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Cubed: The Puzzle Of Us All
by Erno RubikErno Rubik inspires us with what he's learned in a lifetime of creating, curiosity, and discovery.
Cubs 100: A Century at Wrigley
by Dan Campana Rob CarrollThe Cubs have called Wrigley their home since 1916 and have treated their loyal followers with memories that have lasted for generations. From the legend of Babe Ruth's called shot to Kerry Wood's dominant twenty-strikeout performance, great games, notable names and a multitude of memorable moments have played out at Clark and Addison to create baseball's most recognizable relationship: the Cubs and Wrigley Field. The authors of Wrigley Field: 100 Stories for 100 Years return to celebrate this grand anniversary with Cubs 100: A Century at Wrigley, a new collection of baseball tales, including highlights from the exciting 2015 season, from storytellers such as Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson, Len Kasper and many others who know the symbiotic connection between the historic franchise and its iconic home.
Cubs in the Tub: The True Story of the Bronx Zoo's First Woman Zookeeper
by Candace FlemingFred and Helen Martini longed for a baby, and they ended up with dozens of lion and tiger cubs! Snuggle up to this purr-fect read aloud about the Bronx Zoo's first female zoo-keeper.When Bronx Zoo-keeper Fred brought home a lion cub, Helen Martini instantly embraced it. The cub's mother lost the instinct to care for him. "Just do for him what you would do with a human baby," Fred suggested...and she did. Helen named him MacArthur, and fed him milk from a bottle and cooed him to sleep in a crib.Soon enough, MacArthur was not the only cub bathed in the tub! The couple continues to raise lion and tiger cubs as their own, until they are old enough to return them to zoos. Helen becomes the first female zookeeper at the Bronx zoo, the keeper of the nursery.This is a terrific non-fiction book to read aloud while snuggling up with your cubs! Filled with adorable baby cats, this is a story about love, dedication, and a new kind of family.Gorgeously patterned illustrations by Julie Downing detail the in-home nursery and a warm pallet creates a cozy pairing with Candace Fleming's lovely language.Backmatter includes a short biography of Helen Martini and a selected bibliography.A Junior Library Guild SelectionA Bank Street Best Children's Book of the YearNamed to the Texas Topaz Reading List
La cuca: Mirta Graciela Antón, la única mujer sentenciada a cadena perpetua por delitos de lesa humanidad
by Ana MarianiHistoria maldita de la única mujer condenada a prisión perpetua en América Latina por secuestros, torturas, homicidios y abusos durante la última dictadura. Policía; hija, esposa, hermana, madre y tía de policías, Mirta Graciela Antón -la Cuca- es la única mujer en América Latina sentenciada a cadena perpetua por numerosos hechos de privación ilegítima de la libertad, tormentos, homicidios, desapariciones forzadas y abusos deshonestos en un juicio por delitos de lesa humanidad. Comenzó a cometerlos cuando tenía veinte años y cumplía funciones en el Departamento de Informaciones de la Policía de Córdoba, el siniestro D2. Durante las audiencias judiciales, su imagen siempre se destacó: única mujer rodeada de hombres, impecable y elegante, que ríe irónica ante víctimas y testigos, oculta su rostro o gesticula ante las cámaras. En la primavera de 2016, la periodista Ana Mariani se reunió varias veces con Antón. En la cárcel, habló de su vida y sugirió con insistencia que los crímenes de los cuales se la acusaba habían sido cometidos por su exmarido, el fallecido represor Raúl Buceta. "Me declaro total y absolutamente inocente de todo", sostuvo. Los testimonios de sus víctimas dicen lo contrario, y la elocuencia de los silencios de la Cuca parece darles la razón. Ana Mariani reúne en este libro esas voces y esos silencios.
