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Somewhere in Heaven
by Christopher Andersen"Dana is my life force." --Christopher Reeve"A terrible thing happened. I wish it hadn't. But would I change who I married? Never." --Dana ReeveHe was a hero in every sense of the word--the chiseled-from-granite star of four blockbuster Superman films and the romantic classic Somewhere in Time who, after being paralyzed in a freak horseback riding accident, became a symbol of hope for millions. Dana Reeve was no less heroic, standing steadfastly by her husband's side until his surprisingly sudden and unexpected death at age fifty-two. When Dana, a non-smoker, passed away from lung cancer just seventeen months after Chris's death, she left behind their thirteen-year-old son, Will, to be raised by friends and family. Dana was only forty-four years old.That fate could have dealt such a cruel hand to this golden couple seemed unfathomable. That they could endure it all with grace, courage, and humor defied belief.Yet for all the millions of words that have been written about their public causes and private struggles following Chris's accident, little is known about the lives they led as passionate young lovers. Now, in the manner of his poignant-yet-stirring bestsellers Jack and Jackie, Jackie After Jack, An Affair to Remember, The Day Diana Died, After Diana, and The Day John Died, No. l New York Times bestselling author Christopher Andersen draws on those who knew them best to examine in touching detail the Reeves' unique partnership and the romance, faith, and fortitude that defined it.Sometimes heartbreaking, often uplifting, always compelling, Somewhere in Heaven is more than just a portrait of a marriage. It is the profoundly human story of two souls whose brief lives made a difference, a bittersweet saga of tragedy, triumph, and loss, and--above all else--a love story for the ages.
Somewhere in the Unknown World: A Collective Refugee Memoir
by Kao Kalia YangFrom “an exceptional storyteller,” Somewhere in the Unknown World is a collection of powerful stories of refugees who have found new lives in Minnesota’s Twin Cities, told by the award-winning author of The Latehomecomer and The Song Poet.All over this country, there are refugees. But beyond the headlines, few know who they are, how they live, or what they have lost. Although Minnesota is not known for its diversity, the state has welcomed more refugees per capita than any other, from Syria to Bosnia, Thailand to Liberia. Now, with nativism on the rise, Kao Kalia Yang—herself a Hmong refugee—has gathered stories of the stateless who today call the Twin Cities home.Here are people who found the strength and courage to rebuild after leaving all they hold dear. Awo and her mother, who escaped from Somalia, reunite with her father on the phone every Saturday, across the span of continents and decades. Tommy, born in Minneapolis to refugees from Cambodia, cannot escape the war that his parents carry inside. As Afghani flees the reach of the Taliban, he seeks at every stop what he calls a certificate of his humanity. Mr. Truong brings pho from Vietnam to Frogtown in St. Paul, reviving a crumbling block as well as his own family.In Yang’s exquisite, necessary telling, these fourteen stories for refugee journeys restore history and humanity to America's strangers and redeem its long tradition of welcome.
