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Out of the Gobi: My Story of China and America
by Weijian ShanForeword by Janet Yellen Weijian Shan's Out of the Gobi is a powerful memoir and commentary that will be one of the most important books on China of our time, one with the potential to re-shape how Americans view China, and how the Chinese view life in America. Shan, a former hard laborer who is now one of Asia's best-known financiers, is thoughtful, observant, eloquent, and brutally honest, making him well-positioned to tell the story of a life that is a microcosm of modern China, and of how, improbably, that life became intertwined with America. Out of the Gobi draws a vivid picture of the raw human energy and the will to succeed against all odds. Shan only finished elementary school when Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution tore his country apart. He was a witness to the brutality and absurdity of Mao's policies during one of the most tumultuous eras in China's history. Exiled to the Gobi Desert at age 15 and denied schooling for 10 years, he endured untold hardships without ever giving up his dream for an education. Shan's improbable journey, from the Gobi to the "People's Republic of Berkeley" and far beyond, is a uniquely American success story – told with a splash of humor, deep insight and rich and engaging detail. This powerful and personal perspective on China and America will inform Americans' view of China, humanizing the country, while providing a rare view of America from the prism of a keen foreign observer who lived the American dream. Says former Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen: "Shan's life provides a demonstration of what is possible when China and the United States come together, even by happenstance. It is not only Shan's personal history that makes this book so interesting but also how the stories of China and America merge in just one moment in time to create an inspired individual so unique and driven, and so representative of the true sprits of both countries."
Out of the Gray, into the Light: A Mother Stands Up for Her Daughter and Herself in a Fight for Survival—A Memoir of Advocacy and Hope
by Amy PostAmy Post&’s Out of the Gray, into the Light is a gut-wrenching story of parental helplessness following their daugther&’s diagnosis of malignant liver cancer, and it shares the raw, unfiltered emotions of a family suddenly sucked into a healthcare system that often leaves weakened patients to stand silent and alone, in desperate need of an advocate.&“Now I know what it is to advocate for someone, to put everything I have into something outside of myself.&” —Amy Post &“Your daughter has malignant liver cancer.&” For Amy Post and her family, the doctor&’s words shook their world and changed the trajectory of their lives forever. When Amy received a call from her children&’s school telling her that her daughter wasn&’t playing but was instead sitting down on the playground, her mind went into high alert. For months, she&’d had a nagging suspicion that something wasn&’t right with her three-year-old. Exhaustion, random fevers, and now this. Amy and her husband were not prepared, though, for the devastating diagnosis. Nor were they ready for the unveiling of a rare gene that promised not one, but three devastating forms of cancer throughout their child&’s life—if she survived this one. In her book, Amy Post shares the raw, unfiltered emotions of a family suddenly sucked into a healthcare system that runs as a machine but often leaves weakened patients to stand silent and alone and in desperate need of an advocate. It&’s a gut-wrenching story of parental helplessness that grows into a mother&’s determination and fierce fight for survival for her daughter—and then for herself.
Out of the Holocaust
by Peter Volodja BoeThe details of my (and my brother’s) birth are unknown. My memories begin in Latvia. DNA tests strongly indicate that we are of Belarusian-Jewish origin, meaning that we might have been born in southeastern Latvia or in Belarus bordering on southern Latvia. Our mother is listed as “Miss Sinegins” in our personal records. Russian authorities stated our years of birth, mine 1937, my brother’s 1939. We plucked the specific dates out a bowl. In 1943, I was about 6, my brother about 4 or 5, when our assumed mother felt it necessary to turn us over to the Baldone Children’s Home in Latvia due to ill health and extreme poverty. About a year later, the orphans and caretakers at that home trekked to Riga, Latvia’s capital city, to be transported to the Majori Children’s Home. We were there but a few months when we all were transported by ship, under German oversight, to Germany in October, 1944. We along with many other orphans resided at several homes and residences. Approximately half of our group of 130 orphans was transported to America after the war. Some died. Many were transported to other countries, and some remained in Germany due to ill health or other factors. My brother and I resided in foster homes and