Cuckoo in the Nest: 28 and back home with mum and dad. Living the dream...
by Nat LuurtsemaKeep your enemies close, your family less so... Last year Nat found herself with nowhere to live. She considered sleeping on the bus and washing in the rain but inevitably ended up on her parents' doorstep. It was only for a month, she assured them, if that.. She repeated this phrase a lot over the next six months, while the housing market stagnated like a spoilt kid's fish tank, and her life followed suit. While her friends pursued normal adult lives, Nat was taking packed lunches to gigs and being treated to lectures on 'Why It's Nice When All The Tins Face Forwards In The Cupboard.' ('So we can see what they all are at a glance!') Nat wouldn't say she and those like her were the real victims of the recession, but it would be nice if you did. Then she would do a tiny, brave smile. A book for anyone who's been forced back to the family nest, parents who can't shake off their adult kids, or anyone who's ever excused themselves from a family gathering for a quick scream into a pile of towels.
Cuckoo in the Nest: 28 and back home with mum and dad. Living the dream...
by Nat LuurtsemaKeep your enemies close, your family less so... Last year Nat found herself with nowhere to live. She considered sleeping on the bus and washing in the rain but inevitably ended up on her parents' doorstep. It was only for a month, she assured them, if that.. She repeated this phrase a lot over the next six months, while the housing market stagnated like a spoilt kid's fish tank, and her life followed suit. While her friends pursued normal adult lives, Nat was taking packed lunches to gigs and being treated to lectures on 'Why It's Nice When All The Tins Face Forwards In The Cupboard.' ('So we can see what they all are at a glance!') Nat wouldn't say she and those like her were the real victims of the recession, but it would be nice if you did. Then she would do a tiny, brave smile. A book for anyone who's been forced back to the family nest, parents who can't shake off their adult kids, or anyone who's ever excused themselves from a family gathering for a quick scream into a pile of towels.
Cuckoo in the Nest: 28 and back home with mum and dad. Living the dream...
by Nat LuurtsemaKeep your enemies close, your family less so...Last year Nat found herself with nowhere to live. She considered sleeping on the bus and washing in the rain but inevitably ended up on her parents' doorstep. It was only for a month, she assured them, if that.. She repeated this phrase a lot over the next six months, while the housing market stagnated like a spoilt kid's fish tank, and her life followed suit. While her friends pursued normal adult lives, Nat was taking packed lunches to gigs and being treated to lectures on 'Why It's Nice When All The Tins Face Forwards In The Cupboard.' ('So we can see what they all are at a glance!')Nat wouldn't say she and those like her were the real victims of the recession, but it would be nice if you did. Then she would do a tiny, brave smile.A book for anyone who's been forced back to the family nest, parents who can't shake off their adult kids, or anyone who's ever excused themselves from a family gathering for a quick scream into a pile of towels.(P)2012 Hodder & Stoughton
¡Cuéntamelo!: Testimonios de Inmigrantes Latinos LGBT / Oral Histories by LGBT Latino Immigrants
by Juliana Delgado Lopera Laura Cerón Melo Eva Seifert Virginia Benavidez Shadia Savo Santiago Acosta Adela Vázquez Alexandra Cruz Manuel Rodríguez Cruz Marlen Hernández Carlos Sayán Wong Mahogany Sánchez Nelson D’Alerta¡Cuéntamelo! Oral Histories by LGBT Latino Immigrants. ¡Cuéntamelo! began as a cover story for SF Weekly, and, eventually in 2014 with local grant support, Juliana Delgado Lopera was able to publish a limited first edition of 300. Aunt Lute is pleased to bring this title back into circulation. In addition to beautiful black and white drawings of the contributors by artist Laura Cerón Melo, this edition features a number of candid earlier photographs of several of the contributors, as well as a new introduction from Juliana. ¡Cuéntamelo! is “[a] stunning collection of bilingual oral histories and illustrations by LGBT Latinx immigrants who arrived in the U.S. during the 80s and 90s. Stories of repression in underground Havana in the 60s; coming out trans in Catholic Puerto Rico in the 80s; Scarface, female impersonators, Miami and the 'boat people'; San Francisco’s underground Latinx scene during the 90s and more.”¡Cuéntamelo! is bilingual. All stories in this book have both an English and Spanish version.
