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books tagged “bio”
books tagged “bio”
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Alan Turing: The Enigmaby Andrew Hodges, Douglas HofstadterISBN 0802775802 (0-8027-7580-2)
Softcover, St Martins Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Alan Turing: The Enigma'Book summary:Alan Turing died in 1954, but the themes of his life epitomize the turn of the millennium. A pure mathematician from a tradition that prided itself on its impracticality, Turing laid the foundations for modern computer science, writes Andrew Hodges:
Alan had proved that there was no "miraculous machine" that could solve all mathematical problems, but in the process he had discovered something almost equally miraculous, the idea of a universal machine that could take over the work of any machine.
During World War II, Turing was the intellectual star of Bletchley Park, the secret British cryptography unit. His work cracking the German's Enigma machine code was, in many ways, the first triumph of computer science. And Turing died because his identity as a homosexual was incompatible with cold-war ideas of security, implemented with machines and remorseless logic: "It was his own invention, and it killed the goose that laid the golden eggs."
Andrew Hodges's remarkable insight weaves Turing's mathematical and computer work with his personal life to produce one of the best biographies of our time, and the basis of the Derek Jacobi movie Breaking the Code. Hodges has the mathematical knowledge to explain the intellectual significance of Turing's work, while never losing sight of the human and social picture:
In this sense his life belied his work, for it could not be contained by the discrete state machine. At every stage his life raised questions about the connection (or lack of it) between the mind and the body, thought and action, intelligence and operations, science and society, the individual and history.
And Hodges admits what all biographers know, but few admit, about their subjects: "his inner code remains unbroken." Alan Turing is still an enigma. --Mary Ellen Curtin [via]
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All Things Bright And Beautifulby James HerriotISBN 0816162697 (0-8161-6269-7)
Hardcover, G K Hall & Co
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All Things Wise And Wonderfulby James HerriotISBN 0816165254 (0-8161-6525-4)
Hardcover, G K Hall & Co
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The Arrogance of Power: The Secret World of Richard Nixonby Anthony SummersISBN 0756758149 (0-7567-5814-9)
Hardcover, Diane Pub Co
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Arrogance of Power: The Secret World of Richard Nixon'Book summary:Anthony Summers is the past master of scandal, the man who brought you Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe and that unforgettable (alleged) eyewitness account of J. Edgar Hoover in a flouncy black dress. Greater experts than I must rule on Summers's exhaustively researched portrait of Richard Nixon, The Arrogance of Power, but it sure is one racy read. Summers depicts a Nixon stoned out of his mind on Seconal, single-malt Scotch, Dilantin, speed, and clinical paranoia, pummeling his wife, Pat (who was rumored to have once been rescued by the Secret Service from drunkenly drowning in a bathtub). Summers's Nixon apparently took Mickey Cohen Mob money to fund his anti-Semitic, salacious smear campaign against Helen Gahagan Douglas to get his Senate start; framed Alger Hiss with a fake typewriter; traded gold for POWs with Vietcong; and issued orders to bomb Damascus and Jordan and nuke Vietnam and Korea (orders that were ignored until Nixon sobered up in the morning). His favorite limo was the SS100X that JFK died in. Nixon's shrink reportedly also treated Rita Hayworth, spoke like Dr. Strangelove, and used "Pavlovian technique" to "brainwash Nixon into becoming a better person." No luck.
Summers's Nixon favored the Greek generals who tortured pro-democracy types, and took a bribe from Göring's pal Nicolae Malaxa, who, thanks to Nixon, traded his Romanian mansion (in which thousands of Jews were tortured and killed) for a posh Manhattan apartment. Summers's most fascinating stuff concerns the Howard Hughes/Castro/Watergate connection. Did Nixon order CIA/Mafia plots to kill Castro? Did Robert Maheu (said to have inspired Mission: Impossible) arrange "sex services" and "assassination planning" for the CIA, and spy on Jean Peters and Ava Gardner for Howard Hughes? Did Hughes give big money to Nixon under the guise of saving the fast-food "Nixonburger" franchise of Richard's brother Donald Nixon (whom Richard had the FBI spy on)? Did the Castro plot get JFK killed, as Haldeman suspected? Was the Watergate break-in (one of perhaps 100 Nixon break-ins) intended to seize information about Nixon's Hughes loans and Castro plots?
Summers tries to assess his massive data while he's presenting it, and he doesn't credit every wild tale equally. Still, without him, I would never have heard about Castro's alleged ex-girlfriend, "the Mata Hari of the Caribbean," hired by future Watergate burglars to re-seduce Castro and slip two poison pills in his coffee. But she hid the pills in her cold-cream jar, and when she took them out in their Havana Hilton bathroom, they'd melted. Besides, her close encounter with the leader left her "torn by feelings of love." The Arrogance of Power won't give you this feeling. --Tim Appelo [via]
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The Autobiography and Other Writingsby Benjamin Franklin, Thomas J. FlemingISBN 0882250310 (0-88225-031-0)
Hardcover, Newsweek
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The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklinby Benjamin Franklin, Lewis LearyISBN 0743255062 (0-7432-5506-2)
Softcover, Touchstone Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin'Book summary:Printer and publisher, author and educator, scientist and inventor, statesman and philanthropist, Benjamin Franklin was the very embodiment of the American type of self-made man. In 1771, at the age of 65, he sat down to write his autobiography, "having emerged from the poverty and obscurity in which I was born and bred to a state of affluence and some degree of reputation in the world, and having gone so far through life with a considerable share of felicity." The result is a classic of American literature.
[via]
On the eve of the tercentenary of Franklin's birth, the university he founded has selected the Autobiography for the Penn Reading Project. Each year, for the past fifteen years, the University of Pennsylvania has chosen a single work that the entire incoming class, and a large segment of the faculty and staff, read and discuss together. For this occasion the University of Pennsylvania Press will publish a special edition of Franklin's Autobiography, including a new preface by University president Amy Gutmann and an introduction by distinguished scholar Peter Conn. The volume will also include four short essays by noted Penn professors as well as a chronology of Franklin's life and the text of Franklin's Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania, a document resulting in the establishment of an institution of higher education that ultimately became the University of Pennsylvania.
No area of human endeavor escaped Franklin's keen attentions. His ideas and values, as Amy Gutmann notes in her remarks, have shaped the modern University of Pennsylvania profoundly, "more profoundly than have the founders of any other major university of college in the United States." Franklin believed that he had been born too soon. Readers will recognize that his spirit lives on at Penn today.
