Biographies & Memoirs - Books

Hitch 22

Biographies & Memoirs

Le memorie pubbliche e private di uno dei piú grandi intellettuali a cavallo tra due millenni. Le battaglie, le provocazioni, le cause perse, le invettive di un «bastian contrario» la cui autobiografia è la storia di mezzo secolo di Storia. Questo libro è l'occasione per ripercorrere, in una galoppata affascinante, alcuni dei capitoli piú intensi e decisivi della storia contemporanea, partendo dalle proteste degli anni Sessanta e Settanta, passando per la caduta del muro di Berlino e il crollo delle ideologie, per approdare agli scenari successivi all'11 settembre, quando Hitchens attaccò i terroristi islamici. Nemico giurato di ogni fondamentalismo religioso, Hitchens ha attraversato gli ultimi quarant'anni di storia delle idee a passo di carica, disseminando il suo percorso di critiche feroci a tutti gli ismi sopravvissuti all'èra delle ideologie, ma anche di saggi illuminanti sul rapporto tra potere e religione, e sull'importanza fondamentale della critica e del dissenso. In questo monumentale memoir, che si affianca alle piú celebri e classiche autobiografie anglosassoni, Hitchens si scopre non solo saggista, ma anche narratore di razza. Tra aneddoti e ritratti al vetriolo di celebri personalità del mondo politico e culturale, da Henry Kissinger a Madre Teresa, da Martin Amis a Noam Chomsky, l'autore riversa in questo libro una quantità di materiali, idee, storie personali e collettive che si incontra, forse, soltanto nei grandi romanzieri dell'Ottocento. *** «La miracolosa fluidità della sua prosa non lo abbandonava mai, il suo impegno era appassionato. È rimasto sempre fedele al suo mestiere. Uno scrittore consumato, un amico brillante. Come nella celebre frase di Walter Pater, arso "in quella dura fiamma, simile a una gemma". Fino alla fine». Ian McEwan *** «Addio, amico carissimo. Una grande voce si spegne. Un grande cuore si ferma». Salman Rushdie

Life of P. T. Barnum, Written By Himself; Including His Golden Rules For Money-Making [Expanded 1888 edition]

Biographies & Memoirs

Step into the extraordinary life of one of America's most iconic showmen with P.T. Barnum's captivating autobiography, "Life of P.T. Barnum, Written By Himself; Including His Golden Rules For Money-Making." This remarkable memoir provides an intimate look at the life and career of Phineas Taylor Barnum, the mastermind behind "The Greatest Show on Earth," and offers invaluable insights into his philosophy on success and wealth.In his own words, P.T. Barnum recounts his journey from humble beginnings to becoming a legendary entrepreneur and master of entertainment. With wit, charm, and candor, Barnum shares the highs and lows of his career, from his early ventures and failures to his monumental successes in the world of circuses, museums, and public spectacles. His narrative is filled with colorful anecdotes, daring exploits, and behind-the-scenes stories that bring to life the vibrant world of 19th-century entertainment.Beyond the enthralling tales of his adventures, Barnum's autobiography includes his "Golden Rules For Money-Making," a set of practical and timeless principles for achieving financial success. These rules reflect Barnum's shrewd business acumen and his belief in the value of hard work, creativity, and ethical conduct. Readers will find inspiration and guidance in Barnum's advice on risk-taking, innovation, and maintaining a positive reputation."Life of P.T. Barnum" is not just a biography; it is a treasure trove of wisdom and a testament to the power of perseverance and ingenuity. Barnum's story is a celebration of the American spirit, highlighting the possibilities that arise from ambition, resilience, and a relentless pursuit of one's dreams.This book is an essential read for entrepreneurs, history enthusiasts, and anyone fascinated by the life of a man who transformed the entertainment industry. "Life of P.T. Barnum, Written By Himself" offers a unique blend of autobiography, business manual, and motivational guide, ensuring its place as a timeless classic in the literature of success.Join P.T. Barnum on a journey through his incredible life, and discover the principles that helped him build an empire. This engaging and insightful autobiography will inspire you to think big, embrace opportunities, and create your own path to success.

