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Backstreet Mom: A Mother's Tale of Backstreet Boy AJ McLean's Rise to Fame, Struggle with Addiction, and Ultimate Triumph
by Denise I. McLean Nicole P. GotlinFeatured on "Oprah" and "Good Morning America. Backstreet Mom is the story of one single mother's courageous battle to save her son could be the story of any woman with a child in trouble. There's more money at stake, more public attention and a larger than life career in the balance. An integral part of the Backstreet Boys from the very beginning, AJ McClean's mother, Denise, traveled with the group and served as their publicist and fan club coordinator. In close proximity to the successes and heartbreaks of her son's career, Denise watched her son's painful descent into alcoholism and depression. This revealing account tells the tale of AJ's rise to superstardom, his decline into addiction, and his struggles through rehab, and offers a look at the harsh world of the music industry. Any mother who's ever faced the pain of a child unraveling will find herself in the pages of this honest and inspiring memoir.
The Accidental Millionaire: How to Succeed in Life Without Really Trying
by Gary FongThe Accidental Millionaire is the memoir of Gary Fong, would-be slacker who revolutionized wedding photography, inventor of popular photography aids, entrepreneur, contrarian, bon vivant and a man who really, really didn't want to become a doctor. A first-generation Chinese-American, Gary was raised in one of Los Angeles' least-desirable neighborhoods and was forced to deal—in his own quirky and often very funny way—with the burdens of poverty, crime and his parents' relentless aspirations. These issues almost overwhelmed him until he had a dramatic epiphany. Spotting a bumper sticker that read "Since I gave up hope, I feel much better," Gary promptly did just that. He stopped trying and started succeeding. At turns hilarious, insightful and instructive, The Accidental Millionaire is Horatio Alger-meets-David Sedaris. Turning the traditional self-help principles upside down, The Accidental Millionaire disdains the goal-oriented approaches of traditional self-help philosophies. Sometimes not knowing where you are going is the best possible way to get there.
Jam Today Too
by Tod Davies"A book to be savored." -DEBORAH MADISON, author of The New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone"Laughing with Tod at her loves and disasters will make you laugh at your own, and keep cooking." -ANNA THOMAS, author of Love Soup and The New Vegetarian Epicure"Chatty, wise, and terrifically useful, Tod Davies' second serving of Jam makes disaster delicious and success the stuff of everyday life. What a treat to read and eat." -KATE LEBO, author of A Commonplace Book of PieWarm, conversational, and exquisitely practical, Davies returns to the Jam Today series to share new recipes from her home kitchen-and stories about her experiences cooking for herself and her friends, family, and pets-during the best and worst of times. Whether she's describing how she set up her kitchen in an RV after a flood, encouraging young feminists to try cooking a baked potato, adapting an M.F.K. Fisher recipe to create "the world's simplest hollandaise sauce," or singing the praises of her favorite local food purveyors, her infectious enthusiasm provides inspiration for everyone from trained chefs to those barely able to scramble an egg.Featuring advice for omnivores and vegetarians alike about how to eat (and what to prepare) to survive natural disasters, cross-country moves, bereavement, holidays-gone-wrong, and even a spontaneous picnic, Jam Today Too provides all the ingredients for daily feeding of mind, body, and soul.Tod Davies is the author of Snotty Saves the Day and Lily the Silent, both from The History of Arcadia series, and the cooking memoirs Jam Today: A Diary of Cooking With What You've Got and Jam Today Too: The Revolution Will Not Be Catered. Unsurprisingly, her attitude toward literature is the same as her attitude toward cooking-it's all about working with what you have to find new ways of looking and new ways of being, and in doing so, to rediscover the best of our humanity. Davies lives with her husband and their two dogs, in the alpine valley of Colestin, Oregon, and at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, in Boulder, Colorado.
