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The Woman I Wanted To Be
by Diane Von FurstenbergOne of the most influential, admired, and innovative women of our time: fashion designer, philanthropist, wife, mother, and grandmother, Diane von Furstenberg offers a book about becoming the woman she wanted to be. Diane von Furstenberg started out with a suitcase full of jersey dresses and an idea of who she wanted to be-in her words, "the kind of woman who is independent and who doesn't rely on a man to pay her bills." She has since become that woman, establishing herself as a global brand and a major force in the fashion industry, all the while raising a family and maintaining "my children are my greatest creation." In The Woman I Wanted to Be, von Furstenberg reflects on her extraordinary life-from childhood in Brussels to her days as a young, jet-set princess, to creating the dress that came to symbolise independence and power for an entire generation of women. With remarkable honesty and wisdom, von Furstenberg mines the rich territory of what it means to be a woman. She opens up about her family and career, overcoming cancer, building a global brand, and devoting herself to empowering other women, writing, "I want every woman to know that she can be the woman she wants to be."
The Woman I Wanted to Be
by Diane Von FurstenbergOne of the most influential, admired, and innovative women of our time: fashion designer, philanthropist, wife, mother, and grandmother, Diane von Furstenberg offers a book about becoming the woman she wanted to be.Diane von Furstenberg started out with a suitcase full of jersey dresses and an idea of who she wanted to be--in her words, "the kind of woman who is independent and who doesn't rely on a man to pay her bills." She has since become that woman, establishing herself as a global brand and a major force in the fashion industry, all the while raising a family and maintaining "my children are my greatest creation." In The Woman I Wanted to Be, von Furstenberg reflects on her extraordinary life--from childhood in Brussels to her days as a young, jet-set princess, to creating the dress that came to symbolize independence and power for an entire generation of women. With remarkable honesty and wisdom, von Furstenberg mines the rich territory of what it means to be a woman. She opens up about her family and career, overcoming cancer, building a global brand, and devoting herself to empowering other women, writing, "I want every woman to know that she can be the woman she wants to be."
Woman in the Making: Panti's Memoir
by Rory O'Neill'Today, as I walked through Dublin city centre, I saw gay couples casually holding hands as they strolled, and kissing each other goodbye at bus stops in the late spring sunshine, and it seemed to me that all was changed, changed utterly ...'- From the Prologue, written three days after Ireland became the first country in the world to embrace marriage equality through popular voteWoman in the Making is the unforgettable story of how a little boy from a small Irish village in the west grew up to become Panti Bliss, Queen of Ireland and voice of a brave new nation embracing equality, all the colours of the rainbow and, most of all, a glamorous attitude.
Woman in the Making: Panti's Memoir
by Rory O'Neill1968. In a small town in the west of Ireland, a beautiful baby boy is born. He enjoys an idyllic country childhood: privileged, carefree, surrounded by love - and pet sheep. Eleven years later, the Pope visits Ireland, and things will never be the same again. At the Pontiff's mass in Knock, the little boy has an epiphany that will set him on the road to become the biggest, boldest, and most opinionated drag queen Ireland has ever known. This is the story of Rory O'Neill's journey from the fields to becoming Panti Bliss, the voice of a brave new nation embracing diversity, all the colours of the rainbow and, most of all, a glamorous attitude. It's also the story of a misfit who turned his difference into a triumphant art form; of coming to terms with HIV; of political activism; and of 'Pantigate', and the speech that touched a million lives. Welcome to the world of Panti - adored, fun drunk aunt to the world - and her creator Rory, in their own inimitable words.
A Woman in the Shadow of the Second World War: Helena Hall's Journal from the Home Front
by Helena Hall Linda Grace Margaret NicolleHelena Hall's daily diary of the war years, from 1940 to 1945, is one of the most vivid, detailed and evocative personal records of the Second World War as it was experienced by people living in an English village. In her journal she describes her everyday activities alongside momentous national and international events. The war overshadows her narrative. Each daily entry gives us an insight into the extraordinary impact of the conflict on local lives, and shows how much energy and commitment ordinary people put into the war effort. This edited edition of her previously unpublished diary, written without embellishment or hindsight, shows how she heard about the war and how she reacted to it, and how it was reported and understood. It allows the reader today to connect directly with the wartime past and to see events clearly, as they were seen at the time.