The Fourteen Lives of Matt Perry

Biographies & Memoirs

This book is a family saga about emigration and its aftermath. Matthew Valentin Perry is the child of immigrants--a man from humble origins following the American dream. His life is the product of resolve in a changing world and ambition in a land of opportunity. His successes and failures are unique but familiar, and his memoir is a written testament to the American spirit.

No Turning Back

Biographies & Memoirs

An exceptional memoir about one man's truly inspirational outlook on living, no matter the odds. Before you dig into this book, there are a few things I think you should know. First, I was a soldier, and I still talk like one-in other words, I swear. So, if bad words bother you, just squint and pretend you don't see them. I want you to know this book is not about the war in Iraq, and I'm not pushing a political agenda. Even though I'm going to tell you about the day I was wounded and what I went through during rehab, this book's not just some war memoir or a pity party. I just want to share some of my stories with you. This book is not about being wounded. It's not about struggling. This book is about living. It's about life.In this inspiring memoir, Bryan shares his infectious love for life that touches anyone who's faced hardship. No Turning Back is a testament to pure hard work, perseverance, and hope for a better life- no matter what shape it takes.

Friends, amanti e la Cosa Terribile

Biographies & Memoirs

L’amatissima star di Friends ci porta nel dietro le quinte della sitcom e ci racconta la sua odissea con la dipendenza in questo memoir brutalmente sincero, comico e illuminante: una mano tesa a chiunque stia lottando per la sobrietà. “Salve, il mio nome è Matthew, anche se potreste conoscermi con un altro nome. I miei amici mi chiamano Matty. E dovrei essere morto.” Inizia così l’avvincente storia dell’acclamato attore Matthew Perry, che ci accompagna in un viaggio che va dalla sua infanzia, segnata dal desiderio di emergere, al raggiungimento della fama e poi alla dipendenza e al recupero, dopo essere stato in fin di vita. Prima delle frequenti visite in ospedale e dei periodi di disintossicazione, c’è stato un Matthew di cinque anni, che viaggiava da Montreal a Los Angeles dividendosi tra i genitori separati; un Matthew di quattordici anni, stella del tennis canadese; un altro Matthew ancora, che a ventiquattro anni ha ottenuto l’ambitissimo ruolo da co-protagonista nel cast della serie più attesa del momento, allora chiamata Friends like us (divenuta poi famosa in tutto il mondo col titolo di Friends)... e molti altri ancora. Nelle pieghe di una storia straordinaria che solo lui poteva scrivere – e con la voce appassionata, esilarante e calorosamente familiare che lo caratterizza –, Matthew Perry racconta senza reticenze la famiglia che lo ha cresciuto (e che lo ha anche lasciato a se stesso), il desiderio di riconoscimento che lo ha spinto verso la fama e il vuoto interiore, che non poteva essere colmato nemmeno dalla realizzazione dei suoi sogni più grandi. Ma racconta anche la pace che ha trovato nella sobrietà, e come ha vissuto l’immenso successo di Friends, condividendo aneddoti sui suoi compagni di cast e sulle altre star che ha incontrato lungo il cammino. Schietto, consapevole e venato dall’umorismo che abbiamo imparato a conoscere, Perry descrive in modo vivido la sua battaglia contro la dipendenza da alcol e droghe e il motivo per cui, nonostante avesse apparantemente tutto,, nulla riusciva a renderlo felice. Friends, amanti e la Cosa Terribile è un memoir indimenticabile, intimo e illuminante, che offre una mano tesa a chiunque stia lottando per la sobrietà. Brutalmente sincero, divertente e a tratti tragico: questo è il libro che i fan di tutto il mondo stavano aspettando.

