Biographies & Memoirs - Books

Manhood for Amateurs

Biographies & Memoirs

The Pulitzer Prize winning author -- “an immensely gifted writer and a magical prose stylist” (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times) -- offers his first major work of nonfiction, an autobiographical narrative as inventive, beautiful, and powerful as critics and readers have come to expect.A shy manifesto, an impractical handbook, the true story of a fabulist, an entire life in parts and pieces: MANHOOD FOR AMATEURS is the first sustained work of personal writing from Michael Chabon. In these insightful, provocative, slyly interlinked essays, one of our most brilliant and humane writers presents his autobiography and his vision of life in the way so many of us experience our own: as a series of reflections, regrets and re-examinations, each sparked by an encounter, in the present, that holds some legacy of the past. What does it mean to be a man today? Chabon invokes and interprets and struggles to reinvent for us, with characteristic warmth and lyric wit, the personal and family history that haunts him even as -- simply because -- it goes on being written every day. As a devoted son, as a passionate husband, and above all as the father of four young Americans, Chabon’s memories of childhood, of his parents’ marriage and divorce, of moments of painful adolescent comedy and giddy encounters with the popular art and literature of his own youth, are like a theme played -- on different instruments, with a fresh tempo and in a new key -- by the mad quartet of which he now finds himself co-conductor. At once dazzling, hilarious, and moving, MANHOOD FOR AMATEURS is destined to become a classic.

Down to the Sea

Biographies & Memoirs

For over a century the Warren family has earned a hard and dangerous living, fishing out of Eden on the south coast of New South Wales. From the family's first fisherman, Old Ike, plying the coast in an open sailing boat in the late nineteenth century, to the Warrens today, using satellites and computers; from handlining to the brutal efficiency of purse seining, we witness a century of profound change that has forever altered the nature of our oceans. As the seasons unfold, and generations come and go, there emerges an intimate portrait of a family earning their living in a perilous and unforgiving environment. Through depression, war, shipwreck and storm, record catches and bitter disappointments, fights and family feuds, the Warrens have endured in a game where only the hardiest survive.Filled with unforgettable characters, adventure, humour and pathos, this is the inspiring story of a fishing dynasty – showing just how extraordinary the ordinary can be.

My Father and Myself

Biographies & Memoirs

This heartfelt gay memoir about an adult son uncovering his father’s secrets is “a cross between Dickens’s David Copperfield, Rousseau’s Confessions, and the new pornography” (Donald Windham). When his father died, J. R. Ackerley was shocked to discover that he had led a secret life. And after Ackerley himself died, he left a surprise of his own—this coolly considered, unsparingly honest account of his quest to find out the whole truth about the man who had always eluded him in life. But Ackerley’s pursuit of his father is also an exploration of the self—making My Father and Myself a pioneering record, at once sexually explicit and emotionally charged, of life as a gay man. This witty, sorrowful, and beautiful book is a classic of twentieth-century memoir.

Frédéric Chopin

Biographies & Memoirs

Il y a cent cinquante ans, Frédéric Chopin disparaissait. En trente-neuf années d’une brève existence, il léguait au monde une œuvre aussi remarquable, par sa richesse mélodique, que par son caractère personnel. Chopin, en effet, avait inventé une musique aux couleurs et aux sonorités toutes nouvelles ; musique du cœur, musique de l’âme, qui jaillissait comme une source bienfaisante et provoquait, chez ceux qui l’écoutaient, la plus vive émotion. De plus, grâce à une virtuosité incomparable, Chopin ouvrait au piano des horizons nouveaux, imposait une technique éblouissante, qui faisait de l’interprète l’égal du compositeur. Au même titre que Mozart, Chopin est un pur génie de la musique, en même temps qu’un novateur. Mais Chopin ne fut pas simplement ce jeune homme romantique que l’on se plaît à décrire ; il fut aussi un personnage plein d’humour, n’hésitant pas, pour divertir ses amis, à faire, à son piano, un véritable “numéro”. Il fut aussi un amoureux passionné, qui vécut auprès de George Sand une longue romance. Ce sont toutes les facettes du musicien que Claude Dufresne met en lumière dans son livre, ce sont les recoins secrets de son âme qu’il explore, les richesses de sa personnalité que l’auteur s’efforce de découvrir. Ayant eu, dans sa jeunesse, le privilège de s’entretenir avec le dernier élève survivant de Chopin, c’est donc un portrait inattendu du grand homme, que Claude Dufresne offre à ses lecteurs.

