ghostbox memoir
An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Taylor, Barbara Brown, PUBLISHER: HarperOne, In her critically acclaimed "Leaving Church" ("a beautiful, absorbing memoir"--"The Dallas Morning News"), Barbara Brown Taylor wrote about her experience leaving full-time ministryto become a professor, a decision that stretched the boundaries of her faith. Now, in her stunning follow-up, "An Altar in the World," she shares how she learned to encounter God far beyond the walls of the church. Taylor reveals meaningful ways to discover the sacred in the small things we do and see, from simple practices such as walking, working, and prayer. Something as ordinary as hanging clothes on a clothesline becomes an act of meditation if we pay attention to what we're doing and take time to notice the sights, smells, and sounds around us. Making eye contact with the cashier at the grocery store becomes a moment of true human connection. Allowing yourself to get lost leads to new discoveries. As we incorporate these practices into our daily lives, we begin to discover altars everywhere we go, in nearly everything we do. Through Taylor's expert guidance and delicate, thought-provoking prose, we learn to live with purpose, pay attention, slow down, and revere the world we live in.
Lawyer: A Life of Cases, Counsel, and Controversy
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Liman, Arthur L., PUBLISHER: PublicAffairs, During nearly half a century of practicing law, Arthur L. Liman represented the very best ideals of his profession. He was renowned both for his brilliance as a corporate lawyer and for his commitment to public service and pro bono work. Vanity Fair called him a "big trouble" lawyer -- i.e., the lawyer you call when you're in it. Advisor to four governors and two mayors, Liman worked to reform the criminal justice system and to defend the rights of the poor. In this candid memoir, written in the months before his death, Liman discusses his life in the law from the moment Roy Cohn's performance at the McCarthy hearings inspired him to become a lawyer to his influential investigation of the Attica prison uprising, through his role as chief counsel in the Iran/Contra hearings, with looks at many fascinating cases, clients, and controversies along the way. Full of lively portraits of the moguls, financiers, politicians and criminals with whom Liman worked, and grounded in his insightful, provocative opinions on the practice of law and on today's legal issues, Lawyer is an absorbing read and a wonderful gift for lawyers, law students, and anyone interested in how corporate and American politics are played at the top.
The Bohemian Love Diaries: A Memoir
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Coleman, Slash, PUBLISHER: Lyons Press, A compelling coming-of-age tale infused with southern charm, "The Bohemian Love Diaries "chronicles Slash Coleman's upbringing in a warped but loving household of eccentric artists. Descended from a posse of off-beat immigrants--including a grandfather who danced at the Moulin Rouge--and raised in the capital of the Confederacy during the '70s and '80s, young Slash sets out to find true love. Unfortunately, he's his own worst enemy. Obsessions with Evel Knievel, rock band KISS, and a complex addiction to traveling the globe to find the girl of his dreams set him and his quest for happiness on a hapless course. Alternately hilarious and profound, Coleman, a brilliant young artist, comes to terms with his father, a genius sculptor and volatile alcoholic, and his mother, a Holocaust survivor who makes her son promise never to reveal that he's Jewish. A tender, moving portrait emerges of a man whose passionate creative spirit refuses to be suppressed. A swift kick to the funny bone, "The Bohemian Love Diaries" and its laugh-out-loud perversity conjure Jonathan Ames and Augusten Burroughs with a cutting edge that will make you think that Slash was raised in Chuck Palahniuk's attic by John Hodgman. He will leave you howling.
Some Far and Distant Place: Muslim-Christian Encounters
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Addleton, Jonathan S. / Addleton, J. S., PUBLISHER: University of Georgia Press, Born in Pakistan to Baptist missionaries from rural Georgia, Jonathan S. Addleton crossed the borders of race, culture, class, and religion from an early age. "Some Far and Distant Place" combines family history, social observation, current events, and deeply personal commentary to tell an unusual coming-of-age story that has as much to do with the intersection of cultures as it does with one man's life. Whether sharing ice cream with a young Benazir Bhutto or selling gospel tracts at the tomb of a Sufi saint, Addleton provides insightful and sometimes hilarious glimpses into the Muslim-Christian encounter through the eyes of a young child. His narrative is rooted in many unlikely sources, including a southern storytelling tradition, Urdu ghazal, revivalist hymnology, and the "Anglican Book of Common Prayer." The natural beauty of the Himalayas also leaves a strong and lasting mark, providing solidity in a confusing world that on occasion seems about to tilt out of control. This clear-eyed, insightful memoir describes an experience that will become increasingly more common as cultures that once seemed remote and distant are no longer confined within the bounds of a single nation-state.