Essay contributors: Richard R. Beeman, Paul Guyer, Michael Weisberg, and Michael Zuckerman.More editions of The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin:
- The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: ISBN 0812219295 (0-8122-1929-5)
Softcover, Univ of Pennsylvania Pr - The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: ISBN 0899664164 (0-89966-416-4)
Hardcover, Buccaneer Books - The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: ISBN 0760768617 (0-7607-6861-7)
Softcover, Barnes & Noble Books - The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: ISBN 080490071X (0-8049-0071-X)
Softcover, Airmont Pub Co - The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: ISBN 0743255062 (0-7432-5506-2)
Softcover, Touchstone Books
- The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: ISBN 0812219295 (0-8122-1929-5)
The Autobiography of Eleanor Rooseveltby Eleanor RooseveltISBN 0839828519 (0-8398-2851-9)
Softcover, Olympic Marketing Corp
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Autobiography: The Big Seaby Joseph McLarenISBN 082621410X (0-8262-1410-X)
Hardcover, Univ of Missouri Pr
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Barbara Bush: A Memoirby Barbara BushISBN 0743254473 (0-7432-5447-3)
Softcover, Scribner
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The Big Sea: An Autobiographyby Langston HughesISBN 0809015498 (0-8090-1549-8)
Softcover, Farrar Straus & Giroux
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Bismarck : The Man and the Statesmanby A. J. P. TaylorISBN 0750932740 (0-7509-3274-0)
Softcover, Sutton Publishing
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Bismarck : The Man and the Statesman'Book summary:Treating Bismarck as a man of his time, the author surveys his political policy and actions as well as investigating the psychology of a man whose life and achievements continue to be a source of controversy. [via]
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Black Boy (American Hunger): A Record of Childhood and Youthby Richard WrightISBN 0808510525 (0-8085-1052-5)
Hardcover, Bt Bound
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Black Boy (American Hunger): A Record of Childhood and Youth'Book summary:Richard Wright grew up in the woods of Mississippi amid poverty, hunger, fear, and hatred. He lied, stole, and raged at those around him; at six he was a "drunkard," hanging about in taverns. Surly, brutal, cold, suspicious, and self-pitying, he was surrounded on one side by whites who were either indifferent to him, pitying, or cruel, and on the other by blacks who resented anyone trying to rise above the common lot.
Black Boy is Richard Wright's powerful account of his journey from innocence to experience in the Jim Crow South. It is at once an unashamed confession and a profound indictmenta poignant and disturbing record of social injustice and human suffering.
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Black Like Me: Library Editionby John Howard Griffin, Bonazzi, Robert (AFT), Studs Terkel, Don RutledgeISBN 0930324722 (0-930324-72-2)
Hardcover, Wings Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Black Like Me: Library Edition'Book summary:This American classic has been corrected from the original manuscripts and indexed, featuring historic photographs and an extensive biographical afterword.[via]More editions of Black Like Me: Library Edition:
Charles Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Lifeby Howard SounesISBN 0802136974 (0-8021-3697-4)
Softcover, Grove Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Charles Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life'Book summary:Charles Bukowski - onetime bum, longtime alcoholic, and the author of now-classic novels such as Post Office, Factotum, and Women - rose from obscurity to become world famous. His semiautobiographical books about low-life America made him a cult figure and culminated in the making of Barfly, a major Hollywood film based on Bukowski's life. In this new biography, Howard Sounes has drawn on years of exhaustive research - including new interviews with virtually all of Bukowski's friends, his family, and his many lovers, as well as unprecedented access to his private letters and unpublished writing - to reveal the extraordinary true story of the Dirty Old Man of American literature. Illustrated with over sixty never-before-published photographs, Charles Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life also includes original drawings by Bukowski and unique contributions by friends, including Norman Mailer, Allen Ginsberg, Sean Penn, Mickey Rourke, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, R. Crumb, and Harry Dean Stanton. Interspersed with telling excerpts from Bukowski's poetry and prose, including several unpublished works, Charles Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life is a must for Bukowski devotees and new readers alike. "Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life is a generous tribute to Bukowski's genius and it clearly and truthfully captures the essence of Bukowski both as writer and man." - John Martin, Black Sparrow Press, Bukowski's lifelong editor-publisher and literary executor. [via]
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Charmed Circle: Gertrude Stein and Companyby James R. MellowISBN 0805073515 (0-8050-7351-5)
Softcover, Holt & Company, Henry
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The Child Called Itby David J. PelzerISBN 0929099028 (0-929099-02-8)
Softcover, Maun Lemke
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Crazy Horseby M. SandozISBN 0803811195 (0-8038-1119-5)
Hardcover, Hastings House Pub
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Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalasby Mari Sandoz, Vine DeloriaISBN 0803293194 (0-8032-9319-4)
Softcover, Univ of Nebraska Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas'Book summary:Crazy Horse, the military leader of the Oglala Sioux whose personal power and social nonconformity set him off as "strange," fought in many famous battles, including the one at the Little Bighorn. He held out boldly against the government's efforts to confine the Sioux on reservations. Finally, in the spring of 1877 he surrendered, one of the last important chiefs to do so, only to meet a violent death. Mari Sandoz, the noted author of Cheyenne Autumn and Old Jules, both available as Bison Books, has captured the spirit of Crazy Horse with a strength and nobility befitting his heroism.[via]More editions of Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas:
Diaries of Franz Kafka 1914-1923by Franz KafkaISBN 0805204253 (0-8052-0425-3)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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Diplomat Among Warriorsby Robert D. MurphyISBN 083717693X (0-8371-7693-X)
Hardcover, Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated
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Divine Invasions: A Life of Philip K. Dickby Lawrence SutinISBN 0786716231 (0-7867-1623-1)
Softcover, Carroll & Graf Pub
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Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritanceby Barack ObamaISBN 081292343X (0-8129-2343-X)
Hardcover, Crown Publishing Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance'Book summary:Obama, the son of a white American mother and a black African father, writes an elegant and compelling biography that powerfully articulates America's racial battleground and tells of his search for his place in black America. 8 pages of photos. [via]
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Eleanor: The Years Aloneby Joseph P. LashISBN 0831756101 (0-8317-5610-1)
Hardcover, Smithmark Pub
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Eminent Victorians: The Definitive Edition Cardinal Manning, Florence Nightingale, Dr Arnold, General Gordonby Lytton Strachey, Paul LevyISBN 0826464971 (0-8264-6497-1)
Softcover, Continuum Intl Pub Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Eminent Victorians: The Definitive Edition Cardinal Manning, Florence Nightingale, Dr Arnold, General Gordon'Book summary:Lytton Strachey's classic work "Eminent Victorians" was an assault on the Victorian age and its values. In choosing four key figures, Cardinal Manning, Dr Arnold of Rugby, Florence Nightingale and General Gordon, Strachey conducted a masterly hatchet job on four key representatives of their age. His book was an instant bestseller and has been in print ever since. But now the mood has changed. Victorian studies are booming. Scholars are looking again at the Victorian age and are reassessing some of its more notable figures. The text of "Eminent Victorians" is printed here in its integrity with new critical afterwords by scholars, demonstrating how lopsided was Strachey's judgement and representing his subjects in fresh light. [via]
More editions of Eminent Victorians: The Definitive Edition Cardinal Manning, Florence Nightingale, Dr Arnold, General Gordon:
- Eminent Victorians: The Definitive Edition Cardinal Manning, Florence Nightingale, Dr Arnold, General Gordon: ISBN 0826459641 (0-8264-5964-1)
Hardcover, Continuum Intl Pub Group - Eminent Victorians: The Definitive Edition Cardinal Manning, Florence Nightingale, Dr Arnold, General Gordon: ISBN 0826464971 (0-8264-6497-1)
Softcover, Continuum Intl Pub Group
- Eminent Victorians: The Definitive Edition Cardinal Manning, Florence Nightingale, Dr Arnold, General Gordon: ISBN 0826459641 (0-8264-5964-1)
Experience: A Memoirby Martin AmisISBN 0786866527 (0-7868-6652-7)
Hardcover, Hyperion Books
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Five English Reformersby J. C. RyleISBN 0851511384 (0-85151-138-4)
Softcover, Banner of Truth Trust, The
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Five English Reformers'Book summary:Few martyr's words can be more stirring than those of Bishop Hugh Latimer's to Dr. Nicholas Ridley:
Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and
play the man. We shall this day light such
a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I
trust shall never be put out.
