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Invisible: A Memoir
by Hugues De MontalembertThe impressionistic memoir of an artist who was blinded in a sudden act of violence, leading to a profound meditation on what it means to see and be seen 'You live in a city like New York. You read the papers. You look at the television. But you never think it will happen to you. It happened to me one evening'. One summer night in 1978, Hugues de Montalembert returned home to his New York City apartment to find two men robbing him. In a violent struggle, one of the assailants threw paint thinner in Hugues' face. Within a few hours, he was completely blind. Eloquent and provocative, Invisible moves beyond the horrific events of that night to what happened to Hugues after he lost his sight: his rehabilitation, his solo travels around the world and the remarkable way he learned to 'see' even without the use of his eyes. Without a trace of self-pity, Hugues describes his transition from an up-and-coming painter to a blind man who had to learn to walk with a cane. His status changed in the eyes of other people as their reactions ranged from avoidance to making him their confidant. Hugues travelled to faraway places and learned to trust strangers and find himself at home in any situation. Part philosophy, part autobiography, part inspiration, Invisiblewill change the way you view the world.
Invisible: How Young Women with Serious Health Issues Navigate Work, Relationships, and the Pressure to Seem Just Fine
by Michele Lent HirschAn exploration of women navigating serious health issues at an age where they’re expected to be healthy, dating, having careers and children.Miriam’s doctor didn’t believe she had breast cancer. She did.Sophie navigates being the only black scientist in her lab while studying the very disease, HIV, that she hides from her coworkers.For Victoria, coming out as a transgender woman was less difficult than coming out as bipolar.Author Michele Lent Hirsch knew she couldn’t be the only woman who’s faced serious health issues at a young age, as well as the resulting effects on her career, her relationships, and her sense of self. What she found while researching Invisible was a surprisingly large and overlooked population with important stories to tell.Though young women with serious illness tend to be seen as outliers, young female patients are in fact the primary demographic for many illnesses. They are also one of the most ignored groups in our medical system—a system where young women, especially women of color and trans women, are invisible.And because of expectations about gender and age, young women with health issues must often deal with bias in their careers and personal lives. Not only do they feel pressured to seem perfect and youthful, they also find themselves amid labyrinthine obstacles in a culture that has one narrow idea of womanhood.Lent Hirsch weaves her own harrowing experiences together with stories from other women, perspectives from sociologists on structural inequality, and insights from neuroscientists on misogyny in health research. She shows how health issues and disabilities amplify what women in general already confront: warped beauty standards, workplace sexism, worries about romantic partners, and mistrust of their own bodies. By shining a light on this hidden demographic, Lent Hirsch explores the challenges that all women face.
Invisible: My Journey through Vision and Hearing Loss (2nd Edition)
by Ruth SilverRuth Silver's young life was challenged with vision and hearing loss. Inspired by her own experiences and challenges, she founded the Center for Deaf-Blind Persons in Milwaukee, a nonprofit agency dedicated to helping others living with the double disability of deaf-blindness. Ruth's story demonstrates how a resilient spirit can propel a profoundly disabled person forward toward a happy, productive life.
Invisible: The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America's Most Powerful Mobster
by Stephen L. CarterThe bestselling author delves into his past and discovers the inspiring story of his grandmother’s extraordinary life She was black and a woman and a prosecutor, a graduate of Smith College and the granddaughter of slaves, as dazzlingly unlikely a combination as one could imagine in New York of the 1930s—and without the strategy she devised, Lucky Luciano, the most powerful Mafia boss in history, would never have been convicted. When special prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey selected twenty lawyers to help him clean up the city’s underworld, she was the only member of his team who was not a white male.Eunice Hunton Carter, Stephen Carter’s grandmother, was raised in a world of stultifying expectations about race and gender, yet by the 1940s, her professional and political successes had made her one of the most famous black women in America. But her triumphs were shadowed by prejudice and tragedy. Greatly complicating her rise was her difficult relationship with her younger brother, Alphaeus, an avowed Communist who—together with his friend Dashiell Hammett—would go to prison during the McCarthy era. Yet she remained unbowed.Moving, haunting, and as fast-paced as a novel, Invisible tells the true story of a woman who often found her path blocked by the social and political expectations of her time. But Eunice Carter never accepted defeat, and thanks to her grandson’s remarkable book, her long forgotten story is once again visible.