Jacob's Wound: A Search for the Spirit of Wildness
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Herriot, Trevor, PUBLISHER: McClelland & Stewart, The award-winning author of "River in a Dry Land" explores the Nature that we - and our religions - sprang from The Genesis story of Jacob, the patriarch of the Judeo-Christian tradition, wrestling with a spirit has been interpreted in a multitude of ways, but never more persuasively than by Trevor Herriot in "Jacob's Wound." He sees it as a struggle between Jacob and his wilder twin brother, Esau, whose birthright Jacob has swindled. The central idea of Herriot's brilliantly written, observant, and groundbreaking book is the wound that Jacob, the farmer, the civilized man, suffered in vanquishing Esau, the hunter, the primitive man. And the central question posed is whether we, as Jacob did with Esau, can eventually reconcile with the wildness we conquered and have been estranged from for so long. As if ambling through the author's beloved Qu'Appelle Valley in Saskatchewan, "Jacob's Wound" takes readers on an untrodden path through history, memoir, science, and theology. Along the way, Herriot tells us stories of the past and present that illuminate what we once were and what we have become. It's a measured journey motivated by curiosity rather than by destination, and at every turn there is insight and beautiful writing. "From the Hardcover edition." Acquista Ora
The Genius in My Basement: The Biography of a Happy Man
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Masters, Alexander, PUBLISHER: Fourth Estate, Alexander Masters tripped over his first book subject on a Cambridge sidewalk, and the result was the multi-award-winning bestseller "Stuart: A Life Backwards." His second, he's found under his floorboards. One of the greatest mathematical prodigies of the twentieth century, Simon Norton stomps around Alexander's basement in semidarkness, dodging between stalagmites of bus timetables and engorged plastic bags, eating tinned kippers stirred into packets of Bombay mix. Simon is exploring a theoretical puzzle so complex and critical to our understanding of the universe that it is known as the Monster. It looks like a sudoku table--except a sudoku table has nine columns of numbers. The Monster has columns. But that's not the whole story. What's inside the decaying sports bag he never lets out of his clutches? Why does he hurtle out of the house in the middle of the night? And--good God --what is that noxious smell that creeps up the stairwell? Grumpy, poignant, comical--more intimate than either the author or his quarry intended--"Simon: The Genius in My Basement" is the story of a friendship and a pursuit. Part biography, part memoir, and part popular science, it is a study of the frailty of brilliance, the measures of happiness, and Britain's most uncooperative egghead eccentric.
Travels in the Central Parts of Indo-China, Cambodia, and
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Mouhot, Alexandre Henri / Mouhot, Charles, PUBLISHER: British Library, Historical Print Editions, Title: Travels in the central parts of Indo-China, Cambodia, and Laos, during the years , and . (Memoir of H. Mouhot by J. J. Belinfante. Edited by C. Mouhot].) With illustrations.Publisher: British Library, Historical Print EditionsThe British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is one of the world's largest research libraries holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats: books, journals, newspapers, sound recordings, patents, maps, stamps, prints and much more. Its collections include around 14 million books, along with substantial additional collections of manuscripts and historical items dating back as far as 300 BC.The HISTORY OF ASIA collection includes books from the British Library digitised by Microsoft. This series includes ethnographic and general histories of distinct peripheral coastal regions that comprise South and East Asia. Other works focus on cultural history, archaeology, and linguistics. These books help readers understand the forces that shaped the ancient civilisations and influenced the modern countries of Asia. ++++The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++ British Library Mouhot, Alexandre Henri; Mouhot, Charles; vol.; 8. RL 176
Half Empty
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Rakoff, David, PUBLISHER: Doubleday Canada, The inimitably witty David Rakoff, "This American Life "stalwart and bestselling author, looks at the modern world and his own life in defense of the commonsensical notion that you should always assume the worst. In this deeply funny memoir, David Rakoff examines his own life and the realities of our sunny, gosh-everyone-can-be-a-star contemporary culture. He finds that, pretty much as a universal rule, the best is not yet to come, adversity will triumph, justice will not be served, and your dreams won't come true. Although David has a long-nurtured abhorrence of "inspirational" memoirs, much of the book recounts his own personal experiences: the moment when being a tiny child no longer meant adults found him charming but instead meant other children found him a fun target; the late evening in Manhattan when he was young and the city seemed to brim with such possibility that the street shimmered in the moonlight — as he drew closer he realized the streets actually shimmered with rats in a feeding frenzy. He also weaves in his brand of acute and Oscar Wilde-worthy cultural criticism (the sad state of the outdated "House of Tomorrow" at Disneyland, for one). It all adds up to proof of the proposition: Always be a pessimist, and you'll never be disappointed.
