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Ugly
by Constance Briscoe'I handed my school photograph to my mother. She stared from the photograph to me. "Lord, sweet Lord, how come she so ugly. Ugly. Ugly.'These cruel words are just the beginning. Constance's mother systematically abused her daughter, both physically and emotionally, throughout her childhood. Regularly beaten and starved, the child was so desperate she took herself off to Social Services and tried to get taken into care. When Constance was thirteen, her mother simply moved out, leaving her daughter to fend for herself: there was no gas, no electricity and no food.But somehow Constance found the courage to survive her terrible start in life. This is her heartbreaking - and ultimately triumphant story.
Ugly
by Robert HogeA beaut story about one very ugly kid.Robert Hoge was born with a tumour in the middle of his face, and legs that weren't much use. There wasn't another baby like him in the whole of Australia, let alone Brisbane. But the rest of his life wasn't so unusual: he had a mum and a dad, brothers and sisters, friends at school and in his street. He had childhood scrapes and days at the beach; fights with his family and trouble with his teachers.He had doctors, too: lots of doctors who, when he was still very young, removed that tumour from his face and operated on his legs, then stitched him back together. He still looked different, though. He still looked ... ugly.UGLY is the true story of how an extraordinary boy grew up to have an ordinary life, and how that became his greatest achievement of all.
Ugly: The Australian bestseller
by Robert HogeThe unique and inspiring story of a boy born with the odds against him and the family whose love and support helped him overcome incredible hardships.Robert Hoge was born with a giant tumour on his forehead, severely distorted facial features and legs that were twisted and useless. His mother refused to look at her son, let alone bring him home. But home he went, to a life that, against the odds, was filled with joy, optimism and boyhood naughtiness.Home for the Hoges was a bayside suburb of Brisbane. Robert's parents, Mary and Vince, knew that his life would be difficult, but they were determined to give him a typical Australian childhood. So along with the regular, gruelling and often dangerous operations that made medical history and gradually improved Robert's life, there were bad haircuts, visits to the local pool, school camps and dreams of summer sports.Ugly is Robert's account of that life, from the time of his birth to the arrival of his own daughter. It is a story of how the love and support of his family helped him to overcome incredible hardships. It is also the story of an extraordinary person living an ordinary life, which is perhaps his greatest achievement of all.'There is much to be learned from this ugly man whose spirit is truly beautiful' - Saturday Age'This is an incredible life story that will no doubt attract much publicity and discussion about beauty, ugliness and how we value ourselves' - Australian Bookseller + Publisher'If Robert Hoge reckons he belongs to the Ugly Club, then "ugly" must mean humour and courage, love and decency' - William McInnes'[A] frank, wry and funny memoir...' - Sunday Age'This fabulous easy-to-read tale is a treasure for anyone who has ever given their looks a second thought. Ugly offers a bracing perspective on life, love and the real definition of beauty. - Good ReadingAuthor BiographyRobert Hoge has worked as a journalist, a speechwriter, a science communicator for the CSIRO and a political advisor to the former Queensland Premier and Deputy Premier. He has had numerous short stories, articles, interviews and other works published in Australia and overseas. He also enjoys photography, and is interested in disability advocacy and social engagement. While he never went far with his professional lawn bowls career, Robert did carry the Olympic torch in 2000. He is married and lives in Brisbane. He has an eleven-year-old daughter who thinks his Olympic torch would make a really great cricket bat.
Ugly Americans: The True Story of the Ivy League Cowboy Who Raided Asia in Search of the American Dream
by Ben MezrichSstory about John Malcolm, a business man who found great success in the Asia trade market. Malcolm left a comfortable middleclass life in the U.S. to take a job in Japan where he learned the ins and outs of the financial world.
