Biographies & Memoirs - Books

Cleopatra

Biographies & Memoirs

Quando nel 51 a.C., all'età di diciotto anni, Cleopatra ereditò insieme al fratello-marito Tolomeo XIII il trono dei faraoni, l'Egitto era un paese ricco e florido, e quindi candidato a diventare una delle vittime designate dell'inarrestabile furia conquistatrice di Roma. In un ventennio di regno, invece, la celebre regina egizia riuscì, grazie a una vivissima intelligenza e a una straordinaria abilità diplomatica, a estendere il suo dominio su quasi tutta la costa orientale del Mediterraneo e a trasformare l'impero tolemaico in un temibile avversario - o in un alleato decisivo - per le opposte fa zioni che, nell'Urbe, alimentavano sanguinose guerre civili. La storiografia, però, fatica a riconoscere a una donna le qualità dei migliori strateghi, e tende ad attribuire il suo successo all'uso spregiudicato delle armi dell'inganno, della menzogna e dell'intrigo. Ed è questo il destino toccato a Cleopatra: in mancanza di storici egizi, le notizie su di lei sono state tramandate in gran parte da autori latini, interessati a presentarla nella luce peggiore possibile, nel poco nobile intento di salvaguardare l'onore e la gloria dei loro uomini più illustri. Chi, se non una maga, una consumata seduttrice, un'ammaliatrice dai poteri soprannaturali, avrebbe potuto irretire prima il grande Giulio Cesare e poi il suo pupillo Marco Antonio, che per lei dimenticarono la patria e la famiglia? Per riscattare la fama di una delle regine più bistrattate dalla storia, la storica Stacy Schiff si propone di ricostruirne la vera identità, ristabilendo i pochi dati certi e, soprattutto, facendo giustizia degli stereotipi di una letteratura e di un'iconografia millenaria (e di valore assai dubbio) che ne hanno dissimulato le virtù per enfatizzarne la vocazione di amante insaziabile e di sovrana ambiziosa e senza scrupoli. Ne emerge il ritratto di una donna incredibilmente colta per la sua epoca, perspicace e carismatica, benché talvolta spietata, capace di destreggiarsi abilmente tanto sul campo di battaglia quanto al tavolo delle trattative. In questa originalissima e ricca biografia, frutto di un'appassionata ed erudita ricerca, l'autrice riesce a far rivivere, grazie a una scrittura brillante e venata d'ironia, un'intera epoca storica in tutte le sue contraddizioni - dal fascino cosmopolita di Alessandria alle terribili faide di Roma, dagli epici scontri navali alle meschine congiure di palazzo - su cui si staglia nitido e ineguagliabile il profilo dell'ultima regina d'Egitto, che, smentendo la diffusa diceria che la voleva incapace di amare, non esitò a uccidersi per condividere la sorte di Antonio, il padre dei suoi figli.

Prophet

Biographies & Memoirs

Born in the mountains of northern Lebanon, Kahlil Girbran (1883-1931) - mystic, society philosopher, author of one of the most enduring works of the 20th century, The Prophet - immigrated to the United States in 1895. A gifted artist, who specialized in painting for some years before he turned to writing, Gibran - although initially spurned by those whose approval he sought - was in time beloved by a number of prominent avant-gardists and hobnobbed with the rich and famous of Henry James's turn-of-the-century Boston. He then set his sights on the bohemian world of Greenwich Village in its early heyday before World War I.Gibran is known for the peace and optimism that permeates his work. Paradoxically, however, his life was littered with personal tragedies, conflicted sexuality, and deep heartache. Robin Waterfield skillfully traces Gibran's development from wounded Romantic and angry young man to his final metamorphosis as the Prophet of New York and shows what influences - psychological, social, and literary - led to these various phases. In fact, the road to the extraordinary success of The Prophet was not smooth or peaceful and tragically, Gibran himself did not live to see the phenomenal sales the book subsequently achieved. A complete reappraisal of all the remaining primary sources on Gibran's life and character, PROPHET is a brilliant work that reveals this Svengali-like guru of the New Age as a deeply unhappy, even tortured man.

