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My Life as a Villainess: Essays
by Laura LippmanNew York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman, a journalist for many years, collects here her recent essays exploring motherhood as an older mom, her life as a reader, her relationships with her parents, friendship, and other topics that will resonate with a large audience. Her voice is wry and relatable, her takes often surprising. Meet the Woman Behind the Books… In this collection of new and previously published essays, New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman offers her take on a woman's life across the decades. Her childhood and school years, her newspaper career, her experiences as a novelist—Lippman finds universal touchstones in an unusual life that has as many twists as her award-winning crime fiction. Essays include: · Men Explain The Wire to Me · Game of Crones · My Life as a Villainess · My Father’s Bar · The 31st Stocking These candid essays offer long-time readers insight into the experiences that helped Lippman become one of the most successful crime novelists of her generation.
My Life as an Explorer
by Sven HedinMy Life as an Explorer is the captivating autobiography of Sven Hedin, one of the last great explorers of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Through vivid storytelling, Hedin recounts his daring expeditions across the uncharted terrains of Central Asia, Tibet, and the deserts of the Silk Road. From surviving deadly sandstorms to uncovering lost cities and forbidden lands, Hedin offers readers an immersive view of a world on the edge of discovery.The book delves into his encounters with remote cultures, ancient ruins, and political intrigues, blending personal reflections with rich historical and geographic detail. Hedin’s deep fascination with geography, cartography, and adventure is palpable on every page, making his narrative both a thrilling adventure and a valuable contribution to the history of exploration.Beyond the tales of excitement and hardship, Hedin reflects on the joys and challenges of pushing human endurance to its limits, revealing the mindset of a true explorer. His accounts also touch upon the scientific significance of his journeys, which provided crucial insights into the geography of Central Asia at a time when much of it was still a mystery to the West.An enduring classic, My Life as an Explorer offers a glimpse into a bygone era when the world still held vast unknowns, waiting for those bold enough to venture into them.
My Life as an Explorer: Autobiography of the First Man to Reach the South Pole
by Roald Amundsen"My Life as an Explorer" by Roald Amundsen is a riveting autobiography that chronicles the life and adventures of one of history's greatest explorers. Published in 1927, this work provides an intimate glimpse into the experiences and achievements of the first man to reach the South Pole.Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian explorer renowned for his polar expeditions, narrates his journey from a young boy fascinated by the Arctic to becoming a pioneering figure in polar exploration. The book delves into Amundsen's early life, his inspirations, and the rigorous training that prepared him for the formidable challenges he would face.The heart of the autobiography focuses on Amundsen's historic 1911 expedition to the South Pole. Through vivid storytelling, he recounts the meticulous planning, the selection of his team, and the innovative strategies that set his expedition apart. Amundsen details the harsh conditions, the relentless cold, and the immense physical and mental endurance required to traverse the Antarctic landscape.Amundsen's narrative is not only a tale of adventure but also a study in leadership and resilience. He provides insights into the decision-making processes and the camaraderie among his team members that were crucial to their success. The autobiography also reflects on the scientific contributions of the expedition and the impact it had on our understanding of the polar regions."My Life as an Explorer" is an inspiring and engaging read, offering a firsthand look at the triumphs and tribulations of one of the most celebrated explorers of the 20th century. Roald Amundsen's autobiography is a testament to the power of determination, innovation, and the relentless pursuit of dreams, making it a must-read for anyone interested in the history of exploration and the indomitable human spirit.
