Staff Picks
Holiday Reads: New Biographies
- Bland L.
- Wednesday, December 18, 2019
Collection
Treat yourself to a free gift this holiday season by reading one of these new biographies recently added to Richland Library's collection. A few already have holds lists, but most are immediately available or coming soon.
Unbreakable
The Woman Who Defied the Nazis in the World's Most Dangerous Horse Race
Published in 2019
Czechoslovakia, October 1937. Europe's youngest democracy is on its knees. Millions are mourning the death of the nation's founding father, the saintly Tomas Masaryk. Across the border, the Third Reich is menacing - and plotting to invade. In the Czechoslovak heartlands, vast crowds have gathered to watch the threatened nation's most prestigious sporting contest: the Grand Pardubice steeplechase. Notoriously dangerous, the race is considered the ultimate test of manhood and fighting spirit. The Nazis, as usual, have sent their paramilitary elite: SS officers schooled to be Hitler's most ruthless enforcers. Their mission: to crush - yet again - the "subhuman Slavs". The local cavalry officers have no hope of stopping them. But there is one other contestant: a silver-haired countess riding a little golden mare. The story of Lata Brandisová is one of the strangest and most inspiring in all sport. Born into privilege, she spent much of her life in poverty. Modest and shy, she refused to accept the constraints society placed on her because of her gender. Instead, with quiet courage, she repeatedly achieved what others said was impossible. The scandal of her first attempt to ride in Pardubice reverberated across Europe. Ten years later, she became her nation's figurehead in its darkest hour. Then came retribution... Unbreakable is a tale of courage, heartbreak and defiance, in an age of prejudice and fear. In the background are forces - sexism, class hatred, nationalism - whose shadows darken today's world too. In the foreground are eccentric aristocrats, socialite spies, daredevil jockeys - and a race so brutal that some consider merely taking part in it a sign of insanity. At its heart is a unique hero, and a unique love affair between a woman and a horse.
Parisian Lives
Samuel Beckett, Simone De Beauvoir, and Me
Published in 2019
"National Book Award-winning biographer Deirdre Bair explores her fifteen remarkable years in Paris with Samuel Beckett and Simone de Beauvoir, painting intimate new portraits of two literary giants and revealing secrets of the biographical art. In 1971 Deirdre Bair was a journalist and recently minted Ph.D. who managed to secure access to Nobel Prize-winning author Samuel Beckett. He agreed that she could write his biography despite never having written--or even read--a biography herself. The next seven years of intimate conversations, intercontinental research, and peculiar cat-and-mouse games resulted in Samuel Beckett: A Biography, which went on to win the National Book Award and propel Deirdre to her next subject: Simone de Beauvoir. The catch? De Beauvoir and Beckett despised each other--and lived essentially on the same street. While quite literally dodging one subject or the other, and sometimes hiding out in the backrooms of the great cafes of Paris, Bair learned that what works in terms of process for one biography rarely applies to the next. Her seven-year relationship with the domineering and difficult de Beauvoir required a radical change in approach, yielding another groundbreaking literary profile. Drawing on Bair's extensive notes from the period, including never-before-told anecdotes and details that were considered impossible to publish at the time, Parisian Lives is full of personality and warmth and give us an entirely new window on the all-too-human side of these legendary thinkers"-- Provided by publisher.
Time is Tight
My Life, Note by Note
Published in 2019
"The long-awaited memoir of Booker T. Jones, leader of the famed Stax Records house band, architect of the Memphis soul sound, and one of the most legendary figures in music. From Booker T. Jones's earliest years in segregated Memphis, music was the driving force in his life. While he worked paper routes and played gigs in local nightclubs to pay for lessons and support his family, Jones, on the side, was also recording sessions in what became the famous Stax Studios-all while still in high school. Not long after, he would form the genre-defining group Booker T. and the MGs, whose recordings went on to sell millions of copies, win a place in Rolling Stone's list of top 500 songs of all time, and help forge collaborations with some of the era's most influential artists, including Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, and Sam & Dave. Nearly five decades later, Jones's influence continues to help define the music industry, but only now is he ready to tell his remarkable life story. Time is Tight is the deeply moving account of how Jones balanced the brutality of the segregationist South with the loving support of his family and community, all while transforming a burgeoning studio into a musical mecca. Culminating with a definitive account into the inner workings of the Stax label, as well as a fascinating portrait of working with many of the era's most legendary performers-Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and Tom Jones, among them-this extraordinary memoir promises to become a landmark moment in the history of Southern Soul."--Provided by publisher.