Ugly Beauty
by Ruth BrandonThanks to a combination of business savvy, breathtaking chutzpah, and lucky timing, Helena Rubinstein managed to transform herself from a poor Polish emigrant to the world's first self-made female tycoon. She went from selling homemade "Crème Valaze" out of her house in Australia to becoming an international cosmetics magnate. Tiny and plump, wearing extravagant jewels and spiked heels, she was a fixture of upper-crust New York for many years. She was larger than life, and never took no for an answer: when she was refused from a New York City apartment on the grounds that she was Jewish, she went ahead and bought the whole building and promptly moved in.The story of Eugène Schueller and L'Oréal begins in 1907, in a dingy working-class part of Paris, where a young Schueller sat at his family's kitchen table trying to develop the first harmless artificial hair dye. The tale of how L'Oréal went from that point to the world's largest cosmetics company is fascinating and full of intrigue, with a little of everything: fascist assassins, bitter unmaskings, political scandals. In 1988, although Schueller and Rubinstein had long since passed away, their worlds collided when L'Oréal bought Rubinstein's company -- leading to a series of scandals that threw a new and sinister light on L'Oréal. For starters, Rubinstein was Jewish, but Schueller and many other top L'Oréal executives had been active Nazi collaborators. What came to light threatened the reputations of some of France's most powerful men - up to and including its president.This is a powerful, dramatic, and largely untold story about the ugly truth behind a beauty empire.From the Hardcover edition.
The Ugly Cry: A Memoir
by Danielle Henderson“If you fight that motherf**ker and you don’t win, you’re going to come home and fight me.” Not the advice you’d normally expect from your grandmother—but Danielle Henderson would be the first to tell you her childhood was anything but conventional. Abandoned at ten years old by a mother who chose her drug-addicted, abusive boyfriend, Danielle was raised by grandparents who thought their child-rearing days had ended in the 1960s. She grew up Black, weird, and overwhelmingly uncool in a mostly white neighborhood in upstate New York, which created its own identity crises. Under the eye-rolling, foul-mouthed, loving tutelage of her uncompromising grandmother—and the horror movies she obsessively watched—Danielle grew into a tall, awkward, Sassy-loving teenager who wore black eyeliner as lipstick and was struggling with the aftermath of her mother’s choices. But she also learned that she had the strength and smarts to save herself, her grandmother gifting her a faith in her own capabilities that the world would not have most Black girls possess. With humor, wit, and deep insight, Danielle shares how she grew up and grew wise—and the lessons she’s carried from those days to these. In the process, she upends our conventional understanding of family and redefines its boundaries to include the millions of people who share her story.
The Ugly Duckling Goes to Work: Wisdom for the Workplace from the Classic Tales of Hans Christian Andersen
by Mette NorgaardFrom the book: Are outer demands for more success, more money, and more prestige overwhelming your inner longings? Is your work no longer energizing you? Years of frenetic activity and blind ambition have robbed many people of the joy and fulfillment they once found in their work. The successes they crave and failures they fear have come to define them. But there is hope, and it can be found in a few simple yet timeless stories. The great Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen succinctly illuminated life's challenges in his treasured fairy tales for children and adults. And now, in celebration of H.C. Andersen's 200th birthday, the powerful lessons of these classic folk tales have been ingeniously applied to the complexities of the modern workplace. The Ugly Duckling Goes to Work probes H. C. Andersen's sharp and witty stories for lessons that will inspire you to bring more meaning, more energy, and more joy to your work -- to create a meaningful work life.
