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Not All Diamonds and Rosé: The Inside Story of The Real Housewives from the People Who Lived It
by Dave QuinnTHE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! <p><p> Dave Quinn's Not All Diamonds and Rosé is the definitive oral history of the hit television franchise, from its unlikely start in the gated communities of Orange County to the pop culture behemoth it has become—spanning nine cities, hundreds of cast members, and millions of fans. <p><p> What is it really like to be a housewife? We all want to know, but only the women we love to watch and the people who make the show have the whole story. Well, listen in close, because they’re about to tell all. <p><p> Nearly all the wives, producers, and network executives, as well as Andy Cohen himself, are on the record, unfiltered and unvarnished about what it really takes to have a tagline. This is your VIP pass to the lives behind the glam squads, testimonials, and tabloid feuds. <p><p> Life’s not all diamonds and rosé, but the truth is so much better, isn’t it?
Not All Heroes Wear Capes: The incredible story of how one young man found happiness by embracing his differences
by Jono Lancaster'An extraordinary story of transformation and inner strength' - KATIE PIPER'Well worth reading: a tale of real heroism and obstacles overcome' - THE MAIL ON SUNDAY'Truly remarkable and so helpful' - FEARNE COTTON'Finding self-acceptance hasn't always been easy. I was abandoned at birth with a facial difference, and as I got older, I began to hate my face and the world I lived in.Gradually, through trial and error, random moments with strangers, and some tragic haircuts, I've found self-love and happiness.This book is the story of how I found my way out of difficult times, and how you can do the same.'Jono Lancaster was born with Treacher Collins Syndrome - a condition that affects facial appearence - and at only two weeks old, he found himself in foster care. In his remarkable story, Jono shares the highs and lows of his journey and how he turned his differences into his greatest strengths.Inspirational, empowering and moving - this is an extraordinary memoir with a powerful message: you are strong enough to become your own hero. (Cape optional.)
Not All Superheroes Wear Capes
by Quentin KenihanQuentin Kenihan is living proof that superheroes don't need capes, just the right attitude. FOREWORD BY RAY MARTINWhen he was a kid, Quentin Kenihan loved Superman. Ironic, really. Quentin didn't need kryptonite to reveal his weakness - born with a rare bone disorder, osteogenesis imperfecta, his bones broke all on their own.When Quentin was seven, Mike Willesee made a documentary about him. Australians fell in love with his wit, and never-say-die attitude. Over the years he grew up before our eyes. But there was a dark side to his life. The true story was never told ... until now. A story of abandonment, drug addiction, dark days and thoughts of suicide. Battling through it all, Quentin's resilience is inspiring.Quentin is now determined to live life the best he can. Just turned 41, he is a filmmaker, stand-up comedian, radio host, actor and film critic; he's hung out with Angelina, accidentally ripped Jennifer Lopez's dress, talked sex with Jean-Claude Van Damme, appeared in MAD MAX and interviewed Julia Gillard, all the while showing that living in a wheelchair doesn't mean staying still.This is an unforgettable, brutally honest, at times heartbreaking memoir. Quentin Kenihan is living proof that superheroes don't need capes, just the right attitude!'Quentin is a hero of mine. Probably the toughest man I have ever met. Read this book and reconsider how hard you think your life is. It is a liberating experience to face life through his eyes.' - RUSSELL CROWE
Not All of Us Were Brave
by Stanley ScislowskiThis is the story of a young man’s journey through World War II. It covers a wide cross section of the strengths and weaknesses of young men not attuned to killing, and not mentally prepared to face the horror of seeing their close friends die violent deaths in battle. The story is about the hopes, the prayers, the fears, the daily miseries and even the lighter moments that the aspiring heroes of the Perth Regiment experienced on the Italian front as part of 11th Infantry Brigade, 5th Canadian Armoured Division.As the title suggests, from his first battle inoculation Private Stan Scislowski realizes he is not destined for the heroic role to which he once aspired. His fears affect him deeply: his burning dream of returning home a national hero becomes more and more improbable, and his attempts to come to terms with his un-heroic nature make the war as much a mental battle as a physical one. His story is much like that of the overwhelming number of Canadians who found themselves in the cauldron of war, serving their country with all the strength they could find, even when that strength was fading fast.Not All of Us Were Brave focuses not on the heroes, but on the ordinary soldiers who endured the mud, the misery, the ever-present fear, the inspiration, and the degradation. The narrative holds nothing back: the dirty linen is aired along with the clean; the light is shown alongside the dark. It shows what war is all about.