Invitation: Billy Graham and the Lives God Touched
by Basyle Tchividjian Aram TchividjianBilly Graham... A crusade... A stadium poised for a spiritual change... A person in need... Now for the first time, through pictures and stories of ordinary people who heard the invitation and responded, we glimpse the breathtaking panorama of a seventy-year work of God on a scale no one could have imagined. Here is the inspiring spiritual journey of hearts and souls encountering God through the ministry of Billy Graham. From despair to hope, from broken life to renewed spirit, Invitation tells each individual story within the visual context of the Crusade experience. This new book of images and stories brings together never-before published stories of real people who responded to God's invitation and as a result found their lives transformed and utterly turned around. Created by Billy Graham's grandsons, Basyle ("Boz") and Aram Tchividjian, Invitation draws from www.thankyoubilly.com, a website designed to capture for all time the human impact of Graham's crusades. Here, the stories poured in, from young and old, near and far-those who once were lonely, addicted, abandoned, sick, suicidal-all sharing how one invitation changed everything.Designed around photographs, many never before seen, from the private Graham family collections and the archives of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Invitation has a place in every home, and is itself an invitation to all of us to experience the spiritual legacy of Billy Graham and the work of God in changing lives.
Involuntary Bliss
by Devon CodeEven in death, he said, the novella’s power would bind us together, all of us who had read it, appealing as it did equally to our emotions and our intellects.A bond between three friends forms over a mutual fascination with an obscure Peruvian novella and is fractured by an accidental death. From the streets of Montreal's Plateau and Latin Quarter to the ruins of Machu Picchu, award-winning author Devon Code's Involuntary Bliss traces this tragic affinity with dark humour and linguistic verve.Over one hazy weekend in late August, an unnamed narrator visits his troubled friend James following a gap of many months. The two young men are set adrift in the city by way of James's memories, which flow out of him as lush set pieces—an affair, a stint volunteering at a children's hospital, a striptease show—assembling a picture of James's haunted life in the wake of their close friend's death.By turns comic, erotic, tender and harrowing, this freewheeling narrative sees Montreal's bohemians and biker gangs entwine with psychotropic shamanic practices in the mountains of Peru, in a tale of friendship and mortality as unpredictable as it is true to life.
Inés del alma mía
by Isabel AllendeEsta novela está basada en la vida de Inés Suárez, una mujer extremeña cuyo esposo, Juan de Málaga, viaja al Nuevo Mundo en el s. XVI en busca de El Dorado. Años después ella decide ir en su búsqueda. Cuando recibe la noticia de que su esposo ha fallecido, se une al grupo de conquistadores que pretenden llegar a Chile. La fuerza de Inés le ayuda a sobrevivir ante todo tipo de percances: el viaje en barco, su llegada a Perú y cómo sale airosa de todas las situaciones gracias a sus habilidades femeninas mezcladas con un espíritu masculino. La parte más épica es la que se centra en el instinto de superviviencia cuando se lleva a cabo la travesía hasta Chile y cómo tienen que reaccionar frente al ataque de los indios mapuche, y la parte más amable es una espectacular historia de amorque tiene como protagonista a Pedro de Valdivia: un hombre ambicioso al que Inés consigue dominar y compartir con él la aventura de la conquista de Chile. La intuición femenina les ayuda a superar muchos percances y el amor entre ambos es tan potente que es inimaginable pensar en una separación. Las aspiraciones políticas de Pedro potenciarán la ruptura entre ambos pero la huella que dejará el conquistador en esta mujer fuerte y valiente perdurará hasta el resto de sus días. Los indios nunca llegan a aceptar que los conquistadores españoles se afinquen en sus tierras. Atacan y saquean Santiago y hay que comenzar de nuevo. Inés no se da por vencida y junto a Rodrigo de Quiroga, que ha sido hombre de confianza de Pedro de Valdivia reconstruyen la ciudad. Nace entre ellos una relación distinta , un amor adulto, que no se puede comparar a la relación de complicidad que había existido entre Inés y Pedro, pero que se traduce en estabilidad y confianza. Inés nunca ha tenido hijos y la hija de Rodrigo será su confidente cuando llega a la vejez.
