- Table View
- List View
Marooned
by Robert Andrew Parker Robert KraskeIn 1704, Alexander Selkirk was voyaging across the South Pacific when, after arguing with the ship's captain, he was put ashore- alone-on an uninhabited island. Equipped with little more than a musket and his wits, Selkirk not only survived in complete solitude for more than four years, but to came to be quite comfortable and happy. After being rescued by a British privateer in 1709, he took a leading role in several dramatic captures of merchant ships. Although he returned to civilization a rich man, he couldn't find a place in society and always longed to return to the paradise of his island.Selkirk's well-documented adventures so inspired Daniel Defoe that they became the basis for his perennial classic, Robinson Crusoe. In an account that is every bit as fascinating as Defoe's novel, Robert Kraske provides vivid descriptions of Selkirk's days on the island and aboard ship, including details of the violent, bloody, and legally sanctioned pirating that went on in the early 18th century. Author's note, glossary, bibliography, index.
Marooned in the Arctic: The True Story of Ada Blackjack, the "Female Robinson Crusoe"
by Peggy CaravantesThe first and only young adult book about Ada Blackjack and her remarkable, true-life survival story In 1921, four men ventured into the Arctic for a top-secret expedition--an attempt to claim the remote, uninhabited Wrangel Island in northern Siberia for Canada. With the men was a 23-year-old Inuit woman named Ada Blackjack, who had signed on as a cook and seamstress to earn money to care for her sick son, left at home. Conditions soon turned dire for the team when, after rations ran out, they were unable to kill enough game to survive. Three of the men tried to cross the frozen Chukchi Sea for help but were never seen again, leaving Ada with one remaining, ill team member whom she cared for but who soon died of scurvy. Determined to be reunited with her son, Ada learned to survive alone in the icy world by trapping foxes, catching seals, and avoiding polar bears. She taught herself to shoot a shotgun and a rifle. After Ada was finally rescued in August 1923, after two years total on the island, she became an instant celebrity, with newspapers calling her a real "female Robinson Crusoe." The first and only young adult book about Ada Blackjack and her remarkable story, Marooned in the Arctic includes sidebars on relevant topics of interest to teens, such as the uses of cats on sailing ships, the phenomenon known as Arctic hysteria, and various aspects of Inuit culture and beliefs.
The Marquess of Queensberry
by Linda StratmannThe Marquess of Queensberry is as famous for his role in the downfall of one of our greatest literary geniuses as he was for helping establish the rules for modern-day boxing. The trial and two-year imprisonment of Oscar Wilde, lover of Queensberryâ TMs son, Lord Alfred Douglas, remains one of literary historyâ TMs great tragedies. However, Linda Stratmann's riveting biography of the Marquess paints a far more complex picture by drawing on new sources and unpublished letters. Throughout his life, Queensberry was emotionally damaged by a series of tragedies, and the events of the Wilde affairâ "told for the first time from the Marquessâ TMs perspectiveâ "were directly linked to Queensberryâ TMs personal crises. Through the retelling of pivotal events from Queensberryâ TMs lifeâ "the death of his brother on the Matterhorn and his fruitless search for the body; the suicides of his father, brother, and eldest sonâ "the book reveals a well-meaning man often stricken with a grief he found hard to express, who deserves our compassion.
