Biographies & Memoirs - Books

Dreams from My Father

Biographies & Memoirs

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • ONE OF ESSENCE’S 50 MOST IMPACTFUL BLACK BOOKS OF THE PAST 50 YEARSIn this iconic memoir of his early days, Barack Obama “guides us straight to the intersection of the most serious questions of identity, class, and race” (The Washington Post Book World). “Quite extraordinary.”—Toni Morrison In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American. It begins in New York, where Barack Obama learns that his father—a figure he knows more as a myth than as a man—has been killed in a car accident. This sudden death inspires an emotional odyssey—first to a small town in Kansas, from which he retraces the migration of his mother’s family to Hawaii, and then to Kenya, where he meets the African side of his family, confronts the bitter truth of his father’s life, and at last reconciles his divided inheritance. Praise for Dreams from My Father “Beautifully crafted . . . moving and candid . . . This book belongs on the shelf beside works like James McBride’s The Color of Water and Gregory Howard Williams’s Life on the Color Line as a tale of living astride America’s racial categories.”—Scott Turow “Provocative . . . Persuasively describes the phenomenon of belonging to two different worlds, and thus belonging to neither.”—The New York Times Book Review “Obama’s writing is incisive yet forgiving. This is a book worth savoring.”—Alex Kotlowitz, author of There Are No Children Here “One of the most powerful books of self-discovery I’ve ever read, all the more so for its illuminating insights into the problems not only of race, class, and color, but of culture and ethnicity. It is also beautifully written, skillfully layered, and paced like a good novel.”—Charlayne Hunter-Gault, author of In My Place “Dreams from My Father is an exquisite, sensitive study of this wonderful young author’s journey into adulthood, his search for community and his place in it, his quest for an understanding of his roots, and his discovery of the poetry of human life. Perceptive and wise, this book will tell you something about yourself whether you are black or white.”—Marian Wright Edelman

Le Système périodique

Biographies & Memoirs

Réchappé de la barbarie nazie, hanté par l'incommunicabilité de l'expérience des camps, Primo Levi a marqué la littérature d'une empreinte très particulière. Si c'est un homme, paru en 1947, puis La Trêve en 1963, qui comptent parmi ses oeuvres majeures, témoignent avec une effrayante sobriété de cette indicible épreuve. Le système périodique se singularise du reste de l'oeuvre. Il s'agit ici, à première vue, de l'autobiographie d'un chimiste. Chaque chapitre est placé sous le signe d'un élément - azote, carbone, plomb, nickel... - comme autant de rencontres avec la matière, mère ou ennemie. Mais ces brèves histoires d'un métier, qui fut celui de Primo Levi, et "qui n'est somme toute qu'un cas particulier du métier de vivre", sont aussi les souvenirs d'une génération et les étapes d'une jeunesse : les années d'études turinoises, la guerre, la résistance au fascisme, la déportation, le difficile retour à la vie. Le système périodique fait apparaître ce qui caractérise la démarche de Primo Levi et lui donne toute sa force : derrière une écriture sobre et un jugement moral serein, l'impérieux et obsédant besoin de porter témoignage en faveur de la raison et de la dignité humaines. "La synthèse quasiment unique de détachement analytique, de compassion humaine et de référence permanente à une hiérarchie absolue de valeurs morales fait de l'oeuvre de Primo Levi un exemple de rigoureuse lucidité."

Pistols for Two

Biographies & Memoirs

This mock "biography" (written by the subjects themselves) profiles George Jean Nathan and H.L. Mencken, co-editors of the influential magazine The Smart Set.

Confessions

Biographies & Memoirs

“You are my Lord, because You have no need of my goodness.” Designed to show the details of the soul’s progress, from enjoyment of the beauties outside itself to a study of its own nature and finally to joy in the knowledge of God, Confessions was the first work in literature to be concerned entirely with an introspective analysis of the author’s own spiritual and emotional experiences. Its original title was Confessions in Thirteen Books and it was composed to be read out loud with each book being a complete unit. The work outlines Augustine's sinful youth and his conversion to Christianity. It is widely seen as the first Western autobiography ever written, and was an influential model for Christian writers throughout the following 1,000 years of the Middle Ages. Confessions is presented here with a stunning image gallery showcasing art inspired by Augustine’s work over the centuries with examples from Benozzo Gozzoli, Ary Scheffer, Fra Angelico, Jaume Huguet, Carlo Crivelli, Philippe de Champaigne, Peter Paul Rubens, Vittore Carpaccio and Antonio Rodriguez.

More Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 1

Biographies & Memoirs

More Letters of Charles Darwin, a sequel to The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin of 1887.contains almost entirely new matter although some extracts and a few whole letters are also found in Life and letters. It also contains a brief autobiographical piece.

Trading Paces

Biographies & Memoirs

Does this ring any bells? Mortgaged to the hilt, rising at 5.30 to commute across three counties to jobs in Dublin, fed-up, bleary-eyed and only in your thirties?Michael Kelly and his wife were classic Celtic Cubs. Then they simplified, down-sized, opted out. Now they live happily in a leaky cottage in Dunmore East, their ties with the capital severed and their careers as corporate drones abandoned.They grow vegetables and rear an ever-expanding coterie of animals: laying hens, a cock named Roger and pigs called Charlotte and Wilbur. And they don't hate Mondays anymore!This is an extremely humorous, thought provoking account of one couple's discovery that there is an alternative to the consumer driven lifestyle.As Michael Kelly describes the hilarious hazards of rural life as well as the advantages, he demonstrates how one brave decision can transform your life.A funny and inspiring account of the ups and downs of letting go of the Tiger.You can see Michael talking about the changes he has made to his life here (courtesy TV3):You can also read about Michael's continuing adventures with rural life on his website www.michaelkelly.ie.

Oprah Winfrey: A Complete Biography

Biographies & Memoirs

"Oprah Winfrey is an American media executive, actress, talk show host, television producer, and philanthropist. She was born on January 29, 1954, in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Oprah is best known for her long-running and highly successful talk show 'The Oprah Winfrey Show', which aired from 1986 to 2011. Throughout her career, Oprah has been a powerful force in the entertainment industry and a trailblazer for women and African Americans. She has won numerous awards for her contributions to television and media, including a Primetime Emmy Award and 18 Daytime Emmy Awards. In addition to her work television, Oprah is a successful actress having appeared in several films and television shows. She is also a philanthropist and has donated millions of dollars to various charitable causes through her Oprah Winfrey Foundation. In this captivating biography, readers will discover how Oprah's fierce determination, unyielding work ethic, and unwavering faith propelled her from poverty and trauma to global success. Oprah's life is a testament to the power of resilience, self-belief and the pursuit of excellence, and this book will leave readers feeling motivated,"

The Wisdom of Forgiveness

Biographies & Memoirs

The extraordinary documentation of the evolving friendship between the Dalai Lama and the man who followed him across Ireland and Eastern Europe, on a pilgrimage to India's holy sites, and through the Dalai Lama's near fatal illness. On this remarkable journey Victor Chan was awarded an insight into His Holiness-his life, his fears, his faith, his compassion, his day-to-day practice-that no one has reported before. We've heard the public voice of His Holiness--now we are invited to listen in on his personal explorations, and to take instruction on the Tibetan art of living.

L'imperatore del male

Biographies & Memoirs

L'imperatore del male è la storia dell'epica lotta contro il cancro. La cronaca degli sforzi per debellare una malattia antica – un tempo clandestina, quasi da non nominare – che oggi è un'entità multiforme, pervasa di una profonda valenza metaforica, medica, scientifica e politica. Questa «biografia» vuole comprenderne la personalità e demistificarne il comportamento per capire se sia possibile sradicarla per sempre dai nostri corpi e dalla nostra società.Premio Pulitzer nel 2011, L'imperatore del male è un libro rigoroso, animato dalla scrittura ammaliante e dalla tensione narrativa di un autore straordinario, ma anche dalla pietas di un grande medico. Nato come diario di un anno in ospedale, racconta di vittorie e sconfitte, di offensive seguite da altre offensive, di eroismo e superbia, di spirito di sopravvivenza e capacità di recupero; e, inevitabilmente, dei feriti, dei condannati, dei dimenticati, dei caduti.

