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Ritz and Escoffier: The Hotelier, The Chef, and the Rise of the Leisure Class
by Luke BarrIn a tale replete with scandal and opulence, Luke Barr, author of the New York Times bestselling Provence, 1970, transports readers to turn-of-the-century London and Paris to discover how celebrated hotelier César Ritz and famed chef Auguste Escoffier joined forces at the Savoy Hotel to spawn the modern luxury hotel and restaurant, where women and American Jews mingled with British high society, signaling a new social order and the rise of the middle class.In early August 1889, César Ritz, a Swiss hotelier highly regarded for his exquisite taste, found himself at the Savoy Hotel in London. He had come at the request of Richard D'Oyly Carte, the financier of Gilbert & Sullivan's comic operas, who had modernized theater and was now looking to create the world's best hotel. D'Oyly Carte soon seduced Ritz to move to London with his team, which included Auguste Escoffier, the chef de cuisine known for his elevated, original dishes. The result was a hotel and restaurant like no one had ever experienced, run in often mysterious and always extravagant ways--which created quite a scandal once exposed. Barr deftly re-creates the thrilling Belle Epoque era just before World War I, when British aristocracy was at its peak, women began dining out unaccompanied by men, and American nouveaux riches and gauche industrialists convened in London to show off their wealth. In their collaboration at the still celebrated Savoy Hotel, where they welcomed loyal and sometimes salacious clients, such as Oscar Wilde and Sarah Bernhardt, Escoffier created the modern kitchen brigade and codified French cuisine for the ages in his seminal Le Guide culinaire, which remains in print today, and Ritz, whose name continues to grace the finest hotels across the world, created the world's first luxury hotel. The pair also ruffled more than a few feathers in the process. Fine dining would never be the same--or more intriguing.
Rival to the Queen: A Novel
by Carolly Erickson“An exquisitely realistic portrait of Tudor England” sets the stage for royal romantic rivalry in this “compelling” novel from a New York Times bestseller (Library Journal).From the New York Times–bestselling author of The Last Wife of Henry VIII comes a novel about the rivalry between Queen Elizabeth I and her cousin, Lettice Knollys, for the love of one extraordinary man.Powerful, dramatic and full of the rich history that has made Carolly Erickson’s novels perennial bestsellers, this is the story of the only woman to ever stand up to the Virgin Queen—her own cousin, Lettie Knollys. Far more attractive than the queen, Lettie soon won the attention of the handsome and ambitious Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, a man so enamored of the queen and determined to share her throne that it was rumored he had murdered his own wife in order to become her royal consort. The enigmatic Elizabeth allowed Dudley into her heart, and relied on his devoted service, but shied away from the personal and political risks of marriage.When Elizabeth discovered that he had married her cousin Lettie in secret, Lettie would pay a terrible price, fighting to keep her husband’s love and ultimately losing her beloved son, the Earl of Essex, to the queen’s headsman.This is the unforgettable story of two women related by blood, yet destined to clash over one of Tudor England’s most charismatic men.“Rival to the Queen gives this forgotten woman a place in history.” —RT Book Reviews“If you are a fan of Carolly Erickson or historical fiction, this book is for you.” —Affaire de Coeur“Erickson writes gracefully.” —Publishers Weekly
Rivals Unto Death: Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr
by Rick BeyerFrom the bestselling author of The Greatest Stories Never Told series, the epic history of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr's illustrious and eccentric political careers and their fateful rivalry. The famous duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr was the culmination of a story three decades in the making. Rivals unto Death vividly traces their rivalry back to the earliest days of the American Revolution, when Hamilton and Burr--both brilliant, restless, and barely twenty years old--elbowed their way onto the staff of General George Washington. The fast-moving account traces their intricate tug-of war, uncovering surprising details that led to their deadly encounter through battlefields, courtrooms, bedrooms, and the wildest presidential election in history, counting down the years to their fateful rendezvous on the dueling ground. This is politics made personal: shrill accusations, bruising collisions, and a parade of flesh and blood founders struggling--and often failing--to keep their tempers and jealousies in check. Smoldering in the background was a fundamental political divide that threatened to tear the new nation in two, and still persists to this day. The Burr and Hamilton that leap out of these pages are passionate, engaging, and utterly human characters inextricably linked together as Rivals unto Death.