La confessione

Biographies & Memoirs

«...Basta solo che non pecchi. E che non ci sia in me cattiveria. Ora non ce n'è.»Diari, Lev Nikolàevič Tolstòj. "La confessione" è un trattato autobiografico di Lev Tolstoj di contenuto religioso.Distribuita per la prima volta in Russia nel 1882, l'opera venne subito sequestrata per il suo contenuto ritenuto blasfemo.Venne pertanto pubblicata per la prima volta a stampa a Ginevra nel 1884.Nella Confessione Tolstoj respinge il misticismo, negando il valore dei sacramenti («Il maggior nemico del vero cristianesimo è la chiesa organizzata») e dell'ortodossia cristiana («Sono stato battezzato e educato nella fede cristiana ortodossa. Me la insegnarono fino dall'infanzia e durante tutto il periodo della adolescenza e della prima giovinezza. Ma quando, a diciotto anni, abbandonai l'università al secondo corso, io non credevo ormai più a nulla di quello che mi avevano insegnato.»)Lev Nikolàevič Tolstòj (9 settembre 1828 – Astàpovo, 20 novembre 1910), è stato uno scrittore, filosofo, educatore e attivista sociale russo.Divenuto celebre in patria grazie a una serie di racconti giovanili sulla realtà della guerra, il nome di Tolstoj acquisì presto risonanza mondiale per il successo dei romanzi "Guerra e pace" e "Anna Karenina", a cui seguirono altre sue opere narrative sempre più rivolte all'introspezione dei personaggi e alla riflessione morale.La fama di Tolstoj è legata anche al suo pensiero pedagogico, filosofico e religioso, da lui espresso in numerosi saggi e lettere che ispirarono, in particolare, la condotta non-violenta dei tolstoiani e del Mahatma Gandhi.

Dio non è così

Biographies & Memoirs

Otto mistiche laiche che cercano il divino fuori dalla cornice strettamente religiosa sono le protagoniste di questo libro: donne libere e coraggiose, che vogliono andare al di là dell'idea di Dio che viene loro proposta."Dio non è così, ne sono sicura, e quindi lo cerco per conto mio," dice Catherine Pozzi, e come lei la pensano Adrienne von Speyr, Banine, Élisabeth Behr Sigel, Romana Guarnieri, fino a Simone Weil e Chiara Lubich. In questa ricerca nutrita di consapevolezza fondano movimenti, lavorano nelle fabbriche, amano senza riserve, esercitano una professione.Dio è qui e ora, nelle piccole e grandi cose della vita, nel lavoro che facciamo e nelle relazioni che coltiviamo con pazienza e dedizione, sembrano volerci dire. Incontrarlo non è così difficile, non serve chissà quale paludamento religioso: basta attingere alla ricchezza della propria vita interiore alla ricerca di un senso del nostro esistere.Otto storie di donne che hanno sperimentato nuovi rapporti interpersonali e nuove gerarchie ispirando le chiese e la società. Un anelito alla spiritualità che è anche un percorso di emancipazione inscritto nel movimento di liberazione femminile novecentesco.

Beyond the Wand

Biographies & Memoirs

From the magical moments on set as Draco Malfoy to the challenges of growing up in the spotlight, get a backstage pass into Tom Felton’s life on and off the big screen in this #1 New York Times bestseller. Tom Felton’s adolescence was anything but ordinary. His early rise to fame in beloved films like The Borrowers catapulted him into the limelight, but nothing could prepare him for what was to come after he landed the iconic role of the Draco Malfoy, the bleached blonde villain of the Harry Potter movies. For the next ten years, he was at the center of a huge pop culture phenomenon and yet, in between filming, he would go back to being a normal teenager trying to fit into a normal school. Speaking with great candor and his signature humor, Tom shares his experience growing up as part of the wizarding world while also trying to navigate the muggle world. He tells stories from his early days in the business like his first acting gig where he was mistaken for fellow blonde child actor Macaulay Culkin and his Harry Potter audition where, in a very Draco-like move, he fudged how well he knew the books the series was based on (not at all). He reflects on his experiences working with cinematic greats such as Alan Rickman, Sir Michael Gambon, Dame Maggie Smith, and Ralph Fiennes (including that awkward Voldemort hug). And, perhaps most poignantly, he discusses the lasting relationships he made over that decade of filming, including with Emma Watson, who started out as a pesky nine-year-old whom he mocked for not knowing what a boom mic was but who soon grew into one of his dearest friends. Then, of course, there are the highs and lows of fame and navigating life after such a momentous and life-changing experience. Tom Felton’s Beyond the Wand is an entertaining, funny, and poignant must-read for any Harry Potter fan. Prepare to meet a real-life wizard.