An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination
by Sheera Frenkel Cecilia Kang'The ultimate takedown' New York Times'The problem of Facebook is Zuckerberg. And the question posed by this splendid book is: what are we going to do about him?' Observer'A comprehensive account . . . drawn from first-hand testimonies. Thoroughly engaging' The Times'What marks this book out is how it gets under the corporate bonnet . . . to build a picture of astounding corporate arrogance and irresponsibility' Sunday Times'An explosive new book' Daily Mail__________________________________________Award-winning New York Times reporters Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang unveil the tech story of our times in a riveting, behind-the-scenes exposé that offers the definitive account of Facebook's fall from grace. Once one of Silicon Valley's greatest success stories, for the past five years, Facebook has been under constant fire, roiled by controversies and crises. It turns out that while the tech giant was connecting the world, they were also mishandling users' data, allowing the spread of fake news, and the amplification of dangerous, polarising hate speech. Critics framed the narrative as the irreconcilable conflict between the platform's lofty mission to advance society by bringing people together while also profiting off of them. The company, many said, had simply lost its way. But the truth is far more complex. Drawing on their unrivalled sources, Frenkel and Kang take readers inside the complex court politics, alliances and rivalries within the company, its growing political influence as well as its skirmishes with privacy groups and the FTC, to shine a light on the fatal cracks in the architecture of the tech behemoth. Their explosive, exclusive reporting led them to a shocking conclusion: The missteps of the last five years were not an anomaly but an inevitability - this is how the platform was built to perform. In a period of great upheaval, growth has remained the one constant under the leadership of Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg. Each has stood by as their technology is co-opted by hate-mongers, criminals and corrupt political regimes across the globe, with devastating consequences. In An Ugly Truth, they are at last held accountable.
An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination (Language Acts and Worldmaking #29)
by Sheera Frenkel Cecilia Kang'The ultimate takedown' New York Times'The problem of Facebook is Zuckerberg. And the question posed by this splendid book is: what are we going to do about him?' Observer'A comprehensive account . . . drawn from first-hand testimonies. Thoroughly engaging' The Times'What marks this book out is how it gets under the corporate bonnet . . . to build a picture of astounding corporate arrogance and irresponsibility' Sunday Times'An explosive new book' Daily Mail__________________________________________Award-winning New York Times reporters Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang unveil the tech story of our times in a riveting, behind-the-scenes exposé that offers the definitive account of Facebook's fall from grace. Once one of Silicon Valley's greatest success stories, for the past five years, Facebook has been under constant fire, roiled by controversies and crises. It turns out that while the tech giant was connecting the world, they were also mishandling users' data, allowing the spread of fake news, and the amplification of dangerous, polarising hate speech. Critics framed the narrative as the irreconcilable conflict between the platform's lofty mission to advance society by bringing people together while also profiting off of them. The company, many said, had simply lost its way. But the truth is far more complex. Drawing on their unrivalled sources, Frenkel and Kang take readers inside the complex court politics, alliances and rivalries within the company, its growing political influence as well as its skirmishes with privacy groups and the FTC, to shine a light on the fatal cracks in the architecture of the tech behemoth. Their explosive, exclusive reporting led them to a shocking conclusion: The missteps of the last five years were not an anomaly but an inevitability - this is how the platform was built to perform. In a period of great upheaval, growth has remained the one constant under the leadership of Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg. Each has stood by as their technology is co-opted by hate-mongers, criminals and corrupt political regimes across the globe, with devastating consequences. In An Ugly Truth, they are at last held accountable.
UK Monetary Policy from Devaluation to Thatcher, 1967–82
by Duncan NeedhamThis book charts the course of monetary policy in the UK from 1967 to 1982. It shows how events such as the 1967 devaluation, the collapse of Bretton Woods, the stagflation of the 1970s, and the IMF loan of 1976 all shaped policy. It shows that the 'monetarist' experiment of the 1980s was based on a fundamental misreading of 1970s monetary policy.
Ukraine Diaries: Dispatches From Kiev
by Andrey KurkovAcclaimed author Andrey Kurkov gives powerful insight into life in Kyiv following the 2013 protests and before the 2022 Russian invasion.-16°C, sunlight, silence. I drove the children to school, then went to see the revolution. I walked between the tents. Talked with revolutionaries. They were weary today. The air was thick with the smell of old campfires. Ukraine Diaries is acclaimed writer Andrey Kurkov's first-hand account of the ongoing crisis in his country. From his flat in Kyiv, just five hundred yards from Independence Square, Kurkov can smell the burning barricades and hear the sounds of grenades and gunshot. Kurkov's diaries begin on the first day of the pro-European protests in November 2013, and describe the violent clashes in the Maidan, the impeachment of Yanukovych, Russia's annexation of Crimea and the separatist uprisings in the east of Ukraine. Going beyond the headlines, they give vivid insight into what it's like to live through - and try to make sense of - times of intense political unrest, on the path to the current crisis.
