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Walking Wisdom: Three Generations, Two Dogs, and the Search for a Happy Life (Playaway Adult Nonfiction Ser.)
by Gotham Chopra Deepak ChopraWalking Wisdom is a memoir of spirituality across three generations. Looking back as a new father, Gotham Chopra considers the lessons he wishes to pass to his own son. When reflecting back on the strongest influences in his life, the first was no surprise: his father. But the second was unexpected: his dogs.Growing up, Gotham Chopra and his sister were exposed to everything from the Bible to biology, from the Bhagavad Gita to Brave New World. They were also the ubiquitous and unwitting guinea pigs for their physician father's endless spiritual experiments. Gotham's childhood was part spiritual, part scientific and totally unique, but somehow he ended up (relatively) normal. Walking Wisdom is a poignant and powerful narrative that chronicles all of the love and licks that come with having a dog, along with the contradictions, complexities and the consequences of having children.
Walking with Abel
by Anna BadkhenAn intrepid journalist joins the planet's largest group of nomads on an annual migration that, like them, has endured for centuries. Anna Badkhen has forged a career chronicling life in extremis around the world, from war-torn Afghanistan to the border regions of the American Southwest. In Walking with Abel, she embeds herself with a family of Fulani cowboys--nomadic herders in Mali's Sahel grasslands--as they embark on their annual migration across the savanna. It's a cycle that connects the Fulani to their past even as their present is increasingly under threat--from Islamic militants, climate change, and the ever-encroaching urbanization that lures away their young. The Fulani, though, are no strangers to uncertainty--brilliantly resourceful and resilient, they've contended with famines, droughts, and wars for centuries. Dubbed "Anna Ba" by the nomads, who embrace her as one of theirs, Badkhen narrates the Fulani's journeys and her own with compassion and keen observation, transporting us from the Neolithic Sahara crisscrossed by rivers and abundant with wildlife to obelisk forests where the Fulani's Stone Age ancestors painted tributes to cattle. As they cross the Sahel, the savanna belt that stretches from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic, they accompany themselves with Fulani music they download to their cell phones and tales of herders and hustlers, griots and holy men, infused with the myths the Fulani tell themselves to ground their past, make sense of their identity, and safeguard their--our--future.
Walking with Friends
by Steve Eubanks D. J. GregoryIn Walking with Friends, D.J. Gregory, a thirty-yearold who has cerebral palsy, describes his year of traveling with the PGA tour and walking every course. For D.J., this experience has been the fulfillment of a lifelong dream as well as a search for inspiration, but it has also become a source of inspiration for countless others. D.J. started watching golf with his father when he was twelve years old. While becoming a professional player, joining the amateur ranks, or even becoming a caddy were never realistic considerations because of his cerebral palsy, being able to walk the courses that the golfers--D.J.'s heroes-- played was a dream D.J. never gave up on. Over the course of the 2008 PGA tour, D.J. teamed up with the PGA and made his dream come true. It was the ultimate challenge (D.J. compares walking 18 holes of golf for him to running a 10K with a couple of sandbags tied around your waist; he walked each round--four tournament rounds, plus a practice round--of every tournament), and the ultimate journey. At each of the PGA Tour events, D.J., with the help of a cane, walks the course and counts each step (and each fall) alongside a different golfer. Filled with detailed descriptions of the courses and tournaments as well as revealing conversations with players, Walking with Friends is a one-of-a-kind story about tough lies, majestic greens, colorful characters, and the walk of a lifetime.
Walking with Ghosts: A Memoir
by Gabriel Byrne“Make no mistake about it: Walking with Ghosts is a masterpiece. A book that will wring out our tired hearts. It is by turns poetic, moving, and very funny. You will find it on the shelf alongside other great Irish memoirs including those by Frank McCourt, Nuala O'Faolain and Edna O’Brien.” —Colum McCann As a young boy growing up in the outskirts of Dublin, Gabriel Byrne sought refuge in a world of imagination among the fields and hills near his home, at the edge of a rapidly encroaching city. Born to working class parents and the eldest of six children, he harbored a childhood desire to become a priest. When he was eleven years old, Byrne found himself crossing the Irish Sea to join a seminary in England. Four years later, Byrne had been expelled and he quickly returned to his native city. There he took odd jobs as a messenger boy and a factory laborer to get by. In his spare time, he visited the cinema where he could be alone and yet part of a crowd. It was here that he could begin to imagine a life beyond the grey world of 60s Ireland. He reveled in the theatre and poetry of Dublin’s streets, populated by characters as eccentric and remarkable as any in fiction, those who spin a yarn with acuity and wit. It was a friend who suggested Byrne join an amateur drama group, a decision that would change his life forever and launch him on an extraordinary forty-year career in film and theatre. Moving between sensual recollection of childhood in a now almost vanished Ireland and reflections on stardom in Hollywood and Broadway, Byrne also courageously recounts his battle with addiction and the ambivalence of fame. Walking with Ghosts is by turns hilarious and heartbreaking as well as a lyrical homage to the people and landscapes that ultimately shape our destinies.
