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Heating & Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs
by Beth Ann Fennelly"Morning: bought a bag of frozen peas to numb my husband’s sore testicles after his vasectomy. Evening: added thawed peas to our carbonara." —from Heating & Cooling, "Married Love, IV" The 52 micro-memoirs in genre-defying Heating & Cooling offer bright glimpses into a richly lived life, combining the compression of poetry with the truth-telling of nonfiction into one heartfelt, celebratory book. Ranging from childhood recollections to quirky cultural observations, these micro-memoirs build on one another to arrive at a portrait of Beth Ann Fennelly as a wife, mother, writer, and deeply original observer of life’s challenges and joys. Some pieces are wistful, some wry, and many reveal the humor buried in our everyday interactions. Heating & Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs shapes a life from unexpectedly illuminating moments, and awakens us to these moments as they appear in the margins of our lives.
"Smelly" Kelly and His Super Senses: How James Kelly's Nose Saved the New York City Subway
by Beth AndersonNSTA Best STEM Book James "Smelly" Kelly used his super-senses and intelligence to make sure that the New York City subway in the 1930s ran safely throughout his lifetime and beyond.James Kelly smelled EVERYTHING: rats in the shed; circus elephants a mile away; tomorrow's rain. His sense of smell was EXTRAORDINARY. But what good was a powerful nose? How could his super-sniffer make him special? In the New York City subway, James found his calling--and earned the nickname "Smelly" Kelly. Armed with his super-sniffer and the tools he invented, he tracked down leaks from the dangerous to the disgusting, from the comical to the bizarre. Then, he sprang into action to prevent cave-ins and explosions in the tunnels beneath the city. Smelly Kelly not only hunted leaks but also saved lives--and he discovered the truly extraordinary power inside him. Beth Anderson's fast-paced text and Jenn Harney's comical illustrations bring to life this everyday superhero.
Hiding in Plain Sight: Kate Warne and the Race to Save Abraham Lincoln
by Beth AndersonAmerica&’s first female detective Kate Warne&’s mission? Protect president-elect Abraham Lincoln from Southern rebels bent on assassinating him before his inauguration. Abraham Lincoln faces a dangerous and uncertain future after leaving Springfield, Illinois, for his inauguration in Washington, DC. Luckily for him, detective Kate Warne has his back, even if he didn&’t know it yet.Working for the Pinkerton Detective Agency, Kate uncovers the rebel plot to kill Abraham Lincoln in Baltimore. Kate warns Lincoln&’s staff that this only Southern city on his inaugural train route to Washington, DC is planning a deadly welcome. President-elect Lincoln is urged to change his route. But he refuses to cancel his commitments. In a race against time, Kate and Pinkerton have one last chance. Using disguises, false names, and the cover of darkness, the detectives put their plan into action. Can they sneak Lincoln through Baltimore undetected? Can they fool the spies watching his every move? Can they get Lincoln safely to DC?This exciting American history picture book from award-winning author Beth Anderson, well-known for action-packed books on daring women, and illustrated by Sally Wern Comport in her signature mix of collage, drawing, and paint, brings Kate Warne to thrilling and vivid life.
Tad Lincoln's Restless Wriggle: Pandemonium and Patience in the President's House
by Beth AndersonBank Street College of Education Best Book of the YearTad Lincoln's restless wriggle just wouldn&’t quit, much to the delight of his father, President Abraham Lincoln—if not so much to anybody else! This picture book brings to life the famous first son who coped with a disability and other challenges while showing compassion, intelligence, and wisdom beyond his years. Tad Lincoln's boundless energy annoyed almost everyone but his father, President Abraham Lincoln. But Tad put that energy to good use during the tough times of the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln guided Tad's wriggle on visits to hospitals, to the telegraph office, and to army camps. Tad greeted visitors, raised money for bandages, and kept his father company late into the night. This special and patient bond between father and son was plain to see, and before long, Tad had wriggled his way into the hearts of others as well. Beth Anderson and S.D. Schindler follow Tad's antics during the Civil War to uncover the generous heart and joyful spirit that powered Tad's restless wriggle.
