- Table View
- List View
Supersonic: The Complete, Authorised and Uncut Interviews
by Oasis'We are the biggest band in Britain of all time, ever. The funny thing is, all that fucking mouthing off three years ago about how we were going to be the biggest band in the world - we actually went and did it.' Noel GallagherOasis are one of the biggest bands the world has ever seen. Here, in Supersonic, they tell the story of their beginnings from dive-bar hopefuls to global superstars. They themselves talk us through the pivotal moments in their phenomenal trajectory, from the day Noel Gallagher joined his brother Liam's band, through their first crucial five years culminating at their landmark gigs at Knebworth Park in 1996 - the pinnacle of their success.With over thirty hours of interviews with Liam, Noel and those closest to them, this book documents in unprecedented depth and with their trademark candour and humour, the story behind one of the world's greatest bands, all told in their own words and fully illustrated with exclusive photographs and ephemera throughout.
Change of Seasons: A Memoir
by John Oates Chris EptingJohn Oates was born at the perfect time, paralleling the birth of rock ‘n roll. Raised in a small Pennsylvania town, he was exposed to folk, blues, soul, and R&B. Meeting and teaming up with Daryl Hall in the late 1960s, they developed a style of music that was uniquely their own but never abandoned their roots. John uncovers the grit and struggle it took to secure a recording contract with the legendary Atlantic Records and chronicles the artistic twists and turns that resulted in a DJ discovering an obscure album track that would become their first hit record. This is not your typical rock and roll story. John was focused creating great music. Along the way he achieved incredible success, battling the ever-changing pop music landscape and coming to terms with complex managerial, business, and personal challenges.Daryl Hall and John Oates have over 20 albums together, more than 60 million records sold, and 29 Top 40 hits. They are the most successful pop duo in the world and members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And yet John’s story has never been told. Relying on his many hand-written journals, he brings to light many fascinating stories spanning his entire life with a journalist’s eye and a poet’s heart.In Change of Seasons, John shares his highs, lows, triumphs, and failures. He takes the reader on a wild ride through all the eras, personalities and music that has shaped him into what he is.
Donald Hume: Notorious Bank Robber and Double Murderer
by Jonathan OatesThe trial of the year in 1950 was of Donald Hume, a North London petty thief accused of stabbing car dealer Stanley Setty to death, of cutting up his corpse and dropping his body parts from an airplane. The press and public were horrified and fascinated by the details. But Hume was convicted and gaoled as an accessory – he later claimed his wife was guilty of the crime. He then fled Switzerland, taking up with a Swiss woman in Zurich, but he needed money to finance his lavish lifestyle and he returned to robbery. He carried out two armed robberies, shooting a member of the bank staff, but getting clean away. Then in 1959 his attempt to rob a bank failed and he shot dead a bystander. Arrested, he stood trial and was sentenced to life, but was later deemed criminally insane and was returned to Britain and to Broadmoor. Jonathan Oates’s compelling account of Hume’s notorious life of crime is based on extensive primary research. It sheds new light on Hume and his crimes, especially the murder of Setty, and gives the reader a rare insight into the criminal underworld of the time.
John Christie of Rillington Place: Biography of a Serial Killer
by Jonathan OatesThe bestselling criminal history author provides &“compelling insight&” into the life and crimes of one of England&’s most notorious serial killers (Buckinghamshire Life). Sixty years ago, the discovery of bodies at 10 Rillington Place in Notting Hill, London, led to one of the most sensational, shocking, and controversial serial murder cases in British criminal history: the case of John Christie. Much has been written about the Christie killings and the fate of Timothy Evans who was executed for murders Christie later confessed to; the story still provokes strong feeling and speculation. However, most of the books on the case have been compiled without the benefit of all the sources that are open to researchers, and they tend to focus on Evans in an attempt to clear him of guilt. In addition, many simply repeat what has been said before. Therefore, a painstaking, scholarly reassessment of the evidence—and of Christie&’s life—is overdue, and that is what Jonathan Oates provides in this gripping biography of a serial killer.