Walking with Ghosts: A Memoir
by Gabriel Byrne&“A gripping memoir&” by the Irish actor &“that is anything but typical Hollywood . . . evokes a beautiful sense of nostalgia, melancholy and vulnerability&” (Winnipeg Free Press). As a young boy growing up in the outskirts of Dublin, Gabriel Byrne sought refuge in a world of imagination among the fields and hills near his home, at the edge of a rapidly encroaching city. Born to working class parents and the eldest of six children, he harbored a childhood desire to become a priest. When he was eleven years old, Byrne found himself crossing the Irish Sea to join a seminary in England. Four years later, Byrne had been expelled and he quickly returned to his native city. There he took odd jobs as a messenger boy and factory laborer to get by. In his spare time, he visited the cinema, where he could be alone and yet part of a crowd. It was here that he could begin to imagine a life beyond the grey world of 1960s Ireland. In this memoir he revels in the theater and poetry of Dublin&’s streets, populated by characters as eccentric and remarkable as any in fiction, and recounts his decision to join an amateur theater group—a decision that would change his life forever. Moving between sensual recollection of childhood in a now almost vanished Ireland and reflections on stardom in Hollywood and on Broadway, Byrne also courageously recounts his battle with addiction and the ambivalence of fame. &“[Byrne] writes with much more depth than the typical celebrity memoirist, accessing some of Heaney&’s earthiness and Joyce&’s grasp of how Catholic guilt can shape an artist. . . . a winning dry humor that reads as authentically humble.&” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) &“A masterpiece . . . by turns poetic, moving, and very funny. You will find it on the shelf alongside other great Irish memoirs including those by Frank McCourt, Nuala O&’Faolain and Edna O&’Brien.&” —Colum McCann &“A real writer, a born storyteller.&” —The Washington Post &“A dreamy book . . . He writes passionately about his first love and hilariously about his early fame as an actor.&” —Irish Times
Walking with Jack: A Father's Journey to Become His Son's Caddie
by Don J. SnyderA long-standing promise from a father to his five-year-old son . . .A poignant diary that chronicles the journeyWhen Don Snyder was teaching the game of golf to his young son, Jack, they made a pact: if one day Jack became good enough to play on a pro golf tour, Don would walk beside him as his caddie. Years later, Jack had developed into a standout college golfer, and Don, at the age of fifty-eight, left the comfort of his Maine home and moved to St. Andrews, Scotland, to learn from the best caddies in the world. He worked loops on famed courses like the Old Course and Kingsbarns, fought his way onto the rotation as a full-time caddie, and recorded the fascinating stories of golfers from every station in life. All the while, he lived like a monk and sent his earnings back home. A world away, Jack endured his own arduous trials, rising through the ranks and battling within the college golf system. At times, the question for the teenage athlete wasn't how to continue . . . but whether to continue at all. Finally, Don and Jack approached the moment when they would reunite--and not only tackle an extraordinarily high level of golf competition but also confront the challenges of a father-son relationship that had inevitably changed since the days when their journey began. Walking with Jack is a truly compelling golf story and a one-of-a-kind narrative that makes you appreciate the lengths to which a father will go to support his son.