Ukrainians of Chicagoland
by Myron B. KuropasUkrainians arrived in Chicagoland in four distinct waves: 1900-1914, 1923-1939, 1948-1956, and 1990-2006. At the beginning of the 20th century, immigrants from Ukraine came to Chicago seeking work, and in 1905, a Ukrainian American religio-cultural community, now officially named Ukrainian Village, was formally established. Barely conscious of their ethnonational identity, Ukraine's early immigrants called themselves Rusyns (Ruthenians). Thanks to the socio-educational efforts of Eastern-rite Ukrainian Catholic and Orthodox priests, some Rusyns began calling themselves Ukrainians, developing a distinct national identity in concert with their brethren in Ukraine.
Ukrainians of Greater Philadelphia (Images of America)
by Alexander LushnyckyUkrainians, originally known as Ruthenians, began arriving in the Philadelphia area at the end of the 1800s. Like all immigrants, they were not spared considerable hardships in their pursuit of the American dream. Finding stable employment was an ongoing endeavor. After work they gathered around their churches, indisputably the centerpiece of their immigrant communities. Here they procured much-needed support from their fellow countrymen. Theirs was a common purpose: to preserve in this new world their cherished customs and traditions. Thus their societies abounded with schools, choirs, bands, dance groups, reading rooms, and church and fraternal organizations. With time, more Ukrainians appeared, with the largest group arriving after World War II to escape the horrors of war-torn Europe and start anew. Ukrainians of Greater Philadelphia documents how each new generation of immigrants added to the kaleidoscope that became the Ukrainian community in and around the City of Brotherly Love.
Ukrainians of Metropolitan Detroit
by Nancy Karen WicharUkrainians have contributed to the diverse ethnic tapestry in Detroit since the arrival of the first Ukrainian immigrants in the late 1800s. Bringing their history, culture, and determination to achieve, they established a foundation for the resilient community that would continue to emerge during the decades to come. Ukrainian neighborhoods formed on both the east and west sides of the city. This is where they constructed the churches, schools, cultural centers, and financial institutions that would allow them to maintain their cherished ethnic identity while integrating into the American way of life. This book is a pictorial history of the people and events that created a community that would come to be known as the Ukrainians of metropolitan Detroit.
Ukrainians of Western Pennsylvania
by Stephen P. HaluszczakOriginally known as Ruthenians, Ukrainians began to immigrate to western Pennsylvania in the late 1800s. Attracted by the region's growing importance as an industrial center, they settled in cities and towns close to their work. Like other immigrants, they faced many economic and social hardships, but they were proud to call themselves Americans as they firmly preserved and celebrated their ethnic heritage. Their dispersion among the hills and valleys of western Pennsylvania prevented the development of a highly centralized community, but it also preserved many of the unique aspects of a diverse people. Ukrainians of Western Pennsylvania chronicles where these hardworking people settled, the ways they organized community and personal life, the venues through which they presented their heritage, their contributions to the general community, and how their community has grown with the times.