But, why were such men burned at the stake? What were the great convictions in which they lived and for which they were prepared to sacrifice life itself? What made their lives and testimony to Christ's gospel so powerful? Do Christians today share either their convictions or their faithfulness?
It was the increasing conviction that martyrs, though dead, can still speak to the church, which led Bishop J.C. Ryle to pen these pungent biographies of Five English Reformers last century. Along with an analysis of the reasons for their martyrdom he points out the salient characteristics of their Christian lives. Such men still prove to be examples, warnings and challenges all in one, to Christians today. Readers will rise from the company of their life-stories praying for a similar faith in Christ's power. [via]More editions of Five English Reformers:
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Franz Kafka: Der Dichter uber Sein Werkby Franz Kafka, Max BrodISBN 0805209069 (0-8052-0906-9)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Franz Kafka: Der Dichter uber Sein Werk'Book summary:These diaries cover the years 1910 to 1923, the year before Kafkas death at the age of forty. They provide a penetrating look into life in Prague and into Kafkas accounts of his dreams, his feelings for the father he worshipped and the woman he could not bring himself to marry, his sense of guilt, and his feelings of being an outcast. They offer an account of a life of almost unbearable intensity.
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Genghis Khan: Emperor of All Menby Harold LambISBN 0884117987 (0-88411-798-7)
Hardcover, Amereon Ltd
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Genghis Khan: Emperor of All Men'Book summary:Copyright 1927 story of Genghis Khan. [via]
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Genghis Khan or the Emperor of All Menby Harold LambISBN 0766144151 (0-7661-4415-1)
Softcover, Kessinger Publishing, LLC
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George Washingtonby Willard S. RandallISBN 0805027793 (0-8050-2779-3)
Hardcover, Holt & Company, Henry
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› Find signed collectible books: 'George Washington'Book summary:To most people George Washington is a mysterious icon, the man on the dollar who we know about mostly because of mythical exploits. This substantial biography of the first American president succeeds in portraying Washington as a man with a keen mind and sharp temper who overcame great adversity. In particular, George Washington is valuable for its telling of the story of Washington's early life. How the frontier surveyor took to a military career, failed at it, and eventually redeemed himself as a great leader of the American Revolution is an engrossing story that may be surprising to many who think they know about Washington, but mostly know just the myths. [via]
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George Whitefield: The Life and Times of the Great Evangelist of the 18th Century Revivalby Arnold A. Dallimore, D. Martyn Lloyd-JonesISBN 0851510264 (0-85151-026-4)
Hardcover, Banner of Truth Trust, The
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› Find signed collectible books: 'George Whitefield: The Life and Times of the Great Evangelist of the 18th Century Revival'Book summary:Volume 1 brings the story of Whitefield's life and of the evangelical revival up to the end of the year 1740. Volume 2 follows events onwards until his death in 1770. An outstanding biography, popularly written, and with an urgent message for the present day. [via]
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- George Whitefield: The Life and Times of the Great Evangelist of the 18th Century Revival: ISBN 085151300X (0-85151-300-X)
Hardcover, Banner of Truth Trust, The - George Whitefield: The Life and Times of the Great Evangelist of the 18th Century Revival: ISBN 0851510264 (0-85151-026-4)
Hardcover, Banner of Truth Trust, The
- George Whitefield: The Life and Times of the Great Evangelist of the 18th Century Revival: ISBN 085151300X (0-85151-300-X)
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George Whitefield: The Life and Times of the Great Evangelist of the Eighteenth-Century Revivalby Arnold A. DallimoreISBN 0891071679 (0-89107-167-9)
Hardcover, Good News Pub
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› Find signed collectible books: 'George Whitefield, the Life and Times of the Great Evangelist of the Eighteenth-Century Revival'Book summary:Dallimore is a master of biography. It grips you from the first page. It took me 2 weeks to read the first volume, 4 days to read the second. This is exciting stuff and makes you long for someone like Whitefield to appear today. Dallimore brings the period to life, puts Whitefield in his place as the more significant man than Wesley, and shows his great humility and constant labours. It is no wonder Whitefield died at 56. This is THE Christian biography to read. Don't worry about the length, it's wonderful. [via]
More editions of George Whitefield: The Life and Times of the Great Evangelist of the Eighteenth-Century Revival:
- George Whitefield: The Life and Times of the Great Evangelist of the Eighteenth-Century Revival: ISBN 0891071687 (0-89107-168-7)
Hardcover, Good News Pub - George Whitefield, the Life and Times of the Great Evangelist of the Eighteenth-Century Revival: ISBN 0891071679 (0-89107-167-9)
Hardcover, Good News Pub
- George Whitefield: The Life and Times of the Great Evangelist of the Eighteenth-Century Revival: ISBN 0891071687 (0-89107-168-7)
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The Glass Castle: A Memoirby Jeannette WallsISBN 074324754X (0-7432-4754-X)
Softcover, Simon & Schuster
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Glass Castle: A Memoir'Book summary:Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn't stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an "excitement addict." Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever.
Later, when the money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls retreated to the dismal West Virginia mining town -- and the family -- Rex Walls had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents' betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home.
What is so astonishing about Jeannette Walls is not just that she had the guts and tenacity and intelligence to get out, but that she describes her parents with such deep affection and generosity. Hers is a story of triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that despite its profound flaws gave her the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.
