In this warm and witty memoir, Haven Kimmel takes us back to a small-town America where people helped their neighbors, went to church on Sunday, and kept barnyard animals in their backyards. When Haven Kimmel was born in 1965, Mooreland, Indiana, was a sleepy little hamlet of 300 people. Nicknamed 'Zippy' for the way she would bolt around the house, this small girl was possessed of big eyes and even bigger ears. She lived in a world filled with a loving family, peculiar neighbors, and multitudes of animals, and she remembered everything: sick birds, a new bike, the mean old lady down the street, the loud old man at the drugstore. Laced with fine storytelling, sharp wit, dead-on observations, and moments of sheer joy, Kimmel's straight-shooting memoir gives us a heroine who is wonderfully sweet and sly.
Zainab Salbi was eleven years old when her father was chosen to serve as Saddam Hussein's personal pilot, her family often forced to spend weekends with Saddam where he watched their every move. As a palace insider, Zainab offers a singular glimpse of what it is like to come of age under a dictator and provides an intimate portrait of the man she was taught to call "uncle." She watched as Saddam pitted friends, spouses and even children against each other to compete for his approval. She was sent to donate her mother's jewelry to one of the world's richest men, asked to erase her memory as she heard of crimes she was not supposed to hear of, and witnessed her mother hiding her tears lest it upset Saddam. Her mother eventually sent Zainab to America for an arranged marriage, to spare her from Saddam's growing affections, but the marriage intended to save her turned out to be another world of tyranny and abuse.
Despite extraordinary psychological challenges, Zainab started over. She forged a new identity as founder and president of Women for Women International, a nonprofit organization for female victims of war, dedicated to providing women of war and civil unrest with the resources to become self-sufficient citizens and promote peace. Zainab has traveled and promoted her organization widely, speaking out on behalf of oppressed women around the world, but until now has never told this very personal tale.
In BETWEEN TWO WORLDS Zainab Salbi reveals the tyrant through the eyes of a child, a secretly rebellious teenager, an abused wife, and ultimately a professional woman coming to terms with the horror of secrets her mother revealed only on her deathbed. Through her ability to come to terms with the child she used to be and dangerous world in which she managed to survive, BETWEEN TWO WORLDS emerges as a story of heroism like no other.
On July 20, 1969, the world stood still to watch 38-year-old American astronaut Neil A. Armstrong become the first person ever to step on the surface of another heavenly body. Perhaps no words in human history became better known than those few he uttered at that historic moment.
Upon his return to earth, Armstrong was honored and celebrated for his monumental achievement. He was also -- as James R. Hansen reveals in this fascinating and important biography -- misunderstood. Armstrong's accomplishments as engineer, test pilot, and astronaut have long been a matter of record, but Hansen's unprecedented access to private documents and unpublished sources yield this first in-depth analysis of an elusive American celebrity still renowned the world over.
In a penetrating exploration of American hero worship, Hansen addresses the complex legacy of the "First Man," as an astronaut and as an individual. In "First Man," the personal, technological, epic, and iconic blend to form this portrait of a great but reluctant hero who will forever be known as history's most famous space traveler.
Popular historian Alison Weir has crafted best-selling biographies of such prominent icons as King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I. A master at uncovering fascinating and little-known details, Weir brings these historical figures to life with a brilliant blend of entertainment and scholarship. No English queen has drawn more ire than the vilified Queen Isabella. Weir at long last delivers the definitive biography of one of the most controversial members of English royalty.
Maverick author Hunter S. Thompson introduced the world to "gonzo journalism" with this cult classic that shot back up the best-seller lists after Thompson's suicide in 2005. No book ever written has more perfectly captured the spirit of the 1960s counterculture. In Las Vegas to cover a motorcycle race, Raoul Duke (Thompson) and his attorney Dr. Gonzo (inspired by a friend of Thompson) are quickly diverted to search for the American dream. Their quest is fueled by nearly every drug imaginable and quickly becomes a surreal experience that blurs the line between reality and fantasy. But there is more to this hilarious tale than reckless behavior-for underneath the hallucinogenic facade is a stinging criticism of American greed and consumerism.
The no-holds-barred memoir from the beloved music superstar.
From the heart of one of the most beloved performers in music comes a candid memoir of professional triumph, private heartbreak, and personal victory-a coming-of-age account of a very private search for harmony and a very public rise to fame.
Coming Home to Myself is the result of that emotional journey-a song of personal discovery that taught Wynonna Judd to love not just what she does, but who she is. From a truly exceptional woman comes an unexpected memoir of survival, strength, hope, and forgiveness, filled with an exultant and empowering message certain to resonate with those who have dreamed of finding themselves, and who only needed the courage and inspiration to begin their own journey.
Andrea Mitchell started her pathbreaking career as the quintessential girl reporter and quickly became one of the first women in broadcast news. She's been labeled a "pushy broad", yet her intelligence, tenacity, and ability to always be "where the action is" have catapulted her to the top of her profession. As one of America's most watched correspondents, Mitchell has regularly shared her observations with millions of television viewers for more than three decades.
