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Finding Everett Ruess: The Life and Unsolved Disappearance of a Legendary Wilderness Explorer
by David Roberts Jon KrakauerFinding Everett Ruess by David Roberts, with a foreword by Jon Krakauer, is the definitive biography of the artist, writer, and eloquent celebrator of the wilderness whose bold solo explorations of the American West and mysterious disappearance in the Utah desert at age 20 have earned him a large and devoted cult following. More than 75 years after his vanishing, Ruess stirs the kinds of passion and speculation accorded such legendary doomed American adventurers as Into the Wild's Chris McCandless and Amelia Earhart. "I have not tired of the wilderness; rather I enjoy its beauty and the vagrant life I lead, more keenly all the time. I prefer the saddle to the street car and the star sprinkled sky to a roof, the obscure and difficult trail, leading into the unknown, to any paved highway, and the deep peace of the wild to the discontent bred by cities." So Everett Ruess wrote in his last letter to his brother. And earlier, in a valedictory poem, "Say that I starved; that I was lost and weary; That I was burned and blinded by the desert sun; Footsore, thirsty, sick with strange diseases; Lonely and wet and cold . . . but that I kept my dream!" Wandering alone with burros and pack horses through California and the Southwest for five years in the early 1930s, on voyages lasting as long as ten months, Ruess also became friends with photographers Edward Weston and Dorothea Lange, swapped prints with Ansel Adams, took part in a Hopi ceremony, learned to speak Navajo, and was among the first "outsiders" to venture deeply into what was then (and to some extent still is) largely a little-known wilderness. When he vanished without a trace in November 1934, Ruess left behind thousands of pages of journals, letters, and poems, as well as more than a hundred watercolor paintings and blockprint engravings. A Ruess mystique, initiated by his parents but soon enlarged by readers and critics who, struck by his remarkable connection to the wild, likened him to a fledgling John Muir. Today, the Ruess cult has more adherents--and more passionate ones--than at any time in the seven-plus decades since his disappearance. By now, Everett Ruess is hailed as a paragon of solo exploration, while the mystery of his death remains one of the greatest riddles in the annals of American adventure. David Roberts began probing the life and death of Everett Ruess for National Geographic Adventure magazine in 1998. Finding Everett Ruess is the result of his personal journeys into the remote areas explored by Ruess, his interviews with oldtimers who encountered the young vagabond and with Ruess's closest living relatives, and his deep immersion in Ruess's writings and artwork. It is an epic narrative of a driven and acutely perceptive young adventurer's expeditions into the wildernesses of landscape and self-discovery, as well as an absorbing investigation of the continuing mystery of his disappearance. In this definitive account of Ruess's extraordinary life and the enigma of his vanishing, David Roberts eloquently captures Ruess's tragic genius and ongoing fascination.From the Hardcover edition.
When We Were on Fire: A Memoir of Consuming Faith, Tangled Love, and Starting Over
by Addie ZiermanIn the strange, us-versus-them Christian subculture of the 1990s, a person's faith was measured by how many WWJD bracelets she wore and whether he had kissed dating goodbye. Evangelical poster child Addie Zierman wore three bracelets asking what Jesus would do. She also led two Bible studies and listened exclusively to Christian music. She was on fire for God and unaware that the flame was dwindling--until it burned out. Addie chronicles her journey through church culture and first love, and her entrance--unprepared and angry--into marriage. When she drops out of church and very nearly her marriage as well, it is on a sea of tequila and depression. She isn't sure if she'll ever go back. When We Were on Fire is a funny, heartbreaking story of untangling oneself from what is expected to arrive at faith that is not bound by tradition or current church fashion. Addie looks for what lasts when nothing else seems worth keeping. It's a story for doubters, cynics, and anyone who has felt alone in church. returning to love, Jesus, and (perhaps toughest of all) his imperfect followers. And, in the end, it's about what lasts when nothing else seems worth keeping.
Canals, Canines, and Curry
by Michael RolfeA new life on the English Waterways...An informative and humorous new boater’ s perspective of life on the Inland Waterways; charting their learning curve from calamitous collisions to confident competence, all fuelled by copious curries.Two humans, a dog the size of a small horse, petrol, gas, and curry, all in a confined space on a vessel we’d bought and only in theory knew how to operate. What could possibly go wrong?Dotted throughout is information on narrowboats, rivers, and canals, explored as we learn it on our own journeys, written in easy-to-follow layman’s terms.