River House
by M.S. Sarahlee LawrenceRiver House is one young woman's story about returning home to her family's ranch and, with the help of her father, building a log house on the property. Sarahlee Lawrence grew up in remote central Oregon and spent her days dreaming about leaving her small town for world adventures. An avid river rafter through adolescence, by the age of twenty-one, Lawrence had rafted some of the most dangerous rivers of the world as an accomplished river guide. But living her dream as guide and advocate, riding and cleaning the arteries of the world, led her back to the place she least expected - to her dusty beginnings and her family's home. River House is a beautiful story about a daughter's return and her relationship with her father, whom she enlists to help brave the cold winter and build a log house by hand. Lawrence's father, landlocked on the ranch for decades, is a surfer who longs for the sea. Lawrence, a reformed river rat, has forsaken the water for a spell, determined to build a home. Together, they work through the harsh winter, father helping daughter every step of the way to achieve her dream. The surprise comes when Lawrence sees how she has helped him live his.
River House: A Memoir
by Sarahlee LawrenceAn exquisite blend of memoir and nature writing, River House is one young woman's story about returning home. An exquisite blend of memoir and nature writing, River House is the story of a young woman returning home to her family's ranch and building a log house with the help of her father. An avid river rafter, Sarahlee Lawrence grew up in remote central Oregon and, by the age of twenty-one, had rafted some of the most dangerous rivers of the world as an accomplished river guide. But living her dream led her back to the place she least expected--her dusty beginnings and her family's home. River House is a beautiful story about a daughter's return and her relationship with her father, whom she enlists to help brave the cold winter and build a log house by hand. Together, they work through the harsh winter, father helping daughter every step of the way.
River House: A Memoir
by Sarahlee LawrenceAn exquisite blend of memoir and nature writing, River House is one young woman's story about returning home. An exquisite blend of memoir and nature writing, River House is the story of a young woman returning home to her family's ranch and building a log house with the help of her father. An avid river rafter, Sarahlee Lawrence grew up in remote central Oregon and, by the age of twenty-one, had rafted some of the most dangerous rivers of the world as an accomplished river guide. But living her dream led her back to the place she least expected--her dusty beginnings and her family's home. River House is a beautiful story about a daughter's return and her relationship with her father, whom she enlists to help brave the cold winter and build a log house by hand. Together, they work through the harsh winter, father helping daughter every step of the way.
River Phoenix: The Biography
by John Glatt<P>On 31 October 1993, River Phoenix, the gifted young star of Stand By Me, Mosquito Coast , My Own Private Idaho , Running on Empty, Dogfight and Sneakers , collapsed and died of a lethal speedball of drugs on a cold pavement outside a Hollywood nightclub. <P>His death shocked millions of people worldwide. This first serious biography of River Phoenix is based on a year's meticulous research and more than 65 interviews with members of his family, close friends, fellow actors and directors, members of the Children of God cult and fellow rock band members.