Time and again, Mitchell has proven herself by taking on the tough assignments, starting with her first posting abroad in Guyana after the previous NBC correspondent had been murdered by Jim Jones' henchmen. She has had unique access to all the presidents and their staffs from Jimmy Carter to George W. Bush, and here gives us her unvarnished insights into these men and those who surround them. Whether it was revealing that Ronald Reagan's napping caused the delay of a space shuttle landing, conducting exclusive interviews with Fidel Castro, or accompanying Condoleezza Rice on her first trip abroad as secretary of state, she is known as the one to beat to the story.
But what sets this book apart is not only the unique front-row seat Mitchell has in the political world, but also the role she plays in the glamorous social scene in Washington. Her marriage to Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, has created professional challenges, but also given her special entree to the "A" list drawing rooms of Washington and other capitals. Here she gives us glimpses of what it's like to go from a 7 p.m. newscast to an 8 p.m. black-tie party, to go from being the reporter staking out a state dinner to being one of the invited guests.
Smart and candidly written, Mitchell's memoir will be a must read for anyone interested in politics and current affairs and will also fascinate anyone who wonders what it's like to be a powerful woman in a man's world.
VOL. 1: ASPIRING SPIRIT.
From Stratford to London.
(Birth, 1564 - c.1590)
Peter Ackroyd's insightful new biography positions Shakespeare in the close context of his world. In this way, Ackroyd not only richly conjures up the texture of Shakespeare's life, but also imparts an amazing amount of vivid, interesting material about place, period and background. Walk with Ackroyd through sixteenth century London and Stratford as he uncovers the intimate circumstances of Shakespeare's life. Discover the theatrical world in which Shakespeare had his being - not just Shakespeare the actor but the other actors, playwrights, and managers that surrounded him. And journey to Stratford to meet Shakespeare the family man, whose private life had such an impact on his work that the strongest bond in his plays is always between father and daughter.
VOL. 2: THE UPSTART CROW.
Ambitious Actor and Poet.
(c. 1590 - Midsummer Night's Dream)
Peter Ackroyd's insightful new biography positions Shakespeare in the close context of his world. In this way, Ackroyd not only richly conjures up the texture of Shakespeare's life, but also imparts an amazing amount of vivid, interesting material about place, period and background. Walk with Ackroyd through sixteenth century London and Stratford as he uncovers the intimate circumstances of Shakespeare's life. Discover the theatrical world in which Shakespeare had his being - not just Shakespeare the actor but the other actors, playwrights, and managers that surrounded him. And journey to Stratford to meet Shakespeare the family man, whose private life had such an impact on his work that the strongest bond in his plays is always between father and daughter.
VOL. 3: A MUSE OF FIRE.
Successful Playwright and Businessman.
(c. 1595 - Opening of The Globe)
Peter Ackroyd's insightful new biography positions Shakespeare in the close context of his world. In this way, Ackroyd not only richly conjures up the texture of Shakespeare's life, but also imparts an amazing amount of vivid, interesting material about place, period and background. Walk with Ackroyd through sixteenth century London and Stratford as he uncovers the intimate circumstances of Shakespeare's life. Discover the theatrical world in which Shakespeare had his being - not just Shakespeare the actor but the other actors, playwrights, and managers that surrounded him. And journey to Stratford to meet Shakespeare the family man, whose private life had such an impact on his work that the strongest bond in his plays is always between father and daughter.
VOL. 4: THE ONLIE BEGETTER.
Literary Stardom and Royal Patronage.
(c. 1601 - death, 1616)
Peter Ackroyd's insightful new biography positions Shakespeare in the close context of his world. In this way, Ackroyd not only richly conjures up the texture of Shakespeare's life, but also imparts an amazing amount of vivid, interesting material about place, period and background. Walk with Ackroyd through sixteenth century London and Stratford as he uncovers the intimate circumstances of Shakespeare's life. Discover the theatrical world in which Shakespeare had his being - not just Shakespeare the actor but the other actors, playwrights, and managers that surrounded him. And journey to Stratford to meet Shakespeare the family man, whose private life had such an impact on his work that the strongest bond in his plays is always between father and daughter.
In "Mark Twain," Ron Powers consummates years of research with a "tour de force" on the life of our culture's founding father. He offers Sam Clemens as he lived, breathed, and wrote. With the assistance of the Mark Twain Project at Berkeley, he has drawn on thousands of letters and notebook entries, many only recently discovered.
Sam Clemens left his frontier boyhood in Missouri for a life on the Mississippi during the golden age of steamboats. He skirted the western theater of the Civil War before taking off for an uproarious drunken newspaper career in the Nevada of the Wild West. As his fame as a humorist and lecturer spread around the country, he took the East Coast by storm. He wooed and won his lifelong devoted wife, yet quietly pined for the girl who was his first crush. He became the toast of Europe and a celebrity who toured the globe. His comments on everything he saw, many published here for the first time, are priceless.
The man that emerges in Powers's brilliant telling is both the magnetic, acerbic, and hilarious Mark Twain of myth and a devoted friend, husband, and father. Mark Twain left us our greatest voice. Samuel Clemens left us one of our most American of lives.
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