Not Alone: 11 Inspiring Stories of Courageous Widows from the Bible
by Miriam NeffThe powerful testimonies of 11 widows of the Bible are brought to narrative life in lyrical, visceral prose that brings readers deep inside the women's grief, strength, and faith. Full of both haunting and hope, Not Alone connects Biblical widows' voices in a chorus of commiseration that reminds us what it means to love—and what it means to live with God.
Not Bad for a Sergeant: The Memoirs of Barney Danson
by Barney Danson Curtis FaheyBarney Danson began as a twenty-one-year-old sergeant in the Canadian army and rose to the lofty heights of parliamentary secretary to Pierre Trudeau and, eventually, Minister of National Defence. In these positions, he gained insights into previously unknown facts about this remarkable prime minister, and he gives an insider’s view of Canadian politicians and world leaders. Danson’s own story, told in a touching and often humorous tone, is also the story of a generation of Canadians who faced the hardships of the Depression, the reality of war, and the many changes that followed.
Not Being God: A Collaborative Autobiography
by Gianni VattimoGianni Vattimo, a leading philosopher of the continental school, has always resisted autobiography. But in this intimate memoir, the voice of Vattimo as thinker, political activist, and human being finds its expression on the page. With Piergiorgio Paterlini, a noted Italian writer and journalist, Vattimo reflects on a lifetime of politics, sexual radicalism, and philosophical exuberance in postwar Italy. Turin, the city where he was born and one of the intellectual capitals of Europe (also the city in which Nietzsche went mad), forms the core of his reminiscences, enhanced by fascinating vignettes of studying under Hans Georg Gadamer, teaching in the United States, serving as a public intellectual and interlocutor of Habermas and Derrida, and working within the European Parliament to unite Europe.Vattimo's status as a left-wing faculty president paradoxically made him a target of the Red Brigades in the 1970s, causing him to flee Turin for his life. Left-wing terrorism did not deter the philosopher from his quest for social progress, however, and in the 1980s, he introduced a daring formulation called "weak thought," which stripped metaphysics, science, religion, and all other absolute systems of their authority. Vattimo then became notorious both for his renewed commitment to the core values of Christianity (he was trained as a Catholic intellectual) and for the Vatican's denunciation of his views. Paterlini weaves his interviews with Vattimo into an utterly candid first-person portrait, creating a riveting text that is destined to become one of the most compelling accounts of homosexuality, history, politics, and philosophical invention in the twentieth century.
Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping
by Judith LevineMany of us have tried to call a halt to our spending at one time or another. But what if we decided not to buy anything for a whole year? Obviously, we would need necessities like food and soap, but how would be manage without new clothes, treats, entertainment?Funny, smart and self-deprecating,Not Buying Itis a close look at our society's obsession with shopping and the cold turkey confession of a woman we can all identify with -- someone who can't live without French roast coffee andexpensive wool socks, but who has had enough of spending money for the sake of it. Without consumer goods and experiences, Levine and her partner Paul pursue their careers, nurture family relationships and try to keep their sanity and humour intact. Tracking their progress and lapses, she contemplates the meanings of need and desire, scarcity and security, consumerism and citizenship. She asks the big questions -- can the economy survive without shopping? Are Q-tips a necessity?A thought-provoking account of the pleasures and perils of the purchase-driven life,Not Buying Itwill get readers talking about their reliance on the act of buying and the possibility of getting off the merry-go-round.