For two decades, Jeannette Walls hid her roots. Now she tells her own story. A regular contributor to MSNBC.com, she lives in New York and Long Island and is married to the writer John Taylor. [via]
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Great Books of the Western Worldby Encyclopdia Britannica, inc., Robert Maynard HutchinsISBN 0852291639 (0-85229-163-9)
Hardcover, Encyclopdia Britannica
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Great Books of the Western World'Book summary:The Iliad (Ancient Greek ?????, Ilias) is, together with the Odyssey, one of two ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer, a supposedly blind Ionian poet. The epics are considered by most modern scholars to be the oldest literature in the Greek language. The Iliad concerns events during the tenth and final year in the siege of the city of Ilion, or Troy, by the Greeks. The Odyssey (Greek: ????????, Odusseia)is commonly dated circa 800 to 600 BC. The poem is, in part, a sequel to Homer's Iliad and mainly concerns the events that befall the Greek hero Odysseus (or Ulysses) in his long journeys after the fall of Troy and when he at last returns to his native land of Ithaca. [via]
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Great Books of the Western Worldby Mortimer Jerome Adler, Clifton Fadiman, Philip W. GoetzISBN 0852295316 (0-85229-531-6)
Hardcover, Encyclopaedia Britannica
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Great Books of the Western World'Book summary:A Reader's Guide to Great Books of the Western World. Publisher: Robert P. Gwinn. Published by Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. [via]
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Grey Eminenceby Aldous HuxleyISBN 0881841684 (0-88184-168-4)
Softcover, Carroll & Graf Pub
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The Gurdjieff Workby Kathleen Riordan SpeethISBN 0874774926 (0-87477-492-6)
Softcover, J P Tarcher
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Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Lutherby Roland H. BaintonISBN 0844662259 (0-8446-6225-9)
Hardcover, Peter Smith Pub Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther'Book summary:[This is the Audiobook CD Library Edition in vinyl case.]
''I cannot and will not recant! . . . Here I stand.'' This authoritative and inspiring story paints a vivid portrait of the crusader who spearheaded the Reformation. Considered one of the most readable biographies of Martin Luther, this volume looks at the German religious reformer and his influence on Western civilization.
Martin Luther entered a monastery as a youth and as a man shattered the structure of the medieval church, speaking out against the corrupt religious practices of the time. His demand that the authority for doctrine and practice be scriptures, rather than popes or councils, echoed around the world and ignited the great Reformation. Accused of heresy and threatened with excommunication and death, Luther maintained his bold stand and refused to recant. In his crusade to eliminate religious abuses, he did more than any other man to establish the Protestant faith.
With sound historical scholarship and penetrating insight, Roland Bainton examines Luther's widespread influence. He re-creates the spiritual setting of the sixteenth century, showing Luther's place within it and influence upon it. Here I Stand dramatically brings to life Martin Luther, the great reformer. [via]More editions of Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther:
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History of My Lifeby Giacomo Casanova, Willard R. TraskISBN 0801856620 (0-8018-5662-0)
Softcover, Johns Hopkins Univ Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'History of My Life'Book summary:This translation of Giacomo Casanova's epic memoir was first published in a multi-volume set more than 25 years ago, but this new paperback edition makes Casanova's story accessible to the general reader. Thankfully, the great Venetian adventurer's memoirs can finally be read as they were written, without the bowdlerizing that plagued them for two centuries. While Casanova is most notorious for his womanizing, his memoirs are also remarkable as they give a top-to-bottom view of European life in the 18th century. Johns Hopkins University Press has done a handsome job, packaging the entire story in six double volumes. And, in keeping with the spirit of the author, it's worth mentioning that a 17th-century painting of lounging nude woman spans across the spines of the set when they're arranged on the shelf. [via]
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Hitler: A Study in Tyrannyby Alan BullockISBN 0831757094 (0-8317-5709-4)
Hardcover, Smithmark Pub
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The House Of Mitfordby Jonathan Guinness, Catherine GuinnessISBN 0753818035 (0-7538-1803-5)
Softcover, Orion Pub Co
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Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secretby Gregg Lewis, Hudson Taylor, Geraldine TaylorISBN 0929239202 (0-929239-20-2)
Softcover, Discovery House Pub
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret'Book summary:Discover Hudson Taylor, a pioneer missionary to China, who suffered tribulation, hardship, poverty, and misunderstanding. But at his heart, he loved the Chinese people and learned through his misfortunes to trust God completely. Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret is a stirring biography that challenges you to live a life of faith. [via]
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Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secretby Hudson TaylorISBN 0802400299 (0-8024-0029-9)
Softcover, Moody Pub
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I Am Alive and You Are Dead : A Journey into the Mind of Philip K. Dickby Emmanuel Carrere, Timothy BentISBN 0805054642 (0-8050-5464-2)
Hardcover, Holt & Company, Henry
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› Find signed collectible books: 'I Am Alive and You Are Dead : A Journey into the Mind of Philip K. Dick'Book summary:From the master chronicler of psychological extremes, an unforgettable portrait of the Shakespeare of science fiction whose work has influenced millions[via]
For his many devoted readers, Philip K. Dick is not only one of the most valiant psychological explorers of the 20th century (The New York Times) but a source of divine revelation. Dick, whose work inspired such films as Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Minority Report, dedicated his life to solving one ultimately unanswerable question: What is real?
In the riveting style that won accolades for The Adversary, Emmanuel Carrère follows Dicks strange odyssey from his traumatic beginnings in 1928, when his twin sister died in infancy, to his lonely end in 1982, beset by mystical visions of swirling pink lights, three-eyed invaders, and messages from the Roman Empire. Drawing on interviews as well as unpublished sources, Carrère traces Dicks multiple marriages, paranoid fantasies, and vertiginous encounters with the drug culture of sixties California. He vividly conjures the spirit of this restless observer of American postwar malaise whose more than fifty novels subverted the materials of science fictionparallel universes, intricate time loops, collective delusionsto create classic works of contemporary anxiety.
As disturbing and engrossing as a book by its subject, Carrères unconventional work interweaves life and art to reveal the maddening genius whose writing foresawfrom cloning to reality TVa world that looks ever more like one of his inventions.More editions of I Am Alive and You Are Dead : A Journey into the Mind of Philip K. Dick:
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I Know Why the Caged Bird Singsby Maya AngelouISBN 0808510576 (0-8085-1057-6)
Hardcover, Bt Bound
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› Find signed collectible books: 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'Book summary:In this first of five volumes of autobiography, poet Maya Angelou recounts a youth filled with disappointment, frustration, tragedy, and finally hard-won independence. Sent at a young age to live with her grandmother in Arkansas, Angelou learned a great deal from this exceptional woman and the tightly knit black community there. These very lessons carried her throughout the hardships she endured later in life, including a tragic occurrence while visiting her mother in St. Louis and her formative years spent in California--where an unwanted pregnancy changed her life forever. Marvelously told, with Angelou's "gift for language and observation," this "remarkable autobiography by an equally remarkable black woman from Arkansas captures, indelibly, a world of which most Americans are shamefully ignorant." [via]
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I know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Blooms Guides)by Harold BloomISBN 0791077683 (0-7910-7768-3)
Softcover, Facts on File
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Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survial at the South Poleby Maryanne Vollers, Jerri NielsenISBN 0786886994 (0-7868-8699-4)
Softcover, Hyperion Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole'Book summary:Jerri Nielsen was a forty-six-year-old doctor working in Ohio when she made the decision to take a year's sabbatical at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station on Antarctica, the most remote and perilous place on Earth. The "Polies," as they are known, live in almost total darkness for six months of the year, in winter temperatures as low as 100 degrees below zero--with no way in or out before the spring.
