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I'm Staying at Richard's: Raising the Exceptional Son I Never Expected
by Bernadette AgiusThis inspiring, heartfelt, and powerful memoir by a mother of a child with Down syndrome explores the incredible blessings and challenges of raising a child with disabilities. When Bernadette Agius—an ambitious career-focused woman—became pregnant, she imagined her unborn child attending the best schools and dazzling everyone with his impressive wit, charm, and intelligence. But when the doctors placed her baby boy in her arms and told Bernadette he had Down syndrome, those dreams instantly disappeared. While her first impulse was to fight against this new reality, she soon found the strength to become the champion her son, Richard, would need and deserved. With the help of her husband and a newfound village of professionals, Bernadette forged a new life, discovering along the way that everyone has a different version of normal. Ultimately Richard, now thirty, was able to defy expectation and become an independent adult. Grounded in love, offering a message of hope, and told with humor and honesty, I’m Staying at Richard’s shines a light on the fierce, unwavering love of a mother for her son.
The Ethical Butcher: How Thoughtful Eating Can Change Your World
by Berlin ReedAmerica is in the midst of a meat zeitgeist. Butchers have emerged as the rock stars of the culinary world, and cozy gastropubs serving up pork belly, lamb burgers, and sweetbreads rule the restaurant scene. In New York, the humble meatball enjoys entrée status from upscale Gramercy Tavern to newcomer The Meatball Shop. Across the country in San Francisco, savvy chefs flock to hip meat markets like The Fatted Calf. If butchers are our new rock stars, then Berlin Reed is their front man.Berlin Reed is "The Ethical Butcher," a former self-described militant vegan punk who grudgingly took a job as a butcher's apprentice in Brooklyn when he could find no other work. Shockingly, he fell in love with the art of butchering, and a food revolution was born. Along the way he saw how corporate greed, unsustainable food practices, and outright misinformation gave birth to such falsities as the USDA label 'organic' and the conglomerate of eco-friendly supermarkets. Most people, even those that try to be healthy and green, are not really eating what they think they are eating. The Ethical Butcher will shine a light on these untruths and show a better way towards food justice and the sustainable living of a mindful omnivore.Through the lens of Berlin's personal story, The Ethical Butcher educates readers about how they can improve the meat industry by participating in it. It's a memoir in cuts - and Berlin's return to eating meat illustrates for readers and foodies alike how they can change the meat industry by making better choices.
Lonesome Roads and Streets of Dreams: Place, Mobility, and Race in Jazz of the 1930s and '40s
by Berish Andrew S.Any listener knows the power of music to define a place, but few can describe the how or why of this phenomenon. In Lonesome Roads and Streets of Dreams: Place, Mobility, and Race in Jazz of the 1930s and '40s, Andrew Berish attempts to right this wrong, showcasing how American jazz defined a culture particularly preoccupied with place. By analyzing both the performances and cultural context of leading jazz figures, including the many famous venues where they played, Berish bridges two dominant scholarly approaches to the genre, offering not only a new reading of swing era jazz but an entirely new framework for musical analysis in general, one that examines how the geographical realities of daily life can be transformed into musical sound. Focusing on white bandleader Jan Garber, black bandleader Duke Ellington, white saxophonist Charlie Barnet, and black guitarist Charlie Christian, as well as traveling from Catalina Island to Manhattan to Oklahoma City, Lonesome Roads and Streets of Dreams depicts not only a geography of race but how this geography was disrupted, how these musicians crossed physical and racial boundaries--from black to white, South to North, and rural to urban--and how they found expression for these movements in the insistent music they were creating.