Iowa Caucus, The (Images of Modern America)
by Rachel Paine CaufieldFor more than 40 years, Iowa has held the first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses. A vibrant political culture has emerged as a result of this role, and Iowa voters have a unique opportunity to get to know the nation's presidential candidates as they travel the state, attend small-group meetings, and hone their messages. Candidates come to Iowa--where "retail politics" is the name of the game--early and often. But the campaign trail in Iowa isn't just about candidates. It's about average Americans in small-town diners, church basements, and high school gyms. In an age of public cynicism about politics, the Iowa caucuses continue to demonstrate the importance of real people talking about issues with would-be presidents.
Iowa State Hockey and Al Murdoch: Building a Dream (Sports)
by Alan Murdoch Tim HarwoodThe Making of Iowa State Hockey During five decades, Alan Murdoch played for, coached and managed the Iowa State Cyclone hockey team, making a life's work out of his personal resourcefulness and initiative. Iowa State grew into a premier program in non-scholarship hockey, and as the network of similar teams became increasingly formalized under the auspices of the American Collegiate Hockey Association - an organization to which Murdoch was an essential contributor - the Cyclones played at a national championship-level. The trophy for which they were vying: the Murdoch Cup. By the time he left the bench, Murdoch's teams had won more than 1,000 games against opponents from around the world. Sometimes funny, sometime emotional, Murdoch and author Tim Harwood explore the story of how winning became a way of life for Cyclone Hockey.
Ipazia di Alessandria
by Laurel A. Rockefeller Traduzione a cura di Laura LucardiniMentre il mondo occidentale cadeva nell'oscurità, lei ebbe il coraggio di difendere la Luce. Nata nel 355 d.C, dopo il regno di Costantino, Ipazia di Alessandria visse il declino dell'Impero Romano, in un mondo in cui l'obbedienza alle autorità religiose era più importante della scienza e dove la ragione e la logica erano viste come una minaccia per il nuovo ordine mondiale. Era il mondo precedente al Medioevo, un mondo impegnato a decidere il rapporto tra scienza e religione, libertà e ortodossia, tolleranza e odio. Per più di 40 anni Ipazia visse al confine tra gli anni bui e la luce della filosofia classica, delle arti e delle scienze. Sebbene nessuno dei suoi libri sia sopravvissuto ai feroci roghi del fanatismo religioso, Ipazia rimane una delle scienziate più importanti di tutti i tempi. Questa è la sua affascinante storia. Include bibliografia, cronologia dettagliata e coordinate di latitudine e longitudine delle principali città dell'Impero romano per consentire al lettore di esplorare le meraviglie celesti con Ipazia.
Ipazia di Alessandria: Edizione per studenti e insegnanti (Libri di testo Le leggendarie donne della storia mondiale #9)
by Laurel A. RockefellerMentre il mondo occidentale cadeva nell’oscurità, lei ebbe il coraggio di difendere la luce. Nata nel 355 d.C, dopo il regno di Costantino, Ipazia di Alessandria visse il declino dell’Impero Romano, in un mondo in cui l’obbedienza alle autorità religiose era più importante della scienza e dove la ragione e la logica erano viste come una minaccia per il nuovo ordine mondiale. Era il mondo precedente al Medioevo, un mondo impegnato a decidere il rapporto tra scienza e religione, libertà e ortodossia, tolleranza e odio. Per più di 40 anni Ipazia visse al confine tra gli anni bui e la luce della filosofia classica, delle arti e delle scienze. Sebbene nessuno dei suo libri sia sopravvissuto ai feroci roghi del fanatismo religioso, Ipazia rimane una delle scienziate più importanti di tutti tempi. L’edizione per studenti e insegnanti include domande alla fine di ogni capitolo, così come una cronologia dettagliata e letture consigliate.