Life Isn't Everything
Mike Nichols, As Remembered by 150 of His Closest Friends
Published in 2019
"An up-close and personal portrait of legendary filmmaker, theater director, and comedian Mike Nichols, drawing on candid conversations with his closest friends in show business and the arts-from Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep to Natalie Portman and Lorne Michaels"-- Provided by publisher.
What is a Girl Worth?
My Story of Breaking the Silence and Exposing the Truth About Larry Nassar and USA Gymnastics
Published in 2019
"Recipient of Sports Illustrated's Inspiration of the Year Award and one of Time's 100 Most Influential People (2018) "Who is going to tell these little girls that what was done to them matters? That they are seen and valued, that they are not alone and they are not unprotected?" Rachael Denhollander's voice was heard around the world when she spoke out to end the most shocking scandal in US gymnastics history. The first victim to publicly accuse Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team doctor who abused hundreds of young athletes, Rachael now reveals her full story for the first time. How did Nassar get away with it for so long? How did Rachael and the other survivors finally stop him and bring him to justice? And how can we protect the vulnerable in our own families, churches, and communities? What Is a Girl Worth? is the inspiring true story of Rachael's journey from an idealistic young gymnast to a strong and determined woman who found the courage to raise her voice against evil, even when she thought the world might not listen. This deeply personal and compelling narrative shines a spotlight on the physical and emotional impact of abuse, why so many survivors are reluctant to speak out, what it means to be believed, the extraordinary power of faith and forgiveness, and how we can learn to do what's right in the moments that matter most"-- Provided by publisher.
She Came to Slay
The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman
Published in 2019
Harriet Tubman is best known as one of the most famous conductors on the Underground Railroad. As a leading abolitionist, her bravery and selflessness has inspired generations in the continuing struggle for civil rights. Now, National Book Award nominee Erica Armstrong Dunbar presents a fresh take on this American icon blending traditional biography, illustrations, photos, and engaging sidebars that illuminate the life of Tubman as never before. Not only did Tubman help liberate hundreds of slaves, she was the first woman to lead an armed expedition during the Civil War, worked as a spy for the Union Army, was a fierce suffragist, and was an advocate for the aged. She Came to Slay reveals the many complexities and varied accomplishments of one of our nation's true heroes and offers an accessible and modern interpretation of Tubman's life that is both informative and engaging. --Provided by publisher.
Black Radical
The Life and Times of William Monroe Trotter
Published in 2020
"This long-overdue biography reestablishes William Monroe Trotter's essential place next to Douglass, Du Bois, and King in the pantheon of American civil rights heroes. William Monroe Trotter (1872- 1934), though still virtually unknown to the wider public, was an unlikely American hero. With the stylistic verve of a newspaperman and the unwavering fearlessness of an emancipator, he galvanized black working- class citizens to wield their political power despite the violent racism of post- Reconstruction America. For more than thirty years, the Harvard-educated Trotter edited and published the Guardian, a weekly Boston newspaper that was read across the nation. Defining himself against the gradualist politics of Booker T. Washington and the elitism of W. E. B. Du Bois, Trotter advocated for a radical vision of black liberation that prefigured leaders such as Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr. Synthesizing years of archival research, historian Kerri Greenidge renders the drama of turn- of- the- century America and reclaims Trotter as a seminal figure, whose prophetic, yet ultimately tragic, life offers a link between the vision of Frederick Douglass and black radicalism in the modern era"-- Provided by publisher.
