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Lightning Up: The Career of Air Vice-Marshal Alan White CB AFC FRAeS RAF
by Alan WhiteAlan White served in the RAF from 1953 to 1987 roughly the period of the Cold War. His introduction to flying came in his University Air Squadron. This seduced him into dropping out of University and joining the RAF. He initially had success during the piston-engine stages of his training but damage to a Vampire T11 and a bad start on the Hunter Weaponry Course set his confidence back until he recovered during service with his first Hunter Squadron. The infamous Duncan Sandys' cuts of 1957 caused the closure of his squadron and he found himself towing air-to-air gunnery targets, but luckily he was then moved to instruct on the Hunter Operational Conversion Unit where he developed his solo aerobatic display skills. He was then posted to take Hunters to Singapore and form a Squadron. He became involved with the SEATO response to assist the Thai governments request against communist insurgents from Laos and spent five months at Chiang Mai camping in a paddy field. After attending Staff College he was posted to Aden at a time of growing terrorist activity. He worked with the C-in-C, Admiral Sir Michael Le Fanu. Upon his return to the UK he trained to fly the supersonic Lightning fighter and eventually was promoted to lead a squadron. There followed a period of rapid promotion and he became Station Commander at RAF Leuchars. His later appointments as Air Commodore included Director of Operations (Air Defence), Senior Staff Officer HQ 11 Group, Air Commodore Plans at HQ Strike Command (where he assisted in the Falklands conflict) until he was promoted to his final rank and appointed Deputy Commander RAF Germany and then finally he became Commandant, RAF Staff College. His account is full of interesting flying detail and the internal workings of the RAF during those dangerous Cold War days.
Lightnings to Spitfires: Memoirs of an RAF Fighter Pilot and Former Officer Commanding the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight
by Clive RowleyA former fighter pilot chronicles his career flying for the Royal Air Force for over four decades in this action-packed memoir. For forty-four years, Clive Rowley flew with the Royal Air Force, and for thirty-one of those years he specialized as an air defense fighter pilot. Such was his love of fast fighter aircraft that, in order to stay flying, he transferred to Specialist Aircrew terms of service, relinquishing any chance of further promotion above his rank of squadron leader. During those years Clive flew Lightnings, Hawks, and Tornado F.3s but, perhaps more intriguingly, for eleven years he flew Hurricanes and Spitfires with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF), the RAF&’s, if not the world&’s most famous &“warbird&” display team, which he ultimately led and commanded. Many readers will have watched him, perhaps unknowingly, as he flew these iconic aircraft, often alongside the Lancaster, at air shows and large-scale commemorations around the UK and Europe. During the Cold War, Clive flew the BAC Lightning from Gütersloh in Germany and in the UK, becoming an expert in the art of air combat in the process. Then for sixteen years he flew the Tornado F.3 as the RAF moved into expeditionary operations. Packed with humorous and often hair-raising anecdotes, but also revealing the shock and sorrow he felt at the deaths of friends and colleagues, this book is a highly detailed account of life as a fighter pilot in the RAF in the last three decades of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. Clive is open about the fears he sometimes felt in this dangerous world and how he allayed them to continue flying for more than four decades. This book is illustrated with wonderful photographs from his time on the front line as well as with the BBMF, many of which have never been published before. If you have ever wondered what it is like to fly supersonic jet fighters, like the Lightning and the Tornado F.3, or iconic &“warbirds,&” such as the Hurricane and Spitfire, Clive Rowley brings you into those cockpits and shares his experiences.
Lights Along the Way: Great Stories of American Faith
by Thomas J. FlemingOur history books are full of important episodes in America's past, and of general biographies of those who have made that history. Rarely do they record, however, how an individual's faith shaped those events. Here, filling in the missing pieces, are thirty-seven portraits of defining moments in American religious history ranging from the Pilgrims to contemporary figures, including: Samuel Sewall, Ben Franklin, George Washington, Johnny Appleseed, Sojourner Truth, Emily Dickinson, Robert E. Lee, Woodrow Wilson, Dorothy Day, Bess Truman, John F. Kennedy, and others.