Sonny Boy

Biographies & Memoirs

“The book is a beautiful trip.” (New York Times Magazine) • “Soulful . . . Feels like hanging out within a history of American movies over the last 50 years.” (Los Angeles Times) • “Startlingly cinematic ... A fine memoir.” (The Guardian)From one of the most iconic actors in the history of film, an astonishingly revelatory account of a creative life in full To the wider world, Al Pacino exploded onto the scene like a supernova. He landed his first leading role, in The Panic in Needle Park, in 1971, and by 1975, he had starred in four movies—The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, Serpico, and Dog Day Afternoon—that were not just successes but landmarks in the history of film. Those performances became legendary and changed his life forever. Not since Marlon Brando and James Dean in the late 1950s had an actor landed in the culture with such force. But Pacino was in his midthirties by then, and had already lived several lives. A fixture of avant-garde theater in New York, he had led a bohemian existence, working odd jobs to support his craft. He was raised by a fiercely loving but mentally unwell mother and her parents after his father left them when he was young, but in a real sense he was raised by the streets of the South Bronx, and by the troop of buccaneering young friends he ran with, whose spirits never left him. After a teacher recognized his acting promise and pushed him toward New York’s fabled High School of Performing Arts, the die was cast. In good times and bad, in poverty and in wealth and in poverty again, through pain and joy, acting was his lifeline, its community his tribe. Sonny Boy is the memoir of a man who has nothing left to fear and nothing left to hide. All the great roles, the essential collaborations, and the important relationships are given their full due, as is the vexed marriage between creativity and commerce at the highest levels. The book’s golden thread, however, is the spirit of love and purpose. Love can fail you, and you can be defeated in your ambitions—the same lights that shine bright can also dim. But Al Pacino was lucky enough to fall deeply in love with a craft before he had the foggiest idea of any of its earthly rewards, and he never fell out of love. That has made all the difference.

Maverick

Biographies & Memoirs

From Africa’s first black movie star to a stylish commie revolutionary, showgirls and soccer stars, writers and poets, activists, artists, a pop princess, a prophetess and a cold-blooded killer, Maverick explores the riveting, true tales of women who broke with convention. Updated, expanded, and now with photographs, this edition of Lauren Beukes’s first book casts light onto the fascinating lives of some of South Africa’s most famous – and notorious – women.

The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche

Biographies & Memoirs

The first book on Nietzsche ever to appear in English, this examination by legendary journalist H. L. Mencken is still one of the most enlightening. Mencken wrote this book while still in his 20s, but his penchant for thoroughness was evident even at that young age—in preparation for writing this book, he read Nietzsche's works in their entirety, mostly in the original German. A brief biographical sketch is followed by clear and thorough explanations of Nietzsche's basic concepts and attitudes. Analyzed are Nietzsche's much-misunderstood concept of the superman, his concept of eternal recurrence, his rejection of Christianity, and his basic rationalism and materialism. Included are two essays on Nietzsche that appeared in Mencken's magazine The Smart Set subsequent to the publishing of the original edition of this book. Nearly a century after its original publication, this remains one of the clearest, most concise, and entertaining introductions to Nietzsche to date.

Thoughts from Rabindranath Tagore

Biographies & Memoirs

“Thoughts from Rabindranath Tagore” written by Rabindranath Tagore. The book has an illustration on Rabindranath Tagore, The poet in Europe, In his study at Santiniketan.

Shakespeare

Biographies & Memoirs

Bill Bryson, célebre en todo el mundo por su Una breve historia de casi todo, aborda ahora un enigma mayúsculo: la personalidad de William Shakespeare. De Hamlet, Otelo, el rey Lear y Macbeth conocemos mucho, pero del ser humano que los concibió apenas sabemos nada. Armado de un sano sentido común y de su admirado don comunicativo, Bryson examina datos, suposiciones y mitos para trazar una semblanza lo más precisa posible del dramaturgo y poeta de Stratford upon Avon. El resultado es una fascinante indagación en la vida (hasta donde alcanza la certidumbre) y el tiempo de Shakespeare. Bryson evoca la Inglaterra isabelina, con el azote de la peste, su expansionismo imperialista, la emergente capital londinense y los usos y costumbres del mundo teatral. Y en este marco histórico, que depara sorpresas notables y proporciona un marco muy enriquecedor para el lector actual de Shakespeare, surge la figura del poeta. Bryson no omite ninguno de los aspectos más controvertidos acerca de él.