Sweet William or the Butcher?: The Duke of Cumberland and the '45
by Jonathan Oates'Butcher' Cumberland is portrayed as one of the arch villains of British history. His leading role in the bloody defeat of the Jacobite rebellion in 1745 and his ruthless pursuit of Bonnie Prince Charlie's fugitive supporters across the Scottish Highlands has generated a reputation for severity that has endured to the present day. He has even been proposed as the most evil Briton of the eighteenth century. But was Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, the younger son of George II, really the ogre of popular imagination? Jonathan Oates, in this perceptive investigation of the man and his notorious career, seeks to answer this question. He looks dispassionately at Cumberland's character and at his record as a soldier, in particular at this behavior towards enemy wounded and prisoners. He analyses the rules of war as they were understood and applied in the eighteenth century. And he watches Cumberland closely through the entire course of the '45 campaign, from the retreat of the rebels across northern England to the Highlands, through Battle of Culloden and on into the bloodstained suppression that followed.
Blonde
by Joyce Carol OatesFrom her days as an orphan sent from foster home to foster home to the days when she was President John F. Kennedy's companion, this is a fictionalized account of Marilyn Monroe.
Blonde: A Novel (Ldp Litterature Ser.)
by Joyce Carol Oates«Oates sabe que ya has visto a Marilyn Monroe. La reconocerías en cualquier parte. Tantas imágenes, tantas historias que ya han echado raíces en tu mente. Pero su fuerza y su talento consiste en limitarse a señalar los detalles y traerla de vuelta a la vida, a ella y a todo el siglo: la muchacha desnuda, el terciopelo rojo, las plantas de sus pies.»Bethany Schneider, Newsday «Socorro, siento que la Vida se acerca.» Marilyn Monroe era puro fuego, sexualidad a flor de piel, romances turbulentos; pero también era frágil, una mujer asustada y repleta de inseguridades que buscaba en otros -el Ex Deportista, el Dramaturgo o el Presidente- ese amor que ella misma se negaba. Una artista emblemática cargada de conflictos y temores, de pasiones desatadas; una niña que no dejó de huir hacia delante, y llegó a burlar a la propia muerte para convertirse en leyenda. Tras una exhaustiva documentación, Joyce Carol Oates redibuja la vida interior de Norma Jeane Baker -la pequeña sin padre, la mujer dependiente de tranquilizantes y estimulantes, la malograda actriz y amante- y a su «Amiga Mágica del Espejo», la idolatrada rubia que el mundo llegó a conocer como Marilyn Monroe. ** Premio Ja! Bilbao por el «modernísimo humor negro» de su obra. La crítica ha dicho...«Dramática, provocativa e inquietantemente sugerente, Blonde es tan explosiva como su protagonista, la legendaria Marilyn Monroe. En una prosa impresionista de elevada potencia, Oates crea un retrato sorprendente y conmovedor de la estrella mítica y de la sociedad que la creó y le falló.»Publishers Weekly «Oates nos hace vivir la vida de Marilyn Monroe. Y es un verdadero infierno. Y es brillante. Porque nos querremos arrancar los ojos para dejar de mirar, y es imposible.»Ann Patchett, The Times «Oates rebosa testosterona, y su último libro es agresivo y atrevido. Quiere que miremos a un personaje mítico con nuevos ojos, pero no con los de la cámara, sino con nuestros ojos más humanos.»Philip Weiss, New York Observer «En lo referente a Marilyn Monroe, el público siempre se quedaba en el exterior y miraba hacia el interior, pero he aquí que en esta nueva y apasionante novela, Blonde, Joyce Carol Oates revierte ese proceso al plantarse en el interior de la torturada psique de la actriz para rematar un retrato perturbadoramente íntimo.»John Thomas, Playboy «Oates se libera de los corsés de una renarración periodística de hechos archiconocidos y crea con verdadera maestría una potente tragedia norteamericana profundamente inquietante.»Susan Tekulve, Book Magazine «Una novela que nos va ganando y absorbiendo a medida que vamos pasando las páginas hasta seducirnos por completo.»Jason S. Polley, Revista Arcadia «Un libro potente e hipnótico.»Elaine Showalter, Literary Review «La obra más importante de la prolífica carrera de Oates.»Dan Cryer, Newsday «Una magnífica obra, escrita con parte de esa frenética inspiración con la que Marilyn Monroe vivió su vida. Si no ha leído aún a Joyce Carol Oates, no lo deje por más tiempo. Empiece aquí y ahora.»Susan Jeffreys, The Independent
The Journal of Joyce Carol Oates, 1973-1982
by Joyce Carol OatesThe Journal of Joyce Carol Oates, edited by Greg Johnson, offers a rare glimpse into the private thoughts of this extraordinary writer, focusing on excerpts written during one of the most productive decades of Oates's long career. Far more than just a daily account of a writer's writing life, these intimate, unrevised pages candidly explore her friendship with other writers, including John Updike, Donald Barthelme, Susan Sontag, Gail Godwin, and Philip Roth. It presents a fascinating portrait of the artist as a young woman, fully engaged with her world and her culture, on her way to becoming one of the most respected, honored, discussed, and controversial figures in American letters.
