Biographies & Memoirs - Books

Terres de mémoire : Gascogne, Guyenne, Quercy, Périgord noir

Biographies & Memoirs

De grands écrivains d’aujourd’hui racontent dans chacun des livres de cette collection les souvenirs qu’ils ont de leur terre d’enfance et de leurs racines, en ce qu’ils ont compté pour la création de leur personnalité et de leur œuvre. Par-delà ces sources, chacun d’eux évoque aussi bien ses terres de voyage et de rencontre, voire d’adoption. Bientôt les terres de l’imaginaire s’assemblent aux terres du vécu pour ne former qu’un seul territoire, celui des Terres de Mémoire. Ici Pierre Gascar, après André Dhôtel, l’Ardennais, et Henri Vincenot, le bourguignon, retrouve la Guyenne où Quercy et Périgord noir sont inclus et qui constitue la partie septentrionale de la Gascogne à laquelle il doit son nom.

Le roman vrai d'Alexandre

Biographies & Memoirs

"Ce livre est l’histoire de mes mensonges. Sans doute est-ce le plus risqué que j’écrirai jamais. Il m’est vital. Jusqu'où suis-je allé dans l’aveu ? Je n’ai pris aucun ménagement. Un jour, il faut bien déchirer le voile, rompre avec le comédien et coïncider avec soi."

Live the Impossible

Biographies & Memoirs

When a tragic accident crushes her dreams, can a young woman fight to thrive once again?As a teen growing up in the '80s, Jenny Smith loved life. But, when a spinal cord injury paralyzed her from the chest down, her days of gymnastics and playing music came to an agonizing end. Completely reliant on others for her most basic needs, privacy and independence became things of the past.Refusing to give up, Jenny struggled along the exhausting, painful, and endless road to living as a quadriplegic. So, when opportunity knocked, she risked everything to travel abroad to distribute wheelchairs, play wheelchair sports, and advocate for people with disabilities as a "roll model."In this inspiring account, Jenny Smith shares with honesty the physical, emotional, and relational hardships facing those with paralysis. And, with her revelations and introspection, she guides the listener on a stirring journey full of humor, faith, and fortitude.

Pérégrinations d'une paria

Biographies & Memoirs

Texte intégral révisé suivi d'une biographie de Flora Tristan. "Pérégrinations d'une paria" est le récit autobiographique de deux années de la vie de Flora Tristan. Femme de lettres franco-péruvienne, féministe, militante socialiste et figure majeure du débat social au milieu du XIXe siècle, l'auteur de "L'émancipation de la femme" et de "L'Union ouvrière" raconte ici ses pérégrinations pendant les années 1833 et 1834. Années de voyage, de combat et d'émancipation pour se libérer d'abord d'un mari tyrannique puis pour tenter de récupérer l'héritage qui lui est dû auprès de sa très illustre famille installée au Pérou. Mais, soumise à l'arbitraire de la société patriarcale de l'époque, mesurant que le droit est contre elle en raison de son statut de bâtarde, elle échoue dans ses demandes légitimes de reconnaissance. Elle décide alors de revendiquer haut et fort la qualité de "paria" et se change en justicière des droits bafoués de la femme et en porte-parole des victimes de l'ordre social.

Quem tem medo do feminismo negro?

Biographies & Memoirs

Um livro essencial e urgente, pois enquanto mulheres negras seguirem sendo alvo de constantes ataques, a humanidade toda corre perigo.Quem tem medo do feminismo negro? reúne um longo ensaio autobiográfico inédito e uma seleção de artigos publicados por Djamila Ribeiro no blog da revista CartaCapital, entre 2014 e 2017. No texto de abertura, a filósofa e militante recupera memórias de seus anos de infância e adolescência para discutir o que chama de "silenciamento", processo de apagamento da personalidade por que passou e que é um dos muitos resultados perniciosos da discriminação. Foi apenas no final da adolescência, ao trabalhar na Casa de Cultura da Mulher Negra, que Djamila entrou em contato com autoras que a fizeram ter orgulho de suas raízes e não mais querer se manter invisível. Desde então, o diálogo com autoras como Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, bell hooks, Sueli Carneiro, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison e Conceição Evaristo é uma constante.Muitos textos reagem a situações do cotidiano — o aumento da intolerância às religiões de matriz africana; os ataques a celebridades como Maju ou Serena Williams – a partir das quais Djamila destrincha conceitos como empoderamento feminino ou interseccionalidade. Ela também aborda temas como os limites da mobilização nas redes sociais, as políticas de cotas raciais e as origens do feminismo negro nos Estados Unidos e no Brasil, além de discutir a obra de autoras de referência para o feminismo, como Simone de Beauvoir.