Lights and Sirens
by Kevin GrangeA true account of going through UCLA's famed Daniel Freeman Paramedic Program--and practicing emergency medicine on the streets of Los Angeles.Nine months of tying tourniquets and pushing new medications, of IVs, chest compressions, and defibrillator shocks--that was Kevin Grange's initiation into emergency medicine when, at age thirty-six, he enrolled in the "Harvard of paramedic schools": UCLA's Daniel Freeman Paramedic Program, long considered one of the best and most intense paramedic training programs in the world.Few jobs can match the stress, trauma, and drama that a paramedic calls a typical day at the office, and few educational settings can match the pressure and competitiveness of paramedic school. Blending months of classroom instruction with ER rotations and a grueling field internship with the Los Angeles Fire Department, UCLA's paramedic program is like a mix of boot camp and med school. It would turn out to be the hardest thing Grange had ever done--but also the most transformational and inspiring.An in-depth look at the trials and tragedies that paramedic students experience daily, Lights and Sirens is ultimately about the best part of humanity--people working together to help save a human life.
Lights! Camera! Alice!: The Thrilling True Adventures of the First Woman Filmmaker
by Mara Rockliff Simona CiraoloMeet Alice Guy-Blaché. She made movies—some of the very first movies, and some of the most exciting! Blow up a pirate ship? Why not? Crawl into a tiger's cage? Of course! Leap off a bridge onto a real speeding train? It will be easy! Driven by her passion for storytelling, Alice saw a potential for film that others had not seen before, allowing her to develop new narratives, new camera angles, new techniques, and to surprise her audiences again and again. With daring and vision, Alice Guy-Blaché introduced the world to a thrilling frontier of imagination and adventure, and became one of filmmaking's first and greatest innovators. Mara Rockliff tells the story of a girl who grew up loving stories and became an acclaimed storyteller and an inspiration in her own right.
Lights, Camera, Lions: Memoirs of a Real-Life Dr. Doolittle
by Hubert Geza WellsLights, Camera, Lions tells the remarkable story of Hungarian Hubert Geza Wells, who defects to America during the communist era and goes on to make a name for himself as one of the desired animal trainers in Hollywood. His hair-raising memoir (pun intended) gives insight into training animals that has never been revealed before.
The Lights of Pointe-Noire: A Memoir
by Alain MabanckouA dazzling meditation on home-coming and belonging from one of &“Africa&’s greatest writers&” and the Man Booker International Prize finalist (The Guardian). Alain Mabanckou left Congo in 1989, at the age of twenty-two, not to return until a quarter of a century later. When he finally came back to Pointe-Noire, a bustling port town on the Congo&’s southwestern coast, he found a country that in some ways had changed beyond recognition: The cinema where, as a child, Mabanckou gorged on glamorous American culture had become a Pentecostal church, and his secondary school has been renamed in honor of a previously despised colonial ruler. But many things remain unchanged, not least the swirling mythology of Congolese culture that still informs everyday life in Pointe-Noire. Now a decorated writer and an esteemed professor at UCLA, Mabanckou finds he can only look on as an outsider in the place where he grew up. As he delves into his childhood, into the life of his departed mother, and into the strange mix of belonging and absence that informs his return to the Republic of the Congo, his work recalls the writing of V. S. Naipaul and André Aciman, offering a startlingly fresh perspective on the pain of exile, the ghosts of memory, and the paths we take back home. Grand Prize Winner at the 2015 French Voices Awards &“This is a beautiful book, the past hauntingly reentered, the present truthfully faced, and the translation rises gorgeously to the challenge.&” —Salman Rushdie &“A tender, poetic chronicle of an exile&’s return.&” —Kirkus Reviews
Lights Out
by Travis FreemanWhen the lights go out - play harder. Travis Freeman plunged into a world of darkness at 12 years old. A rare occurrence of a routine illness stole his sight, leaving the small-town Kentucky boy's dreams of football and fun languishing on the sidelines. Having given his heart to Jesus merely a year before the illness, Travis knew one thing: God was still the light for his life. That life story is now the inspiration for a major motion picture, ""23 BLAST"" that hits theatres in October 2014.
Lights Out
by L SubramaniAn inspirational book about one man's (L Subramani) descent into blindness and his fight to live a normal life after it.