Goldwyn
by Berg A. Scott'Goldwyn is a great book . . . Want to understand "The Movies"? Read it' Katharine Hepburn 'Scott Berg's book is not merely a biography, but also a history of Hollywood seen through the eyes of the people who made it . . . truly a book to savour' The Economist '. . . the Hollywood anecdotes retold here are among the funniest since David Niven's The Moon's A Balloon' Preview 'Fascinating . . . behind-the-scenes stories any tabloid would lunge at, a fabulous feeling for history, and, most of all, a brilliant account of a very complicated man' Cosmopolitan 'Scott Berg's excellent book is . . . a conscientious, absorbing rendition of a man who pursued respectability and starlets with equal verve' Guardian 'This is a thoroughly engrossing book about an unadmirable man' Publishers Weekly 'Granted complete access to Goldwyn's archives, Berg has produced a lively portrait which bears none of the earmarks of an authorized, sanitized biography' Library Journal
Primo Levi
by Ariella Lang Berel LangIn 1943, twenty-four-year-old Primo Levi had just begun a career in chemistry when, after joining a partisan group, he was captured by the Italian Fascist Militia and deported to Auschwitz. Of the 650 Italian Jews in his transport, he was one of fewer than 25 who survived the eleven months before the camp's liberation. Upon returning to his native Turin, Levi resumed work as a chemist and was employed for thirty years by a company specializing in paints and other chemical coatings. Yet soon after his return to Turin, he also began writing--memoirs, essays, novels, short stories, poetry--and it is for this work that he has won international recognition. His first book, If This Is a Man, issued in 1947 after great difficulty in finding a publisher, remains a landmark document of the twentieth century. Berel Lang's groundbreaking biography shines new light on Levi's role as a major intellectual and literary figure--an important Holocaust writer and witness but also an innovative moral thinker in whom his two roles as chemist and writer converged, providing the "matter" of his life. Levi's writing combined a scientist's attentiveness to structure and detail, an ironic imagination that found in all nature an ingenuity at once inviting and evasive, and a powerful and passionate moral imagination. Lang's approach provides a philosophically acute and nuanced analysis of Levi as thinker, witness, writer, and scientific detective.
The Navaho War Dance: A Brief Narrative of its Meaning and Practice
by Berard HaileExplains the meanings and customary forms of the Navajo war dance, including information on the drums and rattle sticks, the progression of the dance through each of its three days, and the different roles of the various participants.
Off the Rails: A Train Trip Through Life
by Beppe SevergniniIn this witty and entertaining collection of travel tales, an acclaimed journalist explores his obsession with trains--and what his rail journeys have taught him about culture and identity."I've gone around the world in installments. Every trip has been a revelation. I've watched regions, nations, and continents change moods and I've met more people on trains than in forty years of airplane flights. Every train trip has been a spectacle. Trains are stages, cafés, bazaars. The only talk show that will never go off the air..."Beppe Severgnini has spent his life traveling the world, and not just because he's a journalist; he's a passionate, unflagging train buff. Off the Rails recounts some of his favorite trips across Europe, Australia, Asia, and the United States, each journey bringing readers not only to a different place but to a different time, from his honeymoon on the Trans-Siberian Express (in a four-person compartment!), to a winding journey from Russia to Turkey during the last summer of communism, to a recent coast-to-coast trip with his son from Washington, D.C., to Washington State.Off the Rails is the perfect getaway for anyone with a touch of wanderlust, who dreams of escape or just likes to laugh. Filled with memorable characters and perceptive observations, it demonstrates--hilariously--what unites us.With the world in chaos and life in perpetual fast-forward, it's always the right time to hop on board with Beppe Severgnini and meet your charming, hapless, quarrelsome, romantic, shifty, quirky, endearing neighbors.
Courageous Journey
by Barbara Youree Ayuel Leek Deng Beny Ngor CholThis compelling, human story is coupled with timely issues facing the world: the crisis in Darfur, control of limited oil reserves, terrorism by radical Islamic groups. Told through the experiences of two boys, Ayuel Leek and Beny Ngor Chad, the book traces the journey of thousands of displaced children who walked for months across barren land, menaced by starvation, disease, wild animals, and gunfire. Author Barbara Youree, in collaboration with Leek and Chad, follows them through their years in refugee camps and their journey to the United States, where the author mentors them in college as they follow the American dream and pursue their goal of helping other Sudanese. Two million Sudanese have been killed and thousands more tortured, displaced, or sold into slavery. This is their story.
Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini
by Benvenuto CelliniBenvenuto Cellini was a celebrated Renaissance sculptor and goldsmith; a passionate craftsman who was admired and resented by the most powerful political and artistic personalities in sixteenth-century Florence, Rome and Paris. He was also a murderer and a braggart, a shameless adventurer who at different times experienced both papal persecution and imprisonment, and the adulation of the royal court. Inn-keepers and prostitutes, kings and cardinals, artists and soldiers rub shoulders in the pages of his notorious autobiography: a vivid portrait of the manners and morals of both the rulers of the day and of their subjects. Written with supreme powers of invective and an irrepressible sense of humour, this is an unrivalled glimpse into the palaces and prisons of the Italy of Michelangelo and the Medici.
The Autobiography Of Benvenuto Cellini
by Benvenuto CelliniFirst published in 1910, this edition of Benvenuto Cellini's autobiography includes an introduction and notes.