River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze
by Peter HesslerA New York Times Notable book, this memoir by a journalist who lived in a small city in China is “a vivid and touching tribute to a place and its people” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). In the heart of China's Sichuan province, amid the terraced hills of the Yangtze River valley, lies the remote town of Fuling. Like many other small cities in this ever-evolving country, Fuling is heading down a new path of change and growth, which came into remarkably sharp focus when Peter Hessler arrived as a Peace Corps volunteer, marking the first time in more than half a century that the city had an American resident. Hessler taught English and American literature at the local college, but it was his students who taught him about the complex processes of understanding that take place when one is immersed in a radically different society.Poignant, thoughtful, funny, and enormously compelling, River Town is an unforgettable portrait of a city that is seeking to understand both what it was and what it someday will be.“This touching memoir of an American dropped into the center of China transcends the boundaries of the travel genre and will appeal to anyone wanting to learn more about the heart and soul of the Chinese people. Highly recommended.” —Library Journal“This is a colorful memoir from a Peace Corps volunteer who came away with more understanding of the Chinese than any foreign traveler has a right to expect.” —Booklist
River in a Dry Land
by Trevor HerriotA landscape holds many stories, and in River in a Dry Land, Trevor Harriot's evocative book on Saskatchewan's Qu'Appelle Basin, the author-naturalist is determined to tell them all. In the summer of 1996, Herriot travelled the length and breadth of this 20,000-square-mile basin at the northeastern limits of North America's Great Plains. Though European settlers are new to this watershed, Herriot makes the point that this is not some place where nature was long "untouched by man" and recently ruined. Instead, he is more interested in the intricate relationship between people and the land that gives them life.
River of Darkness: Francisco Orellana and the Deadly First Voyage through the Amazon
by Buddy LevyThe acclaimed author of Labyrinth of Ice charts the legendary sixteenth-century adventurer’s death-defying navigation of the Amazon River.In 1541, Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Pizarro and his lieutenant Francisco Orellana searched for La Canela, South America’s rumored Land of Cinnamon, and the fabled El Dorado, “the golden man.” Quickly, the enormous expedition of mercenaries, enslaved natives, horses, and hunting dogs were decimated through disease, starvation, and attacks in the jungle. Hopelessly lost in the swampy labyrinth, Pizarro and Orellana made the fateful decision to separate. While Pizarro eventually returned home in rags, Orellana and fifty-seven men continued into the unknown reaches of the mighty Amazon jungle and river. Theirs would be the greater glory.Interweaving historical accounts with newly uncovered details, Levy reconstructs Orellana’s journey as the first European to navigate the world’s largest river. Every twist and turn of the powerful Amazon holds new wonders and the risk of death.Levy gives a long-overdue account of the Amazon’s people—some offering sustenance and guidance, others hostile, subjecting the invaders to gauntlets of unremitting attacks and signs of terrifying rituals.Violent and beautiful, noble and tragic, River of Darkness is riveting history and breathtaking adventure that will sweep readers on a voyage unlike any other.Praise for Buddy Levy and River of Darkness“In River of Darkness, Buddy Levy recounts Orellana’s headlong dash down the Amazon. Like Mr. Levy’s last book, Conquistador, about the conquest of Mexico, River of Darkness presents a fast-moving tale of triumph over seemingly insurmountable odds. . . . Though impromptu, the expedition was one of the most amazing adventures of all time.” —Wall Street Journal“An exciting, well-plotted excursion down the Amazon River with the early Spanish conquistador. . . . [A] richly textured account of the rogue, rebel and visionary whose discovery still resonates today.” —Kirkus Reviews“A rollicking adventure . . . Levy successfully conveys the Amazon’s power and majesty, while shedding light on the futility of humanity’s attempt to tame it.” —The A.V. Club
River of Fire: My Spiritual Journey
by Helen Prejean“River of Fire is Sister Helen’s story leading up to her acclaimed book Dead Man Walking—it is thought-provoking, informative, and inspiring. Read it and it will set your heart ablaze!”—Mark Shriver, author of Pilgrimage: My Search for the Real Pope Francis The nation’s foremost leader in efforts to abolish the death penalty shares the story of her growth as a spiritual leader, speaks out about the challenges of the Catholic Church, and shows that joy and religion are not mutually exclusive. Sister Helen Prejean’s work as an activist nun, campaigning to educate Americans about the inhumanity of the death penalty, is known to millions worldwide. Less widely known is the evolution of her spiritual journey from praying for God to solve the world’s problems to engaging full-tilt in working to transform societal injustices. Sister Helen grew up in a well-off Baton Rouge family that still employed black servants. She joined the Sisters of St. Joseph at the age of eighteen and was in her forties when she had an awakening that her life’s work was to immerse herself in the struggle of poor people forced to live on the margins of society. Sister Helen writes about the relationships with friends, fellow nuns, and mentors who have shaped her over the years. In this honest and fiercely open account, she writes about her close friendship with a priest, intent on marrying her, that challenged her vocation in the “new territory of the heart.” The final page of River of Fire ends with the opening page of Dead Man Walking, when she was first invited to correspond with a man on Louisiana’s death row. River of Fire is a book for anyone interested in journeys of faith and spirituality, doubt and belief, and “catching on fire” to purpose and passion. It is a book, written in accessible, luminous prose, about how to live a spiritual life that is wide awake to the sufferings and creative opportunities of our world.