Madame Roland

Biographies & Memoirs

Many characters of unusual grandeur were developed by the French Revolution. Among them all, there are few more illustrious, or more worthy of notice, than that of Madame Roland. The eventful story of her life contains much to inspire the mind with admiration and with enthusiasm, and to stimulate one to live worthily of those capabilities with which every human heart is endowed. No person can read the record of her lofty spirit and of her heroic acts without a higher appreciation of woman's power, and of the mighty influence one may wield, who combines the charms of a noble and highly-cultivated mind with the fascinations of female delicacy and loveliness. To understand the secret of the almost miraculous influence she exerted, it is necessary to trace her career, with some degree of minuteness, from the cradle to the hour of her sublime and heroic death.

Will

Biographies & Memoirs

Overraskende og ærlig fra en av verdens mest kjente skuespillere. Da Will Smith var 12 år gammel, fikk faren ham til å bygge en mur. Det føltes som en umulig oppgave, men hvis han tenkte for mye på det, ble han bare nedtrykt. Han lærte seg å fokusere på en murstein av gangen, og stablet dem så godt han kunne. En dag var veggen ferdig. Lærdommen har han tatt med seg inn i alle utfordringer han senere har møtt i sin karriere. I boka, som er skrevet i samarbeid med suksessforfatter Mark Manson, forteller han overraskende ærlig om sine opp- og nedturer i livet. Den handler om oppvekst, kjærlighet, farsrolle - og om jobben som en av verdens mest kjente filmstjerner.

De aici spre marele necunoscut - Editura Nemira

Biographies & Memoirs

Născută dintr-un zeu american și crescută în tumultul de la Graceland, Lisa Marie Presley își spune pentru prima oară întreaga poveste în acest volum de memorii percutant, fascinant și unic, completat cu devotament de fiica sa, Riley Keough. În 2022, Lisa Marie Presley a rugat-o pe Riley s-o ajute să-și ducă la bun sfârșit cartea de memorii, de mult așteptată. După doar o lună, Lisa Marie s-a stins din viață, iar lumea nu avea să-i afle povestea, spusă chiar de ea, n-avea s-o cunoască pe femeia pătimașă, veselă, grijulie și complicată pe care Riley o iubea și pe care acum o plângea. Riley a găsit înregistrările făcute de mama ei pentru carte, s-a așezat în pat și a ascultat-o pe Lisa povestind întâmplare după întâmplare, despre cum s-a tamponat în mașinuțe de golf cu prietenii ei pe terenurile de la Graceland, despre dragostea necondiționată a tatălui ei, despre cum stăteau sus, în casă, doar ei doi. Despre cum a fost smulsă din baie, țipând, când alerga spre trupul lui fără viață. Despre viața în Los Angeles cu mama ei, despre cum a schimbat școală după școală, mereu dată afară, mereu în bucluc. Despre relația ei de-o viață cu Danny Keough, despre căsătoria cu Michael Jackson și tot ce aveau în comun. Despre a fi mamă. Despre dependențe grave. Despre tristețea care nu s-a risipit niciodată. Riley a înțeles că trebuie să îndeplinească dorința mamei ei și să dezvăluie lumii aceste amintiri scânteietoare și dureroase. Pentru a o arăta pe mama ei așa cum a fost. În această carte extraordinară, se regăsesc atât vocea Lisei Marie, cât și cea a lui Riley, o mamă și o fiică comunicând – din această lume către cea de dincolo –, în timp ce încearcă să se vindece una pe alta. Profund emoționantă și revelatoare, De aici spre marele necunoscut este o carte unică – cuvintele de rămas-bun ale unicului copil al unei legende americane.

Go Find Out

Biographies & Memoirs

At that point in his life Dan didnt do church stuff but God was about to demonstrate that you dont have to be a preacher to experience how God encounters ordinary people in mighty ways. God gave an ordinary person a message that moves many to tears and all to action. An amazing journey from disbelief to experiencing supernatural workings in a mighty way. Walk side by side with a mysterious lady during the middle of the night in a downpour. Angels walk among us. Witness the miraculous healing of a young boy and the dramatic conversion of a non believer birthed as a result of this truly amazing event. An unconventional approach to salvation leads to an all consuming desire for salvation. Spared from death to share a fresh message of hope, inspiration, and answers to dealing with lifes many challenges...if only you would.... GO FIND OUT.