The Ulster Tales: A Tribute to Those Who Served, 1969–2000
by John Wilsey&“Presents an insider&’s account of the experiences of ten Britons who were prominently involved in the Northern Ireland &‘troubles&’ between 1969 and 2000.&” —Perspectives on Terrorism The Ulster Tales captures the lives and experiences of ten individuals who were caught up in the Troubles. Each has a very distinct story to tell according to their role and position. Arranged roughly in chronological order, the book covers the media, military, intelligence, police, business, politics, and civil service. The first &“tale&” is that of Simon Hoggart, the journalist who reported for the Guardian newspaper in Belfast and London from the start. The military angle is covered by the GOC at a critical moment (General Sir Richard Lawson), a Private in The Green Howards from Barnsley, and a widow. A member of MI5 and a key Source Handler represent the Intelligence effort. The politician is Tom King who was Secretary of State at the time of the Anglo-Irish Agreement and narrowly avoided assassination, and we hear of the role of a top civil servant, Sir John Blelloch. &“The Policeman&’s Tale&” is that of a young Met officer who transferred to the RUC. The book is both a tribute to the many who dedicated their lives to the fight against terrorism and an original and interesting way of promoting a better understanding of the complex Northern Ireland situation.&“Sheds new light on a long and bloody military campaign. Each is moving and revealing, in varying degree, but all are uniformly absorbing.&” —The Times &“Veterans of the conflict will probably find the varied perspectives of policemen, businessmen, and civil servants a stimulating contrast to their own experience.&” —Terrorism and Political Violence
La última fuga
by Iván KirichenkoA casi cuatro décadas del asesinato de su hijo tupamaro en el año previo al comienzo de la dictadura uruguaya, un matrimonio carga sobre sus hombros el peso de la historia y está dispuesto a dar su vida para liberarse. Después de una postergación insostenible, en julio de 2009 Filomena Grieco y Carlos Rovira toman la decisión que tanto defienden y planificaron: morir juntos. Una decisión consciente, que tiene sus raíces en la pérdida de su hijo Horacio, militante tupamaro asesinado el 14 de abril de 1972, y que se potencia cuando la lucha por un mundo mejor deja de ser la trinchera de la justificación. Ya no hay utopías, ya no hay mártires; hay muertos y un sentimiento de culpa inexorable. La última fuga marca el final de un camino sinuoso que llevó al matrimonio a transitar por Uruguay, Chile, Cuba y Argentina, en una época convulsionada por las dictaduras latinoamericanas. A trece años de la publicación original, el periodista Iván Kirichenko presenta una edición revisada de este relato de dolores decantados, de cartas y libros que anhelan ser leídos, y de una familia que carga sobre sus hombros el peso de la historia.
La última palabra: La salida milagrosa de un pandillero latino de una vida de violencia a una nueva vida en Cristo
by Casey DiazEste libro es un crudo relato autobiográfico que se asemeja al bestseller internacional La cruz y el puñal. Casey Díaz llegó a este país cuando tenía dos años, siendo el hijo mayor de inmigrantes salvadoreños que se establecieron en los suburbios del centro de Los Ángeles en la década de 1970. Un padre abusivo que golpeaba constantemente a su madre arrastró a Casey a las pandillas callejeras a la edad de once años. Escaló rápidamente dentro de los Rockwood Street Locos y participó en invasiones a hogares, robo de automóviles y en el apuñalamiento de sus rivales, muchas veces con tan solo un destornillador o un cuchillo.A los dieciséis fue arrestado y sentenciado a casi trece años en una prisión estatal por asesinato en segundo grado, y recibió cincuenta y dos cargos por robo. Al cabo de dos años fue enviado a la Prisión Estatal de New Folsom y puesto en confinamiento solitario durante veintitrés horas al día.Cuando una mujer mayor de color, que servía en el ministerio carcelario, se acerca a su celda y le dice que Jesús lo ama y que Dios lo va a usar algún día, Casey se burla de ella. Entonces, un día ocurre un hecho milagroso en su celda. Al igual que una película, ve su vida “proyectada” en la pared de la celda. Se ve a sí mismo como un pequeño niño en su antiguo barrio, y luego observa sus primeros días en las escenas de las bandas, hechos que solo él podía recordar. Luego ve a un hombre de pelo largo que carga una cruz, y una multitud que le grita. Él es clavado en la cruz y colocado entre otros dos condenados a muerte. El hombre de la cruz lo mira y le dice: “Estoy haciendo esto por ti”.