The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut's Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt
by Kara CooneyAn engrossing biography of the longest-reigning female pharaoh in Ancient Egypt and the story of her audacious rise to power. Hatshepsut--the daughter of a general who usurped Egypt's throne and a mother with ties to the previous dynasty--was born into a privileged position in the royal household, and she was expected to bear the sons who would legitimize the reign of her father's family. Her failure to produce a male heir was ultimately the twist of fate that paved the way for her improbable rule as a cross-dressing king. At just over twenty, Hatshepsut ascended to the rank of pharaoh in an elaborate coronation ceremony that set the tone for her spectacular reign as co-regent with Thutmose III, the infant king whose mother Hatshepsut out-maneuvered for a seat on the throne. Hatshepsut was a master strategist, cloaking her political power plays in the veil of piety and sexual reinvention. Just as women today face obstacles from a society that equates authority with masculinity, Hatshepsut shrewdly operated the levers of power to emerge as Egypt's second female pharaoh.Hatshepsut successfully negotiated a path from the royal nursery to the very pinnacle of authority, and her reign saw one of Ancient Egypt's most prolific building periods. Scholars have long speculated as to why her monuments were destroyed within a few decades of her death, all but erasing evidence of her unprecedented rule. Constructing a rich narrative history using the artifacts that remain, noted Egyptologist Kara Cooney offers a remarkable interpretation of how Hatshepsut rapidly but methodically consolidated power--and why she fell from public favor just as quickly. The Woman Who Would Be King traces the unconventional life of an almost-forgotten pharaoh and explores our complicated reactions to women in power.From the Hardcover edition.
A Woman's Story: Living with the Shame of HIV
by Michele Aikens Ida W. Byther-Smith Annette Y. Fields Angel D. JonesOvercoming the shame of HIV This book originally published in early 2004 represents a gritty look at the lives of three amazing ladies. Though medical science has come quite a ways in the intervening years, there remains stigma and challenge associated with the HIV disease. In this hard hitting text, we are left to ponder what about us. How would we endure such challenging circumstances. There is teaching here. Take time to read and reflect. Share with your friends and family. Living in trial demands much. From the original cover HIV/AIDS is on the increase among Black women, yet there is a silence that speaks volumes in the community, the nation and the church about this epidemic. Have we forsaken our mothers, daughters and sisters in order to hide the shame of our own lack of involvement? What price will we pay for our detachment to the most indiscriminate health crisis of our time? Perhaps there is still hope, if we begin to look at HIV/AIDS through the eyes of those who have been there. . . In their own words, three women living with HIV share their journeys, from childhood, through discovery, to victory. From beginning to end, you will see the human spirit can overcome any obstacle: abuse, unworthiness, and even the shame associated with HIV/AIDS, through the healing love of God.
Women Healers of the World: The Traditions, History, and Geography of Herbal Medicine
by Rosemary Gladstar Holly BellebuonoA celebration of the healing traditions that made yoga, acupuncture, and aromatherapy popular.The recent trend toward holistic living has heightened our national fascination with herbal remedies and less conventional therapies such as acupuncture, yoga, aromatherapy, and ethnobotany. Now, this intimate and inspiring book opens up the world of herbal medicine to those interested in learning about the history of these techniques and approaches. Women Healers of the World shares with readers an extraordinary variety of healing plants from around the world that have inspired today's "alternative" medicine, as well as the stories, challenges, and triumphs of remarkable women healers from past and present-all of whom promote the use of medicinal herbs.Through this book, herbalist and author Holly Bellebuono aims to educate readers about sixteen plant-based world healing traditions and thirty women who have practiced them. Bellebuono also explores the geography, history, and medical heritage of twenty countries where these traditions originated.With thorough knowledge of the uses and effects of these healing traditions, readers can then move on to featured recipes for herbal remedies they can make in their home kitchens. Following Bellebuono's instructions, readers will produce remedies such as soothing lip balms, wound pastes, face masks, arthritis oils, relaxing bath salts, and revitalizing teas.