Somewhere Inside: One Sister's Captivity in North Korea and the Other's Fight to Bring Her Home
by Laura Ling Lisa Ling“A page-turning account of not only international geopolitics, sisterhood, and familial triumph, but also a portrait of humanity at its best.” —Deepak ChopraOn March 17, 2009, while filming a documentary on the Chinese-North Korean border, Laura Ling and her colleague Euna Lee were violently apprehended by North Korean soldiers, charged with trespassing and “hostile acts,” and imprisoned by Kim Jong Il’s notoriously secretive Communist state. Kept totally apart, they endured months of interrogations and a trial before North Korea’s highest court that led to a sentence of twelve years of hard labor in a North Korean prison camp.When news of the arrest reached Laura’s sister, journalist Lisa Ling, she immediately began a campaign to get Laura released. Her efforts led her from the State Department to the higher echelons of the media world and eventually to the White House. Lisa takes us deep into the drama between people in the highest levels of government, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore, and eventually former President Bill Clinton, who arrived in North Korea in mid-August for a suspenseful rescue.Somewhere Inside is a timely, inspiring, and page-turning tale of survival set against the canvas of international politics. Writing with their strong, poignant voices, both sisters go beyond the headlines to reveal the unique bond that has sustained them throughout the most horrifying ordeal of their lives.“A riveting story of captivity and the enduring faith, determination, and love of two sisters.” —Booklist (starred review)“A gripping tale of family bonds and love, national pride, and precarious politics.” —Times Record News (Wichita Falls, Texas)
Somewhere More Holy: Stories from a Bewildered Father, Stumbling Husband, Reluctant Handyman, and Prodigal Son
by Tony WoodliefAcclaimed columnist Tony Woodlief pens the poignant and powerful story of his search for meaning in the midst of tragedy. When he and his wife lost their adored little girl, his trust in God turned to bitter anger. As he and his wife struggled to save their marriage and his faith, they discovered that home is more than just rooms and a roof. Home is a place where people are sometimes wounded or betrayed. Home is also where God is strong in the broken places. Woodlief takes readers through his house, room by room, showing that home is:•Where we cry out to God as we seek him in the small things•Where the sacred and the mundane meet•The place that makes us better than we could ever be on our own•More than the place where we eat and sleep…it is where we learn graceWoodlief’s heart-touching stories leavened with humor will appeal to a wide audience, especially those trying to reconcile the idea of a loving God in a broken world.
Somewhere North of Where I Was
by Nicole SpenceA memoir of a young Nova Scotia girl&’s troubled childhood, her loss of innocence, and her struggle to survive and persevere. Somewhere North of Where I Was is the heartrending story of a young girl whose childhood innocence was stolen. Retold with the reflective voice of a woman who has survived and transcended the trauma of childhood poverty, neglect, and abuse, Spence&’s wisdom and poignant storytelling abilities suck you into the world of a little girl whose tragic circumstances are tempered with fond family memories. One may be left to wonder how it is a child can survive and move beyond such experiences. With brazen honesty and a driving spirit of hope, perseverance and sometimes sheer stubborn will, Spence brings the reader into her world as she lived it, moving us along, pulling us apart, compelling us to continue reading. In the years of being shuffled from one alcoholic parent to another and finally into foster care, Spence becomes a little girl we cry for, love and cheer for. Spence is everybody's child.
The Somewhere Out There: My Animated Life
by Don BluthAfter more than five decades in Hollywood, Don Bluth, the man behind some of the most iconic animated films ever made, tells his story. Don Bluth never felt like a Donald. So people have always called him Don. A matinee of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs awakened something within him. Despite growing up in rural Texas and Utah, he practiced and worked hard to become an Hollywood animator. And after working alongside his idol Walt Disney, and on films including Sleeping Beauty, The Sword in the Stone, Robin Hood, Winne the Pooh, The Rescuers, and Pete&’s Dragon, he realized that the company had changed into something he didn&’t necessarily believe in. So made the industry-shocking decision to start his own animation studio. It was from that studio—Don&’s studio—that came such award-winning, generation-defining films as The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail, The Land Before Time, All Dogs Go to Heaven, Anastasia, and the video game Dragon&’s Lair. Now, after more than half a century in the movie business, Don is ready to tell the story of his life. How his passions for artistry, integrity, and his Mormon faith shaped him into the beloved icon whose creativity, entrepreneurship, and deeply-held beliefs entertained, enthralled, and inspired millions across the globe. Exclusive original art makes this book perfect for fans, cineasts, and anyone looking &“somewhere out there&” for inspiration and motivation.
Somewhere Over the Sea: A Father's Letter to His Autistic Son
by Halfdan FreihowIn this deeply moving and elegantly written book, Halfdan W. Freihow takes Gabriel, his young autistic son, on a journey through the full spectrum of human experience. With great love, profound tenderness, and gentle wit, Freihow captures Gabriel's triumphs and disappointments, his joy and frustration, while struggling to help him make sense of a world that he himself does not, and cannot, fully comprehend. A powerful, honest, and achingly beautiful narrative, Somewhere Over the Sea describes a complex, loving relationship that is sometimes fraught with misunderstanding, but always bolstered by unconditional love. A must-read for all parents.
Somewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity, and the Meaning of Family
by Erika HayasakiAn NPR Best Book of 2022 An incredible, deeply reported story of identical twins Isabella and Hà, born in Viêt Nam and raised on opposite sides of the world, each knowing little about the other&’s existence until they were reunited as teenagers, against all odds. &“Stirring and unforgettable—a breathtaking adoption saga like no other.&” —Robert Kolker It was 1998 in Nha Trang, Việt Nam, and Liên struggled to care for her newborn twin girls. Hà was taken in by Liên&’s sister, and she grew up in a rural village with her aunt, going to school and playing outside with the neighbors. They had sporadic electricity and frequent monsoons. Hà&’s twin sister, Loan, was adopted by a wealthy, white American family who renamed her Isabella. Isabella grew up in the suburbs of Chicago with a nonbiological sister, Olivia, also adopted from Việt Nam. Isabella and Olivia attended a predominantly white Catholic school, played soccer, and prepared for college. But when Isabella&’s adoptive mother learned of her biological twin back in Việt Nam, all of their lives changed forever. Award-winning journalist Erika Hayasaki spent years and hundreds of hours interviewing each of the birth and adoptive family members. She brings the girls&’ experiences to life on the page, told from their own perspectives, challenging conceptions about adoption and what it means to give a child a good life. Hayasaki contextualizes the sisters&’ experiences with the fascinating and often sinister history of twin studies, intercountry and transracial adoption, and the nature-versus-nurture debate, as well as the latest scholarship and conversation surrounding adoption today, especially among adoptees. For readers of All You Can Ever Know and American Baby, Somewhere Sisters is a richly textured, moving story of sisterhood and coming of age, told through the remarkable lives of young women who have redefined the meaning of family for themselves.
Somewhere To Lay My Head
by Robert DouglasWe left Robert a long way from home, a sixteen-year-old recruit in the RAF. Now, we follow his escape from the Forces (until National Service a few years later!), his return to Glasgow and life down the pit. Once more, Robert's fantastic memory for people, places and anecdotes, combined with an ear for individual voices and the brilliant ability to evoke a bygone sense of community, will enchant his readers and sometimes appal them with the brutality of conditions he experienced.
Somewhere To Lay My Head
by Robert DouglasWe left Robert a long way from home, a sixteen-year-old recruit in the RAF. Now, we follow his escape from the Forces (until National Service a few years later!), his return to Glasgow and life down the pit. Once more, Robert's fantastic memory for people, places and anecdotes, combined with an ear for individual voices and the brilliant ability to evoke a bygone sense of community, will enchant his readers and sometimes appal them with the brutality of conditions he experienced.
Somewhere Towards the End: A Memoir
by Diana AthillThe New York Times bestseller: a prize-winning, critically acclaimed memoir on life and aging --"An honest joy to read" (Alice Munro). Hailed as "a virtuoso exercise" (Sunday Telegraph), this book reflects candidly, sometimes with great humor, on the condition of being old. Charming readers, writers, and critics alike, the memoir won the Costa Award for Biography and made Athill, now ninety-one, a surprising literary star. Diana Athill is one of the great editors in British publishing. For more than five decades she edited the likes of V. S. Naipaul and Jean Rhys, for whom she was a confidante and caretaker. As a writer, Athill has made her reputation for the frankness and precisely expressed wisdom of her memoirs. Now in her ninety-first year, "entirely untamed about both old and new conventions" (Literary Review) and freed from any of the inhibitions that even she may have once had, Athill reflects candidly, and sometimes with great humor, on the condition of being old--the losses and occasionally the gains that age brings, the wisdom and fortitude required to face death. Distinguished by "remarkable intelligence...[and the] easy elegance of her prose" (Daily Telegraph), this short, well-crafted book, hailed as "a virtuoso exercise" (Sunday Telegraph) presents an inspiring work for those hoping to flourish in their later years.
Somewhere Towards the End
by Diana AthillFar from the carefree advertising image of grey power Saga holidays, this is the process of approaching the end, with all its grisly possibilities. Athill, at least, has reached the age of 90 with precious few regrets about her life.