The Marquis
by Laura AuricchioA major biography of the Marquis de Lafayette, French hero of the American Revolution, who, at age nineteen, volunteered to fight under George Washington; a biography that looks past the storybook hero and selfless champion of righteous causes who cast aside family and fortune to advance the transcendent aims of liberty and justice commemorated in America's towns, streets, parks, and schools named after the French nobleman. Laura Auricchio gives us a rich portrait of the man, fully revealed, a man driven by dreams of glory and felled by tragic, human weaknesses. In The Marquis, we come to understand the personal struggles, social quandaries, and idealistic visions that inspired an orphaned young man to cross an ocean and fight a war that was none of his concern; we see a guileless provincial whose unexpected inheritance allowed him to marry into the highest echelons of the French aristocracy, and become a self-consciously awkward presence at the palace of Versailles. Here is the young Lafayette, removed from the French army as a result of sweeping reforms, trapped in a gilded cage until American emissaries reached Paris seeking support for their revolution. In the American cause, Lafayette, whose only vision had been of martial glory, saw a way to reach his dreams, and seized it with gusto. Americans welcomed him with open arms, and he returned their affection fully. His American éclat was so brilliant and his enthusiasm so great that he quickly became the symbol of the Franco-American alliance that ultimately defeated Great Britain. We see how Lafayette's reputation rose to great heights during the American Revolution but collapsed during the French; that when the Bastille fell on July 14, 1789, Parisians hailed Lafayette as the French Washington and appointed him commander of their National Guard, hoping that he would be able to restore order to a city wracked by starvation and violence. As revolutionaries hurtled in radical directions and staunch monarchists dug in their heels, Lafayette lost control, remaining steadfast in his belief that the French monarchy needed to be reformed but not abolished, and doing everything in his power to prevent an American-style republic from taking root in his native land. Formerly seen as France's heroic figure, Lafayette was now viewed as opportunistic, a dreamer, and a traitor to his nation--and today remains a murky figure in French memory. In America, Lafayette's momentous departure from his homeland for the War of Independence has long been hailed as the start of an extraordinary career to be celebrated for generations. In France, it is often seen as just one of his many misbegotten undertakings. Yet no one has managed to offer a satisfactory answer to the crucial question of why: Why did Americans shower Lafayette with so much acclaim in his own time that he remains a hero today, being named an honorary U.S. citizen in 2002--becoming only the seventh person ever granted this distinction? And why, in contrast, does his memory continue to be denigrated in his own land? Auricchio, drawing on substantial new research conducted in libraries, archives, museums, and private homes in France and the United States, gives us history on a grand scale as she answers these crucial questions, revealing the man and his complex life, and challenging and exploring the complicated myths that have surrounded his name for more than two centuries.From the Hardcover edition.
The Marquis de Custine and His Russia in 1839
by George F. KennanA critical study of the study of the Marquise de Custine.
Marrakech Express
by Peter MillarBack in 1969 when Morocco's ancient capital was a hashish clouded happy mecca, Crosby, Stills and Nash recorded their cheesy (and hopelessly inaccurate) foot-tapping anthem 'Marrakech Express'. A generation on, award-winning journalist, author, and one-time glamrock fan Peter Millar uses what is now the country's best visited tourist destination as the embarkation point for a literally reverse-engineered train journey through this still exotic, diverse and challenging North African country, struggling to maintain its unique blend of tradition and tolerance in the turbulent winds of the Arab Spring.
Marrakech Express
by Peter MillarBack in 1969 when Morocco's ancient capital was a hashish clouded happy mecca, Crosby, Stills and Nash recorded their cheesy (and hopelessly inaccurate) foot-tapping anthem 'Marrakech Express'. A generation on, award-winning journalist, author, and one-time glamrock fan Peter Millar uses what is now the country's best visited tourist destination as the embarkation point for a literally reverse-engineered train journey through this still exotic, diverse and challenging North African country, struggling to maintain its unique blend of tradition and tolerance in the turbulent winds of the Arab Spring.
The Marriage Act: The Risk I Took to Keep My Best Friend in America, and What It Taught Us About Love
by Liza MonroyAfter her traditional engagement to her high school sweetheart falls apart, Liza Monroy faced the prospect of another devastating loss: the deportation of her best friend Emir. Desperate to stay in America, Emir tried every legal recourse to obtain a green card knowing that his return to the Middle East-where gay men are often beaten and sometimes killed-was too dangerous. So Liza proposes to Emir in efforts to keep him safe and by her side. After a fast wedding in Las Vegas, the couple faces new adventures and obstacles in both L.A. and New York City as they dodge the INS. Their relationship is compounded further by the fact that Liza's mother works for the State Department preventing immigration fraud. Through it all, Liza and Emir must contend with professional ambition, adversity, and heartbreak and eventually learn the true lessons of companionship and devotion. This marriage that was not a marriage, in the end, really was.The Marriage Act is a timely and topical look at the changing face of marriage in America and speaks to the emergent generation forming bonds outside of tradition-and sometimes even outside the law.