Women in Space: 23 Stories of First Flights, Scientific Missions, and Gravity-Breaking Adventures
by Karen GibsonTwenty-three women from 10 different countries whose careers span a half century of human spaceflight are profiled in this educational book for young readers. <P><P>Women in Space features such figures as Sally Ride, the first American woman to orbit the earth; Peggy Whitson, who logged more than a year in orbit while aboard the International Space Station; Mae Jemison, the first African American woman in space; and astronauts from Japan, Canada, Italy, South Korea, and France. <P><P>Additional attention is paid to the women of Mercury 13, a program that trained women in the same screening tests administered to the men who became the first astronauts at NASA. <P><P>Space pioneer Valentina Tereshkova, who in 1963 became the first woman to rocket into space, is also profiled. <P><P>These stories of the pilots, physicists, and doctors who broke the stratospheric ceiling demonstrate the vital role women have played in the history of space exploration.
The Women of Duck Commander
by Lisa Robertson Beth Clark Korie Robertson Kay Robertson Missy Robertson Jessica RobertsonAn Inside Look at the Robertson Women In the pages of this book, you'll find both fun and inspirational stories . . . Kay shares the honest story of her relationship with Phil--and his wild and philandering years--and the challenges of being a teenage mother. Even more amazing, she shares the forgiveness she offered Phil and how they have now celebrated forty-eight years of marriage. Korie tells of her first encounter with Phil when she was in just the fifth grade. At that first meeting Phil came right out and told her what good husbands his boys would make and that she should keep an eye on them. She also shares the reaction her parents had when she told them that she and Willie were getting married when she was only eighteen. Missy tells the story of their daughter, Mia, who was born with a cleft palate, and their adjustments to this condition and Mia's joyful spirit that inspires them all. Jessica recounts her first conversation with Jep and how unimpressed she was when Jep bragged that his dad was the Duck Commander Phil Robertson. She told him she'd heard of Daffy Duck, Donald Duck, and Duck, Duck, Goose-- but not the Duck Commander. Lisa reveals the serious marriage problems she and Al had--problems that almost ended their marriage for good--and how they worked through those issues to have a more stable and loving marriage than she ever imagined possible.
Women of Sicily: Saints, Queens and Rebels
by Jacqueline AlioRarely have women found their place in the chronicles of Sicily's thirty-century history. Here one of Sicily's most popular historians introduces seventeen women of varied backgrounds who defied convention to make their mark in the annals of the complex history of the world's most conquered island.Meet a timeless sisterhood of pious Roman maidens, steadfast Sicilian queens, and a Jewish mother who confronted the horrors of the Inquisition. Theirs are inspiring stories of the courage of conviction bursting forth to overcome the challenges of adversity. The lengthier ten biographies constitute full chapters, while seven are concise sketches of a few paragraphs each.In addition to these profiles - most of these women lived before 1500 - the author presents a general survey and chronology of Sicilian history. Significantly, the book treats Sicily as the sovereign nation most of these women knew, and not as a 'region' of the unified Italy or a tiny piece of Europe. The chronology (timeline) reaches into the present century, and there's an appendix dedicated to Sicilian women today.Until now, biographies of Sicilian women written in English (as the original language) have been the work of foreign authors. This one is a milestone, the first book about the historical women of Sicily written in English by a Sicilian woman in Sicily. It reflects a special passion and an astute understanding of its subject.Some of the information is the result of original (scholarly) research, and a few facts were garnered from unique sources. The chapter on Queen Maria Sophia of the Two Sicilies, who died in 1925, is the lengthiest treatment of her ever published in English, and it was based in part on an unpublished interview with somebody who knew the Queen, namely her niece, the late Princess Urraca. Living links of this kind are precious in historical writing.While the concise overview of the status of women in twenty-first century Sicily is provided merely for the benefit of readers who wish to compare the past and present, the pages dedicated to that topic are a rare occurrence in book publishing, especially in English. Here the author's statements are based on facts and statistics rather than anecdotes or stereotypes. It is clear that she knows her subject.With its chronology and reading list, this volume is useful as a reference, but its narrative makes for an interesting read. Jackie Alio is an insightful author, one of Sicily's most talented historians, and this book was long overdue.