“Prejean chronicles the compelling, sometimes-difficult journey to the heart of her soul and faith with wit, honesty, and intelligence. A refreshingly intimate memoir of a life in faith.”—Kirkus Reviews
River of Fire: My Spiritual Journey
by Helen Prejean'Riveting ... Providing a window into the upheaval in the church during the 1960s and 70s, Prejean's engrossing memoir also fleshes out how she rose to be an influential voice within the church before becoming a renowned proponent of abolishing the death penalty. Informing and entertaining, Prejean's exceptional memoir will be of special interest to social justice advocates. Publishers WeeklyIn this revelatory, intimate memoir from the author of Dead Man Walking, America's foremost leader in efforts to abolish the death penalty shares the story of her growth as a spiritual leader, speaks out about the challenges of the Catholic Church and shows that joy and religion are not mutually exclusive. Sister Helen Prejean's work as an activist nun, campaigning to educate Americans about the inhumanity of the death penalty, is known to millions worldwide. Less widely known is the evolution of her spiritual journey from praying for God to solve the world's problems to engaging full-tilt in working to transform societal injustices. Sister Helen grew up in a well-off Baton Rouge family that still employed black servants. She joined the Sisters of St Joseph at the age of eighteen and was in her forties when she had an awakening that her life's work was to immerse herself in the struggle of poor people forced to live on the margins of society. In this honest and fiercely open account, Sister Helen writes about the relationships with friends, fellow nuns and mentors who have shaped her over the years, as well as the close friendship with a priest that challenged her vocation in the 'new territory of the heart'. The final page of River of Fire ends with the opening page of Dead Man Walking, when she was first invited to correspond with a man on Louisiana's death row.River of Fire is a book for anyone interested in journeys of faith and spirituality, doubt and belief and 'catching on fire' to purpose and passion. Written in accessible, luminous prose, it is a book about how to live a spiritual life that is wide awake to the sufferings and creative opportunities of our world.
River of No Reprieve: Descending Siberia's Waterway of Exile, Death, and Destiny
by Jeffrey TaylerThe author of In Putin’s Footsteps chronicles a deadly trek through the icy Russian region known for gulags and isolation.In a custom-built boat, Jeffrey Tayler travels some 2,400 miles down the Lena River from near Lake Baikal to high above the Arctic Circle, recreating a journey first made by Cossack forces more than three hundred years ago. He is searching for primeval beauty and a respite from the corruption, violence, and self-destructive urges that typify modern Russian culture, but instead he finds the roots of that culture—in Cossack villages unchanged for centuries, in Soviet outposts full of listless drunks, in stark ruins of the gulag, and in grand forests hundreds of miles from the nearest hamlet.That’s how far Tayler is from help when he realizes that his guide, Vadim, a burly Soviet army veteran embittered by his experiences in Afghanistan, detests all humanity, including Tayler. Yet he needs Vadim’s superb skills if he is to survive a voyage that quickly turns hellish. They must navigate roiling whitewater in howling storms, eschewing life jackets because, as Vadim explains, the frigid water would kill them before they could swim to shore. Though Tayler has trekked by camel through the Sahara and canoed down the Congo during the revolt against Mobutu, he has never felt so threatened as he does now.Praise for River of No Reprieve“This is a fiercely evocative account of an astonishing journey, wrenched out of near-disaster.” —Colin Thubron, author of In Siberia and The Lost Heart of Asia“Nonfiction adventure at its best. A page-turner from cover to cover.” —Adventure Journey“Reads like a Dantean tour of purgatory, providing a gloomily beautiful glimpse of nature—and humanity—at its bleakest edges.” —Men’s Journal
River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge And The Technological Wild West
by Rebecca SolnitThe world as we know it today began in California in the late 1800s, and Eadweard Muybridge had a lot to do with it. This striking assertion is at the heart of Rebecca Solnit’s new book, which weaves together biography, history, and fascinating insights into art and technology to create a boldly original portrait of America on the threshold of modernity. The story of Muybridge—who in 1872 succeeded in capturing high-speed motion photographically—becomes a lens for a larger story about the acceleration and industrialization of everyday life. Solnit shows how the peculiar freedoms and opportunities of post–Civil War California led directly to the two industries—Hollywood and Silicon Valley—that have most powerfully defined contemporary society. .