My Life at the Wheel: Toward a Memoir
by Lynne Sharon SchwartzFrom an &“American literary treasure&” comes this humorous collection of essays on writing, friendship, family, and aging in an increasingly complex world(Publishers Weekly). In this diverting anthology, National Book Award finalist Lynne Sharon Schwartz explores the connections and complications of a life rich with travel, fascinating people, and writing. Her body of work includes acclaimed novels, poetry, essays, memoirs, and English translations of Italian books. With biting wit, My Life at the Wheel dissects the trials of Schwartz&’s recovery from major surgery; reveals her quest for hope and healing in the wake of the 9/11 attacks; comically muses on her fear of driving and her discovery of an &“unknown&” book by Henry James; and weaves colorful stories of hours spent arguing, drinking, and smoking with friends in a neighborhood bar in her native New York City. Her personal narratives range from riotous reflections on finding her calling to be an author, to the challenges of writing while raising children, and from a daughter struggling to understand her parents through adolescent eyes to an aging woman grappling with her own mortality. Relentlessly candid and often painfully funny, Schwartz fearlessly probes life&’s most difficult truths, as she willingly confronts the complexities of growing older in a rapidly changing world.Praise for the writing of Lynne Sharon Schwartz &“[Schwartz&’s]insights are at once sympathetic and drenched with irony.&” —The New York Times &“Reading Schwartz is like a pleasurable visit with a thoughtful and articulate friend.&” —Kirkus Reviews &“I can think of no other contemporary writer who writes so well.&” —Los Angeles Review of Books
My Life for the Book: The Memoirs of a Russian Publisher
by Ivan D. SytinAvailable at long last, this volume is the posthumous memoir of a peasant from the depths of old Russia who rose to great wealth and influence as his country's most successful publisher. Though never fully literate, Ivan Dmitrievich Sytin (1851-1934) was a shrewd businessman who made millions by publishing books for all manner of readers. My Life for the Book makes available the full text of Sytin's unpublished memoir, along with various writings by those who knew him. Through sharp and unremittingly ironic observations, Sytin describes with insight and amusement or dismay Tsarist Russia's bureaucracy, the Orthodox Church, the Imperial court, and a number of the country's most renowned writers, including Anton Chekhov, Leo Tolstoy, Maxim Gorky, and journalist Vlas Doroshevich. Sytin's memoir, a tale of Great Russian society voiced by a parvenu, depicts a pre-Revolutionary Russia of small shops, churches, convents, deep religious faith, and flawed rulers. While the Revolution eventually deprived Sytin of all means to continuing publishing, his resilience and enterprise remain a lasting legacy.
My Life from Scratch
by Gesine Bullock-PradoA former Hollywood insider trades the Hollywood Hills for Green Acres—and lives to tell about it in this hilarious, poignant treat of a memoir. As head of her celebrity sister’s production company, Gesine Bullock-Prado had a closet full of designer clothes and the ear of all the influential studio heads, but she was miserable. The only solace she found was in her secret hobby: baking. With every sugary, buttery confection to emerge from her oven, Gesine took one step away from her glittery, empty existence—and one step closer to her true destiny. Before long, she and her husband left the trappings of their Hollywood lifestyle behind, ending up in Vermont, where they started the gem known as Gesine Confectionary. And they never looked back. Confections of a Closet Master Baker follows Gesine's journey from sugar-obsessed child to miserable, awkward Hollywood insider to reluctant master baker. Chock-full of eccentric characters, beautifully detailed descriptions of her baking process, ceaselessly funny renditions of Hollywood nonsense, and recipes, the ingredients of her story will appeal to anyone who has ever considered leaving the life they know and completely starting over. From the Hardcover edition.
My Life in 100 Objects
by Margaret RandallTraces the remarkable life of a feminist poet through the items and images that have have defined her experiencesMy Life in 100 Objects is a personal reflection on the events and moments that shaped the life and work of one extraordinary woman. With a masterful, poetic voice, Margaret Randall uses talismanic objects and photographs as launching points for her nonlinear narrative. Through each “object,” Randall uncovers another part of herself, starting in a museum in Amman, Jordan, and ending in the Latin American Studies Association in Boston. Interwoven throughout are her most precious relationships, her growth as an artist, and her brave, revolutionary spirit.As Randall’s adventures often coincide with important moments in history, many of her objects provide a transcontinental glimpse into social upheavals and transitions. She shares memories from her years in Cuba (1969 to 1980) and Nicaragua (1980 to 1984), as well as briefer periods in North Vietnam (immediately preceding the end of the war in 1975), and Peru (during the government of Velasco Alvarado). In her introduction, Randall states, “objects and places have always been alive to me.” Her history too is alive, as much of a means to consider our own present as it is toglimpse her vibrant past.