Biography of Bhagat Singh

Biographies & Memoirs

This book contains the information of history of bhagat Singh. This book contains 10 pages. I divided this book in two parts. This book can be read by anyone.

Schlund

Biographies & Memoirs

SCHLUND: Über den täglichen medialen und mentalen Lärm und wie er uns in den Wahnsinn treibt. Was aus Punks wird, wenn sie alt werden. Vom Überleben in Supermärkten, U-Bahnen und Fußgängerzonen. Über Junkfraß und Suff, Nazi-Fetisch und den Sex der Gestörten. Die Unfähigkeit, das Richtige zu tun. Ein Mix aus Biografie, Beobachtungen, Ängsten, wüsten Spekulationen, Halbwahrheiten und Lügen. SCHLUND ist Schund!

Conversazioni e interviste 1963-1987

Biographies & Memoirs

La vita, i libri, il lavoro, il lager, l'ebraismo, Israele: Primo levi si racconta in una serie di interviste e conversazioni con giornalisti, critici, ricercatori, rilasciate dal 1963 - l'anno della Tregua - al 1987. Sono risposte che costituiscono un significativo commento dell'autore alla propria opera, che non è soltanto quella di un testimone dall'altissima coscienza morale e civile, ma anche quella di un grande scrittore. Levi non si sottrae alle domande: spiega, precisa, discute, prolungando nelle interviste l'arte del racconto e della memoria e affrontando le questioni politiche e morali del nostro secolo con dolorosa lucidità e forte tensione civile. Marco Belpoliti ha ordinato e annotato le conversazioni piú significative in cui l'uomo, il testimone, il chimico e lo scrittore si saldano mirabilmente componendo una preziosa autobiografia.

Zos-Kia

Biographies & Memoirs

Zos : Pensée consciente symbolisée par les cinq doigts de la main. Kia : Clé de la compréhension de Soi, symbolisée par l’œil. Austin Osman Spare, occultiste disciple d’Aleister Crowley et artiste visionnaire maudit, est considéré comme le père de la magie du Chaos. ZOS-KIA, le livre du plaisir est une anthologie exhaustive de ses écrits et grimoires. La technique mise en avant par Spare est la réalisation de sigils, symboles formés par des lettres stylisées condensant les désirs de leur auteur. Elle a depuis été reprise par maints artistes dans leur propagande visuelle, d’Alan Moore à Genesis P-Orridge. Somptueusement illustrés de dessins induits lors de sessions d’écriture automatique, les grimoires de Spare s’affranchissent des règles de la magie traditionnelle et explorent un nouveau monde centré sur la recherche du plaisir dissimulé sous les strates de l’intellect et de l’émotion. Un plaisir « atavique », primordial et accessible par l’exploration des tréfonds de son inconscient, un monde où le désir se cristallise en petits symboles élégants. « Nous devenons tels à nos désirs, que ceux-ci soient ceux d’un Dieu, d’un homme, d’une bête ou d’un avorton, nous y devenons semblables. » — Austin Osman Spare

Memoirs of Casanova — Volume 14: Switzerland

Biographies & Memoirs

In this installment of his memoirs, the notorious Venetian adventurer travels through Switzerland, where he strikes up a friendship with an abbot, and decides to try and meet Voltaire.

Murder Mack

Biographies & Memoirs

« Murder Mack » est le surnom donné au van d’un duo de tueurs en série, Lawrence Bittaker et Roy Norris, qui écument les routes de Californie pour kidnapper, violer et torturer des jeunes femmes. Ils vont même jusqu’à enregistrer les cris de douleur d’une de leurs cinq victimes.D’innombrables serial killers nomades circulent ainsi à travers le territoire américain pour y trouver leurs victimes, à l’image de Bruce Mendenhall, William Bonin, Keith Hunter Jesperson « The Happy Face Killer » ou encore William Cook. Pour tenter de les repérer, le F.B.I. crée en 2004 un programme spécifique « Highway Serial Killings ».Dans une moindre mesure, la France n’est pas épargnée par le phénomène avec le cas de Louis Poirson, un tailleur de pierres surnommé « Rambo », qui, après avoir purgé une condamnation pour des viols, parcourt la région parisienne pour y tuer quatre femmes.

