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Roll On
by Ainslie Manson Ron LightburnAs Rick Hansen wheels around the globe on his incredible Man in Motion World Tour, the children he meets are encouraged to dream their own dreams and work to make them come true. Readers also discover little-known facts about the great journey. They learn that Rick wheeled the equivalent of three marathons a day and went through 94 pairs of gloves. And they learn about the gift of a song that Rick and his team sang or hummed mile after mile. The lively text and enchanting illustrations combine to bring to life Rick's amazing feat and the impact it has had on children everywhere. Roll On is an inspirational story for any child who has had to overcome a disability, has a friend or sibling who lives with a disability, or who has big dreams for life.
Roll Red Roll: Rape, Power, and Football in the American Heartland
by Nancy Schwartzman**A New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice selection** An incisive narrative about a teen rape case that divided a Rust Belt town, exposing the hostile and systemic undercurrents that enable sexual violence, and spotlighting ways to make change. In football-obsessed Steubenville, Ohio, on a summer night in 2012, an incapacitated sixteen-year-old girl was repeatedly assaulted by members of the &“Big Red&” high school football team. They took turns documenting the crime and sharing on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. The victim, Jane Doe, learned the details via social media at a time when teens didn&’t yet understand the lasting trail of their digital breadcrumbs. Crime blogger Alexandria Goddard, along with hacker collective Anonymous, exposed the photos, Tweets, and videos, making this the first rape case ever to go viral and catapulting Steubenville onto the national stage. Filmmaker Nancy Schwartzman spent four years embedded in the town, documenting the case and its reverberations. Ten years after the assault, Roll Red Roll is the culmination of that research, weaving in new interviews and personal reflections to take readers beyond Steubenville to examine rape culture in everything from sports to teen dynamics. Roll Red Roll explores the factors that normalize sexual assault in our communities. Through inter-views with sportswriter David Zirin, victim&’s rights attorney Gloria Allred and more, Schwartzman untangles the societal norms in which we too often sacrifice our daughters to protect our sons. With the Steubenville case as a flashpoint that helped spark the #MeToo movement, a decade later, Roll Red Roll focuses on the perpetrators and asks, can our society truly change?
Rolland Golden: Life, Love, and Art in the French Quarter
by Rolland GoldenIn the early twentieth century, the French Quarter had become home to a vibrant community of working artists attracted to the atmosphere, architecture, and colorful individuals who populated the scene (and who also became some of its first preservationists). Louisiana native Rolland Golden was one of these artists to live, work, and raise a family in this most storied corner of New Orleans. With 94 black-and-white and 54 color photographs and illustrations, his memoir of that life focuses on the period of 1955 to 1976. Golden, a painter, discusses the particular challenges of making a living from art, and his story becomes a family affair involving his daughters and his beloved wife, Stella.Golden's studio sat in a patio on Royal Street, around the corner from Preservation Hall where old-time musicians played Dixieland Jazz. Golden sketched and painted many of them in a visual style that encompassed realism and gradually developed into abstract realism. Golden recalls work that he did in historic preservation, sketching architecture for publications such as the Vieux Carre Courier, and he discusses his studies with renowned regionalist painter John McCrady. The artist frankly discusses his experiences with the display, representation, and sale of his work, presenting a little-explored and yet crucial part of a working artist's life. The memoir concludes with Golden and his wife traveling to the premiere of his exhibition in Moscow, having been selected by a Russian envoy as the only American artist to have a one-man touring exhibition in the former Soviet Union. Among the nearly 150 black-and-white and color illustrations are never-before-seen photos and sketches by the artist.