The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Fukuoka, Masanobu / Korn, Larry / Lappe, Frances Moore, PUBLISHER: New York Review of Books, Call it "Zen and the Art of Farming" or a "Little Green Book," Masanobu Fukuoka's manifesto about farming, eating, and the limits of human knowledge presents a radical challenge to the global systems we rely on for our food. At the same time, it is a spiritual memoir of a man whose innovative system of cultivating the earth reflects a deep faith in the wholeness and balance of the natural world. As Wendell Berry writes in his preface, the book "is valuable to us because it is at once practical and philosophical. It is an inspiring, necessary book about agriculture because it is not just about agriculture." Trained as a scientist, Fukuoka rejected both modern agribusiness and centuries of agricultural practice, deciding instead that the best forms of cultivation mirror nature's own laws. Over the next three decades he perfected his so-called "do-nothing" technique: commonsense, sustainable practices that all but eliminate the use of pesticides, fertilizer, tillage, and perhaps most significantly, wasteful effort. Whether you're a guerrilla gardener or a kitchen gardener, dedicated to slow food or simply looking to live a healthier life, you will find something here--you may even be moved to start a revolution of your own.
Genesis: A Portrait of a Spinal Cord Injury
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Thompson, Stephen, PUBLISHER: Sunstone Press, No long after Indiana University had won the NCAA championship in , a young man of twenty was hurriedly riding his bicycle in order to make it on time for a tennis tournament. He had plans for returning to the game after having been sidetracked with the "college life". Although he expected to attend graduate school, he was hoping to play professional tennis one day. He never made it to that tournament. A head-on collision with an automobile had crushed his dreams and also his neck, resulting in a cervical spinal cord injury. As he lay in the intensive care unit unable to move, he listened to music on his Walkman to distract him from his terrible predicament. His favorite tape, "The Lamb" by Genesis, seemed to help keep his attitude positive and hopeful. The following months are torturous and frustrating and he prays for a miracle; near-death experiences that seem too mysterious to comprehend show him that there is life beyond human existence. Then, after finally making it to the rehabilitation unit, he meets other young men in similar situations and they all struggle together to increase their functional abilities. In this rare and candid memoir, Stephen Thompson shares his many tribulations as he experiences new beginnings, both physical and spiritual, and strives for the ultimate goal of any spinal cord injury victim: to walk again.
I Never Had to Duck: Adventures in the Peacetime Marine
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Peters, C. a. (Chuck), PUBLISHER: iUniverse.com, In this engaging memoir, retired Pittsburgh public servant C.A. (Chuck) Peters tells the captivating story of his ardent, lifelong love of and "undistinguished" service in the United States Marine Corps. His affair started when he was a "Junior Marine" during World War Two in a little Ohio River town, continued through his commissioning as a second lieutenant in March of and discharge as a reserve captain in . While attending Thiel College in Greenville, Pennsylvania, Peters endeavored to enlist in the Corps' Platoon Leaders Course only to be rejected for poor eyesight. A year later he tried again, and through a combination of chart memorization and lowered standards, he was accepted. After surviving the grueling twelve-week PLC selection process, Peters, in March , reported to the Corps' six-month-long Basic School at Quantico, Virginia. Once there he muddled through and in October of joined the famed First Marine Division in California where he experienced peacetime active service with the Marines. He met his future wife and love of his life, Georgina Chamberlain, at Thiel College. They were wed in July of , over the strenuous objections of both families, and remained happily married until her untimely death in December of . "I NEVER HAD TO DUCK" reveals Peters' love of the Marine Corps through true stories of his adventures in the storied Corps. But he also weaves tales of friends and acquaintances who served as Marines who did have to duck.