My Life in Baseball: The True Record
by Ty Cobb Al Stump Charles C. Alexander"Highly successful in knitting together this story of the life of a most remarkable and dedicated player—perhaps the most spirited baseball player ever to have graced the diamond."—Library Journal
My Life in Court
by Louis NizerIn this electrifying bestseller, the shrewd and voluble trial lawyer Louis Nizer, who made a long career of representing famous people in famous cases, recounts some of his significant civil and criminal cases.Nizer rose to national fame with his real-life accounts of tension-filled courtrooms and the fervor of the advocate, and "My Life in Court" proved to be no exception: it rose to the top of the Times's best-seller list on its publication in 1961 and logged 72 weeks as a sales leader.The book is an in-depth collection of some of Mr. Nizer's court case success stories, including his client Quentin Reynolds' famous libel action against the columnist Westbrook Pegler, which would also become the basis of the 1963 Broadway play "A Case of Libel."Praised by critics as "entertaining and philosophically instructive, an unusual combination," Nizer's movie-like plots of real-life courtroom drama will keep you captivated until the very last page.
My Life in Dire Straits: The Inside Story Of One Of The Biggest Bands In Rock History
by John IllsleyThe bass player and founding member Dire Straits shares a behind-the-scenes history of the British rock band.One of the most successful music acts of all time, Dire Straits filled stadiums around the world. Their albums sold hundreds of millions of copies and their music—classics like “Sultans of Swing,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Money for Nothing,” and “Brothers in Arms” —is still played on every continent today. There was, quite simply, no bigger band on the planet throughout the eighties.In this powerful and entertaining memoir, founding member John Illsley gives the inside track on the most successful rock band of their time. From playing gigs in the spit-and-sawdust pubs of south London, to hanging out with Bob Dylan in LA, Illsley tells the story of the band with searching honesty, soulful reflection, and wry humor. Starting with his own unlikely beginnings in Middle England, he recounts the band’s rise from humble origins to the best-known venues in the world, the working man’s clubs to Madison Square Garden, sharing gigs with wild punk bands to rocking the Live Aid stage at Wembley. And woven throughout is an intimate portrait and tribute to his great friend Mark Knopfler, the band’s lead singer, songwriter, and remarkable guitarist.Tracing an idea that created a phenomenal musical legacy, an extraordinary journey of joy and pain, companionship and surprises, this is John Illsley’s life in Dire Straits.Praise for My Life in Dire Straits“A forensic and uplifting journey through the sheer hard work, pitfalls, and thrills of navigating a great rock and roll band to the pinnacle of success. I so enjoyed the ride! Onwards, John!” —Roger Taylor, drummer, songwriter, and founding member of Queen“Reading John Illsley’s book, I relived so many moments. He captures the early days of the “English bands” and their story—the ups and downs, relationships, craziness, and fun. Of course, the music was key. This really happened!” —Mike Rutherford of Genesis“Fascinating. . . . Illsley is brutally frank about the toll that the band’s fame had on his relationships, most notably his marriage (“a victim,” he writes, “of my life on the road”). Fans will be mesmerized.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
My Life in Dog Years (Juvenile Ser.)
by Gary Paulsen Ruth Wright PaulsenGary Paulsen has owned dozens of unforgettable and amazing dogs, and here are his favorites--one to a chapter. Among them are Snowball, the puppy he owned as a boy in the Philippines; Ike, his mysterious hunting companion; Electric Fred and his best friend, Pig; Dirk, the grim protector; and Josh, one of the remarkable border collies working on Paulsen's ranch today.My Life in Dog Years is a book for every dog lover and every Paulsen fan--a perfect combination that shows vividly the joy and wisdom that come from growing up with man's best friend.From the Hardcover edition.