Walking with Legends: Barry Martyn's New Orleans Jazz Odyssey
by Mick Burns Bruce Boyd RaeburnDrummer, record producer, bandleader, jazz researcher, and cigar-chomping raconteur Barry Martyn is a New Orleans original who happens to have been born in England. Implausible though this may seem, it makes perfect sense to members of the New Orleans traditional jazz community, who view themselves as an extended family based on merit as much as nativity. For more than forty years, Martyn has been a fixture in the Crescent City's jazz scene, laying down the beat for generations of celebrated musicians and avidly promoting the city's unique musical heritage around the world. In Walking with Legends -- based on over forty hours of interviews with Martyn by fellow British jazz enthusiast and author Mick Burns -- Martyn reflects upon his life in jazz and offers a window into a musical world that few have understood, let alone witnessed from the inside. At the age of nineteen, jazz fanatic Martyn found his way to the Crescent City and began working as a professional drummer in clubs and studios. The first white man in the United States to join a black musician's union, he eventually started his own record label and recorded hundreds of jam sessions that today are regarded as classics in Europe. In 1972, he formed the Legends of Jazz, an old-style New Orleans jazz band that toured the world and took New Orleans jazz into the American showbiz mainstream.Martyn's life story provides unique intimate glimpses of a vanished generation of New Orleans musicians, including Louis Armstrong, Kid Sheik Cola, Harold Dejan, Joe Watkins, Albert Nicholas, Kid Thomas, Andrew Blakeney, and many others. Throughout his chronicle, Martyn highlights the continual clash of cultures that arose from an avid British pupil learning lessons of life and music from elderly African American strangers who take him under their wing both out of curiosity and self-interest. Together, they find a way to connect through music, even if the road gets a little bumpy at times. A standard-bearer for New Orleans's jazz drumming tradition, Martyn remains one of the city's busiest musicians and most avid promoters of New Orleans music. In Walking with Legends, he honors the legacies of the African American musicians who taught and inspired him and affirms the importance of the human relationships that make the music possible.
Walking with Mary
by Edward SriMary appears only a few times in the Bible, but those few passages come at crucial moments. Catholics believe that Mary is the ever-virgin Mother of God, the Queen of Heaven and Earth. But she also was a human being--a woman who made a journey of faith through various trials and uncertainties and endured her share of suffering. Even with her unique graces and vocation, Mary remains a woman we can relate to and from whom we have much to learn. In Walking with Mary, Edward Sri looks at the crucial passages in the Bible concerning Mary and offers insight about the Blessed Mother's faith and devotion that we can apply in our daily lives. We follow her step-by-step through the New Testament account of her life, reflecting on what the Scriptures tell us about how she responded to the dramatic events unfolding around her. "This book is the fruit of my personal journey of studying Mary through the Scriptures, from her initial calling in Nazareth to her painful experience at the cross," writes Edward Sri "It is intended to be a highly readable, accessible work that draws on wisdom from the Catholic tradition, recent popes, and biblical scholars of a variety of perspectives and traditions. With the riches of these insights, we will ponder what her journey of faith may have been like in order to draw out spiritual lessons for our own walk with God." He add, "It is my hope, therefore, that whether you are of a Catholic, Protestant, or other faith background, this book may help you to know, understand, and love Mary more, and that it may inspire you to walk in her footsteps as a faithful disciple of the Lord in your own pilgrimage of faith."
Walking with Ramona: Exploring Beverly Cleary's Portland (People's Guide Ser.)
by Laura O. FosterThis unique travel guide explores the streets, schools, characters, and neighborhoods of author Beverly Cleary’s Portland. With this new and most unusual guidebook, readers can walk the very sidewalks that Beverly walked and climb the very school steps that Beverly climbed. You'll see the grocery parking lot where Ramona got stuck in the mud, the park lawn where Henry Huggins hunted nightcrawlers, and the real Portland street that became Klickitat Street, their fictional home. Beverly Cleary’s Portland was much different than the Portlandia of today. Walking with Ramona brings to life what 1920s and 1930s Portland was like for the “girl from Yamhill” who went on to become an internationally beloved author. Characters like Ramona and Beezus, Henry and Ribsy, and Ellen and Austine come to life on this hour-long walking route through the Northeast Portland neighborhood where Beverly grew up.
Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain
by Andrew McCarthyAN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A BARNES & NOBLE BEST BOOK OF 2023 A TOWN & COUNTRY BEST CELEBRITY MEMOIR OF 2023 An intimate, funny, and poignant travel memoir following New York Times bestselling author and actor Andrew McCarthy as he walks the Camino de Santiago with his son Sam. When Andrew McCarthy's eldest son began to take his first steps into adulthood, McCarthy found himself wishing time would slow down. Looking to create a more meaningful connection with Sam before he fled the nest, as well as recreate his own life-altering journey decades before, McCarthy decided the two of them should set out on a trek like few others: 500 miles across Spain's Camino de Santiago. Over the course of the journey, the pair traversed an unforgiving landscape, having more honest conversations in five weeks than they'd had in the preceding two decades. Discussions of divorce, the trauma of school, McCarthy's difficult relationship with his own father, fame, and Flaming Hot Cheetos threatened to either derail their relationship or cement it. Walking With Sam captures this intimate, candid and hopeful expedition as the father son duo travel across the country and towards one another.
Walking with Sausage Dogs
by Matt WhymanKeeping pets is a lovely idea. When building a family, they complement the kids. But what happens when things get out of hand? For writer and house husband, Matt Whyman, it's a case of catastrophe management in coping with four children and all the ill-advised animals amassed by his career wife, Emma. Just as Matt gets to grips with managing her two maxed out minipigs, she falls for a miniature Dachshund - the kind of dog he wouldn't be seen dead with. Hercules isn't big or clever, but Emma is determined. She'll do everything, she promises... From the author of Pig in the Middle
Walking with Sausage Dogs
by Matt WhymanKeeping pets is a lovely idea. When building a family, they complement the kids. But what happens when things get out of hand? For writer and house husband, Matt Whyman, it's a case of catastrophe management in coping with four children and all the ill-advised animals amassed by his career wife, Emma. Just as Matt gets to grips with managing her two maxed out minipigs, she falls for a miniature Dachshund - the kind of dog he wouldn't be seen dead with. Hercules isn't big or clever, but Emma is determined. She'll do everything, she promises... From the author of Pig in the Middle
Walking with the Muses: A Memoir
by Pat ClevelandAn exciting account of the international adventures of fashion model Pat Cleveland--one of the first black supermodels during the wild sixties and seventies.New York in the sixties and seventies was glamorous and gritty at the same time, a place where people like Warhol, Avedon, and Halston as well their muses came to pursue their wildest ambitions, and when the well began to run dry they darted off to Paris. Though born on the very fringes of this world, Patricia Cleveland, through a combination of luck, incandescent beauty, and enviable style, soon found herself in the center of all that was creative, bohemian, and elegant. A "walking girl," a runway fashion model whose inimitable style still turns heads on the runways of New York, Paris, Milan, and Tokyo, Cleveland was in high demand. Ranging from the streets of New York to the jet-set beaches of Mexico, from the designer retailers of Paris to the offices of Diana Vreeland, here is Cleveland's larger-than-life story. One minute she's in a Harlem tenement making her own clothes and dreaming of something bigger, the next she's about to walk Halston's show alongside fellow model Anjelica Huston. One minute she's partying with Mick Jagger and Jack Nicholson, the next she's sharing the dance floor next to a man with stark white hair, an artist the world would later know as Warhol. One moment she's idolizing the silver screen sensation Warren Beatty, years later, she's deciding whether to resist his considerable amorous charms. In New York, she struggles to secure her first cover of a major magazine. In Paris, she's the toast of the town. And through the whirlwind of it all, she is forever in pursuit of love, truth, and beauty. A page-turning memoir of a life well lived, Walking with the Muses is a book you won't soon forget.
Walking with the Muses: A Memoir
by Pat ClevelandAn exciting account of the international adventures of fashion model Pat Cleveland--one of the first black supermodels during the wild sixties and seventies.New York in the sixties and seventies was glamorous and gritty at the same time, a place where people like Warhol, Avedon, and Halston as well their muses came to pursue their wildest ambitions, and when the well began to run dry they darted off to Paris. Though born on the very fringes of this world, Patricia Cleveland, through a combination of luck, incandescent beauty, and enviable style, soon found herself in the center of all that was creative, bohemian, and elegant. A "walking girl," a runway fashion model whose inimitable style still turns heads on the runways of New York, Paris, Milan, and Tokyo, Cleveland was in high demand. Ranging from the streets of New York to the jet-set beaches of Mexico, from the designer retailers of Paris to the offices of Diana Vreeland, here is Cleveland's larger-than-life story. One minute she's in a Harlem tenement making her own clothes and dreaming of something bigger, the next she's about to walk Halston's show alongside fellow model Anjelica Huston. One minute she's partying with Mick Jagger and Jack Nicholson, the next she's sharing the dance floor next to a man with stark white hair, an artist the world would later know as Warhol. One moment she's idolizing the silver screen sensation Warren Beatty, years later, she's deciding whether to resist his considerable amorous charms. In New York, she struggles to secure her first cover of a major magazine. In Paris, she's the toast of the town. And through the whirlwind of it all, she is forever in pursuit of love, truth, and beauty. A page-turning memoir of a life well lived, Walking with the Muses is a book you won't soon forget.
Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement
by John Lewis Michael D'OrsoAn eloquent, epic first-hand account of the civil rights movement by a man who lived it-- an American hero whose courage, vision, and dedication helped change history.
Walking With The Wounded: The Incredible Story of Britain's Bravest Warriors and the Challenge of a Lifetime
by Mark McCrumIn April 2011, four soldiers - each a hero of recent conflicts who suffered devastating injuries in the line of duty - set out on a challenge that even an able-bodied athlete would balk at. A two-hundred mile trek, unsupported, to the North Pole.It was the culmination of a journey that began long before, when two friends decided to mount an expedition that would demonstrate how remarkable our armed forces are and raise funds for the rehabilitation of injured service men and women. Little did they know that their idea would ultimately gain global attention, and royal endorsement. The year-long selection process was more physically and emotionally draining than anyone had anticipated. But by September 2010 the final team was set: the two founders, four wounded soldiers, a polar guide, and patron Prince Harry. Once they'd ventured inside the arctic circle they had to contend with new challenges. Pulling sleds weighing more then 100kg over vast swathes of ice rubble, pressure ridges and dangerous open water 'leads'; constant daylight; ground that could literally tear itself apart beneath them as they slept; and temperatures as low as -35 degrees. And all the time, they had to be alert for signs of the notoriously aggressive Polar Bears that roam the desolate landscape. With every step fraught with risk, the trek tested its participants' resilience to the limit. Each of these brave men tells their story here, along with that of the extraordinary expedition itself - the rigorous training, the meticulous preparation, and of course, the final, awe-inspiring journey across the ice. They returned as heroes again - proof that strength of mind can be every bit as powerful as strength of body, and an inspiration to us all.
Walking With The Wounded: The Incredible Story of Britain's Bravest Warriors and the Challenge of a Lifetime
by Mark McCrumIn April 2011, four soldiers - each a hero of recent conflicts who suffered devastating injuries in the line of duty - set out on a challenge that even an able-bodied athlete would balk at. A two-hundred mile trek, unsupported, to the North Pole.It was the culmination of a journey that began long before, when two friends decided to mount an expedition that would demonstrate how remarkable our armed forces are and raise funds for the rehabilitation of injured service men and women. Little did they know that their idea would ultimately gain global attention, and royal endorsement. The year-long selection process was more physically and emotionally draining than anyone had anticipated. But by September 2010 the final team was set: the two founders, four wounded soldiers, a polar guide, and patron Prince Harry. Once they'd ventured inside the arctic circle they had to contend with new challenges. Pulling sleds weighing more then 100kg over vast swathes of ice rubble, pressure ridges and dangerous open water 'leads'; constant daylight; ground that could literally tear itself apart beneath them as they slept; and temperatures as low as -35 degrees. And all the time, they had to be alert for signs of the notoriously aggressive Polar Bears that roam the desolate landscape. With every step fraught with risk, the trek tested its participants' resilience to the limit. Each of these brave men tells their story here, along with that of the extraordinary expedition itself - the rigorous training, the meticulous preparation, and of course, the final, awe-inspiring journey across the ice. They returned as heroes again - proof that strength of mind can be every bit as powerful as strength of body, and an inspiration to us all.