The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini
by Benvenuto CelliniBenvenuto Cellini was a celebrated Renaissance sculptor and goldsmith - a passionate craftsman who was admired and resented by the most powerful political and artistic personalities in sixteenth-century Florence, Rome and Paris. He was also a murderer and a braggart, a shameless adventurer who at different times experienced both papal persecution and imprisonment, and the adulation of the royal court. Inn-keepers and prostitutes, kings and cardinals, artists and soldiers rub shoulders in the pages of his notorious autobiography: a vivid portrait of the manners and morals of both the rulers of the day and of their subjects. Written with supreme powers of invective and an irrepressible sense of humour, this is an unrivalled glimpse into the palaces and prisons of the Italy of Michelangelo and the Medici.
The Rolling Stones In the Beginning: With unseen images
by Bent Rej"The photographs are amazing - the Stones are still practically children, messing around, pulling faces and writing the odd song."GQ"The finest single collection of Stones photographs I have ever seen" Bill WymanNEW, EXPANDED EDITION CONTAINING NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN PHOTOGRAPHS. In 1965 the Rolling Stones were big and about to be huge, when Bent Rej was given unprecedented access to a year in the eye of the rock 'n' roll storm, accompanying the band on its first full European outing: the Satisfaction tour. The Rolling Stones In the Beginning is Rej's collection of more than 300 intimate photographs of the band on stage, on the road and at home, documenting a year in the life of the Rolling Stones as they enjoyed their first taste of popular success.Long a fan favourite, this brand new edition offers an even closer look into the making of music history with images recently unearthed from Rej's archives.
The Rolling Stones In the Beginning: With unseen images
by Bent Rej"The photographs are amazing - the Stones are still practically children, messing around, pulling faces and writing the odd song."GQ"The finest single collection of Stones photographs I have ever seen" Bill WymanNEW, EXPANDED EDITION CONTAINING NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN PHOTOGRAPHS. In 1965 the Rolling Stones were big and about to be huge, when Bent Rej was given unprecedented access to a year in the eye of the rock 'n' roll storm, accompanying the band on its first full European outing: the Satisfaction tour. The Rolling Stones In the Beginning is Rej's collection of more than 300 intimate photographs of the band on stage, on the road and at home, documenting a year in the life of the Rolling Stones as they enjoyed their first taste of popular success.Long a fan favourite, this brand new edition offers an even closer look into the making of music history with images recently unearthed from Rej's archives.
Master of War: The Life of General George H. Thomas
by Benson BobrickIn this revelatory, dynamic biography, one of our finest historians, Benson Bobrick, profiles George H. Thomas, arguing that he was the greatest and most successful general of the Civil War. Because Thomas didn't live to write his memoirs, his reputation has been largely shaped by others, most notably Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman, two generals with whom Thomas served and who, Bobrick says, diminished his successes in their favor in their own memoirs. Born in Virginia, Thomas survived Nat Turner's rebellion as a boy, then studied at West Point, where Sherman was a classmate. Thomas distinguished himself in the Mexican War and then returned to West Point as an instructor. When the Civil War broke out, Thomas remained loyal to the Union, unlike fellow Virginia-born officer Robert E. Lee (among others). He compiled an outstanding record as an officer in battles at Mill Springs, Perryville, and Stones River. At the Battle of Chickamauga, Thomas, at the time a corps commander, held the center of the Union line under a ferocious assault, then rallied the troops on Horseshoe Ridge to prevent a Confederate rout of the Union army. His extraordinary performance there earned him the nickname "The Rock of Chickamauga." Promoted to command of the Army of the Cumberland, he led his army in a stunning Union victory at the Battle of Chattanooga. Thomas supported Sherman on his march through Georgia in the spring of 1864, winning an important victory at the Battle of Peachtree Creek. As Sherman continued on his March to the Sea, Thomas returned to Tennessee and in the battle of Nashville destroyed the army of Confederate General John Bell Hood. It was one of the most decisive victories of the war, and Thomas won it even as Grant was on his way to remove Thomas from his command. (When Grant discovered the magnitude of Thomas's victory, he quickly changed his mind.) Thomas died of a stroke in 1870 while still on active duty. In the entire Civil War, he never lost a battle or a movement. Throughout his career, Thomas was methodical and careful, and always prepared. Unlike Grant at Shiloh, he was never surprised by an enemy. Unlike Sherman, he never panicked in battle but always remained calm and focused. He was derided by both men as "Slow Trot Thomas," but as Bobrick shows in this brilliant biography, he was quick to analyze every situation and always knew what to do and when to do it. He was not colorful like Grant and Sherman, but he was widely admired by his peers, and some, such as Grant's favorite cavalry commander, General James H. Wilson, thought Thomas the peer of any general in either army. He was the only Union commander to destroy two Confederate armies in the field. Although historians of the Civil War have always regarded Thomas highly, he has never captured the public imagination, perhaps because he has lacked an outstanding biographer -- until now. This informed, judicious, and lucid biography at last gives Thomas his due.