Somewhere Towards the End
by Diana AthillWhat is it like to be old? Diana Athill, born in 1917, made her reputation as a writer with the candour of her memoirs. In SOMEWHERE TOWARDS THE END she reflects frankly on the losses and occasionally the gains that old age brings, and on the wisdom and fortitude required to face death. This is a lively narrative of events, lovers and friendships: the people and experiences that have taight her to regret very little, to resist despondency and to question the beliefs and customs of her own generation.Read by Claire Bloom(p) 2009 Orion Publishing Group
Somewhere We Are Human: Authentic Voices on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings
by Reyna Grande Sonia Guiñansaca""Wide-ranging yet consistently affecting, these pieces offer a crucial and inspired survey of the immigrant experience in America."" –Publishers Weekly"[These contributions] touch on so many different facets of the immigrant experience that readers will find much to ponder... [and] experience how creative writing enriches our understanding of each other and our lives." –BooklistIntroduction by Pulitzer Prize–winning author Viet Thanh NguyenA unique collection of 41 groundbreaking essays, poems, and artwork by migrants, refugees and Dreamers—including award-winning writers, artists, and activists—that illuminate what it is like living undocumented today.In the overheated debate about immigration, we often lose sight of the humanity at the heart of this complex issue. The immigrants and refugees living precariously in the United States are mothers and fathers, children, neighbors, and friends. Individuals propelled by hope and fear, they gamble their lives on the promise of America, yet their voices are rarely heard.This anthology of essays, poetry, and art seeks to shift the immigration debate—now shaped by rancorous stereotypes and xenophobia—towards one rooted in humanity and justice. Through their storytelling and art, the contributors to this thought-provoking book remind us that they are human still. Transcending their current immigration status, they offer nuanced portraits of their existence before and after migration, the factors behind their choices, the pain of leaving their homeland and beginning anew in a strange country, and their collective hunger for a future not defined by borders.Created entirely by undocumented or formerly undocumented migrants, Somewhere We Are Human is a journey of memory and yearning from people newly arrived to America, those who have been here for decades, and those who have ultimately chosen to leave or were deported. Touching on themes of race, class, gender, nationality, sexuality, politics, and parenthood, Somewhere We Are Human reveals how joy, hope, mourning, and perseverance can take root in the toughest soil and bloom in the harshest conditions.
Somewhere We Are Human \ Donde somos humanos (Spanish edition): Historias genuinas sobre migración, sobrevivencia y renaceres
by Reyna Grande Sonia GuiñansacaCon una introducción del ganador del Premio Pulitzer, Viet Thanh Nguyen, En algún lugar somos humano es una antología de cuarenta y cuatro ensayos y poemas atrevidos, importantes y revolucionarios escritos por inmigrantes, refugiados y Dreamers, incluidos escritores galardonados, artistas y activistas, que iluminan la realidad del día a día de un indocumentado. Hoy en día, existe un efusivo debate sobre el tema de la inmigración en los Estados Unidos, pero se pierde de vista lo más importante: que los migrantes y refugiados viviendo precariamente en este país son madres y padres, hermanos y hermanas, hijos e hijas; individuos impulsados por la esperanza y el miedo que se juegan la vida con la promesa del sueño americano. Sus historias, sin embargo, caen a menudo en el olvido.En estos tiempos de inquietudes, agitación política e incertidumbre, esta antología de ensayos, poesía y arte intenta transformar la xenófoba y estereotipada perspectiva colectiva que tenemos sobre los inmigrantes y refugiados en una basada en la justicia y humanidad. Les autores de esta colección alterarán la visión que tienen de sí mismes y de sus respectivas comunidades a través de la narración y el arte para así declarar orgullosamente que, tanto aquí como en cualquier otro lugar, todos somos humanos a pesar de la militarización de las fronteras, la detención masiva y la legislación draconiana y antiinmigrante en los Estados Unidos.En algún lugar somos humanos revela cómo la alegría, la esperanza, el duelo y la perseverancia nos ayudan a florecer en los terrenos más áridos y en las condiciones más extremas.