To Russia with Fries
by George CohonYou might think that an autobiography by the senior chairman of McDonald’s in Canada and Russia would be a modestly boastful, ho-hum business story of expansion and board-room debates, wrapped in some nice reminiscences about his family. You would be very wrong. Because this is George Cohon’s autobiography, and George Cohon (“Call me George, please!”) is not an ordinary man…not in his approach to business and not in his approach to telling his life story. It’s true that George Cohon is one of the most successful businessmen of his generation and that he’s also one of the most colourful. But the man you’ll meet in the pages of To Russia With Fries is considerably more complex than that description suggests. Here, you’ll encounter a man who not only dreamed the impossible dream of opening a McDonald’s restaurant in the heart of the Soviet Union (of all places), but had the patience, the persistence, and above all the good humour to navigate the maze of obstacles set in his course by a scornful communist bureaucracy. You’ll meet a man whose heart is bigger than his assets (he’s donating all the royalties from this book to charity); a man with a serious sense of fun, who loves (and is frequently on the receiving end of) practical jokes; a man whose life so far has been extraordinary by any standard. You’ll discover a man who is a natural and creative entrepreneur and an acknowledged expert on starting a business in Russia. He’s been there and done that – long before the crash of the Iron Curtain. From a man who can think and do six things at once (he’s been told he has a mind like a butterfly), comes a very lively and hugely entertaining story that has universal appeal.
The 33 (Now a major motion picture - previously titled Deep Down Dark): The Untold Stories Of 33 Men Buried In A Chilean Mine, And The Miracle That Set Them Free
by Héctor TobarNOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING JULIETTE BINOCHE AND ANTONIO BANDERASTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA NEW YORK TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR LA TIMES BOOK PRIZE FINALIST'Riveting ...The best book I've read all year.' Ann Patchett'An astonishing tale of survival' Spectator THE STORY THAT GRIPPED THE GLOBEAugust 2010: the San Jose mine in Chile collapses trapping 33 men half a mile underground for 69 days. Faced with the possibility of starvation and even death, the miners make a pact: if they survive, they will only share their story collectively, as 'the 33'.1 billion people watch the international rescue mission. Somehow, all 33 men make it out alive, in one of the most daring and dramatic rescue efforts even seen.Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist Héctor Tobar is the man they choose to tell their story.' An eloquent testament to the human spirit' The Times'A masterful account of exile and human longing, of triumph in the face of all odds.' Los Angeles Times
Fidel: An Illustrated Biography of Fidel Castro
by Nahuel Scherma Nestor Kohan Elise Buchman Miracle JonesIn the United States, ninety miles from Cuban shores, tempers flare on the subject of Fidel Castro: some say he is a liberator, some say a dictator. In Fidel, Nestor Kohan and Nahuel Scherma present one of the towering figures of the twentieth-century as he is seen by Latin Americans: as the leader who, for over fifty years, has stood up to the greatest military power in the world, and remained standing.Here, in Kohan's incisive prose and Scherma's passionate illustrations, is the man who, inspired by decades of Latin American Marxist thinking, fought from the mountains of the Sierra Maestra to free his country--the man who walked the razor's edge between military threats by the United States and political coercion by the Soviet Union--the man who became a leader in the revolution against colonial governments from Angola to Vietnam to Latin America--the man who fought, above all, to transform the conscience of his people, spreading literacy, culture, and free medical care to everyone on the island. Here is Fidel--the man who became the symbol of the revolution in the New World.
Around the Bloc: My Life in Moscow, Beijing, and Havana
by Stephanie Elizondo GriestDesperate to escape South Texas, Stephanie Elizondo Griest dreamed of becoming a foreign correspondent. So she headed to Russia looking for some excitement-- commencing what would become a four-year, twelve-nation Communist bloc tour that shattered her preconceived notions of the "Evil Empire." In Around the Bloc, Griest relates her experiences as a volunteer at a children's shelter in Moscow, a propaganda polisher at the office of the Chinese Communist Party's English-language mouthpiece in Beijing, and a belly dancer among the rumba queens of Havana. She falls in love with an ex-soldier who narrowly avoided radiation cleanup duties at Chernobyl, hangs out with Cuban hip-hop artists, and comes to difficult realizations about the meaning of democracy.