During the long winter of 1999, Dr. Nielsen, solely responsible for the mental and physical fitness of a team of researchers, construction workers, and support staff, discovered a lump in her breast. Consulting via email with doctors in the United States, she performed a biopsy on herself, and in July began chemotherapy treatments to ensure her survival until condition permitted her rescue in October. A daring rescue by the Air National Guard ensued, who landed, dropped off a replacement physician, and minutes later took off with Dr. Nielsen.
This is Dr. Nielsen's own account of her experience at the Pole, the sea change as she becomes "of the Ice," and her realization that as she would rather be on Antarctica than anywhere else on earth. It is also a thrilling adventure of researchers and scientists embattled by a hostile environment; a penetrating exploration of the dynamics of an isolated, intensely connected community faced with adversity; and, at its core, a powerfully moving drama of love and loss, of one woman's voyage of self-discovery through an extraordinary struggle for survival. [via]
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The Illustrated Longitudeby Dava Sobel, William J. H. AndrewesISBN 0802713440 (0-8027-1344-0)
Hardcover, Walker & Company
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Illustrated Longitude'Book summary:Dava Sobel's Longitude tells the story of how 18th-century scientist and clockmaker William Harrison solved one of the most perplexing problems of history--determining east-west location at sea. This lush, colorfully illustrated edition adds lots of pictures to the story, giving readers a more satisfying sense of the times, the players, and the puzzle. This was no obscure, curious difficulty--without longitude, ships often found themselves so far off course that sailors would starve or die of scurvy before they could reach port. When a nationally-sponsored contest offered a hefty cash prize to the person who could develop a method to accurately determine longitude, the race was on. In the end, the battle of accuracy--and wills--fought between Harrison and arch-rival Maskelyne was ruthless and dramatic, worthy of a Hollywood feature film. Longitude's story is surprising and fascinating, offering a window into the past, before Global Positioning Satellites made it look easy. --Therese Littleton [via]
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Lies! Lies! Lies: A College Journal of John Gardnerby John C. GardnerISBN 0966563921 (0-9665639-2-1)
Softcover, Boa Editions
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Lies! Lies! Lies: A College Journal of John Gardner'Book summary:Cultural Writing. Autobiography. As a student at DePauw University in 1952, John Gardner kept a notebook to which he gave the seemingly playful title LIES! LIES! LIES! With the journal shaping his discipline, Gardner as a teacher is his own best student. He writes character sketches, scenes, poems, parodies, polemics arguing with critics and teachers -- then tests and questions his own words (he calls the journal LIES! LIES! LIES! To remind himself that his opinions are provisional). Again and again he formulates strategies that he will incarnate in novels ... The journal, then, gives its writer a chance to discover what works and what doesn't -- Thomas Gavin, from the Introduction. The journal is reproduced here in a facsimile edition, preserving the writer's clear and fastidious penmanship, followed by a printed transcription of the text. [via]
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![[???]: The Life and Times of Gigorii Rasputin](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/P/0880291508.01._SL160_SCLZZZZZZZ__.jpg "[???]: The Life and Times of Gigorii Rasputin")
The Life and Times of Gigorii RasputinISBN 0880291508 (0-88029-150-8)
Hardcover, Barnes & Noble
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Life and Times of Grigorii Rasputinby Alex De JongeISBN 0881844845 (0-88184-484-5)
Softcover, Carroll & Graf Pub
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Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyleby John Dickson-CarrISBN 0786712341 (0-7867-1234-1)
Softcover, Carroll & Graf Pub
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle'Book summary:This vivid biography, written by John Dickson Carr, a giant in the field of mystery fiction, benefits from his full access to the archives of the eminent Sir Arthur Conan Doyleto his notebooks, diaries, press clippings, and voluminous correspondence. Like his creation Sherlock Holmes, Doyle had "a horror of destroying documents," and until his death in 1930, they accumulated to vast amount throughout his house at Windlesham. They provide many of the words incorporated by Carr in this lively portrayal of Doyle's forays into politics, his infatuation with spiritualism, his literary ambitions, and dinner-table conversations with friends like H. G. Wells and King Edward VII. Carr, then, in a sense collaborates with his subject to unfold a colorful narrative that takes Doyle from his school days at Stonyhurst to Edinburgh University and a medical practice at Southsea, where he conceived the idea of wedding scientific study to criminal investigation in the fictive person of Sherlock Holmes. It also explores the private tragedy of Doyle's first marriage and long-delayed second as it follows him into the arena of public activity, propaganda, and literary output that would win him not only celebrity but also knighthood. 8 pages of black-and-white photographs are featured.[via]More editions of Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle:
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Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Timeby Dava SobelISBN 0802713122 (0-8027-1312-2)
Hardcover, Walker & Company
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time'Book summary:Dava Sobel's Longitude tells the story of how 18th-century scientist and clockmaker William Harrison solved one of the most perplexing problems of history--determining east-west location at sea. This lush, colorfully illustrated edition adds lots of pictures to the story, giving readers a more satisfying sense of the times, the players, and the puzzle. This was no obscure, curious difficulty--without longitude, ships often found themselves so far off course that sailors would starve or die of scurvy before they could reach port. When a nationally-sponsored contest offered a hefty cash prize to the person who could develop a method to accurately determine longitude, the race was on. In the end, the battle of accuracy--and wills--fought between Harrison and arch-rival Maskelyne was ruthless and dramatic, worthy of a Hollywood feature film. Longitude's story is surprising and fascinating, offering a window into the past, before Global Positioning Satellites made it look easy. --Therese Littleton [via]
More editions of Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time:
- Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time: ISBN 0802714625 (0-8027-1462-5)
Hardcover, Walker & Company - Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time: ISBN 0802713122 (0-8027-1312-2)
Hardcover, Walker & Company
- Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time: ISBN 0802714625 (0-8027-1462-5)
Mby Peter RobbISBN 0747548587 (0-7475-4858-7)
Softcover, Bloomsbury Pub Ltd
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M : The Man Who Became Carravagioby Peter RobbISBN 0805063560 (0-8050-6356-0)
Hardcover, Holt & Company, Henry
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Madam Secretary: A Memoirby William Woodward, Madeleine AlbrightISBN 0786868430 (0-7868-6843-0)
Hardcover, Miramax
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Madam Secretary: A Memoir'Book summary:Madeleine Albright is one of the most admired women of our era and the rst in American history to serve as Secretary of State. For eight years, during Bill Clinton's two presidential terms, she was a decision-maker and inside observer of the most dramatic episodes of recent years-from NATO's decision to halt ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, to the pursuit of peace in the Middle East. Now, in an outspoken memoir, she shares her story and provides a ringside view of world affairs during a period of unprecedented turbulence. Albright's story begins with her childhood as a Czechoslovak refugee, whose family fled rst Hitler and then the Communists. In America, Albright grew up to be a passionate advocate of civil and women's rights and followed a zigzag path to a career that ultimately placed her in the upper stratosphere of diplomacy and policy-making in her adopted country. Refreshingly candid, Madam Secretary brings to life the world leaders Albright dealt with intimately in her years of service and the battles she fought to prove her worth in a male-dominated arena. There are colorful portraits of such leading American gures as Bill and Hillary Clinton, Colin Powell, Jesse Helms, and of a host of fascinating foreign ofcials-Vaclav Havel, Yasser Arafat, Ariel Sharon, Benjamin Netanyahu, King Hussein, Vladimir Putin, Slobodan Milosevic, and North Korea's mysterious Kim Jong-Il. Besides these many encounters with the famous and powerful, we get to know Albright the private woman: her life raising three daughters, the painful breakup of her marriage to the scion of one of America's leading newspaper families, and the discovery late in life of her own Jewish ancestry and that her grandparents had died in concentration camps. Madam Secretary is sure to be one of the signature books of the early years of the twenty-rst century-a tapestry both intimate and panoramic, personal and public, a rich memoir destined to become a classic. [via]
