- Table View
- List View
Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven
by Susan Jane GilmanThey were young, brilliant, and bold. They set out to conquer the world. But the world had other plans for them. Bestselling author Susan Jane Gilman's new memoir is a hilarious and harrowing journey, a modern heart of darkness filled with Communist operatives, backpackers, and pancakes. In 1986, fresh out of college, Gilman and her friend Claire yearned to do something daring and original that did not involve getting a job. Inspired by a place mat at the International House of Pancakes, they decided to embark on an ambitious trip around the globe, starting in the People's Republic of China. At that point, China had been open to independent travelers for roughly ten minutes. Armed only with the collected works of Nietzsche, an astrological love guide, and an arsenal of bravado, the two friends plunged into the dusty streets of Shanghai. Unsurprisingly, they quickly found themselves in over their heads. As they ventured off the map deep into Chinese territory, they were stripped of everything familiar and forced to confront their limitations amid culture shock and government surveillance. What began as a journey full of humor, eroticism, and enlightenment grew increasingly sinister-becoming a real-life international thriller that transformed them forever. Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven is a flat-out page-turner, an astonishing true story of hubris and redemption told with Gilman's trademark compassion, lyricism, and wit.
Une Lettre Ouverte à Stephen King
by Jenny TwistUne collection d'essais populaires, d'articles de magazines et de blogs sur la vie, l'univers et tout. C'est ma première publication non romanesque et c'est en quelque sorte une expérience. Je le publie simplement sous forme de livre électronique pour commencer, mais s'il est bien reçu, je le publierai également sous forme de livre imprimé. Les essais traitent de l'Espagne, des problèmes des femmes, de l'écriture et juste des extraits généraux, y compris quelques anecdotes autobiographiques. Eh bien, vous vouliez en savoir plus sur l'escapologie, n'est-ce pas?
Une femme en ingénierie: Mémoires d'une pionnière (Biographies et mémoires #25)
by Monique FrizeDans ses mémoires à la fois inspirants et émouvants, l’ingénieure de renommée internationale, Monique Aubry-Frize, O.C., raconte son parcours exceptionnel dans un domaine résolument dominé par les hommes.Très tôt, son but était de devenir une ingénieure biomédicale reconnue afin d’améliorer le statut des femmes en sciences et en génie, ainsi que la manière dont les scientifiques et les ingénieurs intègrent les personnes et la société dans leurs travaux. Dès 1979, son rêve est devenu réalité.Monique Aubry-Frize relate avec lucidité et franchise les événements de sa vie qui lui ont permis de vaincre les nombreux obstacles qui se sont dressés sur sa route, de devenir plus résiliente, et de reconnaître l’importance des mentors et des modèles à suivre. Elle témoigne égalementdu rôle essentiel joué par sa famille et ses amis, qui l’ont soutenue et lui ont donné la force et la détermination nécessaires pour réussir dans un monde majoritairement masculin.L’autrice évoque avec tendresse son enfance à Ottawa et souligne son intérêt précoce pour les mathématiques et les sciences. Son entrée dans le monde de l’ingénierie a été romantique – c’est à la faculté de génie de l’Université d’Ottawa qu’elle a rencontré son premier mari –, mais également tragique. Elle a fait face à maints préjugés et stéréotypes qu’elle est finalement parvenue à surmonter. Elle a réussi à concilier travail et famille, poursuivant une carrière exigeante, mais gratifiante dans un domaine très spécialisé, à une époque où peu de femmes s’y risquaient.Ses mémoires Une femme en ingénierie seront sans aucun doute une source d’inspiration pour les nouvelles générations de femmes qui rêvent d’une carrière en sciences et en génie.