My Life in Food: A Memoir
by Albert RouxIn 2021, the world of cooking lost a legendary figure. Albert Roux, together with his brother Michel, transformed the way we eat, cook and appreciate food in this country. It is no exaggeration to say that most of what makes our current culinary landscape so vibrant began with these two brothers and their ground-breaking restaurant, Le Gavroche.Albert first arrived in England in the fifties, at a time of grey and brown food, with a nation still reeling from the effects of war and rationing. Cooking in the grand private houses of the aristocracy, he was to fall in love with the country and, after his military service, which he spent fighting in the Algerian Civil War, he would eventually make it his home for life. He and his brother set up Le Gavroche in 1967. It was to become the first restaurant in the UK to gain first one, and eventually three, Michelin stars. Together with their other restaurants, including the renowned Waterside Inn in Bray, it would go on to revolutionise the industry. The Roux restaurants set on their course an entire generation of award-winning chefs: his protégés include Gordon Ramsay, Marcus Wareing, Rowley Leigh and Monica Galetti, to name just a tiny fraction. He won every plaudit possible in the world of food, and was granted an OBE, a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur, and a papal knighthood.Albert's memoir takes us from his childhood in wartime France, where the ever-looming presence of the German troops made it a challenge for his mother to keep the family fed, right up to the almost instant success of Le Gavroche, which welcomed everybody from royalty - the Queen Mother and Princess Diana were both regulars - to Hollywood legends including Charlie Chaplin. He talks frankly about his famed relationship with his brother, and about the encounter which derailed his first boyhood ambition to join the priesthood. His drive, humour and joie de vivre leap off every page, and the insight into what it took to break new ground in the restaurant industry is unmatched.These are the last words from a pioneer, a hero who inspired entire generations of chefs. They tell the story not only of a titan of a man, but of an era that shaped the way we cook and eat today.
My Life in Food: A Memoir
by Albert RouxIn 2021, the world of cooking lost a legendary figure. Albert Roux, together with his brother Michel, transformed the way we eat, cook and appreciate food in this country. It is no exaggeration to say that most of what makes our current culinary landscape so vibrant began with these two brothers and their ground-breaking restaurant, Le Gavroche.Albert first arrived in England in the fifties, at a time of grey and brown food, with a nation still reeling from the effects of war and rationing. Cooking in the grand private houses of the aristocracy, he was to fall in love with the country and, after his military service, which he spent fighting in the Algerian Civil War, he would eventually make it his home for life. He and his brother set up Le Gavroche in 1967. It was to become the first restaurant in the UK to gain first one, and eventually three, Michelin stars. Together with their other restaurants, including the renowned Waterside Inn in Bray, it would go on to revolutionise the industry. The Roux restaurants set on their course an entire generation of award-winning chefs: his protégés include Gordon Ramsay, Marcus Wareing, Rowley Leigh and Monica Galetti, to name just a tiny fraction. He won every plaudit possible in the world of food, and was granted an OBE, a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur, and a papal knighthood.Albert's memoir takes us from his childhood in wartime France, where the ever-looming presence of the German troops made it a challenge for his mother to keep the family fed, right up to the almost instant success of Le Gavroche, which welcomed everybody from royalty - the Queen Mother and Princess Diana were both regulars - to Hollywood legends including Charlie Chaplin. He talks frankly about his famed relationship with his brother, and about the encounter which derailed his first boyhood ambition to join the priesthood. His drive, humour and joie de vivre leap off every page, and the insight into what it took to break new ground in the restaurant industry is unmatched.These are the last words from a pioneer, a hero who inspired entire generations of chefs. They tell the story not only of a titan of a man, but of an era that shaped the way we cook and eat today.
My Life in Football
by Trevor BrookingWhen Trevor Brooking was still at school, the Essex-born teenager was one of the most eagerly pursued prospects in London, but he chose to go to West Ham United - the only club that was prepared to allow him to complete his studies - and so began a lifelong attachment to the Upton Park outfit. In 1967 he made his debut for the club, and went on to play for them until 1984, helping them to win two FA Cup trophies, and scoring the only goal in the 1980 final. A cultured midfielder at the heart of West Ham's side, he was soon seen as crucial to England's fortunes, helping them to qualify for the World Cup finals in 1982. Brooking recalls the highlights of his career, playing with and against some of the most famous names in the sport, and provides revealing details about life with West Ham and England. His story recalls a time when he was a symbol of solidity during the era of flared trousers, punk, and the turmoil of the Revie regime. Respected by fans and his peers alike, Brooking has been at the forefront of the FA's work to develop the game in recent years, and his views on the future of football are essential reading.
My Life in France
by Julia Child Alex Prud'hommeNATIONAL BESTSELLER • Julia's story of her transformative years in France in her own words is "captivating ... her marvelously distinctive voice is present on every page.&” (San Francisco Chronicle). Although she would later singlehandedly create a new approach to American cuisine with her cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking and her television show The French Chef, Julia Child was not always a master chef. Indeed, when she first arrived in France in 1948 with her husband, Paul, who was to work for the USIS, she spoke no French and knew nothing about the country itself. But as she dove into French culture, buying food at local markets and taking classes at the Cordon Bleu, her life changed forever with her newfound passion for cooking and teaching. Julia&’s unforgettable story—struggles with the head of the Cordon Bleu, rejections from publishers to whom she sent her now-famous cookbook, a wonderful, nearly fifty-year long marriage that took the Childs across the globe—unfolds with the spirit so key to Julia&’s success as a chef and a writer, brilliantly capturing one of America&’s most endearing personalities.