River of Time: My Descent into Depression and How I Emerged with Hope
by Marcia Wilkie Naomi JuddNaomi Judd's life as a country music superstar has been nonstop success. But offstage, she has battled incredible adversity. Struggling through a childhood of harsh family secrets, the death of a young sibling, and absent emotional support, Naomi found herself reluctantly married and an expectant mother at age seventeen. Four years later, she was a single mom of two, who survived being beaten and raped, and was abandoned without any financial support and nowhere to turn in Hollywood, CA. Naomi has always been a survivor: She put herself through nursing school to support her young daughters, then took a courageous chance by moving to Nashville to pursue their fantastic dream of careers in country music. Her leap of faith paid off, and Naomi and her daughter Wynonna became The Judds, soon ranking with country music's biggest stars, selling more than 20 million records and winning six Grammys. At the height of the singing duo's popularity, Naomi was given three years to live after being diagnosed with the previously incurable Hepatitis C. Miraculously, she overcame that too and was pronounced completely cured five years later. But Naomi was still to face her most desperate fight yet. After finishing a tour with Wynonna in 2011, she began a three-year battle with Severe Treatment Resistant Depression and anxiety. She suffered through frustrating and dangerous roller-coaster effects with antidepressants and other drugs, often terrifying therapies and, at her absolute lowest points, thoughts of suicide. But Naomi persevered once again. RIVER OF TIME is her poignant message of hope to anyone whose life has been scarred by trauma.
River of Traps
by Alex Harris William DebuysNew Mexico's Sangre de Cristo mountains are a place where two cultures - Hispanic and Anglo - meet. They're also the place where three men meet: William deBuys, a young writer; Alex Harris, a young photographer; and Jacobo Romero, an old farmer. When Harris and deBuys move to New Mexico in the 1970s, Romero is the neighbor who befriends them and becomes their teacher. With the tools of simple labor - shovel and axe, irony and humor - he shows them how to survive, even flourish, in their isolated village. A remarkable look at modern life in the mountains, River of Traps also magically evokes the now-vanished world in which Romero tended flocks on frontier ranges and absorbed the values of a society untouched by cash or Anglo America. His memories and wisdom, shared without sentimentality, permeate this absorbing story of three men and the place that forever shaped their lives.
