliant and hilarious jailbreak of a novel, Charyn channels the genius poet and her great leaps of the imagination." —Donna Seaman, Booklist (starred review) Jerome Charyn, "one of the most important writers in American literature" (Michael Chabon), continues his exploration of American history through fiction with The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson, hailed by prize-winning literary historian Brenda Wineapple as a "breathtaking high-wire act of ventriloquism." Channeling the devilish rhythms and ghosts of a seemingly buried literary past, Charyn removes the mysterious veils that have long enshrouded Dickinson, revealing her passions, inner turmoil, and powerful sexuality. The novel, daringly written in first person, begins in the snow. It's 1848, and Emily is a student at Mount Holyoke, with its mournful headmistress and strict, strict rules. Inspired by her letters and poetry, Charyn goes on to capture the occasionally comic, always fevered, ultimately tragic story of her life-from defiant Holyoke seminarian to dying recluse.
The Secret Life of Houdini
by William Kalush Larry SlomanHandcuff King. Escape Artist. International Superstar. Since his death eighty years ago, Harry Houdini's life has been chronicled in books, in film, and on television. Now, in this groundbreaking biography, renowned magic expert William Kalush and best-selling writer Larry Sloman team up to find the man behind the myth. Drawing from millions of pages of research, they describe in vivid detail the passions that drove Houdini to perform ever-more-dangerous feats, his secret life as a spy, and a pernicious plot to subvert his legacy. After years of struggling on the dime museum circuit, Harry Houdini got a break that put him on the front page of a Chicago newspaper. He never looked back. Soon Houdini was performing for royalty, commanding vast sums, and exploring the new power of Hollywood to expand on his legend. At a time when spy agencies frequently co-opted amateurs, Houdini went to London and developed a relationship with a man who would run MI-5. For the next several years, the world's most famous magician traveled to Germany and Russia and routinely reported his findings. After World War I was successfully concluded, Houdini embarked on a battle of his own. He created a group of disguised field operatives to infiltrate the seamy world of fake spirit mediums. In doing so, Houdini triggered the wrath of fanatical Spiritualists, led by the esteemed British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Death threats became an everyday occurrence, but the group would pose an even greater danger to Houdini's legacy. Rigorously researched, and as exciting as a good thriller, The Secret Life of Houdini traces the arc of the master magician's life from desperate poverty to worldwide legend, initiating the reader along the way into the arcane world of professional magic. In this remarkable book, Kalush and Sloman decode a life based on deception, providing an intimate and riveting portrayal of Houdini, the man and the legend.
The Secret Life of Houdini
by William Kalush Larry SlomanHandcuff King. Escape Artist. International Superstar.Since his death eighty-eight years ago, Harry Houdini's life has been chronicled in books, in film, and on television. Now, in this groundbreaking biography, renowned magic expert William Kalush and bestselling writer Larry Sloman team up to find the man behind the myth. Drawing from millions of pages of research, they describe in vivid detail the passions that drove Houdini to perform ever-more-dangerous feats, his secret life as a spy, and a pernicious plot to subvert his legacy.The Secret Life of Houdini traces the arc of the master magician's life from desperate poverty to worldwide fame--his legacy later threatened by a group of fanatical Spiritualists led by esteemed British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Initiating the reader along the way into the arcane world of professional magic, Kalush and Sloman decode a life based on deception, providing an intimate and riveting portrayal of Houdini, the man and the legend.cian traveled to Germany and Russia and routinely reported his findings. After World War I was successfully concluded, Houdini embarked on a battle of his own. He created a group of disguised field operatives to infiltrate the seamy world of fake spirit mediums. In doing so, Houdini triggered the wrath of fanatical Spiritualists, led by the esteemed British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Death threats became an everyday occurrence, but the group would pose an even greater danger to Houdini's legacy. Rigorously researched, and as exciting as a good thriller, The Secret Life of Houdini traces the arc of the master magician's life from desperate poverty to worldwide legend, initiating the reader along the way into the arcane world of professional magic. In this remarkable book, Kalush and Sloman decode a life based on deception, providing an intimate and riveting portrayal of Houdini, the man and the legend.