Marriage and Other Acts of Charity: A Memoir
by M.C. BeatonAs a minister, Kate Braestrup regularly performs weddings. She has also, at 44, been married twice and widowed once, and accordingly has much to say about life after the ceremony. From helping a newlywed couple make amends after their first fight to preparing herself for her second marriage, Braestrup offers her insights and experiences on what it truly means to share your life with someone, from the first kiss to the last straw, for better or for worse.
Marriage as a Fine Art
by Julia Kristeva Philippe Sollers"We found so much to say, to share, to learn.... For it wasn't just the Marquis de Sade profile and the sporty thighs-and-calves that seduced me. It was even more, perhaps, or certainly just as much, the speed at which you used to read, and still do."—Julia Kristeva"We're married, Julia and I, that's a fact, but we each have our own personalities, our own name, activities, and freedom. Love is the full recognition of the other in their otherness. If this other is very close to you, as in this case, it seems to me that what's at stake is harmony within difference. The difference between men and women is irreducible; there's no possibility of fusion."—Philippe SollersMarriage as a Fine Art is an enchanting series of exchanges in which Julia Kristeva and Philippe Sollers, married for fifty years, speak candidly about their love. Though they live separately, Kristeva and Sollers are fully committed to each other. Their bond is intellectual and psychological, passionate and mundane. They share everything when together, and lose themselves in their interests when apart. Their marriage is art, rich with history and meaning, idiosyncratic, and dynamic in its expression. Yet it is also as common as they come. Kristeva and Sollers have lived through the same challenges, peaks, and lulls as all married couples do. With humor and honesty, they elaborate on these moments, turning marriage's familiar aspects into exceptional examples of relating, struggling, transcending, and being. Marriage as a Fine Art is a rare chance to know these intellectuals—and marriage—more intimately.
The Marriage Bureau: The True Story of How Two Matchmakers Arranged Love in Wartime London
by Penrose HalsonA riveting glimpse of life and love during and after World War II—a heart-warming, touching, and thoroughly absorbing true story of a world gone by.In the spring of 1939, with the Second World War looming, two determined twenty-four-year-olds, Heather Jenner and Mary Oliver, decided to open a marriage bureau. They found a tiny office on London’s Bond Street and set about the delicate business of matchmaking. Drawing on the bureau’s extensive archives, Penrose Halson—who many years later found herself the proprietor of the bureau—tells their story, and those of their clients. From shop girls to debutantes; widowers to war veterans, clients came in search of security, social acceptance, or simply love. And thanks to the meticulous organization and astute intuition of the Bureau’s matchmakers, most found what they were looking for. Penrose Halson draws from newspaper and magazine articles, advertisements, and interviews with the proprietors themselves to bring the romance and heartbreak of matchmaking during wartime to vivid, often hilarious, life in this unforgettable story of a most unusual business.“A book full of charm and hilarity.”—Country Life
The Marriage Game: A Novel of Queen Elizabeth I (Elizabeth I)
by Alison WeirIn this compelling novel of Tudor drama and suspense, acclaimed author Alison Weir brings to life one of England's most scandalous royal love affairs: the romance between the "Virgin Queen" Elizabeth I and her courtier Lord Robert Dudley. Only twenty-five and newly crowned, Elizabeth vows to rule the country as both queen and king. But her counselors continually press her to form an advantageous marriage and produce an heir. Though none of the suitors have yet worked their way to her throne, the dashing--though married--Lord Robert lays claim to Elizabeth's heart. Their flagrant flirting, their unescorted outings, and the appointment of Lord Robert to Master of Horse inspire whispers through the court, and even rumors that Elizabeth has secretly given birth to Lord Robert's child. Events take a dark turn when Robert's wife is found dead. Universal shock is followed by accusations of murder. Despite the scandal, Elizabeth and Robert manage to navigate the choppy political, economic, and religious waters around them. But the greatest obstacle to marriage between the Queen and her true love may come not from outside forces, but from within. With intricate period detail and captivating prose, Alison Weir explores one of history's most provocative "Did they or didn't they?" debates. The Marriage Game maneuvers through the alliances, duplicities, intrigue, and emotions of a woman intent on sovereignty--over her country and herself. Praise for Alison Weir A Dangerous Inheritance "A juicy mix of romance, drama and Tudor history . . . pure bliss for today's royal watchers."