Women of Steel and Stone: 22 Inspirational Architects, Engineers, and Landscape Designers
by Anna LewisReporting on a range of historical and contemporary female builders and designers, this educational book strives to inspire a new generation of girls in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and math. With many of the profiles set against the backdrop of such landmark events as the women's suffrage and civil rights movements and the Industrial Revolution, and with original interviews from a number of current architects and engineers, this book provides inspiration and advice directly to young women by highlighting positive examples of how a strong work ethic, perseverance, and creativity can overcome life's obstacles. Each profile focuses on the strengths, passions, and interests each woman had growing up; where those traits took them; and what they achieved. Sidebars on related topics, source notes, and a bibliography make this an invaluable resource for further study.
Women Writing Art History in the Nineteenth Century
by Hilary FraserThis book sets out to correct received accounts of the emergence of art history as a masculine field. It investigates the importance of female writers from Anna Jameson, Elizabeth Eastlake and George Eliot to Alice Meynell, Vernon Lee and Michael Field in developing a discourse of art notable for its complexity and cultural power, its increasing professionalism and reach, and its integration with other discourses of modernity. Proposing a more flexible and inclusive model of what constitutes art historical writing, including fiction, poetry and travel literature, this book offers a radically revisionist account of the genealogy of a discipline and a profession. It shows how women experienced forms of professional exclusion that, whilst detrimental to their careers, could be aesthetically formative; how working from the margins of established institutional structures gave women the freedom to be audaciously experimental in their writing about art in ways that resonate with modern readers.
Wondrous Beauty
by Carol BerkinFrom the award-winning historian and author of Revolutionary Mothers ("Incisive, thoughtful, spiced with vivid anecdotes. Don't miss it."--Thomas Fleming) and Civil War Wives ("Utterly fresh . . . Sensitive, poignant, thoroughly fascinating."--Jay Winik), here is the remarkable life of Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte, renowned as the most beautiful woman of nineteenth-century Baltimore, whose marriage in 1803 to Jérôme Bonaparte, the youngest brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, became inextricably bound to the diplomatic and political histories of the United States, France, and England. In Wondrous Beauty, Carol Berkin tells the story of this audacious, outsized life. We see how the news of the union infuriated Napoleon and resulted in his banning the thenpregnant Betsy Bonaparte from disembarking in any European port, offering his brother the threat of remaining married to that "American girl" and forfeiting all wealth and power--or renouncing her, marrying a woman of Napoleon's choice, and reaping the benefits. Jérôme ended the marriage posthaste and was made king of Westphalia; Betsy fled to England, gave birth to her son and only child, Jérôme's namesake, and was embraced by the English press, who boasted that their nation had opened its arms to the cruelly abandoned young wife. Berkin writes that this naïve, headstrong American girl returned to Baltimore a wiser, independent woman, refusing to seek social redemption or a return to obscurity through a quiet marriage to a member of Baltimore's merchant class. Instead she was courted by many, indifferent to all, and initiated a dangerous game of politics--a battle for a pension from Napoleon--which she won: her pension from the French government arrived each month until Napoleon's exile. Using Betsy Bonaparte's extensive letters, the author makes clear that the "belle of Baltimore" disdained America's obsession with moneymaking, its growing ethos of democracy, and its rigid gender roles that confined women to the parlor and the nursery; that she sought instead a European society where women created salons devoted to intellectual life--where she was embraced by many who took into their confidence, such as Madame de Staël, Madame Récamier, the aging Marquise de Villette (goddaughter of Voltaire), among others--and where aristocracy, based on birth and breeding rather than commerce, dominated society. Wondrous Beauty is a riveting portrait of a woman torn between two worlds, unable to find peace in either--one a provincial, convention-bound new America; the other a sophisticated, extravagant Old World Europe that embraced freedoms, a Europe ultimately swallowed up by decadence and idleness. A stunning revelation of an extraordinary age.From the Hardcover edition.