Fear to Freedom: What If You Did Not Have to Be So Afraid?
by Rosemary TribleDoes fear hold you back from living with freedom and confidence? Does anxiety rob your joy? Rosemary Trible was a successful young woman, a television talk-show host with a husband on his way to becoming a U. S. Congressman, when she was savagely raped at gunpoint. Even though she recovered physically she found that her attacker had not only brutally violated her, he had stolen her joy and her ability to live without terror and fear. Her book deals with sexual assault, terror, forgiveness and healing. It's about big dreams, the death of dreams and becoming bold enough to dream again and make a difference in the world for good. It's about growing out of cultural boxes, moving into racial reconciliation and building friendships that only God could make possible.
Different, Not Less: Inspiring Stories of Achievement and Successful Employment From Adults With Autism, Asperger's, and ADHD
by Temple Grandin Tony Attwood<p>Temple Grandin offers the world yet another great work, an inspiring and informative book that offers both hope and encouragement. <p>In these pages, Temple presents the personal success stories of fourteen unique individuals that illustrate the extraordinary potential of those on the autism spectrum. <p>One of Temple’s primary missions is to help people with autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, and ADHD tap into their hidden abilities. Temple chose these contributors from a wide variety of different skill sets to show how it can be done. Each individual tells their own story in their own words about their lives, relationships, and eventual careers. The contributors also share how they dealt with issues they confronted while growing up, such as bullying, making eye contact, and honing social skills. <p><i>Different...Not Less</i> shows how, with work, each of the contributors: <p> <li>Found invaluable mentors <li>Learned skills necessary for employment when young <li>Became successfully employed <li>Developed self-confidence <li>Faced the challenges of forming and maintaining relationships (and sometimes) Raised families</li> </p>
The Return of the Cavaliers: Biography of Fethullah Gulen
by Farid Al AnsariBeginning with the environment in which Fethullah Gulen was raised and the dynamics that formed his character, this biographical novel captures the very essence of his exemplary life story by shedding light on the crucial events and memories that left their mark in the lives of Gulen and the dedicated philanthropic people inspired by him. The life of Fethullah Gulen, a prominent Turkish Muslim scholar and a source of inspiration for millions, is a life of epic struggle for the sublime cause he is devoted to. There was no change in his disposition and resolve although he was tested with the most severe hardships and persecutions throughout his life. It is an inspiring story of tears, painful displacements, migrations, perseverance, endurance, and triumph.
Yunus Emre: The Sufi Poet in Love
by zekeriya BaskelOne of the most famous poets in the history of Turkish literature, Yunus Emre (d. 1320) is well-known as a Sufi saint-poet who has exerted a great influence in both the East and the West. This book is an analysis on Emre's ardent, deceptively simple, yet powerful expressions of love, the musicality of the verse, and the daring and sometimes even daunting imagery. UNESCO celebrated 1991 as the year of Yunus Emre.
Simon Bolivar: Statesman & Liberator
by Rebecca DubersteinThis book is a biography of Venezuelan soldier and statesman who led the revolutions against Spanish rule in the Viceroyalty of New Granada.
Surviving the Mob: A Street Soldier's Life Inside the Gambino Crime Family
by Dennis N. Griffin Andrew DiDonatoWhat do you do when the law wants you behind bars and the New York crime families want you buried? That was the life-and-death dilemma confronting Andrew DiDonato, who began his criminal career at age 14 under the watchful eyes of the local Mob. By the time he was 17, the infamous Gambino family made DiDonato an associate of the Nicholas Corozzo crew. For the next 14 years, he was a loyal street soldier, immersed in dangerous and profitable criminal activities: burglary, forgery, extortion, loan sharking, car theft, bank robbery, counterfeiting, drug dealing, credit-card and insurance fraud, witness tampering, weapons possession, and attempted murder. He was also involved in the underworld gambling operations, which took in millions dealing dice and cards, booking sports and horses, and running numbers. Between these pages you'll find the most in-depth look at Mob gambling ever. At age 31, DiDonato ran afoul of both the law and his friends, turning him into a hunted man on two fronts. After 17 months on the run, the law caught him first. This book is a cautionary tale of the harsh reality of a criminal, inmate, fugitive, and witness who--so far--has lived to tell the tale.