My Life in Full: Work, Family and Our Future
by Indra Nooyi'A must-read for working women and the men who work with us, love us and support us' Hillary Rodham Clinton'Surprising and compelling' Financial TimesThe much-anticipated and inspiring memoir by Indra Nooyi, the trailblazing former CEO of PepsiCo, offering clear-eyed insight and a call to action for how our society can really blend work and family - and advance women - in the twenty-first centuryFor more than a dozen years as one of the world's most admired CEOs, Indra Nooyi redefined what it means to be an exceptional leader. The first woman, person of color, and immigrant to run a Fortune 50 company - and one of the foremost strategic thinkers of our time - Nooyi transformed PepsiCo with a unique vision, a vigorous pursuit of excellence, and a deep sense of purpose. Now, in a rich memoir brimming with grace, grit, and good humor, My Life in Full offers a firsthand view of a legendary career and the sacrifices it so often demanded.In her book, Nooyi shares the events that shaped her - from her childhood in 1960s India, to the Yale School of Management, to her rise as a consultant and corporate strategist who soon ascended into the most senior executive ranks. The book offers an intimate look inside PepsiCo, detailing how she steered the iconic American company toward healthier products and reinvented its environmental profile without curbing financial performance - despite resistance at every turn. At the same time, Nooyi built a home with her husband - also a high-powered executive - two daughters, and members of her extended family. My Life in Full includes her unvarnished take on the competing pressures on her attention and time, and what she learned along the way. This book, as has her personal journey, will inspire young women everywhere to believe that they, too, can climb to powerful roles without giving up on the desire for a family and children. But, as Nooyi eloquently argues, her story is not a call for women to simply try harder, but is proof of the importance of organised care structures in all of our success. Nooyi makes a clear, actionable, urgent call for business and government to prioritise the care ecosystem, from skilled care networks to zoning policy, to paid leave and flexible and predictable work hours, each so critical to unleashing the economy's full potential and helping families thrive.Generous, authoritative, and grounded in lived experience, My Life in Full is both the story of an extraordinary leader's life, and a moving tribute to the relationships that created it.
My Life in Full: Work, Family and Our Future
by Indra Nooyi'A must-read for working women and the men who work with us, love us and support us' Hillary Rodham Clinton'Surprising and compelling' Financial TimesThe much-anticipated and inspiring memoir by Indra Nooyi, the trailblazing former CEO of PepsiCo, offering clear-eyed insight and a call to action for how our society can really blend work and family - and advance women - in the twenty-first centuryFor more than a dozen years as one of the world's most admired CEOs, Indra Nooyi redefined what it means to be an exceptional leader. The first woman, person of color, and immigrant to run a Fortune 50 company - and one of the foremost strategic thinkers of our time - Nooyi transformed PepsiCo with a unique vision, a vigorous pursuit of excellence, and a deep sense of purpose. Now, in a rich memoir brimming with grace, grit, and good humor, My Life in Full offers a firsthand view of a legendary career and the sacrifices it so often demanded.In her book, Nooyi shares the events that shaped her - from her childhood in 1960s India, to the Yale School of Management, to her rise as a consultant and corporate strategist who soon ascended into the most senior executive ranks. The book offers an intimate look inside PepsiCo, detailing how she steered the iconic American company toward healthier products and reinvented its environmental profile without curbing financial performance - despite resistance at every turn. At the same time, Nooyi built a home with her husband - also a high-powered executive - two daughters, and members of her extended family. My Life in Full includes her unvarnished take on the competing pressures on her attention and time, and what she learned along the way. This book, as has her personal journey, will inspire young women everywhere to believe that they, too, can climb to powerful roles without giving up on the desire for a family and children. But, as Nooyi eloquently argues, her story is not a call for women to simply try harder, but is proof of the importance of organised care structures in all of our success. Nooyi makes a clear, actionable, urgent call for business and government to prioritise the care ecosystem, from skilled care networks to zoning policy, to paid leave and flexible and predictable work hours, each so critical to unleashing the economy's full potential and helping families thrive.Generous, authoritative, and grounded in lived experience, My Life in Full is both the story of an extraordinary leader's life, and a moving tribute to the relationships that created it.