Une écriture en mouvement: Les correspondances d'écrivains francophones au Canada (Archives des lettres canadiennes)
by Michel Biron Stéphanie BernierLa correspondance écrite ou l’écriture de lettres joue un rôle central dans l’histoire littéraire canadienne-française, offrant une compréhension unique des œuvres et de leurs contextes.L’activité des épistolières et épistoliers majeurs est au cœur de cette réflexion, mettant en lumière ceux et celles qui ont façonné leur écriture à travers la lettre, qu’il s’agisse d’échanges intimes ou publics. Leur singularité réside dans l’originalité de leurs propos, de leur style, ainsi que dans leurs commentaires révélateurs de leur poétique et de leur époque. Par leurs correspondances, ils explorent des idées audacieuses, une introspection profonde et tissent des liens sociaux, réels ou imaginaires, souvent entretenus à travers ces échanges épistolaires. Une écriture en mouvement : les correspondances d’écrivains francophones au Canada : XVIII comprend une introduction générale, seize articles consacrés aux épistoliers et épistolières ayant joué un rôle central dans l’histoire littéraire au Québec et au Canada français, deux articles thématiques, l’un portant sur la lettre dans les littératures autochtones et l’autre sur la lettre à l’ère numérique ainsi qu'une bibliographie des écrits épistolaires parus au Québec et au Canada français sous forme de livre.Cet ouvrage met en évidence la diversité des usages épistolaires tout en soulignant un point commun : celui d’écrire à quelqu’un ou à plusieurs personnes. Parce que la lettre constitue toujours une forme d’adresse à autrui, elle incarne l’interaction constante entre la littérature et le monde.
Unearthed: A Lost Actress, a Forbidden Book, and a Search for Life in the Shadow of the Holocaust
by Meryl FrankA thrilling mystery woven into a beautifully constructed family memoir: Meryl Frank&’s journey to seek the truth about a beloved and revolutionary cousin, a celebrated actress in Vilna before World War II, and to answer the question of how the next generation should honor the memory of the Holocaust. As a child, Meryl Frank was the chosen inheritor of family remembrance. Her aunt Mollie, a formidable and cultured woman, insisted that Meryl never forget who they were, where they came from, and the hate that nearly destroyed them. Over long afternoons, Mollie told her about the city, the theater, and, above all else, Meryl&’s cousin, the radiant Franya Winter. Franya was the leading light of Vilna&’s Yiddish theater, a remarkable and precocious woman who cast off the restrictions of her Hasidic family and community to play roles as prostitutes and bellhops, lovers and nuns. Yet there was one thing her aunt Mollie would never tell Meryl: how Franya died. Before Mollie passed away, she gave Meryl a Yiddish book containing the terrible answer, but forbade her to read it. And for years, Meryl obeyed. Unearthed is the story of Meryl&’s search for Franya and a timely history of hatred and resistance. Through archives across four continents, by way of chance encounters and miraculous discoveries, and eventually, guided by the shocking truth recorded in the pages of the forbidden book, Meryl conjures the rogue spirit of her cousin—her beauty and her tragedy. Meryl&’s search reveals a lost world destroyed by hatred, illuminating the cultural haven of Vilna and its resistance during World War II. As she seeks to find her lost family legacy, Meryl looks for answers to the questions that have defined her life: what is our duty to the past? How do we honor such memories while keeping them from consuming us? And what do we teach our children about tragedy?