Rollaresque: The Rakish Progress of The Rolling Stones
by Simon GoddardLondon 1962. Five young hooligans have formed a band and are on a collision course with the austere and intolerant values of post-war Britain. From their beginning in a scummy flat off the Kings Road to the notorious Redlands scandal, this is the anarchic rollercoaster ride of the Stones’ first five years.We follow our heroes in a rags-to-riches romp of sex, scandal, mischief and uproarious behaviour as they challenge the establishment, invent the archetype of the rebellious, parent-scaring rock star lothario and, eventually, receive their comeuppance from the powers that be. Presented with the audacious wit and bawdy humour of a vintage novel, complete with Dickensian illustrations, Rollaresque celebrates the young Stones in the grand English literary tradition of lovable rogues. This is the music biography reinvented as a ripping yarn.
Roller Coaster Diaries
by João Rosa de CastroFinally, the Diary Book, where we find the author’s everyday life, his particularities and reflections that colours the happenings of his daily life. What to say about this writing that many times seems to be unreal for the reader, but that in João Rosa de Castro’s experience appears to have much meaning? The reader is not up to decipher the enigmas nor understand them, but enjoy the words of the writer’s intimacy that lead us to seversal situations lived by him and that he wished to share. Like the writing in which he reveals to be the best hour, the best day, the best month and the best year of his life, or when he discusses the matter drugs based on the discussion held by Maria Rita Kehl in the “Philosophical Café”, or even the confession that he doesn’t know how to console when the matter is death, when he knew of the death of the dog of his Januário’s muse. At last, getting into this book means allowing to open oneself to the perceptions, reflections of its author and enjoy his words.
Rollercoaster: My Hectic Years as Jean Chretien's Diplomatic Advisor, 1994-1998
by James K. BartlemanFor four years, James Bartleman mixed with all the biggest names - Clinton, Blair, Yeltsin, Mitterrand, Castro, Kohl, Chirac, and on and on, as Chrétien's Henry Kissinger figure.He was involved in deadly serious crisis management, accompanying Chrétien to all the world's hot spots - dodging bullets in Sarajevo, and trying to avoid war in the Spanish trawler incident. Not to mention dealing with Premier Li of China on an official visit encountering protestors in Montreal and shouting, "I am departing immediately. Never have I and my country been so humiliated."Which leader at the G7 Summit in Halifax passed out drunk in the hotel elevator? What did Jean Chrétien do to set White House aides threatening, "the next time there's a referendum, we will support the separatists"? And why did Fidel Castro grab our author, shaking him and snarling, "I hope you are satisfied, Bartleman"? It's all in this lively book.Every major world crisis of these years is represented here, and every region of the world. You'll be amazed at how widely Chrétien and Bartleman travelled and how much top-level action they experienced. Canadian foreign policy has never seemed so exciting. Or so funny (as when the angry Japanese prime minister's Ottawa visit was marred by a health problem officially described as "soft poo"). A candid, witty, eye-opening book about foreign affairs at the top.From the Hardcover edition.
Rollin' with Dre: An Insider's Tale of the Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of West Coast Hip Hop
by Bruce Williams Donnell Alexander"I'm about to blow the top off of everything I saw," writes Bruce Williams, the long-time best friend and right-hand man to Dr. Dre, and a prime mover at Aftermath, one of the most successful start-up labels in music history. In Rollin' with Dre: The Unauthorized Account, Williams, owner of a sports bar in downtown Los Angeles, gives us an unprecedented inside look at-and the up-and-down story of-two decades of hip-hop culture and "The Life. " As Dre's confidant and the problem-solver to a stable of artists and others who came to know him as "Uncle Bruce," Williams was either there when the action went down or close enough to feel the hollowpoints whiz by: Dre perfecting the gangsta era's signature sound displayed on his highly influential album The Chronic and its Snoop Dogg-helmed follow-up, Doggystyle; getting out from under Death Row Records, the label Dre co-founded with impresario Suge Knight; launching the careers of Eminem, 50 Cent, and The Game. Williams lays it out in black and white, from dish on Tupac Shakur's chaotic rise and fall to the deadly feud between Tha Row (formerly Death Row Records) and East Coast MCs and bigshots, from Suge's legal battles to Dre's reconciliation with Eazy-E before E's untimely demise from AIDS, from the hard-won "overnight" successes of Snoop and Eminem to what it was like rollin' with giants and legends-in-the-making-and living the life (and bearing the burdens) as a bona-fide master of the game. Williams takes us on a wild ride, showing us the never-before-seen side of the infamous West Coast scene. With one foot firmly planted in the Hollywood establishment and the other in the sex-and-violence-drenched netherworld of the hip-hop music industry, Rollin' with Dre: The Unauthorized Account, is the impossible-to-put-down story of music icons and the culture that created the soundtrack of a restless generation. From the Hardcover edition.