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Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Singsby Harold BloomISBN 0791036669 (0-7910-3666-9)
Hardcover, Facts on File
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'Book summary:Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings accomplishes a controlled poignance in representing a portrait of the young artist as a black woman. Her novel is the focus of this edition of Bloom's Notes. Along with a collection of some of the best criticism available on his work, this text includes a brief biography of the author, structural and thematic analysis, an index of themes and ideas, and more. This series is edited by Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities, Yale University; Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Professor of English, New York University Graduate School. These texts are the ideal aid for all students of literature, presenting concise, easy-to-understand biographical, critical, and bibliographical information on a specific literary work. Also provided are multiple sources for book reports and term papers with a wealth of information on literary works, authors, and major characters. [via]
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The Memoirs of Jacques Casanovaby Jacques CasanovaISBN 0766199258 (0-7661-9925-8)
Softcover, Kessinger Publishing, LLC
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On Writing: A Memoir of the Craftby Stephen KingISBN 0743455967 (0-7434-5596-7)
Softcover, Pocket Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft'Book summary:Short and snappy as it is, Stephen King's On Writing really contains two books: a fondly sardonic autobiography and a tough-love lesson for aspiring novelists. The memoir is terrific stuff, a vivid description of how a writer grew out of a misbehaving kid. You're right there with the young author as he's tormented by poison ivy, gas-passing babysitters, uptight schoolmarms, and a laundry job nastier than Jack London's. It's a ripping yarn that casts a sharp light on his fiction. This was a child who dug Yvette Vickers from Attack of the Giant Leeches, not Sandra Dee. "I wanted monsters that ate whole cities, radioactive corpses that came out of the ocean and ate surfers, and girls in black bras who looked like trailer trash." But massive reading on all literary levels was a craving just as crucial, and soon King was the published author of "I Was a Teen-Age Graverobber." As a young adult raising a family in a trailer, King started a story inspired by his stint as a janitor cleaning a high-school girls locker room. He crumpled it up, but his writer wife retrieved it from the trash, and using her advice about the girl milieu and his own memories of two reviled teenage classmates who died young, he came up with Carrie. King gives us lots of revelations about his life and work. The kidnapper character in Misery, the mind-possessing monsters in The Tommyknockers, and the haunting of the blocked writer in The Shining symbolized his cocaine and booze addiction (overcome thanks to his wife's intervention, which he describes). "There's one novel, Cujo, that I barely remember writing."
King also evokes his college days and his recovery from the van crash that nearly killed him, but the focus is always on what it all means to the craft. He gives you a whole writer's "tool kit": a reading list, writing assignments, a corrected story, and nuts-and-bolts advice on dollars and cents, plot and character, the basic building block of the paragraph, and literary models. He shows what you can learn from H.P. Lovecraft's arcane vocabulary, Hemingway's leanness, Grisham's authenticity, Richard Dooling's artful obscenity, Jonathan Kellerman's sentence fragments. He explains why Hart's War is a great story marred by a tin ear for dialogue, and how Elmore Leonard's Be Cool could be the antidote.
King isn't just a writer, he's a true teacher. --Tim Appelo [via]
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The Quest for Corvo: An Experiment in Biographyby A. J. A. Symons, A. S. ByattISBN 0940322617 (0-940322-61-7)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Quest for Corvo: An Experiment in Biography'Book summary:One day in 1925 a friend asked A. J. A. Symons if he had read Fr. Rolfe's Hadrian the Seventh. He hadn't, but soon did, and found himself entranced by the novel -- "a masterpiece"-- and no less fascinated by the mysterious person of its all-but-forgotten creator. The Quest for Corvo is a hilarious and heartbreaking portrait of the strange Frederick Rolfe, self-appointed Baron Corvo, an artist, writer, and frustrated aspirant to the priesthood with a bottomless talent for self-destruction. But this singular work, subtitled "an experiment in biography," is also a remarkable self-portrait, a study of the obsession and sympathy that inspires the biographer's art. [via]
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Richard Burton: A Lifeby Melvyn BraggISBN 0896218783 (0-89621-878-3)
Hardcover, Thorndike Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Richard Burton: A Life'Book summary:A biography of Richard Burton containing his own words, through the co-operation of members of his family who made available to Bragg various diaries and letters. There are also fresh insights from Burton's peers, to provide a frank and intimate account of his life. The sensational highlights of Burton's private life are well known - his marriages to Elizabeth Taylor, abundant drinking and womanizing and jet-setting lifestyle. Less well-known are his own thoughts on acting, alcoholism and his roots in Wales. These are all revealed in extracts from his diaries and letters. The contributions from Sir John Gielgud, Lauren Bacall, Sir Alec Guiness, John Hurt, John Le Carre and many others add an extra dimension to this biography. [via]
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Seven Pillars of Wisdomby T. E. LawrenceISBN 0848805623 (0-8488-0562-3)
Hardcover, Amereon Ltd
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom'Book summary:This is the exciting and highly literate story of the real Lawrence of Arabia, as written by Lawrence himself, who helped unify Arab factions against the occupying Turkish army, circa World War I. Lawrence has a novelist's eye for detail, a poet's command of the language, an adventurer's heart, a soldier's great story, and his memory and intellect are at least as good as all those. Lawrence describes the famous guerrilla raids, and train bombings you know from the movie, but also tells of the Arab people and politics with great penetration. Moreover, he is witty, always aware of the ethical tightrope that the English walked in the Middle East and always willing to include himself in his own withering insight. [via]
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The Spiritual Secret of Hudson Taylorby Howard TaylorISBN 0883689502 (0-88368-950-2)
Softcover, Whitaker House
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Spiritual Secret of Hudson Taylor'Book summary:It is possible to live a life that is totally dependent on Christ for everything. The many miraculous answers to prayer that missionary Hudson Taylor experienced are exciting testimonies of God¿s gracious provision. Discover how you, too, can overcome hardships, experience miracles, and enjoy a life of contagious faith and joy. [via]
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Teacher Man: A Memoirby Frank McCourtISBN 0743243781 (0-7432-4378-1)
Softcover, Simon & Schuster
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Teacher Man: A Memoir'Book summary:For 30 years Frank McCourt taught high school English in New York City and for much of that time he considered himself a fraud. During these years he danced a delicate jig between engaging the students, satisfying often bewildered administrators and parents, and actually enjoying his job. He tried to present a consistent image of composure and self-confidence, yet he regularly felt insecure, inadequate, and unfocused. After much trial and error, he eventually discovered what was in front of him (or rather, behind him) all along--his own experience. "My life saved my life," he writes. "My students didn't know there was a man up there escaping a cocoon of Irish history and Catholicism, leaving bits of that cocoon everywhere." At the beginning of his career it had never occurred to him that his own dismal upbringing in the slums of Limerick could be turned into a valuable lesson plan. Indeed, his formal training emphasized the opposite. Principals and department heads lectured him to never share anything personal. He was instructed to arouse fear and awe, to be stern, to be impossible to please--but he couldn't do it. McCourt was too likable, too interested in the students' lives, and too willing to reveal himself for their benefit as well as his own. He was a kindred spirit with more questions than answers: "Look at me: wandering late bloomer, floundering old fart, discovering in my forties what my students knew in their teens."