Blood on the Risers: An Airborne Soldier's Thirty-five Months in Vietnam
by John LeppelmanFrom Dak To to the Tet Offensive, John Leppelman saw it all. In three tours of duty, he made combat jumps, spent months of fruitless effort looking for the enemy, watched as his budies died because of lousy leadership and lousy weapons. He saw the war as few others did, and lives to tell about the valor and sacrifice that outlived the dead.From the Paperback edition.
Hammer from Above: Marine Air Combat Over Iraq
by Jay A. StoutIn Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Marine Corps' ground campaign up the Tigris and Euphrates was notable for speed and aggressiveness unparalleled in military history. Little has been written, however, of the air support that guaranteed the drive's success. Paving the way for the rush to Baghdad was "the hammer from above"-in the form of attack helicopters, jet fighters, transport, and other support aircraft. Now a former Marine fighter pilot shares the gripping never-before-told stories of the Marines who helped bring to an end the regime of Saddam Hussein. As Jay Stout reveals, the air war had actually been in the planning stages ever since the victory of Operation Desert Storm, twelve years earlier. But when Operation Iraqi Freedom officially commenced on March 20, 2003, the Marine Corps entered the fight with an aviation arm at its smallest since before World War II. Still, with the motto "Speed Equals Success," the separate air and ground units acted as a team to get the job done. Drawing on exclusive interviews with the men and women who flew the harrowing missions, Hammer from Above reveals how pilots and their machines were tested to the limits of endurance, venturing well beyond what they were trained and designed to do. Stout takes us into the cockpits, revealing what it was like to fly these intense combat operations for up to eighteen hours at a time and to face incredible volumes of fire that literally shredded aircraft in midair during battles like that over An Nasiriyah . With its dynamic descriptions of perilous flights and bombing runs, Hammer from Above is a worthy tribute to the men and women who flew and maintained the aircraft that so inspired their brothers in arms and terrified the enemy. From the Hardcover edition.
Diary of an Airborne Ranger: A LRRP's Year in the Combat Zone
by Frank JohnsonPerhaps the most accurate story of LRRPs at war ever to appear in print! When Frank Johnson arrived in Vietnam in 1969, he was nineteen, a young soldier untested in combat like thousands of others--but with two important differences: Johnson volunteered for the elite L Company Rangers of the 101st Airborne Division, a long range reconnaissance patrol (LRRP) unit, and he kept a secret diary, a practice forbidden by the military to protect the security of LRRP operations. Now, more than three decades later, those hastily written pages offer a rare look at the daily operations of one of the most courageous units that waged war in Vietnam. Johnson served in I Corps, in northern Vietnam, where combat was furious and the events he recounts emerge, stark and compelling: walking point in the A Shau Valley, braving enemy fire to rescue a downed comrade, surviving days and nights of relentless tension that suddenly exploded in the blinding fury of an NVA attack. Undimmed and unmuddied by the passing of years, Johnson's account is unique in the annals of Vietnam literature. Moreover, it is a timeless testimony to the sacrifice and heroism of the LRRPs who dared to risk it all.
My Sporting Heroes
by Jason MohammadFirst-hand account from the heart of Welsh sporting action.One of the country’s most recognized sport presenters - Jason has rubbed shoulders with the greats: from Brazilian footballers Zico, Ronaldinho and Juninho; to rugby giants Graham Henry, Lawrence Dallaglio and Martin Johnson; and even filmstar Al Pacino.In My Sporting Heroes Jason chooses his favourite Welsh sporting stars – including his boyhood hero, the former Wales manager Mark Hughes, Ryan Giggs, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, Welsh rugby stars Sam Warburton and Ieuan Evans, boxer Joe Calzaghe and swimmer David Davies – and gives us a personal and intimate view of each of these different characters as well as of life as a TV presenter.
Alan Titchmarsh: Trowel and Error, Nobbut a Lad, Knave of Spades
by Alan TitchmarshIn these three bestselling memoirs, Alan tells his own story from Ilkley Moor to Pebble Mill and to the final realising of his dream of becoming TV's favourite gardener. Along the way, the cast of characters includes everyone from Auntie Ethel to Nelson Mandela and the Queen.