Intervista con il mito

Biographies & Memoirs

CHE GRANDE SCRITTRICE, L’ORIANA! Eroica sui fronti di guerra e impareggiabile quando si misura, diva tra i divi, con lo snobismo di Franca Valeri, l’inafferrabilità di Frank Capra, l’ironia di Monica Vitti, la sincerità di Isa Miranda, i paradossi di Cesare Zavattini, la perfezione di Paul Newman, l’intensità di Juliette Gréco, la metafisica di Totò, lo splendore di Virna Lisi, la malinconia di Peter Sellers, la risata di Jack Lemmon, la stravaganza di Rosalind Russell, il genio di Danny Kaye, l’energia di Shirley MacLaine, l’anticonformismo di Lea Massari, l’inesorabilità di Sue Lyon, i silenzi di Geraldine Chaplin, il naso di Barbra Streisand, la distanza di Omar Sharif, lo sguardo da 007 di Sean Connery, la fierezza di Lucia Bosé, il coraggio di Ingrid Bergman, il sorriso di Dean Martin, per citare solo alcuni dei tanti nomi che affollano questa galleria di celebrità. Nel suo percorso giornalistico Oriana li incontra tutti, anche più di una volta: nessuno come lei riesce a fargli ammettere vizi, capricci e debolezze. Intervista con il Mito presenta per la prima volta in volume una selezione delle indimenticabili interviste che la Fallaci realizza negli anni Sessanta, come inviata de “L’Europeo”, tra Cinecittà e Hollywood. In Appendice uno straordinario reportage sul viaggio di Pier Paolo Pasolini a New York, città da cui il grande regista e scrittore era profondamente affascinato, e il testo in memoria della sua cara amica Ingrid Bergman, che si spegne dopo una lotta estenuante con il cancro: parole e pensieri toccanti che testimoniano il legame profondo di Oriana con i suoi intervistati.“Non assomiglia a nessuno, è incatalogabile come nessuno, e tipi come lei capitano tutt’al più una volta in una generazione: riscattandoci dalla mediocrità, la banalità, la noia nella quale viviamo.” ORIANA FALLACI ( dall’intervista a Barbra Streisand )

You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train

Biographies & Memoirs

If you’re both overcome and angered by the atrocities of our time, this will inspire a “new generation of activists and ordinary people who search for hope in the darkness” (Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor).Is change possible? Where will it come from? Can we actually make a difference? How do we remain hopeful?Howard Zinn—activist, historian, and author of A People’s History of the United States—was a participant in and chronicler of some of the landmark struggles for racial and economic justice in US history. In his memoir, You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train, Zinn reflects on more than thirty years of fighting for social change, from his teenage years as a laborer in Brooklyn to teaching at Spelman College, where he emerged in the civil rights movement as a powerful voice for justice. A former bombardier in World War II, he later became an outspoken antiwar activist, spirited protestor, and champion of civil disobedience. Throughout his life, Zinn was unwavering in his belief that “small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.” With a foreword from activist and scholar Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, this revised edition will inspire a new generation of readers to believe that change is possible.

The Diary of a Young Girl

Biographies & Memoirs

THE DEFINITIVE EDITION • Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, the remarkable diary that has become a world classic—a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit.Updated for the 75th Anniversary of the Diary’s first publication with a new introduction by Nobel Prize–winner Nadia Murad“The single most compelling personal account of the Holocaust ... remains astonishing and excruciating.”—The New York Times Book ReviewIn 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the “Secret Annex” of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and amusing, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short.