The Secret Life of Houdini
by William Kalush Larry SlomanHandcuff King. Escape Artist. International Superstar.Since his death eighty-eight years ago, Harry Houdini's life has been chronicled in books, in film, and on television. Now, in this groundbreaking biography, renowned magic expert William Kalush and bestselling writer Larry Sloman team up to find the man behind the myth. Drawing from millions of pages of research, they describe in vivid detail the passions that drove Houdini to perform ever-more-dangerous feats, his secret life as a spy, and a pernicious plot to subvert his legacy.The Secret Life of Houdini traces the arc of the master magician's life from desperate poverty to worldwide fame--his legacy later threatened by a group of fanatical Spiritualists led by esteemed British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Initiating the reader along the way into the arcane world of professional magic, Kalush and Sloman decode a life based on deception, providing an intimate and riveting portrayal of Houdini, the man and the legend.cian traveled to Germany and Russia and routinely reported his findings. After World War I was successfully concluded, Houdini embarked on a battle of his own. He created a group of disguised field operatives to infiltrate the seamy world of fake spirit mediums. In doing so, Houdini triggered the wrath of fanatical Spiritualists, led by the esteemed British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Death threats became an everyday occurrence, but the group would pose an even greater danger to Houdini's legacy. Rigorously researched, and as exciting as a good thriller, The Secret Life of Houdini traces the arc of the master magician's life from desperate poverty to worldwide legend, initiating the reader along the way into the arcane world of professional magic. In this remarkable book, Kalush and Sloman decode a life based on deception, providing an intimate and riveting portrayal of Houdini, the man and the legend.
The Secret Life of Houdini
by William Kalush Larry SlomanHandcuff King. Escape Artist. International Superstar.Since his death eighty-eight years ago, Harry Houdini's life has been chronicled in books, in film, and on television. Now, in this groundbreaking biography, renowned magic expert William Kalush and bestselling writer Larry Sloman team up to find the man behind the myth. Drawing from millions of pages of research, they describe in vivid detail the passions that drove Houdini to perform ever-more-dangerous feats, his secret life as a spy, and a pernicious plot to subvert his legacy.The Secret Life of Houdini traces the arc of the master magician's life from desperate poverty to worldwide fame--his legacy later threatened by a group of fanatical Spiritualists led by esteemed British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Initiating the reader along the way into the arcane world of professional magic, Kalush and Sloman decode a life based on deception, providing an intimate and riveting portrayal of Houdini, the man and the legend.cian traveled to Germany and Russia and routinely reported his findings. After World War I was successfully concluded, Houdini embarked on a battle of his own. He created a group of disguised field operatives to infiltrate the seamy world of fake spirit mediums. In doing so, Houdini triggered the wrath of fanatical Spiritualists, led by the esteemed British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Death threats became an everyday occurrence, but the group would pose an even greater danger to Houdini's legacy. Rigorously researched, and as exciting as a good thriller, The Secret Life of Houdini traces the arc of the master magician's life from desperate poverty to worldwide legend, initiating the reader along the way into the arcane world of professional magic. In this remarkable book, Kalush and Sloman decode a life based on deception, providing an intimate and riveting portrayal of Houdini, the man and the legend.
The Secret Life of John le Carre
by Adam SismanThe extraordinary secret life of a great novelist, which his biographer could not publish while le Carré was alive. Secrecy came naturally to John le Carré, and there were some secrets that he fought fiercely to keep. Adam Sisman's definitive biography, published in 2015, provided a revealing portrait of this fascinating man; yet some aspects of his subject remained hidden.Nowhere was this more so than in his private life. Apparently content in his marriage, the novelist conducted a string of love affairs over five decades. To these relationships he brought much of the tradecraft that he had learned as a spy - cover stories, cut-outs and dead letter boxes. These clandestine operations brought an element of danger to his life, but they also meant deceiving those closest to him. Small wonder that betrayal became a running theme in his work.In trying to manage his biography, the novelist engaged in a succession of skirmishes with his biographer. While he could control what Sisman wrote about him in his lifetime, he accepted that the truth would eventually become known. Following his death in 2020, what had been withheld can now be revealed.The Secret Life of John le Carré reveals a hitherto-hidden perspective on the life and work of the spy-turned-author and a fascinating meditation on the complex relationship between biographer and subject. “Now that he is dead,” Sisman writes, “we can know him better.”