Not Cool
by Greg GutfeldBehind every awful, dangerous decision lurks one evil beast: the Cool. From politics to the personal, from fashion to food, from the campus to the locker room, the desire to be cool has infected all aspects of our lives. At its most harmless, it is annoying. At its worst, it is deadly, on a massive scale. The Cool are the termites of life, infiltrating every nook and cranny and destroying it from within. The Cool report the news, write the scripts, teach our children, run our government--and each day they pass judgment on those who don't worship at the altar of their coolness. The cool fawn over terrorists, mock the military, and denigrate employers. They are, in short, awful people. From what we wear and what we eat, to what we smoke and who we poke, pop culture is crafted and manipulated by the cool and, to Greg Gutfeld, that's Not Cool. How do the cool enslave you? By convincing you that: - If you don't agree with them no one will like you. - If you don't follow them you will miss out on life. - If you don't listen to them you will die a lonely loserHow do you vanquish the cool and discover your own true self? Read this book. In Not Cool, Greg Gutfeld, bestselling author of The Joy Of Hate, lays out the battle plan for reclaiming the real American ideal of cool--building businesses, protecting freedom at home and abroad, taking responsibility for your actions, and leaving other people alone to live as they damn well please. Not Cool fights back against the culture of phonies, elitists, and creeps who want your soul. It's not a book, it's a weapon--and one should be armed with it at all times.From the Hardcover edition.
Not Dead & Not for Sale: A Memoir
by Scott WeilandIn the early 1990s, Stone Temple Pilots—not U2, not Nirvana, not Pearl Jam— was the hottest band in the world. STP toppled such mega-bands as Aerosmith and Guns N’ Roses on MTV and the Billboard charts. Lead singer Scott Weiland became an iconic front man in the tradition of Mick Jagger, David Bowie, and Robert Plant. Then, when STP imploded, it was Weiland who emerged as the emblem of rock star excess, with his well-publicized drug busts and trips to rehab. Weiland has since made a series of stunning comebacks, fronting the supergroup Velvet Revolver, releasing solo work, and, most recently, reuniting with Stone Temple Pilots. He still struggles with the bottle, but he has prevailed as a loving, dedicated father, as well as a business-savvy artist whose well of creativity is far from empty. These earthling papers explore Weiland’s early years as an altar boy right along with his first experiences with sex and drugs. Weiland discusses his complex relationships with his parents, stepfather, siblings, and the love of his life, Mary Forsberg Weiland. Readers learn the fascinating stories behind his most well-known songs and what it was like to be there at the beginning of the grunge phenomenon, as Rolling Stone proclaimed on its cover: “the year punk broke.” Not Dead & Not for Sale is a hard rock memoir to be reckoned with—a passionate, insightful, and at times humorous book that reads with extraordinary narrative force.
Not Dead Yet: A Feisty Bohemian Explores the Art of Growing Old
by Herbert GoldAn upbeat memoir to savor and admire, Still Alive! proves that in your later years you can still be going strong . . . and having fun! "Old age is a shipwreck," Charles de Gaulle once observed. Not so, says Herb Gold in this lively, often hilarious memoir of his first seven decades. He is clearly enjoying every moment to its fullest. This is a book about how time overtakes us, how reminiscence, loss, hope, pain, success, failure-the lifelong accumulation of dreams and reality-crowd about us with every passing day. Combining a fascinating selection of people, places, and key events from a long life into the alembic of his ever-fertile imagination, Gold has distilled gold from his uncanny ability to recall conversations, anecdotes, atmosphere, and telling detail. By turns wickedly funny ("Prostate surgeries and hysterectomies are not immediately visible at art gallery openings.") and touching ("It's harder to learn how to laugh alone."), Still Alive!, in this age of overheated memoirs, will surely find its way to a grateful audience both young and young at heart.