Wooden: A Coach's Life
by Seth DavisA provocative and revelatory new biography of the legendary UCLA coach John Wooden, by one of America's top college basketball writers No college basketball coach has ever dominated the sport like John Wooden. His UCLA teams reached unprecedented heights in the 1960s and '70s capped by a run of ten NCAA championships in twelve seasons and an eighty-eight-game winning streak, records that stand to this day. Wooden also became a renowned motivational speaker and writer, revered for his "Pyramid of Success. " Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports has written the definitive biography of Wooden, an unflinching portrait that draws on archival research and more than two hundred interviews with players, opponents, coaches, and even Wooden himself. Davis shows how hard Wooden strove for success, from his All-American playing days at Purdue through his early years as a high school and college coach to the glory days at UCLA, only to discover that reaching new heights brought new burdens and frustrations. Davis also reveals how at the pinnacle of his career Wooden found himself on questionable ground with alumni, referees, assistants, and even some of his players. His was a life not only of lessons taught, but also of lessons learned. Woven into the story as well are the players who powered Wooden's championship teams - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, Walt Hazzard, and others - many of whom speak frankly about their coach. The portrait that emerges from Davis's remarkable biography is of a man in full, whose life story still resonates today.
Word for Word: A Translator's Memoir of Literature, Politics, and Survival in Soviet Russia
by Lilianna LunginaA remarkable memoir of living in the Soviet Union and working as a literary translator. In the early twentieth century, Lilianna Lungina was a Russian Jew born to privilege, spending her childhood in Germany, France, and Palestine. But when she was thirteen, her parents moved to the USSR—where Lungina became witness to many of the era’s greatest upheavals. Exiled during World War II, dragged to KGB headquarters to report on her friends, and subjected to her new country’s ruthless, systematic anti-Semitism, Lungina nonetheless carved out a career as a translator, introducing hundreds of thousands of Soviet readers to Knut Hamsun, August Strindberg, and, most famously, Astrid Lindgren. In the process, she found herself at the very center of Soviet cultural life, meeting and befriending Pasternak, Brodsky, Solzhenitsyn, and many other major literary figures of the era. Her extraordinary memoir—at once heartfelt and unsentimental—is an unparalleled tribute to a lost world.
The Words & Wisdom of Charles Johnson
by Charles JohnsonNational Book Award winner Charles Johnson muses about a wide range of topics, from Buddhism to race relations in America to his writing habits and everything in between. This collection gives readers a candid look into the mind of one of the most celebrated voices in American literature.
The Work: My Search for a Life That Matters
by Wes MooreThe acclaimed author of The Other Wes Moore continues his inspirational quest for a meaningful life and shares the powerful lessons--about self-discovery, service, and risk-taking--that led him to a new definition of success for our times. The Work is the story of how one young man traced a path through the world to find his life's purpose. Wes Moore graduated from a difficult childhood in the Bronx and Baltimore to an adult life that would find him at some of the most critical moments in our recent history: as a combat officer in Afghanistan; a White House fellow in a time of wars abroad and disasters at home; and a Wall Street banker during the financial crisis. In this insightful book, Moore shares the lessons he learned from people he met along the way--from the brave Afghan translator who taught him to find his fight, to the resilient young students in Katrina-ravaged Mississippi who showed him the true meaning of grit, to his late grandfather, who taught him to find grace in service. Moore also tells the stories of other twenty-first-century change-makers who've inspired him in his search, from Daniel Lubetzky, the founder of KIND, to Esther Benjamin, a Sri Lankan immigrant who rose to help lead the Peace Corps. What their lives--and his own misadventures and moments of illumination--reveal is that our truest work happens when we serve others, at the intersection between our gifts and our broken world. That's where we find the work that lasts. An intimate narrative about finding meaning in a volatile age, The Work will inspire readers to see how we can each find our own path to purpose and help create a better world.
Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner
by T. J. Mitchell Judy MelinekThe fearless memoir of a young forensic pathologist's "rookie season" as a NYC medical examiner, and the cases--hair-raising and heartbreaking and impossibly complex--that shaped her as both a physician and a mother.Just two months before the September 11 terrorist attacks, Dr. Judy Melinek began her training as a New York City forensic pathologist. With her husband T.J. and their toddler Daniel holding down the home front, Judy threw herself into the fascinating world of death investigation--performing autopsies, investigating death scenes, counseling grieving relatives. Working Stiff chronicles Judy's two years of training, taking readers behind the police tape of some of the most harrowing deaths in the Big Apple, including a firsthand account of the events of September 11, the subsequent anthrax bio-terrorism attack, and the disastrous crash of American Airlines flight 587. Lively, action-packed, and loaded with mordant wit, Working Stiff offers a firsthand account of daily life in one of America's most arduous professions, and the unexpected challenges of shuttling between the domains of the living and the dead. The body never lies--and through the murders, accidents, and suicides that land on her table, Dr. Melinek lays bare the truth behind the glamorized depictions of autopsy work on shows like CSI and Law & Order to reveal the secret story of the real morgue.