It's In the Memories

Biographies & Memoirs

ITS IN THE MEMORIES In the fall of 2002 our life took a strange twist. We had no way of knowing what was coming or how devastating it would be. In September 2002 we had the world on a string and all seemed to be moving fantastically well. Then along comes mid September and it all starts its spin out of control. I have tried very hard to put our entire journey with its exhilarating ups and its savage downs into perspective. I thought of all the things I had retained through the years that should help guide you through the storm: Tomorrows another day Things can only get better God never gives you more than you can bear There is always the calm after the storm The future will be brighter Everything is for a reason But none of those clichs would help us distance our heartbreak or calm our fraying nerves. Trouble came in the form of troubles at the office. I was put on warning for something I did not do. This was startling to me because in all my years I was never ever put on warning. But that would be nothing compared to what would happen next. In November there would be an accident that would take one of our family members lives and leave in its wake a family that could not put the pieces back together of our broken dreams. Shortly after our familys loss I would be stunned at the death of a close friend and coworker. His senseless death along with Matthews only etched the pain Santa and I were feeling even deeper. Our family had gotten exceptionally close after my mother died in 1998 by spending our good times together. Easters, Thanksgivings, Christmas and New Years were celebrated at my cousin Ward and Cindys home. With their son Matthew getting killed we would now be left shredded, emotionally bankrupt and in search of shelter. The thought that there was more to come never entered our beleaguered minds. The New Year came in quietly skulking its way into our realization. But 2003 was less than two weeks old when Death would pay us another visit. Our son who had just turned 30 in December was killed on January 12th 2003 when his truck left the road and hit a tree on his way home. It would take every ounce of our faith to pull through such a cataclysmic loss. Without the thoughts, gestures, and strong shoulders of our friends and family we never would have made it. In the following months we would deal with many unexpected feelings and occurrences. I have tried to relate these last 2 years in a way that makes sense but also will be hopefully a help to others. Here we are two years later, without Matthew, without Damien, without Michael; and as of April without a job. Our families still lie torn and in torment. Santa and I are still standing and not only that; we are standing strong. Santa and I are closer now than ever. Events have changed our attitudes, our way of thinking, our way of trusting and as a result our way of living. My faith in God has been made stronger. My faith in angels and the hereafter has deepened. My focus is directed to Michael Delaney Jr., Keirsten Farley and Billie Marie Krauss; our three grandchildren. What is past is past but what we make of the future is totally up to us. I want these children to find comfort, stability and pride in the way Santa and I have carried on. I have no doubt that Michael is with Santa and I each and every day. We take comfort in his presence and know he would be satisfied at the way we have chosen to carry on and how we have chosen to remember him.

Memoirs of Casanova — Volume 11: Paris and Holland

Biographies & Memoirs

The Venetian adventurer spends some time in Paris, where he sees the punishment of a would-be regicide, and then visits the Hague, where his interlocutors include a Jewish banker named Boaz.