Michael Schumacher
by James AllenMichael Schumacher is the outstanding Formula One driver of his generation and, statistically, the greatest ever. Gifted with a rare blend of superior ability and nerve that defines a champion, for 15 seasons he has left rivals trailing in his wake, winning an unprecedented seven world drivers' championships.But he is a controversial figure, feared for his ruthless tactics, despised for using extreme methods in pursuit of his goals. THE EDGE OF GREATNESS examines Schumacher's entire career: from his first Grand Prix with Jordan to his Benetton world championships and his attempt to win back Ferrari's crown. It tells the story behind Schumacher's record five consecutive world titles, uncovers the secrets of how he has stayed at the top for so long and examines the impact of his domination on the sport. Frank, honest, adroit and in-depth - James Allen reveals the anatomy of a champion.
Around the World in 57 1/2 Gigs
by Dave BidiniThe strengths of Bidini's two best-loved books, On a Cold Road and Tropic of Hockey, music and travel to unlikely places, come together in this account of his search for rock 'n' roll.When it looks as if the Rheostatics are breaking up after more than twenty years together, Dave Bidini is left feeling adrift from his moorings and decides to go on a very long road trip, playing solo and finding out about the state of rock 'n' roll around the world. Accompanied much of the way by his friend Al, who also has a solo act, Bidini sets out for London, England, his springboard for travel to Finland, Russia, China, Sierra Leone, and Ghana, punctuated by trips to Newfoundland and Gananoque in Canada, and to New York City.What Bidini finds is that the rock 'n' roll machine has not yet flattened the globe, as each place has taken what suits it from the West's dominant music and ignored the rest. Metal may have had its heyday in North America, but it still suits the quiet Finns just fine as a soundtrack for suicidal thoughts. In China, where Bidini plays with the Rheos-Not-Rheos as part of the Maple Rhythm Festival, he has to coach the crowd sitting quietly in plastic chairs how to clap rhythmically. In Russia, where live rock still lurks in hard-to-find places, the British band Smokie is far more popular than even the Rolling Stones, and the first Western band Mongolian audiences wanted to hear live was Boney M. In Africa, Bidini finds out just how far rock has wandered from its roots, and in Newfoundland, just how true it has stayed.Peopled with hosers, the über-hip, and the profoundly baffled, and brimming with tales of playing in strange venues to bemused locals and the odd drunk, Around the World takes readers on an unforgettable, ear-opening swing through the world of rock 'n' roll.From the Hardcover edition.
First Loves: A Memoir
by Ted SolotaroffSolotaroff was one of the notable intellectuals of his generation, the founder of the New American Review, editor and friend of Philip Roth, and editor-in-chief at HarperCollins. Solotaroff reveals himself here as a thinking man with a big heart and gaping wounds of love that are not disconnected from the contributions he has made to American culture throughout his career. Solotaroff turns back to the earliest pages of his romance with Lynn, remembering his first sighting of her emerging from the water as if from a dream. Yet the image, as he penetrates the intervening layers of sorrow and disappointment, is almost impossibly distant, fragile. First Loves reenacts the blurring of a perfect conception in the mind of a man who would devote his life to precision of thought and word. This opposition, of romantic and intellectual passion, drives the narrative and eventually brings it to crisis.First Loves could be described as a very private feat of honesty from a public intellectual. Solotaroff's willingness to admit the failures, personal and professional, alongside the triumphs of his career gives a three-dimensional intensity to the emotions on the page. Working with all of the gritty and romantic elements of his storied life, Solotaroff manages to avoid a tone too heroic or honey-dipped; he manages simply to tell the tale.
Niall Quinn: The Autobiography
by Niall QuinnWhen Niall Quinn learned he was going to the 2002 World Cup with Ireland, it seemed the perfect climax to his international career. Yet even before the competition had started, Quinn was caught up in the most emotionally draining events of his career, as Ireland's World Cup campaign was rocked by Roy Keane's sudden departure. All his efforts at mediation failed, leaving him exhausted. As he worked to find a solution, Quinn looked back on his life and career, and saw echoes of his current situation. In this fascinating autobiography, updated for this edition, he recalls the all-night drinking sessions with Tony Adams and Paul Merson, the gambling, the good times and the bad. It is a remarkable story, brilliantly told.