Not Dead Yet: The Memoir
by Phil CollinsPhil Collins pulls no punches—about himself, his life, or the ecstasy and heartbreak that’s inspired his music. In his much-awaited memoir, Not Dead Yet, he tells the story of his epic career, with an auspicious debut at age 11 in a crowd shot from the Beatles’ legendary film A Hard Day’s Night. A drummer since almost before he could walk, Collins received on the job training in the seedy, thrilling bars and clubs of 1960s swinging London before finally landing the drum seat in Genesis. Soon, he would step into the spotlight on vocals after the departure of Peter Gabriel and begin to stockpile the songs that would rocket him to international fame with the release of Face Value and “In the Air Tonight.” Whether he’s recalling jamming with Eric Clapton and Robert Plant, pulling together a big band fronted by Tony Bennett, or writing the music for Disney’s smash-hit animated Tarzan, Collins’s storytelling chops never waver. And of course he answers the pressing question on everyone’s mind: just what does “Sussudio” mean? Not Dead Yet is Phil Collins’s candid, witty, unvarnished story of the songs and shows, the hits and pans, his marriages and divorces, the ascents to the top of the charts and into the tabloid headlines. As one of only three musicians to sell 100 million records both in a group and as a solo artist, Collins breathes rare air, but has never lost his touch at crafting songs from the heart that touch listeners around the globe. That same touch is on magnificent display here, especially as he unfolds his harrowing descent into darkness after his “official” retirement in 2007, and the profound, enduring love that helped save him. This is Phil Collins as you’ve always known him, but also as you’ve never heard him before.From the Hardcover edition.
Not Even My Name: A True Story
by Thea Halo“The harrowing story of the slaughter of two million Pontic Greeks and Armenians in Turkey after WWI comes to vivid life. . . . eloquent and powerful.” —Publishers WeeklyNot Even My Name exposes the genocide carried out during and after WWI in Turkey, which brought to a tragic end the 3000-year history of the Pontic Greeks (named for the Pontic Mountain range below the Black Sea). During this time, almost 2 million Pontic Greeks and Armenians were slaughtered and millions of others were exiled.Not Even My Name is the unforgettable story of Sano Halo’s survival, as told to her daughter, Thea, and of their trip to Turkey in search of Sano’s home seventy years after her exile. Sano Halo was a 10-year-old girl when she was torn from her ancient, pastoral way of life in the mountains and sent on a death march that annihilated her family. Stripped of everything she had ever held dear, even her name, Sano was sold by her surrogate family into marriage when she was fifteen to a man three times her age.Not Even My Name follows Sano’s marriage, the raising of her ten children in New York City and her transformation from an innocent girl to a nurturing mother and determined woman in twentieth-century New York City.“An important and revealing book.” —Library Journal“What illuminates the writing is Halo’s heartfelt love for her brave mother. An unforgettable book.” —Booklist
Not Even This: Poetry, parenthood and living uncertainly
by Jack Underwood'[A] clever, cosmic, moving and funny parenting physics and poetry adventure . . . It's wonderful' Max Porter via Twitter'Clear, nimble and dexterous' Ocean Vuong'It's a magical book. An incantation to be fully present, fully concerned, fully alive' Luke KennardIn this highly original book-length lyric essay, a father and poet reflects on how his daughter's birth at a time of great global uncertainty inspired him to rediscover with fresh urgency the importance of language as a realm of 'intimacy, overlap, hope and trust'. Poetry can uniquely offer an understanding of the world which brings its complexity within reach - yet does not seek to reduce or explain that complexity away. Poetry is a form through which we might reckon with this uncertain world, learn to inhabit our precarious life more fluently and, in turn, offer what we learn to our children.From Joan of Arc to the unfathomable gravity of supermassive black holes, from metaphor to quantum mechanics, Not Even This is a moving, thought-provoking work, full of delights. Jack Underwood is open and attentive to the questions that the world and his daughter continue to present: thrilling, terrifying, fundamental.
Not Even Wrong: A Father's Journey Into the Lost History of Autism
by Paul CollinsIn Not Even Wrong, Paul Collins melds a memoir of his son's autism with a journey into this realm of permanent outsiders. Examining forgotten geniuses and obscure medical archives, and beginning to see why he himself has spent a lifetime researching talented eccentrics, Collins shows how these stories are relevant and even necessary to shed light on autism.