Saving Sammy
by Beth Alison MaloneyThe summer before entering sixth grade, Sammy, a bright and charming boy who lived on the coast of Maine, suddenly began to exhibit disturbing behavior. He walked and ate with his eyes shut, refused to bathe, burst into fits of rage, slithered against walls, and used his limbs instead of his hands to touch light switches, doorknobs, and faucets. Sammy's mother, Beth, already coping with the overwhelming responsibility of raising three sons alone, watched helplessly as her middle child descended into madness. Sammy was soon diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and later with Tourette syndrome. Unwilling to accept the doctors' prognoses for lifelong mental illness and repeated hospitalizations, Beth fought to uncover what was causing this decline. Racing against time as Sammy slipped further from reality, Beth's quest took her to the center of the medical community's raging debate about whether mental illness can be caused by infection. With the battle lines firmly drawn, Beth searched until she found two cutting-edge doctors who answered that question with a definitive yes. Together, they cured Sammy. Five years later, he remains symptom free.Driven by her desire to help others, Beth Maloney has infused every page of this triumphant journey with heart and passion. An important story, Saving Sammy is part manifesto, part medical mystery, but is at its heart the empowering and inspiring story of a mother's determination to save her son, take on the medical establishment-and win.From the Hardcover edition.
Saving Sammy: Curing the Boy Who Caught OCD
by Beth Alison MaloneyAn important story, "Saving Sammy" is part manifesto, part medical mystery, but is at its heart the empowering and inspiring story of a mother's determination to save her son, take on the medical establishment--and win.
Fannie Bloomfield-Zeisler: The Life and Times of a Piano Virtuoso
by Beth Abelson MacleodOne of the foremost piano virtuosi of her time, Fannie Bloomfield-Zeisler reliably filled Carnegie Hall. As a "new woman," she simultaneously embraced family life and forged an independent career built around a repertoire of the German music she tirelessly championed. Yet after her death she faded into obscurity. In this new biography, Beth Abelson Macleod reintroduces a figure long, and unjustly, overlooked by music history. Trained in Vienna, Bloomfield-Zeisler significantly advanced the development of classical music in the United States. Her powerful and sensitive performances, both in recital and with major orchestras, won her followers across the United States and Europe and often provided her American audiences with their first exposure to the pieces she played. The European-style salon in her Chicago home welcomed musicians, scientists, authors, artists, and politicians, while her marriage to attorney Sigmund Zeisler placed her at the center of a historical moment when Sigmund defended the anarchists in the 1886 Haymarket trial. In its re-creation of a musical and social milieu, Fannie Bloomfield-Zeisler paints a vivid portrait of a dynamic artistic life.
Bishop Von Galen: German Catholicism and National Socialism
by Beth A. Griech-PolelleIn January 1937 several German Catholic cardinals and bishops, including Bishop Clemens August Graf von Galen, traveled to Rome to ask Pope Pius XI to issue a public statement about the perils faced by Catholics in Nazi Germany. The German clergymen drafted what later came to be known as the papal encyclical Mit brennender Sorge.
Rest in Pieces
by Bess LovejoyIN THE LONG RUN, WE'RE ALL DEAD. But for some of the most influential figures in history, death marked the start of a new adventure. The famous deceased have been stolen, burned, sold, pickled, frozen, stuffed, impersonated, and even filed away in a lawyer's office. Their fingers, teeth, toes, arms, legs, skulls, hearts, lungs, and nether regions have embarked on voyages that crisscross the globe and stretch the imagination. Counterfeiters tried to steal Lincoln's corpse. Einstein's brain went on a cross-country road trip. And after Lord Horatio Nelson perished at Trafalgar, his sailors submerged him in brandy--which they drank. From Mozart to Hitler, Rest in Pieces connects the lives of the famous dead to the hilarious and horrifying adventures of their corpses, and traces the evolution of cultural attitudes toward death.ropriate cocktail chatter, Rest in Pieces uses its novel perspective to reveal the lives of the world's most interesting people, and to help us understand the Grim Reaper a little better.