My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future
by Indra NooyiAn intimate and powerful memoir by the trailblazing former CEO of PepsiCo For a dozen years as one of the world&’s most admired CEOs, Indra Nooyi redefined what it means to be an exceptional leader. The first woman of color and immigrant to run a Fortune 50 company — and one of the foremost strategic thinkers of our time — she transformed PepsiCo with a unique vision, a vigorous pursuit of excellence, and a deep sense of purpose. Now, in a rich memoir brimming with grace, grit, and good humor, My Life in Full offers a firsthand view of Nooyi&’s legendary career and the sacrifices it so often demanded. Nooyi takes us through the events that shaped her, from her childhood and early education in 1960s India, to the Yale School of Management, to her rise as a corporate consultant and strategist who soon ascended into the most senior executive ranks. The book offers an inside look at PepsiCo, and Nooyi&’s thinking as she steered the iconic American company toward healthier products and reinvented its environmental profile, despite resistance at every turn. For the first time and in raw detail, Nooyi also lays bare the difficulties that came with managing her demanding job with a growing family, and what she learned along the way. She makes a clear, actionable, urgent call for business and government to prioritize the care ecosystem, paid leave and work flexibility, and a convincing argument for how improving company and community support for young family builders will unleash the economy&’s full potential. Generous, authoritative, and grounded in lived experience, My Life in Full is the story of an extraordinary leader&’s life, a moving tribute to the relationships that created it, and a blueprint for 21st century prosperity.
My Life in Houses
by Margaret Forster‘I was born on 25th May, 1938, in the front bedroom of a house in Orton Road, a house on the outer edges of Raffles, a council estate. I was a lucky girl.’ So begins Margaret Forster’s journey through the houses she’s lived in, from that sparkling new council house, to her beloved London home of today. This is not a book about bricks and mortar though. This is a book about what houses are to us, the effect they have on the way we live our lives and the changing nature of our homes: from blacking grates and outside privies; to cities dominated by bedsits and lodgings; to the houses of today converted back into single dwellings. Finally, it is a gently insistent, personal inquiry into the meaning of home.
My Life in Middlemarch
by Rebecca MeadA New Yorker writer revisits the seminal book of her youth--Middlemarch-- and fashions a singular, involving story of how a passionate attachment to a great work of literature can shape our lives and help us to read our own histories. Rebecca Mead was a young woman in an English coastal town when she first read George Eliot's Middlemarch, regarded by many as the greatest English novel. After gaining admission to Oxford, and moving to the United States to become a journalist, through several love affairs, then marriage and family, Mead read and reread Middlemarch. The novel, which Virginia Woolf famously described as "one of the few English novels written for grown-up people," offered Mead something that modern life and literature did not.In this wise and revealing work of biography, reporting, and memoir, Rebecca Mead leads us into the life that the book made for her, as well as the many lives the novel has led since it was written. Employing a structure that deftly mirrors that of the novel, My Life in Middlemarch takes the themes of Eliot's masterpiece--the complexity of love, the meaning of marriage, the foundations of morality, and the drama of aspiration and failure--and brings them into our world. Offering both a fascinating reading of Eliot's biography and an exploration of the way aspects of Mead's life uncannily echo that of Eliot herself, My Life in Middlemarch is for every ardent lover of literature who cares about why we read books, and how they read us.From the Hardcover edition.
My Life in My Hands
by Alison Lapper'I think it's wrong for me to complain that people don't understand disability and then refuse to talk about my personal life. Telling my story is the best way I know to make issues I care about understood' In autumn 2005, Alison Lapper's body became familiar to thousands of people when Marc Quinn's 16-foot marble statue of her - Alison Lapper: Pregnant - was placed on Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth. MY LIFE IN MY HANDS is Alison's story: from her mother's rejection at birth, through a childhood deprived of affection in children's homes, to independence, a first class art degree, motherhood and critical success. Her resilience, fortitude and humour are humbling, yet she rejects any notion of 'bravery'. From the beginning, Alison was different to most children, yet through the strength of her personality and the nurturing of her artistic talents, she was determined to live as full a life as possible. MY LIFE IN MY HANDS challenges our perceptions of disability by showing how Alison overcame pain, prejudice, violence, and loneliness to reach a state of happy independence. MY LIFE IN MY HANDS is an extraordinary and compelling story like no other.