Arthur Tange

Biographies & Memoirs

Sir Arthur Tange was one of Australia’s most influential public servants during the latter half of the 20th century. This award-winning biography examines the career of a man who served the Chifley, Menzies, Gorton, McMahon, Whitlam and Fraser governments at a time when department heads still wielded considerable power. Reviewing the book in the Australian Financial Review on its initial publication in 2006, Geoffrey Barker declared it was ‘a book that deserves to be compulsory reading for all Australians interested in foreign policy, national security and the complex relationships between senior public servants and their political masters. Edwards has, in fact, used the life of Arthur Tange (1914–2001) as a prism through which to reveal enduring issues in Australian foreign and defence policy and in national government administration from World War II to the present. Edwards’s portrayal of the legendary bureaucrat who headed and shaped both the Foreign Affairs and Defence departments fully captures his complexity and controversial personality. Tange was intelligent, fearless, autocratic, hierarchical and foul-tempered – and capable of charm and kindness. He was also, as his foreign and defence policy advice to coalition and Labor governments revealed, a patriot who consistently sought to place Australia’s national interests first and to ensure a realistic match between Australia’s international ambitions and its economic capacities.’ Arthur Tange went onto win the WA Premier’s Non-Fiction Award. Peter Edwards AO is an acclaimed writer and historian. His works include Prime Ministers and Diplomats: The Making of Australian Foreign Policy, 1901–1949 (1983), A Nation at War: Australian politics, society and diplomacy during the Vietnam War 1965–1975 (1997), and, most recently, Law, Politics and Intelligence: A life of Robert Hope (2020).

Deadly

Biographies & Memoirs

Deadly is the first-ever biography of Kent and England cricketing legend Derek Underwood. It includes exclusive interviews with friends and team-mates.From renowned cricket author Mark Peel, winner of the Cricket Society Award and twice shortlisted at the British Sports Book Awards. This compelling book: Profiles Underwood as a child prodigy who became the youngest ever bowler to take 100 wickets in a season Charts his rise to national prominence two years later when he bowled England to victory against Australia at the Oval in the closing minutes, as well as other great feats while playing for his country Reveals the reasons behind his signing for Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket and the England rebel side to South Africa in 1982 and the controversy that ensued Examines his unique style of bowling and why he was so destructive on certain types of pitch Celebrates Underwood's huge contribution to the great Kent side of the 1970s Covers Underwood's committee and charity work in retirement, culminating in his presidency of MCC Deadly brings you the inside track on Underwood's life and career, uncovering the secret of his phenomenal success and the endearing qualities that made him such a much-loved figure.

The Soul of a Butterfly

Biographies & Memoirs

Former boxing legend Muhammad Ali, one of the best-known and best-loved celebrities and an international goodwill ambassador, offers inspiration and hope as he describes the spiritual philosophy that sustains him.“During my boxing career, you did not see the real Muhammad Ali. You just saw a little boxing. You saw only a part of me. After I retired from boxing my true work began. I have embarked on a journey of love.”So Muhammad Ali begins this spiritual memoir, his description of the values that have shaped and sustained him and that continue to guide his life. In The Soul of a Butterfly the great champion takes readers on a spiritual journey through the seasons of life, from childhood to the present, and shares the beliefs that have served him well.Ali reflects on his faith in God and the strength it gave him during his greatest challenges. He describes how his study of true Islam has helped him accept the changes in his life and has brought him to a greater awareness of life’s true purpose. As a United Nations Messenger of Peace, he has traveled widely, and he describes his 2002 mission to Afghanistan to heighten public awareness of that country’s desperate situation, as well as his more recent meeting with the Dalai Lama.Ali’s reflections on topics ranging from moral courage to belief in God to respect for those who differ from us will inspire and enlighten all who read them. Written with the assistance of his daughter Hana, The Soul of a Butterfly is a compassionate and heartfelt book that will provide comfort for our troubled times.