Rolling Away the Stone: Mary Baker Eddy's Challenge to Materialism
by Stephen Gottschalk“Gottschalk distinguishes himself by placing Christian Science in the larger context of American religion . . . sheds new light on Eddy’s life and work.” —Publishers WeeklyThis richly detailed study highlights the last two decades of the life of Mary Baker Eddy, a prominent religious thinker whose character and achievement are just beginning to be understood. It is the first book-length discussion of Eddy to make full use of the resources of the Mary Baker Eddy Collection in Boston. Rolling Away the Stone focuses on her long-reaching legacy as a Christian thinker, specifically her challenge to the materialism that threatens religious belief and practice.“Gottschalk has provided readers with a masterful account of Christian Science in its heyday. This book is a first-rate read for students of American religion and provides a look into how one of the country’s more complex religious figures dealt with materialism in the late-nineteenth-century America.” —Religious Studies Review“Gottschalk does a superb job of providing historical context for the chaotic events of Eddy’s final decades.” —Choice“Gottschalk’s account is well told and enriched by fresh material now available from the Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity.” —Christian Science Monitor“The book includes a great deal of fresh research and honest scholarship . . . for the individual wanting to sink his or her teeth into a serious study of Eddy . . . you have a lot to look forward to in reading this book.” —The Christian Science Journal
Rolling Away: My Agony with Ecstasy
by Lynn Marie SmithLynn Smith never wanted to be an addict. It just happened. One day, she was living a so-called normal life, and the next she woke up to reality. In the mirror she saw the face of a grinning skull and, in her head, the world was turned upside down. After a five-month binge on Ecstasy, Smith would never be the same. Rolling Away is the searingly honest confession of one young woman's frenzied flight into addiction and her long struggle to come back to earth. After growing up in small-town Pennsylvania, where she was a popular straight-A student, Lynn Smith moved to New York City to pursue her dream of acting. In the city, she came in contact with new people, new ideas, and a completely new way of life -- a way that exposed her to drugs. She tried pot, acid, and cocaine, but it was Ecstasy that changed her forever. She stopped auditioning and dedicated herself full-time to her newfound romance with the "love drug," spending her weekends popping pills and dancing all night long. Ignoring her symptoms of piercing headaches and paranoia, in only a short while Lynn went from living responsibly to barely living at all -- until the night she began to hallucinate uncontrollably, yet somehow managed to pick up the phone and call her mother. At once harrowing and inspiring, Rolling Away is the timely story of a too-fashionable new addiction and, ultimately, a triumphant narrative of survival and how a second chance can save your life.
Rolling Nowhere: Riding the Rails with America's Hoboes
by Ted ConoverAs a college student, the author decided that he wanted to study the men who have been called hobos, those who travel by hopping freight trains, and who live however they can. He wanted to know whether their lifestyle was as attractive as it seemed to many young people.