Nobody Will Tell You This But Me: A True (as told to me) Story
by Bess Kalb**I HAVE NOT BEEN AS PROFOUNDLY MOVED BY A BOOK IN YEARS' JODI PICOULT****I LOVED THIS BOOK MORE THAN I CAN SAY**NIGELLA LAWSONA brilliantly original memoir of a grandmother speaking to her granddaughter from beyond the grave, telling the story of her life with hilarious candor and love.Bess Kalb has saved every voicemail message her grandmother - her best friend, her confidante - ever left her until the day she died.In this wildly imaginative memoir, Bobby Bell's voice is still in Bess's head. Stubborn, glamorous, larger than life, she gives Bess critical advice on everything and tells the history that made them both. Beginning with her mother's escape from the pogroms of Belarus in the 1880s to the rambunctiously cramped Brooklyn apartment where Bobby was born, it swings through her loving marriage, blazes over the rebellious youth of her daughter and finally - falls madly in love with her granddaughter, Bess. Nobody Will Tell You This But Me are the truths - full of devotion, killer instincts and hard-won experience - that Bess's grandmother tells even when they hurt - and even though she's gone.This unusual love story celebrates the bond of women across generations and the personalities that live on through grief and love. Told through documents, photographs, and verbatim dialogue, it's a memoir like none you've ever read before.
Nobody Will Tell You This But Me: A True (as told to me) Story: 'I loved this book more than I can say' Nigella Lawson
by Bess Kalb**I HAVE NOT BEEN AS PROFOUNDLY MOVED BY A BOOK IN YEARS' JODI PICOULT****I LOVED THIS BOOK MORE THAN I CAN SAY**NIGELLA LAWSONA brilliantly original memoir of a grandmother speaking to her granddaughter from beyond the grave, telling the story of her life with hilarious candor and love.Bess Kalb has saved every voicemail message her grandmother - her best friend, her confidante - ever left her until the day she died.In this wildly imaginative memoir, Bobby Bell's voice is still in Bess's head. Stubborn, glamorous, larger than life, she gives Bess critical advice on everything and tells the history that made them both. Beginning with her mother's escape from the pogroms of Belarus in the 1880s to the rambunctiously cramped Brooklyn apartment where Bobby was born, it swings through her loving marriage, blazes over the rebellious youth of her daughter and finally - falls madly in love with her granddaughter, Bess. Nobody Will Tell You This But Me are the truths - full of devotion, killer instincts and hard-won experience - that Bess's grandmother tells even when they hurt - and even though she's gone.This unusual love story celebrates the bond of women across generations and the personalities that live on through grief and love. Told through documents, photographs, and verbatim dialogue, it's a memoir like none you've ever read before.
Nobody Will Tell You This But Me: A true (as told to me) story
by Bess KalbBess Kalb, Emmy-nominated TV writer and New Yorker contributor, saved every voicemail her grandmother Bobby Bell ever left her. Bobby was a force--irrepressible, glamorous, unapologetically opinionated. Bobby doted on Bess; Bess adored Bobby. Then, at ninety, Bobby died. But in this debut memoir, Bobby is speaking to Bess once more, in a voice as passionate as it ever was in life. <P><P>Recounting both family lore and family secrets, Bobby brings us four generations of indomitable women and the men who loved them. There's Bobby's mother, who traveled solo from Belarus to America in the 1880s to escape the pogroms, and Bess's mother, a 1970s rebel who always fought against convention. Then there's Bess, who grew up in New York and entered the rough-and-tumble world of L.A. television. Her grandma Bobby was with her all the way--she was the light of Bess's childhood and her fiercest supporter, giving Bess unequivocal love, even if sometimes of the toughest kind. <P><P>In Nobody Will Tell You This But Me, Bobby reminds Bess of the experiences they shared, and she delivers--in phone calls, texts, and unforgettable heart-to-hearts brought vividly to the page--her signature wisdom: If the earth is cracking behind you, you put one foot in front of the other. Never. Buy. Fake. Anything.I swear on your life every word of this is true.With humor and poignancy, Bess Kalb gives us proof of the special bond that can skip a generation and endure beyond death. This book is a feat of extraordinary ventriloquism and imagination by a remarkably talented writer.