La última sonrisa
by Feliciano ÚbedaLa crueldad de la envidia se ensaña con nosotros. Un muchacho decide ir a trabajar por una temporada a una finca agrícola, pero finalmente se queda allí más tiempo y encuentra un mundo que explorar. Conocerá a todo tipo de personas y acumulará todo tipo de experiencias; la envidia de cuantos le rodean por su forma de ser y su independencia personal provocarán un rechazo que lo obligará a dejar distintos trabajos. Tras un período en el que se relaciona con personas de corte alternativo, conoce a la mujer que piensa puede ser el amor de su vida, no obstante, esa relación se rompe para volver a la casa familiar, donde comienza a escribir su vida. Pues siente que es la única forma de saber qué le ha pasado para llegar hasta esa situación. Es ahí cuando se da cuenta de que ciertas personas de su pasado son, en realidad, terroristas. Debido a la publicación de su libro, en la que aparecen dichos terroristas, padecerá un atentado.
Últimas sesiones con Marilyn
by Michel SchneiderMarilyn Monroe en el diván. La actriz chispeante que enamoraba a la cámara, el sueño erótico de cualquier hombre, la mujer que encandiló a Arthur Miller... Pero también la criatura frágil y desequilibrada, la muñeca rota de Hollywood, la adicta a los barbitúricos fallecida prematuramente. Una de las personas que más se acercó a ella fue su psicoanalista Ralph Greenson. El 4 de agosto de 1962, con la muerte de Marilyn se truncaba una relación de treinta meses en la que él fue testigo privilegiado del naufragio emocional de una mujer perdida, solitaria y consumida por su imagen pública. A partir de aquellas sesiones, y a caballo entre la realidad y la ficción, Schneider busca descifrar el misterio insondable que escondía el mito más seductor y trágico que ha dado el séptimo arte. «Michel Schneider ha escrito una novela apasionante, que es también un ensayo apasionante, a través de una investigación y documentación apasionantes.» Le Nouvel Observateur «Últimas sesiones con Marilyn es una novela suntuosa. Un escrito de seda. Un gota a gota de fina emoción. Una reflexión sin moraleja. El autor ofrece a Marilyn Monroe, a través de esta obra llena de nubes y matices, lo que ella siempre pidió en secreto a los hombres: el respeto.» Le Magazine Littéraire «Creada a base de fragmentos y de un ir y venir temporal constante, como queriendo abrazar el alma hecha trizas de una mujer herida por su infancia, este buenísimo libro nos entrega un retrato de una estrella fugaz.» Les Inrockuptibles
The Ultimate Book of Impostors
by Ian GrahamThink You Know Who Your Friends Are? Think again... From Mata Hari to D. B. Cooper, history is littered with people pretending to be someone else. Some go undetected for years, cultivating their false identities so skillfully, even their spouses don't know. Other frauds go up in flames after one misstep. The Ultimate Book of Impostors presents the astonishing true stories behind over one hundred of the craziest and funniest phonies in history, including: A fake French government official who managed to sell the Eiffel Tower--twice One of the Wild West's toughest and more admired "male" stagecoach drivers, who was actually a woman! An Israeli Mossad team that stole the identities of real British and Australian citizens to trap an unsuspecting target for assassination Packed with fun facts and outrageous accounts of fake pilots, phony princesses, imitation Indians, and serial sham artists, this irresistible book exposes the truth behind the world's wildest fraud--and why they did it--and reveals that even those we think we know best may not be exactly who they seem.
The Ultimate Christmas Cracker
by John Julius NorwichIn 1969, John Julius Norwich, the legendary popular historian, gathered together the favourite things he'd come across in the last 365 days into one short charming pamphlet. Initially just a treat for his friends, it rapidly turned into a huge word-of-mouth success. And soon the arrival of John Julius Norwich's latest 'Christmas Cracker' became as essential a part of the English Christmas experience as holly and mistletoe. Norwich had a brilliant eye for a story and telling detail, and his Crackers are full of jokes, warmth and wit. Here in one bumper book is his final and 50th Christmas Cracker, alongside all the very best bits as picked out by his daughter Artemis Cooper. This is the perfect Christmas gift.