at a children’s home in St, Paul, Minnesota, until 1950, when we were adopted by the Rev. Victor Boe, former Dean of Men at Concordia College, and Hilda Boe, former librarian at the college.I became a Lutheran pastor like my adoptive father. Following ordination, I served as a missionary in Nigeria. I have served at many parishes, and continue to minister at a small congregation in Iowa at age 80.My prayer is that this book will fulfill the will and mission of God in Jesus Christ. The most effective means of achieving this is through direct person-to-person communication, by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. In the absence of the Spirit, this and all other publications have no meaning or purpose. Words and inert objects alone cannot transmit God’s power, and we cannot convert anyone to the way of Christ. He does this through us, at his own timing and initiative. His light always conquers all forces of darkness. When we try to pressure anyone toward change, freedom of choice may manifest in resistance and rebellion.Through the Spirit, my hope is that every reader of this book will obtain inner strength for daily living, through the most difficult times in life’s journey. Go and seek out a genuine, live Christian. Open your inner eyes, unblocked by prejudice and self-worship, and see the stars and saints of light all around you! There are multitudes! Life in Christ is a day-by-day miracle, totally impossible by any human strength or ambition. If Christ and his empowerment are not present at our very weakest point, he is not our savior at all. When we become fully rooted in Christ, we become a new creation, beautiful and wonderful! Jesus is ever at your door, knocking to walk into your life. Let him in, now, during this life! Without him, all the highest glories of this life evaporate, guaranteed. Choose life over death, joy over sorrow, harmony over conflict and war!Jesus says we cannot be held accountable for what we do not know. May this and similar testimonies tear away your inner blinds, forever, for your sake and eternal destiny! Hope, light, and joy lie before us all!
Out of the House of Bread: Satisfying Your Hunger for God with the Spiritual Disciplines
by Shauna Niequist Preston YanceySpirituality needs fresh meaning. Even the disciplines of the Spirit have gotten covered with dust and lay unused by Christians. It is time for spirituality to get fresh meaning in our world and with God’s people. In Out of the House of Bread author Preston Yancey leads us in a new direction of spirituality through the symbolism and experience of the spiritual disciplines made plain by the baking of bread.The benefits of this book of devotion include: Finding a nearness to the holiness of God. Feeling and experiencing the forgiveness of God. And learning again the disciplines of celebration, confession, and conversion. Each chapter pairs a spiritual discipline or practice with a baking discipline. You will encounter ancient practices such as the prayer of examen, lectio divina, intercessory prayer, icons, and stillness.Yancey shows how, like in Brother Lawrence’s kitchen in The Practice of the Presence of God, that when you lift up your hands to God and pray, God will show up right there in the midst of your work and livelihood while you bake.Out of the House of Bread is a glorious celebration of the sacraments and the seasons of God, meant as reminders and symbols to take us to God in worship. An appendix, about gluten-free and vegan bread and the spirituality involved,will close off the book.
Out of the Italian Night: Wellington Bomber Operations, 1944–45 (Classics Ser.)
by Maurice G. LihouDuring 1944 and 1945 the squadrons of 205 Group were launching air attacks from bases in Italy. In many ways their efforts were the same as those of aircrew attached to Bomber Command in Britain, yet conditions for the men were very different. The men fought their war as much against the weather, as against the enemy. The Wimpy, as the Wellington was affectionately known, had been operational when war was declared and five years on their young crews were still taking them into battle. Maurice Lihou joined the RAF in 1939, just before the outbreak of war. He trained as a wireless operator to become aircrew, but found himself working in ground stations. He decided to re-muster as a pilot and completed his training in Canada where he was awarded his wings. He soon became captain of an aircraft and ferried a Wellington to North Africa. He was then posted to Italy and joined No 37 Squadron, becoming involved in various operations to harass the retreating German army.
Out of the Madness: From the Projects to a Life of Hope
by Jerrold LaddThe child of a heroin-addicted mother growing up amidst poverty, violence, and drugs in the ghetto of West Dallas, Jerrold Ladd was determined to lead a better life. Fiercely independent, he took responsibility for his future, and, with the love of his family, became the first person in his family to attend college and later a national spokesperson on inner city problems.