Stanley and Sophie
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Jennings, Kate, PUBLISHER: Scribner Book Company, "I fell in love with a prideful, tense bundle of muscle and sinew that stood seventeen inches high. You would see a small brown dog; I saw perfection." So begins the story of Kate Jennings's unexpected love affair with two border terriers, first Stanley, then, a few years later, Sophie. A fiercely intelligent writer, an astute observer of people and her surroundings, a recent widow not ready to face her grief, an irascible Australian with no time for indulgent New Yorkers and their pampered pets, Jennings falls hard. She is swept off her feet, stunned by the depth of her love. Her life is suddenly overtaken by Stanley and, when she is seduced into getting him a companion, by the pair of them. But after several years with her willful yet cherished dogs, Jennings came to the heartrending realization that they needed more than she could give -- and that she must reassess her own life, too. First and foremost, "Stanley and Sophie" is a book about dogs, understanding them, doing the best by them. It is also a vivid chronicle of Jennings's grief and sadness -- for the loss of a husband, for the city after September 11, for two pigtailed macaques in Bali, for a world going to hell in a handbasket. This is a bittersweet and darkly humorous memoir about the way two rivalrous, demanding, idiosyncratic, exhilarating dogs gave Jennings daily purpose and showed her the way to her own heart.
Life Among the Dead
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Williams, Lisa, PUBLISHER: Simon Spotlight Entertainment, The highly anticipated memoir from the star of the hit series "Lisa Williams: Life Among the Dead" When Lisa Williams was four years old, she told her parents about the spirits in her bedroom. Since those first sightings, Lisa has seen and communicated with thousands of people who have passed over, listening to their stories and delivering messages of comfort to the loved ones they left behind. In "Life Among the Dead," Lisa invitesreaders into her extraordinary life, from her childhood in Birmingham, England, where her grandmother -- also a renowned psychic -- encouraged her to respect and nurture her talent, to her decision to move to Los Angeles, where her smash-hit Lifetime television show quickly made her one of the world's most beloved mediums. Lisa shares memories of her earliest psychic experiences and her gradual acceptance of her gift, and recalls many of the amazingly accurate communications she has shared with believersand skeptics alike. In her compassionate, down-to-earth style, she reveals exactly what it's like to live surrounded by spirits every day, and she recounts the joy she feels in bringing solace to those who have lost someone dear and the insights she has gleaned about spiritual phenomena, hauntings, psychic healing, and the afterlife. Warm, witty, and surprising, "Life Among the Dead" is a wonderfully intimate account of Lisa's life as a medium, healer, wife, mom, and TV star who has already won the hearts of millions, a woman with an astonishing gift for seeing beyond the ordinary and into a mysterious and fascinating realm.
The Venlo Incident: A True Story of Double-Dealing,
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Best, S. Payne / Jones, Nigel, PUBLISHER: Skyhorse Publishing, World War II seems to provide an endless supply of amazing true stories of heroism in the face of mortal danger. This true account of an MI6 agent's kidnapping and survival is a real-life spy thriller, and one worth knowing. On November , Captain Sigismund Payne Best and other members of Britain's ultra-secret Z service sat near a cafe in Venlo, The Netherlands, waiting to meet with whom supposedly-sound intelligence told them would be German resistance leaders. In reality, what they would meet at Venlo was an SS ambush-leading to the murder of Best's Z associate and the Nazis' seizure of a plain text list of British under-cover agents. It was a massive disaster for British intelligence and a crucial turning point of war-time espionage. Best survived Venlo to tell of the shocking intelligence coups that precipitated the attack. His harrowing account of torture at the hands of the Nazis and five years in the infamous Sachenhausen and Dachau concentration camps offers unparalleled, first-hand details from inside the Third Reich. As a prisoner, he crossed paths with famous Nazi resistance fighters, including Georg Elser and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Best's explication of top-secret spy techniques and his depiction of how the incident played out to justify Nazi aggression is military history at its finest. His memoir of espionage, survival, and captivity is a riveting narrative that readers will not soon forget.
