-Titulo Original : Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil A Savannah Story-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: NATIONAL BESTSELLER * “Elegant and wicked.... [This] might be the first true-crime book that makes the reader want to book a bed and breakfast for an extended weekend at the scene of the crime. -The New York Times Book ReviewShots rang out in Savannahs grandest mansion in the misty,early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. John Berendts sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty narrative reads like a thoroughly engrossing novel, and yet it is a work of nonfiction. Berendt skillfully interweaves a hugely entertaining first-person account of life in this isolated remnant of the Old South with the unpredictable twists and turns of a landmark murder case.It is a spellbinding story peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters: the well-bred society ladies of the Married Womans Card Club; the turbulent young redneck gigolo; the hapless recluse who owns a bottle of poison so powerful it could kill every man, woman, and child in Savannah; the aging and profane Southern belle who is the soul of pampered self-absorption; the uproariously funny black drag queen; the acerbic and arrogant antiques dealer; the sweet-talking, piano-playing con artist; young blacks dancing the minuet at the black debutante ball; and Minerva, the voodoo priestess who works her magic in the graveyard at midnight. These and other Savannahians act as a Greek chorus, with Berendt revealing the alliances, hostilities, and intrigues that thrive in a town where everyone knows everyone else. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a sublime and seductive reading experience. Brilliantly conceived and masterfully written, this enormously engaging portrait of a most beguiling Southern city has become a modern classic. Review John Berendts Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil has been heralded as a lyrical work of nonfiction, and the books extremely graceful prose depictions of some of Savannah, Georgias most colorful eccentrics--remarkable characters who could have once prospered in a William Faulkner novel or Eudora Welty short story--were certainly a critical factor in its tremendous success. (One resident into whose orbit Berendt fell, the Lady Chablis, went on to become a minor celebrity in her own right.) But equally important was Berendts depiction of Savannah socialite Jim Williams as he stands trial for the murder of Danny Hansford, a moody, violence-prone hustler--and sometime companion to Williams--characterized by locals as a walking streak of sex. So feel free to call it a true crime classic without a trace of shame. Review “Elegant and wicked.... Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil might be the first true-crime book that makes the reader want to book a bed and breakfast for an extended weekend at the scene of the crime. -The New York Times Book Review From the Inside Flap Shots rang out in Savannahs grandest mansion in the misty,early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. John Berendts sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty narrative reads like a thoroughly engrossing novel, and yet it is a work of nonfiction. Berendt skillfully interweaves a hugely entertaining first-person account of life in this isolated remnant of the Old South with the unpredictable twists and turns of a landmark murder case.It is a spellbinding story peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters: the well-bred society ladies of the Married Womans Card Club; the turbulent young redneck gigolo; the hapless recluse who owns a bottle of poison so powerful it could kill every man, woman, and child in Savannah; the aging and profane Southern belle who is the...

-Titulo Original : The Fire Next Time-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: A national bestseller when it first appeared in 1963, The Fire Next Time galvanized the nation, gave passionate voice to the emerging civil rights movement-and still lights the way to understanding race in America today. Basically the finest essay I’ve ever read. . . . Baldwin refused to hold anyone’s hand. He was both direct and beautiful all at once. He did not seem to write to convince you. He wrote beyond you.” -Ta-Nehisi Coates At once a powerful evocation of James Baldwins early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice, the book is an intensely personal and provocative document from the iconic author of If Beale Street Could Talk and Go Tell It on the Mountain. It consists of two letters, written on the occasion of the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, that exhort Americans, both black and white, to attack the terrible legacy of racism. Described by The New York Times Book Review as sermon, ultimatum, confession, deposition, testament, and chronicle...all presented in searing, brilliant prose, The Fire Next Time stands as a classic of literature. Review Its shocking how little has changed between the races in this country since 1963, when James Baldwin published this coolly impassioned plea to end the racial nightmare. The Fire Next Time--even the title is beautiful, resonant, and incendiary. Do I really want to be integrated into a burning house? Baldwin demands, flicking aside the central race issue of his day and calling instead for full and shared acceptance of the fact that America is and always has been a multiracial society. Without this acceptance, he argues, the nation dooms itself to sterility and decay and to eventual destruction at the hands of the oppressed: The Negroes of this country may never be able to rise to power, but they are very well placed indeed to precipitate chaos and ring down the curtain on the American dream. Baldwins seething insights and directives, so disturbing to the white liberals and black moderates of his day, have become the starting point for discussions of American race relations: that debasement and oppression of one people by another is a recipe for murder; that color is not a human or a personal reality; it is a political reality; that whites can only truly liberate themselves when they liberate blacks, indeed when they become black symbolically and spiritually; that blacks and whites deeply need each other here in order for America to realize its identity as a nation. Yet despite its edgy tone and the strong undercurrent of violence, The Fire Next Time is ultimately a hopeful and healing essay. Baldwin ranges far in these hundred pages--from a memoir of his abortive teenage religious awakening in Harlem (an interesting commentary on his first novel Go Tell It on the Mountain) to a disturbing encounter with Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad. But what binds it all together is the eloquence, intimacy, and controlled urgency of the voice. Baldwin clearly paid in sweat and shame for every word in this text. Whats incredible is that he managed to keep his cool. --David Laskin Review Basically the finest essay I’ve ever read. . . . Baldwin refused to hold anyone’s hand. He was both direct and beautiful all at once. He did not seem to write to convince you. He wrote beyond you. -Ta-Nehisi CoatesSo eloquent in its passion and so scorching in its candor that it is bound to unsettle any reader. -The Atlantic From the Publisher So eloquent in its passion and so scorching in its candor that it is bound to unsettle any reader.--The Atlantic From the Inside Flap estseller when it first appeared in 1963, The Fire Next Time galvanized the nation and gave passionate voice to the emerging civil rights movement. At once a powerful evocation of James Baldwins early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences o...