River of Words: Portraits of Hudson Valley Writers (Excelsior Editions)
by Nina ShengoldSilver Medalist, 2011 Independent Publisher Book Awards in U.S. North-East - Best Regional Non-Fiction Category"When you truly fall in love, whether with a person or a place, you make everything else fit around it. The last eight years of my life have been a love affair with this place." — Gwendolyn Bounds, author of The Little Chapel By the RiverFor centuries, writers have drawn inspiration from the Hudson River and its surroundings. John Burroughs, James Fenimore Cooper, Washington Irving, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Edith Wharton all lived and worked in the region immortalized by the Hudson River School of painters. In River of Words, author Nina Shengold and photographer Jennifer May explore the current crop of Hudson Valley writers, offering intimate portraits of seventy-six contemporary writers who live and work in this magnificent and storied region. Included in this rich collection of emerging and established novelists, memoirists, poets, journalists, and screenwriters are Pulitzer Prize–winners John Ashbery and the late Frank McCourt, bestselling memoirists Julie Powell and Susan Orlean, and distinguished emigres Chinua Achebe and Da Chen. What draws these writers together is not only their devotion to their art but their love and affection for the Hudson Valley. Through words and photographs, River of Words offers an inside perspective on the literary life, the craft of writing, and the pull of this distinctive American landscape.
River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile
by Candice MillardThe harrowing story of one of the great feats of exploration of all time and its complicated legacy—from the New York Times bestselling author of The River of Doubt and Destiny of the Republic. <p><p>For millennia the location of the Nile River&’s headwaters was shrouded in mystery. In the 19th century, there was a frenzy of interest in ancient Egypt. At the same time, European powers sent off waves of explorations intended to map the unknown corners of the globe – and extend their colonial empires. <p><p>Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke were sent by the Royal Geographical Society to claim the prize for England. Burton spoke twenty-nine languages, and was a decorated soldier. He was also mercurial, subtle, and an iconoclastic atheist. Speke was a young aristocrat and Army officer determined to make his mark, passionate about hunting, Burton’s opposite in temperament and beliefs. From the start the two men clashed. They would endure tremendous hardships, illness, and constant setbacks. <p><p>Two years in, deep in the African interior, Burton became too sick to press on, but Speke did, and claimed he found the source in a great lake that he christened Lake Victoria. When they returned to England, Speke rushed to take credit, disparaging Burton. Burton disputed his claim, and Speke launched another expedition to Africa to prove it. The two became venomous enemies, with the public siding with the more charismatic Burton, to Speke’s great envy. The day before they were to publicly debate, Speke shot himself. Yet there was a third man on both expeditions, his name obscured by imperial annals, whose exploits were even more extraordinary. <p><p>This was Sidi Mubarak Bombay, who was enslaved and shipped from his home village in East Africa to India. When the man who purchased him died, he made his way into the local Sultan’s army, and eventually traveled back to Africa, where he used his resourcefulness, linguistic prowess and raw courage to forge a living as a guide. Without Bombay and men like him, who led, carried, and protected the expedition, neither Englishman would have come close to the headwaters of the Nile, or perhaps even survived. <p><p>In River of the Gods Candice Millard has written another peerless story of courage and adventure, set against the backdrop of the race to exploit Africa by the colonial powers. <p> <b>New York Times Bestseller</b>
Riverhead Books Summer 2013 Insider
by James Mcbride Khaled Hosseini Matthew Berry Riverhead Books Anton DisclafaniRiverhead Books is proud to present our Summer 2013 Insider which gives readers more information about the stories behind--or sometimes from within--our Summer 2013 list. Included in the Riverhead Books Summer 2013 Insider are:A Q&A with Khaled Hosseini, author of And the Mountains Echoed, an unforgettable novel about finding a lost piece of yourself in someone else. An interview with Pransky, the layabout mutt turned therapy dog at the heart of Sue Halpern's A Dog Walks into a Nursing Home: Lessons in the Good Life from an Unlikely Teacher. Ramona Ausubel's essay, "Transformation," about the inspiration for A Guide to Being Born, her enthralling new collection that uses the world of the imagination to explore the heart of the human condition. "The Story in the Mountains," an essay by Anton DiSclafani about writing her debut novel, The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls, a lush, sexy evocative story of family secrets and girls'-school rituals set in the 1930s South. "Looking through the Looking Glass," an essay by Anna Badkhen on how she came to write The World is a Carpet, her unforgettable portrait of a place and people shaped by centuries of art, trade and war. A note from Mark Kurlansky about "Dancing in the Street," the iconic song he uses as a lens to examine the story of the civil rights movement's genesis in his new book, Ready for a Brand New Beat Matthew Berry's essay, "It's Fantasy Sports World, You Just Live in It," about the growing world of fantasy sports and how it has shaped his career and personal life which he details in his new book, Fantasy Life. "Noodles of the Silk Road," a field guide by Jen Lin-Liu, author of On the Noodle Road, in which she immerses herself in a moveable feast of foods and cultures and discovers some surprising truths about commitment, independence, and love A brief history of the historic raid on Harper's Ferry which plays a key role in James McBride's new novel, The Good Lord Bird, the story of a young boy born a slave who joins John Brown's antislavery crusade--and who must pass as a girl to survive. Juan Gabriel Vásquez's essay, "Memories of the Years of Chaos," about how Colombia's recent history informs his new novel, The Sound of Things FallingEach of these pieces is an engaging and informative introduction to these truly wonderful books.