Jonah Lomu Autobiography
by Jonah LomuWhen Jonah Lomu trampled over Tony Underwood in the World Cup semi-final in 1995, the greatest star rugby union has ever seen was launched on the world. His size and pace seemed to make him unstoppable - and he was still just 20, having only recently learned to play on the wing. How much better would he get? But a year later, a rare and serious kidney disorder threatened more than his career. He fought back, and continued to score tries at a remarkable rate.Lomu's astonishing story is not just about tries, but about adapting to becoming rugby's first superstar of the professional era, a life lived in the spotlight. This is an extraordinary tale from an extraordinary man.
Gazza: My Story
by Paul GascoigneAlmost as soon as Gazza burst on to the scene at Newcastle United, the young Geordie was the centre of attention: Vinnie Jones's notorious ball-handling showed the lengths people would go to try to stop him. Then, with England on the verge of possibly reaching the World Cup final in 1990, came Gazza's tears - the moment that brought a whole new audience to the sport and helped set the football boom of the 1990s on its way. But then came a career-threatening injury, mental health problems, self-confessed alcoholism and family disputes, as life in the full glare of the media spotlight became too much. Now, at the end of his top-flight playing career, Gazza is ready to confront his demons. The result is quite simply the most remarkable footballing story you'll ever read: what it's like being Paul Gascoigne, in his own words.
Warrior Queen: The Totally Unauthorized Story of Joanie Laurer
by Scott EdelmanLADIES FIRST--OR ELSE! With her body of death, quick-fire moves, and show-no-mercy attitude, Joanie Laurer, also known as "Chyna," has definitely earned her nickname: The Ninth Wonder of the World. Not content to play with the girls, Joanie has belted her way into the men's division where she more than holds her own--while knocking countless guys to the mat. Raw and riveting, this is the incredible story of Joanie Laurer's awesome climb to the pinnacle of a sport she's made her own. NINTH WONDER OF THE WORLD They never know what hit 'em From the Paperback edition.
Calling The Horses: A Racing Autobiography
by Peter O'SullevanFor decades Peter O'Sullevan was one of the iconic sports commentators, providing the sound track for half a century of horseracing as he called home such legends of the sport as Arkle, Nijinsky, Red Rum and Desert Orchid. His rapid-fire commentary seemed to echo the sound of horses' hooves, and it was not long before he became known as 'The Voice of Racing'. But in addition to his legendary status as a TV personality, Peter O'Sullevan was also a notable journalist and much-admired writer, and it is a measure of his standing both within and beyond the world of racing that his compulsively readable autobiography Calling the Horses, first published in 1989 and reprinted eight times, reached the top of the SUNDAY TIMES non-fiction bestseller list. The most recent edition of Calling the Horses was published in 1994, and the twenty years since then have brought many fresh episodes in the ongoing Peter O'Sullevan story, including the last racing days of his great friend Lester Piggott in 1995, his commentary on the 'Bomb Scare' Grand National of 1997, and his retirement from the BBC. He also describes setting up the Sir Peter O'Sullevan Charitable Trust, which has raised over £3.5 million for animal welfare charities, as well as offering his appreciation of a new generation of racing heroes, including jockey AP McCoy, who has come to dominate jump racing in a manner unparalleled in any sport, and the wonder-horse Frankel. The heartening news for the legions of Peter O'Sullevan fans is that, despite his years, his enthusiasm for racing is undiminished, and so are the elegance, fluency and wit which infuse his writing style. This new and extensively updated edition of Calling the Horses is a very remarkable book by a very remarkable man.