The Secret Life of John le Carré
by Adam SismanSecrecy came naturally to John le Carré, and there were some secrets that he fought fiercely to keep. Adam Sisman's definitive biography, published in 2015, provided a revealing portrait of this fascinating man; yet some aspects of his subject remained hidden.Nowhere was this more so than in his private life. Apparently content in his marriage, the novelist conducted a string of love affairs over five decades. To these relationships he brought much of the tradecraft that he had learned as a spy - cover stories, cut-outs and dead letter boxes. These clandestine operations brought an element of danger to his life, but they also meant deceiving those closest to him. Small wonder that betrayal became a running theme in his work.In trying to manage his biography, the novelist engaged in a succession of skirmishes with his biographer. While he could control what Sisman wrote about him in his lifetime, he accepted that the truth would eventually become known. Following his death in 2020, what had been withheld can now be revealed.The Secret Life of John le Carré reveals a hitherto-hidden perspective on the life and work of the spy-turned-author and a fascinating meditation on the complex relationship between biographer and subject. 'Now that he is dead,' Sisman writes, 'we can know him better.'
The Secret Life of Josephine: Napoleon's Bird of Paradise
by Carolly EricksonThe bestselling author of "The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette" and "The Last Wife of Henry VIII" returns with an enchanting novel about one of the most seductive women in history -- Josephine Bonaparte, first wife of Napoleon.
The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe
by J. Randy TaraborrelliFrom New York Times bestselling author J. Randy Taraborrelli comes the definitive biography of the most enduring icon in popular American culture. When Marilyn Monroe became famous in the 1950s, the world was told that her mother was either dead or simply not a part of her life. However, that was not true. In fact, her mentally ill mother was very much present in Marilyn's world and the complex family dynamic that unfolded behind the scenes is a story that has never before been told...until now. In this groundbreaking book, Taraborrelli draws complex and sympathetic portraits of the women so influential in the actress' life, including her mother, her foster mother, and her legal guardian. He also reveals, for the first time, the shocking scope of Marilyn's own mental illness, the identity of Marilyn's father and the half-brother she never knew, and new information about her relationship with the Kennedy's-Bobby, Jack, and Pat Kennedy Lawford. Explosive, revelatory, and surprisingly moving, this is the final word on the life of one of the most fascinating and elusive icons of the 20th Century.
The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde
by Neil MckennaNeil McKenna argues that our view of Oscar Wilde, even after Ellman's magisterial volume, is determined by Victorian sentimentality. In his own much more modern version of Wilde's story, he is not only extremely promiscuous but also a sort of campaigner for sexual freedom. He reveals, for example, that Wilde's relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas was not an idealistic doting on a beautiful boy, but that Bosie was the more dominant, experienced of the two, who used to go out hunting together for young boys. Wilde's last days in Paris were not, McKenna shows, miserable and defeated; Paris was for him an idyllic, sensual and intellectual playground free from the narrowness of London.
The Secret Life of Siegfried and Roy: How the Tiger Kings Tamed Las Vegas
by Henrietta Tiefenthaler Jimmy Lavery Jim Mydlach Louis MydlachFrom their humble beginnings in war-torn Germany, larger than life Tiger Kings Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn roared into Las Vegas and tamed Sin City like no other act before them. Their mind-blowing illusions captivated the world and broke box-office records. In just one decade at The Mirage, their magical extravaganza—featuring rare white tigers, lions, and elephants—grossed an astounding half billion dollars. Then, in one tragic instant, their world came crashing down. On October 3, 2003, Roy Horn was savagely attacked on stage by his 600-pound white tiger, Mantecore. Beating back death's icy grip after he literally “died” on the operating table, dark-haired Roy fought for survival as his blond doppelganger Siegfred watched and prayed. Suddenly, the show was over...or was it? In The Secret Life of Siegfried and Roy, three members of their inner circle—Jimmy Lavery, Jim Mydlach, and Louis Mydlach—unravel the story behind the famous duo's onstage act and personal drama. Louis—at Roy's side throughout his traumatic recovery—describes in detail the agonies of rehabilitating the partially paralyzed performer. Louis' father, Jim—head of security for the magicians—and Jimmy Lavery, a show consultant to the pair, provide additional insights about the ultimate showmen, as they masterfully hid a lifetime of secrets. In this compelling read, the authors reveal that the lives of Siegfried & Roy was their ultimate illusion.