Passionate Spirit
The Life of Alma Mahler
Published in 2019
"Alma Mahler died in New York City in 1964, at the age of 85. The New York Times ran an obituary that described her as a woman whose "intellect...complimented her beauty." The obituary was something of a scandal: spicy, racy, naming the names of Alma's lovers, dredging up her secret affairs, and-in tone-passing judgment on this woman who had the audacity to be attracted to, and attractive to, men of genius. Since then, history has passed judgement on Alma, accusing her of being unworthy of her most famous husband Gustav Mahler. Now, for the first time, historian Cate Haste uses Alma's own diaries to set the record straight. Born in Vienna in 1879, Alma was an artist among artists-a talented musician who dreamed of being a composer and the first woman to write a famous opera. Passionate, romantic, and brilliant, Alma was stifled by society everywhere she turned. Eventually, she put her own dreams aside, and grabbed at power and influence through the only avenue available to her-supporting the art of more famous men. Alma Mahler's first love was painter Gustav Klimt. Her first husband was composer Gustav Mahler, followed by architect Walter Gropius, and then writer Franz Werfel. In and out of Alma's life, salon, and bed passed the great men of Europe in the late 19th and early 20th century-she was courted by opera singer Erik Schmedes, artist Oskar Kokoshka, and scientist Paul Kammerer; she drove Mahler to such despair that he consulted with Sigmund Freud, and she ran in the same circles as H.G. Wells, Sinclair Lewis, Francis Poulenc, Thomas Mann, Max Reinhardt, and Erich Remarque. Alma dedicated herself to nurturing the genius of the glittering men around her at the expense of her own artistic dreams"-- Provided by publisher.
I'm Telling the Truth, but I'm Lying
Essays
Published in 2019
In I'm Telling the Truth, but I'm Lying Bassey Bassey Ikpi explores her life--as a Nigerian-American immigrant, a black woman, a slam poet, a mother, a daughter, an artist--through the lens of her mental health and diagnosis of bipolar II and anxiety. Her remarkable memoir in essays implodes our preconceptions of the mind and normalcy as Bassey bares her own truths and lies for us all to behold with radical honesty and brutal intimacy. From her early childhood in Nigeria through her adolescence in Oklahoma, Bassey Ikpi lived with a tumult of emotions, cycling between extreme euphoria and deep depression--sometimes within the course of a single day. By the time she was in her early twenties, Bassey was a spoken word artist and traveling with HBO's Def Poetry Jam, channeling her life into art. But beneath the façade of the confident performer, Bassey's mental health was in a precipitous decline, culminating in a breakdown that resulted in hospitalization and a diagnosis of Bipolar II. In I'm Telling the Truth, But I'm Lying, Bassey Ikpi breaks open our understanding of mental health by giving us intimate access to her own. Exploring shame, confusion, medication, and family in the process, Bassey looks at how mental health impacts every aspect of our lives--how we appear to others, and more importantly to ourselves--and challenges our preconception about what it means to be "normal." Viscerally raw and honest, the result is an exploration of the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of who we are--and the ways, as honest as we try to be, each of these stories can also be a lie.
Moving Forward
A Story of Hope, Hard Work, and the Promise of America
Published in 2019
Part memoir, part how-to, and part progressive political handbook, this book takes the reader on a journey that begins in the Haitian-American enclave in Queens, New York, where Jean-Pierre grew up and ends with her working in the Obama White House.
Irving Berlin
New York Genius
Published in 2019
A fast-moving, musically astute portrait of arguably the greatest composer of American popular music. Irving Berlin (1888-1989) has been called-by George Gershwin, among others-the greatest songwriter of the golden age of the American popular song. "Berlin has no place in American music," legendary composer Jerome Kern wrote; "he is American music." In a career that spanned an astonishing nine decades, Berlin wrote some fifteen hundred tunes, including "Alexander's Ragtime Band," "God Bless America," and "White Christmas." From ragtime to the rock era, Berlin's work has endured in the very fiber of American national identity. Exploring the intertwining of Berlin's life with the life of New York City, noted biographer James Kaplan offers a visceral narrative of Berlin as self-made man and witty, wily, tough Jewish immigrant. This fast-paced, musically opinionated biography uncovers Berlin's unique brilliance as a composer of music and lyrics. Masterfully written and psychologically penetrating, Kaplan's book underscores Berlin's continued relevance in American popular culture.