Lightships, Lighthouses, and Lifeboat Stations: A Memoir and History
by Bernie Webber"Lightships, Lighthouses and Lifeboat Stations" is part history book, part memoir, written by Bernie Webber, recipient of the Coast Guard's highest award, the Gold Life-saving Medal, and hero of the Disney movie The Finest Hours. While the public will recognize Webber's name from the movie and the bestselling book by the same name, few people know that during his lengthy Coast Guard career he served on lightships (ships anchored in dangerous areas to warn other vessels of hazards) in addition to lifeboat stations (small boat rescue stations) and lighthouses. Webber poses the following question: "How did the lightship men cope with the isolation, constant loneliness, boredom, fear, or just sheer terror? All were part of life on board a lightship. Rough seas tossed the ship about, rearing up and down the anchor chain. This was a world of isolation, noise from operating machinery, and blasts from the powerful foghorn that went on for hours, sometimes days, at a time." Webber answers that question in this book, drawing on a combination of personal experience and meticulous historical research. Discussions of men going mad, lightships being run down by larger ships, anchor chains breaking, and lightships cast upon shoals are offset with humorous stories and the author's reflections on his best days at sea. Webber also explains some of the heroic actions of a few lightship men over the years, and points out that they received no recognition at the time. The isolation these men faced was intense, but they learned to make do with what they had. Fourteen historic photos are included, as well as a Foreword by Michael Tougias.
Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery (In Memory and in Mourning)
by Paul ChapmanThis is a comprehensive and highly emotive volume, borne of years of intensive research and many trips to the battlefields of the Great War. It seeks to humanise the Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, to offer the reader a chance to engage with the personal stories of the soldiers whose names have been chiseled there in stone. Poignant stories of camaraderie, tragic twists of fate and noble sacrifice have been collated in an attempt to bring home the reality of war and the true extent of its tragic cost. It is hoped that visitors to the battlefields, whether their relatives are listed within or not, will find their experience enriched by having access to this treasure trove of stories.
Like a Bat Out of Hell: The Larger than Life Story of Meat Loaf
by Mick Wall'A passionate, pacey tome you should do anything for a copy of' - Kerrang! ****"I never wanted to be a big star. I just wanted to be the biggest at what I do! Powerful, unstoppable, heavy - when that word still meant something good!" - Meat Loaf, as told to Mick Wall Everything in the story of Meat Loaf is big. From the place he was born (Texas); to the family he was born into (his father weighed 22 stone, his uncle weighed over 40 stone, while Meat Loaf himself weighed 17 stone before he was even in his teens); to the sound he made (a colossal collision between Richard Wagner, Phil Spector and Bruce Springsteen); and of course the records he sold - nearly 50 million in Britain and America alone. Now, on the eve of the 40th anniversary of Bat Out of Hell, the album that gave rise to Meat Loaf's astonishing career, and the premiere of Bat Out Of Hell: The Musical, Mick Wall, who has interviewed Meat Loaf on numerous occasions throughout his career, pulls back the curtains to reveal the soft-hearted soul behind the larger-than-life character he created for himself. From a tumultuous childhood with an alcoholic father to the relentless abusive bullying from classmates and their parents alike, nobody could have predicted Meat Loaf's meteoric rise to fame. But when the messianic rock opera Bat Out of Hell was released in 1977, it became one of the biggest albums of all time, selling over 45 million copies worldwide to date. Its release marked the start of a rollercoaster ride of incredible highs and seemingly career-ending lows. By the 80s, Meat Loaf was battling with drug and alcohol addiction and escalating money problems that would eventually lead to a nervous breakdown. But just when it seemed like it was all over, the astonishing success of Bat Out of Hell II and the mega-hit 'I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)' marked an extraordinary new wave of success. Now, Mick Wall will bring this extraordinary story up to date, drawing on the hours he spent with Meat Loaf, both in interviews and on tour, as well as offering up a unique insight from those who have known him best.