Out of the Mouths of Serial Killers
by Mary BrettLearn why serial killers kill through their own words—including Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, the BTK Killer, Aileen Wuornos, and more than 70 others. In this one-of-a-kind book, author Mary Brett corresponded with some of America&’s most evil convicted serial killers and asked just one question: WHY? Their return letters give an insightful look into the dark mind of each killer. The reader also will be able to scrutinize direct quotes, unedited, from interrogation statements, trial testimony, media interviews, and parole hearing inquests Seventy-five serial killers are included in the book, some only known to the unfortunate victims&’ family, friends, and community, while others are the most infamous in the annals of serial killers. All bios feature the crime, the capture, the victims, and background facts. Crime scene photos, some graphic, are featured.
Out of the Old Rock
by Frank Dobie Bertha DobieThe people Frank Dobie liked to write about during his lifetime were the men and women who came "out of the old rock"--genuine, independent, unpretentious people, specialists of one kind or another, whether that specialty was teaching or horseshoeing -- people who were, above all, interesting. There are sixteen such personalities in Out of the Old Rock: a cowboy preacher, a wildcatter, a trail driver, a gunman, an ornithologist, a rancher, a homesteader, several teachers and writers, including artist-novelist Tom Lea, historian Walter Prescott Webb, and folk singer-archivist John Lomax. Most of them Dobie knew personally, some intimately, and they come vividly alive through his portraits--in the familiar way in which a common friend may make you surprisingly knowledgeable about somebody you may never actually have met. Compiled by Frank Dobie's wife and lifelong companion, Bertha Dobie, who also provides the Introduction, this is a memorable collection by a memorable man, rich with Dobie's own special brand of warm insight and humor.
Out of the Ordinary: Essays on Growing Up with Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Parents
by Noelle Howey Ellen SamuelsAn insightful and touching collection of real life experiences of children in the 1970 and 1980's before the level of acceptance for gay, lesbian and transgendered family's had developed. They each touch on their struggles and the secrecy they often had to keep along with the life lessons of human understanding and pride that often came from those challenges. The book also includes references and resources for additional reading and support.
Out of the Ordinary: A Life of Gender and Spiritual Transitions
by Susan Stryker Michael Dillon/Lobzang Jivaka Jacob Lau Cameron PartridgeNow available for the first time—more than 50 years after it was written—is the memoir of Michael Dillon/Lobzang Jivaka (1915–62), the British doctor and Buddhist monastic novice chiefly known to scholars of sex, gender, and sexuality for his pioneering transition from female to male between 1939 and 1949, and for his groundbreaking 1946 book Self: A Study in Ethics and Endocrinology. Here at last is Dillon/Jivaka’s extraordinary life story told in his own words. Out of the Ordinary captures Dillon/Jivaka’s various journeys—to Oxford, into medicine, across the world by ship—within the major narratives of his gender and religious journeys. Moving chronologically, Dillon/Jivaka begins with his childhood in Folkestone, England, where he was raised by his spinster aunts, and tells of his days at Oxford immersed in theology, classics, and rowing. He recounts his hormonal transition while working as an auto mechanic and fire watcher during World War II and his surgical transition under Sir Harold Gillies while Dillon himself attended medical school. He details his worldwide travel as a ship’s surgeon in the British Merchant Navy with extensive commentary on his interactions with colonial and postcolonial subjects, followed by his “outing” by the British press while he was serving aboard The City of Bath. Out of the Ordinary is not only a salient record of an early sex transition but also a unique account of religious conversion in the mid–twentieth century. Dillon/Jivaka chronicles his gradual shift from Anglican Christianity to the esoteric spiritual systems of George Gurdjieff and Peter Ouspensky to Theravada and finally Mahayana Buddhism. He concludes his memoir with the contested circumstances of his Buddhist monastic ordination in India and Tibet. Ultimately, while Dillon/Jivaka died before becoming a monk, his novice ordination was significant: It made him the first white European man to be ordained in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Out of the Ordinary is a landmark publication that sets free a distinct voice from the history of the transgender movement.