The Ultimate Christmas Cracker
by John Julius NorwichIn 1969, John Julius Norwich, the legendary popular historian, gathered together the favourite things he'd come across in the last 365 days into one short charming pamphlet. Initially just a treat for his friends, it rapidly turned into a huge word-of-mouth success.And soon the arrival of John Julius Norwich's latest 'Christmas Cracker' became as essential a part of the English Christmas experience as holly and mistletoe. Norwich had a brilliant eye for a story and telling detail, and his Crackers are full of jokes, warmth and wit. Here in one bumper book is his final and 50th Christmas Cracker, alongside all the very best bits as picked out by his daughter Artemis Cooper. This is the perfect Christmas gift.(P) 2019 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
The Ultimate Engineer: The Remarkable Life of NASA's Visionary Leader George M. Low (Outward Odyssey: A People's History of Spaceflight)
by Richard JurekFrom the late 1950s to 1976 the U.S. manned spaceflight program advanced as it did largely due to the extraordinary efforts of Austrian immigrant George M. Low. Described as the &“ultimate engineer&” during his career at NASA, Low was a visionary architect and leader from the agency&’s inception in 1958 to his retirement in 1976. As chief of manned spaceflight at NASA, Low was instrumental in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. Low&’s pioneering work paved the way for President Kennedy&’s decision to make a lunar landing NASA&’s primary goal in the 1960s. After the tragic 1967 Apollo 1 fire that took the lives of three astronauts and almost crippled the program, Low took charge of the redesign of the Apollo spacecraft, and he helped lead the program from disaster and toward the moon. In 1968 Low made the bold decision to go for lunar orbit on Apollo 8 before the lunar module was ready for flight and after only one Earth orbit test flight of the command and service modules. Under Low there were five manned missions, including Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing. Low&’s clandestine negotiations with the Soviet Union resulted in a historic joint mission in 1975 that was the precursor to the Shuttle-Mir and International Space Station programs. At the end of his NASA career, Low was one of the leading figures in the development of the space shuttle in the early 1970s, and he was instrumental in NASA&’s transition into a post-Apollo world. Afterward, he embarked on a distinguished career in higher education as a transformational president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, his alma mater. Chronicling Low&’s escape from Nazi-occupied Austria to his helping land a man on the moon, The Ultimate Engineer sheds new light on one of the most fascinating and complex personalities of the golden age of U.S. manned space travel.
Ultimate Glory: Frisbee, Obsession, and My Wild Youth
by David GessnerA story of obsession, glory, and the wild early days of Ultimate Frisbee. Before he made a name for himself as an acclaimed essayist and nature writer, David Gessner devoted his twenties to a cultish sport called Ultimate Frisbee. Like his teammates and rivals, he trained for countless hours, sacrificing his body and potential career for a chance at fleeting glory without fortune or fame. His only goal: to win Nationals and go down in Ultimate history as one of the greatest athletes no one has ever heard of. Today Ultimate is played by millions of people around the world, with professional teams in more than two dozen cities. In the 1980s, it was an obscure sport with a (mostly) undeserved stoner reputation. Its early heroes, key players like Kenny Dobyns, Steve Mooney, Tom Kennedy, and David Barkan, were as scrappy as the sport they loved, driven by fierce competition, intense rivalries, epic parties, and the noble ideals of the Spirit of the Game. Ultimate Glory is a portrait of the artist as a young ruffian. Driven by ambition, whimsy, love, and vanity, Gessner lives for those moments when he loses himself completely in the game. He shares the field and his seemingly insane obsession with a cast of closely knit, larger-than-life characters. As his sport grows up, so does he, and eventually he gives up chasing flying discs to pursue a career as a writer. But he never forgets his love for this misunderstood sport and the rare sense of purpose he attained as a member of its priesthood.