Like a Bat Out of Hell: The Larger than Life Story of Meat Loaf
by Mick Wall'A passionate, pacey tome you should do anything for a copy of' - Kerrang! "I never wanted to be a big star. I just wanted to be the biggest at what I do! Powerful, unstoppable, heavy - when that word still meant something good!" - Meat Loaf, as told to Mick Wall Everything in the story of Meat Loaf is big. From the place he was born (Texas); to the family he was born into (his father weighed 22 stone, his uncle weighed over 40 stone, while Meat Loaf himself weighed 17 stone before he was even in his teens); to the sound he made (a colossal collision between Richard Wagner, Phil Spector and Bruce Springsteen); and of course the records he sold - nearly 50 million in Britain and America alone.From a tumultuous childhood with an alcoholic father to the relentless abusive bullying he endured, nobody could have predicted Meat Loaf's meteoric rise to fame. But when the messianic rock opera Bat Out of Hell was released in 1977, it became one of the biggest albums of all time, selling over 45 million copies worldwide to date. Its release marked the start of a rollercoaster ride of incredible highs and seemingly career-ending lows. By the 80s, Meat Loaf was battling with drug and alcohol addiction and escalating money problems. But just when it seemed like it was all over, the astonishing success of Bat Out of Hell II and the mega-hit 'I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)' marked an extraordinary new wave of success. Now, Mick Wall will bring this extraordinary story up to date, drawing on the hours he spent with Meat Loaf, both in interviews and on tour, as well as offering up a unique insight from those who have known him best.
Like a Bomb Going Off
by Janice Ross Ms Lynn GarafolaEveryone has heard of George Balanchine. Few outside Russia know of Leonid Yakobson, Balanchine's contemporary, who remained in Lenin's Russia and survived censorship during the darkest days of Stalin. Like Shostakovich, Yakobson suffered for his art and yet managed to create a singular body of revolutionary dances that spoke to the Soviet condition. His work was often considered so culturally explosive that it was described as "like a bomb going off." Based on untapped archival collections of photographs, films, and writings about Yakobson's work in Moscow and St. Petersburg for the Bolshoi and Kirov ballets, as well as interviews with former dancers, family, and audience members, this illuminating and beautifully written biography brings to life a hidden history of artistic resistance in the USSR through this brave artist, who struggled against officially sanctioned anti-Semitism while offering a vista of hope.
Like a Fading Shadow: A Novel
by Antonio Muñoz MolinaA hypnotic novel intertwining the author’s past with James Earl Ray’s attempt to escape after shooting Martin Luther King Jr.The year is 1968 and James Earl Ray has just shot Martin Luther King Jr. For two months he evades authorities, driving to Canada, securing a fake passport, and flying to London, all while relishing the media’s confusion about his location and his image on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. Eventually he lands at the Hotel Portugal in Lisbon, where he anxiously awaits a visa to Angola. But the visa never comes, and for his last ten days of freedom, Ray walks around Lisbon, paying for his pleasures and rehearsing his fake identities. Using recently declassified FBI files, Antonio Muñoz Molina reconstructs Ray’s final steps through the Portuguese capital, taking us inside his feverish mind, troubled past, and infamous crime. But Lisbon is also the city that inspired Muñoz Molina’s first novel, A Winter in Lisbon, and as he returns now, thirty years later, it becomes the stage for and witness to three alternating stories: Ray in 1968 at the center of an international manhunt; a thirty-year-old Muñoz Molina in 1987 struggling to find his literary voice; and the author in the present, reflecting on his life and the form of the novel as an instrument for imagining the world through another person’s eyes. Part historical fiction, part fictional memoir, Like a Fading Shadow masterfully explores the borders between the imagined, the reported, and the experienced past in the construction of identity.
Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse: My Life in Comedy
by Phyllis Diller Richard BuskinFrom housewife to humorist, the late-great Phyllis Diller has been making millions laugh for five decades with her groundbreaking comedy. Now the laughter continues with her uproarious autobiography. Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse recounts how, against all odds, Phyllis Diller became America’s first successful and best-loved female stand-up comic. She began her professional career at age thirty-seven, in spite of the fact that she was a housewife and mother of five, and was working at a radio station because of her husband’s chronic unemployment. Now, fifty years later, after two traumatic marriages, extensive cosmetic surgery, numerous film, television, and stage appearances, and separate careers as an artist and piano soloist with symphony orchestras, Phyllis Diller finally tells her story. With her trademark laugh, self-deprecating humor, and incredible wit, Phyllis Diller has etched her way into comedic history. And while her wild hair and outrageous clothes may make her look like a lampshade in a whorehouse, her strength, self-belief, perseverance, and raucous sense of humor make her truly unforgettable. .