Joyce Carol Oates: Letters to a Biographer
by Joyce Carol OatesThis rich compilation of Joyce Carol Oates's letters across four decades displays her warmth and generosity, her droll and sometimes wicked sense of humor, her phenomenal energy, and most of all, her mastery of the lost art of letter writing. "It's hard to think of another writer with as fecund and protean an imagination as the eighty-five-year-old Joyce Carol Oates, who is surely on any short list of America's greatest living writers." —New York Times Magazine In this generous selection of Joyce Carol Oates's letters to her biographer and friend Greg Johnson, readers will discover a never-before-seen dimension of her phenomenal talent. In 1975, when Johnson was a graduate student, he first wrote to Oates, already a world-famous author, and drew an appreciative, empathetic response. Soon the two began a fairly intense, largely epistolary friendship that would last until the present day. As time passed, letters became faxes, and faxes became emails, but the energy and vividness of Oates's writing never abated. Her letters are often sprinkled with the names of famous people, from John Updike and Toni Morrison to Steve Martin and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. There are also descriptions of far-flung travels she undertook with her first husband, the scholar and editor Raymond Smith, and with her second, the distinguished Princeton neuroscientist Charlie Gross. But much of Oates's prose centered on the pleasures of her home life, including her pet cats and the wildlife outside her study window. Whereas her academic essays and book reviews are eloquent in a formal way, in these letters she is wholly relaxed, even when she is serious in her concerns. Like Johnson, she was always engaged in work, whether a long novel or a brief essay, and the letters give a fascinating glimpse into Oates's writing practice.
The Lost Landscape
by Joyce Carol OatesA momentous memoir of childhood and adolescence from one of our finest and most beloved writers, as we've never seen her beforeIn The Lost Landscape, Joyce Carol Oates vividly re-creates the early years of her life in western New York State, powerfully evoking the romance of childhood and the way it colors everything that comes after. From early memories of her relatives to remembrances of a particularly poignant friendship with a red hen, from her first friendships to her first experiences with death, The Lost Landscape is an arresting account of the ways in which Oates's life (and her life as a writer) was shaped by early childhood and how her later work was influenced by a hardscrabble rural upbringing.In this exceptionally candid, moving, and richly reflective recounting of her early years, Oates explores the world through the eyes of her younger self and reveals her nascent experiences of wanting to tell stories about the world and the people she meets. If Alice in Wonderland was the book that changed a young Joyce forever and inspired her to look at life as offering end-less adventures, she describes just as unforgettably the harsh lessons of growing up on a farm. With searing detail and an acutely perceptive eye, Oates renders her memories and emotions with exquisite precision to truly transport the reader to a bygone place and time, to the lost landscape of the writer's past but also to the lost landscapes of our own earliest, and most essential, lives.