Her Dream of Dreams: The Rise and Triumph of Madam C. J. Walker
by Beverly Lowry"I am a woman that came from the cotton fields of the South; I was promoted from there to the wash-tub; then I was promoted to the cook kitchen, and from there I promoted myself into the business of manufacturing hair goods and preparations." --Madam C. J. Walker, National Negro Business League Convention, 1912 Now, from a writer acclaimed for her novels and the memoir Crossed Over, a remarkable biography of a truly heroic figure. Madam C. J. Walker created a cosmetics empire and became known as the first female self-made millionaire in this nation's history, a noted philanthropist and champion of women's rights and economic freedom. These achievements seem nothing less than miraculous given that she was born, in 1867, to former slaves in a hamlet on the Mississippi River. How she came to live on another river, the Hudson, in a Westchester County mansion, and in a New York City town house, is at once inspirational and mysterious, because for all that is known about the famous entrepreneur, much that occurred before her magnificent transformation--years that trace a circuitous route across the country--remains obscure. By breathing life into scattered clues and dry facts, and with a deep understanding of the times and places through which Madam Walker moved, Beverly Lowry tells a story that stretches from the antebellum South to the Harlem Renaissance and bridges nearly a century of our history in her search for the distant truths of a woman who defied all odds and redefined conventional expectations."Wherever there was one colored person, whether it was a city, a town, or a puddle by the railroad tracks, everybody knew her name." --Violet Davis Reynolds, Stenographer, Madam C. J. Walker CoFrom the Hardcover edition.
Amelia Earhart
by John Parlin"Women must try to do things as men have tried. "When she was eight years old, Amelia Earhart built a roller coaster and "flew" through the air. She loved to watch daredevil pilots fly loops in the sky. Amelia decided to pilot a plane herself, and became one of the first women to learn to fly. She broke flight records and in 1932 was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean alone. The whole world admired her courage and daring. Amelia Earhart disappeared while trying to set a new record flying all the way around the world at the equator, but her pioneer spirit inspired many others to follow in her path.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Happy Days: 1880-1892 (H.L. Mencken's Autobiography)
by H. L. MenckenWith a style that combined biting sarcasm with the "language of the free lunch counter," Henry Louis Mencken shook politics and politicians for nearly half a century. Now, fifty years after Mencken's death, the Johns Hopkins University Press announces The Buncombe Collection, newly packaged editions of nine Mencken classics: Happy Days, Heathen Days, Newspaper Days, Prejudices, Treatise on the Gods, On Politics, Thirty-Five Years of Newspaper Work, Minority Report, and A Second Mencken Chrestomathy. Most of these autobiographical writings first appeared in the New Yorker. Here Mencken recalls memories of a safe and happy boyhood in the Baltimore of the 1880s.
Foo Fighters
by Mick WallEveryone from Sir Paul McCartney and Jimmy Page to Queens of the Stone Age now relishes the chance to share a stage with Dave Grohl and his legendary Foo Fighters. The question is: why? Musical depth? Not really. Major success? Well, yes. Despite no longer shifting albums in the same quantity as they did twenty years ago, this band can still fill stadiums the world over (when Dave's not breaking his leg, of course).Long before Kurt Cobain blew his brains out in 1994, Dave Grohl was planning for a life after Nirvana. The unflinching bright sunlight to Cobain's permanent midnight darkness, Grohl had come from a similar broken home to his erstwhile band leader, but came out of the experience differently - brimming with positivity and a shrewd grasp of opportunities in the music industry.Did Grohl merely take the sonic blueprint of Nirvana and embellish it with a more life-affirming pop sheen? Of course he did. Every band in America that sold over a million records in the post-grunge 90s did the same. The difference was that Grohl had real credibility. And he knew it.With exclusive testimony from true insiders (including Krist Novoselic, Grohl's bass-playing partner in Nirvana, ex-girlfirends, record company executives, tour photographers and confidantes), this book is an exploration of the real story behind Grohl and the Foo Fighters - the only serious literary biography of the group and its leader, one of the most famous and critically bulletproof rock figures of the 21st century.
ME ME ME
by Charlotte CrosbyCharlotte Crosby has been one of the UK's best-loved TV stars since she burst onto the celeb scene in 2011 with Geordie Shore. Laugh-out-loud hilarious, genuine, and a proper Geordie, Charlotte's popularity has even seen her crowned winner of 2013's Celebrity Big Brother. With her trademark humour and warmth, in ME ME ME Charlotte takes us on a very unique journey through her eventful teenage years (where literally nothing is off limits!), her attempts at holding down jobs (and booze), the life-changing experience of Geordie Shore, the truth about Gaz and his parsnip, and her inspiring weight-loss triumph. Full of drawings, doodles, and Charlotte's personal photos, this will be unlike any other celebrity autobiography on the market. Extremely personal, insanely honest and pant-wettingly funny.