Unearthed: Love, Acceptance, and Other Lessons from an Abandoned Garden
by Alexandra Risen&“A generous, poignant memoir&” of loss, family secrets, and a quest to shape something beautiful out of the chaos of nature (Kirkus Reviews). Just as Alex and her husband buy a house in Toronto, set atop an acre of wilderness that extends into a natural gorge in the middle of the city, she learns that her father, a Ukrainian-born immigrant, has died. Her new home&’s gigantic, abandoned garden, choked with weeds and crumbling antique structures, resembles a wild jungle—and it stirs cherished memories of Alex&’s childhood: When her home life became unbearable, she would escape to the forest. In her new home, Alex can feel the power of the majestic trees that nurtured her in her youth, but as she begins to beat back the bushes to unveil the garden&’s mysteries, her mother has a stroke and develops dementia. When Alex discovers an envelope of yellowed documents while sorting through her father&’s junk pile, offering clues to her parents&’ mysterious past, she reluctantly musters the courage to uncover their secrets. While discovering the plants hidden in the garden—from primroses and maple syrup–producing sugar maples to her mother&’s favorite, lily of the valley—she must come to terms with the circle of life around her, and find the courage to tend to her own family&’s future. &“The land is rife with unexpected delights: a huge, decaying pagoda, underground aquifers, a pond, koi, deer, and all manner of vegetation. . . . As she restores the property and heals her long-troubled soul, Risen paints a vivid and exquisite portrait of nature and its profound significance.&” —Publishers Weekly
Unearthed: On race and roots, and how the soil taught me I belong
by Claire RatinonA powerful work of memoir and storytelling that will change the way we think about the natural world.Like many diasporic people of colour, Claire Ratinon grew up feeling cut off from the natural world. She lived in cities, reluctant to be outdoors and stuck with the belief that success and status could fill the space where belonging was absent. But a chance encounter with a rooftop farm was the start of a journey that caused her to rethink the life she'd been creating and her beliefs about who she ought to be. Enlivened, she turned her hand to growing food in London before finding herself yearning for a small parcel of land to call her own. Unearthed tells the story of her leaving the city for the English countryside - and her first garden - in the hope of forging a pathway towards the embrace of the natural world and a sense of belonging cultivated on her own terms.'Ratinon's story will change hearts and minds' Alice Vincent'A beautiful book about nature...I recommend it' Afua Hirsch, author of Brit(ish)
Unearthing Churchill's Secret Army: The Official List of SOE Casualties and Their Stories
by Martin MaceThe Special Operations Executive was one of the most secretive organizations of the Second World War, its activities cloaked in mystery and intrigue. The fate, therefore, of many of its agents was not revealed to the general public other than the bare details carved with pride upon the headstones and memorials of those courageous individuals.Then in 2003, the first batch of SOE personal files was released by the National Archive. Over the course of the following years more and more files were made available. Now, at last, it is possible to tell the stories of all those agents that died in action.These are stories of bravery and betrayal, incompetence and misfortune, of brutal torture and ultimately death. Some died when their parachutes failed to open, others swallowed their cyanide capsules rather than fall into the hands of the Gestapo, many died in combat with the enemy, most though were executed, by hanging, by shooting and even by lethal injection.The bodies of many of the lost agents were never found, destroyed in the crematoria of such places as Buckenwald, Mauthausen and Natzweiler, others were buried where they fell. All of them should be remembered as having undertaken missions behind enemy lines in the knowledge that they might never return.
Unearthing The Secret Garden: The Plants and Places That Inspired Frances Hodgson Burnett
by Marta McDowell&“Blooming with photos, illustrations, and botanical paintings, McDowell&’s gorgeous book opens an ivy-covered door to new information about one of the world&’s most famous authors.&”—Angelica Shirley Carpenter, editor of In the GardenNew York Times bestselling author Marta McDowell has revealed the way that plants have stirred some of our most cherished authors, including Beatrix Potter, Emily Dickinson, and Laura Ingalls Wilder. In her latest, she shares a moving account of how gardening deeply inspired Frances Hodgson Burnett, the author of the beloved children's classic The Secret Garden. In Unearthing The Secret Garden, McDowell delves into the professional and gardening life of Frances Hodgson Burnett. Complementing her fascinating account with charming period photographs and illustrations, McDowell paints an unforgettable portrait of a great artist and reminds us why The Secret Garden continues to touch readers after more than a century. This deeply moving and gift-worthy book is a must-read for fans of The Secret Garden and anyone who loves the story behind the story.