Je suis Providence 1

Biographies & Memoirs

Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937) est un auteur qui fascine autant par son œuvre que par sa personnalité. Ayant influencé avec ses récits fantastiques et horrifiques (comme L'Appel de Cthulhu) de nombreux écrivains comme Stephen King, ses fictions et sa vie ont été soumises à de nombreuses interprétations pas toujours exactes, véridiques et précises. Spécialiste des littératures de l'imaginaire et de Lovecraft en particulier, S.T. Joshi travaille sur sa biographie depuis plus de 20 ans.Par son érudition et son ampleur, elle est aujourd'hui considérée comme la référence au niveau mondial.Pour la première fois en France, sous la direction de Christophe Thill et avec le concours d'une équipe de dix traducteurs, cette biographie est proposée aux lecteurs.

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Biographies & Memoirs

First published in 1861, "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl," Harriet Jacobs' autobiography, is the story of a woman who overcomes the odds to save her family is similar. Under the pseudonym Linda Brent, Jacobs details her life as a woman enslaved at the height of the abolitionist movement.As the narrative opens, Linda Brent recounts the "unusually fortunate circumstances" of her early childhood before she realized she was a slave. Linda's father is a carpenter who — because of his extraordinary skills — is granted many of the privileges of a free man. The chapter introduces Linda's mother, her brother William, and her Uncle Benjamin, who is sold at age ten. Linda also introduces her maternal grandmother (referred to as Aunt Martha by the white community), a strong-willed, resourceful woman who establishes a bakery to earn money to buy her children's freedom. She manages to earn $300, which she loans to her mistress, who never repays her.When Linda is six years old, her mother dies. When she is 12, her mistress dies, and Linda is sold to the five-year-old daughter of her mistress' sister..."Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" is the most widely-read female antebellum slave narrative.

A Literate Passion

Biographies & Memoirs

A “lyrical, impassioned” document of the intimate relationship between the two authors that was first disclosed in Henry and June (Booklist). This exchange of letters between the two controversial writers—Anaïs Nin, renowned for her candid and personal diaries, and Henry Miller, author of Tropic of Cancer—paints a portrait of more than two decades in their complex relationship as it moves through periods of passion, friendship, estrangement, and reconciliation. “The letters may disturb some with their intimacy, but they will impress others with their fragrant expression of devotion to art.” —Booklist “A portrait of Miller and Nin more rounded than any previously provided by critics, friends, and biographers.” —Chicago Tribune Edited and with an introduction by Gunther Stuhlmann

Thomas More

Biographies & Memoirs

'If the English people were to be set a test to justify their history and civilization by the example of one man, then it is Sir Thomas More whom they would perhaps choose.' So commented The Times in 1978 on the 500th anniversary of More's birth.Twenty-two years later, Pope John Paul II proclaimed Thomas More the patron saint of politicians and people in public life, on the basis of his 'constant fidelity to legitimate authority and ... his intention to serve not power but the supreme ideal of justice'.In this fresh assessment of More's life and legacy, John Guy considers the factors that have given rise to such claims concerning More's significance. Who was the real Thomas More? Was he the saintly, self-possessed hero of conscience of Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons or was he the fanatical, heretic-hunting torturer of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall? Which of these images of More has the greater historical veracity? And why does this man continue to fascinate, inspire and provoke us today?

The Martha Rules

Biographies & Memoirs

Martha Stewart is an undeniable force in the business world. One of the world's greatest entrepreneurs, she turned her personal passion into Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, a billion dollar business. Now, for the first time, Martha Stewart shares her business knowledge and advice in this handbook for success. Tapping into her years of experience in building a thriving business, Martha will help readers identify their own entrepreneurial voice and channel their skills and passions into a successful business venture. Her advice and insight is applicable to anyone who is about to start or expand a venture of any size, whether it is a business or philanthropic endeavor, but also to individuals who want to apply the entrepreneurial spirit to a job or corporation to increase innovation and maintain a competitive edge.Featuring Martha's top principles for success, as well as stories and anecdotes from her own experiences, The Martha Rules is sure to appeal to business readers, fans, and anyone who admires her for her style, taste, and great advice-and who have great business ideas of their own.