Death Wishing
by Laura Ellen Scott"This is a terrific story, beautifully written, and completely enthralling."--Dorothy Allison In post-Katrina New Orleans, dying wishes can cure cancer, eliminate cats, bring back Elvis (1968 vintage), and turn the clouds orange. Divorced and disgraced up north, Victor hopes to live a carefree, drunken existence in the French Quarter, making capes and corsets and lusting for the girl who lives across the street--until the hysteria surrounding "death wishing" changes his world in ways he never imagined. Laura Ellen Scott teaches fiction writing at George Mason University. Her work has been selected for The Wigleaf Top Fifty of 2009 and Barrelhouse magazine's "Futures" issue. She has twice been nominated for Dzanc's Best of the Web 2010 anthology.
A Meaning For Wife
by Mark YakichYour wife is killed by a cashew (anaphylactic shock), but there isn't time to grieve because your toddler son is always at your heels--wanting to be fed, to be played with, or to sleep next to you all night long. A change of pace seems necessary, so you decide to visit your parents in order to attend your twenty-year high school reunion. What begins as a weekend getaway quickly becomes a theater for dealing with the past--a past that you will have to re-imagine in order to have any hope of a future for you and your son. Told in second person, A Meaning for Wife is the story of a man trying to come to terms with the sudden death of his wife, the aging parents he has long avoided, and the tribulations of single parenthood. Mark Yakich is the author of two poetry collections, Unrelated Individuals Forming A Group Waiting to Cross (Penguin Books, 2004) and The Importance of Peeling Potatoes in Ukraine (Penguin Books, 2008). He lives in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he teaches English at Loyola University.
Love Song For Baby X
by Cheryl DumesnilLove Song for Baby X is the moving and humorous story of a lesbian couple's struggles with infertility as they attempt to become parents, set against the backdrop of the marriage equality movement. While poet Cheryl Dumesnil suspects she'll confront some formidable obstacles on her path to parenthood, she is nevertheless unprepared for what she actually encounters, including navigating the maze of the high-tech fertility business, the emotional conundrum of pregnancy loss, and the gathering steam of the marriage equality movement. Love Song for Baby X follows Cheryl and her unlawfully wedded wife through four conceptions, three miscarriages, a temporarily legal wedding during San Francisco's Winter of Love in 2004, a stint as poster children for the marriage equality movement, and finally the arrival of their longed-for son--after twenty-five hours of labor. Along the way Dumesnil fails often (and comically) in her attempts to cultivate inner peace. Though she struggles mightily with the opposing forces of hope and fear, in the end, she finds the middle ground between them: acceptance. Winner of the 2008 Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize, Cheryl Dumesnil is the author of In Praise of Falling, editor of Hitched! Wedding Stories from San Francisco City Hall, and co-editor, with Kim Addonizio, of Dorothy Parker's Elbow: Tattoos on Writers, Writers on Tattoos. Her poems have appeared in Nimrod, Indiana Review, Calyx, and Many Mountains Moving, among other literary magazines. Her essays have appeared on literarymama.com, hipmama.com, mamazine.com, and in Hip Mama Zine. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her wife and their two sons.