Testament: A Soldier's Story of the Civil War
by Benson BobrickThe story of the author's great-grandfather's Civil War experience, based on a remarkable set of newly discoverd letters—a powerful, moving addition to the firsthand soldiers' accounts of the Civil War.Dear Mother, I was very glad to hear from home this morning. It is the first time since I left Otterville. We marched from Sedalia 120 miles....I almost feel anxious to be in a battle & yet I am almost afraid. I feel very brave sometimes & think if I should be in an engagement, I never would leave the field alive unless the stars & stripes floated triumphant. I do not know how it may be. If there is a battle & I should fall, tell with pride & not with grief that I fell in defense of liberty. Pray that I may be a true soldier. Not since Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage have the trials and tribulations of a private soldier of the Civil War been told with such beguiling force. The Red Badge of Courage, however, was fiction. This story is true. In Testament, Benson Bobrick draws upon an extraordinarily rich but hitherto untapped archive of material to create a continuous narrative of how that war was fought and lived. Here is virtually the whole theater of conflict in the West, from its beginnings in Missouri, through Kentucky and Tennessee, to the siege of Atlanta under Sherman, as experienced by Bobrick's great-grandfather, Benjamin W. ("Webb") Baker, an articulate young Illinois recruit. Born and raised not far from the Lincoln homestead in Coles County, Webb had stood in the audience of one of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, become a staunch Unionist, and answered one of Abraham Lincoln's first calls for volunteers. The ninety-odd letters on which his story is based are fully equal to the best letters the war produced, especially by a common soldier; but their wry intelligence, fortitude, and patriotic fervor also set them apart with a singular and still-undying voice. In the end, that voice blends with the author's own, as the book becomes a poignant tribute to his great-grandfather's life -- and to all the common soldiers of the nation's bloodiest war.
Abba: The Story Behind Every Track
by Benoît ClercTHE DEFINITIVE RECORDING HISTORY OF SWEDISH SUPERSTARS, ABBA, TOLD ALBUM-BY-ALBUM AND SONG-BY-SONG.Filled with fascinating photography (some rarely seen) and sensational behind-the-scenes details.Discover the untold stories behind ABBA's greatest hits, including the iconic 'Waterloo', 'Mamma Mia' and 'Dancing Queen' in this loving and thorough dissection of every album and song released by the pop megastars. From their first single in 1972, all the way up to their Grammy-nominated studio album, Voyage, and their revolutionary virtual tour, this definitive tome uncovers the full story behind every track that ABBA released.In over 500 pages, no stone is left unturned. Drawing upon decades of research, expert author Benoît Clerc recounts the circumstances that led to the composition of every song - detailing the inspiration behind the lyrics, the recording process and the instruments that shaped ABBA's distinctive sound.Featuring hundreds of photographs, including rare publicity stills, images of the instruments used by the band, and shots of the musicians on-stage and in-studio, Abba: All the Songs is the perfect gift for any fan of pop.
Abba: The Story Behind Every Track
by Benoît ClercTHE DEFINITIVE RECORDING HISTORY OF SWEDISH SUPERSTARS, ABBA, TOLD ALBUM-BY-ALBUM AND SONG-BY-SONG.Filled with fascinating photography (some rarely seen) and sensational behind-the-scenes details.Discover the untold stories behind ABBA's greatest hits, including the iconic 'Waterloo', 'Mamma Mia' and 'Dancing Queen' in this loving and thorough dissection of every album and song released by the pop megastars. From their first single in 1972, all the way up to their Grammy-nominated studio album, Voyage, and their revolutionary virtual tour, this definitive tome uncovers the full story behind every track that ABBA released.In over 500 pages, no stone is left unturned. Drawing upon decades of research, expert author Benoît Clerc recounts the circumstances that led to the composition of every song - detailing the inspiration behind the lyrics, the recording process and the instruments that shaped ABBA's distinctive sound.Featuring hundreds of photographs, including rare publicity stills, images of the instruments used by the band, and shots of the musicians on-stage and in-studio, Abba: All the Songs is the perfect gift for any fan of pop.