Encyclopaedic Biographies of Indian Laureates

Biographies & Memoirs

The Indian literary tradition is primarily one of verse and is also essentially oral. The earliest works were composed to be sung or recited and were so transmitted for many generations before being written down. As a result, the earliest records of a text may be later by several centuries than the conjectured date of its composition. Furthermore, perhaps because so much Indian literature is either religious or a reworking of familiar stories from the Sanskrit epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, and the mythological writings known as Puranas, the authors often remain anonymous. Biographical details of the lives of most of the earlier Indian writers exist only in much later stories and legends. The book covers all the great Indian laureates.

Nine Lives

Biographies & Memoirs

From the author of The Last Mughal (“A compulsively readable masterpiece” —The New York Review of Books), an exquisite, mesmerizing book that illuminates the remarkable ways in which traditional forms of religious life in India have been transformed in the vortex of the region’s rapid change—a book that distills the author’s twenty-five years of travel in India, taking us deep into ways of life that we might otherwise never have known exist.A Buddhist monk takes up arms to resist the Chinese invasion of Tibet—and spends the rest of his life atoning for the violence by hand printing the finest prayer flags in India . . . A Jain nun tests her powers of detachment as she watches her closest friend ritually starve herself to death . . . A woman leaves her middle-class life in Calcutta and finds unexpected fulfillment living as a Tantric in an isolated, skull-filled cremation ground . . . A prison warder from Kerala is worshipped as an incarnate deity for three months of every year . . . An idol carver, the twenty-third in a long line of sculptors, must reconcile himself to his son’s desire to study computer engineering . . . An illiterate goatherd from Rajasthan keeps alive in his memory an ancient four-thousand-stanza sacred epic . . . A temple prostitute, who initially resisted her own initiation into sex work, pushes both her daughters into a trade she nonetheless regards as a sacred calling.William Dalrymple chronicles these lives with expansive insight and a spellbinding evocation of circumstance. And while the stories reveal the vigorous resilience of individuals in the face of the relentless onslaught of modernity, they reveal as well the continuity of ancient traditions that endure to this day. A dazzling travelogue of both place and spirit.

Autumn

Biographies & Memoirs

The New York Times bestseller."This book is full of wonders...Loose teeth, chewing gum, it all becomes noble, almost holy, under Knausgaard’s patient, admiring gaze. The world feels repainted.” —The New York TimesFrom the author of the monumental My Struggle series, Karl Ove Knausgaard, one of the masters of contemporary literature and a genius of observation and introspection, comes the first in a new autobiographical quartet based on the four seasons.28 August. Now, as I write this, you know nothing about anything, about what awaits you, the kind of world you will be born into. And I know nothing about you...I want to show you our world as it is now: the door, the floor, the water tap and the sink, the garden chair close to the wall beneath the kitchen window, the sun, the water, the trees. You will come to see it in your own way, you will experience things for yourself and live a life of your own, so of course it is primarily for my own sake that I am doing this: showing you the world, little one, makes my life worth living.Autumn begins with a letter Karl Ove Knausgaard writes to his unborn daughter, showing her what to expect of the world. He writes one short piece per day, describing the material and natural world with the precision and mesmerising intensity that have become his trademark. He describes with acute sensitivity daily life with his wife and children in rural Sweden, drawing upon memories of his own childhood to give an inimitably tender perspective on the precious and unique bond between parent and child. The sun, wasps, jellyfish, eyes, lice--the stuff of everyday life is the fodder for his art. Nothing is too small or too vast to escape his attention. This beautifully illustrated book is a personal encyclopaedia on everything from chewing gum to the stars. Through close observation of the objects and phenomena around him, Knausgaard shows us how vast, unknowable and wondrous the world is.