El cuento de la bandera tachonada de estrellas
by Candice Kramer Alan Kramer Paul Leveno Karen LeonPerform this script about two children who travel back in time to be with Francis Scott Key as he writes "The Star Spangled Banner. "
Cuerpos divinos
by Guillermo Cabrera InfanteUn apasionante libro de memorias noveladas de Guillermo Cabrera Infante, que recrea toda la efervescencia de su juventud en Cuba En estas memorias comenzadas nada más exiliarse de Cuba, Guillermo Cabrera Infante describe con lujo de detalles su juventud en la efervescente isla de fines de los años cincuenta y principios de los sesenta. La Habana, el cine, el sexo, la música y la llegada de la Revolución conviven en un relato de fondo gozoso, aunque teñido por el dolor de la distancia. Proyecto inacabado a la muerte del autor y en cierto modo inacabable, Cuerpos divinos vuelve sobre los temas claves de Cabrera Infante, pero les añade el fervor testimonial de quien aspira a recordarlo todo para impedir que su mundo privado caiga en el olvido. Reseñas:«El libro que le acompañó toda su vida.»Antoni Munné «No cabe duda de que nos hallamos ante el que puede ser el libro decisivo del autor, pese a restarinacabado.»Joaquín Marcos, El Cultural
La cueva del cíclope: Tuiteos sobre literatura en el bar de Lola (2010-2020)
by Arturo Pérez-ReverteDiez años de conversaciones sobre literatura en el bar de Lola. «Hablar de libros en Twitter es como hacerlo con los amigos en la barra de un bar -dice Arturo Pérez-Reverte-. Si conversar sobre libros siempre es un acto de felicidad, que una red social sirva para esto la hace especialmente valiosa. Ahí vuelco con naturalidad toda una vida de lectura, y ahí comparto, con la misma naturalidad, la vida de lectura de mis lectores. Y el lector es un amigo.» Arturo Pérez-Reverte cumple diez años en Twitter. Son muchos los temas de los que ha hablado en esta red en este período, pero los libros ocupan un lugar protagónico. Entre febrero de 2010 y marzo de 2020, ha escrito más 45.000 mensajes, muchos de ellos sobre literatura, tanto la suya propia como aquella que estaba leyendo o la que le ha marcado a través de los años como escritor. Estos mensajes conforman los encuentros virtuales con sus seguidores en el mítico bar de Lola y se suceden periódicamente desde ese lejano día en que se adentró en esta «cueva del cíclope», como él mismo dio en llamar a la red social. Entre los muchos aspectos relacionados con la literatura, los tuiteros le han preguntado por su próxima novela o por su proceso de escritura, y le han pedido recomendaciones de lectura. Este libro reúne, gracias a la labor compiladora de Rogorn Moradan, todas estas conversaciones directas y sin intermediarios que ha mantenido Arturo Pérez-Reverte con sus lectores. Frente al carácter inmediato y efímero de los comentarios en esta red, hay algunas cuentas que, como dice Rogorn, «contienen pepitas de oro que merece la pena preservar». La de Arturo Pérez-Reverte es una de ellas. Anímense a entrar y tómense algo. Lola abre el bar durante un buen rato esta vez. Clic.
Cujo: The Untold Story of My Life On and Off the Ice
by Curtis Joseph Kirstie McLellan DayCurtis Joseph, known affectionately to hockey fans around the world as Cujo, was an unlikely NHL superstar. The boy from Keswick, Ontario, didn’t put on a pair of skates until most kids his age were already far along in organized hockey, and he was passed over by every team in the NHL draft. Despite an unorthodox start, he would go on to play eighteen seasons with the St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Phoenix Coyotes and Calgary Flames; be ranked among the all-time greats in several key categories; and win an Olympic gold medal while representing Canada. Joseph is a legend in Toronto, where his fandom rivals that of other beloved Leaf greats, and he’s widely thought of as one of the best goalies of all time.For the first time, in this revealing memoir, Joseph talks about his highly unusual upbringing and what led him to put on his first pair of skates. Written by Kirstie McLellan Day, the world’s top writer of hockey books, this book surprises and entertains, and shares on- and off-the-ice tales no fan has heard before: the untold story behind the legend.
