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Fiji My Island Home: Country village life including Sugar Cane Farmers - Fiji
by Dr Kamlesh SharmaFiji: my island home provides an extraordinary insight in the daily livelihood of the poor sugar cane farmers in Fiji. The book discloses the struggles, survival and contributions to the local economy by farmers who toil on small pieces of land ranging in sizes of three to five acres each. These are leased from the Indigenous owners for a fixed term with no provision for further extension. The public bus services in Fiji are vividly narrated to capture the true essence of the word 'Fiji Time'. The book tries to build bridges of remembrance, understanding and reconciliation amongst Fijians of diverse cultural backgrounds. Finally, the book very clearly articulates and communicates the message that no matter where a Fijian is located in the world, one can never part from the fond memories of the island home!
Filled with Fire and Light: Portraits and Legends from the Bible, Talmud, and Hasidic World
by Elie WieselHere are magnificent insights into the lives of biblical prophets and kings, talmudic sages, and Hasidic rabbis from the internationally acclaimed writer, Nobel laureate, and one of the world&’s most honored and beloved teachers. From a multitude of sources, Elie Wiesel culls facts, legends, and anecdotes to give us fascinating portraits of notable figures throughout Jewish history. Here is the prophet Elisha, wonder-worker and adviser to kings, whose compassion for those in need is matched only by his fiery temper. Here is the renowned scholar Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai, whose ingenuity in escaping from a besieged Jerusalem on the eve of its destruction by Roman legions in 70 CE laid the foundation for the rabbinic teachings and commentaries that revolutionized the practice and study of Judaism and have sustained the Jewish people for two thousand years of ongoing exile. And here is Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of Chabad Hasidism, languishing in a Czarist prison in 1798, the victim of a false accusation, engaging in theological discussions with his jailers that would form the basis for Chabad&’s legendary method of engagement with the world at large. In recounting the life stories of these and other spiritual masters, in delving into the struggles of human beings trying to create meaningful lives touched with sparks of the divine, Wiesel challenges and inspires us all to find purpose and transcendence in our own lives.
Fillets of Plaice (Clàssics Moderns Ser.)
by Gerald DurrellThe celebrated naturalist and author of the Corfu Trilogy, shares more humorous reflections on a life spent among humans and animals. In My Family and Other Animals and its sequels, Gerald Durrell writes of his family&’s antics during their time on the Greek island of Corfu. In his later memoirs, he vividly describes his expeditions to other, faraway places. In Fillets of Plaice, he compiles a quintet of hilarious stories that touch on all of the above and more—from his unconventional childhood to his passion for animal conservation as an adult. His adventures range from a rollicking birthday party to a London pet shop to the exotic locale of deepest Africa. Throughout it all, Durrell entertains with his signature charming, witty voice. A compendium of outrageous tales, Fillets of Plaice is perfect for longtime fans of Durrell&’s work, and anyone looking for a heartwarming, riotous read. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Gerald Durrell including rare photos from the author&’s estate.
Filling Her Shoes: A Memoir of an Inherited Family
by Betsy Graziani FasbinderOn the day that she decided to marry a widower—also a long-time friend—Betsy Graziani Fasbinder knew that she wasn&’t only gaining a husband, she was inheriting a son. Unlike many stepmothers, Betsy didn&’t have to struggle with an ex, or court battles, or the weekend shuffle between houses—but she did have to navigate living in the shadow of a young mother taken too soon, to honor the memory of her son&’s first mother, and to become the kind of parent and partner she herself wanted to be. Over time this family would learn how love&’s roots were formed in their shared losses, and how the new family love and joy they created together would become the richest kind of inheritance.
Film Crazy
by Patrick McgilliganIn Film Crazy, McGilligan shares some of his fascinating interviews with screen luminaries from his salad days as a young journalist working the Hollywood beat. He rides the presidential campaign bus with Ronald Reagan, visits Alfred Hitchcock on the set of the Master of Suspense's last film, "Family Plot," meets George Stevens at the Brown Derby and conducts the last interview with the director of "Shane" and "Giant." Other interview subjects captured for posterity include rough-and-ready pioneer directors William Wellman and Raoul Walsh; likeable actor Joel McCrea; actress - and the only female director of her era - Ida Lupino; French legend Rene Clair; and lowly-contract-writer-turned-studio-mogul Dore Schary. Film Crazy is a must for film students, scholars and professionals.