Out of the Pocket: Football, Fatherhood, and College GameDay Saturdays
by Kirk HerbstreitA powerfully intimate, plain-spoken memoir about fathers and sons, fortitude, and football from the face and voice of college football—Kirk Herbstreit. Kirk Herbstreit is a reflection of the sport he loves, a reflection of his football-crazed home state of Ohio, where he was a high school star and Ohio State captain, and a reflection of another Ohio State football captain thirty-two years earlier: his dad Jim, who battled Alzheimer&’s disease until his death in 2016. In Out of the Pocket, Herbstreit will do what his father did for him: take you inside the locker rooms, to the practice fields, to the meeting rooms, to the stadiums. Herbstreit will describe how a combination of hard work, perseverance, and a little luck landed him on the set of ESPN&’s iconic College GameDay show, surrounded by tens of thousands of fans who treat their Saturdays like a football Mardi Gras. He&’ll take you into the television production meetings, on to the GameDay set, and into the broadcast booth. You&’ll live his life during a football season, see the things he sees, experience every chaotic twist and turn as the year unfolds. Not to mention the relationships he&’s established and the insights he&’s learned from the likes of coaches and players such as Nick Saban, Tim Tebow, Dabo Swinney, and Peyton Manning, as well as his colleagues, including Chris Fowler, Rece Davis, and his &“second dad,&” the beloved Coach Lee Corso. Yes, Kirk Herbstreit is the undeniable face and voice of college football—but he&’s also a survivor. He&’s the quiet kid who withstood the collapse of his parents&’ marriage. The boy who endured too many overbearing stepdads and stepmoms. The painfully shy student who always chose the last desk in the last row of the classroom. The young man who persevered through a frustrating Ohio State playing career. The new college graduate who turned down a lucrative sales job after college to pursue a &“no way you&’ll make it&” dream career in broadcasting. An inspiring, gripping, and eye-opening memoir, Out of the Pocket is the ultimate read for anyone who loves football and with a dream worth pursuing.
Out of the Red: My Life of Gangs, Prison, and Redemption (Critical Issues in Crime and Society)
by Christian L. BoldenOut of the Red is one man’s pathbreaking story of how social forces and personal choices combined to deliver an unfortunate fate. After a childhood of poverty, institutional discrimination, violence, and being thrown away by the public education system, Bolden's life took him through the treacherous landscape of street gangs at the age of fourteen. The Bloods offered a sense of family, protection, excitement, and power. Incarcerated during the Texas prison boom, the teenage former gangster was thrust into a fight for survival as he navigated the perils of adult prison. As mass incarceration and prison gangs swallowed up youth like him, survival meant finding hope in a hopeless situation and carving a path to his own rehabilitation. Despite all odds, he forged a new path through education, ultimately achieving the seemingly impossible for a formerly incarcerated ex-gangbanger.
Out of the Rough
by Steve WilliamsWith 150 wins to his name, Steve Williams is one of the most successful caddies of the modern era. From his modest start in freelancing his way around the world's golf courses, he became a man in demand, working with some of the golfing world's best. Greg Norman, Raymond Floyd, Terry Gale, Ian Baker-Finch, and Adam Scott all benefitted from the knowledge, experience, and honesty for which Williams is known. Williams is perhaps best known, however, for his triumphant thirteen years on the bag of Tiger Woods. Together, Woods and Williams won more than 80 tournaments--with 13 major championships among them. But it wasn't all celebrations. Despite his best efforts, Williams could only watch as Woods fell from the podium, his game in decline--ignorant of the scandal about to make headlines around the world that would nearly ruin Tiger's pro career. In this candid book, Williams tells the stories of golf's elites that you won't hear anywhere else--the highs and lows of their careers, and the critical role of a caddie in both spots. Bold and entertaining, his story offers a rare insider's view of the professional golfing world.
Out of the Rough
by Steve Williams Michael DonaldsonWith 150 wins to his name, Steve Williams is one of the most successful caddies of the modern era. From his modest start in freelancing his way around the world's golf courses, he became a man in demand, working with some of the golfing world's best. Greg Norman, Raymond Floyd, Terry Gale, Ian Baker-Finch, and Adam Scott all benefitted from the knowledge, experience, and honesty for which Williams is known. Williams is perhaps best known, however, for his triumphant thirteen years on the bag of Tiger Woods. Together, Woods and Williams won more than 80 tournaments--with 13 major championships among them. But it wasn't all celebrations. Despite his best efforts, Williams could only watch as Woods fell from the podium, his game in decline--ignorant of the scandal about to make headlines around the world that would nearly ruin Tiger's pro career. In this candid book, Williams tells the stories of golf's elites that you won't hear anywhere else--the highs and lows of their careers, and the critical role of a caddie in both spots. Bold and entertaining, his story offers a rare insider's view of the professional golfing world.