The Culinarians: Lives and Careers from the First Age of American Fine Dining
by David S. ShieldsHe presided over Virginia’s great political barbeques for the last half of the nineteenth century, taught the young Prince of Wales to crave mint juleps in 1859, catered to Virginia’s mountain spas, and fed two generations of Richmond epicures with terrapin and turkey. This fascinating culinarian is John Dabney (1821–1900), who was born a slave, but later built an enterprising catering business. Dabney is just one of 175 influential cooks and restaurateurs profiled by David S. Shields in The Culinarians, a beautifully produced encyclopedic history of the rise of professional cooking in America from the early republic to Prohibition. Shields’s concise biographies include the legendary Julien, founder in 1793 of America’s first restaurant, Boston’s Restorator; and Louis Diat and Oscar of the Waldorf, the men most responsible for keeping the ideal of fine dining alive between the World Wars. Though many of the gastronomic pioneers gathered here are less well known, their diverse influence on American dining should not be overlooked—plus, their stories are truly entertaining. We meet an African American oyster dealer who became the Congressional caterer, and, thus, a powerful broker of political patronage; a French chef who was a culinary savant of vegetables and drove the rise of California cuisine in the 1870s; and a rotund Philadelphia confectioner who prevailed in a culinary contest with a rival in New York by staging what many believed to be the greatest American meal of the nineteenth century. He later grew wealthy selling ice cream to the masses. Shields also introduces us to a French chef who brought haute cuisine to wealthy prospectors and a black restaurateur who hosted a reconciliation dinner for black and white citizens at the close of the Civil War in Charleston. Altogether, Culinarians is a delightful compendium of charcuterie-makers, pastry-pipers, caterers, railroad chefs, and cooking school matrons—not to mention drunks, temperance converts, and gangsters—who all had a hand in creating the first age of American fine dining and its legacy of conviviality and innovation that continues today.
Culinary Harmony: Favorite Recipes of the World's Finest Classical Musicians
by David RezitsA detailed biography accompanies each musician, allowing readers to get to know the artists, while mastering their tasty recipes.
La culpa la tiene el técnico: Historias del loco mundo de los entrenadores
by Jorge SeñoransEste libro nos relata historias locas y profundamente humanas, historias increíbles. Un entrenador que en plena asamblea de la gremial fue hasta su vehículo a buscar una cuchilla choricera para pelear con Juan Ramón Carrasco. Otro que, para cortar una mala racha, hizo subir al 9 de su equipo a un ómnibus con una planta en la cabeza y tiempo después, mandó pintar las paredes y las bombitas del vestuario visitante de negro para que fuera «un ataúd». El que todas las mañanas de invierno se lanzaba en la piscina de agua helada de su casa y llegó a encerrar a sus jugadores en un sótano con tarántulas. La desaparición de Luis Cubilla en pleno partido por temor a una guerra civil, el torneo que se jugó sin entrenadores y las andanzas de Mario Patrón, que se ponía un lápiz detrás de la oreja y diseñaba los partidos con dibujitos en una hoja. Un libro que habla del loco mundo de los entrenadores. Una obra que reúne a personajes como Gerardo Pelusso, que se disfrazó de rockero para reunirse con los dirigentes de un equipo; Luis Garisto, que en Argentina iba a entrenar en subte y cuando venía a Uruguay le gustaba hacer el recorrido del transporte público porque decía que «el olor del ómnibus de CUTCSA es único». Cabuleros como Hugo Bagnulo, que se ponía piedras en la boca y mandaba a sus dirigidos al baño. Sobrios y sin pelos en la lengua, como Hugo de León, que fue declarado persona no grata en Bolivia y se peleó con el argentino Daniel Passarella. Y luchadoras como Leticia Rodríguez, la mujer pionera en dirigir a un plantel de hombres.