Memorias de una viuda
by Joyce Carol OatesEl libro más personal e impactante de Joyce Carol Oates, firme candidata al Premio Nobel «Le hipnotizará y le conmoverá... Un libro más dolorosamente autorrevelador de lo que la Oates novelista o crítica se haya atrevido a publicar jamás.» Ann Hulbert, The New York Times Book Review En una mañana gris de febrero, Joyce Carol Oates llevó a su marido Raymond Smith a urgencias aquejado de una neumonía; una semana después, ciertas complicaciones terminaban con su vida. Estas deslumbrantes páginas capturan el estado emocional de Oates tras la repentina muerte de su marido, y cómo se ve obligada a hallar su equilibrio sin la alianza que la había sostenido durante cuarenta y siete años y veinticinco días. Llenas de agudas reflexiones y, a veces, de humor negro, estas Memorias de una viuda narran también una conmovedora historia de amor, lírica, moral e implacable, como las que pueblan sus novelas, y ofrecenun inédito retrato de su intimidad, hasta ahora celosamente guardada. ** Premio Ja! Bilbao por el «modernísimo humor negro» de su obra. La crítica ha dicho: «Impecable... No cometa el error de pasar por alto este libro; simplemente, es demasiado bueno para perdérselo.»Dave Moyer, The New York Journal of Books «Sorprendente... Periodística e intuitiva, emocional y reflexiva... Oates comenzó escribiendo El diario de una viuda, y lo que ha logrado es la historia de un matrimonio.»Geeta Sharma Jensen, The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel «Oates pertenece a la vieja estirpe de Poe, Borges, Kafka, Cortázar o Chéjov...»Ángeles López, Qué Leer «Una novela maravillosamente escrita y muy conmovedora. Una compra valiosa para el lector de memorias y, en especial, para los más mayores.»Library Journal «Oates escribe con una honestidad visceral y no ceja en obligar a sus lectores a las conjeturas al respecto de su próxima y estremecedora empresa.»Kirkus Reviews «Las memorias de Oates se unirán a Antonia Fraser y Joan Didion en la sección de obras esenciales sobre la pérdida.»The Daily Beast «Tiene tanto de retrato de un matrimonio único como de crónica del duelo... Inmensamente conmovedora.» Kim Hubbard, People Magazine «Tan cautivadora como dolorosa... un relato desgarrador... Esta posibilidad que Oates ofrece al lector de experimentar la muerte de Smith del mismo y dramático modo en que lo hizo ella es algo muy característico del excelente equilibrio de la autora entre lo intelectual y lo emocional.» Valerie Sayers, The Washington Post
A Widow's Story: A Memoir
by Joyce Carol OatesIn a work unlike anything she's written before, National Book Award winner Joyce Carol Oates unveils a poignant, intimate memoir about the unexpected death of her husband of forty-six years and its wrenching, surprising aftermath. "My husband died, my life collapsed." On a February morning in 2008, Joyce Carol Oates drove her ailing husband, Raymond Smith, to the emergency room of the Princeton Medical Center where he was diagnosed with pneumonia. Both Joyce and Ray expected him to be released in a day or two. But in less than a week, even as Joyce was preparing for his discharge, Ray died from a virulent hospital-acquired infection, and Joyce was suddenly faced-totally unprepared-with the stunning reality of widowhood. A Widow's Story illuminates one woman's struggle to comprehend a life without the partnership that had sustained and defined her for nearly half a century. As never before, Joyce Carol Oates shares the derangement of denial, the anguish of loss, the disorientation of the survivor amid a nightmare of "death-duties," and the solace of friendship. She writes unflinchingly of the experience of grief-the almost unbearable suspense of the hospital vigil, the treacherous "pools" of memory that surround us, the vocabulary of illness, the absurdities of commercialized forms of mourning. Here is a frank acknowledgment of the widow's desperation-only gradually yielding to the recognition that "this is my life now." Enlivened by the piercing vision, acute perception, and mordant humor that are the hallmarks of the work of Joyce Carol Oates, this moving tale of life and death, love and grief, offers a candid, never-before-glimpsed view of the acclaimed author and fiercely private woman.
The Approaching Fury: Voices of the Storm, 1820-1861
by Stephen B. OatesStephen B. Oates tells the story of the coming of the American Civil War through the voices, and from the viewpoints, of 13 principal players in the drama, including Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Nat Turner, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Frederick Douglass. This unique approach shows the crucial role that perception of events played in the sectional hostilities that bore the United States irreversibly into civil war. In writing the monologues, Oates draws on the actual words of Ills speakers and simulates how they would describe the crucial events in which they were the principal actors or witnesses. All the events and themes in the monologues adhere to historical record. The result is an exciting history that brings the personalities and events of the coming of the American Civil War vividly to life.