Scared Silent: The Mildred Muhammad Story
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Muhammad, Mildred, PUBLISHER: Strebor Books, SCARED SILENT In this riveting memoir, Mildred Muhammad, the former wife of convicted "D.C. Sniper" John Muhammad, breaks her silence about the domestic violence she suffered during their marriage and the tragic events that occurred after their divorce, which led up to the October sniper killings in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Mildred witnessed firsthand John's bizarre behavior after he returned from the Gulf War, but no one -- including her family, friends, and local police -- took her warnings seriously. Even when John kidnapped their three children for eighteen months, changed their identities and lived with them on the run in Antigua, or when he threatened to kill Mildred, her pleas for help went unfounded and she was forced to live undercover for eight months in a women's shelter. Everyone knew John as a charming and intelligent man. No one could fathom that he posed a serious threat to Mildred, let alone the ten innocent victims he and his seventeenyear-old accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo would later kill to carry out John's heinous plot to get custody of his and Mildred's children...permanently. What began as a domestic case eventually victimized millions. And it has taken years for Mildred and her children to heal from the fear and psychological trauma they endured. In "Scared Silent, " Mildred shares her personal story to show how domestic violence devastates entire families, including the children, and hopes that what she reveals will give new insight on this national social ill.
Small Dog, Big Life: Memoirs of a Furry Genius
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Fried, Dennis, PUBLISHER: Simon Spotlight Entertainment, They watch our every move, study our habits, judge our moods, and time our activities. They plot elaborate subterfuges to manipulate us into doing their bidding and trick us into participating in their nefarious schemes. They charm us into loving them. They are our dogs. Genevieve, a brilliant seven-pound papillon who dares to break the canine code of silence, invites you into the inner sanctum of dogdom in this hilarious expose about what dogs "really" think of their people. In her bitingly funny memoir, Genevieve reveals canine secrets never before shared with humans while also passing on her devious tricks-of-the-trade to her legions of furry pupils. In "Small Dog, Big Life," Genevieve sinks her teeth into such topics as driving tips for dogs, the tragedy of doorbells in TV commercials, measuring the intelligence of humans, finding a reason for cats, how prehistoric dogs saved the caveman's bacon, converting your house into an agility course, and productive kitchen behavior. Throughout, Genevieve unleashes a scathing analysis of human culture that will have sociologists all over the world looking for new jobs, while inspiring canines everywhere to rise up and assume their rightful places as heads of the household. Insightful, entertaining, and peppered with sophistication, wit, and charm, "Small Dog, Big Life" is not only for animal lovers of all ages but for anyone who appreciates an ironic sense of humor. And, ultimately, through Genevieve's "words," it is a celebration of the wondrous and loving relationship between dogs and their people.