Rolling Pennies in the Dark
by Douglas Mackinnon"Our intoxicated mother had marched the three of us out into what passed for a living room in the cardboard and tarpaper shack we were existing in on the edge of Nowhere, New Hampshire. She assembled us like an audience on the broken yellow sofa, and said, 'I'm going to kill myself now, and it's all your father's fault.' "After the dramatic announcement, and once sure we were all looking at the tragedy playing out before us, she took a bottle of sleeping pills out of her purse, and swallowed the entire contents, using vodka as the lubricant." --excerpt from page 44 Through determination, a deep faith in God, and belief in himself, Douglas MacKinnon has taken the pains of his childhood and turned them into the fuel of compassion. Through his words, you can do the same. A Memoir with a Message It's impossible for most of us to imagine what it would be like, as a nine-year-old child, to have your own mother empty her .45 pistol into your cardboard bedroom wall, bullets flying above your head, as you hold your baby sister close to protect her. We can't imagine this, but Doug MacKinnon can. Doug can do more than imagine--he can remember. This very personal memoir is both heartbreaking and highly inspirational. In it, Douglas MacKinnon weaves his astounding story as a desperately poor child and his triumphant transition from living in abject squalor to becoming a White House writer who now has the political influence to change the system--especially as it affects children. But this book is more than the story of one man's personal journey; it is a memoir with a message. Through this message, the author not only inspires readers to move beyond their own difficulties, he also calls both political parties to task for their shameful neglect of tens of millions of Americans. You'll be riveted to the story, moved to compassion, and inspired to see the world through new eyes.
Rolling Pennies in the Dark: A Memoir with a Message
by Douglas Mackinnon"Our intoxicated mother had marched the three of us out into what passed for a living room in the cardboard and tarpaper shack we were existing in on the edge of Nowhere, New Hampshire. She assembled us like an audience on the broken yellow sofa, and said, 'I'm going to kill myself now, and it's all your father's fault.' "After the dramatic announcement, and once sure we were all looking at the tragedy playing out before us, she took a bottle of sleeping pills out of her purse, and swallowed the entire contents, using vodka as the lubricant." --excerpt from page 44 Through determination, a deep faith in God, and belief in himself, Douglas MacKinnon has taken the pains of his childhood and turned them into the fuel of compassion. Through his words, you can do the same. A Memoir with a Message It's impossible for most of us to imagine what it would be like, as a nine-year-old child, to have your own mother empty her .45 pistol into your cardboard bedroom wall, bullets flying above your head, as you hold your baby sister close to protect her. We can't imagine this, but Doug MacKinnon can. Doug can do more than imagine--he can remember. This very personal memoir is both heartbreaking and highly inspirational. In it, Douglas MacKinnon weaves his astounding story as a desperately poor child and his triumphant transition from living in abject squalor to becoming a White House writer who now has the political influence to change the system--especially as it affects children. But this book is more than the story of one man's personal journey; it is a memoir with a message. Through this message, the author not only inspires readers to move beyond their own difficulties, he also calls both political parties to task for their shameful neglect of tens of millions of Americans. You'll be riveted to the story, moved to compassion, and inspired to see the world through new eyes.
Rolling Stones on Air in the Sixties: TV and Radio History As It Happened
by Richard HaversThe first official, in-depth history of the Rolling Stones told through the band’s television and radio broadcasts—appearance by appearance—published to tie in with the global release of a DVD containing recently discovered, never-before-released footage of the Stones on TV, in front of and behind the cameras.The Rolling Stones on Air in the Sixties is a unique chronicle of the band’s rise to fame during the 1960s. It begins with a letter the BBC received from Brian Jones in January 1963, politely requesting an audition for "The Rollin’ Stones Rhythm and Blues Band," and ends with the story of the group’s performance of "Let It Bleed" for BBC’s end-of-the-decade celebration television program Ten Years of What.From their first television appearance on Thank Your Lucky Stars!, sporting matching houndstooth suits at the insistence of manager Andrew Loog Oldham, to the louche rockers who performed at a televised free concert in London’s Hyde Park in 1969, The Rolling Stones on Air in the Sixties reveals, year-by-year, how the group rose from obscurity to dominate rock-and-roll. Throughout, the Stones look back at their career-defining broadcasts, sharing their individual recollections about the music, the clothes, the fans, the rivals and friends, and the impact they had on the generational divide and the world around them. This remarkable collection features previously unseen facsimile documents from the BBC and commercial archives, exclusive interviews with directors and producers who worked with the band during their rise, and showcases many stunning images never before seen. This is history as it happened, both in front of and behind the camera, and on and off the studio mic. Viewing the band from a fresh and unusual viewpoint that makes their story both immediate and vivid, The Rolling Stones on Air in the Sixties offers invaluable insights into one of the greatest great rock ’n’ roll bands the world has ever seen.