The World According To Noddy: Life Lessons Learned In and Out of Rock & Roll
by Noddy HolderWhat makes Noddy Holder tick? Godfather of glam, national treasure and thinking grandmother’s crumpet, Noddy has been at the epicentre of British pop culture since he stormed on to the music scene in the 1960s, and in The World According to Noddy he gives us a hilarious window on to his extraordinary life. Told in his own inimitable style, Noddy shares insider accounts of his days on the road, along with a healthy dose of celebrity gossip, and leaves no stone unturned as he expounds on some of his favourite subjects – fame, friendship and fatherhood, the perils of social media and the modern age, not to mention what it would be like if he ruled the world . . . From his early days on the West Midlands beat scene, including a stint as a roadie for Robert Plant, Noddy charts his rise from skinhead stomper to international pop-star, statesman, playboy, male model and philosopher, and of course one of the most integral parts of a Great British Christmas. Witty, wise and tremendously funny, this is Noddy Holder at his glittering best.
A World Elsewhere
by Sigrid MacraeThe extraordinary love story of an American blueblood and a German aristocrat--and a riveting tale of survival in wartime GermanySigrid MacRae never knew her father, until a trove of letters revealed not only him, but also the singular story of her parents' intercontinental love affair. While visiting Parisin 1927, her American mother, Aimée, raised in a wealthy Connecticut family, falls in love with a charming, sophisticated Baltic German baron, a penniless exile of the Russian revolution. They marry. But the harsh reality of post-World War I Germany is inescapable: a bleak economy and the rise of Hitler quash Heinrich's diplomaticambitions, and their struggling family farm north of Berlin drains Aimée's modest fortune. In 1941, Heinrich volunteers for the Russian front and is killed by a sniper. Widowed, living in a country soon at war with her own, Aimée must fend for herself. With home and family in jeopardy, she and her six young children flee the advancingRussian army in an epic journey, back to the country she thought she'd left behind.A World Elsewhere is a stirring narrative of two hostages to history and a mother's courageous fight to save her family.
A World Elsewhere
by Sigrid MacraeThe extraordinary love story of an American blueblood and a German aristocrat--and a riveting tale of survival in wartime Germany Sigrid MacRae never knew her father, until a trove of letters revealed not only him, but also the singular story of her parents' intercontinental love affair. While visiting Paris in 1927, her American mother, Aimée, raised in a wealthy Connecticut family, falls in love with a charming, sophisticated Baltic German baron, a penniless exile of the Russian revolution. They marry. But the harsh reality of post-World War I Germany is inescapable: a bleak economy and the rise of Hitler quash Heinrich's diplomatic ambitions, and their struggling family farm north of Berlin drains Aimée's modest fortune. In 1941, Heinrich volunteers for the Russian front and is killed by a sniper. Widowed, living in a country soon at war with her own, Aimée must fend for herself. With home and family in jeopardy, she and her six young children flee the advancing Russian army in an epic journey, back to the country she thought she'd left behind. A World Elsewhere is a stirring narrative of two hostages to history and a mother's courageous fight to save her family.
A World of Her Own: 24 Amazing Women Explorers and Adventurers
by Michael Elsohn RossThe stories of two dozen fascinating female explorers, from a wide range of eras, cultures, races, and economic backgrounds, are profiled in this entertaining and educational resource. Each of the women profiled overcame many obstacles to satisfy her curiosity and passions, including Eleanor Creesy, who was a ship's navigator in the 1800s; Kate Jackson, an insatiable investigator of venomous snakes whose work has led her to remote Africa and Latin America; and Constanza Ceruti, the world's only female high-elevation archaeologist, who carries out excavations on the Earth's highest peaks in dangerously thin air and subzero temperatures. Offering not only important historical context but also original interviews with many intriguing modern explorers, this who's who of women explorers will provide inspiration to today's young women interested in nature, science, and a physical challenge.