All Blood Runs Red
The Legendary Life of Eugene Bullard-- Boxer, Pilot, Soldier, Spy
Published in 2019
The incredible life story of Eugene Bullard, the first African American military pilot in WWI, who went on to become a self-taught jazz musician, a Paris nightclub impresario, a spy in the French Resistance and an American civil rights pioneer. Eugene Bullard lived one of the most fascinating lives of the twentieth century. The son of a former slave and an indigenous Creek woman, Bullard fled home at the age of eleven to escape the racial hostility of his Georgia community. His five-year journey led him to a tramp steamer bound for Europe. There he discovered boxing, climbed the ranks and garnered worldwide fame as the "Black Sparrow." At eighteen he settled in Paris as a beloved celebrity and bon vivant. A year later World War I broke out. Bullard joined the French Foreign Legion, where he went on to become the first African American fighter pilot in history. After the war, Bullard returned to Paris a decorated war hero and leveraged his celebrity to become a fixture of Parisian nightclub society. Hemingway and Fitzgerald drank champagne at his club. A young Langston Hughes worked as a busboy. He counted Picasso, Josephine Baker and Man Ray as friends. He married a French countess and they had two daughters. At the dawn of World War II, with echoes of Casablanca, Bullard became a French spy, drawing Nazi soldiers to his club and conducting crucial surveillance for the Allies. After fleeing Paris he joined the Resistance before being safely smuggled onto a ship bound for America. He lived out the rest of his life in Harlem with his daughters, working as an assistant for Louis Armstrong. This is the dramatic untold story of an American hero, a thought-provoking survey of the twentieth century and a portrait of a man who came from nothing and by his own courage, determination, gumption, intelligence and luck forged a legendary life.
The Broken Road
George Wallace and a Daughter's Journey to Reconciliation
Published in 2019
"From the daughter of one of America's most virulent segregationists, a memoir that reckons with her father George Wallace's legacy of hate -- and illuminates her journey towards redemption. Peggy Wallace Kennedy has been widely hailed as the 'symbol of racial reconciliation' (Washington Post). In the summer of 1963, though, she was just a young girl watching her father stand in a schoolhouse door as he tried to block two African-American students from entering the University of Alabama. This man, former governor of Alabama and presidential candidate George Wallace, was notorious for his hateful rhetoric and his political stunts. But he was also a larger-than-life father to young Peggy, who was taught to smile, sit straight, and not speak up as her father took to the political stage. At the end of his life, Wallace came to renounce his views, although he could never attempt to fully repair the damage he caused. But Peggy, after her own political awakening, dedicated her life to spreading the new Wallace message -- one of peace, penance, and compassion. In this powerful new memoir, Peggy looks back on the politics of her youth and attempts to reconcile her adored father with the man who coined the phrase 'Segregation now. Segregation tomorrow. Segregation forever.' Timely and timeless, The Broken Road speaks to change, atonement, activism, and racial reconciliation"-- Provided by publisher.
Ridley Scott
A Biography
Published in 2019
"With celebrated works such as Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, and Gladiator, Ridley Scott has secured his place in Hollywood. This legendary director and filmmaker has had an undeniable influence on art and the culture of filmmaking, but is also a respected media businessman. In Ridley Scott: A Biography, Vincent LoBrutto delves into Ridley Scott's oeuvre in a way that allows readers to understand the yin and yang of his exceptional career. Presented is a unique crosscut between the biographical facts of Ridley Scott's personal life--his birth and early days in northeast England, his life in New York City--and his career in Hollywood as a director and producer of television commercials, TV series, miniseries, and feature films. Every film is presented, analyzed, and probed for a greater understanding of the visionary, his personality, and his thought process, for a deeper perception of his astounding work and accomplishments. The voices of cast and crew who have worked with Ridley Scott, as well as the words of the man himself, are woven throughout this book for a fully realized, critical biography, revealing the depth of the artist and his achievements"-- Provided by publisher.