Cult City: Jim Jones, Harvey Milk, and 10 Days That Shook San Francisco
by Daniel J. FlynnIn recounting the fascinating, intersecting stories of Jim Jones and Harvey Milk, Cult City tells the story of a great city gone horribly wrong. November 1978. Reverend Jim Jones, the darling of the San Francisco political establishment, orchestrates the murders and suicides of 918 people at a remote jungle outpost in South America. Days later, Harvey Milk, one of America’s first openly gay elected officials—and one of Jim Jones’s most vocal supporters—is assassinated in San Francisco’s City Hall. This horrifying sequence of events shocked the world. Almost immediately, the lives and deaths of Jim Jones and Harvey Milk became shrouded in myth. Now, forty years later, this book corrects the record. The product of a decade of research, including extensive archival work and dozens of exclusive interviews, Cult City reveals just how confused our understanding has become. In life, Jim Jones enjoyed the support of prominent politicians and Hollywood stars even as he preached atheism and communism from the pulpit; in death, he transformed into a fringe figure, a “fundamentalist Christian” and a “fascist.” In life, Harvey Milk faked hate crimes, outed friends, and falsely claimed that the US Navy dishonorably discharged him over his homosexuality; in death, he is honored in an Oscar-winning movie, with a California state holiday, and a US Navy ship named after him. His assassin, a blue-collar Democrat who often voted with Milk in support of gay issues, is remembered as a right-winger and a homophobe. But the story extends far beyond Jones and Milk. Author Daniel J. Flynn vividly portrays the strange intersection of mainstream politics and murderous extremism in 1970s San Francisco—the hangover after the high of the Summer of Love.
Cult Film Stardom
by Kate Egan Sarah ThomasThe term 'cult film star' has been employed in popular journalistic writing for the last 25 years, but what makes cult stars distinct from other film stars has rarely been addressed. This collection explores the processes through which film stars/actors become associated with the cult label, from Bill Murray to Ruth Gordon and Ingrid Pitt.
Cult Insanity: A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets, and Blood Atonement
by Irene SpencerLife for Irene Spencer was a series of devastating disappointments and hardships. Irene's first book, Shattered Dreams, is the staggering chronicle of herstruggle to provide for her children in abject poverty and feelings of abandonment each time her husband left to be with one of his other wives. Irene was raised to believe polygamy was the way of life necessary for her ticket to heaven. The hard knocks of her environment were just the beginning of Irene's shocking tale. Insanity ran rampant in her husband's family and was the source of inconceivable events that unfolded throughout Irene's adult life. Cult Insanity takes readers deeper into her story to uncover the outrageous behavior of her brother-in-law Ervil -- a self-proclaimed prophet who determined he was called to set the house of God in order -- and how he terrorized their colony. Claiming to be God's avenger and to have a license to kill in the name of God, Ervil ordered the murders of friends and family members, eliminating all those who challenged his authority. For those who were gripped by Shattered Dreams, the rest of the story will blow them away. Cult Insanity is a riveting, terrifying memoir of polygamist life under the tyranny of a madman.
Cult, A Love Story: Ten Years Inside a Canadian Cult and the Subsequent Long Road of Recovery
by Alexandra AmorThink you could never join a cult? So did I. <P><P> Cults thrive on secrecy, isolation, deception, and manipulation as they coerce even worldly and intelligent people into their cruel grip. In this award-winning memoir, Alexandra Amor shines a light on cults so that others might learn from her heartbreaking experience. Amor gracefully and sensitively explains how ordinary and intelligent people get seduced into joining cults, why they stay despite the emotional and psychological abuse, and what the long process of recovery looks like once someone leaves a cult. <P><P> Amor's transparency about her decade-long involvement with a Vancouver, Canada cult makes this powerful and gripping book an excellent resource for those wanting to know more about how the mind control of a high demand spiritual or religious group works.