Point of Direction
by Rachel WeaverHitchhiking her way through Alaska, a young woman named Anna is picked up by Kyle, a fisherman. Anna and Kyle quickly fall for each other, as they are both adventurous, fiercely independent, and in love with the raw beauty and solitude of Alaska. To cement their relationship, they agree to become caretakers of a remote lighthouse perched on a small rock in the middle of a deep channel-a place that has been uninhabited since the last caretaker mysteriously disappeared two decades ago. What seems the perfect adventure for these two quickly unravels, as closely-held secrets pull them apart, and the surrounding waters threaten uncertain danger. A psychological thriller set against the rugged landscape of coastal Alaska, Point of Direction is an exquisite literary debut.ction, was chosen to represent Naropa University in the Harcourt Brace Best New Voices in American Fiction contest for 2006, 2007, and 2008. Her work has been published in the Gettysburg Review, Blue Mesa Review, and the Ontario Review. She currently lives in Colorado.
Wisdom's Journey: Living the Spirit of Islam in the Modern World
by John HerlihyWhy do more than one billion people claim Islam as their religion? American convert John Ahmed Herlihy provides his personal answer and takes readers on a journey to the heart of Islam, the fastest growing religion in the world. Weaving details of Islam''s central beliefs and practices-its Five Pillars-with intimate autobiographical details of his more than thirty years in the religion, Herlihy presents readers with an insightful glimpse into a religion that remains so often misunderstood.
Frithjof Schuon: Messenger of the Perennial Philosophy
by Michael Oren FitzgeraldOffering the most comprehensive biography of Frithjof Schuon (1907-1998) yet published, Fitzgerald''s work features quotations from Schuon?s articles, books, memoirs, and correspondence, combined with a wealth of reliable information from people who knew Schuon well. With over 75 color and black-and-white photos and illustrations, readers will gain valuable insights into the life and work of the foremost representative of the Perennialist or ?Traditionalist? school of comparative religious thought.
Portraits from the French Renaissance and the Wars of Religion (Early Modern Studies #3)
by André ThevetAvailable for the first time in English, these thirteen selections from André Thevet’s Les vrais pourtraits et vies des hommes illustres offer a glimpse of France during a time of great upheaval. Originally published in 1584, Thevet’s collection contains over two hundred biographical sketches, detailing the lives of important persons from antiquity to the sixteenth century. Edward Benson and Roger Schlesinger have translated and annotated Thevet’s portraits of his contemporaries, and divided them into three categories: monarchs, aristocrats, and scholars. Additionally, an extensive introduction places the work in context and describes the critical attention that Thevet and his writings have received. Together these portraits provide a history of sixteenth-century France as the country underwent tremendous change: from an intellectual renaissance and its first encounter with the New World to the Protestant Reformation and the Wars of Religion that followed. France was irrevocably altered by these events and Thevet’s account of the lives of individuals who struggled with them is indispensable.
Portraits from the French Renaissance and the Wars of Religion (Early Modern Studies)
by André ThevetAvailable for the first time in English, these thirteen selections from André Thevet’s Les vrais pourtraits et vies des hommes illustres offer a glimpse of France during a time of great upheaval. Originally published in 1584, Thevet’s collection contains over two hundred biographical sketches, detailing the lives of important persons from antiquity to the sixteenth century. Edward Benson and Roger Schlesinger have translated and annotated Thevet’s portraits of his contemporaries, and divided them into three categories: monarchs, aristocrats, and scholars. Additionally, an extensive introduction places the work in context and describes the critical attention that Thevet and his writings have received. Together these portraits provide a history of sixteenth-century France as the country underwent tremendous change: from an intellectual renaissance and its first encounter with the New World to the Protestant Reformation and the Wars of Religion that followed. France was irrevocably altered by these events and Thevet’s account of the lives of individuals who struggled with them is indispensable.
A Basketful Of Broken Dishes
by Naomi StutzmanA true story that demonstrates God’s faithfulness to an Amish couple. Simon’s refusal to submit to the Amish rules stresses his marriage. The bishops demand that Susan, his wife, must obey the rules she promised to keep and to shun her rebel husband. Who was she to obey, God or man? Together they become a perfect team to set their family free from the bondage of “religion.” The story is told by their daughter, Naomi, born to them after they leave this close-knit community. The heartbreaking and joyous stories in A Basketful of Broken Dishes are life-changing and proclaim the mighty truth that God continues to care for and work in the lives of the simple, the wounded, and the brokenhearted. Naomi shares how she came to see the rich, deep, powerful beauty and value in the “silent years” of her mother’s life, who courageously lived a broken life for the sake of her divine inheritance, hidden in her earthly inheritance, a basket full of broken dishes.