The Apprentice

Biographies & Memoirs

A culinary legend tells his story, from boyhood in wartime France to stardom in America, and shares favorite recipes: “A delicious book…a joy.”—The New York Times Book Review In this memoir, the man Julia Child called “the best chef in America” tells of his rise from a frightened apprentice in an exacting Old World kitchen to an Emmy Award-winning superstar who taught millions of Americans how to cook and shaped the nation’s tastes in the bargain. We see Jacques as a homesick six-year-old in war-ravaged France, working on a farm in exchange for food, dodging bombs, and bearing witness as German soldiers capture his father, a fighter in the Resistance. Soon Jacques is caught up in the hurly-burly action of his mother's café, where he proves a natural. He endures a literal trial by fire and works his way up the ladder in the feudal system of France’s most famous restaurant, finally becoming Charles de Gaulle's personal chef, watching the world being refashioned from the other side of the kitchen door. When he comes to America, Jacques falls in with a small group of as-yet-unknown food lovers, including Craig Claiborne, James Beard, and Julia Child, whose adventures redefine American food. Through it all, he proves to be a master of the American art of reinvention: earning a graduate degree from Columbia, turning down a job as John F. Kennedy's chef to work at Howard Johnson’s, and, after a near-fatal car accident, switching careers once again to become a charismatic leader in the revolution that changed the way Americans approached food. Also included are approximately forty favorite recipes created in the course of his career, from his mother's utterly simple cheese soufflé to his wife's pork ribs and red beans. “Fascinating.”—The Washington Post “Beguiling.”—The New Yorker “As lively and personable as Pepin himself.”—The Boston Globe

De Gaulle, monument français

Biographies & Memoirs

Pour l'anniversaire des cinquante ans de sa disparition, l'auteur revisite la vie et le parcours du général de Gaulle (1890-1970) à la lumière du XXIe siècle. Il montre ainsi comment l'homme d'Etat a façonné la France même après sa mort par ses prises de décision et sa clairvoyance quant au futur du pays.

Noites Azuis

Biographies & Memoirs

De uma das autoras mais brilhantes do mundo da literatura, um trabalho de franqueza impressionante sobre a perda de uma filha.Carregado de memórias da sua própria infância e da vida de casada com o seu marido, John Gregory Dunne, e a filha, Quintana Roo, o novo livro de Joan Didion é um relato intenso e comovente dos seus pensamentos, medos e dúvidas sobre a maternidade, a doença e o envelhecimento.Ao mesmo tempo que reflete sobre a vida da sua filha e sobre o seu papel como mãe, Didion luta com as dúvidas que todos os pais enfrentam, e contempla a sua idade, algo que para ela é difícil de admitir, e ainda de aceitar. Noites Azuis — as longas noites em que os crepúsculos se tornam longos e azuis e sinalizam o solstício do verão, "o oposto da morte da claridade, mas são também o seu alerta" — como O Ano do Pensamento Mágico, este é um livro icónico, de uma honestidade incisiva e elétrica, memorável e profundo.

O coração de uma mulher

Biographies & Memoirs

Em O coração de uma mulher, Maya Angelou parte da Califórnia com seu filho, Guy, rumo à cidade de Nova York. Lá ela ingressa na sociedade e no mundo dos artistas e escritores negros, participa do Harlem Writers Guild e passa a integrar a luta dos negros norte-americanos para que assumam seu lugar de direito no mundo. Nesse período, a vida pessoal dela se desdobra em caminhos inesperados. Maya rompe com o homem com quem planejava se casar depois de se apaixonar por um combatente da liberdade sul-africano, com o qual viaja para Londres e para o Cairo, locais em que encontra novas oportunidades. O coração de uma mulher é repleto de breves descrições de personalidades renomadas, como Billie Holiday e Malcolm X, mas talvez o mais importante seja seu retrato das graças e dos fardos de uma mãe negra nos Estados Unidos e de como seu filho — a quem ela criou com tanta intensidade, e em prol do qual trabalhou com tanta devoção — enfim se torna um homem.