Rolling Through The Isles: A Journey Back Down the Roads that led to Jupiter
by Ted SimonFrom the bestselling author of Jupiter's Travels and Dreaming of Jupiter comes an entertaining and inspiring new journey round Britain.Having crisscrossed the globe twice, Ted returns to the British Isles to rediscover the country of his youth. The result is a revealing portrait of modern Britain and a witty and affectionate journey back to the past, when Ted would hitchhike across the country visiting friends (and girlfriends).He returns to the site of his old school with its astonishing war time history and visits familiar haunts where he did his National Service and got his first job in newspapers. He also visits less-familiar places. Some inspire him (Winchester Cathedral). Others defeat him (a tax office in Nottingham). As he rolls through the Isles, he discovers that a great deal has changed: busier roads, bureaucracy and, worst of all, the dreaded 'Sat Nav'. But there is also much to celebrate and enjoy along the way.Packed with fascinating stories, extraordinary encounters and glorious depictions of the British countryside, Rolling through the Isles takes the reader on an unforgettable trip with a celebrated adventurer and writer.
Rolling Through The Isles: A Journey Back Down the Roads that led to Jupiter
by Ted SimonFrom the bestselling author of Jupiter's Travels and Dreaming of Jupiter comes an entertaining and inspiring new journey round Britain.Having crisscrossed the globe twice, Ted returns to the British Isles to rediscover the country of his youth. The result is a revealing portrait of modern Britain and a witty and affectionate journey back to the past, when Ted would hitchhike across the country visiting friends (and girlfriends).He returns to the site of his old school with its astonishing war time history and visits familiar haunts where he did his National Service and got his first job in newspapers. He also visits less-familiar places. Some inspire him (Winchester Cathedral). Others defeat him (a tax office in Nottingham). As he rolls through the Isles, he discovers that a great deal has changed: busier roads, bureaucracy and, worst of all, the dreaded 'Sat Nav'. But there is also much to celebrate and enjoy along the way.Packed with fascinating stories, extraordinary encounters and glorious depictions of the British countryside, Rolling through the Isles takes the reader on an unforgettable trip with a celebrated adventurer and writer.
Rolling Warrior: The Incredible, Sometimes Awkward, True Story of a Rebel Girl on Wheels Who Helped Spark a Revolution
by Judith Heumann Kristen Joiner(This is the Large Print Edition) As featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary Crip Camp, and forreaders of I Am Malala, one of the most influential disability rightsactivists in US history tells her story of fighting to belong.&“If I didn&’t fight, who would?&”Judy Heumann was only 5 years old when she was first denied her right to attend school. Paralyzed from polio and raised by her Holocaust-surviving parents in New York City, Judy had a drive for equality that was instilled early in life.In this young readers&’ edition of her acclaimed memoir, Being Heumann, Judy shares her journey of battling for equal access in an unequal world—from fighting to attend grade school after being described as a &“fire hazard&” because of her wheelchair, to suing the New York City school system for denying her a teacher&’s license because of her disability. Judy went on to lead 150 disabled people in the longest sit-in protest in US history at the San Francisco Federal Building. Cut off from the outside world, the group slept on office floors, faced down bomb threats, and risked their lives to win the world&’s attention and the first civil rights legislation for disabled people.Judy&’s bravery, persistence, and signature rebellious streak will speak to every person fighting to belong and fighting for social justice.