Film Makers: 15 Groundbreaking Women Directors (Women of Power #5)
by Lyn Miller-Lachmann Tanisia MooreIn Hollywood, women don't have to be in front of the camera to shine. Each of the 15 women profiled in Film Makers shares a common trait: she is, as Shonda Rhimes says, "First. Only. Different." These phenomenal women have redefined the film and television industry, winning awards historically given to a male counterpart, being the only woman in a writers' room, or portraying stories no one else could tell. While their resumes are impressive, it is how they live their lives that has made a greater impact in the communities they serve. Many of them, like Gina Prince-Bythewood and Greta Gerwig, mentor other women. Some, like Agnieszka Holland and ChloÉ Zhao, have stood up to those who seek to ignore or silence them. All of them tell their stories with passion and integrity, serving as role models and champions for future generations. We hope they will inspire you to use the tools of film to tell your story!
Film School: The True Story of a Midwestern Family Man Who Went to the World's Most Famous Film School, Fell Flat on His Face, Had a Stroke, and Sold a Television Series
by Steve BomanOne L meets You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again In this comic and moving and completely true tale, Film School reveals what life is like at the elite school that trained Hollywood's biggest names. When Midwestern journalist Steve Boman applied to the University of Southern California's vaunted School of Cinematic Arts, the world's oldest and most prestigious film school, he had more than a few strikes against him: His wife was recovering from thyroid cancer. His beloved sister had just died of leukemia. He lost his job. He had three young children. He was in his late 30s…. And he had no experience in filmmaking. As Boman navigates his way through USC's arduous three-year graduate production program, he finds that his films fall flat, he's threatened with being kicked out of the program and he becomes the old guy no one wants to work with. Defeated, he quits and moves back to the Midwest to be with his family. After he is urged by his wife to reapply, he miraculously gets in for a second time...only to have a stroke on the first day of classes. But instead of doing the easy thing – running away again -- Boman throws caution to the wind and embraces the challenge. He slowly becomes a gray-haired Golden Boy at USC with films that sparkle. And then he does the impossible: While still in school, for a class project, he dreams up a television series that CBS catches wind of and develops into THREE RIVERS, a primetime Sunday night show. This story of challenge and triumph—and what it takes to make it in the world's most famous film school—is a must-read for anyone aspiring to become a Hollywood great or anyone just looking for a good story.
Film Stardom, Myth and Classicism
by Michael WilliamsSince the golden era of silent movies, stars have been described as screen gods, goddesses and idols. This is the story of how Olympus moved to Hollywood to divinise stars as Apollos and Venuses for the modern age, and defined a model of stardom that is still with us today.
Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool: A True Love Story
by Peter TurnerSOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURETHE GOLDEN AGE OF HOLLYWOOD, A YOUNG BRITISH ACTOR, A LOVE AFFAIR, AND A TRAGEDY, FILM STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL IS THE TOUCHING STORY OF THE LAST DAYS OF A HOLLYWOOD ICON.On September 29, 1981, Peter Turner received a phone call that would change his life. His former lover, Hollywood actress Gloria Grahame, had collapsed in a Lancaster hotel and was refusing medical attention. He took her into his chaotic and often eccentric family’s home in Liverpool to see her through her last days. Though their affair had ended years before, it was to him that she turned in her final hour of need.Taking place over the course of three weeks in Turner’s larger-than-life working-class family home, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool is an affectionate, moving, and wryly humorous memoir of friendship, love, and stardom.
Film's First Family: The Untold Story of the Costellos (Screen Classics)
by Terry Chester ShulmanScandal, adultery, secret marriages, celebrity, divorce, custody battles, suicide attempts, and alcoholism -- the trials and tribulations of the Costellos were as riveting as any Hollywood feature film. Written with unprecedented access to the family's personal documents and artifacts -- and interviews with several family members, including Dolores Barrymore Bedell (the daughter of John Barrymore and Dolores Costello) and Helene's daughter Deirdre -- this riveting study explores the dramatic history of the Costellos and their extraordinary significance to the stage and screen.This eccentric, tragic, yet talented clan was one of the twentieth century's most accomplished families of actors -- second only to the Barrymores, with whom they intermarried and begat a film dynasty riddled with jealousy, resentment, and heartbreak. Inevitably, the Costellos' brilliant achievements would be eclipsed by their own immutable penchant for self-destruction. Patriarch Maurice "Dimples" Costello (1877--1950) was considered the first screen idol and the first great movie star until his screen career, marked by accusations of spousal abuse, drunkenness, and physical assault, abruptly ended. His daughter Dolores married John Barrymore, arguably the most famous man in Hollywood during the late 1920s and early '30s, and their son would carry on the Barrymore name to successive generations of famous actors. Costello's other daughter, Helene, was the first actress to star in an all-talking picture, The Lights of New York (1928). However, her career was wracked by scandal in 1932 during her very public divorce from actor-director Lowell Sherman, who testified that his wife was a drunk and an avid reader of pornography. The original members of this pioneering family may be gone, but the name and legacy of the Costellos will live on through their accomplishments, films, and descendants -- most notably, actress Drew Barrymore.