I've Seen the Future and I'm Not Going
The Art Scene, and Downtown New York in the 1980s
Published in 2019
"Peter McGough--half of the team of McDermott & McGough, artists known for their painting, photography, sculpture and film--writes about the trauma of growing up gay in 1950s suburbia; about the East Village art scene of the 1980s when he knew Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons and Julian Schnabel; and about his meeting David McDermott who would profoundly change his life by insisting they dress, live, and work like men in the Victorian era. From then on, wherever they lived--in New York City or in upstate New York--they lived without electricity or any other modern conveniences. Their art, called "Time Maps" was concerned with sexuality, bigotry, and AIDS, and their photography--using cyanotypes and platinum plates--had great success at major galleries and museums around the world. Eventually, however, McDermott's incendiary temper and profligate spending would bankrupt them: McDermott would move to Dublin, and McGough, trying to work in New York, would discover that he had AIDS. I've Seen the Future and I'm Not Going is a poignant, often devastating, often humorous, entirely singular memoir"-- Provided by publisher.
Margaret Thatcher
The Authorized Biography
Published in 2019
"This third and climactic volume (1987-2013) of Charles Moore's authorized biography gives the definitive account of Margaret Thatcher's third term in office and her life after it. Three stories run through the whole book. The first is Mrs. Thatcher's dominance of her government in almost every domestic field, but also her growing intolerance of dissent, the increasing alienation of her most senior ministers over Europe and the fatal corrosion that followed. The second is her commanding presence on the world stage, ... her role in the ending of the Cold War, her central position in the response to the invasion of Kuwait, and her increasing isolation as America's priorities in Europe changed. The third is how she, a woman, coped and led in political worlds almost entirely occupied by men"--Dust jacket flap.
Blood
A Memoir
Published in 2019
Moorer turns her lyrical storytelling powers to recount the events leading up to the moment that forever altered her own life and that of her older sister, Shelby, with whom she shares an unbreakable bond. Gorgeously written, this work delves into the meaning of inheritance and destiny, shame, and trauma--and how it is possible to carve out a safe place in the world despite it all.
Diamond Doris
The True Story of the World's Most Notorious Jewel Thief
Published in 2019
"In the ebullient spirit of Oceans 8, The Heist, and Thelma & Louise, a sensational and entertaining memoir of the worlds most notorious jewel thiefa woman who defied societys prejudices and norms to carve her own path, stealing from elite jewelers to live her dreams." --Publisher
Horror Stories
A Memoir
Published in 2019
"When Liz Phair was just starting out in the Wicker Park, Chicago, music scene in the early 1990s, she encountered some people--mostly men, who didn't respect her and were determined not to see her fail, exactly, because they didn't care enough about her to wish failure on her--they just wanted her to get out of their space, to disappear. "Girly Sound" was the name of the cassettes she used to pass around in those days, and in 1993 those songs became the landmark album Exile in Guyville, which turned Phair, at twenty-five, into a foul-mouthed feminist icon. Now, like a Gen X Patti Smith, Liz Phair tells the story of her life and career in a memoir about the moments that have haunted her most. Horror is in the eye of the beholder. For Phair, horror is what stays with you--the often unrecognized, universal experiences of daily pain, shame, and fear that make up our common humanity. In Phair's case it means the dangers of falling for "the perfect guy," and the disaster that awaits her; the memory of a stranger passed out on a bathroom floor amid a crowd of girls, forcing her to consider our responsibilities to one another, and the gnawing regret of being a bystander; and the profound sense of emptiness she experienced on the set of her first celebrity photoshoot. Horror Stories is a literary accomplishment, and reads like the confessions of a friend. It is a book that gathers up all of our isolated shames, bringing us together in our shared imperfection, our uncertainty and our cowardice, smashing the stigma of not being in control. But most importantly, Horror Stories is a memoir that asks questions of how we feel about the things that have happened to us, how we cope with regret and culpability, and how we break the spell of those things, leeching them of their power over us. This memoir is an immersive experience, taking readers inside the most intimate moments of Phair's life. Her fearless prose, wit, and uncompromising honesty transform those deeply personal moments into tales about each and every one of us--that will appeal to both the serious fan and the serious reader"-- Provided by publisher.