Not Everyone is Going to Like You: Thoughts From a Former People Pleaser
by Rinny PerkinsA debut illustrated manifesto by Rinny Perkins (@RinnyRiot) about what she's learned as a queer Black woman through the art of self-validation.In this graphic collection of mini essays, comedian Rinny Perkins illustrates her experiences as the owner of a popular online shop while she figures out antidepressant prescriptions and the seemingly never-ending dating-app cycle. Rinny shares what she's learned across topics like mental health, work, sex and dating, and family and friends. Featuring funny, real reflections from experiences in her hometown of (Third Ward!) Houston, Texas to Los Angeles — the author traces her journey to understanding that whether through a friendship break-up or saving up for a Telfar bag, the only person who can truly validate us is ourselves. With 1970s-inspired graphics like a "When To Quit Your Job" checklist and Microaggressions Bingo, Not Everyone's Going to Like You is a long DM of affirmations from Rinny to herself on how to get through life. Her advice? Stop ignoring your intuition, ignore perfection, and leave them on read.
Not Exactly Love: A Memoir
by Betty HafnerIt was 1969, and all the rules were changing, when Betty, a woefully single French teacher on Long Island, met the handsome but edgy new teacher at her school, a hippie just back from Woodstock. His vitality opened up a new world to her—but when they married, his rages turned against her, and often ended with physical violence. Like millions of women who discover they&’ve married an abusive man, Betty was forced to make daily decisions—to suppress her feelings or risk confrontation, to keep it secret or report, and ultimately, to live with it or leave. Part memoir, part warm-hearted look at the &’70s, and part therapeutic journey, Not Exactly Love: A Memoir is an intense and inspirational story of a woman who grew from her experience.
Not Exactly What I Had in Mind: An Incurable Love Story
by Rosemary BreslinOne week in 1989, Rosemary Breslin got a headache that wouldn't go away. After countless tests and treatments, doctors knew little about her strange disease except that it wasn't AIDS or cancer. Two years later, out of a job, in debt, and worried about insurance, Rosemary was invited out by friends--not knowing this would be the night she met her future husband. This is one woman's story about having a real life while facing the question of how long she might live. Serialized in Self magazine. 208 pp. National ads. Author tour. 40,000 print. From the Hardcover edition.
Not Exactly as Plaaned: A Memoir Of Adoption, Secrets And Abiding Love
by Linda RosenbaumNot Exactly As Planned is a captivating, deeply moving account of adoption and the unexpected challenges of raising a child with fetal alcohol syndrome. Linda Rosenbaum’s life takes a major turn when her son, adopted at birth, is diagnosed with irreversible brain damage. With love, hope and all the medical knowledge she can accumulate, she sets out to change his prognosis and live with as much joy as she can while struggling to accept her new reality. Not Exactly As Planned is more than a story of motherlove. It’s about birdwatching, bar mitzvahs, the collision of ’60’s ideals with the real world, family secrets and woodcarving.
Not Fade Away
by Rebecca Alexander Sascha Alper<P>Even a darkening world can be brilliantly lit from within. <P>Born with a rare genetic mutation called Usher Syndrome type III, Rebecca Alexander has been simultaneously losing both her sight and hearing since she was a child, and was told that she would likely be completely blind and deaf by age 30. Then, at 18, a fall from a window left her athletic body completely shattered. <P>None of us know what we would do in the face of such devastation. What Rebecca did was rise to every challenge she faced. She was losing her vision and hearing and her body was broken, but she refused to lose her drive, her zest for life and - maybe most importantly - her sense of humor. Now, at 35, with only a sliver of sight and significantly deteriorated hearing, she is a psychotherapist with two masters' degrees from Columbia University, and an athlete who teaches spin classes and regularly competes in extreme endurance races. She greets every day as if it were a gift, with boundless energy, innate curiosity, and a strength of spirit that have led her to places we can't imagine. <P>In Not Fade Away, Rebecca tells her extraordinary story, by turns harrowing, funny and inspiring. She meditates on what she's lost--from the sound of a whisper to seeing a sky full of stars, and what she's found in return--an exquisite sense of intimacy with those she is closest to, a love of silence, a profound gratitude for everything she still has, and a joy in simple pleasures that most of us forget to notice. <P>Not Fade Away is both a memoir of the senses and a unique look at the obstacles we all face--physical, psychological, and philosophical--exploring the extraordinary powers of memory, love, and perseverance. It is a gripping story, an offering of hope and motivation, and an exquisite reminder to live each day to its fullest.