--Ladies' Home Journal "Highly compelling [with] plenty to keep readers enthralled."--Historical Novel Review Captive Queen "Should be savored . . . Weir wastes no time captivating her audience."--Seattle Post-Intelligencer "Stunning . . . As always, Weir renders the bona fide plot twists of her heroine's life with all the mastery of a thriller author, marrying historical fact with licentious fiction."--The Denver Post The Lady Elizabeth "Intrigue and maneuverings. Scandal. Schemers and innocents put to death. [This] history of Tudor England is an engrossing story. . . . Weir marries conjecture with what is known about the life of Elizabeth I from childhood to coronation, and it makes for ripping good reading."--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "A compelling, even irresistible, read."--Booklist (starred review)
The Marriage Question: George Eliot's Double Life
by Clare CarlisleNamed one of the ten Best Reviewed Nonfiction Books of 2023 by Literary Hub A startling new portrait of George Eliot, the beloved novelist and a rare philosophical mind who explored the complexities of marriage.In her mid-thirties, Marian Evans transformed herself into George Eliot—an author celebrated for her genius as soon as she published her debut novel. During those years she also found her life partner, George Lewes—writer, philosopher, and married father of three. After “eloping” to Berlin in 1854, they lived together for twenty-four years: Eliot asked people to call her "Mrs Lewes" and dedicated each novel to her "Husband." Though they could not legally marry, she felt herself initiated into the "great experience" of marriage—"this double life, which helps me to feel and think with double strength." The relationship scandalized her contemporaries yet she grew immeasurably within it. Living at once inside and outside marriage, Eliot could experience this form of life—so familiar yet also so perplexing—from both sides. In The Marriage Question, Clare Carlisle reveals Eliot to be not only a great artist but also a brilliant philosopher who probes the tensions and complexities of a shared life. Through the immense ambition and dark marriage plots of her novels, we see Eliot wrestling—in art and in life—with themes of desire and sacrifice, motherhood and creativity, trust and disillusion, destiny and chance. Carlisle's searching new biography explores how marriage questions grow and change, and joins Eliot in her struggle to marry thought and feeling.Includes black-and-white images
The Marriage Test
by Jill Andres Brook Silva-BragaA crash course in commitment: one couple and forty dates that could make or break their marriage before the wedding. Picking a partner is life's most important decision, but how are we supposed to make it? Being in love is a good start, but the issues that ultimately wreck marriages--money and monogamy, career and kids--are hard to gauge until you're actually hitched. So after a few years of dating, Jill Andres and Brook Silva-Braga built The Marriage Test to confirm their compatibility before saying "I do." Forty revealing challenges simulate the issues that could tank or strengthen their union. For a month, they swap credit cards, for a weekend they borrow a baby. An embarrassing lunch with their exes tests their trust issues. Sexual gymnastics are required to recreate TV love scenes. From a night of speed dating to 24 hours handcuffed together, the crazy, awkward, emotional trials fling them headfirst into assorted marital minefields. Is their love strong enough to weather real life? Only forty dates will tell...From the Trade Paperback edition.
Married to Africa
by G. Pascal ZacharyG. Pascal Zachary is a foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal when he finds love in, of all places, the zoo in Accra, Ghana. That is where he meets Chizo Okon, the surrogate mother for an orphaned chimpanzee. In Married to Africa, Zachary tells their warm and humorous story, which is as much about the marriage of two cultures as it is about the marriage of two people.