The Prose Works of William Wordsworth

Biographies & Memoirs

That this should be done for the first time herein seems somewhat remarkable, especially in the knowledge of the permanent value which the illustrious Author attached to his Prose, and that he repeatedly expressed his wish and expectation that it would be thus brought together and published, e.g. in the 'Memoirs', speaking of his own prose writings, he said that but for COLERIDGE'S irregularity of purpose he should probably have left much more in that kind behind him.

An Appetite for Wonder

Biographies & Memoirs

New York Times bestselling author and renowned atheist and evolutionary biologist, Richard Dawkins delivers an intimate look into his own childhood and intellectual development, illuminating his path to becoming one of the foremost thinkers in modern science today “A memoir that is funny and modest, absorbing and playful. Dawkins has written a marvelous love letter to science . . . and for this, the book will touch scientists and science-loving persons . . . Enchanting.” —NPR Richard Dawkins’s first book, The Selfish Gene, was an immediate sensation and dramatically shifted the study of biology by offering a gene-centered view of evolution. Published in 1976, the book transformed the way we think about genes and evolution and has sold more than a million copies. In 2006, Dawkins transformed the world’s cultural and intellectual landscape again with The God Delusion, a scientific dismantling of religion. It was a New York Times bestseller and has sold more than two million copies worldwide. An Appetite for Wonder is Dawkins’s insightful memoir examining his own evolution as a man and as a thinker. From his beginnings in colonial Kenya to his intellectual awakening at Oxford, Dawkins shares his path to the creation of The Selfish Gene, and offers readers an in-depth look at the man and the mind that has changed the way we view science and evolution.

Legends of the Middle Ages: The Life and Legacy of Charlemagne

Biographies & Memoirs

“Right action is better than knowledge; but in order to do what is right, we must know what is right.” – Charlemagne A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history’s most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors’ Legends of the Middle Ages series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of the most important medieval men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. The most famous man of the Middle Ages was probably Charlemagne, and few would argue that he was also the most important man during those centuries. Upon the death of his father, Pepin the Short, in 768, Charlemagne became King of the Franks, and he proceeded to create one of the largest European empires since the collapse of Rome. Through his conquests across Western Europe and Italy, Charlemagne became the first Holy Roman Emperor after a famous imperial coronation by Pope Leo III. In becoming the first Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemagne essentially established the new order on the European continent, thereby directly influencing how European politics and royalty proceeded in the coming centuries. As if to demonstrate how large he loomed in life, Charlemagne was numbered Charles I in Germany, France, and the Holy Roman Empire. Charlemagne is also viewed as having brought about the Carolingian Renaissance, a revival of art, religion, and culture through the Catholic Church that predated the Italian Renaissance by centuries. The Carolingian Renaissance helped establish a uniform European culture, helping Charlemagne earn the title “Father of Europe”. Legends of the Middle Ages: The Life and Legacy of Charlemagne chronicles Charlemagne’s background, life, and influence, analyzing the legacy he left upon Europe. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events in his life, you will learn about Charlemagne like you never have before, in no time at all.

Diane de Poitiers

Biographies & Memoirs

Sur Diane enfant nous ne possédons qu’un renseignement précis : son père l’emmenait à la chasse quand elle avait six ans. Dès le premier âge, le futur modèle du Primatice suivit les traces de la déesse, sa patronne, et soumit son corps aux saines disciplines dont elle devait être si bien récompensée. Pendant son existence entière, Diane se lèvera avec le jour, prendra des bains d’eau froide, chevauchera fougueusement à travers bois. Les nobles animaux qui contribueront à immortaliser ses images, elle ne perdra jamais le goût de les forcer.

Carta a minha filha

Biographies & Memoirs

Carta a minha filha revela o caminho de Maya Angelou em busca da melhor maneira possível de viver e se tornar a personagem principal da própria história. Com seu estilo único, mesclando relato confessional e poesia, ela concebe uma espécie de manual, contando sua trajetória fascinante e também seus anseios para um futuro que está nas mãos das herdeiras de seu legado. Conhecida por estar no front do movimento pelos direitos civis, a autora e ativista não apenas nos dá seu testemunho de luta, mas nos presenteia com um tocante relato de exaltação à vida. Esta edição conta com prefácio da escritora Conceição Evaristo.

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