Unearthing the Nation: Modern Geology and Nationalism in Republican China
by Grace Yen ShenQuestions of national identity have long dominated ChinaOCOs political, social, and cultural horizons. So in the early 1900s, when diverse groups in China began to covet foreign science in the name of new technology and modernization, questions of nationhood came to the fore. In "Unearthing the Nation," Grace Yen Shen uses the development of modern geology to explore this complex relationship between science and nationalism in Republican China. aaaaaaaaaaaShen shows that Chinese geologistsOCoin battling growing Western and Japanese encroachment of Chinese sovereigntyOCofaced two ongoing challenges: how to develop objective, internationally recognized scientific authority without effacing native identity, and how to serve China when China was still searching for a stable national form. Shen argues that Chinese geologists overcame these obstacles by experimenting with different ways to associate the subjects of their scientific study, the land and its features, with the object of their political and cultural loyalties. This, in turn, led them to link national survival with the establishment of scientific authority in Chinese society. The first major history of modern Chinese geology, "Unearthing the Nation "introduces the key figures in the rise of the field, as well as several key organizations, such as the Geological Society of China, and explains how they helped bring Chinese geology onto the world stage. "
Unearthing: A Story of Tangled Love and Family Secrets
by Kyo MaclearAn unforgettable memoir about a family secret revealed by a DNA test, the lessons learned in its aftermath, and the indelible power of love—for readers of Dani Shapiro&’s Inheritance and Katherine May&’s Wintering. &“Magnificent...I will never forget it.&” —Dani Shapiro, author of Inheritance &“A mind-altering and supremely generous exploration of kinship, selfhood, memory, and the roots we share across time, space and species.&” —Naomi Klein, author of This Changes EverythingThree months after Kyo Maclear&’s father dies in December 2018, she gets the results of a DNA test showing that she and the father who raised her are not biologically related. Suddenly Maclear becomes a detective in her own life, unravelling a family mystery piece by piece, and assembling the story of her biological father. Along the way, larger questions arise: what exactly is kinship? And what does it mean to be a family? Unearthing is a captivating and propulsive story of inheritance that goes beyond heredity. Infused with moments of suspense, it is also a thoughtful reflection on race, lineage, and our cultural fixation on recreational genetics. Readers of Michelle Zauner&’s bestseller Crying in H Mart will recognize Maclear&’s unflinching insights on grief and loyalty, and keen perceptions into the relationship between mothers and daughters. What gets planted, and what gets buried? What role does storytelling play in unearthing the past and making sense of a life? Can the humble act of tending a garden provide common ground for an inquisitive daughter and her complicated mother? As it seeks to answer these questions, Unearthing bursts with the very love it seeks to understand.
Unearthing: A Story of Tangled Love and Family Secrets
by Kyo MaclearWINNER OF THE 2023 GOVERNOR GENERAL'S LITERARY AWARD FOR NONFICTIONFor readers of Crying in H Mart and Wintering, an unforgettable memoir about a family secret revealed by a DNA test, the lessons learned in its aftermath, and the indelible power of love.Three months after Kyo Maclear&’s father dies in December 2018, she gets the results of a DNA test showing that she and the father who raised her are not biologically related. Suddenly Maclear becomes a detective in her own life, unravelling a family mystery piece by piece, and assembling the story of her biological father. Along the way, larger questions arise: what exactly is kinship? And what does it mean to be a family? Thoughtful in its reflections on race and lineage, unflinching in its insights on grief and loyalty, Unearthing is a captivating and propulsive story of inheritance that goes beyond heredity. What gets planted, and what gets buried? What role does storytelling play in unearthing the past and making sense of a life? Can the humble act of tending a garden provide common ground for an inquisitive daughter and her complicated mother? As it seeks to answer these questions, Unearthing bursts with the very love it seeks to understand.
Uneasy Rider: Travels Through a Mid-Life Crisis
by Mike CarterA broken heart and a moment of drunken bravado inspires middle-aged, and typically rather cautious, journalist Mike Carter to take off on a life-changing six month motorcycle trip around Europe. Never mind that he hadn't been on two wheels since an inglorious three-month teenage chapter involving a Lambretta, four crashes and an 18-month ban for drink-driving, a plan had begun to loosely form...And so, having completed a six day residential motorcycle course and hastily re-mortgaged his flat, Mike sets off alone, resolving to go wherever the road takes him and enjoy the adventure of heading off into the unknown. He ends up travelling almost 20,000 miles and reaching the four extremes of Europe: the Arctic Circle in the north, the Mediterranean coast in the south, the Portuguese Atlantic to the west and the Iraqi border of Turkey in the east.But really it's a journey inwards, as, on the way, Mike finds his post-divorce scars starting to heal and attempts to discover what he, as a man in his forties who hasn't quite found his place in the world, should be doing. Self-deprecating, poetic and utterly engaging, his is a heroic journey taken for the rest of us too scared to leave our 9 to 5 office-bound existence.