Legends of Music: Tupac Shakur

Biographies & Memoirs

*Includes a Suggested Playlist of some of Pac's lesser known songs. *Discusses both the New York shooting and Las Vegas shooting in detail, explaining who was likely responsible for the shooting. *Discusses the beefs during Pac's life and the various conspiracy theories surrounding his death. *Includes a Table of Contents At the renowned Coachella music festival in 2012, crowds looked on with awe and stunned silence as the world’s most famous rapper took the stage to deliver a fiery performance of two of his well known hits alongside friend and former collaborator Snoop Dogg. The legendary Tupac Shakur had just overshadowed every other performer at the festival, despite the fact he’d been dead for over 15 years. The “2Pac Hologram” was only the latest buzzworthy headline that Tupac has generated long after he was infamously gunned down just off the strip in Las Vegas back in September 1996. Since his death, Shakur’s estate has released far more music posthumously than Pac released in his all-too-brief career, amazing fans and music critics alike. In addition to the music that still keeps finding the light of day, the hologram performance was another fitting example that music fans continue to refuse to let him go, with some even going so far as to speculate that he faked his death. Why does Pac continue to hold such a high place in pop culture among anyone who grew up in the last 40 years? The answers can be found in his turbulent life, unsolved murder, and the fact that most of the topics of his music continue to be relevant today. Born to a single mother who later developed an addiction to crack, Pac’s childhood was marred by constant moving, living in squalor, and eventually being homeless as a teenager in “The Jungle”, Marin City. Always a fan of performing, Pac channeled his rage, energy, and charisma into a rap career, fueled by his inability to forget how he grew up and the social ills he witnessed. Rising from roadie for Digital Underground to his own spectacular single career, Pac rode his controversy and classic music to the national forefront, becoming front page news for both his arrests and hit records. Becoming the first man to have a #1 album while in jail, Pac was eventually bailed out by Suge Knight, CEO of Death Row Records, and from 1995-1996 became rap music’s biggest name. He would release the first original double CD in rap history with All Eyez on Me in February 1996 and the classic Makaveli album, recorded and produced in just a week, in November 1996. Both went #1, but Pac wasn’t around to see Makaveli’s success, having been infamously gunned down after a Mike Tyson fight on September 7, 1996 in Las Vegas. His murder remains unsolved. Having become a rap icon cut down in the prime of his life and career, with the music to match the story of his life, Pac’s name and legacy are sure to endure. Legends of Music: The Life and Legacy of Tupac Shakur details the life, career, and legacy of the world’s most famous rapper, detailing how his upbringing shaped his philosophy and music, the theories surrounding his death, the conspiracy theories that he faked his death, and descriptions of Pac in the studio. Learn about Tupac Shakur like you never have before, in no time at all.

The Writings of Thomas Paine, Complete

Biographies & Memoirs

The pamphlet appeared, after the Revolution had started. It was passed around, and often read aloud in taverns, contributing significantly to spreading the idea of republicanism, bolstering enthusiasm for separation from Britain, and encouraging recruitment for the Continental Army. Paine provided a new and convincing argument for independence by advocating a complete break with history. Common Sense is oriented to the future in a way that compels the reader to make an immediate choice. It offers a solution for Americans disgusted and alarmed at the threat of tyranny.

Nonbinary

Biographies & Memoirs

A revealing and beautifully open memoir from pioneering industrial music artist, visual artist, and transgender icon Genesis P-Orridge—now in paperback In this groundbreaking book spanning decades of artistic risk-taking, the inventor of “industrial music,” founder of Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV, and world-renowned fine artist with COUM Transmissions, Genesis P-Orridge (1950–2020) takes us on a journey searching for identity and their true self. It is the story of a life of creation and destruction, where Genesis P-Orridge reveals their unwillingness to be stuck—stuck in one place, in one genre, or in one gender. Nonbinary is Genesis’s final work and is shared with hopes of being an inspiration to the newest generation of trailblazers and nonconformists.Nonbinary is the intimate story of Genesis’s life, weaving the narrative of their history in COUM Transmissions, Throbbing Gristle, and Psychic TV. It also covers growing up in World War II’s fallout in Britain, contributing to the explosion of new music and radical art in the 1960s, and destroying visual and artistic norms throughout their entire life. In addition to being a captivating memoir of a singular artist and musician, Nonbinary is also an inside look at one of our most remarkable cultural lives that will be an inspiration to fans of industrial music, performance art, the occult, and a life in the arts.

Le jeu de l’oie

Biographies & Memoirs

«Lentement mais assurément, alors que je voulais écrire sur les autres, je n’ai pu faire autrement que de me retrouver sur le chemin du retour sur soi. Tous les chemins y mènent quand on a eu ou qu’on a un cancer. J’ai cette chance immense d’avoir reçu en cadeau à ma naissance la capacité de rêver ma propre vie, de la récupérer, de la transformer à ma guise, de lui donner la démesure de l’intensité, la justification de la contemplation de mon nombril, pour enfin l’écrire et la rendre. Bref, je suis une artiste. Mais elle, la femme à côté de moi, celle qui ne dit mot ne prend pas la plume, elle souffre, elle aussi.» Extrait du Jeu de l’oie.