-Titulo Original : The Stranger In The Woods The Extraordinary Story Of The Last True Hermit-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: A National Geographic Best Book of the Year National BestsellerMany people dream of escaping modern life. Most will never act on it-but in 1986, twenty-year-old Christopher Knight did just that when he left his home in Massachusetts, drove to Maine, and disappeared into the woods. He would not have a conversation with another person for the next twenty-seven years. Drawing on extensive interviews with Knight himself, journalist Michael Finkel shows how Knight lived in a tent in a secluded encampment, developing ingenious ways to store provisions and stave off frostbite during the winters. A former alarm technician, he stealthily broke into nearby cottages for food, books, and supplies, taking only what he needed but sowing unease in a community plagued by his mysterious burglaries. Since returning to the world, he has faced unique challenges-and compelled us to reexamine our assumptions about what makes a good life. By turns riveting and thought-provoking, The Stranger in the Woods gives us a deeply moving portrait of a man determined to live his own way. Review “A meditation on solitude, wildness and survival.” -The Wall Street Journal“Astonishing. . . . An absorbing exploration of solitude and man’s eroding relationship with the natural world.” -The Atlantic “Campfire-friendly and thermos-ready, easily drained in one warm, rummy slug. It also raises a variety of profound questions-about the role of solitude, about the value of suffering, about the diversity of human needs.” -The New York Times “[A] fascinating story. . . . Finkel manages to pry powerful words from the man who may hold the world title for silent retreat.” -San Francisco Chronicle“Reveals, in vivid detail, how Christopher Knight escaped society more completely than most anybody else in human history.” -Outside “[An] intriguing account of Knight’s capture and confessions.” -USA Today “A story that takes the two primary human relationships-to nature and to one another-and deftly upends our assumptions about both. This was a breathtaking book to read and many weeks later I am still thinking about the implications for our society and-by extension-for my own life.” -Sebastian Junger, author of Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging “As strong as Finkel’s storytelling instincts and prose are, his greatest feat in writing The Stranger in the Woods is the journalistic diligence and humanity he brought to Knight. . . . Through Finkel, Knight is able to speak up with his own voice at last.” -Paste “[Knight’s] story will speak to anyone who has ever walked through the wilderness and considered, even for a moment, whether ever to leave.” -Field & Stream “Moving and haunting. . . . A beautifully rendered, carefully researched story.” -PopMatters “Riveting. . . . A stunning look inside at the life and inner thoughts of one of our era’s most confounding characters.” -Bangor Daily News “Thought-provoking and enduring . . . Will leave readers thinking deeply about modern society, the search for meaning, and the impact of solitude. Finkel is a skilled storyteller.” -Portland Press Herald (Maine) “I was drawn through these pages in a single sitting-their pull is true and magnetic. . . . [Knight’s] tale becomes universal thanks to the expert care of Finkel’s writing. . . The Stranger in the Woods is, ultimately, a meditation on the pains of social obligation and the longing toward retreat that resides in us all.” -Michael Harris, The Globe and Mail (Toronto) “Michael Finkel has done something magical with this profound book . . . [His] investigation runs deep, summoning . . . the human history of our own attempts to find meaning in a noisy world.” -Michael Paterniti, author of Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America with Einstein’s Brain “Chris Knight is an American original . . . I burned through this haunting tale in one rapt sitting.” -John Vaillant, author of The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness, and Greed About the A...