The Adventures of Herbie Cohen

Biographies & Memoirs

The New York Times bestselling author Rich Cohen tells the story of Herbie: the king of Bensonhurst, the world’s best negotiator—and Cohen’s wise, wisecracking father.Meet Herbie Cohen, World’s Greatest Negotiator, dealmaker, risk taker, raconteur, adviser to presidents and corporations, hostage and arms negotiator, lesson giver and justice seeker, author of the how-to business classic You Can Negotiate Anything. And, of course, Rich Cohen’s father. The Adventures of Herbie Cohen follows our hero from his youth spent running around Brooklyn with his pals Sandy Koufax, Larry King, Who Ha, Inky, and Ben the Worrier (many of them members of his Bensonhurst gang, “the Warriors”); to his days coaching basketball in the army in Europe; to his years as a devoted and unconventional husband, father, and freelance guru crossing the country to give lectures, settle disputes, and hone the art of success while finding meaning in this strange, funny world.This book is an ode to a remarkable man by an adoring but not undiscerning son, and a treasure trove of hilarious antics and counterintuitive wisdom. (Some of this stuff you can use at home.) It’s a bildungsroman, a collection of tall tales, the unfolding of a unique biography coiled around Herbie’s great insight and guiding principle: The secret of life is to care, but not that much.Includes black-and-white photographs

Une question de discipline

Biographies & Memoirs

Après le succès d’Un été avec Montaigne, Antoine Compagnon s’inscrit à nouveau dans le sillage de l’auteur des Essais. Ces entretiens révèlent un homme au parcours atypique et d’une curiosité hors norme : du statut de la citation dans les textes littéraires à Proust et Brunetière, en passant par Montaigne et la littérature « antimoderne » de Joseph de Maistre à Roland Barthes. On découvre l’enfance et l’adolescence de ce fils de militaire expatrié, qui a fait très vite des bibliothèques ses vraies demeures. Devenu polytech¬nicien, il se passionne pour la linguistique. Auditeur de Lévi-Strauss, Foucault et Lacan, il raconte ces années décisives et s’attarde sur son amitié pour Barthes et pour Marc Fumaroli. Il explique comment une discipline s’est alors imposée à lui dans les trois sens du terme : l’enseignement, la littérature et une certaine règle de vie. Professeur au Collège de France, essayiste et romancier, voyageur infatigable, Antoine Compagnon jette aujourd’hui un regard rétrospectif sur les livres et les figures qui l’ont marqué. Il fait revivre avec brio et humour le Paris intellectuel des années 1970, mais aussi l’effervescence des universités anglaises et américaines. Il se prononce enfin sur la place des études littéraires en France, et sur la littérature contemporaine.

Calamity Jane, une légende du Far West

Biographies & Memoirs

Calamity Jane reste l'une des plus fameuses héroïnes du Far West.Mille histoires, mille rumeurs ont circulé sur son compte, mais personne n'a vraiment réussi à percer le mystère de sa vie hors du commun.Alors ? Qui était-elle vraiment ?Pourquoi son nom est-il resté gravé à tout jamais dans l'histoire des États-Unis d'Amérique ?C'est ce que nous vous proposons de découvrir à travers le récit de ses aventures, à l'époque où cow-boys et Indiens se disputaient l'Ouest américain.Mensonge ou vérité ? Seule Calamity Jane pourrait nous le confirmer...

Life of Johnson, Volume 2

Biographies & Memoirs

In 1764 and 1765 it should seem that Dr. Johnson was so busily employed with his edition of Shakspeare, as to have had little leisure for any other literary exertion, or, indeed, even for private correspondence[1]. He did not favour me with a single letter for more than two years, for which it will appear that he afterwards apologised.

Bob Dylan au-delà du mythe

Biographies & Memoirs

Bob Dylan : un nom qui suffit à évoquer un pan entier des années 60, celui de la contestation, de la contre-culture. Une époque de révolutions dans la société et dans la musique. Dylan, c’est d’abord cela, une icône du rock qui a changé radicalement la manière de faire des chansons. Ses titres sont devenus des classiques, indémodables et universellement connus. Mais au-delà de cette personnalité artistique devenue mythique, cette biographie raconte l’homme. Sa jeunesse dans une région rurale et industrieuse d’Amérique, la boutique familiale qu’il veut fuir, les petits groupes de rock avec les copains. Puis son départ pour New York en 1961 et les débuts fulgurants de sa carrière jusqu’à aujourd’hui. Un parcours dans les pas d’un personnage fascinant qui a créé sa propre légende. La biographie qui dévoile l’homme au-delà de l’icône.