The Healing Land: The Bushmen and the Kalahari Desert
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Isaacson, Rupert, PUBLISHER: Grove/Atlantic, Brought up on stories and myths of the Kalahari Bushmen, Rupert Isaacson journeys to the dry vast grassland -- which stretches across South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia -- to find out the truth behind these childhood stories. Deep in the Kalahari, Isaacson meets the last groups of Bushmen still living the traditional way, caught between their ancient culture and the growing need to protect and reclaim their dwindling hunting grounds. Little by little he is drawn into the fascinating web of ritual and prophecy that make up the Bushman reality. He hears of shamans who turn into lions, sees leopards conjured from the landscape as though by magic. He attends trance-inducing dances and witnesses incredible healings. But he also sees the heart-wrenching social problems of a dispossessed people. What follows is an adventure of an intensity he never could have predicted. The Healing Land records Isaacson's personal transformation amid these extraordinary people, and his passionate contribution to their political struggle. It captures his enchantment with the character, corruption, kindness, and confusion of a place that has wrenched itself from the Stone Age into the new millennium. " This] story... has never been told... by a narrator so openhearted, optimistic, and vulnerable to enchantment.... Highly recommended." -- Rian Malan "A more clear-sighted view of the Bushmen] is long overdue -- which makes Rupert Isaacson's book most welcome." -- The Economist "This is a traveller's book as well as a memoir.... It is well written, engaging, and enlightening." -- Johannesburg Citizen "A beautifully written account that simultaneously intrigues, educates, and fascinates." -- Marie Claire
Between the Lines: Not-So-Tall Tales from Ray "Scampy"
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Scapinello, Ray / Simpson, Rob / Bowman, Scotty, PUBLISHER: John Wiley & Sons, An insider's look at life on the lines To hockey fans, Ray Scapinello's name and face are as recognizable as any star player or coach in the NHL. Scampy, as he is affectionately known has had a long and storied career as a linesman in the NHL. His 5-foot-7 frame and 163 pounds belie his ability and endurance on the ice. When Ray retired in after 33 years in the NHL, he had officiated in regular season matches (never missing a game), 426 playoff games, and an astounding twenty Stanley Cup final series. His untouchable statistics make him a lock to enter the Hockey Hall of Fame as an official, but even they do not do justice to the respect he has earned from officials, players, coaches, and fans alike. On and off the ice, Scampy is considered one of hockey's great personalities, a consummate professional, a chronic practical joker, and a true ambassador of the sport. "Between the Lines" gives a rare glimpse inside the world of hockey from an unusual perspective -- through the eyes of one of the game's greatest and best-loved officials. Scampy shares his tales of life both on and off the ice as an official, an inside look at what those players and coaches are really like, what they really say and do, and what the game looks like between the lines. Full of fun stories, perspective on how the game has changed and evolved, and stories and interviews about Scampy from players, coaches, and other officials, "Between the Lines" is a captivating memoir of a truly unique life in hockey.
Face to Face: My Quest to Perform the First Full Face
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Siemionow, Maria, PUBLISHER: Kaplan Publishing, In December , Maria Siemionow, M.D., made headlines by performing the world's first near-total face transplant. It was an extraordinary event in a thirty-year medical career marked by many astonishing milestones. Now she recalls her remarkable journey in "Face to Face," a unique memoir that traces the path from her childhood in Poland to her medical training there and in Finland. Her arrival in the United States in the s, as a fellow at the Christine Kleinert Institute for Hand and Microsurgery in Louisville, Kentucky, confirmed her future as an award-winning researcher and world-class surgeon, leading ultimately to the controversial facial transplant procedure that revolutionized the field. Weaving fascinating medical science with a captivating life story, "Face to Face" explores the emotional, cultural, and moral implications of the twenty-first-century advances that have helped Dr. Siemionow's work thrive. She also provides details of the perseverance that led her to become the first U.S. physician to receive Institutional Review Board approval for facial transplantation surgery, followed by the poignant selection process as she was bombarded with compelling requests from prospective patients, and ultimately the successful completion of an operation that captured the world's attention. Both a chronicle of a groundbreaking surgery and a deeply moving story of personal courage, "Face to Face" also shares Dr. Siemionow's inspiring philosophy about the identities, physiological traits, and biological needs that combine to create our individual faces. Celebrating this triumph of form and function, she transforms the way we feel when we look in the mirror--and the way we think about those who dedicate their lives to healing and hope.
I'm Not High: (But I've Got a Lot of Crazy Stories about
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Breuer, Jim, PUBLISHER: Gotham Books, A deeply personal, deeply hilarious memoir from one of America's most Beloved "Saturday Night Live" comedians. With his goofy smile, sleepy eyes, and stoner's laugh, Jim Breuer might not appear to be the most introspective comedian out there. The fact that he made his mark playing Goat Boy on "Saturday Night Live" and a recalcitrant toker in the stoner classic "Half Baked" doesn't help his reputation at all. But in "I'm Not High," we meet a whole new Jim Breuer: the Jim who tours the country with his whole family in tow; the Jim who cares for his ailing eighty-five-year-old father; the Jim who considers himself a deeply spiritual person. "I'm Not High" reveals the complex man behind the simpleminded, weed-smoking persona, bringing to life true stories from a career that has spanned two riotous (yet somehow semi-righteous) decades. Jim dishes on everything from the "SNL" years to his early adventures in film. The cast of characters in "I'm Not High" includes Chris Farley, Dave Chapelle, and Tracy Morgan-who all taught Jim lasting lessons about the high-stakes game of fame. He also chronicles the constant role his family has played in keeping him honest. Whether he's arguing with his wife about religion (Is it okay to believe in God but not believe in church?), trying to take care of his kids, or helping his father get through the day with his dignity in tact, it's clear that some of his best material comes from his best moments as a son and a dad and a husband.