Uneducated: A Memoir of Flunking Out, Falling Apart, and Finding My Worth
by Christopher ZaraIn this &“hilarious and heartbreaking...must-read memoir&” (Publishers Weekly), Christopher Zara breaks down his winding journey from dropout to journalist and the impact that his background had in the world of privilege. Boldly honest, wryly funny, and utterly open-hearted, Uneducated is one diploma-less journalist&’s map of our growing educational divide and, ultimately, a challenge: in our credential-obsessed world, what is the true value of a college degree? For Christopher Zara, this is the professional minefield he has had to navigate since the day he was kicked out of his New Jersey high school for behavioral problems and never allowed back. From a school for &“troubled kids,&” to wrestling with his identity in the burgeoning punk scene of the 1980s; from a stint as an ice cream scooper as he got clean in Florida, to an unpaid internship in New York in his thirties, Zara spent years contending with skeptical hiring managers and his own impostor syndrome before breaking into the world of journalism—only to be met by an industry preoccupied with pedigree. As he navigated the world of the elite and saw the realities of the education gap firsthand, Zara realized he needed to confront the label he had been quietly holding in: what it looked like to be part of the &“working class&”—whatever that meant.Book Riot's Eight New Nonfiction Books to Read in May Book Browse's Best Books of May 2023
Uneven Justice: The Plot to Sink Galleon
by Raj RajaratnamThe inside story of a case that illustrates the horrific perils of unchecked prosecutorial overreach, written by the man who experienced it firsthand.Raj Rajaratnam, the respected founder of the iconic hedge fund Galleon Group, which managed $7 billion and employed 180 people in its heyday, chose to go to trial rather than concede to a false narrative concocted by ambitious prosecutors looking for a scapegoat for the 2008 financial crisis. Naively perhaps, Rajaratnam had expected to get a fair hearing in court. As an immigrant who had achieved tremendous success in his adopted country, he trusted the system. He had not anticipated prosecutorial overreach—inspired by political ambition—FBI fabrications, judicial compliance, and lies told under oath by cooperating witnesses. In the end, Rajaratnam was convicted and sentenced to eleven years in prison. He served seven and a half. Meanwhile, not a single senior bank executive responsible for the financial crisis was even charged. Uneven Justice is the story of his bewildering and confounding prosecution by forces who, quite frankly, were looking for bigger game. When Rajaratnam refused to support the narrative that would make that happen, he and the Galleon Group became collateral damage. A cautionary tale with implications for us all, Uneven Justice is both a riveting page-turner and an eye-opening lesson in the vagaries of justice when an unscrupulous prosecutor is calling the shots.
Unexpected Blessings
by Roxanne Black"Roxanne's heartfelt experience reminds us of the sacred experience we all share." Mehmet C. Oz, M.D., coauthor of YOU: The Owner's Manual Beautifully drawn stories of hope, healing, and courage illuminate the unexpected blessings that lie beyond the hurdles in life. When Roxanne Black was only fifteen years old, she was diagnosed with lupus, a chronic inflammatory disease. As a teenager with a rare and potentially life- threatening illness, Roxanne yearned to connect firsthand with others who knew what she was experiencing. So she made the decision to turn her diagnosis into something positive. Working out of her hospital bedroom, she founded Friends' Health Connection, which is now a nationwide community that matches people with similar health conditions for friendship and mutual support. Unexpected Blessings brings to life Roxanne's moving personal story, as well as the wisdom and lessons of courage she has learned over the years from famous leaders and celebrities, as well as everyday heroes standing strong against adversity. We meet Sara, an eight-year-old mature beyond her years, who is struggling with AIDS and the loss of her mother, and Ruby, a chronically ill woman whose devoted husband eases her pain. We experience Roxanne's poignant encounter with Christopher Reeve before his death, and also see unbelievable kindness and acts of love-family members offering transplant organs to save loved ones, strangers supporting one another through crisis, and more. These powerful stories and reflections weave together a rich tapestry of hope, comfort, and inspiration, and serve as reminders of the incredible resilience of the human spirit in the face of overwhelming challenge. In this gorgeously written book, Roxanne Black reminds us of the courage we all possess.