Romain Gary
by Ralph SchoolcraftIn this book Ralph Schoolcraft explores the extraordinary career of the modern French author, film director, and diplomat--a romantic and tragic figure whose fictions extended well beyond his books. Born Roman Kacew, he overcame an impoverished boyhood to become a French Resistance hero and win the coveted Goncourt Prize under the pseudonym--and largely invented persona--Romain Gary. Although he published such acclaimed works as The Roots of Heaven and Promise at Dawn, the Gaullist traditions that he defended in the world of French letters fell from favor, and his critical fortunes suffered at the hands of a hostile press. Schoolcraft details Gary's frustrated struggle to evolve as a writer in the eye of a public that now considered him a known quantity. Identifying the daring strategies used by this mysterious character as he undertook an elaborate scheme to reach a new readership, Schoolcraft offers new insight into the dynamics of authorship and fame within the French literary institutions.In the early 1970s Gary made his departure from the conservative literary establishment, publishing works that boasted a quirky, elliptical style under a variety of pseudonymous personae, the most successful of which was that of an Algerian immigrant by the name of Emile Ajar. Moving behind the mask of his new creation, Gary was able to win critical and popular acclaim and a second Goncourt in 1975. But as Schoolcraft suggests, Gary may have "sold his shadow"--that is, lost his authorial persona--by marketing himself too effectively. Going so far as to recruit a cousin to stand in as the public face of this phantom author, Gary kept the secret of his true authorship until his violent death in 1980 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The press reacted with resentment over the scheme, and he was shunned into the ranks of literary oddities. Schoolcraft draws from archives of the several thousand documents related to Gary housed at the French publishing firms of Gallimard and Mercure de France, as well as the Butler Library at Columbia University. Exploring the depths of a story that has long remained shrouded in mystery, Romain Gary: The Man Who Sold His Shadow is as much a fascinating biographical sketch as it is a thought-provoking reflection on the assumptions made about identities in the public sphere.
Romain Gary: A Tall Story
by David BellosAirman, war hero, immigrant, law student, diplomat, novelist and celebrity spouse, Romain Gary had several lives thrust upon him by the history of the twentieth century, but he also aspired to lead many more. He wrote more than two dozen books and a score of short stories under several different names in two languages, English and French, neither of which was his mother tongue. Gary had a gift for narrative that endeared him to ordinary readers, but won him little respect among critics far more intellectual than he could ever be. His varied and entertaining writing career tells a different story about the making of modern literary culture from the one we are accustomed to hearing.Born Roman Kacew in Vilna (now Lithuania) in 1914 and raised by only his mother after his father left them, Gary rose to become French Consul General in Los Angeles and the only man ever to win the Goncourt Prize twice.This biography follows the many threads that lead from Gary's wartime adventures and early literary career to his years in Hollywood and his marriage to the actress Jean Seberg. It illuminates his works in all their incarnations, and culminates in the tale of his most brilliant deception: the fabrication of a complex identity for his most successful nom de plume, Émile Ajar.In his new portrait of Gary, David Bellos brings biographical research together with literary and cultural analysis to make sense of the many lives of Romain Gary - a hero fit for our times, as well as his own.