Iphigenia in Forest Hills
by Janet Malcolm"Astringent and absorbing. . . Iphigenia in Forest Hillscasts, from its first pages, a genuine spell -- the kind of spell to which Ms. Malcolm's admirers (and I am one) have become addicted. " --Dwight Garner,New York Times "She couldn't have done it and she must have done it. " This is the enigma at the heart of Janet Malcolm's riveting new book about a murder trial in the insular Bukharan-Jewish community of Forest Hills, Queens, that captured national attention. The defendant, Mazoltuv Borukhova, a beautiful young physician, is accused of hiring an assassin to kill her estranged husband, Daniel Malakov, a respected orthodontist, in the presence of their four-year old child. The prosecutor calls it an act of vengeance: just weeks before Malakov was killed in cold blood, he was given custody of Michelle for inexplicable reasons. It is the "Dickensian ordeal" of Borukhova's innocent child that drives Malcolm's inquiry. With the intellectual and emotional precision for which she is known, Malcolm looks at the trial--"a contest between competing narratives"--from every conceivable angle. It is the chasm between our ideals of justice and the human factors that influence every trial--from divergent lawyering abilities to the nature of jury selection, the malleability of evidence, and the disposition of the judge--that is perhaps most striking. Surely one of the most keenly observed trial books ever written,Iphigenia in Forest Hillsis ultimately about character and "reasonable doubt. " As Jeffrey Rosen writes, it is "as suspenseful and exciting as a detective story, with all the moral and intellectual interest of a great novel. " "Iphigenia in Forest Hillsis another dazzling triumph from Janet Malcolm. Here, as always, Malcolm's work inspires the best kind of disquiet in a reader--the obligation to think. " --Jeffrey Toobin, author ofThe Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court "A remarkable achievement that ranks with Malcolm's greatest books. Her scrupulous reporting and interviews with protagonists on both sides of the trial make her own narrative as suspenseful and exciting as a detective story, with all the moral and intellectual interest of a great novel. " --Jeffrey Rosen, author ofThe Supreme Court: The Personalities and Rivalries that Defined America
Ir-rev-rend: Christianity Without the Pretense. Faith Without the Façade
by Greg SurrattIr-rev-rend (ir REV rund) noun1. a pastor who is somewhat critical of what is generally accepted or respected2. a pastor who is trying to make sense of life, love, the church and other confusing things from a slightly satirical point of view; an irreverent sense of humor.3. a "normal" guy pursuing GodWhatever you may think about the "typical" pastor, throw it out. Do they make bad decisions? Yes. Commit sin and experience severed relationships? Yes and yes. Pastor Greg Surratt is not perfect, and he unashamedly tells the stories that have strengthened his faith. He writes that the choice to follow Christ is never clean, is often scary, is usually clothed in mystery, and is always an adventure.For some people, God appears in dark, dirty, lonely, or just plain odd places. Greg found God while huddled under a grand piano, hiding from overzealous friends and family trying to accost him during an altar call at a Pentecostal revival. So began a life of sharing stories of God's endlessly creative and often surprising work and seeing God's transforming power in unexpected ways. Despite years of vocational ministry, Greg never underestimates the power of divine/human encounters in some of teh least "churchy' places on earth.Humorous, insightful, and challenging, IR-REV-REND is a revealing and joyous look at real-life Christian living. As Greg himself affirms, if God can use his missteps and blunders, God can use anybody's.