Walking With The Wounded: The Incredible Story of Britains Bravest Warriors and the Challenge of a Lifetime
by Mark McCrum Prince HarryIn April 2011, four soldiers - each a hero of recent conflicts who suffered devastating injuries in the line of duty - set out on a challenge that even an able-bodied athlete would balk at. A two-hundred mile trek, unsupported, to the North Pole.It was the culmination of a journey that began long before, when two friends decided to mount an expedition that would demonstrate how remarkable our armed forces are and raise funds for the rehabilitation of injured service men and women. Little did they know that their idea would ultimately gain global attention, and royal endorsement. The year-long selection process was more physically and emotionally draining than anyone had anticipated. But by September 2010 the final team was set: the two founders, four wounded soldiers, a polar guide, and patron Prince Harry. Once they'd ventured inside the arctic circle they had to contend with new challenges. Pulling sleds weighing more then 100kg over vast swathes of ice rubble, pressure ridges and dangerous open water 'leads'; constant daylight; ground that could literally tear itself apart beneath them as they slept; and temperatures as low as -35 degrees. And all the time, they had to be alert for signs of the notoriously aggressive Polar Bears that roam the desolate landscape. With every step fraught with risk, the trek tested its participants' resilience to the limit. Each of these brave men tells their story here, along with that of the extraordinary expedition itself - the rigorous training, the meticulous preparation, and of course, the final, awe-inspiring journey across the ice. They returned as heroes again - proof that strength of mind can be every bit as powerful as strength of body, and an inspiration to us all.
Walks with Walser
by Carl Seelig Anne PostenA unique and personal portrait of the beloved, legendary Swiss writer, finally in English After a nervous breakdown in 1929, Robert Walser spent the remaining twenty-seven years of his life in mental asylums, closed off from the rest of the world in almost complete anonymity. While at the Herisau sanitarium, instead of writing, Walser practiced another favorite activity: walking. Starting in 1936, Carl Seelig, Walser’s friend and literary executor, visited and accompanied him on these walks, meticulously recording their conversations. As they strolled, Walser told stories, shared his daily experiences of the sanatorium, and expressed his opinions about books and art, writing and history. When Seelig asked why he no longer wrote, Walser famously replied: “I’m not here to write, I’m here to be mad.” Filled with lively anecdotes and details, Walks with Walser offers the fullest available account of this wonderful writer’s inner and outer life.
The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain
by Peter SísThrough journals, maps, and dreamscapes, Peter Sís shows what life was like for a child who loved to draw, proudly wore the red scarf of a Young Pioneer, stood guard at the giant statue of Stalin, and believed whatever he was told to believe. But adolescence brought questions. Cracks began to appear in the Iron Curtain, and news from the West slowly filtered into the country. Sís learned about beat poetry, rock 'n' roll, blue jeans, and Coca-Cola. He let his hair grow long, secretly read banned books, and joined a rock band. Then came the Prague Spring of 1968, and for a teenager who wanted to see the world and meet the Beatles, this was a magical time. It was short-lived, however, brought to a sudden and brutal end by the Soviet-led invasion. But this brief flowering had provided a glimpse of new possibilities- creativity could be discouraged but not easily killed. By joining memory and history, Sís takes us on his journey: from infant with paintbrush in hand to young man borne aloft by the wings of his art. <P><P> Winner of the Sibert Medal
The Wall Between Us: Notes from the Holy Land
by Matthew Small&“The biology of Israel/Palestine simply and beautifully revealed,&” from the author of Down and Out Today: Notes from the Gutter (Jon Snow, journalist and presenter). Writer Matthew Small traveled to the Holy Land to further his understanding of the enduring conflict between Israel and Palestine. While there, he discovered beauty, fear and suffering like nowhere else in the world. In these honest and evocative reflections, Small retells his experiences of crossing into the West Bank to work the olive harvest with Palestinian farmers. He relates his encounters with organizations that are determinedly working to sow the seeds of peace in soils that are deeply scarred by suffering and war. While reliving these unforgettable experiences, through his writing he struggles to find why the wall between these two groups of people exists. Deciding to join a group of international and Israeli volunteers, Small attempts to show that, despite the ongoing occupation, peace is not lost, but still to be discovered. &“Matthew Small, despite the horror of both the war, and the wall, works and travels both sides of the divide, and brings us to an understanding of where the seeds of peace can yet be found.&”—Jon Snow, journalist and presenter &“What is really refreshing about this book is the way Small writes from a very personal perspective, often admitting in his diary entries that he&’s unsure what to write or how he feels about the situation. His emotion surrounding his visit and the people living amongst the occupation every day is portrayed in a gritty, raw way.&”—The Bookbag
Wall Flower
by Rita Kuczynski Anthony J. SteinhoffIn August 1961, seventeen-year-old Rita Kuczynski was living with her grandmother and studying piano at a conservatory in West Berlin. Caught in East Berlin by the rise of the Berlin Wall while on a summer visit to her parents, she found herself trapped behind the Iron Curtain for the next twenty-eight years.Kuczynski's fascinating memoir relates her experiences of life in East Germany as a student, a fledgling academic philosopher, an independent writer, and, above all, as a woman. Though she was never a true believer in Communism, Rita gained entry into the circles of the East German intellectual elite through her husband Thomas Kuczynski. There, in the privileged world that she calls "the gardens of the nomenklatura," she saw first-hand the contradictions at the heart of life for the East German intelligentsia.Published in English for the very first time twenty-six years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Wall Flower offers a rare - and critical - look at life among the East German elite. Told with wry wit and considerable candor, Kuczynski's story offers a fascinating perspective on the rise and fall of East Germany.