Budapest Diary: In Search of the Motherbook
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Suleiman, Rubin / Suleiman, Susan Rubin, PUBLISHER: University of Nebraska Press, Can you forget the place you once called home? What does it take to make you recapture it? In this moving memoir, Susan Rubin Suleiman describes her returns to the city of her birth--where she speaks the language like a native but with an accent. Suleiman left Budapest in as a young child with her parents, fleeing communism; thirty-five years later, she returned with her two sons from a brief vacation and began to remember her childhood. Her earliest memories, of Nazi persecution in the final year of World War II, came back to her in fragments, as did memories of her first school years after the war of the stormy marriage between her father, a brilliant Talmudic scholar, and her mother, a cosmopolitan woman from a more secular Jewish family. In , after the fall of communism and the death of her mother, Suleiman returned to Budapest for six-month stay. She recounts her ongoing quest for personal history, interweaving it with the stories of present-day Hungarians struggling to make sense of the changes in their individual and collective lives. Suleiman's search for documents relating to her childhood, the lives of her parents and their families, and the Jewish communities of Hungary and Poland takes her on a series of fascinating journeys within and outside Budapest. Emerging from this eloquent, often suspenseful diary is the portrait of an intellectual who recaptures her past and comes into contact with the vital, troubling world of contemporary Eastern Europe. Suleiman's vivid descriptions of her encounters with a proud, old city and its people in a time of historical change remind us that every life story is at once unique and part of a larger history.
House of Cards: The True Story of How a 26-Year-Old
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Dickerson, David Ellis, PUBLISHER: Riverhead Books, An original and hilarious memoir by an ex greeting card writer, virgin fundamentalist, and "This American Life" contributor that chronicles how, in the belly of the social expression industry, he learned to love, thrive, and finally feel comfortable in his own skin. David Dickerson's dream is to write greeting cards Valentine's Day, sympathy, and holiday cards. Greeting cards offer him the chance to indulge his gifted obsession with words, puns, and humor. But when he manages to win a coveted slot at Hallmark, he soon discovers his own limited life experience has left him unprepared for sentiments he writes about in his cards: As a fundamentalist-raised, twenty-seven-year-old virgin social misfit, he knows that his world is decidedly circumscribed. In "House of Cards," Dickerson tells of his time at Hallmark and how the experience and the cast of characters he meets there open his eyes to a much larger and emotionally rich world. In comic and sometimes cringe-inducing detail, he chronicles his bumpy journey to maturity, from straitlaced evangelical Christian to (relatively) modern single guy. As Dickerson navigates supervisors and colleagues who don't understand him, he learns what it takes to connect with this new lot of personalities and how to write funny lines that resonate with the heart of America. Along the way he confronts his past, his beliefs, his relationships, even his virginity, as he ponders whether his struggle to stay true to the life he knows is worth it. Endearing and idiosyncratic, "House of Cards "is the very human story of one man who, step by step, stumble by stumble, embarrassment by embarrassment, finds his place in the world.