Filming Difference: Actors, Directors, Producers, and Writers on Gender, Race, and Sexuality in Film
by Daniel BernardiAddressing representation and identity in a variety of production styles and genres, including experimental film and documentary, independent and mainstream film, and television drama, Filming Difference poses fundamental questions about the ways in which the art and craft of filmmaking force creative people to confront stereotypes and examine their own identities while representing the complexities of their subjects. Selections range from C. A. Griffith's "Del Otro Lado: Border Crossings, Disappearing Souls, and Other Transgressions" and Celine Perrenas Shimizu's "Pain and Pleasure in the Flesh of Machiko Saito's Experimental Movies" to Christopher Bradley's "I Saw You Naked: 'Hard' Acting in 'Gay' Movies," along with Kevin Sandler's interview with Paris Barclay, Yuri Makino's interview with Chris Eyre, and many other perspectives on the implications of film production, writing, producing, and acting. Technical aspects of the craft are considered as well, including how contributors to filmmaking plan and design films and episodic television that feature difference, and how the tools of cinema--such as cinematography and lighting--influence portrayals of gender, race, and sexuality. The struggle between economic pressures and the desire to produce thought-provoking, socially conscious stories forms another core issue raised in Filming Difference. Speaking with critical rigor and creative experience, the contributors to this collection communicate the power of their media.
Films of Endearment: A Mother, a Son and the '80s Films That Defined Us
by Michael Koresky&“A lovely and loving book.&”—Will Schwalbe, New York Times bestselling author of The End of Your Life Book Club"I'm not sure I have ever read a book about movies that is as tender and open-hearted as Films of Endearment."—Mark Harris, New York Times bestselling author of Mike Nichols: A Life A poignant memoir of family, grief and resilience about a young man, his dynamic mother and the '80s movies they shared together Michael Koresky's most formative memories were simple ones. A movie rental. A mug of tea. And a few shared hours with his mother. Years later and now a successful film critic, Koresky set out on a journey with his mother to discover more about their shared cinematic past. They rewatched ten films that she first introduced to him as a child, one from every year of the '80s, each featuring women leads.Together, films as divergent as 9 to 5, Terms of Endearment, The Color Purple and Aliens form the story of an era that Koresky argues should rightly be called "The Decade of the Actress."Films of Endearment is a reappraisal of the most important and popular female-driven films of that time, a profound meditation on loss and resilience, and a celebration of the special bond between mothers and their sons.
Filosofía de vida
by Carlos Mateo BalmelliEl nuevo libro de Carlos Mateo Balmelli, una de las personalidades políticas más sobresalientes de Paraguay hoy, y quien en los últimos años ha venido publicando una serie de novelas donde trata temas como el amor, la injusticia, la audacia de querer cumplir con los sueños y la búsqueda de la belleza, mezclando algunos personajes reales con otros de su potente imaginación. En Filosofía de vida, Carlos Mateo Balmelli configura un libro lúcido, honesto y muy consciente de que toda biografía siempre tiene algo ajeno porque el que escribe, al hacerlo, inexorablemente se transforma en otro. Las lecturas filosóficas, literarias y políticas heredadas de su padre se entremezclan con jugosas anécdotas que incluyen los primeros contactos con la muerte, un viaje iniciático a Alemania -donde el protagonista pretende estudiar en una lengua desconocida- y el descubrimiento del amor con todas sus virtudes y miserias. La búsqueda incansable de la belleza, el sacrificio sin concesiones del mundo de la política, la literatura como vía de escape siempre a disposición, las relaciones fundantes que marcan a fuego a una persona y esas contradicciones divinas que condensan nada menos que la humanidad son algunos de los temas de este libro impactante, que se propone algo tan sencillo como colosal: exponer, confesar o simplemente ofrecer la experiencia adquirida a lo largo de una vida intensa.