Married to Alzheimer's: A Life Less Ordinary with Tony Booth
by Steph BoothEXTRAORDINARY MEMOIR OF A LIFE AND LOVE TORN APART BY DEMENTIAWhen her husband Tony was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2004, Steph Booth had to say goodbye to life as she knew it. The disease encroached into their lives, taking away Tony day by day. Open and honest, but with heart and warmth, Steph reveals and the hardship of caring for Tony and losing herself in the midst of it. Along the way we learn of the people they were, the dynamics of their relationship – Tony’s theatrics, Steph’s stubbornness – effortlessly captured with lightness and humour. Borne out of her much-loved Irish Times column, Married to Alzheimer’s is a poignant account of a life and love torn apart by dementia and a bond that was unshakeable. Tony was never a conformist. An actor, rebel, raconteur. The frustration, the grief, the laughter, the anger, the joy meant life with him was anything but ordinary.
Married To A Bedouin
by Marguerite van Geldermalsen'"Where you staying?" the Bedouin asked. "Why you not stay with me tonight - in my cave?"' Thus begins Marguerite van Geldermalsen's story of how a New Zealand-born nurse came to be married to Mohammad Abdallah Othman, a Bedouin souvenir-seller from the ancient city of Petra in Jordan. It was 1978 and she and a friend were travelling through the Middle East when Marguerite met the charismatic Mohammad who convinced her that he was the man for her.A life with Mohammad meant moving into his ancient cave and learning to love the regular tasks of baking shrak bread on an open fire and collecting water from the spring. And as Marguerite feels herself becoming part of the Bedouin community, she is thankful for the twist in fate that has led her to this contented life. Marguerite's light-hearted and guileless observations of the people she comes to love are as heart-warming as they are valuable, charting Bedouin traditions now lost to the modern world.
Married To A Bedouin
by Marguerite van Geldermalsen'"Where you staying?" the Bedouin asked. "Why you not stay with me tonight - in my cave?"' Thus begins Marguerite van Geldermalsen's story of how a New Zealand-born nurse came to be married to Mohammad Abdallah Othman, a Bedouin souvenir-seller from the ancient city of Petra in Jordan. It was 1978 and she and a friend were travelling through the Middle East when Marguerite met the charismatic Mohammad who convinced her that he was the man for her.A life with Mohammad meant moving into his ancient cave and learning to love the regular tasks of baking shrak bread on an open fire and collecting water from the spring. And as Marguerite feels herself becoming part of the Bedouin community, she is thankful for the twist in fate that has led her to this contented life. Marguerite's light-hearted and guileless observations of the people she comes to love are as heart-warming as they are valuable, charting Bedouin traditions now lost to the modern world.
Married To A Bedouin
by Marguerite van Geldermalsen'"Where you staying?" the Bedouin asked. "Why you not stay with me tonight - in my cave?"' Thus begins Marguerite van Geldermalsen's story of how a New Zealand-born nurse came to be married to Mohammad Abdallah Othman, a Bedouin souvenir-seller from the ancient city of Petra in Jordan. It was 1978 and she and a friend were travelling through the Middle East when Marguerite met the charismatic Mohammad who convinced her that he was the man for her.A life with Mohammad meant moving into his ancient cave and learning to love the regular tasks of baking shrak bread on an open fire and collecting water from the spring. And as Marguerite feels herself becoming part of the Bedouin community, she is thankful for the twist in fate that has led her to this contented life. Marguerite's light-hearted and guileless observations of the people she comes to love are as heart-warming as they are valuable, charting Bedouin traditions now lost to the modern world.