Let the Trumpet Sound: A Life of Martin Luther King, Jr.
by Stephen B. Oates“The most comprehensive, the most thoroughly researched and documented, the most scholarly of the biographies of Martin Luther King, Jr.” —Henry Steele Commanger, Philadelphia InquirerWinner of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Book Award * A New York Times Notable Book of the YearBy the acclaimed biographer of Abraham Lincoln, Nat Turner, and John Brown, Stephen B. Oates's prizewinning Let the Trumpet Sound is the definitive one-volume life of Martin Luther King, Jr. This brilliant examination of the great civil rights icon and the movement he led provides a lasting portrait of a man whose dream shaped American history.“Drawing on interviews with those who knew King, previously unutilized material at Presidential libraries, and the holdings of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Atlanta, Mr. Oates has written the most comprehensive account of King’s life yet published. . . . He displays a remarkable understanding of King’s individual role in the civil rights movement. . . . Oates’s biography helps us appreciate how sorely King is missed.” —Eric Foner, New York Times Book Review
A Woman of Valor: Clara Barton and the Civil War
by Stephen B. OatesWhen the Civil War broke out, Clara Barton wanted more than anything to be a Union soldier, an impossible dream for a thirty-nine-year-old woman, who stood a slender five feet tall. Determined to serve, she became a veritable soldier, a nurse, and a one-woman relief agency operating in the heart of the conflict. Now, award-winning author Stephen B. Oates, drawing on archival materials not used by her previous biographers, has written the first complete account of Clara Barton's active engagement in the Civil War. By the summer of 1862, with no institutional affiliation or official government appointment, but impelled by a sense of duty and a need to heal, she made her way to the front lines and the heat of battle. Oates tells the dramatic story of this woman who gave the world a new definition of courage, supplying medical relief to the wounded at some of the most famous battles of the war -- including Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Battery Wagner, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Petersburg. Under fire with only her will as a shield, she worked while ankle deep in gore, in hellish makeshift battlefield hospitals -- a bullet-riddled farmhouse, a crumbling mansion, a windblown tent. Committed to healing soldiers' spirits as well as their bodies, she served not only as nurse and relief worker, but as surrogate mother, sister, wife, or sweetheart to thousands of sick, wounded, and dying men. Her contribution to the Union was incalculable and unique. It also became the defining event in Barton's life, giving her the opportunity as a woman to reach out for a new role and to define a new profession. Nursing, regarded as a menial service before the war, became a trained, paid occupation after the conflict. Although Barton went on to become the founder and first president of the Red Cross, the accomplishment for which she is best known, A Woman of Valor convinces us that her experience on the killing fields of the Civil War was her most extraordinary achievement.
Mercy Otis Warren: A Woman of the Revolution
by Eric OatmanFifth grade reading series. A book about Mercy Otis Warren.
And Then Life Happens: A Memoir
by Auma ObamaA moving account by Auma Obama about her life in Africa and Europe, and her relationship with her brother, Barack Obama.While her younger brother Barack grew up in the U.S. and Indonesia, Auma Obama's childhood played out at the other end of the world in a remote village in Kenya, the birthplace of the siblings' shared father. Barack and Auma met for the first time in the 1980s, and they built a lasting relationship which lead to travels together in Kenya, research into their family history and finally Auma's support for her brother's political career and eventual bid for the U.S. presidency.Auma spent sixteen years studying and living in Germany, moved to England for love, and gave birth to a daughter there. The tension between her original and chosen worlds and cultures was a constant challenge, and eventually Auma returned to Africa and worked to support young men and women in shaping their futures. In And Then Life Happens, her candid and emotional memoir, Auma shares her own story as well as recollections of and experiences with her famous brother, who says about their first encounter: "I hugged her, we looked at each other, and laughed. I knew right then that I loved her."
La audacia de la esperanza
by Barack ObamaEn La audacia de la esperanza, el senador demócrata Barack Obama reclama una política diferenteuna política para quienes están cansados del agrio partidismo, una política que se basa en la fe, la participación de todos y la nobleza de espíritu que es parte esencial de nuestro improbable proyecto de democracia. En el corazón de este libro está la visión del senador Obama de cómo podemos superar nuestras divisiones para enfrentar los problemas concretos. Él examina la creciente inseguridad económica de las familias estadounidenses, las tensiones raciales y religiosas dentro del cuerpo político y las amenazas transnacionalesdesde el terrorismo hasta las pandemiasque se congregan más allá de nuestras costas. En sus anécdotas acerca de su familia, amigos, miembros del Senado y hasta del presidente, existe un poderoso deseo de establecer conexiones: la plataforma de un consenso político radicalmente optimista. Como senador y abogado, profesor y padre, cristiano y escéptico, y sobre todo como estudioso de la historia y de la naturaleza humana, el senador Obama ha escrito un libro de un poder transformador.