Filthy Beasts: A Memoir
by Kirkland HamillRunning with Scissors meets Grey Gardens in this &“vivid tragicomedy&” (People), a riveting riches-to-rags tale of a wealthy family who lost it all and the unforgettable journey of a man coming to terms with his family&’s deep flaws and his own hidden secrets. &“Wake up, you filthy beasts!&” Wendy Hamill would shout to her children in the mornings before school. Startled from their dreams, Kirk and his two brothers couldn&’t help but wonder—would they find enough food in the house for breakfast? Following a hostile exit from New York&’s upper-class society, newly divorced Wendy and her three sons are exiled from the East Coast elite circle. Wendy&’s middle son, Kirk, is eight when she moves the family to her native Bermuda, leaving the three young boys to fend for themselves as she chases after the highs of her old life: alcohol, a wealthy new suitor, and other indulgences. After eventually leaving his mother&’s dysfunctional orbit for college in New Orleans, Kirk begins to realize how different his family and upbringing is from that of his friends and peers. Split between rich privilege—early years living in luxury on his family&’s private compound—and bare survival—rationing food and water during the height of his mother&’s alcoholism—Kirk is used to keeping up appearances and burying his inconvenient truths from the world, until he&’s eighteen and falls in love for the first time. A keenly observed, fascinating window into the life of extreme privilege and a powerful story of self-acceptance, Filthy Beasts is &“a stunning, deeply satisfying story about how we outlive our upbringings&” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).
Final Appeal: Anatomy of a Frame
by Colin ThatcherThe Canadian politician who was convicted of murder tells his story—and argues for his innocence. In 1984, Colin Thatcher was convicted of killing his ex-wife and sentenced to life in prison. The murder and trial provoked a national media frenzy, casting the once-prominent Saskatchewan politician as the villain. After serving twenty-two years, Thatcher was released and finally able to offer his own account of what happened from the time of the murder up until he left prison. Though firmly proclaiming his innocence from the start, he is now able to go behind the bureaucratic red tape and provide full disclosure, including evidence not seen at the trial, legal documents, and personal correspondence, ultimately questioning the public&’s faith in local law enforcement, mainstream media, and justice.
Final Confession: The Unsolved Crimes of Phil Cresta
by Brian P. Wallace Bill CrowleyJust before he died in Chicago, legendary London-born thief Phil Cresta (1928-95) revealed to Crowley, a retired Boston police detective, how he planned and carried out the capers that had baffled both the police and his colleagues for decades. Sports announcer and columnist Wallace helps him tell the tales. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Final Cut: Rhona Macleod Book 6 (Rhona Macleod Ser. #6)
by Lin AndersonWhere the hell had the kid found a human skull? McNab heard an intake of breath behind him as someone else made out the shape in the torchlight. A metre away now, McNab crouched on a level with the child. 'Where did you find that, Emma?' he said softly. She stared at him. 'I was lost. I heard them calling me.' When Claire regains consciousness after a stranger causes her car to crash in a snowstorm, she is frantic to discover her nine-year-old daughter Emma missing from the back seat. Then Emma is found in the woods nearby, unharmed but cradling a child's skull. She claims it 'called to her' - and she can hear another voice nearby... Meanwhile, forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod is trying to discover the identity of a corpse found badly burned in a skip. The body is wearing a soldier's ID tag, but DNA tests show it's not him. When DS Michael McNab asks for her help identifying the remains Emma found, they discover the two cases are linked in ways they could never have imagined... Lin Anderson, author of DRIFTNET and EASY KILL, has written her most powerful novel to date.