Is Journalism Worth Dying For? Final Dispatches
by Anna Politkovskaya Arch TaitA collection of final dispatches by the famed journalist, including the first translation of the work that may have led to her murder. Anna Politkovskaya won international fame for her courageous reporting. Is Journalism Worth Dying For? is a long-awaited collection of her final writing. Beginning with a brief introduction by the author about her pariah status, the book contains essays that characterize the self-effacing Politkovskaya more fully than she allowed in her other books. From deeply personal statements about the nature of journalism, to horrendous reports from Chechnya, to sensitive pieces of memoir, to, finally, the first translation of the series of investigative reports that Politkovskaya was working on at the time of her murder--pieces many believe led to her assassination. Elsewhere, there are illuminating accounts of encounters with leaders including Lionel Jospin, Tony Blair, George W. Bush, and such exiled figures as Boris Berezovsky, Akhmed Zakaev, Vladimir Bukovsky. Additional sections collect Politkovskaya's non political writing, revealing her delightful wit, deep humanity, and willingness to engage with the unfamiliar, as well as her deep regrets about the fate of Russia.
Final Verdict: What Really Happened in the Rosenberg Case
by Walter SchneirA new narrative of the famed case that finally solves its remaining mysteries, by the author of the bestselling Invitation to an Inquest. Walter and Miriam Schneir's 1965 bestseller Invitation to an Inquest was among the first critical accounts of the controversial case of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, famously executed in 1953 for passing atom bomb secrets to Soviet Russia. In Invitation the Schneirs presented exhaustive and damning evidence that key witnesses in the trial had changed their stories after coaching from prosecutors, and that the FBI had forged evidence. The conclusion was unavoidable: The Rosenbergs were innocent. But were they? Thirty years after the publication of Inquest, Walter Schneir was back on the case after bits and pieces of new evidence started coming to light, much of it connecting Julius Rosenberg to Soviet espionage. Over more than a decade, Schneir continued his search for the truth, meeting with former intelligence officials in Moscow and Prague, and cross checking details recorded in thousands of government documents. The result is an entirely new narrative of the Rosenberg case. The reality, Schneir demonstrates, is that Rosenbergs ended up hopelessly trapped: prosecuted for atomic espionage they didn't commit--but unable to admit earlier espionage activities during World War II. As it happened, Julius Rosenberg was only marginally involved in the atomic spy ring he was depicted as leading--while Ethel, critically, was not at all involved. The two lied when the contended they knew nothing about espionage. Ethel knew about it and Julius had practiced it, but the government's contention that they had stolen the "secret" of the atom bomb was critically and fatally flawed.
The Journal of Jules Renard
by Jules Renard Louise Bogan Elizabeth Roget<P> Spanning from 1887 to a month before his death in 1910, The Journal of Jules Renard is a unique autobiographical masterpiece that, though celebrated abroad, is largely undiscovered in the United States. <P> Spanning from 1887 to a month before his death in 1910, The Journal of Jules Renard is a unique autobiographical masterpiece that, though celebrated abroad and cited as a principle influence by writers as varying as Somerset Maugham and Donald Barthelme, remains largely undiscovered in the United States. Throughout his journal, <P> Renard develops not only his artistic convictions but also his humanity as he reflects on the nineteenth-century French literary and art scene, and on the emergence of his position as an important novelist and playwright in that world. Renard provides aphorisms and quips, and portrays the details of his personal life--his love interests, his position as a socialist mayor of Chitry, the suicide of his father--that often appear in his work.