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (Canons #54)
by Barack ObamaIn 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. Pictured in lefthand photograph on cover: Habiba Akumu Hussein and Barack Obama, Sr. (President Obama's paternal grandmother and his father as a young boy). Pictured in righthand photograph on cover: Stanley Dunham and Ann Dunham (President Obama's maternal grandfather and his mother as a young girl). From the Trade Paperback edition.
Dreams from My Father (Adapted for Young Adults): A Story of Race and Inheritance
by Barack ObamaNow adapted for young adults—the #1 New York Times bestselling memoir, which Toni Morrison called &“quite extraordinary,&” offers an intimate look at Barack Obama&’s early days. This is a compelling journey tracing the future 44th president's odyssey through family, race, and identity. A revealing portrait of a young Black man asking questions about self-discovery and belonging—long before he became one of the most important voices in America. This unique edition includes a new introduction from the author, full-color photo insert, and family tree. The son of a white American mother and a Black Kenyan father, Obama was born in Hawaii, where he lived until he was six years old, when he moved with his mother and stepfather to Indonesia. At twelve, he returned to Hawaii to live with his grandparents. Obama brings readers along as he faces the challenges of high school and college, living in New York, becoming a community organizer in Chicago, and traveling to Kenya. Through these experiences, he forms an enduring commitment to leadership and justice. Told through the lens of his relationships with his family—the mother and grandparents who raised him, the father he knows more as a myth than as a man, and the extended family in Kenya he meets for the first time—Obama confronts the complicated truth of his father&’s life and legacy and comes to embrace his divided heritage. On his journey to adulthood from a humble background, he forges his own path through trial and error while staying connected to his roots. Barack Obama is determined to lead a life of purpose, service, and authenticity. This powerful memoir will inspire readers to examine both where they come from and where they are capable of going.
Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters
by Barack ObamaIn this tender, beautiful letter to his daughters, President Barack Obama has written a moving tribute to thirteen groundbreaking Americans and the ideals that have shaped his nation. From the artistry of Georgia O'Keeffe, to the courage of Jackie Robinson, to the patriotism of George Washington, President Obama sees the traits of these heroes within his own children, and within all children. Breathtaking, evocative illustrations by award-winning artist Loren Long at once capture the personalities and achievements of these great Americans and the innocence and promise of childhood. This beautiful book celebrates the characteristics that unite all Americans, from the nation's founders to generations to come. It is about the potential within each of us to pursue our dreams and forge our own paths.
Of Thee I Sing: Read & Listen Edition
by Barack ObamaIn this tender, beautiful letter to his daughters, now available as a Read & Listen edition, President Barack Obama has written a moving tribute to thirteen groundbreaking Americans and the ideals that have shaped our nation. From the artistry of Georgia O'Keeffe, to the courage of Jackie Robinson, to the patriotism of George Washington, President Obama sees the traits of these heroes within his own children, and within all of America&’s children. Breathtaking, evocative illustrations by award-winning artist Loren Long at once capture the personalities and achievements of these great Americans and the innocence and promise of childhood. This beautiful book celebrates the characteristics that unite all Americans, from our nation&’s founders to generations to come. It is about the potential within each of us to pursue our dreams and forge our own paths. It is a treasure to cherish with your family forever.This ebook includes Read & Listen audio narration.