Riverine: A Memoir from Anywhere but Here
by Angela PalmAngela Palm grew up in a place not marked on the map, her house set on the banks of a river that had been straightened to make way for farmland. Every year, the Kankakee River in rural Indiana flooded and returned to its old course while the residents sandbagged their homes against the rising water. From her bedroom window, Palm watched the neighbor boy and loved him in secret, imagining a life with him even as she longed for a future that held more than a job at the neighborhood bar. For Palm, caught in this landscape of flood and drought, escape was a continually receding hope. Though she did escape, as an adult Palm finds herself drawn back, like the river, to her origins. But this means more than just recalling vibrant, complicated memories of the place that shaped her, or trying to understand the family that raised her. It means visiting the prison where the boy that she loved is serving a life sentence for a brutal murder. It means trying to chart, through the mesmerizing, interconnected essays of Riverine, what happens when a single event forces the path of her life off course.
Riverman: An American Odyssey
by Ben McGrathThe riveting true story of Dick Conant, an American folk hero who, over the course of more than twenty years, canoed solo thousands of miles of American rivers—and then disappeared near the Outer Banks of North Carolina. <p><p> For decades, Dick Conant paddled the rivers of America, covering the Mississippi, Yellowstone, Ohio, Hudson, as well as innumerable smaller tributaries. These solo excursions were epic feats of planning, perseverance, and physical courage. At the same time, Conant collected people wherever he went, creating a vast network of friends and acquaintances who would forever remember this brilliant and charming man even after a single meeting. <p><p> Ben McGrath, a staff writer at The New Yorker, was one of those people. In 2014 he met Conant by chance just north of New York City as Conant paddled down the Hudson, headed for Florida. McGrath wrote a widely read article about their encounter, and when Conant's canoe washed up a few months later, without any sign of his body, McGrath set out to find the people whose lives Conant had touched--to capture a remarkable life lived far outside the staid confines of modern existence. <p><p> Riverman is a moving portrait of a complex and fascinating man who was as troubled as he was charismatic, who struggled with mental illness and self-doubt, and was ultimately unable to fashion a stable life for himself; who traveled alone and yet thrived on connection and brought countless people together in his wake. It is also a portrait of an America we rarely see: a nation of unconventional characters, small river towns, and long-forgotten waterways.