Out of the Shadow: A Russian Jewish Girlhood on the Lower East Side
by Thomas Dublin Rose CohenIn this appealing autobiography, Rose Cohen looks back on her family's journey from Tsarist Russia to New York City's Lower East Side. Her account of their struggles and of her own coming of age in a complex new world vividly illustrates what was, for some, the American experience. First published in 1918, Cohen's narrative conveys a powerful sense of the aspirations and frustrations of an immigrant Jewish family in an alien culture. With uncommon frankness, Cohen reports her youthful impressions of daily life in the tenements and of working conditions in garment sweatshops and domestic service. She introduces a large cast, including her co-workers, employers, mentors, family members, and friends. In simple yet moving terms, she recalls how, while confronting setbacks caused by poor health and dilemmas posed by courtship, she finds opportunities to educate herself. She also records the gradual weakening of her family's commitment to religion as they find their way from the shadow of poverty toward the mainstream of American life.
Out of the Shadow of a Giant: Hooke, Halley, & the Birth of Science
by John Gribbin Mary GribbinThe authors of Ice Age &“present a well-documented argument that [Newton] owed more to the ideas of others than he admitted&” (Kirkus Reviews). Robert Hooke and Edmond Halley, whose place in history has been overshadowed by the giant figure of Newton, were pioneering scientists within their own right, and instrumental in establishing the Royal Society. Although Newton is widely regarded as one of the greatest scientists of all time and the father of the English scientific revolution, John and Mary Gribbin uncover the fascinating story of Robert Hooke and Edmond Halley, whose scientific achievements neatly embrace the hundred years or so during which science as we know it became established. They argue persuasively that, even without Newton, science would have made a great leap forward in the second half of the seventeenth century, headed by two extraordinary figures, Hooke and Halley. &“Science readers will thank the Gribbins for restoring Hooke and Halley to the prominence that they deserve.&”—Publishers Weekly &“Engaging . . . They offer proof that Hooke was an important scientist in his own right, and often had physical insights that were borrowed (usually without acknowledgement) by Newton.&”—Choice
Out of the Shadow of Leprosy: The Carville Letters and Stories of the Landry Family
by Claire ManesIn 1924 when thirty-two-year-old Edmond Landry kissed his family goodbye and left for the leprosarium in Carville, Louisiana, leprosy, now referred to as Hansen's disease, stigmatized and disfigured but did not kill. Those with leprosy were incarcerated in the federal hospital and isolated from family and community. Phones were unavailable, transportation was precarious, and fear was rampant. Edmond entered the hospital (as did his four other siblings), but he did not surrender to his fate. He fought with his pen and his limited energy to stay connected to his family and to improve living conditions for himself and other patients Claire Manes, Edmond's granddaughter, lived much of her life gripped by the silence surrounding her grandfather. When his letters were discovered, she became inspired to tell his story through her scholarship and his writing. Out of the Shadow of Leprosy: The Carville Letters and Stories of the Landry Family presents her grandfather's letters and her own studies of narrative and Carville during much of the twentieth century. The book becomes a testament to Edmond's determination to maintain autonomy and dignity in the land of the living dead. Letters and stories of the other four siblings further enhance the picture of life in Carville from 1919 to 1977.
Out of the Shadows: Six Visionary Victorian Women in Search of a Public Voice
by Emily MidorikawaQueen Victoria's reign was an era of breathtaking social change, but it did little to create a platform for women to express themselves. But not so within the social sphere of the séance--a mysterious, lamp-lit world on both sides of the Atlantic, in which women who craved a public voice could hold their own.Out of the Shadows tells the stories of the enterprising women whose supposedly clairvoyant gifts granted them fame, fortune, and most important, influence as they crossed rigid boundaries of gender and class as easily as they passed between the realms of the living and the dead. The Fox sisters inspired some of the era&’s best-known political activists and set off a transatlantic séance craze. While in the throes of a trance, Emma Hardinge Britten delivered powerful speeches to crowds of thousands. Victoria Woodhull claimed guidance from the spirit world as she took on the millionaires of Wall Street before becoming America&’s first female presidential candidate. And Georgina Weldon narrowly escaped the asylum before becoming a celebrity campaigner against archaic lunacy laws. Drawing on diaries, letters, and rarely seen memoirs and texts, Emily Midorikawa illuminates a radical history of female influence that has been confined to the dark until now.