Like a Mighty Stream: The March on Washington, August 28, 1963
by Patrik Henry BassThe March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, held in the nation's capital on August 28, 1963, is recognized as a watershed moment in American history. It was epochal; one of the most significant events of the 20th century. The New York Times called the March "the greatest assembly ever seen." No public event before or since has had the social, cultural or political impact of The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. ... This is a retrospective illumination of the events that led to the March. The book zeroes in on the leaders who made it happen, and explores the impact it had on the people who attended. ... Bass integrates the remembrances of everyday and extraordinary Americans who attended, including NPR correspondent Vertamae Grosvenor, Georgia representative Nan Grogan Orrock, and 60 Minutes correspondent Ed Bradley, Jr. Their memories of the day widely differ. Some recall the day as one of the hottest of their lives; others thought it was a mild summer day. There are varying accounts of how many people attended, and there are differences about the progress that was and has been made... Where they agree is that this was one of the greatest days in American history: an unparalleled celebration of humanity and hope.
Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward after Loss and Heartache
by Granger SmithNew York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, ECPA Bestseller'Country music artist Smith debuts with a sensitive and moving recollection of his path through grief. . .In stark, intimate prose, the author candidly renders the realities of suffering while articulating a moving message of renewal. Those seeking a faith-based path through grief will find this instructive and affecting.' -- Publishers WeeklyLike a River, a triumphant story of new life birthed out of tragedy, will teach readers how to face their failures, confront their pain, and connect with God—the true source of life.On June 4th, 2019, country music singer Granger Smith was enjoying a final evening with his kids before heading to Nashville for the CMT Music Awards and his next tour. While helping his daughter London with her gymnastics, his youngest son fell into their pool. Granger did everything he could to get to him, but he was too late. River drowned, and Granger's world shattered.The days, weeks, and months that followed River's death sent Granger on a dark and painful journey. Every time he closed his eyes, he replayed the horrific event in his mind, and every time he opened his computer, he was bombarded by the critique and criticism of people who blamed him for the accident.Despite his best effort to get back on stage with a smile and song, it was all a façade. On the inside he was dying. Fortunately, that's not how his story ended. And now he is compelled to help people all around the world find strength, peace, and hope on the other side of tragedy.Like a River, life is full of twists and turns.Like a River, people pollute our world with their critique and criticism.Like a River, tragic events keep us dammed up.But like a river, we can find the courage to keep moving downstream. Rivers don't run on their own strength; they flow from their source. When we try to keep going on our own, we won't make it, but when we connect to the greater source, we will find the strength and the faith to keep living after loss. This triumphant story of new life birthed out of death will inspire every reader to live Like a River.
Like a Rolling Stone: Bob Dylan at the Crossroads
by Greil MarcusGreil Marcus saw Bob Dylan for the first time in a New Jersey field in 1963. He didn't know the name of the scruffy singer who had a bit part in a Joan Baez concert, but he knew his performance was unique. So began a dedicated and enduring relationship between America's finest critic of popular music-- "simply peerless," in Nick Hornby's words, "not only as a rock writer but as a cultural historian"-- and Bob Dylan. In Like A Rolling Stone Marcus locates Dylan's six-minute masterwork in its richest, fullest context, capturing the heady atmosphere of the recording studio in 1965 as musicians and technicians clustered around the mercurial genius from Minnesota, the young Bob Dylan at the height of his powers. But Marcus shows how, far from being a song only of 1965, "Like a Rolling Stone" is rooted in faraway American places and times, drawing on timeless cultural impulses that make the song as challenging, disruptive, and restless today as it ever was, capable of reinvention by artists as disparate as the comedian Richard Belzer and the Italian hip-hop duo Articolo 31. "Like a Rolling Stone" never loses its essential quality, which is directly to challenge the listener: it remains a call to arms and a demand for a better world. Forty years later it is still revolutionary as will and idea, as an attack and an embrace. How Does it Feel? In this unique, burningly intense book, Marcus tells you, and much more besides.