Cult Musicians: 50 Progressive Performers You Need to Know (Cult Figures)
by Robert Dimery“Even the most avid music fan will make some new discoveries in these pages.” —The CurrentWhat makes a cult musician? Whether pioneering in their craft, fiercely and undeniably unique, or critically divisive, cult musicians come in all shapes and guises. Some gain instant fame, others instant notoriety, and more still remain anonymous, with small, devout followings, until a chance change in fashion sees their work propelled into the limelight.Cult Musicians introduces fifty beyond-the-mainstream musicians deserving of a cult status in genres from afrobeat and art pop to glam rock and proto punk. Weird and wonderful, innovators and boundary breakers, they include Alex Chilton and Aphex Twin, Bobbie Gentry and Brian Eno, Kat Bjelland and Kool Keith, Nick Drake and Nick Cave—and dozens more with a special ability to inspire, antagonize, and delight. Included are insightful profiles, discographies, and striking illustrations by Kristelle Rodeia.
The Cult Next Door: A True Story of a Suburban Manhattan New Age Cult
by Elizabeth Burchard Judith Carlone William GoldbergDuring Thanksgiving vacation of her freshman year at Swarthmore College (1977), Elizabeth, at her mother's insistence, attended a "stress-reduction" session with a biofeedback technician on staff at a Manhattan psychologist's office. During that first visit, this man filled her ears with prophetic visions of a glorious future--the inheritance of those fortunate few who might choose to accompany him. His confidence and charisma entranced her, and she soon recruited two of her college roommates. When the psychologist fired his assistant two years later, Elizabeth and her mother followed. Over the next decade, this man, a malevolent genius and master of manipulating metaphysical concepts to benefit a self-serving agenda, organized a small, dedicated band of followers. "The Group" evolved into an incestuous family--a cult. Their brainwashed minds became fused with a distinctive, New Age doctrine. A coterie of spiritual "Navy Seals", they scrambled in terror, training to survive the inevitable cataclysm--one man's divine vision of Armageddon. Subsequent to a momentous event in August 1994, with the guru as high priest, "The Black Dog Religion" was born. Elizabeth sank into a pit of despair, darker than she ever could have imagined was possible. From the adolescent gullibility which seduced her astray, to the enlightenment which led her to freedom, you will travel an incredible journey. For anyone who has ever been trapped by a person who would not let them go, within this book lies a message of hope.
Cult of Glory: The Bold and Brutal History of the Texas Rangers
by Doug J. SwansonA twenty-first century reckoning with the legendary Texas Rangers that does justice to their heroic moments while also documenting atrocities, brutality, oppression, and corruptionThe Texas Rangers came to life in 1823, when Texas was still part of Mexico. Nearly 200 years later, the Rangers are still going--one of the most famous of all law enforcement agencies. In Cult of Glory, Doug J. Swanson has written a sweeping account of the Rangers that chronicles their epic, daring escapades while showing how the white and propertied power structures of Texas used them as enforcers, protectors and officially sanctioned killers.Cult of Glory begins with the Rangers' emergence as conquerors of the wild and violent Texas frontier. They fought the fierce Comanches, chased outlaws, and served in the U.S. Army during the Mexican War. As Texas developed, the Rangers were called upon to catch rustlers, tame oil boomtowns, and patrol the perilous Texas-Mexico border. In the 1930s they began their transformation into a professionally trained police force. Countless movies, television shows, and pulp novels have celebrated the Rangers as Wild West supermen. In many cases, they deserve their plaudits. But often the truth has been obliterated. Swanson demonstrates how the Rangers and their supporters have operated a propaganda machine that turned agency disasters and misdeeds into fables of triumph, transformed murderous rampages--including the killing of scores of Mexican civilians--into valorous feats, and elevated scoundrels to sainthood. Cult of Glory sets the record straight.Beginning with the Texas Indian wars, Cult of Glory embraces the great, majestic arc of Lone Star history. It tells of border battles, range disputes, gunslingers, massacres, slavery, political intrigue, race riots, labor strife, and the dangerous lure of celebrity. And it reveals how legends of the American West--the real and the false--are truly made.