Out of the Shadows: A Memoir
by Shannon Moroney Timea NagyAn unforgettable story of an ordinary woman in astonishing circumstances who defies the odds.Timea Nagy was twenty years old when she answered a newspaper ad in Budapest, Hungary, calling for young women to work as babysitters and housekeepers in Canada. Hired by what seemed like a legitimate recruitment agency, Timea left her home believing she would earn good money to send back to her family. What she didn't know was that she'd been lured by a ring of international human traffickers--and her life would never again be the same.Upon her arrival in Toronto, she was forced into sex labour in some of the city's seediest nightclubs, starved and controlled by her agents, and brainwashed to believe she was to blame for her situation. The only way she'd be free was when her debt was paid--but, no matter how hard she worked, that debt seemed only to go up, not down.Out of the Shadows is a gripping, heartbreaking and eye-opening journey deep into the underworld of human trafficking and the sex trade, told in riveting detail by one brave survivor. At once tragic and powerfully redemptive, Timea Nagy's story will stay with you long after you've read the last page.
Out of the shadows
by Nina Perez-ReedThis book is about the transparent life experiences of young people who need validation and struggle because of it. The author gives personal examples from her own life about how she overcame these very real problems and circumstances. <P><P> During the conversations in this book, the author adeptly provides these young people with a sense of hope and encouragement by never giving up or giving in. Sometimes, all they need is a listening ear or a few soft words of advice. For people who have lived through dark times or are currently struggling with hopelessness now, the author's journey shows how she coped in times of darkness. To reflect on the message gained from the experiences described in each section, she uses the acrostic poem that vertically spells "REALM," an acronym for Reflect, Examine, Apply, Learned and Motivation. Placed at the end of each section, these five directives point the reader to a set of specific questions that help him or her relate to the topics covered. Searching for answers to these questions will allow the reader the opportunity to interact with the text. If the effort is made to do that, this journey can become life-changing within the "REALM" of experiences. As a person reads this book on their own or in a small group, the author encourages each individual to think about their answers and respond to each question with honesty as the key. Hope can be found; darkness does not last forever.
Out of the Siege of Sarajevo: Memoir of a Former Yugoslav
by Jasna Levinger-GoyThe horrors of the civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the very heart of Europe in 1992, may be all but forgotten – but not by everyone. In this book, Jasna Levinger-Goy offers a vivid, personal story of a family of Jewish origin who identified as Yugoslavs. It traces their journey over a period of ten years, starting with their life in Sarajevo under siege and ending in the United Kingdom. Without belonging to any of the warring factions, this is Levinger-Goy's true story, a story that takes place on the front lines in the heart of Sarajevo. The book offers a percipient view of the civil war through the eyes of those who witnessed it. We are presented here with the motives, reactions and behaviour of people caught in the crossfire of political and military events outside their control. It illustrates coping with dangers and the resourcefulness needed during the siege and during the perilous journey out, which were needed almost as much in adapting to new circumstances and in building a new life. Levinger-Goy’s venture into the unknown is tangled with the sense of loss – of home, of a country and the loss of identity. Her experience provides an insightful commentary on how these intersect, overlap and ultimately affect an individual. It sheds light on human suffering and resilience, frailty and ingenuity, cruelty and empathy. It describes unique personal circumstances, but illustrates universal behaviours. Although the book inevitably deals with fear, pain, desperation, loss, and even hatred, it also reveals much about love, hope and happiness and above all about the prevalence of good even in the most difficult of circumstances. Set against the backdrop of a brutal conflict, this book reminds us of the very human cost of war.
Out of the Sun: Essays at the Crossroads of Race
by Esi EdugyanHistory is a construction. What happens when we bring stories consigned to the margins up to the light? How does that complicate our certainties about who we are, as individuals, as nations, as human beings?As in her fiction, the essays in Out of the Sun demonstrate Esi Edugyan's commitment to seeking out the stories of Black lives that history has failed to record. Written with the death of George Floyd and the rise of the Black LivesMatter movement in the background, in five wide-ranging essays Edugyan reflects on her own identity and experiences as the daughter of Ghanaian immigrants.She delves into the history of Western Art and the truths about Black lives that it fails to reveal, and the ways contemporary Black artists are reclaiming and reimagining those lives. She explores and celebrates the legacy of Afrofuturism, the complex and problematic practice of racial passing, the place of ghosts and haunting in the imagination, and the fascinating relationship between Africa and Asia dating back to the 6th Century.With calm, piercing intelligence, and a refusal to think on anyone's terms but her own, Edugyan asks difficult questions about how we reckon with the past and imagine the future, and invites the reader to think alongside her in working out what the answers to these may be.