Like a Rolling Stone: A Memoir
by Jann WennerIn this New York Times bestseller, Rolling Stone founder, co-editor, and publisher Jann Wenner offers a "touchingly honest" and "wonderfully deep" memoir from the beating heart of classic rock and roll (Bruce Springsteen). Jann Wenner has been called by his peers &“the greatest editor of his generation.&” His deeply personal memoir vividly describes and brings you inside the music, the politics, and the lifestyle of a generation, an epoch of cultural change that swept America and beyond. The age of rock and roll in an era of consequence, what will be considered one of the great watersheds in modern history. Wenner writes with the clarity of a journalist and an essayist. He takes us into the life and work of Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Bono, and Bruce Springsteen, to name a few. He was instrumental in the careers of Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Wolfe, and Annie Leibovitz. His journey took him to the Oval Office with his legendary interviews with Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, leaders to whom Rolling Stone gave its historic, full-throated backing. From Jerry Garcia to the Dalai Lama, Aretha Franklin to Greta Thunberg, the people Wenner chose to be seen and heard in the pages of Rolling Stone tried to change American culture, values, and morality.Like a Rolling Stone is a beautifully written portrait of one man&’s life, and the life of his generation.
Like a Waking Dream
by Paul Donnelly Geshe Lhundub Sopa His Holiness the Dalai LamaAmong the generation of elder Tibetan lamas who brought Tibetan Buddhism west in the latter half of the twentieth century, perhaps none has had a greater impact on the academic study of Buddhism than Geshe Lhundub Sopa. He has striven to preserve Tibetan religious culture through tireless work as a professor and religious figure, establishing a functioning Buddhist monastery in the West, organizing the Dalai Lama's visits to the U.S., and offering countless teachings across the country. But prior to his thirty-year career in the first ever academic Buddhist studies program in the United States - a position in which he oversaw the training of many among the seminal generation of American Buddhist studies scholars - Geshe Sopa was the son of peasant farmers, a novice monk in a rural monastery, a virtuoso scholar-monk at one of the prestigious central monasteries in Lhasa, and a survivor of the Tibetan uprising and perilous flight into exile in 1959. In Like a Waking Dream, Geshe Sopa frankly and observantly reflects on how his life in Tibet - a monastic life of yogic simplicity - shaped and prepared him for the unexpected. His is a tale of an exemplary life dedicated to learning, spiritual cultivation, and the service of others from one of the greatest living masters of Tibetan Buddhism.
Like Brothers
by Mindy Kaling Mark Duplass Jay DuplassThe multitalented writers, directors, producers, and actors (as seen on The League, Transparent, and The Mindy Project) share the secrets of their lifelong partnership in this unique memoir.Whether producing, writing, directing, or acting, the Duplass Brothers have made their mark in the world of independent film and television on the strength of their quirky and empathetic approach to storytelling. Now, for the first time, Mark and Jay take readers on a tour of their lifelong partnership in this unique memoir told in essays that share the secrets of their success, the joys and frustrations of intimate collaboration, and the lessons they’ve learned the hard way. From a childhood spent wielding an oversized home video camera in the suburbs of New Orleans to their shared years at the University of Texas in early-nineties Austin, and from the breakthrough short they made on a three-dollar budget to the night their feature film Baghead became the center of a Sundance bidding war, Mark and Jay tell the story of a bond that’s resilient, affectionate, mutually empowering, and only mildly dysfunctional. They are brutally honest about how their closeness sabotaged their youthful romantic relationships, about the jealousy each felt when the other stole the spotlight as an actor (Mark in The League, Jay in Transparent), and about the challenges they faced on the set of their HBO series Togetherness—namely, too much togetherness. But Like Brothers is also a surprisingly practical road map to a rewarding creative partnership. Rather than split all their responsibilities fifty-fifty, the brothers learned to capitalize on each other’s strengths. They’re not afraid to call each other out, because they’re also not afraid to compromise. Most relationships aren’t—and frankly shouldn’t be—as intense as Mark and Jay’s, but their brand of trust, validation, and healthy disagreement has taken them far. Part coming-of-age memoir, part underdog story, and part insider account of succeeding in Hollywood on their own terms, Like Brothers is as openhearted and lovably offbeat as Mark and Jay themselves.“Wright. Ringling. Jonas. I’m sure you could name a bunch of famous brother teams. They’re all garbage compared to Mark and Jay. I can’t wait for you to read this book.”—from the foreword by Mindy Kaling