Hunger Like a Thirst: From Food Stamps to Fine Dining, a Restaurant Critic Finds Her Place at the Table
by Besha RodellA witty and lively memoir from food writer and New York Times contributor Besha Rodell, (formerly) one of the world’s last anonymous restaurant criticsWhen Besha Rodell moved from Australia to the United States with her mother at fourteen, she was a foreigner in a new land, missing her friends, her father, and the food she grew up eating. In the years that followed, Rodell began waitressing and discovered the buzz of the restaurant world, immersing herself in the lifestyle and community while struggling with the industry’s shortcomings. As she built a family, Rodell realized her dream, though only a handful of women before her had done it: to make a career as a restaurant critic.From the streets of Brooklyn to lush Atlanta to sunny Los Angeles to traveling and eating around the world, and, finally, home to Australia, Rodell takes us on a delicious, raw, and fascinating journey through her life and career and explores the history of criticism and dining and the cultural shifts that have turned us all into food obsessives. Hunger Like a Thirst shares stories of the joys and hardships of Rodell’s coming-of-age, the amazing (and sometimes terrible) meals she ate along the way, and the dear friends she made in each restaurant, workplace, and home.
West With The Night (Virago Modern Classics #269)
by Beryl MarkhamWEST WITH THE NIGHT appeared on 13 bestseller lists on first publication in 1942. It tells the spellbinding story of Beryl Markham -- aviator, racehorse trainer, fascinating beauty -and her life in the Kenya of the 1920s and 30s.Markham was taken to Kenya at the age of four. As an adult she was befriended by Denys Finch-Hatton, the big-game hunter of OUT OF AFRICA fame, who took her flying in his airplane. Thrilled by the experience, Markham went on to become the first woman in Kenya to receive a commercial pilot's license.In 1936 she determined to fly solo across the Atlantic -- without stopping. When Charles Lindbergh did the same, he had the wind behind him. Markham, by contrast, had a strong headwind against her and a plane that only flew up to 163 mph. On 4 September, she took off ... Several days later, she crash-landed in Nova Scotia and became an instant celebrity.
West with the Night
by Beryl MarkhamWest with the Night is the story of Beryl Markham--aviator, racehorse trainer, beauty--and her life in the Kenya of the 1920s and '30s. Beryl Markham is also the author of The Splendid Outcast: The African Stories of Beryl Markham. Growing up in East Africa, the author describes her life as a pioneer aviator, a horse breeder, pilot of passengers and supplies in a small plane to remote corners of Africa. "Did you read Beryl Markham's book, West with the Night? I knew her fairly well in Africa and never would have suspected that she could and would put pen to paper except to write in her flyer's log book. As it is, she has written so well, and marvelously well, that I was completely ashamed of myself as a writer. I felt that I was simply a carpenter with words, picking up whatever was furnished on the job and nailing them together and sometimes making an okay pig pen. But [she] can write rings around all of us who consider ourselves writers. The only parts of it that I know about personally, on account of having been there at the time and heard the other people's stories, are absolutely true . . . I wish you would get it and read it because it is really a bloody wonderful book. "--Ernest Hemingway
West with the Night
by Beryl MarkhamThe classic memoir of Africa, aviation, and adventure—the inspiration for Paula McLain&’s Circling the Sun and &“a bloody wonderful book&” (Ernest Hemingway). Beryl Markham&’s life story is a true epic. Not only did she set records and break barriers as a pilot, she shattered societal expectations, threw herself into torrid love affairs, survived desperate crash landings—and chronicled everything. A contemporary of Karen Blixen (better known as Isak Dinesen, the author of Out of Africa), Markham left an enduring memoir that soars with astounding candor and shimmering insights. A rebel from a young age, the British-born Markham was raised in Kenya&’s unforgiving farmlands. She trained as a bush pilot at a time when most Africans had never seen a plane. In 1936, she accepted the ultimate challenge: to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean from east to west, a feat that fellow female aviator Amelia Earhart had completed in reverse just a few years before. Markham&’s successes and her failures—and her deep, lifelong love of the &“soul of Africa&”—are all told here with wrenching honesty and agile wit. Hailed as &“one of the greatest adventure books of all time&” by Newsweek and &“the sort of book that makes you think human beings can do anything&” by the New York Times, West with the Night remains a powerful testament to one of the iconic lives of the twentieth century.