Mahomet et les origines de l'Islamisme

Biographies & Memoirs

"Mahomet est réellement un personnage historique : nous le touchons de toutes parts. Le livre qui nous reste sous son nom représente presque mot à mot les discours qu’il tenait. Sa vie est restée une biographie comme une autre, sans miracles, sans exagérations." (Ernest Renan)

The Lost Interview

Biographies & Memoirs

Great words of a Great Man!

Just Another Square Dance Caller

Biographies & Memoirs

Marshall Flippo is the most recognized caller's name in the square dance world internationally. Marshall Doyle Flippo was born September 2, 1927 in Tuscola, Texas to Roy and Gus Flippo. He had two sisters; Helen and Onita. Flip (or Flippo is what we called him) enjoyed close ties with his family and his school. He joined the Navy at age seventeen and saw two years of active duty at the end of World War II. Then he played baseball for the DesPac league the reminder of his enlisted time. He returned to his family home in Abilene, Texas and married Neeca, and she encouraged him to take square dance lessons, and he was hooked. He started his calling career near Abilene, Texas in a chicken coop. Flip and Neeca joined three other couples to build a square dance hall in Abilene, the Wagon Wheel, which is still in operation today. He got his big break in the calling world by recording the popular tune in 1957, "The Auctioneer" with Blue Star Records, owned by Norman and Nadine Merrbach, and the rest is history. After several visits to Kirkwood Lodge in Osage Beach, Missouri, a square dance vacation resort, Bill Hagadorn, the owner, hired Flip to be the resident caller there. In doing this, Flippo and Neeca decided to give up their jobs in Abilene but not their home. He worked Kirkwood Lodge for six months out of the year and needed employment for the rest of the year. From the clientele at Kirkwood, his industrious wife, Neeca, put together an amazing six-month tour of interested dancers all across the United States, and he did this schedule for 42 years. During those six months of touring, he expanded internationally, visiting Germany, England, Spain and Japan. He had been stationed in Japan after the war, so he was familiar with the people, and his love affair with this country and its people continued until he died. Neeca and Flippo divorced in 1991 after 42 years of marriage, and he remarried but they divorced, so Flip lived out his life single. Neeca and he became close friends in their later years. He spent the last eighteen years of his career in Tucson, Arizona as the resident caller at Rincon West RV park during the winter and continued his tours in the summer. He died at the age of 91 on November 4, 2018 and has been missed across the world in the square dance community. Flippo never realized his place in the lineage of square dance history. He was a bridge between Lloyd "Pappy" Shaw, the caller who energized the activity in the 50's, and the transition to modern western square dancing. He was truly a humble legend. Flippo was consummate story tell, so a unique part of this book is his stories about other callers, cuers and dancers. Also included are stories by friends about him. It truly is a celebration of the man.

Ashley's War

Biographies & Memoirs

The New York Times–bestselling account of an elite team of female soldiers is “compelling. . . . In battle as in life, these women refuse to quit” (Christian Science Monitor).In 2010, the Army created Cultural Support Teams, a secret pilot program to insert women alongside Special Operations soldiers battling in Afghanistan. Their presence had a calming effect on enemy households, but more importantly, the CSTs were able to search adult women for weapons and gather crucial intelligence. They could build relationships—woman to woman—in ways that male soldiers in an Islamic country never could.In Ashley’s War, Gayle Tzemach Lemmon uses on-the-ground reporting and a finely tuned understanding of the complexities of war to tell the story of CST-2, a unit of women hand-picked from the Army to serve in this highly specialized role. The pioneers of CST-2 proved for the first time that women might be physically and mentally tough enough to become Special Ops.The price of professional acceptance was personal loss and social isolation: the only people who really understand the women of CST-2 are each other. At the center of this story is a friendship and the shared perils of up-close combat. At the heart of the team is the tale of a beloved and effective soldier, Ashley White. “An unforgettable story of female soldiers breaking the brass ceiling. . . . This book will inspire you.” —Sheryl Sandberg, #1 International bestselling author of Lean In“A tremendous story. . . . Very moving.” —The Daily Show with Jon Stewart“Ashley’s War shares the remarkable stories of one of the first teams of women serving in the U.S. Army Special Operations Command.” —Senator John McCain

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Biographies & Memoirs

“One of the major autobiographies of the African-American tradition.”—Henry Louis Gates, Jr.“It has been painful to me, in many ways, to recall the dreary years I passed in bondage. I would gladly forget them if I could. Yet the retrospection is not altogether without solace; for with these gloomy recollections come tender memories of my good old grandmother, like light fleecy clouds floating over a dark and troubled sea.”One of the most memorable slave narratives, Harriet Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl illustrates the overarching evil and pervasive depravity of the institution of slavery. In great and painful detail, Jacobs describes her life as a Southern slave, the exploitation that haunted her daily life, her abuse by her master, the involvement she sought with another white man in order to escape her master, and her determination to win freedom for herself and her children. From her seven years of hiding in a garret that was three feet high, to her harrowing escape north to a reunion with her children and freedom, Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl remains an outstanding example of one woman’s extraordinary courage in the face of almost unbeatable odds, as well as one of the most significant testimonials in American history.