Somewhere West of Lonely: My Life in Pictures
by Steve RaymerIn his travels around the globe, National Geographic photojournalist Steve Raymer has often been the first on the scene, recording unfolding events and revealing the connections that tie us together. Raymer’s photography captures the magic of beautiful vistas, the joys and struggles of everyday people living everyday lives, and the chaos brought on by natural disasters. Beyond documenting tragedies like the devastating famines in Bangladesh and Ethiopia and exposing the massive corruption crippling the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, his work tells a complex and wide-ranging story about life and human nature. Now, for the first time, Somewhere West of Lonely reveals the stories behind the camera lens in a gorgeous, intimate tour of Steve Raymer’s remarkable life and reporting. Bringing together 150 photographs from countries across the globe, this incredible book reveals our world and time as it is—everyday people caught up in life-changing events; acts of resilience and corruption; and, always, lingering moments of transcendence and beauty.
Somewheres East of Suez (Sheridan House Ser.)
by Tristan JonesIn 1983 Tristan Jones, well known as one of the finest sailing adventure writers of our time, had his left leg amputated. Refusing to become landbound after a lifetime at sea, he acquired a specially designed, virtually untippable 38-foot trimaran and began to sail around the world. Outward Leg is the tale of his intrepid voyage from San Diego to London. The Improbable Voyage chronicles his heroic journey along an unusual and hazardous route from the North Sea, through the rivers of Central Europe, to the Black Sea. In Somewheres East of Suez, the final installment of this extraordinary saga, Tristan sails eight thousand miles from Istanbul to Thailand. From the tourist- and terrorist-dominated ports of the eastern Mediterranean to African outposts peopled with famine refugees, Tristan maintains the unique perspective of a man who has had minimal contact with society's restraints, using his acerbic wit to spare no fools and offer biting social commentary. After barely escaping with his life in South Yemen, he sets off for the Far East, determined to win out against the difficulties of his disability, whether battling a tropical cyclone or surviving on a dwindling ration of fresh water in the vast windless expanse of the Indian Ocean.
Somme Intelligence: Fourth Army HQ, 1916
by William LangfordFor the Somme offensive British Fourth Army headquarters was situated in a chateau at Querrieu on the Albert-Amiens road. In the build up months to Haig's Great Push a steady flow of intelligence was being compiled; captured German documents, intercepted messages, prisoners' letters, diaries and information gleaned from prisoner interviews were entered into foolscap-size ledgers where they could be perused by the planners.The hand-written journal of intelligence reports upon which this work is formed was originally compiled by a former soldier of the 11th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment, (Accrington Pals), Harry Platt of Burnley. In 1916 he was a sergeant working on intelligence duties at Fourth Army GHQ. He was later commissioned in the Royal Engineers. Harry also served in the Second World War in the Royal Artillery reaching the rank of Major. He was Mentioned in Despatches in both conflicts. Harry died in August 1951 aged 56.In 2002 the handwritten journal was lodged with the Imperial War Museum at the instigation of historian William Turner, military historian and author of books on the Accrington Pals.As the reader goes through these reports it would be helpful to keep in mind that members of the British staff at Querrieu chateau, including Generals Haig and Rawlinson, would have had their impressions coloured by the words you are reading and doubtless their optimism for a successful outcome to the Somme offensive greatly enhanced. They would have noted the effect the British bombardment was having; dominance of the Royal Flying Corps as its machines seemingly operated unmolested over the trenches; growing unrest in German cities as food shortages drove the populace to riot; and the relentless call-up to the colours of ever-younger youths as that nation's manhood bled in the great battles taking place.
Son: A Psychopath and His Victims
by Jack OlsenThe shocking true story of Fred and Ruth Coe: A portrait of obsession, revenge, and family tragedy in the all-american city.