IrRational Music
by Elliott SharpA memoir and manifesto by a pivotal figure at the junction of rock, the avant-garde, and an ever-widening spiral of art, theater, film, and dance.For over five decades, Elliott Sharp has been engaged in a quest at once quixotic and down to earth: to take the music he hears in his inner ear and bring it to life in the real world. In this vivid memoir and manifesto, Sharp takes us along on that quest, through some of the most rugged, anarchically fertile cultural terrain of our time. Sharp, a mainstay of the New York Downtown scene beginning in the 1980s, has been a pivotal figure at the junction of rock, experimental music, and an ever-widening spiral of art, theater, film, and dance. Rooted in blues, rock, jazz, and the twentieth-century avant-garde, Sharp's innovative music has encompassed fractal geometry, chaos theory, algorithms, genetic metaphors, and new strategies for graphic notation.In IrRational Music, Sharp dodges fake cowboys' real bullets by the side of a highway near Colby, Kansas; is called on the carpet by a prickly, pompadoured Morton Feldman (&“Improvisation… I don't buy it&”); segues from Zen tea to single malt with an elfin John Cage; conjures an extraterrestrial opera from a group of high-school students in Munich; and—back in his own high-school days—looks up from strumming Van Morrison's &“Gloria&” in Manny's Music on 48th Street to see Jimi Hendrix smiling benignly upon him. A mix of tales from the road with thoughts on music, art, politics, technology, and the process of thinking itself, IrRational Music is a glimpse inside the mind of one of our most exacting, exciting creative artists.
Ira Fistell's Mark Twain: Three Encounters
by Ira FistellAn analysis of Mark Twain through his most famous writings.
Ira Gershwin: A Life in Words
by Michael OwenThe man behind some of the most memorable lyrics in the Great American Songbook steps from behind his brother’s shadow. The first lyricist to win the Pulitzer Prize, Ira Gershwin (1896–1983) has been hailed as one of the masters of the Great American Songbook, a period which covers songs written largely for Broadway and Hollywood from the 1920s to the 1950s. Now, in the first full-length biography devoted to his life, Michael Owen brings Ira out at last from the long shadow cast by his younger and more famous brother George. Drawing on extensive archival sources and often using Ira’s own words, Owen has crafted a rich portrait of the modest man who penned the words to many of America’s best-loved songs, like “Fascinating Rhythm,” “Embraceable You,” and “They Can’t Take That Away from Me.” These fruits of Ira’s lyric genius sprang from the simplest of seeds: a hand-drawn weekly created for a cousin, an amateur newspaper co-written with friend and future lyricist Yip Harburg, columns in the school papers at Townsend Harris High School and, later, City College of New York. The details of his early literary efforts demonstrate both his developing ambition and the early signs of his talent. But while the road to becoming a successful lyricist was neither short nor smooth, it did lead Ira to the greatest creative partnership of his life. George and Ira Gershwin collaborated on a string of hit Broadway shows in the 1920s and 1930s that resulted in popular and financial success and spawned a long string of songs that have become classics. Owen offers fascinating glimpses of their creative process, drawing on Ira’s diaries and other contemporary sources, as well as the close relationship between the two brothers. Hollywood soon beckons and the brothers head west to California to work in the movie business. Greater fame and fortune seem right around the corner. George Gershwin died in a Los Angeles hospital in July 1937. He was only 38 years old. His death marked a stark dividing line in Ira’s life, and from that point on much of his time and energy was devoted to the management of his brother’s estate and the care of his legacy. Accustomed to living in his brother’s shadow, it now threatened to overwhelm him. He worked to balance all the administrative tasks with a new series of collaborations with composers like Kurt Weill, Jerome Kern, Harry Warren, and Harold Arlen. Ira’s last Broadway work was in 1946, and several films and a book project—a collection of his lyrics with the stories behind them—occupied his later years along with the ongoing management of George’s affairs. Ira Gershwin’s work with George left an enduring mark on American culture, as recognized by the Library of Congress in 2007 when it established the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, which has been awarded to artists like Paul Simon, Carole King, Tony Bennett, Paul McCartney, and Elton John. In Ira Gershwin: A Life in Words, Michael Owen brings the publicity shy lyricist into the spotlight he deserves.