Condé Nast
The Man and His Empire
Published in 2019
"The first biography in over thirty years of Condé Nast, the pioneering publisher of Vogue and Vanity Fair and main rival to media magnate William Randolph Hearst. Condé Nast's life and career was as high profile and glamourous as his magazines. Moving to New York in the early twentieth century with just the shirt on his back, he soon became the highest paid executive in the United States, acquiring Vogue in 1909 and Vanity Fair in 1913. Alongside his editors, Edna Woolman Chase at Vogue and Frank Crowninshield at Vanity Fair, he built the first-ever international magazine empire, introducing European modern art, style, and fashions to an American audience. Credited with creating the "café society," Nast became a permanent fixture on the international fashion scene and a major figure in New York society. His superbly appointed apartment at 1040 Park Avenue, decorated by the legendary Elsie de Wolfe, became a gathering place for the major artistic figures of the time. Nast launched the careers of icons like Cecil Beaton, Clare Boothe Luce, Lee Miller, Dorothy Parker and Noel Coward. He left behind a legacy that endures today in media powerhouses such as Anna Wintour, Tina Brown, and Graydon Carter. Written with the cooperation of his family on both sides of the Atlantic and a dedicated team at Condé Nast Publications, critically acclaimed biographer Susan Ronald reveals the life of an extraordinary American success story"-- Provided by publisher.
Alfred Stieglitz
Taking Pictures, Making Painters
Published in 2019
"Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946) was an enormously influential artist and nurturer of artists even though his accomplishments are often overshadowed by his role as Georgia O'Keeffe's husband. This new book from celebrated biographer Phyllis Rose reconsiders Stieglitz as a revolutionary force in the history of American art. Born in New Jersey, Stieglitz at age eighteen went to study in Germany, where his father, a wool merchant and painter, insisted he would get a proper education. After returning to America, he became one of the first American photographers to achieve international fame. By the time he was sixty, he gave up photography and devoted himself to selling and promoting art. His first gallery, 291, was the first American gallery to show works by Picasso, Rodin, Matisse, and other great European modernists. His galleries were not dealerships so much as open universities, where he introduced European modern art to Americans and nurtured an appreciation of American art among American artists"--Publisher's description.
Pat Conroy
Our Lifelong Friendship
Published in 2019
"For Pat Conroy fans, a loving, laughter-filled homage to a loyal, big-hearted friend. Pat Conroy, the bestselling author of The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini among many other books, was beloved by millions of readers. Bernie Schein was his best friend from the time they met in a high-school pickup basketball game in Beaufort, South Carolina, until Conroy's death in 2016. Both were popular athletes but also outsiders as a Jew and a Catholic military brat in the small-town Bible-Belt South, and they bonded. Wise ass and smart aleck, loudmouths both, they shared an ebullient sense of humor and romanticism, were mesmerized by the highbrow and reveled in the low, and would sacrifice entire evenings and afternoons to endless conversation. As young teachers in the Beaufort area and later in Atlanta, they were activists in the civil rights struggle and against institutional racism and bigotry. Bernie knew intimately the private family story of the Conroys and his friend's difficult relationship with his Marine Corps colonel father that Pat would draw on repeatedly in his fiction. A love letter and homage, and a way to share the Pat he knew, this book collects Bernie's cherished memories about the gregarious, welcoming, larger-than-life man who remained his best friend, even during the years they didn't speak. It offers a trove of insights and anecdotes that will be treasured by Pat Conroy's many devoted fans"-- Provided by publisher.