Beauty in the Broken Places

Biographies & Memoirs

“An inspiring, intimate memoir about faith, resilience and the tenacity of love.”—People“In this emotional tale, a young couple see their lives changed in the blink of an eye—and learn to find love again.”—US Weekly Five months pregnant, on a flight to their “babymoon,” Allison Pataki turned to her husband when he asked if his eye looked strange and watched him suddenly lose consciousness. After an emergency landing, she discovered that Dave—a healthy thirty-year-old athlete and surgical resident—had suffered a rare and life-threatening stroke. Next thing Allison knew, she was sitting alone in the ER in Fargo, North Dakota, waiting to hear if her husband would survive the night. When Dave woke up, he could not carry memories from hour to hour, much less from one day to the next. Allison had lost the Dave she knew and loved when he lost consciousness on the plane. Within a few months, she found herself caring for both a newborn and a sick husband, struggling with the fear of what was to come. As a way to make sense of the pain and chaos of their new reality, Allison started to write daily letters to Dave. Not only would she work to make sense of the unfathomable experiences unfolding around her, but her letters would provide Dave with the memories he could not make on his own. She was writing to preserve their past, protect their present, and fight for their future. Those letters became the foundation of this beautiful, intimate memoir. And in the process, she fell in love with her husband all over again. This is a manifesto for living, an ultimately uplifting story about the transformative power of faith and resilience. It’s a tale of a man’s turbulent road to recovery, the shifting nature of marriage, and the struggle of loving through pain and finding joy in the broken places.Praise for Beauty in the Broken Places“Bold and commendable . . . A strength of this memoir is [Allison Pataki’s] scrupulous honesty.”—USA Today“A memoir about . . . determination and gratitude, and the value of putting one foot in front of another during a crisis.”—The Washington Post “Heart-wrenching.”—Women’s Health“Powerful and immersive . . . Pataki delivers an insightful look at how two people faced a life-altering test as a team ‘fighting to make the dreams of our future possible.’”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Hagakure. Il codice segreto dei Samurai

Biographies & Memoirs

Nunzia Castravelli, docente di lingua e letteratura giapponese a Napoli, traduce e introduce con 10 parole chiave i primi due libri (integrali) di uno dei testi più rappresentativi e profondi della saggezza giapponese: Bushido, Tokugawa, Morte, Seppuku, Kamikaze, Lealtà, Coraggio, Autodisciplina, Onore, Vuoto. Scritto da Yamamoto Tsunetomo (1659-1719), samurai del clan di Saga che abbracciò la vita ascetica, fu pubblicato solo nel 1906. Nel suo eremo "nascosto tra le foglie" dettò questi pensieri al discepolo Tashiro Tsuramoto. Malgrado utilizzato dai piloti-suicidi giapponesi nella seconda guerra mondiale, il libro è un manifesto di "impareggiabile moralità, energetico e rasserenante", secondo il grande scrittore Yukio Mishima. Un libro che riscuote da sempre un grande successo nella cultura pop e manga delle giovani generazioni.

Odi et amo

Biographies & Memoirs

Pocos escritores de lengua española tuvieron una disciplina epistolar tan intensa y extensa como Octavio Paz: miles de cartas a otros escritores, a sus amigos, a sus editores y, desde luego, a las mujeres que amó. Además de su lealtad al buzón, Paz hizo de la lectura de epistolarios parte de su sistema de curiosidad crítica. Para él, las cartas eran una forma superior del diálogo, una adecuada sede para la discordia y la concordia, un diario compartido y una bitácora íntima de la propia vida. Y le parecía además que en ocasiones las cartas se gradúan al rango de verdaderas obras literarias. Es el caso de las que recoge este libro, las cartas que Paz envió entre 1935 y 1945 a quien llamaba "Helena", la escritora Elena Garro, su primera esposa. Las cartas alumbran los primeros años de una intensa pasión que navegó del fervor del enamoramiento inicial hacia los escollos del tiempo y al final naufragio del desamor. Además de ser "un esquema de nuestro espíritu, la confesión apasionada, pero clara, de nuestro corazón" —como le escribe a Helena—, estas cartas son también una guía de la formación intelectual del joven poeta y un febril registro de la vida social y política del México de esos años turbulentos.