As he did so adroitly in his previous memoirs, Angela's Ashes and 'Tis, McCourt manages to uncover humor in nearly everything. He writes about hilarious misfires, as when he suggested (during his teacher's exam) that the students write a suicide note, as well as unorthodox assignments that turned into epiphanies for both teacher and students. A dazzling writer with a unique and compelling voice, McCourt describes the dignity and difficulties of a largely thankless profession with incisive, self-deprecating wit and uncommon perception. It may have taken him three decades to figure out how to be an effective teacher, but he ultimately saved his most valuable lesson for himself: how to be his own man. --Shawn Carkonen [via]
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincolnby Doris Kearns GoodwinISBN 0743270754 (0-7432-7075-4)
Softcover, Simon & Schuster
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln'Book summary:The life and times of Abraham Lincoln have been analyzed and dissected in countless books. Do we need another Lincoln biography? In Team of Rivals, esteemed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin proves that we do. Though she can't help but cover some familiar territory, her perspective is focused enough to offer fresh insights into Lincoln's leadership style and his deep understanding of human behavior and motivation. Goodwin makes the case for Lincoln's political genius by examining his relationships with three men he selected for his cabinet, all of whom were opponents for the Republican nomination in 1860: William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, and Edward Bates. These men, all accomplished, nationally known, and presidential, originally disdained Lincoln for his backwoods upbringing and lack of experience, and were shocked and humiliated at losing to this relatively obscure Illinois lawyer. Yet Lincoln not only convinced them to join his administration--Seward as secretary of state, Chase as secretary of the treasury, and Bates as attorney general--he ultimately gained their admiration and respect as well. How he soothed egos, turned rivals into allies, and dealt with many challenges to his leadership, all for the sake of the greater good, is largely what Goodwin's fine book is about. Had he not possessed the wisdom and confidence to select and work with the best people, she argues, he could not have led the nation through one of its darkest periods.
Ten years in the making, this engaging work reveals why "Lincoln's road to success was longer, more tortuous, and far less likely" than the other men, and why, when opportunity beckoned, Lincoln was "the best prepared to answer the call." This multiple biography further provides valuable background and insights into the contributions and talents of Seward, Chase, and Bates. Lincoln may have been "the indispensable ingredient of the Civil War," but these three men were invaluable to Lincoln and they played key roles in keeping the nation intact. --Shawn Carkonen
The Team of Rivals
Team of Rivals doesn't just tell the story of Abraham Lincoln. It is a multiple biography of the entire team of personal and political competitors that he put together to lead the country through its greatest crisis. Here, Doris Kearns Goodwin profiles five of the key players in her book, four of whom contended for the 1860 Republican presidential nomination and all of whom later worked together in Lincoln's cabinet. 
1. Edwin M. Stanton
Stanton treated Lincoln with utter contempt at their initial acquaintance when the two men were involved in a celebrated law case in the summer of 1855. Unimaginable as it might seem after Stanton's demeaning behavior, Lincoln offered him "the most powerful civilian post within his gift"--the post of secretary of war--at their next encounter six years later. On his first day in office as Simon Cameron's replacement, the energetic, hardworking Stanton instituted "an entirely new regime" in the War Department. After nearly a year of disappointment with Cameron, Lincoln had found in Stanton the leader the War Department desperately needed. Lincoln's choice of Stanton revealed his singular ability to transcend personal vendetta, humiliation, or bitterness. As for Stanton, despite his initial contempt for the man he once described as a "long armed Ape," he not only accepted the offer but came to respect and love Lincoln more than any person outside of his immediate family. He was beside himself with grief for weeks after the president's death.2. Salmon P. Chase
Chase, an Ohioan, had been both senator and governor, had played a central role in the formation of the national Republican Party, and had shown an unflagging commitment to the cause of the black man. No individual felt he deserved the presidency as a natural result of his past contributions more than Chase himself, but he refused to engage in the practical methods by which nominations are won. He had virtually no campaign and he failed to conciliate his many enemies in Ohio itself. As a result, he alone among the candidates came to the convention without the united support of his own state. Chase never ceased to underestimate Lincoln, nor to resent the fact that he had lost the presidency to a man he considered his inferior. His frustration with his position as secretary of the treasury was alleviated only by his his dogged hope that he, rather than Lincoln, would be the Republican nominee in 1864, and he steadfastly worked to that end. The president put up with Chase's machinations and haughty yet fundamentally insecure nature because he recognized his superlative accomplishments at treasury. Eventually, however, Chase threatened to split the Republican Party by continuing to fill key positions with partisans who supported his presidential hopes. When Lincoln stepped in, Chase tendered his resignation as he had three times before, but this time Lincoln stunned Chase by calling his bluff and accepting the offer.3. Abraham Lincoln
When Lincoln won the Republican presidential nomination in 1860 he seemed to have come from nowhere--a backwoods lawyer who had served one undistinguished term in the House of Representatives and lost two consecutive contests for the U.S. Senate. Contemporaries attributed his surprising nomination to chance, to his moderate position on slavery, and to the fact that he hailed from the battleground state of Illinois. But Lincoln's triumph, particularly when viewed against the efforts of his rivals, owed much to a remarkable, unsuspected political acuity and an emotional strength forged in the crucible of hardship and defeat. That Lincoln, after winning the presidency, made the unprecedented decision to incorporate his eminent rivals into his political family, the cabinet, was evidence of an uncanny self-confidence and an indication of what would prove to others a most unexpected greatness.4. William H. Seward