Then Again
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Keaton, Diane, PUBLISHER: Random House, ""Mom loved adages, quotes, slogans. There were always little reminders pasted on the kitchen wall. For example, the word THINK. I found THINK thumbtacked on a bulletin board in her darkroom. I saw it Scotch-taped on a pencil box she'd collaged. I even found a pamphlet titled THINK on her bedside table. Mom liked to THINK."" So begins Diane Keaton's unforgettable memoir about her mother and herself. In it you will meet the woman known to tens of millions as "Annie Hall, " but you will also meet, and fall in love with, her mother, the loving, complicated, always thinking Dorothy Hall. To write about herself, Diane realized she had to write about her mother, too, and how their bond came to define both their lives. And so, in a remarkable act of creation, Diane not only reveals herself to us, she also lets us meet in intimate detail her mother. Throughout her life, Dorothy kept eighty-five journals--literally thousands of pages--in which she wrote about her marriage, her children, and, most probingly, about herself. Dorothy also recorded memorable stories about Diane's grandparents. Diane has sorted through all these pages to paint an unflinching portrait of her mother--a woman restless with intellectual and creative energy struggling to find an outlet for her talents--as well as her entire family, recounting a story that spans four generations and nearly a hundred years. More than just the autobiography of a legendary actress, "Then Again" is a book about a very American family with very American dreams. Diane will remind you of yourself, and her bonds with her family will remind you of your own relationships with those you love the most.
Think Big: My Life in Politics
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Manning / Manning, Preston, PUBLISHER: McClelland & Stewart, He built a party from nothing to become Leader of the Opposition in just 14 years Preston Manning grew up in a political household but his first career choice was as a business consultant. It was only years later, when he sensed a rising discontent among fellow Westerners, that he decided the time was right to establish a reform movement. In the fall of , he wrote a memo in Calgary. In the spring of he addressed a meeting in Vancouver. In the fall the Reform Party's founding assembly was held in Winnipeg. And from then on the movement's progress was unstoppable. This is a candid account by Reform's founder, and the father of the Canadian Alliance, of the most extraordinary story in contemporary Canadian politics. Manning describes Reform's first battles: the election of "Senator-in-Waiting" Stan Waters, the grassroots campaign against the Charlottetown accord, and the hard-fought federal election. He frankly acknowledges some of his party's early missteps in Ottawa. But he also recounts with vigour the cynicism - and worse - that was evident in the behaviour of the governing Liberal party. Manning denounces Mr. Chretien's mishandling of the Quebec referendum. And he recapitulates in devastating detail the full story of Shawinigate. Manning describes the birth of the Canadian Alliance. He follows the agonizing growing pains it experienced under Stockwell Day's inept leadership and he considers what might have been. He is candid in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the party's current leadership. Of his own career - post-politics - he is cheerfully forward-looking: there is challenging terrain ahead and Preston Manning proposes to serve as an advance scout. This is a thoughtful, informed, sometimes surprisingly funny memoir by a man who has attained, by dint of his own extraordinary achievements, stature as a contemporary statesman. "From the Hardcover edition."
Seeking Peace: Chronicles of the Worst Buddhist in the World
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Pipher, Mary, PUBLISHER: Riverhead Books, In this thoughtful and inspiring memoir, the author of the "New York Times" bestsellers "Reviving Ophelia, The Shelter of Each Other," and "Another Country" explores her personal search for understanding, tranquility, and respect through her work as a psychologist and seeker. aThere are three kinds of secrets, a Mary Pipher says in "Seeking Peace: Chronicles of the Worst Buddhist in the World." aThose we keep from everyone, those we keep from certain people, and those we keep from ourselves. Writing this book forced me to deal with all three.a After decades of exploring the lives of others through her writing and therapy, Mary Pipher turns her attention to herselfaculling insights from her own life to highlight the importance of the journey, not just the destination. Like most lives, Pipheras is filled with glory and tragedy, chaos and clarity, love and abandonment. She spent her childhood in small Nebraska towns, the daughter of a doctor mother and a restless jack-of-all-trades father. Often both of her parents were away and Pipher and her siblings lived as what she calls aferal children.a Later, as an adult and a therapist, Pipher was able to do what she most enjoyed: learn about the world and help others. After the surprising success of "Reviving Ophelia," she was overwhelmed by the attention and demands on her time. In , after a personal crisis, Pipher realized that success and fame were harming her, and she began working to find a quieter, more meditative life that would carry her toward self-acceptance and joy. In "Seeking Peace," Mary Pipher tells her own remarkable story, and in the process reveals truths about our search for happiness and love. While her story is unique, athe basic map and milestones of my story are universal, a she writes. aWe strive to make sense of our selves and our environments.a In "Seeking Peace," Pipher reflects on her life in a way that allows readers to reimagine theirs.