Ira Hayes: The Akimel O'odham Warrior, World War II, and the Price of Heroism
by Tom HolmThe gripping, forgotten tale of Ira Hayes—a Native American icon and World War II legend who famously helped raise the flag at Iwo Jima but spent the latter half of his life haunted by being a war hero. IRA HAYES tells the story of Ira Hamilton Hayes from the perspective of a Native American combat veteran of the Vietnam generation. Hayes, along with five other Marines, was captured in Joe Rosenthal&’s iconic photograph of raising the stars and stripes on Mount Suribachi during the battle for the Japanese Island of Iwo Jima. The photograph was the inspiration and model for the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington. Between the time he helped raise that flag and his death—and beyond—he was the subject of more newspaper columns than any other Native person. He was hailed as a hero and maligned as a chronic alcoholic unable to take care of himself. IRA HAYES explores these fluctuating views of Ira Hayes. It reveals that they were primarily the product of American misconceptions about Native people, the nature of combat, and even alcoholism. Like most surviving veterans of combat, Ira did not think of himself as a heroic figure. There can be no doubt that Ira suffered from PTSD, which is a compound of survivor&’s guilt, the shock of seeing death, especially of one&’s friends, and the isolation brought on by feeling that no one could understand what he had been through. Ira&’s life has been a subject of two motion pictures and a television drama. All these dramas sympathize with him, but ultimately fail to see his binge drinking as his way of temporarily escaping the melancholy, the rage he felt, his sense of betrayal, and the sheer boredom of peacetime. IRA HAYES breaks apart the complexities of Ira&’s short life in honor of all Native veterans who have been to war in the service of the United States. This is equally their story.
Ira's Shakespeare Dream
by Glenda ArmandThe inspiring biography of Ira Aldridge, a Black actor who overcame racism to become one of the greatest Shakespearean actors of the nineteenth century.Ira Aldridge dreamed of being on stage one day and performing the great works of William Shakespeare. He spent every chance he had at the local theaters, memorizing each actor's lines. He knew he could be a great Shakespearean actor if only given the chance. But in the early 1800s, only white actors were allowed to perform Shakespeare. Ira's only option was to perform musical numbers at the all-black theater in New York city. Despite being discouraged by his teacher and father, Ira determinedly pursued his dream and set off to England, the land of Shakespeare. There, Ira honed his acting skills and eventually performed at the acclaimed Theatre Royal Haymarket. Through perseverance and determination, Ira became one of the most celebrated Shakespearean actors throughout Europe. Illustrated by award-winning artist Floyd Cooper, Ira's Shakespeare Dream is a captivating tribute to the inspiring life of Ira Aldridge, and to the renowned works of William Shakespeare.
Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope
by Azadeh Moaveni Shirin EbadiA NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOKThe moving, inspiring memoir of one of the great women of our times, Shirin Ebadi, winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize and advocate for the oppressed, whose spirit has remained strong in the face of political persecution and despite the challenges she has faced raising a family while pursuing her work. Best known in this country as the lawyer working tirelessly on behalf of Canadian photojournalist, Zara Kazemi--raped, tortured and murdered in Iran--Dr. Ebadi offers us a vivid picture of the struggles of one woman against the system. The book movingly chronicles her childhood in a loving, untraditional family, her upbringing before the Revolution in 1979 that toppled the Shah, her marriage and her religious faith, as well as her life as a mother and lawyer battling an oppressive regime in the courts while bringing up her girls at home. Outspoken, controversial, Shirin Ebadi is one of the most fascinating women today. She rose quickly to become the first female judge in the country; but when the religious authorities declared women unfit to serve as judges she was demoted to clerk in the courtroom she had once presided over. She eventually fought her way back as a human rights lawyer, defending women and children in politically charged cases that most lawyers were afraid to represent. She has been arrested and been the target of assassination, but through it all has spoken out with quiet bravery on behalf of the victims of injustice and discrimination and become a powerful voice for change, almost universally embraced as a hero. Her memoir is a gripping story--a must-read for anyone interested in Zara Kazemi's case, in the life of a remarkable woman, or in understanding the political and religious upheaval in our world.Praise for Shirin Ebadi and Iran Awakening "This is the riveting story of an amazing and very brave woman living through some quite turbulent times. And she emerges with head unbowed."--Archbishop Desmond Tutu "The safety and freedom of citizens in democracies is irretrievably bound with the safety and freedom of people like Shirin Ebadi who are fighting to reassert the best achievements of mankind: universal human rights. One of the staunchest advocates for human rights in her country and beyond, Ms. Ebadi, herself a devout Muslim, represents hope for many in Muslim societies that Islam and democracy are indeed compatible."--Azar Nafisi "A moving portrait of a life lived in truth."--The New York Times Book Review "A riveting account of a brave, lonely struggle . . . [Iran Awakening] reads like a police thriller, its drama heightened by Ebadi's determination to keep up the quotidian aspects of her family life."--The Washington Post Book World "A must read . . . may be the most important book you could read this year."--Seattle Post-Intelligencer "As a testament to how a single, inspired voice can rise above the cacophony . . . the book should be required reading."--The Nation "Some of her admirers in Iran call her a woman of steel. Sure, the Iranian human rights champion also has a heart of gold. But it is Shirin Ebadi's unbending will that explains how she has become the conscience of the Islamic Republic."--Time "[Ebadi] has come forward with professional force and unflagging courage, and she has defied any danger to her own safety. She is truly a woman of the people!"--Ole Danbolt Mjos, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel CommitteeFrom the Hardcover edition.
Iran Awakening: One Woman's Journey to Reclaim Her Life and Country
by Azadeh Moaveni Shirin EbadiThe moving, inspiring memoir of one of the great women of our times, Shirin Ebadi, winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize and advocate for the oppressed, whose spirit has remained strong in the face of political persecution and despite the challenges she has faced raising a family while pursuing her work. Best known in this country as the lawyer working tirelessly on behalf of Canadian photojournalist, Zara Kazemi -- raped, tortured and murdered in Iran -- Dr. Ebadi offers us a vivid picture of the struggles of one woman against the system. The book movingly chronicles her childhood in a loving, untraditional family, her upbringing before the Revolution in 1979 that toppled the Shah, her marriage and her religious faith, as well as her life as a mother and lawyer battling an oppressive regime in the courts while bringing up her girls at home. Outspoken, controversial, Shirin Ebadi is one of the most fascinating women today. She rose quickly to become the first female judge in the country; but when the religious authorities declared women unfit to serve as judges she was demoted to clerk in the courtroom she had once presided over. She eventually fought her way back as a human rights lawyer, defending women and children in politically charged cases that most lawyers were afraid to represent. She has been arrested and been the target of assassination, but through it all has spoken out with quiet bravery on behalf of the victims of injustice and discrimination and become a powerful voice for change, almost universally embraced as a hero. Her memoir is a gripping story -- a must-read for anyone interested in Zara Kazemi's case, in the life of a remarkable woman, or in understanding the political and religious upheaval in our world.