A celebrated senator from New York for more than a decade and governor of his state for two terms before going to Washington, Seward was certain he was going to receive his party's nomination for president in 1860. The weekend before the convention in Chicago opened he had already composed a first draft of the valedictory speech he expected to make to the Senate, assuming that he would resign his position as soon as the decision in Chicago was made. His mortification at not having received the nomination never fully abated, and when he was offered his cabinet post as secretary of state he intended to have a major role in choosing the remaining cabinet members, conferring upon himself a position in the new government more commanding than that of Lincoln himself. He quickly realized the futility of his plan to relegate the president to a figurehead role. Though the feisty New Yorker would continue to debate numerous issues with Lincoln in the years ahead, exactly as Lincoln had hoped and needed him to do, Seward would become his closest friend, advisor, and ally in the administration. More than any other cabinet member Seward appreciated Lincoln's peerless skill in balancing factions both within his administration and in the country at large.5. Edward Bates
A widely respected elder statesman, a delegate to the convention that framed the Missouri Constitution, and a former Missouri congressman whose opinions on national matters were still widely sought, Bates's ambitions for political success were gradually displaced by love for his wife and large family, and he withdrew from public life in the late 1840s. For the next 20 years he was asked repeatedly to run or once again accept high government posts but he consistently declined. However in early 1860, with letters and newspaper editorials advocating his candidacy crowding in upon him, he decided to try for the highest office in the land. After losing to Lincoln he vowed, in his diary, to decline a cabinet position if one were to be offered, but with the country "in trouble and danger" he felt it was his duty to accept when Lincoln asked him to be attorney general. Though Bates initially viewed Lincoln as a well-meaning but incompetent administrator, he eventually concluded that the president was an unmatched leader, "very near being a 'perfect man.'"The Essential Doris Kearns Goodwin
Wait Till Next Year: A Memoir
No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II
Lyndon Johnson and the American DreamMore New Reading on the Civil War
Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness by Joshua Wolf Shenk
Grant and Sherman: The Friendship That Won the Civil War by Charles Bracelen Flood
The March: A Novel by E.L. DoctorowMore editions of Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln:
Teslaby Margaret CheneyISBN 0743215362 (0-7432-1536-2)
Softcover, Simon & Schuster
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Tesla: Man Out of Timeby Margaret CheneyISBN 0880294191 (0-88029-419-1)
Hardcover, Dorset Press
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Tesla: Man Out of Time'Book summary:In Tesla: Man Out of Time, Margaret Cheney explores the brilliant and prescient mind of one of the twentieth century's greatest scientists and inventors. Called a madman by his enemies, a genius by others, and an enigma by nearly everyone, Nikola Tesla was, without a doubt, a trailblazing inventor who created astonishing, sometimes world-transforming devices that were virtually without theoretical precedent. Tesla not only discovered the rotating magnetic field -- the basis of most alternating-current machinery -- but also introduced us to the fundamentals of robotics, computers, and missile science. Almost supernaturally gifted, unfailingly flamboyant and neurotic, Tesla was troubled by an array of compulsions and phobias and was fond of extravagant, visionary experimentations. He was also a popular man-about-town, admired by men as diverse as Mark Twain and George Westinghouse, and adored by scores of society beauties. From Tesla's childhood in Yugoslavia to his death in New York in the 1940s, Cheney paints a compelling human portrait and chronicles a lifetime of discoveries that radically altered -- and continue to alter -- the world in which we live. Tesla: Man Out of Time is an in-depth look at the seminal accomplishments of a scientific wizard and a thoughtful examination of the obsessions and eccentricities of the man behind the science. [via]
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Thomas Jefferson : A Lifeby Willard S. RandallISBN 0805015779 (0-8050-1577-9)
Hardcover, Holt & Company, Henry
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Thomas Jefferson : A Life'Book summary:A biography of Thomas Jefferson, who despite his legendary intelligence and political savvy, could be ruthless, not to mention lawless, in his efforts to preserve his causes. Jefferson operated on two levels, as his opposition to slavery as a slaveowner attests. But as Willard Sterne Randall argues, this duality is what made him so effective. Whether Jefferson's 1784 draft of Virginia's constitution "prefigured the founding documents of republics in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America, as well as the Confederate States of America," as Randall claims, is questionable, but his impact on international trade, diplomatic discussions and the success of the state of Virginia cannot be disputed. [via]
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A Tour on the Prairiesby Washington Irving, John F. McDermottISBN 0806119586 (0-8061-1958-6)
Softcover, Univ of Oklahoma Pr
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Two Years Before the Mast and Twenty-Four Years After: Harvard Classics 1909by R. H. Dana, Charles W. EliotISBN 0766182215 (0-7661-8221-5)
Softcover, Kessinger Pub Co
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Two Years Before the Mast and Twenty-Four Years After: Harvard Classics 1909'Book summary:R.H. Dana took a sea voyage and decided to go as a sailor not as a passenger. The voyage was bound from his home town of Boston to California. His experiences during those two years form the subject of this volume. Later in life he took another voyage around the world and those observations form the postscript of this book. This books value and interest today are even greater than they were when it was written for, while the purely human element remains the same, the account of the routine on board the old sailing ships, the picture of the trading on the coast of California, and the description of that country in the days before the discovery of gold had transformed its civilization, have all acquired a historical importance. [via]
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Wellingtonby Elizabeth LongfordISBN 0750942134 (0-7509-4213-4)
Softcover, Sutton Pub Ltd
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Wellington'Book summary:A short biography of Wellington, the Iron Duke, one of the best known military commanders of British history. Covers not only Wellington the war hero and Waterloo, but also his political career and Wellington the ladies' man and his marriage to Kitty Pakenham. [via]
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Wellington: The Years of the Swordby Elizabeth LongfordISBN 0831756462 (0-8317-5646-2)
Hardcover, Smithmark Publishers, Incorporated
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With Borgesby Alberto ManguelISBN 0887621465 (0-88762-146-5)
Hardcover, Thomas Allen Publishers
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Woody Allen: A Biographyby Eric LaxISBN 0756758920 (0-7567-5892-0)
Hardcover, Diane Pub Co
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You Might As Well Live: The Life and Times of Dorothy Parkerby John KeatsISBN 0913729493 (0-913729-49-3)
Softcover, Continuum Intl Pub Group
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