Final Draft: The Collected Work of David Carr
by David Carr“A revelatory collection reminding us of what journalism used to be—and what it ought to be.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)Throughout his twenty-five-year career, David Carr was noted for his sharp and fearless observations, his uncanny sense of fairness and justice, and his remarkable compassion and wit. His writing was informed both by his own hardships as an addict and his intense love of the journalist’s craft. His range—from media politics to national politics, from rock ‘n’ roll celebrities to the unknown civil servants who make our daily lives function—was broad and often timeless. Edited by his widow, Jill Rooney Carr, and with an introduction by one of the many journalists David Carr mentored, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Final Draft is a career-spanning selection of the legendary reporter’s writing for the New York Times, Washington City Paper, New York Magazine, the Atlantic, and more.“Wit, style, empathy, tough questions—it’s all here, in this collection by the one-man journalism school that was David Carr . . . Final Draft allows us to read decades of David’s best reportage about corruption, racism, celebrity, addiction, disease, and his love for his family, his skills only outdone by his humanity.” —Jake Tapper, CNN Chief Washington Correspondent
Final Engagement: A Marine's Last Mission and the Surrender of Afghanistan
by Christopher L. IzantThrough a deadly last showdown beside Afghan forces fighting the Taliban, Marine Corps veteran Christopher Izant illustrates the impossible conditions and strategic blunders that disillusioned a generation of American warriors and all but guaranteed defeat.They were stepping into a world of hidden minefields, cultural clashes, "green-on-blue" insider attacks, and a patient, relentless enemy. But Christopher Izant and the Marines on his team volunteered to train and fight alongside the Afghan National Security Forces despite the risks and a seemingly futile mission they would term "advise and abandon" made by policymakers a world away.Final Engagement embeds readers with then-Lieutenant Izant and his team of combat advisors at Combat Outpost Taghaz during one of Operation Enduring Freedom's most crucial and challenging campaigns. It was 2012, southern Helmand Province, and with fixed base-closure and withdrawal timelines, the Marines had only six months to sustain the hard-won victories of the infantry units and prepare the Afghan Border Police to stand on their own. But before Border Advisory Team 1 lay down arms, there would be one last deadly battle with a devastating aftermath.Izant relives a fight in the Afghan borderlands that forebode the fall of Kabul nearly a decade later and confronts the violence and anguish that transformed a generation of American and Afghan warriors from idealist volunteers for a just war to disillusioned veterans of a lost cause.
Final Rounds: A Father, a Son, the Golf Journey of a Lifetime
by James DodsonJames Dodson always felt closest to his father while they were on the links. So it seemed only appropriate when his father learned he had two months to live that they would set off on the golf journey of their dreams to play the most famous courses in the world.Final Rounds takes us to the historic courses of Royal Lytham and Royal Birkdale, to the windswept undulations of Carnoustie, where Hogan played peerlessly in '53, and the legendary St. Andrews, whose hallowed course reveals something of the eternal secret of the game's mysterious allure over pros and hackers alike.Throughout their poignant journey, the Dodsons humorously reminisce and reaffirm their love for each other, as the younger Dodson finds out what it means to have his father also be his best friend. Final Rounds is a book never to be forgotten, a book about fathers and sons, long-held secrets, and the lessons a middle-aged man can still learn from his dad about life, love, and family.Final Rounds is a tribute to a very special game and the fathers and sons who make it so. -->
Final Scrum: Rugby Internationals Killed in the Second World War
by Nigel McCreryAfter the terrible losses of The Great War, twenty years later the Second World War resulted in the death of some of the finest sporting icons. This book honors the ninety International Rugby players who lost their lives. Fifteen were Scottish, fourteen English, eleven Welsh and eight Irish. Australia and New Zealand suffered with ten and two Internationals killed respectively and France eight. Germany topped the list with nineteen. In the same way that the Authors best-selling Into Touch remembered the 130 Internationals lost in the First World War, Final Scrum gives an individual biography of each of the ninety with their international and club playing record as well as their backgrounds, details of their military careers and circumstances of their death. We learn where they are buried or commemorated together with at least one photograph of each player.Rugby enthusiasts will find this book a fascinating and moving record of the sacrifice of the finest young men of their generation who fought in the second worldwide conflict of the 20th Century.
Final Verdict: What Really Happened in the Rosenberg Case
by Walter SchneirA new narrative of the famed case that finally solves its remaining mysteries, by the author of the bestselling Invitation to an Inquest. Walter and Miriam Schneir's 1965 bestseller Invitation to an Inquest was among the first critical accounts of the controversial case of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, famously executed in 1953 for passing atom bomb secrets to Soviet Russia. In Invitation the Schneirs presented exhaustive and damning evidence that key witnesses in the trial had changed their stories after coaching from prosecutors, and that the FBI had forged evidence. The conclusion was unavoidable: The Rosenbergs were innocent. But were they? Thirty years after the publication of Inquest, Walter Schneir was back on the case after bits and pieces of new evidence started coming to light, much of it connecting Julius Rosenberg to Soviet espionage. Over more than a decade, Schneir continued his search for the truth, meeting with former intelligence officials in Moscow and Prague, and cross checking details recorded in thousands of government documents. The result is an entirely new narrative of the Rosenberg case. The reality, Schneir demonstrates, is that Rosenbergs ended up hopelessly trapped: prosecuted for atomic espionage they didn't commit--but unable to admit earlier espionage activities during World War II. As it happened, Julius Rosenberg was only marginally involved in the atomic spy ring he was depicted as leading--while Ethel, critically, was not at all involved. The two lied when the contended they knew nothing about espionage. Ethel knew about it and Julius had practiced it, but the government's contention that they had stolen the "secret" of the atom bomb was critically and fatally flawed.