IraqiGirl: Diary of a Teenage Girl in Iraq
by IraqigirlI feel that I have been sleeping all my life and I have woken up and opened my eyes to the world. A beautiful world! But impossible to live in.These are the words of fifteen-year-old Hadiya, blogging from the city of Mosul, Iraq, to let the world know what life is really like as the military occupation of her country unfolds. In many ways, her life is familiar. She worries about exams and enjoys watching Friends during the rare hours that the electricity in her neighborhood is running.But the horrors of war surround her everywhere—weeklong curfews, relatives killed, and friends whose families are forced to flee their homes. With black humor and unflinching honesty, Hadiya shares the painful stories of lives changed forever. “Let’s go back,” she writes, “to my un-normal life.”With her intimate reflections on family, friendship, and community, IraqiGirl also allows us to witness the determination of one girl not only to survive, but to create, amidst the devastation of war, a future worth living for."Hadiya's authentically teenage voice, emotional struggles and concerns make her story all the more resonant." —Publishers Weekly“Despite all the news coverage about the war in Iraq, very little is reported about how it affects the daily lives of ordinary citizens. A highschooler in the city of Mosul fills in the gap with this compilation of her blog posts about living under U.S. occupation. She writes in English because she wants to reach Americans, and in stark specifics, she records the terrifying dangers of car bombs on her street and American warplanes overhead, as well as her everyday struggles to concentrate on homework when there is no water and electricity at home. Her tone is balanced: she does not hate Americans, and although she never supported Saddam Hussein, she wonders why he was executed... Readers will appreciate the details about family, friends, school, and reading Harry Potter, as well as the ever-present big issues for which there are no simple answers." —Hazel Rochman, Booklist“IraqiGirl has poured reflections of her daily life into her blog, reaching all over the cyber-world from her home in northern Iraq. She writes about the universals of teen life—school, family, TV, food, Harry Potter—but always against the background of sudden explosions, outbursts of gunfire, carbombs, death.… [A]n important addition to multicultural literature.” —Elsa Marston, author of Santa Claus in Baghdad and Other Stories About Teens in the Arab World“A book as relevant to adults as teenagers and children. Hadiya’s clear, simple language conveys the feelings of a teenager, offering a glimpse into the daily life of a professional middle-class Iraqi family in an ancient-modern city subjected to a brutal occupation.”—Haifa Zangana, author of City of Widows: An Iraqi Woman's Account of War and Resistance
Iraqigirl: Diary of a Teenage Girl in Iraq
by Elizabeth Wrigley-FieldHadiya began her blog just under a year and a half into the U.S. occupation of Iraq. She writes from Mosul, a diverse city with many Sunni Muslims, like Hadiya's family. Mosul has become one center of resistance to the occupation. Hadiya's name is not really Hadiya. We have used pseudonyms for every Iraqi in this story because each of their lives could be in danger if they were identified. But Hadiya is a real teenager in Mosul, and this is her story.
Ireland Awakening (Colportage Library #233)
by Eva Stuart WattEva Stuart Watt creates a memoir of her days in Ireland. Often sacrificing comfort and safety, she spends her time with the youth of the day living out the love of God. See how God provides and blesses a life that is given away.
Ireland Awakening (Colportage Library #233)
by Eva Stuart WattEva Stuart Watt creates a memoir of her days in Ireland. Often sacrificing comfort and safety, she spends her time with the youth of the day living out the love of God. See how God provides and blesses a life that is given away.
Ireland's Eye: Travels
by Mark JarmanOn August 22, 1922, near Macroom, County Cork, a single bullet from an unknown gunman killed Michael Collins, the Commander-in-Chief of the Irish Free State Army. The day Collins was buried, businesses across Dublin shut down as thousands lined the streets to pay their respects. And on that day, Michael Lyons, a cooper from the Guinness factory taking advantage of the day off, drowned quietly in Dublin's Royal Canal. In Ireland's Eye, Mark Anthony Jarman uses this confluence -- a famous death and an obscure death -- as the starting point for a meditation on the intertwined history of a nation and his pursuit of the circumstances of his grandfather's drowning. Thwarted by family gossip, aunts who can't drive shift, cousins more interested in pubs than lore, and his own fascination with the many Irelands that have been, Jarman finds what he's seeking despite, or perhaps because of, the antics and the unreliable histories. What he reconfigures is a revelation, and an enchanting and engrossing read.