Romain Rolland and the Politics of the Intellectual Engagement
by David FisherThis intellectual portrait of Romain Rolland (1866-1944)--French novelist, musicologist, dramatist, and Nobel prizewinner in 1915--focuses on his experiments with political commitment against the backdrop of European history between the two world wars. Best known as a biographer of Beethoven and for his novel, Jean-Christophe, Rolland was one of those nonconforming writers who perceived a crisis of bourgeois society in Europe before the Great War, and who consciously worked to discredit and reshape that society in the interwar period. Analyzing Rolland's itinerary of engaged stands, David James Fisher clarifies aspects of European cultural history and helps decipher the ambiguities at the heart of all forms of intellectual engagement.Moving from text to context, Fisher organizes the book around a series of debates--Rolland's public and private collisions over specific committed stands--introducing the reader to the polemical style of French intellectual discourse and offering insight into what it means to be a responsible intellectual. Fisher presents Rolland's private ruminations, extensive research, and reexamination of the function and style of the French man of letters. He observes that Rolland experimented with five styles of commitment: oceanic mysticism linked to progressive, democratic politics; free thinking linked to antiwar dissent; pacifism and, ultimately, Gandhism; antifacism linked to anti-imperialism, antiracism, and all-out political resistance to fascism; and, most controversially, fellow traveling as a form of socialist humanism and the positive side of antifascism. Fisher views Rolland's engagement historically and critically, showing that engaged intellectuals of that time were neither naive propagandists nor dupes of political parties.David James Fisher makes a case for the committed writer and hopes to re-ignite the debate about commitment. For him, Romain Rolland sums up engagement in a striking, dialectical formula:
Romaine Brooks: A Life
by Cassandra LangerThe artistic achievements of Romaine Brooks (1874-1970), both as a major expatriate American painter and as a formative innovator in the decorative arts, have long been overshadowed by her fifty-year relationship with writer Natalie Barney and a reputation as a fiercely independent, aloof heiress who associated with fascists in the 1930s. In Romaine Brooks: A Life, art historian Cassandra Langer provides a richer, deeper portrait of Brooks's aesthetics and experimentation as an artist--and of her entire life, from her chaotic, traumatic childhood to the enigmatic decades after World War II, when she produced very little art. This provocative, lively biography takes aim at many myths about Brooks and her friends, lovers, and the subjects of her portraits, revealing a woman of wit and passion who overcame enormous personal and societal challenges to become an extraordinary artist and create a life on her own terms. Romaine Brooks: A Life introduces much fresh information from Langer's decades of research on Brooks and establishes this groundbreaking artist's centrality to feminism and contemporary sexual politics as well as to visual culture.
Roman Candle: The Life of Bobby Darin (Excelsior Editions)
by David EvanierA performer who rivaled Sinatra, Bobby Darin rose from dire poverty to become one of the biggest stars of his generation. Dogged by chronic illness, he knew that time was not on his side, and so, in a career full of dizzying twists and turns, he did it all, moving from teen idol to Vegas song-and-dance man, from hipster to folkie and back. In Roman Candle, David Evanier offers a multilayered portrait of this brash, gifted artist, including the dark side of his celebrated marriage to America's sweetheart, Sandra Dee, and the incredible family secret that tore him apart at the end."Compelling and revealing ... Roman Candle gives us the many lives of one of the great entertainers of all time, whose flame was extinguished way too soon." — Kevin Spacey"Informed by scores of interviews with Darin's friends and associates and written in no-nonsense, just-the-facts prose, Evanier's book paints a picture of a ruthlessly ambitious musician.... Sinatra may have had the bragging rights to 'My Way,' but Darin lived out the lyrics." — Publishers Weekly"This biography percolates with cool.... [Evanier has] written a book so charged with intimacy, so heartbreakingly ebullient with life, that you feel that any moment the pages are about to snap their fingers and break into song." — Caroline Leavitt, The Boston Globe"Darin has been the subject of several books; most notable is this new examination of the singer's life and work by David Evanier.... Evanier's portrait, true to its title, is one of a bright talent that soared quickly and erupted in a flash of glory." — David Hajdu, The Atlantic Monthly"Music fans are liable to be surprised by the Bobby Darin mania sparked by Kevin Spacey's sunny new film biography. For the slightly darker look at Darin, hole up for the holidays with Roman Candle, the latest book about Darin's rollercoaster life." — Janet Maslin, "Top Ten list of Books for Gifts" (2004), The New York Times