Married to Bhutan: How One Woman Got Lost, Said "i Do," And Found Bliss
by Linda LeamingTucked away in the eastern end of the Himalayas lies Bhutan: a tiny, landlocked country bordering China, India, and Nepal. One of the most remote places in the world, Bhutan is rich in natural beauty, exotic landscapes, and ancient wisdom, where people are genuinely happy with very few material possessions and the government embraces "Gross National Happiness" instead of Gross National Product. As one of the few Americans to have lived in Bhutan, Linda Leaming offers a rare glimpse at the peaceful mountain kingdom so many have only dreamed of. For over ten years, Leaming has lived and taught in the small town of Thimphu, where there are fewer than 100,000 people and no traffic lights. "If enlightenment is possible anywhere," she writes, "I think it is particularly possible here." The Bhutanese way of life—quieter, slower, and more tranquil—can seem daunting to most Westerners, consumed with time, dates, speed, and efficiency. In Bhutan, people rarely check their e-mail and take their time answering their telephones. But, as Leaming shows us, a little patience—over a cup of warm tea and friendly conversation—can help soothe the most distressed mind and soul. In this funny, magical memoir, Leaming takes us with her on her travels through South Asia, sharing her experiences as she learns the language, customs, and religion; folklore of a revered Tibetan holy man who gave blessings to the people by whacking them on the head with a big wooden phallus; her unlikely romance with a Buddhist artist; and her discoveries about the unexpected path to happiness and accidental enlightenment, where true bliss resides. Married to Bhutan is a reminder that following our dreams is the way to be truly happy.
Married to Laughter: A Love Story Featuring Anne Meara
by Jerry StillerThe current generation knows him as the serenity-seeking Frank Costanza from Seinfeld. An older generation knows him as one-half of the comedy team Stiller and Meara. But, as his memoir,Married to Laughter, reveals, Jerry Stiller has had a lifelong love affair with entertainment. Growing up during the Depression in Brooklyn and on Manhattan's Lower East Side, Jerry Stiller discovered the power of comedy when, as a child, he saw Eddie Cantor transform an audience. Jerry's father often took him to vaudeville performances, where Jerry decided that he, too, wanted to make people laugh. He studied drama at Syracuse University, where a charismatic professor inspired Jerry to believe that he could achieve his dream and become a successful actor. After Syracuse, Jerry returned to New York to begin a life in the theater. Jerry soon met Anne Meara. Even before he fell in love with her, he knew she was a remarkable person. At first they encouraged each other in their separate performances, but eventually they began doing a comedy act in the coffeehouses of New York's Greenwich Village. They created a brilliantly successful act with two characters who were exaggerated versions of themselves. Before long, they were regulars on The Ed Sullivan Show, the most popular television program of the day. Stiller and Meara was a smash hit. But Jerry's first love has always been the theater, and he writes with fondness and charm about his nearly fifty years in show business -- from summer stock to the early days of Joe Papp's pioneering Shakespeare in the Park, from his Broadway performance in Hurlyburly to his roles in such films as The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, The Ritz, Seize the Day, and Hairspray. He describes the genesis of the hugely successful Blue Nun radio commercials that he and Anne recorded, the first of many award-winning advertisements they would make together. Jerry takes us inside his life offstage, describing with great candor his personal and professional neuroses, including some unusual experiences in therapy. He recounts hilarious stories about the Stiller family and tells wonderful tales about such friends and colleagues as Walter Matthau, Colleen Dewhurst, Mike Nichols, F. Murray Abraham, and Henny Youngman. But most of all, he describes life with Anne, showing us his admiration for her as a performer and describing how she gave him the insight into acting that he'd long sought. Married to Laughter is a great love story about two people who found their place in show business without ever losing sight of each other.
Married to Paradise: One Woman's Courageous Journey of Intuition, Passion, and Purpose to Build an Eco Lodge in the Rainforest
by Lana WedmoreThirty years ago, a young Colorado ski racer falls in love with the freedom and sensuality of a remote Costa Rican rainforest. However, unlike most of us who return home from our tropical vacations, she sets out to make this sensation her life, and to help others experience it. With her own hands, and the help of a Costa Rican boyfriend, she builds an ecolodge in the remote rainforest of Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula.During her journey, a tractor trailer rolls over on her, breaking her leg in four places, her house burns to the ground, and she completely runs out of money. These calamities only strengthen her resolve. In the end, she succeeds in building a lodge praised by media ranging from Travel + Leisure to CNN, and in helping people from all over the world experience one of the most biologically diverse places on earth. She also creates the nonprofit Whitehawk Foundation to save the Osa rainforest.