Like Crazy: Life with My Mother and Her Invisible Friends
by Dan Mathews&“Exquisite. Full of wry humor, tenderness, and compassion.&” —Jeannette Walls, New York Times bestselling author A hilarious and heartbreaking memoir about an outlandish mother and son on an odyssey of self-discovery, and the rag-tag community that rallied to help them as the mother entered the final phase of her life.Dan Mathews knew that his witty, bawdy, unhinged mother, Perry, was unable to maintain her fierce independence at seventy-eight—so he flew her across the country to Virginia to live with him in an 1870 townhouse badly in need of repairs. But to Dan, a screwdriver is a cocktail not a tool, and he was soon overwhelmed with two fixer-uppers: the house and his mother. Unbowed, Dan and Perry built a rollicking life together fueled by costume parties, road trips, after-hours gatherings, and an unshakeable sense of humor as they faced down hurricanes, blizzards, and Perry&’s steady decline. They got by with the help of an ever-expanding circle of sidekicks—Dan&’s boyfriends (past and present), ex-cons, sailors, strippers, deaf hillbillies, evangelicals, and grumpy cats—while flipping the parent-child relationship on its head. But it wasn&’t until a kicking-and-screaming trip to the emergency room that Dan discovered the cause of his mother&’s unpredictable, often caustic behavior: Perry had lived her entire adult life as an undiagnosed schizophrenic. Irreverent and emotionally powerful, Like Crazy is a darkly comic tale about the perils and rewards of taking in a fragile parent without derailing your life in the process. A rare story about mental illness with an uplifting conclusion, it shows the remarkable growth that takes place when a wild child settles down to care for the wild woman who raised him.
Like Every Form of Love: A Memoir of Friendship and True Crime
by Padma ViswanathanFrom the Scotiabank Giller Prize finalist, a gripping exploration of class, race, friendship, sexuality, what an author owes her subject and what it means to be a good person—all wrapped up in a riveting Canadian true crime story.Padma Viswanathan was staying on a houseboat on Vancouver Island when she struck up a friendship with a warm-hearted, working-class queer man named Phillip. Their lives were so different it seemed unlikely to Padma that their relationship would last after she returned to her usual life. But, that week, Phillip told her a story from his childhood that kept them connected for more than twenty years.Phillip was the son of a severe, abusive man named Harvey, a miner, farmer and communist. After Phillip&’s mother left the family, Harvey advertised for a housekeeper-with-benefits. And so Del, the most glamorous and loving of stepmothers, stepped into Phillip's life. Del had hung out with Fidel Castro and Che Guevara in Mexico City before the Cuban revolution; she was also a convicted bank robber who had violated her parole and was suspected in her ex-husband&’s murder. Phillip had long since lost track of Del, but when Padma said she&’d like to write about her and about his own young life, he eagerly agreed. Quickly, though, Padma&’s research uncovered hidden truths about these larger-than-real-life characters. Watching the effects on Phillip as these secrets, evasions and traumas came to light, she increasingly feared that when it came to the book or the friendship, only one of them would get out of this process alive. In this unforgettable memoir, Padma reflects on the joys and frictions of this strange journey with grace, humour and poetry, including original readings of Hans Christian Andersen fairytales and other stories that beautifully echo her characters&’ adventures and her own. Like Every Form of Love is that rare thing: an irresistible literary page-turner that twists and turns, delivering powerful revelations, right to the very end.
Like Family: Growing up in Other People's Houses
by Paula MclainIn the tradition of Jo Ann Beard's Boys of My Youth, and Mary Karr's The Liar's Club, Paula McLain has written a powerful and haunting memoir about the years she and her two sisters spent as foster children. In the early 70s, after being abandoned by both parents, the girls were made wards of the Fresno County, California court and spent the next 14 years-in a series of adoptive homes. The dislocations, confusions, and odd pleasures of an unrooted life form the basis of one of the freshest memoirs to be published in recent years. McLain's beautiful writing and limber voice capture the intense loneliness, sadness, and determination of a young girl both on her own and responsible, with her siblings, for staying together as a family.