Unexpected Grace: Comfort in the Midst of Loss
by Sheila WalshWhen Eleanor Pfaehler and I met, we stood on opposite sides of an invisible, and seemingly insurmountable, wall," Sheila Walsh writes. "Eleanor and I talked over this wall. At times we reached up to hug. But the wall was always there."Then Eleanor was diagnosed with liver cancer. Finally, by the grace and mercy of God alone, the wall came crashing down. Eleanor and I found ourselves swimming in the river of mercy with our arms around each other, holding each other, willing to give our lives for each other."Unexpected Grace is a tender account of the relationship between a mother and daughter-in-law and how they discovered extravagant grace in the midst of what could have been the most tragic experience of their lives. Their story will encourage you and help you see how God can bring good out of even the bleakest circumstances.Previously published as Stories from the River of Mercy.
Unexpected Places: Thoughts on God, Faith, and Finding Your Voice
by Anthony EvansUnexpected Places is the personal story of gospel singer Anthony Evans, son of well-known pastor Tony Evans and brother of author Priscilla Shirer. In this intimate and moving memoir, Anthony shares the details of his struggles with depression and doubt, and encourages readers with the unique story of his search for purpose and identity. From growing up duty-bound to his name, to his time as a finalist and then talent producer on The Voice, Anthony explores the pressures he experienced as a child and as a young man in Hollywood. He describes the journey to his renewed faith in God and exposes the vast differences between what the world teaches us to value and how God values us. Anthony examines what his parents did right in raising him but also describes how they unknowingly missed his pain. Finally, he reveals how God orchestrated His plan to grow Anthony into a man who is in love with his life, his heritage, and his individual calling.Anthony has learned to embrace the incredible beauty of his unique voice. In Unexpected Places, he invites readers on their own journey to do the same.
Unexpected: A Postpartum Memoir
by Emily Adler Mosqueda Emily Adler MosquedRepeat mothers are assumed to know what to expect during pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. Unexpected: A Postpartum Memoir is the moving, raw account of a second-time mother who finds herself struggling for the first time with postpartum depression, anxiety and motherhood itself. Only as a mother of two does Emily find herself unable to ignore the impossible tempo of motherhood. At eight-months postpartum, Emily finds motherhood to be punctuated with unexpected sensations of irritability and feelings of rage all lathered in immobilizing guilt and shame. Readers witness the author' s personal evolution through her internal review and deconstruction of self and her examination of maternal expectations. It is through this journey of examining and feeling that truly opens up the unexpected possibilities of understanding and what it means to be content in motherhood.
Unexpected: Finding Resilience through Functional Medicine, Science, and Faith
by Dr. Jill CarnahanIn Unexpected, Dr. Jill Carnahan shares her story of facing life-altering illness, fighting for her health, and overcoming sickness using both science and faith so that others can learn to live their own transformative stories. There are times in each of our lives when change and uncertainty threaten to disrupt everything we thought was true. It may occur after a diagnosis of a life-threatening illness, the loss of a job, the death of a loved one, or another unexpected circumstance that threatens our health, safety or security. Written as our world is changing at an exponential rate, Dr. Jill Carnahan&’s riveting and compassionate exploration of healing through Functional Medicine introduces a new paradigm for readers where darkness and fear are replaced with hope, resilience, profound healing, unconditional love, and unexpected miracles. Each chapter reveals practical advice that can be readily used for conditions like mold toxicity, cancer, autoimmune conditions, Lyme disease, and more. Dr. Jill&’s raw and honest account of her own challenges facing life-threatening illness, living with autoimmunity and mold toxicity, trying to save a failed marriage, and the harsh realities of working in a medical system that has no tolerance for stepping outside the lines, reveals a new path of empowerment for taking control of our own health and wellbeing. For the skeptic or the faithful, Unexpected is a valuable guide for living an extraordinary life of love and resilience.