Gil Hodges

Biographies & Memoirs

A legend during the Golden Era of the 1950s, Brooklyn Dodgers baseball player and New York Mets manager Gil Hodges is at the center of this masterful sports biography, which delves into the life, achievements, and sterling character of one of baseball’s most overlooked stars.Gil Hodges was the Brooklyn Dodgers’ powerful first baseman who, alongside Jackie Robinson, helped drive his team to six pennants and a thrilling World Series victory in 1955.Dutifully following the Dodgers to Los Angeles in 1958, Hodges longed to return to New York City, and in 1962, joined the original Mets. He took over the manager’s spot on their bench in 1968 and transformed the team from a joke to World Champions in 1969—thus creating the Miracle Mets. Yet behind his stoic demeanor lay a man prone to anxiety and scarred by combat during World War II. His sudden death in 1972 shocked his friends and family and left a void in the hearts of baseball fans everywhere.Acclaimed authors Tom Clavin and Danny Peary deliver a thoroughly researched and poignant view of one of baseball’s hidden treasures, shedding light on a fascinating life and career that even his most ardent fans never knew.

Sophia

Biographies & Memoirs

In 1876 Sophia Duleep Singh was born into Indian royalty. Her father, Maharajah Duleep Singh, was heir to the Kingdom of the Sikhs, one of the greatest empires of the Indian subcontinent, a realm that stretched from the lush Kashmir Valley to the craggy foothills of the Khyber Pass and included the mighty cities of Lahore and Peshawar. It was a territory irresistible to the British, who plundered everything, including the fabled Koh-I-Noor diamond. Exiled to England, the dispossessed Maharajah transformed his estate at Elveden in Suffolk into a Moghul palace, its grounds stocked with leopards, monkeys and exotic birds. Sophia, god-daughter of Queen Victoria, was raised a genteel aristocratic Englishwoman: presented at court, afforded grace and favor lodgings at Hampton Court Palace and photographed wearing the latest fashions for the society pages. But when, in secret defiance of the British government, she travelled to India, she returned a revolutionary. Sophia transcended her heritage to devote herself to battling injustice and inequality, a far cry from the life to which she was born. Her causes were the struggle for Indian Independence, the fate of the lascars, the welfare of Indian soldiers in the First World War – and, above all, the fight for female suffrage. She was bold and fearless, attacking politicians, putting herself in the front line and swapping her silks for a nurse's uniform to tend wounded soldiers evacuated from the battlefields. Meticulously researched and passionately written, this enthralling story of the rise of women and the fall of empire introduces an extraordinary individual and her part in the defining moments of recent British and Indian history.

Being Henry

Biographies & Memoirs

From Emmy-award winning actor, author, comedian, producer, and director Henry Winkler, a deeply thoughtful memoir of the lifelong effects of stardom and the struggle to become whole.Henry Winkler, launched into prominence as “The Fonz” in the beloved Happy Days, has transcended the role that made him who he is. Brilliant, funny, and widely-regarded as the nicest man in Hollywood (though he would be the first to tell you that it’s simply not the case, he’s really just grateful to be here), Henry shares in this achingly vulnerable memoir the disheartening truth of his childhood, the difficulties of a life with severe dyslexia, the pressures of a role that takes on a life of its own, and the path forward once your wildest dream seems behind you. Since the glorious era of Happy Days fame, Henry has endeared himself to a new generation with roles in such adored shows as Arrested Development, Parks and Recreation, and Barry, where he’s been revealed as an actor with immense depth and pathos, a departure from the period of his life when he was so distinctly typecast as The Fonz, he could hardly find work. Filled with profound heart, charm, and self-deprecating humor, Being Henry is a memoir about so much more than a life in Hollywood and the curse of stardom. It is a meaningful testament to the power of sharing truth and kindness and of finding fulfillment within yourself.

Jeevani : Guru Arjun Dev Ji - (जीवनी - गुरु अर्जुन देव जी)

Biographies & Memoirs

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