West with the Night
by Beryl MarkhamThe classic memoir of Africa, aviation, and adventure—the inspiration for Paula McLain&’s Circling the Sun and &“a bloody wonderful book&” (Ernest Hemingway). Beryl Markham&’s life story is a true epic. Not only did she set records and break barriers as a pilot, she shattered societal expectations, threw herself into torrid love affairs, survived desperate crash landings—and chronicled everything. A contemporary of Karen Blixen (better known as Isak Dinesen, the author of Out of Africa), Markham left an enduring memoir that soars with astounding candor and shimmering insights. A rebel from a young age, the British-born Markham was raised in Kenya&’s unforgiving farmlands. She trained as a bush pilot at a time when most Africans had never seen a plane. In 1936, she accepted the ultimate challenge: to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean from east to west, a feat that fellow female aviator Amelia Earhart had completed in reverse just a few years before. Markham&’s successes and her failures—and her deep, lifelong love of the &“soul of Africa&”—are all told here with wrenching honesty and agile wit. Hailed as &“one of the greatest adventure books of all time&” by Newsweek and &“the sort of book that makes you think human beings can do anything&” by the New York Times, West with the Night remains a powerful testament to one of the iconic lives of the twentieth century.
The Birthday Boys: A Novel (Sound Ser.)
by Beryl BainbridgeThe dramatic, fictionalized account of Robert Falcon Scott's famed and fatal expedition to Antarctica by one of Britain's best-loved authors. Departing from Cardiff in 1910, the Terra Nova entered dark waters and headed south. On board were Petty Officer Edgar "Taff" Evans, Dr. Edward "Uncle Bill" Wilson, Capt. Robert Falcon "Con" Scott, Lt. Henry Robertson "Birdie" Bowers, and Capt. Lawrence Edward "Titus" Oates. Through an imaginative yet historically accurate retelling of the crew's mission to become the first explorers to reach the South Pole--and with each of the book's five chapters narrated from the unique perspective of one of these men--author Beryl Bainbridge imbues a tragic and thrilling adventure story with profound psychological, metaphysical, and emotional insight. The first three chapters of The Birthday Boys--recounted by Evans, Wilson, and Scott, respectively--tell of the preparations and fundraising required for the journey, two stopovers in Madeira and South Trinidad Island, and the difficult conditions the expedition faces when they land on Antarctica. It is Wilson who first fears for the safety of the crew, when from atop the ship's crow's-nest he spies a fantastical half-man-half-bird creature flying above the sea. The doctor is certain this apparition is a harbinger of death. Troubles then ensue when Scott sets up a base camp at Cape Evans as well as several depots in the direction of the South Pole. The motor sledge breaks down almost immediately, several ponies are lost to the harsh elements, and it is revealed that a competing polar expedition led by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen is already well ahead of Scott's team. In the final two chapters--told by Bowers and Oates--readers are taken on a dangerous but spectacular detour to a penguin rookery, where the men witness gorgeous auroras, build an igloo, gather eggs, and slaughter the arctic birds for their blubber. When a violent blizzard hits, it looks as if no one will make it out alive. But brotherly love in the face of all odds gives the men the power to survive, and the five heroes set off on their final march to the South Pole. Though history has already revealed the catastrophic end of this tale, Bainbridge shows us the bravery, courage, and humanity essential to the adventure. Masterfully blurring the boundaries between fact and fiction, The Birthday Boys is a compelling historical biography that challenges readers to discover truths that can only be reached through the imagination. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Beryl Bainbridge including rare images from the author's estate.
Watson's Apology: A Novel
by Beryl BainbridgeA novel of marital bickering--and murder--based on a historical case in Victorian England, from the bestselling author of The Birthday Boys. In the winter of 1884, John Selby Watson, a clergyman and headmaster living in London, writes a series of love letters--including a marriage proposal--to a woman he met only briefly at a social gathering many years before. Though Anne Armstrong does not remember Watson, she is desperate to escape poverty and the miserable life she shares with her sister in a moldy Dublin boarding house. So she accepts. Despite the abrupt circumstances of their engagement--and Anne's initial distaste for her betrothed--several years of happy marriage follow. But Watson soon becomes entrenched in his studies of classical literature, leaving his wife feeling alienated and dejected. Trivial disputes agitate the couple's domestic life with increasing frequency--a letter goes missing, the page of a book gets stained--until the bickering erupts into full-blown abuse and, during a night of drinking, their toxic environment reaches its destructive climax. Based on a real nineteenth-century murder case, Watson's Apology is a speculative novel about the complex psychological motivations that underlie a seemingly straightforward domestic tragedy. Using dark irony and twisted humor, award-winning British author Beryl Bainbridge reveals the terror that resides in the banal, and the suspense that can be found in the mysteries of the mind and heart.