My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru
by Tim GuestA memoir of formative years spent on a series of communes: A &“wonderful account of a frankly ghastly childhood . . . Hilarious and heartbreaking&” (Daily Mail). At the age of six, Tim Guest was taken by his mother to a commune modeled on the teachings of the notorious Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. The Bhagwan preached an eclectic doctrine of Eastern mysticism, chaotic therapy, and sexual freedom, and enjoyed inhaling laughing gas, preaching from a dentist's chair, and collecting Rolls Royces. Tim and his mother were given Sanskrit names, dressed entirely in orange, and encouraged to surrender themselves into their new family. While his mother worked tirelessly for the cause, Tim—or Yogesh, as he was now called—lived a life of well-meaning but woefully misguided neglect in various communes in England, Oregon, India, and Germany. In 1985 the movement collapsed amid allegations of mass poisonings, attempted murder, and tax evasion, and Yogesh was once again Tim. In this extraordinary memoir, Tim Guest chronicles the heartbreaking experience of being left alone on earth while his mother hunted heaven. &“An intelligent, wry, openhearted memoir of surviving a childhood and a cultural phenomenon that were both extraordinary.&” —Booklist (starred review)
My Life in Paper: Adventures in Ephemera
by Beth KephartPaper both shapes and defines us. Baby books, diaries, sewing patterns, diplomas, resumes, letters, death certificates—we find our stories in them. My Life in Paper is Beth Kephart’s memoiristic exploration of the paper legacies we forge and leave. Kephart’s obsession with paper began in the wake of her father’s death, when she began to handcraft books and make and marble paper in his memory. But it was when she read My Life with Paper, an autobiography by the late renowned paper hunter and historian Dard Hunter, that she felt she had found a kindred spirit, someone to whom she might address a series of one-sided letters about life and how we live it. Remembering and crafting, wanting and loving, doubting and forgetting—the spine and weave of My Life in Paper came into view. Paper, for Kephart, provides proof of our yearning, proof of our failure, proof of the people who loved us and the people we have lost. It offers, too, a counterweight to the fickle state of memory. My Life in Paper, illustrated by the author herself, is an intimate and poignant meditation on life’s most pressing questions.
My Life in Politics
by Jacques ChiracAlong with Mikhail Gorbachev, Helmut Kohl, and Francois Mitterand, Jacques Chirac is one of the most iconic statesmen of the twentieth century. Two-time president of France, mayor of Paris, and international politician, a recent poll voted him the most admired political figure in France, with current president Nicolas Sarkozy ranking in 32nd place. This memoir covers the full scope of Chirac's political career of more than 50 years and includes the last century's most significant events. A protégé of General de Gaulle, Chirac started political life after France's defeat in Algeria in the early 1960s. He then became Prime Minister George de Pompidou's "bulldozer" and a personal negotiator with Saddam Hussein for France's oil interests in the Persian Gulf. He sold Iraq its first nuclear reactor and incurred the wrath of the United States and Israel, which he discusses in striking detail. As mayor of Paris, Chirac was famed for his success in beautifying the City of Lights and keeping it whole during the heady days of the 1968 riots. As president in the 1990s and early 2000s, Chirac took controversial steps to privatize the economy and plan the European Union. Chirac seldom pulls punches and in several dramatic chapters describes his opposition to the US invasion of Iraq in 2002 and his personal meetings with George W. Bush. These landmark events are brought into sharp focus in this memoir that the popular French magazine Paris Match said "steals the show" even after its author decamped the presidential palace.
My Life in Porn: The Bobby Blake Story
by Bobby BlakeThe most successful African American in gay adult film, Bobby Blake has appeared in over one hundred movies. In My Life in Porn, Blake for the first time goes behind the scenes of the sex industry to reveal intimate stories that are sexy, fascinating, and sometimes disturbing. Blake also shares his private spiritual struggle and the quest for love.