Alice Adams
Portrait of a Writer
Published in 2019
"Alice Adams: Portrait of a Writer has the heartbeat of one American woman's life in the twentieth century. It tells an intimate story of how Alice Adams-white, privileged, talented-endured a lonely childhood as a child in the racially distressed South and came of age during the Great Depression and World War II. Always a rebel in good-girl's clothing, Adams used her education, sexual and emotional curiosity, and uncompromising artistic ambition to break the strictures that bound women in the Fifties. Divorced with a child to raise, she worked at secretarial jobs for two decades before she could earn a living as a writer. Once celebrated as "America's Colette," Adams is now almost forgotten. With the same meticulous research and vivid storytelling she brought to Raymond Carver: A Writer's Life, Sklenicka's biography of Alice Adams connects the events of Adams's life to the events depicted in her stories. Sklenicka interviewed scores of Adams's friends and acquaintances and spent months, no years, with her letters and manuscripts. By delving into Adams's personal life, she shows how writing saved Adams from sorrows and how life served her writing. In Ploughshares, Jason Appel praised Sklenicka "one of the most astute literary critics of our time" for her weaving of "perceptive analysis of Carver's stories into her narrative of his life" and for her "even-handed presentation of the leading controversies in Carver scholarship." Though this biography never confuses fact and fiction, it allows them brighten and clarify one another"-- Provided by publisher.
Sidney Lumet
A Life
Published in 2019
"Sidney Lumet: A Life is the first-ever biography of this seminal American director whose remarkable life traces a line through American entertainment history. His biography takes us from the world of Yiddish theater to Broadway spectacles, then inside the Federal Theater, the Group Theatre, the Actors Studio, and the early 'golden age' of television--all of which precede Lumet's astonishing five-decades-long adventure in movie making. Acclaimed as the ultimate New York movie director, Lumet began his directing career with the now classic 12 Angry Men, and there followed such landmark New York films as Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon and Network. Most noted for contemporary urban dramas, his remarkably varied output included award-winning adaptations of plays by Anton Chekhov, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams and Eugene O'Neill, whose Long Day's Journey into Night featured Katharine Hepburn and Ralph Richardson in their most devastating performances. His renown as an 'actor's director,' attracted an unmatched roster of stars, among them: Henry Fonda, Sophia Loren, Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani, Sean Connery, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Newman, Al Pacino, Ethan Hawke and Philip-Seymour Hoffman, accruing 17 Oscar nods for his actors along the way. His personal life was full of surprises, with four marriages to remarkable women, all of whom opened their living rooms to Sidney's world of artists and performers, from Marilyn Monroe to Leonard Bernstein and Michael Jackson. With the help of exclusive interviews with family, colleagues and friends, author Maura Spiegel provides a vibrant picture of the extraordinary life and work of a director whose influence is felt through generations. This is a book that anyone interested in American film of the twentieth century will not want to miss"-- Provided by publisher.
Boss of the Grips
The Life of James H. Williams and the Red Caps of Grand Central Terminal
Published in 2019
Carrie Fisher
A Life on the Edge
Published in 2019
Sourced by friends, colleagues, and witnesses to all stages of Fisher's life, this work is an affectionate and even-handed portrayal of a woman whose unsurpassed honesty is a reminder of how things should be.
Prince Albert
The Man Who Saved the Monarchy
Published in 2019
In this companion biography to the acclaimed "Victoria", A.N. Wilson offers a deeply textured and ambitious portrait of Prince Albert, published to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the royal consort's birth.
Dear Girls
Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets & Advice for Living Your Best Life
Published in 2019
"In her hit Netflix comedy special Baby Cobra, an eight-month pregnant Ali Wong resonated so heavily that she became a popular Halloween costume. Wong told the world her remarkably unfiltered thoughts on marriage, sex, Asian culture, working women, and why you never see new mom comics on stage but you sure see plenty of new dads. The sharp insights and humor are even more personal in this completely original collection. She shares the wisdom she's learned from a life in comedy and reveals stories from her life off stage, including the brutal singles life in New York (i.e. the inevitable confrontation with erectile dysfunction), reconnecting with her roots (and drinking snake blood) in Vietnam, tales of being a wild child growing up in San Francisco, and parenting war stories. Though addressed to her daughters, Ali Wong's letters are absurdly funny, surprisingly moving, and enlightening (and disgusting) for all"-- Provided by publisher.