The Secret Life of Uri Geller: CIA Masterspy?
by Jonathan MargolisNew Biography Shows Celebrity Spoon Bender, Uri Geller, Secretly Worked for U.S. Intelligence Agencies This authorized biography of Uri Geller tells his life story and explores recent claims about his clandestine work with the CIA and the Israeli intelligence agency, the Mossad, during and after the Cold War. Geller is best-known for his Vegas-style act where he bends spoons, describes hidden drawings, and performs other paranormal feats. Technology journalist and former Time magazine correspondent, Jonathan Margolis, worked alongside Geller and Oscar-winning filmmaker Vikram Jayanti on the book, to be published October 15th Jayanti debuted a documentary at the Sheffield (UK) Film Festival commissioned by the BBC and entitled, The Secret Life of Uri Geller: Psychic Spy? Jayanti directed the Muhammad Ali documentary, When We Were Kings. “Now there is the internet and the NSA's ability to monitor massive amounts of chatter around the world,” says Margolis. “40 years ago, however, intelligence agencies needed to explore way-out ways of monitoring the bad guys. The people I interviewed on-the-record for the book were adamant that Uri Geller wasn’t only able to gather secret information remotely and perform other espionage tasks, but was extremely good at it.” Throughout his career, Uri Geller has courted controversy. He is known globally as an entertainer and friend of pop star, Michael Jackson, who was best man at the renewal of Geller’s wedding vows. He also made millions as a psychic adviser to the oil industry, but as a paranormalist was humiliated in a 1974 appearance on ‘The Tonight Show’ with Johnny Carson. And yet there are photographs from 1987 of Geller together with Al Gore, Yuli M. Vorontsov, First Deputy Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union, and several other high ranking US officials at nuclear arms limitation talks between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. What was Geller doing in these pictures? Margolis brings proof that Geller was there at the invitation of the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee to influence Vorontsov‘s to sign the treaty. There is also new testimony from a living senior former CIA official and others who worked for the Agency confirming that Geller was exhaustively laboratory tested on behalf of the CIA, and was used as an intelligence asset of the CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency – and that under President Carter’s presidency, using psychics in intelligence matters was known about and accepted at the White House. Michael Mann, publisher at large for Watkins, said: “Uri is world-famous for mind reading and spoon bending but his work with the CIA and Mossad during the 60s and 70s as well as, it seems, in post 9/11 times, has until now remained secret. The Secret Life of Uri Geller tells the real story of his extraordinary life and his alleged continuing undercover work for the West’s major spy agencies.”
The Secret Life of William Shakespeare: A Novel
by Jude MorganNamed One of Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Books of 2014There are so few established facts about how the son of a glove maker from Warwickshire became one of the greatest writers of all time that some people doubt he could really have written so many astonishing plays. We know that he married Anne Hathaway, who was pregnant and six years older than he, at the age of eighteen, and that one of their children died of the plague. We know that he left Stratford to seek his fortune in London, and eventually succeeded. He was clearly an unwilling craftsman, ambitious actor, resentful son, almost good-enough husband. But when and how did he also become a genius? The Secret Life of William Shakespeare pulls back the curtain to imagine what it might have really been like to be Shakespeare before a seemingly ordinary man became a legend. In the hands of acclaimed historical novelist Jude Morgan, this is a brilliantly convincing story of unforgettable richness, warmth, and immediacy.