Out of the Whirlpool
by Sue Wiygul Martin<P>Sue Wiygul Martin has written a deeply honest and moving account of the rebuilding of her life after a desperate, impetuous act in her youth ended in traumatic blindness. Since that day, she has greeted the world with her trademark determination and humor, accepting the challenges placed before her as she adjusted to being blind. <P>She takes the reader through the process of blind rehabilitation in such a way that you feel you, too, are going through the process of learning new skills and making the emotional adjustment right along with her. You come to understand what it takes to rebuild a life after a traumatic episode that upends your world of dreams and expectations. <P>Now, after more than thirty years of an extraordinary recovery and reconciliation with the past, Martin is ready to share the simple truth of her journey. Advance readers have called her book a “Must read” for anyone in the field of blind rehab or anyone going through the adjustment to new blindness or other traumatic events in their lives. Martin’s truth is a universal truth, one which is so easy to lose sight of—we are all the same, yet so beautifully different. So, fasten your seat belts. Sue Martin would like to take you on a wild ride through this life of hers. Get ready for some joy, sorrow, beauty, a few cosmic slaps of enlightenment, and a thousand other thoughts and feelings along the way. Filled with adventure, with joy, and triumph, with adversity and adjustment to change, Out of the Whirlpool is a story about living life to the fullest. While she may have faced extraordinary challenges, in the end, she will tell you her story is everyone’s story.
Out of the Woods
by Lynn DarlingA powerful, lyrical memoir of self-discovery full of warmth and wry humor--a book that combines the soul-baring insight of Wild, the profound wisdom of Shop Class as Soulcraft, and the ad venturous spirit of Eat, Pray, LoveWhen her college-bound daughter leaves home, Lynn Darling, widowed more than a decade earlier, finds herself alone and utterly lost. Freed of her parental responsibilities, she has no idea what she wants or even who she is. Searching for answers, she leaves her apartment in New York City and moves to a cranky little house in the middle of the Vermont woods, her only companions, a new dog and a compass. There she hopes to develop a sense of direction--both in the woods and in her life.As she finds new ways to get lost in her own backyard, Darling meditates on her past and on the challenges that aging poses to love, work--not to mention fashion--and the way she sees herself. She has just begun to chart a new course for the future when an unexpected setback unsettles her newfound balance.With rare insight and remarkable honesty, Out of the Woods reveals how honing the skills of navigation--literal and metaphorical--smoothed one woman's path through the uneven course of life. It is a story at once universal and deeply personal--in the words of writer Geraldine Brooks, "both a compass and a manifesto for navigating the often-treacherous switchbacks of the second half of life."
Out of the Woods: Healing from Lyme Disease for Body, Mind, and Spirit
by Katina I. Makris Richard HorowitzHope and practical help for Lyme disease sufferers everywhere.More than 300,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with Lyme disease every year, and many, many more are suffering from Lyme without knowing it. Katina Makris was one of those undiagnosed individuals who nearly died from the disease. At the peak of her career, classical homeopath and health-care columnist Katina Makris was stricken with a mysterious "flu.” Only after five years of torment-two completely bedridden-and devastating blows to her professional and family life was Katina’s illness finally diagnosed as Lyme disease. Out of the Woods not only shares the brutality of Lyme disease through the telling of Katina’s story, but it also describes her incredible journey back to full recovery, giving thousands of Lyme sufferers hope for their uncertain and frightening futures.Katina’s memoir is a gripping and inspiring story of healing through faith and perseverance, but Out of the Woods extends beyond Katina’s personal story. Putting her homeopathic training to work, Part Two of the book details the nuts and bolts of Lyme disease, offering readers up-to-date information on Eastern and Western treatments. Readers will learn about the importance of antibiotics as well as acupuncture, homeopathic remedies, energy restoration, and a path to emotional healing, affirming that complete healing from any disease encompasses body, mind, and spirit.