Roman Emperor Zeno: The Perils of Power Politics in Fifth-Century Constantinople
by Peter Crawford&“A very useful read for anyone interested in the Later Roman Empire, the fall of the Western Empire, and the emergence of the Byzantine State.&” —The NYMAS Review Peter Crawford examines the life and career of the fifth-century Roman emperor Zeno and the various problems he faced before and during his seventeen-year rule. Despite its length, his reign has hitherto been somewhat overlooked as being just a part of that gap between the Theodosian and Justinianic dynasties of the Eastern Roman Empire which is comparatively poorly furnished with historical sources. Reputedly brought in as a counterbalance to the generals who had dominated Constantinopolitan politics at the end of the Theodosian dynasty, the Isaurian Zeno quickly had to prove himself adept at dealing with the harsh realities of imperial power. Zeno&’s life and reign is littered with conflict and politicking with various groups—the enmity of both sides of his family; dealing with the fallout of the collapse of the Empire of Attila in Europe, especially the increasingly independent tribal groups established on the frontiers of, and even within, imperial territory; the end of the Western Empire; and the continuing religious strife within the Roman world. As a result, his reign was an eventful and significant one that deserves this long-overdue spotlight. &“Crawford&’s work on the life and reign of Zeno is a good introduction for a general audience to the complexities of the late fifth-century Roman Empire, telling a series of long and complex stories compellingly in a traditional fashion.&” —Bryn Mawr Classical Review
Roman Emperors: A Guide to the Men Who Ruled the Empire
by Mario BartoliniRoman Emperors is a concise chronological guide to the emperors who ruled the Roman Empire. It covers the period from the establishment of the Empire by Augustus in 27 BCE to the abdication of Romulus Augustus in 476 CE, an event that marks the official end of the existence of the Roman Empire as a political entity in Western Europe. After a useful introduction to the late Republic and its transformation into the Empire, each of the eighty-five emperors customarily recognized as legitimate are presented in the order in which they reigned. This includes both Eastern and Western emperors for those periods where the empire was divided, and each one is illustrated. A useful glossary of technical terms is also provided.
Roman Holiday: The Secret Life of Hollywood in Rome
by Caroline YoungRome in the 1950s: following the darkness of fascism and Nazi occupation during the Second World War, the city is reinvigorated. The street cafés and nightclubs are filled with movie stars and film directors as Hollywood productions flock to the city to film at Cinecittà Studios. Fiats and Vespas throng the streets, and the newly christened paparazzi mingle with tourists enjoying la dolce vita. It is a time of beauty, glamour – and more than a little scandal. Caroline Young explores the city in its golden age, as the emergence of celebrity journalism gave rise to a new kind of megastar. They are the ultimate film icons: Ava Gardner, Anna Magnani, Sophia Loren, Audrey Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman and Elizabeth Taylor. Set against the backdrop of the stunning Italian capital, the story follows their lives and loves on and off the camera, and the great, now legendary, films that marked their journeys. From the dark days of the Second World War through to the hedonistic hippies in the late 1960s, this evocative narrative captures the essence of Rome – its beauty, its tragedy and its creativity – through the lives of those who helped to recreate it.
Roman Lives: A Selection of Eight Roman Lives
by PlutarchIn the eight lives of this collection Plutarch introduces the reader to the major figures and periods of classical Rome. He portrays virtues to be emulated and vices to be avoided, but his purpose is also implicitly to educate and warn those in his own day who wielded power. In prose that is rich, elegant and sprinkled with learned references, he explores with an extraordinary degree of insight the interplay of character and political action. While drawing chiefly on historical sources, he brings to biography a natural story-teller's ear for a good anecdote. Throughout the ages Plutarch's Lives have been valued for their historical value and their charm. This new translation will introduce new generations to his urbane erudition. The most comprehensive selection available, it is accompanied by a lucid introduction, explanatory notes, bibliographies, maps and indexes. Translated by Robin Waterfield and with notes and introduction by Philip A. Stadter.