Utæmmet liv

Biographies & Memoirs

Utæmmet liv er et bevis på, at virkeligheden til tider overgår fiktionen. Man bliver revet omkuld af denne roman. Walls er en forbandet dygtig historiefortæller, og hun har en forbandet sej familie – på godt og ondt. Og det er forbandet vigtigt med bøger, der skubber til vores grænser for, hvad der er normalt. Dette er den sande beretning om Lily, Jeannette Walls’ bedstemor. Lily er en imponerende kvinde. En af dem der tæmmer vilde heste som 6-årig og flytter hjemmefra – ridende 800 km på en ponny – som 15-årig. En kvinde der lærte at mestre et fly lige så godt som en bil, en kvinde der kunne spille poker som en professionel. Gift blev hun også og to børn fik hun, hvoraf det ene er Jeannette Walls’ mindeværdige mor, Rosemary Smith Walls, uforglemmeligt portrætteret i Glasslottet. Lily overlevede tornadoer, tørke, oversvømmelser, depressionen og en fortvivlende personlig tragedie. Hun kæmpede mod fordomme af alle slags – mod kvinder, indianere og alle der ikke lige passede ind i samfundets faste rammer. Jeannette Walls formidler sin bedstemors historie, så man sidder stakåndet og eftertænksom tilbage – måbende og beriget. Hun formår ganske enkelt at give læseren en oplevelse langt ud over det sædvanlige!

All the Fishes Come Home to Roost

Biographies & Memoirs

When she was seven, Rachel Manija Brown's parents, post-60s hippies, uprooted her from her native California and moved to an ashram in a cobra-ridden, drought-stricken spot in India. Cavorting through these pages are some wonderfully eccentric characters: the ashram head, Meher Baba, best known as the guru to Pete Townshend of The Who; the librarian, who grunts and howls nightly outside Rachel's window; a holy madman, who shuffles about collecting invisible objects; a middle-aged male virgin, who begs Rachel to critique his epic spiritual poems; and a delusional Russian who arrives at the ashram proclaiming he is Meher Baba reincarnated. Astutely observed and laugh-out-loud funny, All the Fishes Come Home to Roost is an astonishing debut memoir and the arrival of a major new literary talent. The hardcover edition was named a Book Sense Pick and was selected as a Book of the Week by BN.com's Book Club.

Die legendären Femmes fatales der Geschichte

Biographies & Memoirs

Die Sammlung 'Die legendären Femmes fatales der Geschichte' präsentiert eine faszinierende Erkundung berüchtigter Frauenfiguren durch eine breite Palette literarischer Stile und Epochen. Die Anthologie zieht den Leser mit bewegenden Erzählungen und präzisen historischen Analysen in ihren Bann, wobei sie von der Romantik über den Realismus bis zur literarischen Biografie reicht. Die Vielfalt der Genres und Ansätze, von den lebhaften Beschreibungen Alexandre Dumas' bis zu den tiefgründigen Analysen von Gertrude Aretz, verleiht der Sammlung ihre unvergleichliche Bedeutung und ermöglicht dem Leser einen vielschichtigen Zugang zu den Lebensgeschichten dieser faszinierenden Figuren. Die Anthologie vereint die Stimmen von acht renommierten Autoren, deren gemeinsame Anstrengung eine komplexe Perspektive auf das Phänomen der femme fatale bietet. Angereichert durch die kulturellen und historischen Kontexte, die Stefan Zweig und Emil Ludwig bieten, sowie die einzigartige literarische Brillanz, die François und literarische Figuren wie George Sand und Franz Hessel einbringen, wird der Leser auf eine Reise durch Zeit und Gesellschaft entführt. Diese Sammlung reflektiert und ergänzt die literarischen Bewegungen des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts, wobei sie das tiefere Verständnis einer wandelbaren und kulturell geprägten Weiblichkeit fördert. Dieses Buch ist eine unverzichtbare Lektüre für jeden, der in die vielfältigen Perspektiven und kulturellen Subtexte der femme fatale eintauchen möchte. Es bietet eine einzigartige Gelegenheit, die Einsichten verschiedener Meister und Gelehrter zu erkunden und den Dialog ihrer Werke auf eine neue, erfüllende Weise zu erleben. Die Sammlung lädt den Leser zu einer intellektuellen Entdeckungsreise ein, welche nicht nur das Verständnis für literarische Kunstfertigkeit vertieft, sondern auch für historische und kulturelle Komplexität sensibilisiert. Tauchen Sie ein in dieses literarische Kaleidoskop und bereichern Sie Ihr Wissen über eine der fesselndsten archtypischen Figuren der Geschichte.

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