Not Far From Brideshead
by Daisy DunnOxford thought it was at war. And then it was. After the horrors of the First World War, Oxford looked like an Arcadia - a dreamworld - from which pain could be shut out. Soldiers arrived with pictures of the university fully formed in their heads, and women finally won the right to earn degrees. Freedom meant reading beneath the spires and punting down the river with champagne picnics. But all was not quite as it seemed. Boys fresh from school settled into lecture rooms alongside men who had returned from the trenches with the beginnings of shellshock. It was displacing to be surrounded by aristocrats who liked nothing better than to burn furniture from each other's rooms on the college quads for kicks. The women of Oxford still faced a battle to emerge from their shadows. And among the dons a major conflict was beginning to brew. Set in the world that Evelyn Waugh immortalised in Brideshead Revisited, this is a true and often funny story of the thriving of knowledge and spirit of fun and foreboding that characterised Oxford between the two world wars. One of the protagonists, in fact, was a friend of Waugh and inspired a character in his novel. Another married into the family who inhabited Castle Howard and befriended everyone from George Bernard Shaw to Virginia Woolf. The third was an Irish occultist and correspondent with the poets W. H. Auden, Louis MacNeice and W. B. Yeats. This singular tale of Oxford colleagues and rivals encapsulates the false sense of security that developed across the country in the interwar years. With the rise of Hitler and the Third Reich came the subversion of history for propaganda. In academic Oxford, the fight was on not only to preserve the past from the hands of the Nazis, but also to triumph, one don over another, as they became embroiled in a war of their own.
Not For Me, Clive: Stories From the Voice of Football
by Clive Tyldesley'an enjoyable and interesting journey through football' Donald McRae, The Guardian'This is really good. Raw, funny and revealing on football, on Ferguson, Clough, Dalglish & worth getting for the Roy Keane selfie story alone. Emotional on his ITV exit. Talent like Tyldesley's appeals to all ages.' Henry Winter'Started reading this and couldn't stop ... wise and entertaining on the big names and games. Clever work.' Paul Hayward'Clive Tyldesley's brilliant, emotive commentaries became the soundtrack to matches that will stay with the fans for the rest of their lives.' Oliver HoltFootball changes everything. It changes how we feel, how we think, how we behave. It turns us into someone else. You love your team first. It's tribal. Except I did love something else. I loved the idea of commentating on my team, on every team. I loved it even more than my team. I ditched the girl next door for the diva on the silver screen. Like all true romances, it was irrational and intoxicating, it was tangled and foolish, it became addictive and occasionally heart-breaking and it kept on changing. Two United goals inside two minutes changed it in 1999. A teenage Evertonian called Rooney twisted the plot in 2002. Three Liverpool goals in less than six minutes changed everything again in 2005. Hello, hello. Moments. Mere blinks of wide eyes. Football happens in heartbeats. Meeting those moments is my job. Seeing them, saying them, spelling out the difference they have just made. It's all I've ever wanted to do. Probably all I can do. Spending time in the company of the 'greats' of football like Sir Alex Ferguson, Bill Shankly, Brian Clough and Sir Kenny Dalglish has changed everything for me, and probably for you too.