Autobiography
by Bertrand RussellBertrand Russell remains one of the greatest philosophers and most complex and controversial figures of the twentieth century. Here, in this frank, humorous and decidedly charming autobiography, Russell offers readers the story of his life - introducing the people, events and influences that shaped the man he was to become. Originally published in three volumes in the late 1960s, Autobiography by Bertrand Russell is a revealing recollection of a truly extraordinary life written with the vivid freshness and clarity that has made Bertrand Russell's writings so distinctively his own.
Autobiography
by Bertrand RussellBertrand Russell remains one of the greatest philosophers and most complex and controversial figures of the twentieth century. Here, in this frank, humorous and decidedly charming autobiography, Russell offers readers the story of his life – introducing the people, events and influences that shaped the man he was to become. Originally published in three volumes in the late 1960s, Autobiography by Bertrand Russell is a revealing recollection of a truly extraordinary life written with the vivid freshness and clarity that has made Bertrand Russell’s writings so distinctively his own.
Fact and Fiction
by Bertrand RussellFirst published in 1961, Fact and Fiction is a collection of Bertrand Russell’s essays that reflect on the books and writings that influenced his life, including fiction, essays on politics and education, divertissements and parables. Also broaching on the highly controversial issues of war and peace, it is in this classic collection that Russell states some of his most famous pronouncements on nuclear warfare and international relations. It is a remarkable book that provides valuable insight into the range of interests and depth of convictions of one of the world’s greatest philosophers.
Mortals and Others: American Essays 1931-1935 (Routledge Classics Ser.)
by Bertrand RussellBetween 1931 and 1935, Bertrand Russell contributed some 156 essays to the literary pages of the American newspaper New York American. These were often fun, humorous observations on the very real issues of the day, such as the Depression, the rise of Nazism and Prohibition, to more perennial themes such as love, parenthood, education and friendship. Available for the first time in the Routledge Classics series in a single volume, this pithy, provocative and often-personal collection of essays brings together the very best of Russell’s many contributions to the New York American, and proves just as engaging for today’s readers as they were in the 1930s.
The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell: 1872 to World War I
by Bertrand RussellPerhaps the first real insight into the enigma of the aristocratic Englishman who has been heralded as a "Genius-Saint" and "the greatest heretic and immoralist of our age."
Trotsky: Downfall of a Revolutionary
by Bertrand M. PatenaudeA dramatic chronicle of revolutionary, politician, and political theorist Leon Trotsky’s final years in exile in Mexico.Few political figures of the twentieth century have aroused as much passion, controversy, and curiosity as Leon Trotsky. His role in history—his epic rise and fall, his fiery persona, his violent end in Mexico in August 1940—holds a fascination that transcends the history of the Russian Revolution. Bertrand M. Patenaude masterfully interweaves the story of Trotsky’s final years with flashbacks to pivotal episodes in his career as a young Marxist, revolutionary hero, Red Army chief, Bolshevik leader, outcast from Stalin’s USSR, and ultimately heretic of the Kremlin, targeted for assassination by its secret police. Gripping, tragic, and based on extensive firsthand research, Trotsky brilliantly illuminates the fateful and dramatic life of one of history’s most captivating and important figures.Praise for Trotsky“Excellent, exciting. . . . Trotsky charts with novelistic flair and in archival detail, the progress of the plot that culminated in Trotsky being killed with an ice axe in 1940.” —Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Sunday Times Telegraph (London)“This book deepens and enhances the sense of tragedy that always attends contemplation of “the Old Man” and his last struggle.” —Christopher Hitchens“Betrand Patenaude tells a masterly story of a brilliant, cornered man and, along the way, of a misguided century.” —The Wall Street Journal“A captivating account. . . . Patenaude paints a vivid portrait of Trotsky, a flamboyant, Westernized intellectual. . . . This is a dramatic, event-filled portrait of a turbulent, half-forgotten era.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)