Rivermouth: A Chronicle of Language, Faith, and Migration
by Alejandra OlivaBest Nonfiction of 2023 - Kirkus &“One of the most thoughtful meditations on our nation&’s immigration policy in recent memory." —The Boston GlobeA chronicle of translation, storytelling, and borders as understood through the United States' &“immigration crisis&”In this powerful and deeply felt memoir of translation, storytelling, and borders, Alejandra Oliva, a Mexican-American translator and immigrant justice activist, offers a powerful chronical of her experience interpreting at the US-Mexico border.Having worked with asylum seekers since 2016, she knows all too well the gravity of taking someone's trauma and delivering it to the warped demands of the U.S. immigration system. As Oliva's stunning prose recounts the stories of the people she's met through her work, she also traces her family's long and fluid relationship to the border—each generation born on opposite sides of the Rio Grande. In Rivermouth, Oliva focuses on the physical spaces that make up different phases of immigration, looking at how language and opportunity move through each of them: from the river as the waterway that separates the U.S. and Mexico, to the table as the place over which Oliva prepares asylum seekers for their Credible Fear Interviews, and finally, to the wall as the behemoth imposition that runs along America&’s southernmost border.With lush prose and perceptive insight, Oliva encourages readers to approach the painful questions that this crisis poses with equal parts critique and compassion. By which metrics are we measuring who &“deserves&” American citizenship? What is the point of humanitarian systems that distribute aid conditionally? What do we owe to our most disenfranchised?As investigative and analytical as she is meditative and introspective, sharp as she is lyrical, and incisive as she is compassionate, seasoned interpreter Alejandra Oliva argues for a better world while guiding us through the suffering that makes the fight necessary and the joy that makes it worth fighting for.
Rivers in the Desert: William Mulholland and the Inventing of Los Angeles
by Margaret Leslie DavisThe rise and fall of William Mulholland, and the story of L.A.&’s disastrous dam collapse: &“A dramatic saga of ambition, politics, money and betrayal&” (Los Angeles Daily News). Rivers in the Desert follows the remarkable career of William Mulholland, the visionary who engineered the rise of Los Angeles as the greatest American city west of the Mississippi. He sought to transform the sparse and barren desert into an inhabitable environment by designing the longest aqueduct in the Western Hemisphere, bringing water from the mountains to support a large city. This &“fascinating history&” chronicles Mulholland&’s dramatic ascension to wealth and fame—followed by his tragic downfall after the sudden collapse of the dam he had constructed to safeguard the water supply (Newsweek). The disaster, which killed at least five hundred people, caused his repudiation by allies, friends, and a previously adoring community. Epic in scope, Rivers in the Desert chronicles the history of Los Angeles and examines the tragic fate of the man who rescued it. &“An arresting biography of William Mulholland, the visionary Los Angeles Water Department engineer . . . [his] personal and public dramas make for gripping reading.&” —Publishers Weekly &“A fascinating look at the political maneuvering and engineering marvels that moved the City of Angels into the first rank of American cities.&” —Booklist
Rivethead: Tales from the Assembly Line
by Ben HamperA former "shoprat" in a Michigan auto plant offers a gritty account of life in the world of manufacturing, on and off the assembly line.
Rivington Was Ours: Lady Gaga, the Lower East Side, and the Prime of Our Lives
by Brendan Jay Sullivan“Equal parts insightful, funny, romantic and poetic, this is a book that’s not just about Gaga but about the magic of the city.” —Captain” Kirk Douglas, guitarist for The RootsBrendan Jay Sullivan was an up-and-coming DJ in New York City when he met Stefani Germanotta, then a struggling artist, in 2006. She was a go-go dancer who sewed her own outfits but had bigger ambitions—she wanted nothing less than to take over the music world.In this intimate portrait of the budding star, the author describes afternoons sitting with Gaga on the floor of her bare Lower East Side apartment, drinking wine from pint glasses and plotting out the pop stardom that awaited her.Filled with stories of love and heartbreak among Gaga and Sullivan and their circle of aspiring musicians and performers, and set against the vibrant backdrop of the downtown bars and parties of the mid-aughts, Rivington Was Ours is both a love letter to New York and a glimpse behind the veil of one of the biggest musical icons of her generation.“Entertaining . . . An intimate portrait of a specific time—before stardom struck—and a particular place. Fans of Gaga and the downtown New York music scene will find this fascinating.” —Booklist “A fascinating and vivid insight into the cauldron that formed a great musician.” —Andy Rourke, bass guitarist for The Smiths“Brendan Jay Sullivan is a writer’s writer. Yes, he’s that good.” —Gary Shteyngart, New York Times–beststelling author of Super Sad True Love Story“A touching memoir.” —New York Post