Tous les fleuves vont à la mer. Mémoires

Biographies & Memoirs

Enfance heureuse à Sighet, petite ville des Carpates longtemps épargnée par la guerre. Fureur et ténèbres d'Auschwitz et de Buchenwald : l'adolescent en sort exsangue, l'esprit muet, sans patrie. Mais il conserve en lui ses rêves messianiques, le sourire de Tsipouka, la petite sœur aux cheveux d'or, le regard et les ultimes paroles de son père – secrets qui hantent toute l'œuvre d'Elie Wiesel et qu'il révèle ici. Quarante ans plus tard, consécration de l'écrivain lorsqu'il reçoit le prix Nobel de la paix. Ce sont là trois repères dans une vie fertile en bouleversements, ruptures et découvertes. Elie Wiesel a 17 ans. Le voici à Paris, balloté dans un univers inconnu. Apprendre le français lui paraît alors moins ardu que de séduire toutes les jeunes filles dont il tombe amoureux. La naissance d'Israël l'exalte, mais comment aider le jeune État ? Le voici apprenti journaliste, un métier qui lui fera parcourir le monde, traquer les scoops, se lier d'amitié avec François Mauriac et Golda Meir, côtoyer personnalités et chefs d'État. A 30 ans, Elie Wiesel parvient à décrire son expérience de La Nuit, à témoigner pour les martyrs de l'Holocauste. Ainsi commence une œuvre vouée au souvenir des victimes, à la défense des survivants et de tous les opprimés. Avec les armes de la compassion, de l'amour et parfois de la colère, cette œuvre et cette vie vont devenir un combat entre le doute et la foi, le désespoir et la confiance, l'oubli et la mémoire. Combat d'un inlassable témoin de la violence des hommes et de leur rêve d'une Jérusalem pacifiée, idéale.

La scatola dei calzini perduti

Biographies & Memoirs

Commovente, divertente, poetica: una storia intensa che parla di un Paese lontano e del nostro. Gli strilli di un bambino infrangono l’atmosfera di un grande magazzino alla vigilia delle feste. E dall’enorme costume rosso di Babbo Natale riemerge Madut, il ragazzo del Sudan, l’uomo nero.In fuga dalla sua terra in fiamme, figlio di una popolazione di pastori, i dinka, Madut è giunto attraverso strade insolite e rocambolesche fino a Roma, per trovare il suo angolo di quotidianità in una lavanderia a gettone. Nella Città Eterna di Madut sogni e speranze, risate e dolori, desideri e negazioni si mescolano, si incontrano, si scontrano. Storie di immigrati e di prostitute, di poliziotti e di preti, in un balletto di vite che va in scena sul palcoscenico di una metropoli dal volto bonario ma densa di insidie, soprattutto se hai la pelle di un altro colore.Una voce poetica e forte, appassionata e suggestiva. Una riuscita alchimia di relazioni e personaggi che sa tratteggiare vicende straordinarie e minuscole, esistenze sospese tra passato e presente, tra qui e altrove, che si fondono e si confondono con quelle del nostro Paese. Tutte insieme, nella scatola che custodisce i calzini spaiati che Madut ritrova nei cestelli della sua lavanderia.

Incidentes na vida de uma escrava

Biographies & Memoirs

A verdadeira história da luta de um indivíduo pela autoidentidade, autopreservação e liberdade, este livro permanece entre as poucas narrativas de escravas escritas por uma mulher. Um relato autobiográfico, narra a notável odisseia de Harriet Ann Jacobs, cujo espírito destemido e a fé a levaram de uma vida de servidão e degradação na Carolina do Norte para a liberdade e o reencontro com os filhos no Norte dos Estados Unidos. Este foi um dos primeiros livros a tratar da luta pela liberdade das pessoas escravizadas, falando de abuso e assédio sexual, além da dificuldade de manterem seus papéis de mãe e mulheres.

Habt's mich gern

Biographies & Memoirs

Böck echt und unverfälscht Vollblutschauspieler Wolfgang Böck ist als Darsteller, Intendant und Wienerlied-Sänger einem breiten Publikum bekannt. Mit Christoph Frühwirth begibt sich der Oldtimer-Liebhaber in seinem Jaguar auf große Fahrt zu den "Raststationen" seiner Karriere: Bregenz, wo er in den 1970ern im Theater debütiert. Wiens Kaisermühlen, das ihm seine TV-Paraderolle als Trautmann beschert. Das Burgenland, wo er seit 2003 die Schlossspiele Kobersdorf leitet und das ihm als privater Rückzugsort dient. Begleiten Sie Wolfgang Böck auf der Fahrt zu diesen und vielen anderen Stationen seines Lebens. Mit zahlreichen Abbildungen

Biographies & Memoirs Books