Unexpected: The Autobiography
by Greg RutherfordGreg Rutherford is one of the most successful British athletes of all time, winning gold at European, Commonwealth, World and Olympic levels, an achievement matched by only four others: Linford Christie, Jonathan Edwards, Sally Gunnell and Daley Thompson. Yet his route to the very top was never smooth. He always believed in himself as an athlete and sportsman, but for many years could not find an outlet that allowed him to truly excel. During his reckless teenage years, he would sometimes sleep rough and he dropped out of school, before he found the focus that would help him to get to the very top. But even then, there were still setbacks, as when he fell short in the Beijing Olympics. It served only to spur him on. In London, he became a part of 'Super Saturday' when he joined Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis in winning gold in 45 astonishing minutes of British glory. Condemned by some as a 'lucky' winner, he went on to complete his clean sweep of major titles through sheer determination to succeed. In this long-awaited memoir, he not only reveals the secrets of his remarkable success, but also has plenty to say on the issues that are dominating athletics, such as doping, and much else besides. It is a raw, passionate, entertaining and fascinating read.
Unexplained Deaths: How one woman changed homicide investigation forever
by Bruce GoldfarbFor most of human history, sudden and unexpected deaths of a suspicious nature, when they were investigated at all, were examined by lay persons without any formal training. People often got away with murder. Modern forensic investigation originates with Frances Glessner Lee - a pivotal figure in police science.'Disturbing dioramas created by an American millionairess revolutionised the art of modern forensics.' DAILY TELEGRAPH Frances Glessner Lee (1878-1962), born a socialite to a wealthy and influential Chicago family, was never meant to have a career, let alone one steeped in death and depravity. Yet she became the mother of modern forensics and was instrumental in elevating homicide investigation to a scientific discipline.Frances Glessner Lee learned forensic science under the tutelage of pioneering medical examiner Magrath - he told her about his cases, gave her access to the autopsy room to observe post-mortems and taught her about poisons and patterns of injury. A voracious reader too, Lee acquired and read books on criminology and forensic science - eventually establishing the largest library of legal medicine. Lee went on to create The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death - a series of dollhouse-sized crime scene dioramas depicting the facts of actual cases in exquisitely detailed miniature - and perhaps the thing she is most famous for. Celebrated by artists, miniaturists and scientists, the Nutshell Studies are a singularly unusual collection. They were first used as a teaching tool in homicide seminars at Harvard Medical School in the 1930s, and then in 1945 the homicide seminar for police detectives that is the longest-running and still the highest-regarded training of its kind in America. Both of which were established by the pioneering Lee.In Unexplained Deaths, Bruce Goldfarb weaves Lee's remarkable story with the advances in forensics made in her lifetime to tell the tale of the birth of modern forensics.This audiobook was originally published in 2020 under the title 18 Tiny Deaths. (p) 2020 Octopus Publishing Group
Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink
by Elvis CostelloBorn Declan Patrick MacManus, Elvis Costello was raised in London and Liverpool, grandson of a trumpet player on the White Star Line and son of a jazz musician who became a successful radio dance-band vocalist. <P><P>Costello went into the family business and before he was twenty-four took the popular music world by storm.Costello continues to add to one of the most intriguing and extensive songbooks of our day. His performances have taken him from strumming a cardboard guitar in his parents' front room to fronting a rock and roll band on our television screens and performing in the world's greatest concert halls in a wild variety of company. Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink describes how Costello's career has endured for almost four decades through a combination of dumb luck and animal cunning, even managing the occasional absurd episode of pop stardom.This memoir, written entirely by Costello, offers his unique view of his unlikely and sometimes comical rise to international success, with diversions through the previously undocumented emotional foundations of some of his best-known songs and the hits of tomorrow. It features many stories and observations about his renowned cowriters and co-conspirators, though Costello also pauses along the way for considerations of the less appealing side of fame. <P>Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink provides readers with a master's catalogue of a lifetime of great music. Costello reveals the process behind writing and recording legendary albums like My Aim Is True, This Year's Model, Armed Forces, Almost Blue, Imperial Bedroom, and King of America. He tells the detailed stories, experiences, and emotions behind such beloved songs as "Alison," "Accidents Will Happen," "Watching the Detectives," "Oliver's Army," "Welcome to the Working Week," "Radio Radio," "Shipbuilding," and "Veronica," the last of which is one of a number of songs revealed to connect to the lives of the previous generations of his family.Costello recounts his collaborations with George Jones, Chet Baker, and T Bone Burnett, and writes about Allen Toussaint's inspiring return to work after the disasters following Hurricane Katrina. He describes writing songs with Paul McCartney, the Brodsky Quartet, Burt Bacharach, and The Roots during moments of intense personal crisis and profound sorrow. He shares curious experiences in the company of The Clash, Tony Bennett, The Specials, Van Morrison, and Aretha Franklin; writing songs for Solomon Burke and Johnny Cash; and touring with Bob Dylan; along with his appreciation of the records of Frank Sinatra, David Bowie, David Ackles, and almost everything on the Tamla Motown label.Costello chronicles his musical apprenticeship, a child's view of his father Ross MacManus' career on radio and in the dancehall; his own initial almost comical steps in folk clubs and cellar dive before his first sessions for Stiff Record, the formation of the Attractions, and his frenetic and ultimately notorious third U.S. tour. He takes readers behind the scenes of Top of the Pops and Saturday Night Live, and his own show, Spectacle, on which he hosted artists such as Lou Reed, Elton John, Levon Helm, Jesse Winchester, Bruce Springsteen, and President Bill Clinton. The idiosyncratic memoir of a singular man, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink is destined to be a classic.From the Hardcover edition.
Unfamiliar Fishes
by Sarah Vowell<P>Of all the countries the United States invaded or colonized in 1898, Sarah Vowell considers the story of the Americanization of Hawaii to be the most intriguing. <P>From the arrival of the New England missionaries in 1820, who came to Christianize the local heathens, to the coup d'état led by the missionaries' sons in 1893, overthrowing the Hawaiian queen, the events leading up to American annexation feature a cast of beguiling, if often appalling or tragic, characters. <P>Whalers who fire cannons at the Bible-thumpers denying them their god-given right to whores; an incestuous princess pulled between her new god and her brother-husband; sugar barons, con men, Theodore Roosevelt, and the last Hawaiian queen, a songwriter whose sentimental ode "Aloha 'Oe" serenaded the first Hawaiian-born president of the United States during his 2009 inaugural parade. <P>With her trademark wry insights and reporting, Vowell sets out to discover the odd, emblematic, and exceptional history of the fiftieth state. In examining the place where Manifest Destiny got a sunburn, she finds America again, warts and all.
Unfiltered: No Shame, No Regrets, Just Me.
by Lily CollinsIn this groundbreaking debut essay collection, featuring never-before-seen photos, actress Lily Collins—star of Mortal Instruments and Rules Don’t Apply—is opening a poignant, honest conversation about the things young women struggle with: body image, self-confidence, relationships, family, dating, and so much more.For the first time ever, Lily shares her life and her own deepest secrets, underlining that every single one of us experiences pain and heartbreak. We all understand what it’s like to live in the light and in the dark. For Lily, it’s about making it through to the other side, where you love what you see in the mirror and where you embrace yourself just as you are. She's learned that all it takes is one person standing up and saying something for everyone else to realize they’re not alone.By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Lily’s honest voice will inspire you to be who you are and say what you feel. It’s time to claim your voice! It’s time to live your life unfiltered.