Married… With Children vs. the World: The Inside Story of the Shock-Com that Launched FOX and Changed TV Comedy Forever
by Richard GurmanA rollicking account of the groundbreaking show from one of the show&’s producers, featuring the voices of the stars, creators, and executives involved with bringing it to life. &“I had the pleasure of working with Richard Gurman for eleven years. When he sent me his new book Married… With Children vs. the World, I figured it would be a trip down memory lane. So I was stunned by some revelations I never knew. And reminded how brilliant much of the writing was. What a time that was. If you liked Married… With Children, then you should read this book. You&’re in for a treat!&” —Ed O&’NeillMarried… With Children burst onto the airwaves with a full-frontal attack on the myth of domestic tranquility depicted in family comedies since the dawn of TV. The outlier series, created by two rebellious writers given carte blanche from a fledgling FOX, became one of the longest running live-action sitcoms in television history and forever changed the way married life was portrayed on the very networks it so scathingly satirized. But it was far from smooth sailing as the creators bucked up against Barry Diller—then CEO of FOX—on everything from casting to content and then butted heads with network standards as they sought to shatter traditional broadcast norms. "Reading Married… With Children vs. the World jolted me right back into the mindset where our little show was the rock &’n&’ roll of sitcoms fighting to get heard in an easy-listening world. Richard Gurman, who was there for the whole ride, digs deep into the joys and frustrations of the entire experience and turns it up loud.&” —Katey Sagal Married… With Children writer-producer Richard Gurman takes us behind the scenes of this boundary-breaking show to reveal how its inner workings were at times as disruptive and contentious—yet at other times, as hysterical and raunchy—as the Bundy family themselves. Featuring exclusive interviews with the cast, including Ed O&’Neill and Katey Sagal, media moguls, network executives, writers, directors, critics, and even the woman who was so offended by one episode she launched a sponsor boycott that almost got the series canceled, Married… With Children vs. the World celebrates the rebellious, satirical vision of the show and the battle to keep it alive that paved the way for the tremendous diversity in family comedy style we see today. &“Not only is this an accurate chronicle of both families, on either side of the camera, but what should also serve as a valuable lesson of never giving up on a dream.&” —Michael G. Moye, Co-Creator &“I had almost as much fun reading Married… with Children vs. the World as I had working on the show. Almost. Richard Gurman chronicles, from his vantage point inside the writers&’ room and the sound booth, how we broke the china in the family sitcom kitchen, and upended the television industry by doing so. What could be more fun than that?&” —David Garrison
The Marriott Cell: An Epic Journey from Cairo's Scorpion Prison to Freedom
by Carol Shaben Amal Clooney Mohamed FahmyAward-winning journalist Mohamed Fahmy's widely anticipated account of his wrongful incarceration in Cairo's maximum-security Scorpion Prison for terrorists and political leaders, and his subsequent battle for justice, opens a remarkable window onto the closed world of Islamic fundamentalism and the bloody geopolitical struggles that dominate our headlines. An important book that reads like a political thriller, it is also a testament to the critical importance of journalism today; an inspiring love story that made front-page news; and a profoundly personal drama of one man's fight for freedom. On the night of December 29, 2013, Egyptian security forces, in a dramatic raid on the Marriott Hotel, seized Fahmy (Canadian-Egyptian Bureau Chief for Al Jazeera English) and two of his colleagues, Peter Greste and Baher Mohamed, accusing them of fabricating news as members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. Their trials became a global cause célèbre condemned as a travesty. But Fahmy also never stopped being a journalist: inside Scorpion he found himself cheek by jowl with notorious Muslim Brotherhood leaders, Al Qaeda fighters, and ISIS sympathizers. Always intrepid, he took advantage of the situation to "interview" the Brotherhood about their aims, gaining exclusive insight into the geopolitical feuds between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE on one hand and Qatar and its allies, including Turkey on the other--interviews that led him to sue his former employer, Al Jazeera, from prison. The complex power brokering of Middle Eastern and Western governments left three men trapped in a web he describes as "Global McCarthyism." But at the heart of the book is an inspiring story of two strong women: Fahmy's wife, Marwa Omara, who used every means possible to fight for his release, bravely risking her safety; and his courageous international human-rights lawyer, Amal Clooney, who championed his battle for freedom.From the Hardcover edition.