Final Victory: FDR's Extraordinary World War II Presidential Campaign
by Stanley WeintraubWhen the wartime 1944 presidential election campaign geared up late that spring, Franklin D. Roosevelt had already occupied the White House years longer than any other president. Sensing likely weakness, the Republicans mounted an energetic and expensive campaign, hitting hard at FDR’s liberal domestic policies and the war’s ongoing cost. Despite gravely deteriorating health, FDR and his feisty running mate, the unexpected Harry Truman, campaigned vigorously against young governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York and old-line Ohio governor John Bricker. Roosevelt’s charm and wit, as well as the military successes in Europe and the Pacific, contributed to his sweeping electoral victory. But the hard-fought campaign would soon take its toll on America’s only four-term president. Preeminent historian and biographer Stanley Weintraub recaptures FDR’s striking "last campaign” and the year’s momentous events, from the rainy city streets where Roosevelt, his legs paralyzed by polio since 1922, rode in an open car, to the battlefronts where the commander-in-chief’s forces were closing in on Hitler and Hirohito. The tale is unforgettable.
Final Whistle: The Paddy Russell Story
by Jackie Cahill Paddy RussellTipperary native Paddy Russell has been one of the leading referees in the GAA for the past 30 years. His story is a remarkable one, following his rise from humble beginnings to the pinnacle of two All-Ireland finals.Inspired by the late, great John Moloney, Russell took his first steps in refereeing in 1976. He quickly emerged as a leading light and rapidly worked his way to the top of his profession.Russell has enjoyed a successful career but it is also one laced with drama, most notably that arising from the 1995 All-Ireland senior football final between Tyrone and Dublin. Russell later took charge of the tempestuous National Football League clash between Dublin and Tyrone in 2006, which became known as 'The Battle of Omagh', and the stormy showdown between Leinster rivals Dublin and Meath in April 2008. Just two months later, Russell was in charge of the Munster senior football championship tie between All-Ireland champions Kerry and Clare when Kerry captain Paul Galvin slapped the referee's notebook from his hands, earning a three-month suspension.In Final Whistle, Russell reflects on his eventful journey, including these controversial matches, and describes vividly the stresses and strains of refereeing modern-day Gaelic games.
Finale
by Thomas MallonAdding to a fiction chronicle that has already spanned American history from the Lincoln assassination to the Watergate scandal, Thomas Mallon now brings to life the tumultuous administration of the most consequential and enigmatic president in modern times. Finale captures the crusading ideologies, blunders, and glamour of the still-hotly-debated Reagan years, taking readers to the political gridiron of Washington, the wealthiest enclaves of Southern California, and the volcanic landscape of Iceland, where the president engages in two almost apocalyptic days of negotiation with Mikhail Gorbachev. Along with Soviet dissidents, illegal-arms traders, and antinuclear activists, the novel's memorable characters include Margaret Thatcher, Jimmy Carter, Pamela Harriman, John W. Hinckley, Jr. (Reagan's would-be assassin), and even Bette Davis, with whom the president had long ago appeared onscreen. Several figures--including a humbled, crafty Richard Nixon; the young, brilliantly acerbic Christopher Hitchens; and an anxious, astrology-dependent Nancy Reagan (on the verge of a terrible realization)--become the eyes through which readers see the last convulsions of the Cold War, the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, and a political revolution. At the center of it all--but forever out of reach--is Ronald Reagan himself, whose genial remoteness confounds his subordinates, his children, and the citizens who elected him. Finale is the book that Thomas Mallon's work has been building toward for years. It is the most entertaining and panoramic novel about American politics since Advise and Consent, more than a half century ago.From the Hardcover edition.