The Cult of the Presidency: America's Dangerous Devotion to Executive Power
by Gene HealyThis book cakes a step back from the ongoing red team/blue team combat and shows that, at bottom, conservatives and liberals agree on the boundless nature of presidential responsibility. For both camps, it is the president's job to grow the economy, teach our children well, provide seamless protection from terrorist threats, and rescue Americans from spiritual malaise, very few Americans seem to think it odd, says Healy, "when presidential candidates talk as if they're running for a job that's a combination of guardian angel, shaman, and supreme warlord of the earth." <p><p> Interweaving historical scholarship, legal analysis, and trenchant cultural commentary, The Cult of the Presidency traces America's decades-long drift from the Framers' vision for the presidency: a constitutionally constrained chief magistrate charged with faithful execution of the laws. Restoring that vision will require a Congress and a Court willing to check executive power, but Healy emphasizes that there is no simple legislative or judicial "fix" to the problems of the presidency. Unless Americans change what we ask of the office - no longer demanding what we should not want and cannot have - we'll get what, in a sense, we deserve.
The Cult of We: WeWork, Adam Neumann, and the Great Startup Delusion
by Eliot Brown Maureen Farrell&“A juicy investigation into one of Silicon Valley&’s most-hyped fallen unicorns.&”—Time (Best Books of Summer 2021)The definitive inside story of WeWork, its audacious founder, and what its epic unraveling says about a financial system drunk on the elixir of Silicon Valley innovation—from the Wall Street Journal correspondents (recently featured in the WeWork Hulu documentary) whose scoop-filled reporting hastened the company&’s downfall. WeWork would be worth $10 trillion, more than any other company in the world. It wasn&’t just an office space provider. It was a tech company—an AI startup, even. Its WeGrow schools and WeLive residences would revolutionize education and housing. One day, mused founder Adam Neumann, a Middle East peace accord would be signed in a WeWork. The company might help colonize Mars. And Neumann would become the world&’s first trillionaire. This was the vision of Neumann and his primary cheerleader, SoftBank&’s Masayoshi Son. In hindsight, their ambition for the company, whose primary business was subletting desks in slickly designed offices, seems like madness. Why did so many intelligent people—from venture capitalists to Wall Street elite—fall for the hype? And how did WeWork go so wrong? In little more than a decade, Neumann transformed himself from a struggling baby clothes salesman into the charismatic, hard-partying CEO of a company worth $47 billion—on paper. With his long hair and feel-good mantras, the six-foot-five Israeli transplant looked the part of a messianic truth teller. Investors swooned, and billions poured in. Neumann dined with the CEOs of JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, entertaining a parade of power brokers desperate to get a slice of what he was selling: the country&’s most valuable startup, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and a generation-defining moment. Soon, however, WeWork was burning through cash faster than Neumann could bring it in. From his private jet, sometimes clouded with marijuana smoke, he scoured the globe for more capital. Then, as WeWork readied a Hail Mary IPO, it all fell apart. Nearly $40 billion of value vaporized in one of corporate America&’s most spectacular meltdowns. Peppered with eye-popping, never-before-reported details, The Cult of We is the gripping story of careless and often absurd people—and the financial system they have made.
Cultivating Justice in the Garden State: My Life in the Colorful World of New Jersey Politics
by Raymond LesniakBorn into a working-class Polish immigrant family in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Raymond Lesniak went on to become a major force in the tough and bruising world of state politics. In this remarkable memoir, he reflects upon his life and career fighting for social justice in the Garden State. He recounts the many causes he championed in his forty years as a state legislator, from the landmark Environmental Cleanup Responsibility Act to bills concerning animal protections, marriage equality, women’s reproductive rights, and the abolition of the death penalty. He also delves into his experiences on the national stage as a key advisor for Bill Clinton and Al Gore’s presidential campaigns. With refreshing candor, Lesniak describes both his greatest achievements and his moments of failure, including his unsuccessful 2017 gubernatorial run. Cultivating Justice in the Garden State is both a gripping American success story and a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the inner workings of our political system. It offers an insider’s perspective on the past fifty years of New Jersey politics, while presenting a compelling message about what leaders and citizens can do to improve the state’s future.