The World of Raymond Chandler: In His Own Words
by Raymond ChandlerRaymond Chandler never wrote a memoir or autobiography. The closest he came to writing either was in—and around—his novels, shorts stories, and letters. There have been books that describe and evaluate Chandler&’s life, but to find out what he himself felt about his life and work, Barry Day, editor of The Letters of Noël Coward (&“There is much to dazzle here in just the way we expect . . . the book is meticulous, artfully structured—splendid&” —Daniel Mendelsohn; The New York Review of Books), has cannily, deftly chosen from Chandler&’s writing, as well as the many interviews he gave over the years as he achieved cult status, to weave together an illuminating narrative that reveals the man, the work, the worlds he created.Using Chandler&’s own words as well as Day&’s text, here is the life of &“the man with no home,&” a man precariously balanced between his classical English education with its immutable values and that of a fast-evolving America during the years before the Great War, and the changing vernacular of the cultural psyche that resulted. Chandler makes clear what it is to be a writer, and in particular what it is to be a writer of &“hardboiled&” fiction in what was for him &“another language.&” Along the way, he discusses the work of his contemporaries: Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Agatha Christie, W. Somerset Maugham, and others (&“I wish,&” said Chandler, &“I had one of those facile plotting brains, like Erle Gardner&”).Here is Chandler&’s Los Angeles (&“There is a touch of the desert about everything in California,&” he said, &“and about the minds of the people who live here&”), a city he adopted and that adopted him in the post-World War I period . . . Here is his Hollywood (&“Anyone who doesn&’t like Hollywood,&” he said, &“is either crazy or sober&”) . . . He recounts his own (rocky) experiences working in the town with Billy Wilder, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, and others. . .We see Chandler&’s alter ego, Philip Marlowe, private eye, the incorruptible knight with little armor who walks the &“mean streets&” in a world not made for knights (&“If I had ever an opportunity of selecting the movie actor who would best represent Marlowe to my mind, I think it would have been Cary Grant.&”) . . . Here is Chandler on drinking (his life in the end was in a race with alcohol—and loneliness) . . . and here are Chandler&’s women—the Little Sisters, the &“dames&” in his fiction, and in his life (on writing The Long Goodbye, Chandler said, &“I watched my wife die by half inches and I wrote the best book in my agony of that knowledge . . . I was as hollow as the places between the stars.&” After her death Chandler led what he called a &“posthumous life&” writing fiction, but more often than not, his writing life was made up of letters written to women he barely knew.)Interwoven throughout the text are more than one hundred pictures that reveal the psyche and world of Raymond Chandler. &“I have lived my whole life on the edge of nothing,&” he wrote. In his own words, and with Barry Day&’s commentary, we see the shape this took and the way it informed the man and his extraordinary work.
The World of Stephanie St. Clair: An Entrepreneur, Race Woman and Outlaw in Early Twentieth Century Harlem (Black Studies and Critical Thinking #59)
by Shirley StewartBorn in Guadeloupe in 1897, Stephanie St. Clair entered the United States thirteen years later. By 1923 at the age of twenty-six she would create and manage a highly lucrative policy bank in Harlem – earning a quarter of a million dollars a year. To this day, she remains the only black female gangster to run an operation of that size. Infamous gangster Dutch Schultz invited himself to share in the Harlem profits. Unlike other Harlem bankers, St. Clair resisted. Despite Schultz’s threats, many of her male employees remained with her. Some said she paid them high wages and challenged them by asking, "What kind of men would desert a lady in a fight?" <p><p>Upon arrival in the United States St. Clair did not conduct her life in the manner expected of a black female Caribbean immigrant in the early twentieth century. What factors influenced St. Clair’s decision to become an entrepreneur and activist within her community? Why did St. Clair describe herself as a «lady» when ladies did not run illegal businesses and they were not black? <p><p>These questions are explored along with her lineage – a lineage that contains the same fighting spirit that she carried throughout her life. This is not the story of a victim. Courses concerned with the study of social and economic conditions of black urban residents during the early twentieth century and female entrepreneurs of the same era will find St. Clair’s story compelling and informative.