Metallica All the Songs
by Benoît ClercThis is the most in-depth exploration of Metallica's songs ever written.From their widely circulated demo, No Life 'til Leather, all the way to their 10th studio album Hardwired... to Self-Destruct - Metallica have earned the title of the biggest heavy metal band on the planet. Their albums, including the hugely influential Master of Puppets, are now considered classics of rock and metal, while singles such as Enter Sandman, Fade to Black and For Whom the Bell Tolls have stood the test of time. Follow the epic journey of the godfathers of thrash metal, song-by-song, and see how they became one of the biggest selling bands in the world.No stone is left unturned across more than 500 pages, illustrated with incredible photography throughout, from the inspiration behind the lyrics and melodies to the recording process and even the musicians and producers who worked on each track.Uncover the stories behind the music in this truly definitive book - a must-have for every Metallica fan.
Metallica All the Songs
by Benoît ClercThis is the most in-depth exploration of Metallica's songs ever written.From their widely circulated demo, No Life 'til Leather, all the way to their 10th studio album Hardwired... to Self-Destruct - Metallica have earned the title of the biggest heavy metal band on the planet. Their albums, including the hugely influential Master of Puppets, are now considered classics of rock and metal, while singles such as Enter Sandman, Fade to Black and For Whom the Bell Tolls have stood the test of time. Follow the epic journey of the godfathers of thrash metal, song-by-song, and see how they became one of the biggest selling bands in the world.No stone is left unturned across more than 500 pages, illustrated with incredible photography throughout, from the inspiration behind the lyrics and melodies to the recording process and even the musicians and producers who worked on each track.Uncover the stories behind the music in this truly definitive book - a must-have for every Metallica fan.
Prince: The Story Behind Every Track
by Benoît Clerc"Prince: All the Songs is a major achievement...[It] may be the definitive single-volume book about Prince for both its breadth and the way it views his life through the songs that were the true essence of his being." - PsychobabbleSpanning nearly 50 years of albums, EPs, B-sides, and more, read the full story behind all of the songs that Prince ever released. Moving chronologically through his epic back catalogue, expert author Benoît Clerc analyses everything there is to know about each song and session.No stone is left unturned across more than 600 pages, illustrated with incredible photography throughout. From the inspiration behind the lyrics and melody to the recording process and even the musicians and producers who worked on each track, uncover the stories behind the music in this truly definitive book - a must-have for every Prince fan.
Prince: The Story Behind Every Track
by Benoît ClercSpanning nearly 50 years of albums, EPs, B-sides, and more, read the full story behind all of the songs that Prince ever released. Moving chronologically through his epic back catalogue, expert author Benoît Clerc analyses everything there is to know about each song and session.No stone is left unturned across more than 600 pages, illustrated with incredible photography throughout. From the inspiration behind the lyrics and melody to the recording process and even the musicians and producers who worked on each track, uncover the stories behind the music in this truly definitive book - a must-have for every Prince fan.
My Escape: An Autobiography
by Benoite GroultThis witty autobiography captures the rich and varied life of a renowned French author and pioneering feminist, through the obstacles and movements in twentieth-century France. Born in 1920 in Paris, Benoite Groult obtained the right to vote only when she was twenty-five years old. She married four times, bore three children, underwent several illegal abortions, became a writer after she turned forty, and a feminist in her fifties. Groult chronicles her experiences and her intellectual developments through successive phases--as an obedient child, an awkward and bookish adolescent, and a submissive wife--until finally becoming a liberated novelist. Here, she recounts the childhood trips she spent with her family, Paris during the occupation, her marriages, motherhood, and her continuous fight for women's rights. At ninety-one years old, she concludes that she has been, and still is, a happy woman--lucky to have captured her freedoms, one by one, paying for them, delighting in them, and loving them. Sexy, chatty, and full of shrewd insight, My Escape covers her years of struggle and success--as a daughter, lover, writer, wife, mother, and reluctant socialite--and draws a portrait of the role of French women in the twentieth century.