A World of My Own

Biographies & Memoirs

The British author shares the “strange . . . inner layers of his playful, guilty imagination” in this glimpse into a brilliant novelist’s subconscious (The New York Times). Culled from nearly eight hundred pages of the author’s “dream diaries” kept between 1965 and 1989, this singular journal reveals “the feverish inner life of an intensely private man, providing an uncanny mirror-image of [his] novelistic obsessions, insecurities, and moral preoccupations” (Publishers Weekly). In what Greene calls My Own World—as opposed to the Common World of shared reality—he accompanies Henry James on a disagreeable riverboat trip to Bogota, is caught in a guerilla crossfire with Evelyn Waugh and W. H. Auden, strolls in the Vatican garden with Pope John Paul II who’s doling out Perugina chocolates like hosts, offers refuge to a suicidal Charlie Chaplin, and stages a disastrous play in blank verse for Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. He also shares his headspace with Goebbels, Castro, Cocteau, Queen Elizabeth, D. H. Lawrence, and talking kittens. And the landscape is just as wide: from Nazi Germany to Haiti to West Africa to Bethlehem 1 AD and to Sweden where he seeks treatment for leprosy. Greene is a criminal, spy, lover, assassin, witness, and writer. Encompassing life, death, war, feuds, and career, and alternately absurdist, frightening, funny, and revealing, these fertile imaginings—many of which found their way into Greene’s fiction—comprise nothing less than “an alternate autobiography . . . a uniquely candid self-portrait” of one of the giants of English literature (Kirkus Reviews).

El deseo

Biographies & Memoirs

Un vivo fuego llameaba en el dormitorio del anciano médico. Estaba él todavía en el lecho, y embargado por el sentimiento de bienestar del hombre que ve terminada la labor de su existencia. Cuando se ha estado, durante medio siglo, sentado doce horas por día en un cabriolé de médico de campo, sacudido y zangoloteado por los guijarros y los mogotes de tierra, bien se le pueden pegar a uno las sábanas alguna vez, sobre todo cuando ha dejado su tarea a salvo en manos de otro más joven. Alargó y estiró sus miembros cascados y volvió a hundir en las almohadas su rostro gastado y amarillento, salpicado de ásperos vellos blancos, cual un viejo granito por el musgo de Islandia.

The Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant

Biographies & Memoirs

The Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant are two volumes of autobiography by Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th President of the United States. The work focuses on his military career during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War. The volumes were written during the last year of Grant's life, amid increasing pain from terminal throat cancer and against the backdrop of his personal bankruptcy at the hands of an early Ponzi scheme. The set was published by Mark Twain shortly after Grant's death in July 1885.Ulysses S. Grant (April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Army to victory in the American Civil War in 1865 and thereafter briefly served as Secretary of War. Later, as president, Grant was an effective civil rights executive who signed the bill that created the Justice Department and worked with Radical Republicans to protect African Americans during Reconstruction.

Darkwater

Biographies & Memoirs

W.E.B. Du Bois, one of the most celebrated intellectuals of the twentieth century, published Darkwater -- a powerful collection of essays, verse and fiction -- in 1920, two decades after his most famous book, The Souls of Black Folk. Throughout his long life and extraordinary career as a scholar, activist, writer and educator, Du Bois's body of work illumined America's understanding of the "problem of the color line." While much of his early texts were sociological investigations of the Black community, the author increasingly incorporated autobiographical, poetic and spiritual elements into his works. The results are some of the most electrifying commentaries ever written on race and class in America.After decades of obscurity, this literary jewel is presented with a new introduction written by David Levering Lewis, author of W.E.B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race, 1868-1919 and W.E.B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century, 1919-1963; Lewis is the foremost scholar of the work of Du Bois."If The Souls of Black Folk achieved its singular impact through W.E.B. Du Bois's masterly interweaving of the personal and the universal in such a way that each appropriated something of the illustrative and symbolic value of the other, much of Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil was a cri de coeur in which the author's anger at the absurdities of racial prejudice crackled through the text like electric jolts that scorched, illumined, or stunned." -- David Levering Lewis, from the Introduction

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