Son de Letras
by Juan Miguel RocaQue no te los cuenten. Por medio de una escritura clara, amena y absorbente, los relatos que nos ofrece Son de letras nos harán compartir situaciones peculiares, a veces hilarantes, otras emotivas, pero siempre atractivas. Acompañaremos la difícil decisión del hijo, que descubre una cita secreta en un bolsillo del traje de su padre, recién fallecido. Veremos el reencuentro fortuito y de madurez, en un ascensor, con el primer amor. Viviremos los flirteos rivales de juventud entre hermanos. Presenciaremos un parto repentino, inesperado, en pleno atraco de un banco. También conoceremos al tío Manuel que, fusilado, no murió en su ejecución, o al joven Joao, cocinero portugués medieval, que un gran error y la casualidad le hicieron crear un gran plato, inseparable ya de la gastronomía de su país. El lector devorará las páginas y se verá sumergido en estas y otras sorprendentes narraciones, incapaz de abandonarlas hasta conocer su final. Con la pequeña banda sonora que acompaña cada cuento, el paseo por Son de letras constituirá, sin duda, una experiencia única e inolvidable.
Son muchas cosas. Diario de un enfermo feliz
by Jorge LucasEl auténtico diario de un luchador. La vida de Jorge cambió el día que le diagnosticaron cáncer. Este es el diario de cómo lo afrontó y superó. Un testimonio cercano y valiente enfocado a ayudar a aquellos que un día creyeron que la vida les estaba jugando una mala pasada.
Son of a Critch: A Childish Newfoundland Memoir
by Mark CritchA hilarious story of family, getting into trouble, and finding one's place in the worldWhat could be better than growing up in the 1980s? How about growing up in 1980s Newfoundland, which--as Mark Critch will tell you--was more like the 1960s. Take a trip to where it all began in this funny and warm look back on his formative years.Here we find a young Mark trick-or-treating at a used car lot, getting locked out of school on a fourth-floor window ledge, faking an asthma attack to avoid being arrested by military police, trying to buy beer from an untrustworthy cab driver, shocking his parents by appearing naked onstage--and much more. Best known as the "roving reporter" for CBC's This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Mark Critch has photo-bombed Justin Trudeau, interviewed Great Big Sea's Alan Doyle (while impersonating Alan Doyle), offered Pamela Anderson a million dollars to stop acting, and crashed White House briefings. But, as we see in this playful debut, he's been causing trouble his whole life.Son of a Critch captures the wonder and cluelessness of a kid trying to figure things out, but with the clever observations of an adult, and the combination is perfect.
Son of a Critch: A Childish Newfoundland Memoir
by Mark CritchA hilarious story of family, getting into trouble, and finding one's place in the worldWhat could be better than growing up in the 1980s? How about growing up in 1980s Newfoundland, which--as Mark Critch will tell you--was more like the 1960s. Take a trip to where it all began in this funny and warm look back on his formative years.Here we find a young Mark trick-or-treating at a used car lot, getting locked out of school on a fourth-floor window ledge, faking an asthma attack to avoid being arrested by military police, trying to buy beer from an untrustworthy cab driver, shocking his parents by appearing naked onstage--and much more. Best known as the "roving reporter" for CBC's This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Mark Critch has photo-bombed Justin Trudeau, interviewed Great Big Sea's Alan Doyle (while impersonating Alan Doyle), offered Pamela Anderson a million dollars to stop acting, and crashed White House briefings. But, as we see in this playful debut, he's been causing trouble his whole life.Son of a Critch captures the wonder and cluelessness of a kid trying to figure things out, but with the clever observations of an adult, and the combination is perfect.