The Fractalist
by Benoit MandelbrotA fascinating memoir from the man who revitalized visual geometry, and whose ideas about fractals have changed how we look at both the natural world and the financial world.Benoit Mandelbrot, the creator of fractal geometry, has significantly improved our understanding of, among other things, financial variability and erratic physical phenomena. In The Fractalist, Mandelbrot recounts the high points of his life with exuberance and an eloquent fluency, deepening our understanding of the evolution of his extraordinary mind. We begin with his early years: born in Warsaw in 1924 to a Lithuanian Jewish family, Mandelbrot moved with his family to Paris in the 1930s, where he was mentored by an eminent mathematician uncle. During World War II, as he stayed barely one step ahead of the Nazis until France was liberated, he studied geometry on his own and dreamed of using it to solve fresh, real-world problems. We observe his unusually broad education in Europe, and later at Caltech, Princeton, and MIT. We learn about his thirty-five-year affiliation with IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center and his association with Harvard and Yale. An outsider to mainstream scientific research, he managed to do what others had thought impossible: develop a new geometry that combines revelatory beauty with a radical way of unfolding formerly hidden laws governing utter roughness, turbulence, and chaos. Here is a remarkable story of both the man's life and his unparalleled contributions to science, mathematics, and the arts.
Erich von Manstein: Hitler's Master Strategist
by Benoit LemayA Selection of the Military Book Club: An “informative and objective” biography of a genius commander and a study of his loyalty to the Nazi cause (Library Journal).To many close students of World War II, Erich von Manstein is considered the greatest commander of the war, if not the entire twentieth century. He devised the plan that conquered France in 1940, and led an infantry corps in that campaign. At the head of a panzer corps he reached the gates of Leningrad in 1941, then took command of 11th Army and conquered Sevastopol and the Crimea. After destroying another Soviet army in the north, he was given command of the ad hoc Army Group Don to retrieve the German calamity at Stalingrad, whereupon he launched a counteroffensive that, against all odds, restored the German front. Afterward he commanded Army Group South, nearly crushing the Soviets at Kursk, and then skillfully resisted their relentless attacks as he traded territory for coherence in the East.Though an undoubtedly brilliant military leader—whose achievements, considering the forces at his disposal, rivaled of Patton, Rommel, MacArthur, and Montgomery—surprisingly little is known about Manstein himself, save for his own memoir and the accolades of his contemporaries. In this book we finally have a full portrait of the man, including his campaigns, and an analysis of what precisely kept a genius like Manstein harnessed to such a dark cause.A great military figure, but a man who lacked a sharp political sense, Manstein was very much representative of the Germano-Prussian military caste of his time. Though Hitler was uneasy about the influence he’d gained throughout the German Army, Manstein ultimately declined to join any clandestine plots against his Führer, believing they would simply cause chaos, the one thing he abhorred. Though he constantly opposed Hitler on operational details, he considered it a point of loyalty to simply stand with the German state, in whatever form. Though not bereft of personal opinions, his primary allegiances were, first, to Deutschland, and second, to the soldiers under his command, who’d been committed against an enemy many times their strength.It is thus through Manstein that the attitudes of other high-ranking officers who fought during the Second World War, particularly on the Eastern Front, can be illuminated. This book is “a well-researched, convincingly reasoned analysis of a general widely considered one of WWII’s great commanders” (Publishers Weekly).Includes photographs
America Anonymous: Eight Addicts in Search of a Life
by Benoit Denizet-LewisAMERICA ANONYMOUS is the unforgettable story of eight men and women struggling with addictions. For nearly three years acclaimed journalist Benoit Denizet-Lewis immersed himself in their lives as they battled drug and alcohol abuse, overeating, and compulsive gambling and sexuality. Alternating with their stories is Denizet-Lewis's candid account of his own recovery from sexual addiction and his compelling examination of our culture of addiction, where we obsessively search for new and innovative ways to escape the reality of the present moment and make ourselves "feel better."Addiction is arguably this country's biggest public-health crisis, triggering and exacerbating many of our most pressing social problems, from crime to child abuse and neglect. But while cancer and AIDS survivors have taken to the streets and to the halls of Congress demanding to be heard, millions of addicts talk only to one another in the confines of anonymous Twelve Step meetings. Through the riveting stories in this book, Denizet-Lewis shines a spotlight on addiction and breaks through the shame and denial that still shape our understanding of it--and hamper our ability to treat it.As these eight addicts stumble, fall, and try again to make a different and better life, Denizet-Lewis records their struggles, and his own, with honesty and empathy.to make a different and better life, Denizet-Lewis records their struggles -- and his own -- with honesty and empathy.