Not For Me, Clive: Stories From the Voice of Football
by Clive TyldesleyShortlisted for the 2022 Sports Book Awards'This is really good. Raw, funny and revealing on football, on Ferguson, Clough, Dalglish & worth getting for the Roy Keane selfie story alone. Emotional on his ITV exit. Talent like Tyldesley's appeals to all ages.' Henry Winter'Started reading this and couldn't stop ... wise and entertaining on the big names and games. Clever work.' Paul Hayward'Clive Tyldesley's brilliant, emotive commentaries became the soundtrack to matches that will stay with the fans for the rest of their lives.' Oliver HoltFootball changes everything. It changes how we feel, how we think, how we behave. It turns us into someone else. You love your team first. It's tribal. Except I did love something else. I loved the idea of commentating on my team, on every team. I loved it even more than my team. I ditched the girl next door for the diva on the silver screen. Like all true romances, it was irrational and intoxicating, it was tangled and foolish, it became addictive and occasionally heart-breaking and it kept on changing. Two United goals inside two minutes changed it in 1999. A teenage Evertonian called Rooney twisted the plot in 2002. Three Liverpool goals in less than six minutes changed everything again in 2005. Hello, hello. Moments. Mere blinks of wide eyes. Football happens in heartbeats. Meeting those moments is my job. Seeing them, saying them, spelling out the difference they have just made. It's all I've ever wanted to do. Probably all I can do. Spending time in the company of the 'greats' of football like Sir Alex Ferguson, Bill Shankly, Brian Clough and Sir Kenny Dalglish has changed everything for me, and probably for you too.(P)2021 Headline Publishing Group Limited
Not Funny: Essays on Life, Comedy, Culture, Et Cetera
by Jena FriedmanNATIONAL BESTSELLER &“In fact very funny.&” —Cosmopolitan &“[A] hilarious and much-needed book.&” —Samantha Bee, Emmy Award–winning comedian, author, and host of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee For fans of the perceptive comedy of Hannah Gadsby, Lindy West, and Sarah Silverman, Academy Award–nominated and acclaimed stand-up comedian Jena Friedman presents a witty and insightful collection of essays on the cultural flashpoints of today.Growing up, Jena Friedman didn&’t care about being likable. And she never wanted to be a comedian, either. A child of the 90s, she wouldn&’t discover her knack for the funny business until research for her college thesis led her to take an improv class in Chicago. That anthropology paper, written on race, class, and gender in the city&’s comedy scene, was, in Jena&’s own words, &“just as funny as it sounds.&” But it did lay the groundwork for a career that has seen her write and produce for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the Late Show with David Letterman, and the Oscar nominated Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. Friedman&’s debut collection, Not Funny, takes on the third rails of modern life in Jena&’s bold and subversive style, with essays that explore cancel culture, sexism, work, celebrity worship, and…dead baby jokes. In a moment where women&’s rights are being rolled back, fascism is on the rise, and so many of us could use a breather as we struggle to get by, Jena applies her unique gifts to pull a laugh from things deemed too raw, too precious, and too scary to joke about. She shares her stories of taking on those who told her she was too brash, too edgy, and too &“unlikable&” to make it. She deftly dissects how we get coerced into silence on the issues that matter most, until they&’ve gone too far afield to be turned back around again. And she shares her struggles to make it (-ish) in a world that, more often than not, would rather tune out than listen to a woman confronting the indignities we&’ve been told to bear.
Not Going Home Alone
by James J. KirschkeExperience the pain, the pride, and the triumph of the Marine Corps All the members of 1st Lt. James J. Kirschke’s mortar platoon and then rifle platoon knew the stakes: the Marines are America’s military elite, expected to train harder, fight longer, sacrifice more. Kirschke led by example in the hotly contested zone just south of the DMZ and in the dangerous AnHoa region southwest of DaNang. There Kirschke’s units, with resources stretched to the limit, saw combat almost daily in some of the fiercest fighting of 1966. Sustained through the toughest firefights and bloodiest ambushes, the men’s morale proved a testament to Kirschke’s leadership and his dedication to what the U. S. Marines stand for. Those beliefs, and the faith of his men, in turn helped Kirschke through his long recovery after he was wounded by the triple explosion of a box mine rigged to an anti-tank rocket round and a frag grenade. The Marines’ legend and reputation are based on the blood, courage, and discipline of warriors like Jim Kirschke. Sparing no one, he has written a powerful chronicle of the deadly war his Marines fought with valor.