Son of a Grifter: The Twisted Tale of Sante and Kenny Kimes, the Most Notorious Con Artists in America
by Kent Walker Mark SchoneA National Bestseller and Edgar Award nominee, Son of a Grifter is Kent Walker’s memoir about growing up with killer con artist Sante Kimes as a mother.“Highly readable . . . truly horrific.” —Entertainment WeeklyIn 1988 a troubled young man and his flamboyant mother were arrested for murdering a wealthy widow in her New York City mansion. Suddenly, America was transfixed by a pair of real-life film noir characters. The media couldn’t get enough of the twisted relationship between Sante Kimes and her twenty-three-year-old son Kenny.But the most chilling story of all was never told—until now. Kent Walker, Sante’s elder son, reveals how he survived forty years of “the Dragon Lady’s” very special brand of motherly love and still managed to get away.As a child Kent watched his mother destroy his hardworking father, Ed Walker, and then—with Kent’s painful collusion—snare what Sante called “my millionaire.” When she married seemingly respectable real-estate developer Ken Kimes, it was a match made in hell.For the next two decades Kent’s mother and stepfather indulged in a globetrotting orgy of criminal behavior. Kent, their would-be recruit, was privy to the family business—torching houses, defrauding friends, crashing White House parties. When Kent’s half-brother, Kenny was born, Kent was twelve years old—old enough to know that he was his younger sibling’s only protector. Kent tried desperately to save Kenny from his mother’s sinister bidding. His failure haunts him to this day.“One of the most engrossing true-crime accounts . . . Compelling.” —Booklist“[Walker] does a fine job of elucidating the psychological and emotional price of being loved and cared for by a sociopath.” —Publishers Weekly
Son of a Gun
by Justin St. GermainIn the tradition of Tobias Wolff, James Ellroy, and Mary Karr, a stunning memoir of a mother-son relationship that is also the searing, unflinching account of a murder and its aftermathTombstone, Arizona, September 2001. Debbie St. Germain's death, apparently at the hands of her fifth husband, is a passing curiosity. "A real-life old West murder mystery," the local TV announcers intone, while barroom gossips snicker cruelly. But for her twenty-year-old son, Justin St. Germain, the tragedy marks the line that separates his world into before and after. Distancing himself from the legendary town of his childhood, Justin makes another life a world away in San Francisco and achieves all the surface successes that would have filled his mother with pride. Yet years later he's still sleeping with a loaded rifle under his bed. Ultimately, he is pulled back to the desert landscape of his childhood on a search to make sense of the unfathomable. What made his mother, a onetime army paratrooper, the type of woman who would stand up to any man except the men she was in love with? What led her to move from place to place, man to man, job to job, until finally she found herself in a desperate and deteriorating situation, living on an isolated patch of desert with an unstable ex-cop? Justin's journey takes him back to the ghost town of Wyatt Earp, to the trailers he and Debbie shared, to the string of stepfathers who were a constant, sometimes threatening presence in his life, to a harsh world on the margins full of men and women all struggling to define what family means. He decides to confront people from his past and delve into the police records in an attempt to make sense of his mother's life and death. All the while he tries to be the type of man she would have wanted him to be. A LOS ANGELES TIMES SUMMER READING PICK "[A] spectacular memoir . . . calls to mind two others of the past decade: J. R. Moehringer's Tender Bar and Nick Flynn's Another Bull____ Night in Suck City. All three are about boys becoming men in a broken world. . . . [What] might have been . . . in the hands of a lesser writer, the book's main point . . . [is] amplified from a tale of personal loss and grief into a parable for our time and our nation. . . . If the brilliance of Son of a Gun lies in its restraint, its importance lies in the generosity of the author's insights."--Alexandra Fuller, The New York Times Book Review"A great, momentous undertaking . . . This book is brave, honest, savage, and tender all at once. It broke my heart, and I'm so grateful I've read it."--Jesmyn Ward, National Book Award-winning author of Salvage the Bones "There is a sort of gracefulness in the cadences, and a lovely control of rhythm in the sentences, which do justice to the themes of loss and love that are at the center of this memoir. There is also a level of coiled and accurately conveyed emotion, a careful way of telling truth, and an unsparing release of heartbreak."--Colm Tóibín, author of The Testament of Mary "From an incident of heartbreaking violence, Justin St. Germain has created a clear-eyed and deeply moving meditation on family, geography, and memory, and how difficult it is to find our place in any of them. Son of a Gun is an extraordinary memoir."--Kevin Powers, author of The Yellow Birds"Intelligent and compassionate at every step . . . Justin St. Germain stares down his troubled Tombstone boyhood. This is a searing story bravely told."--Claire Vaye Watkins, author of BattlebornFrom the Hardcover edition.