Low Down: Junk, Jazz, And Other Fairy Tales From Childhood
by A.J. AlbanyWise beyond her years and hip to the unpredictable ways of life at all too early an age, A.J. Albany guides us through dope and deviance of the late 1960s and early 1970s in Hollywood shadowy underbelly and beyond. A. J. Albany's recollection of life with her father, the great jazz pianist Joe Albany, is the story of one girl's unsentimental education. Joe played with the likes of Charles Mingus, Lester Young, and Charlie Parker, but between gigs he slipped into drug-induced obscurity. It was during these times that his daughter knew him best. After her mother disappeared, six-year-old Amy Jo and her charming, troubled father set up housekeeping in a seamy Hollywood hotel. While Joe finished a set in some red-boothed dive, chances were you'd find Amy curled up to sleep on someone's fur coat, clutching a 78 of Louis Armstrong's "Sugar Blues" or, later, a photograph of the man himself, inscribed, "To little Amy Jo, always in love with you--Pops." Wise beyond her years and hip to the unpredictable ways of Old Lady Life at all too early an age, A. J. Albany guides us through the dope and deviance of the late 1960s and early 1970s in Hollywood's shadowy underbelly and beyond. What emerges is a raw, gripping, and surprisingly sympathetic portrait of a young girl trying to survive among the outcasts, misfits, and artists who surrounded her.
The Other Side
by Lacy M. JohnsonLacy Johnson bangs on the glass doors of a sleepy local police station in the middle of the night. Her feet are bare; her body is bruised and bloody; U-bolts dangle from her wrists. She has escaped, but not unscathed. The Other Side is the haunting account of a first passionate and then abusive relationship; the events leading to Johnson's kidnapping, rape, and imprisonment; her dramatic escape; and her hard-fought struggle to recover. At once thrilling, terrifying, harrowing, and hopeful, The Other Side offers more than just a true crime record. In language both stark and poetic, Johnson weaves together a richly personal narrative with police and FBI reports, psychological records, and neurological experiments, delivering a raw and unforgettable story of trauma and transformation.
The Other Side: A Memoir
by Lacy M. JohnsonLacy Johnson's rich and poetic memoir, The Other Side, chronicles her brutal kidnapping and imprisonment at the hands of an ex-boyfriend, her dramatic escape, and her hard-fought struggle to recover. Lacy Johnson bangs on the glass doors of a sleepy local police station in the middle of the night. Her feet are bare; her body is bruised and bloody; U-bolts dangle from her wrists. She has escaped, but not unscathed. The Other Side is the haunting account of a first passionate and then abusive relationship; the events leading to Johnson's kidnapping, rape, and imprisonment; her dramatic escape; and her hard-fought struggle to recover. At once thrilling, terrifying, harrowing, and hopeful, The Other Side offers more than just a true crime record. In language both stark and poetic, Johnson weaves together a richly personal narrative with police and FBI reports, psychological records, and neurological experiments, delivering a raw and unforgettable story of trauma and transformation.
The Other Side: A Memoir
by Lacy M. JohnsonLacy Johnson's rich and poetic memoir, The Other Side, chronicles her brutal kidnapping and imprisonment at the hands of an ex-boyfriend, her dramatic escape, and her hard-fought struggle to recover. Lacy Johnson bangs on the glass doors of a sleepy local police station in the middle of the night. Her feet are bare; her body is bruised and bloody; U-bolts dangle from her wrists. She has escaped, but not unscathed. The Other Side is the haunting account of a first passionate and then abusive relationship; the events leading to Johnson's kidnapping, rape, and imprisonment; her dramatic escape; and her hard-fought struggle to recover. At once thrilling, terrifying, harrowing, and hopeful, The Other Side offers more than just a true crime record. In language both stark and poetic, Johnson weaves together a richly personal narrative with police and FBI reports, psychological records, and neurological experiments, delivering a raw and unforgettable story of trauma and transformation.