The Secret Life of a Black Aspie: A Memoir
by Anand PrahladAnand Prahlad was born on a former plantation in Virginia in 1954. This memoir, vividly internal, powerfully lyric, and brilliantly impressionistic, is his story. <p><p> For the first four years of his life, Prahlad didn’t speak. But his silence didn’t stop him from communicating—or communing—with the strange, numinous world he found around him. Ordinary household objects came to life; the spirits of long-dead slave children were his best friends. In his magical interior world, sensory experiences blurred, time disappeared, and memory was fluid. Ever so slowly, he emerged, learning to talk and evolving into an artist and educator. His journey takes readers across the United States during one of its most turbulent moments, and Prahlad experiences it all, from the heights of the Civil Rights Movement to West Coast hippie enclaves to a college town that continues to struggle with racism and its border state legacy. <p><p> Rooted in black folklore and cultural ambience, and offering new perspectives on autism and more, The Secret Life of a Black Aspie will inspire and delight readers and deepen our understanding of the marginal spaces of human existence.
The Secret Life of a Black Aspie: A Memoir
by Anand PrahladAnand Prahlad was born on a former plantation in Virginia in 1954. This memoir, vividly internal, powerfully lyric, and brilliantly impressionistic, is his story. For the first four years of his life, Prahlad didn’t speak. But his silence didn’t stop him from communicating—or communing—with the strange, numinous world he found around him. Ordinary household objects came to life; the spirits of long-dead slave children were his best friends. In his magical interior world, sensory experiences blurred, time disappeared, and memory was fluid. Ever so slowly, he emerged, learning to talk and evolving into an artist and educator. His journey takes readers across the United States during one of its most turbulent moments, and Prahlad experiences it all, from the heights of the Civil Rights Movement to West Coast hippie enclaves to a college town that continues to struggle with racism and its border state legacy. Rooted in black folklore and cultural ambience, and offering new perspectives on autism and more, The Secret Life of a Black Aspie will inspire and delight readers and deepen our understanding of the marginal spaces of human existence.
The Secret Life of a Satanist
by Blanche BartonThe Secret Life of a Satanist steps behind the curtain with the founder and High Priest of the Church of Satan.What is contemporary Satanism, and why would one start a church dedicated to the Dark One? It wasn't a rebellion against an oppressive religious upbringing; it was Anton Szandor LaVey's disgust with most of humanity. Drawing from Jack London, H.L. Mencken, Friedrich Nietzsche, Marquis de Sade, George Bernard Shaw, John Milton, Benjamin Franklin, and a host of reprobates, with a large dose of alchemy and black magic, LaVey formulated a philosophy that deeply resonated with him.LaVey did not worship Satan; he paid homage to the rebellious spirit of innovation, defiance, and self-reliance that the archetype embodied. His background as a musician, circus lion trainer, hypnotist, and police photographer is covered here. The author, who later became his paramour and mother to his only son, was allowed extraordinary access to documents concerning his life, testimonies from people who had known him for years, and, most importantly, anecdotes and fond memories from a man living out of his time.After the original publication of this biography in 1990, LaVey and Blanche Barton fought through the Satanic Panic together, and guided the Church for another seven years. This revised edition adds a dozen new and never-before-seen images.
The Secret Life of a Schoolgirl: A Memoir
by Rosemary KingslandThe Secret Life of a Schoolgirl is an extraordinary memoir--a jewel. Rosemary Kingsland was born in India during the dying days of the British Raj. While there, she and her family lived a life of privilege. But with the fall of the Raj, they were forced to return to England, where their fortunes took a decided turn for the worse. In London, then in Cornwall, then back in London, the simmering tension between Rosemary's parents erupted into outright warfare fueled by alcohol and her father's persistent, unrepentant womanizing. It was a lonely, dangerous childhood. But one day Rosemary's life changed forever. At a café where she had gone to escape from a party her father had insisted she attend with him, she met Richard Burton, the dashingly handsome Welsh actor who was then the toast of the London stage. She had seen him in Under Milkwood some months before. She was an adolescent schoolgirl. He was twenty-nine. The Secret Life of a Schoolgirl is a deeply felt evocation of first love, and of family bonds forged in intense isolation. It is made all the more remarkable by the luminous quality and riveting narrative voice of Rosemary Kingsland.