A Promised Land
by Barack ObamaA riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making—from the president who inspired us to believe in the power of democracy <p><p> In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency—a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil. <p> Obama takes readers on a compelling journey from his earliest political aspirations to the pivotal Iowa caucus victory that demonstrated the power of grassroots activism to the watershed night of November 4, 2008, when he was elected 44th president of the United States, becoming the first African American to hold the nation’s highest office. <p> Reflecting on the presidency, he offers a unique and thoughtful exploration of both the awesome reach and the limits of presidential power, as well as singular insights into the dynamics of U.S. partisan politics and international diplomacy. Obama brings readers inside the Oval Office and the White House Situation Room, and to Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, and points beyond. We are privy to his thoughts as he assembles his cabinet, wrestles with a global financial crisis, takes the measure of Vladimir Putin, overcomes seemingly insurmountable odds to secure passage of the Affordable Care Act, clashes with generals about U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, tackles Wall Street reform, responds to the devastating Deepwater Horizon blowout, and authorizes Operation Neptune’s Spear, which leads to the death of Osama bin Laden. <p> A Promised Land is extraordinarily intimate and introspective—the story of one man’s bet with history, the faith of a community organizer tested on the world stage. Obama is candid about the balancing act of running for office as a Black American, bearing the expectations of a generation buoyed by messages of “hope and change,” and meeting the moral challenges of high-stakes decision-making. He is frank about the forces that opposed him at home and abroad, open about how living in the White House affected his wife and daughters, and unafraid to reveal self-doubt and disappointment. Yet he never wavers from his belief that inside the great, ongoing American experiment, progress is always possible. <p> This beautifully written and powerful book captures Barack Obama’s conviction that democracy is not a gift from on high but something founded on empathy and common understanding and built together, day by day.
Los sueños de mi padre: Una historia de raza y herencia
by Barack ObamaEn estas memorias líricas y absorbentes, publicadas originalmente en 1995, el hijo de un africano negro y una estadounidense blanca busca su camino como afroamericano. Las memorias que Obama relata en Los sueños de mi padre comienzan en Nueva York, donde se entera de que su padre ha fallecido en un accidente automovilístico. La inesperada noticia provoca en él un viaje físico y emocional que lo lleva de Kansas a Hawái y más tarde a Kenia, en una emotiva odisea que le permitirá conocer realmente a su familia, la amarga verdad de la vida de su padre y conciliar al fin las distintas partes de su fragmentada herencia. Reseñas:«Provocador... Describe convincentemente el hecho de pertenecer a dos mundos diferentes y, por tanto, de no pertenecer a ninguno.»New York Times Book Review «De una manera fluida, tranquila y perceptiva, Obama nos guía directamente al sitio donde se cruzan los interrogantes más serios sobre identidad, clase y raza.»Washington Post Book World
Los sueños de mi padre. Edición para jóvenes / Dreams from My Father (Adapted for Young Adults)
by Barack ObamaAhora adaptadas para jóvenes, las memorias bestseller #1 del New York Times que Toni Morrison llamó “realmente extraordinarias” ofrecen una mirada íntima a los primeros años de Barack Obama. Se trata de un viaje fascinante que traza la odisea familiar, racial y de identidad del futuro cuadragésimo cuarto presidente. El retrato revelador de un joven hombre negro cuestionándose sobre el autodescubrimiento y la pertenencia… mucho antes de convertirse en una de las voces más importantes de Estados Unidos. Esta edición única incluye una nueva introducción del autor, un inserto de imágenes a color y un árbol genealógico. Hijo de una madre blanca de Estados Unidos y un padre negro de Kenya, Obama nació en Hawai, donde vivió hasta los seis años, cuando se mudó con su madre y su padrastro a Indonesia. A los doce años regresó a Hawai para vivir con sus abuelos. Obama lleva a sus lectores consigo mientras enfrenta los retos en high school y universidad, en su vida en Nueva York, al convertirse en organizador comunitario en Chicago y al viajar a Kenya. A través de tales experiencias forma un compromiso duradero con el liderazgo y la justicia. Contado a través de las relaciones con su familia —la madre y los abuelos que lo criaron, el padre que consideraba más mito que hombre y el clan familiar que conoció en Kenya por primera vez—, Obama hace frente a la complicada verdad de la vida y el legado de su padre, y termina por abrazar su origen dividido. En su viaje hacia la edad adulta desde sus humildes inicios, se forja su propio camino mediante ensayo y error, mientras permanece siempre conectado con sus raíces. Barack Obama está decidido a llevar una vida de servicio, con propósito y autenticidad. Su poderosa autobiografía inspirará a los lectores a examinar de dónde vienen y hasta dónde son capaces de llegar.