The Wall of Life: Pictures and Stories from This Marvelous Lifetime
by Shirley MacLaineAcademy Award-winning actress and New York Times bestselling author Shirley MacLaine shares a dazzling memoir in photographs, chronicling her extraordinary life with 150+ images from her personal archiveWith more than seventy years on the silver screen, Shirley MacLaine has, as she says, seen it all, done it all, been everywhere, and met everyone. Since making her Hollywood debut in 1955, her popularity has only grown as she&’s amassed a stunning collection of awards and written multiple bestselling memoirs.Now, at ninety years old, MacLaine has more stories to tell and the pictures to bring them to life. By introducing readers to her extensive photo collection—which she calls her &“wall of life&”—MacLaine reveals both intimate family memories and images with some of the most significant figures from entertainment and politics. With wit and charm, she reflects on each photo, exploring ambition, love, friendship, motherhood, art, political activism, curiosity, and more.Charting the course of her remarkable life and career, MacLaine shares both early memories (her childhood with her brother, Warren Beatty; her decision to leave for New York City at age sixteen; her early work dancing on Broadway) as well as remembrances of her days in the public eye (campaigning for George McGovern, traveling to meet political luminaries, starring in legendary film roles, and developing an interest in spirituality).Along the way, readers gain greater insight into figures such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bob Fosse, Jack Nicholson, the Dalai Lama, Fidel Castro, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and many more. Whether she's sharing what advice Elvis Presley asked her for, how she consoled close friend Elizabeth Taylor after the death of her husband, or which head of state she discussed UFOs with, MacLaine offers her most visual and delightful book yet, giving readers an unprecedented glance into a life like no other.
Wall Street Meat: My Narrow Escape from the Stock Market Grinder
by Andy KesslerWall Street is a funny business. All you have is your reputation. Taint it and someone else will fill your shoes. Longevity comes from maintaining that reputation. Ask Jack Grubman, the All-Star telecom analyst from Salomon Smith Barney; uber-banker Frank Quattrone at CS First Boston; Morgan Stanley's Mary "Queen of the Net" Meeker; or Merrill Lynch's Henry Blodget.Well, they probably won't tell you anything. But have I got some great stories for you. Successful hedge fund manager Andy Kessler looks back on his years as an analyst on Wall Street and offers this cautionary tale of the intoxicating forces loose in the world of finance that overwhelmed sober analysis.
Wall Streeters: The Creators and Corruptors of American Finance (Columbia Business School Publishing Ser.)
by Edward MorrisThe 2008 financial collapse, the expansion of corporate and private wealth, the influence of money in politics—many of Wall Street's contemporary trends can be traced back to the work of fourteen critical figures who wrote, and occasionally broke, the rules of American finance. Edward Morris plots in absorbing detail Wall Street's transformation from a clubby enclave of financiers to a symbol of vast economic power. His book begins with J. Pierpont Morgan, who ruled the American banking system at the turn of the twentieth century, and ends with Sandy Weill, whose collapsing Citigroup required the largest taxpayer bailout in history. In between, Wall Streeters relates the triumphs and missteps of twelve other financial visionaries. From Charles Merrill, who founded Merrill Lynch and introduced the small investor to the American stock market; to Michael Milken, the so-called junk bond king; to Jack Bogle, whose index funds redefined the mutual fund business; to Myron Scholes, who laid the groundwork for derivative securities; and to Benjamin Graham, who wrote the book on securities analysis. Anyone interested in the modern institution of American finance will devour this history of some of its most important players.