-Titulo Original : Disability Visibility First-person Stories From The Twenty-first Century-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: ONE OF THE PROGRESSIVES BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR * One in five people in the United States lives with a disability. Some disabilities are visible, others less apparent-but all are underrepresented in media and popular culture. Now, just in time for the thirtieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, activist Alice Wong brings together this urgent, galvanizing collection of contemporary essays by disabled people.From Harriet McBryde Johnson’s account of her debate with Peter Singer over her own personhood to original pieces by authors like Keah Brown and Haben Girma; from blog posts, manifestos, and eulogies to Congressional testimonies, and beyond: this anthology gives a glimpse into the rich complexity of the disabled experience, highlighting the passions, talents, and everyday lives of this community. It invites readers to question their own understandings. It celebrates and documents disability culture in the now. It looks to the future and the past with hope and love. Review ONE OF THE PROGRESSIVES BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR * ENTROPYS BEST OF NONFICTION“Disability rights activist Alice Wong brings tough conversations to the forefront of society with this anthology. It sheds light on the experience of life as an individual with disabilities, as told by none other than authors with these life experiences. Its an eye-opening collection that readers will revisit time and time again.” -Chicago Tribune“Shares perspectives that are too often missing from such decision-making about accessibility.” -The Washington Post“Implicitly (and sometimes explicitly) makes the case for acknowledging and accommodating society’s overlooked population of disabled people.” -The New York Times Book Review“An exemplary collection. . . . This month’s #RequiredReading.” -Ms. Magazine“A raw, emotional collection, an investment in the power of storytelling to foster vibrant connections, and an unapologetic rejection of ‘internalized ableism’. . . . The 37 powerful stories in Disability Visibility reveal the depth of everyday courage and the extraordinary human capacity to find humor in the face of life’s adversities.” -Shelf Awareness“Roughly 15 percent of people around the world have a disability, and yet their stories are often never told. Alice Wong’s anthology, Disability Visibility, brings their narratives front and center with the goal of showcasing the wide range of modern disability experiences. . . . Ultra-impressive.” -Shondaland, 10 Books Set to Become the New Feminist Classics“By its very nature, the disability community is incredibly intersectional and diverse, including people from all walks of life, backgrounds, and cultures. Disability Visibility reflects that diversity with its contributors, giving . . . a look at a wide range of experiences and types of disability.” -Book Riot“Alice Wong . . . has long been at the forefront of the disability justice movement.” -Bitch Media, “17 Books Feminists Should Read in June”“More resonant than ever. In this kaleidoscopic collection, Wong and her contributors provide not just a snapshot of what disability has meant in the past 20 years, but an urgent invitation to take that understanding forward. . . . A landmark resource for understanding disability.” -Autostraddle“Diverse and poignant. . . . I was deeply moved by more pieces than I could name.” -Shir Kehila, Columbia Journal“Every piece in Disability Visibility evokes . . . tenacity, some gut-wrenching and others inspiring. . . . The range of subjects is impressive: assistive technologies, carceral injustice, fashion, homophobia and heterosexism, medical care and medical abuse, organizing strategies, psychotherapy, racism, relationships, sex, and sexism.” -The Progressive“Celebrates and documents the lived experiences, power, and culture of the disabled community.” -Morning Brew“Wong’s discerning selections, bolstered by the activism that shines through, will educate and inspire readers.” -Kirk...

-Titulo Original : Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas A Savage Journey To The Heart Of The American Dream-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: 50th Anniversary Edition * With an introduction by Caity Weaver, acclaimed New York Times journalistThis cult classic of gonzo journalism is the best chronicle of drug-soaked, addle-brained, rollicking good times ever committed to the printed page. It is also the tale of a long weekend road trip that has gone down in the annals of American pop culture as one of the strangest journeys ever undertaken.Also a major motion picture directed by Terry Gilliam, starring Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro. Review Heralded as the best book on the dope decade by the New York Times Book Review, Hunter S. Thompsons documented drug orgy through Las Vegas would no doubt leave Nancy Reagan blushing and D.A.R.E. founders rethinking their motto. Under the pseudonym of Raoul Duke, Thompson travels with his Samoan attorney, Dr. Gonzo, in a souped-up convertible dubbed the Great Red Shark. In its trunk, they stow two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half-full of cocaine and a whole galaxy of multicolored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers.... A quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls, which they manage to consume during their short tour. On assignment from a sports magazine to cover the fabulous Mint 400--a free-for-all bikers race in the heart of the Nevada desert--the drug-a-delic duo stumbles through Vegas in hallucinatory hopes of finding the American dream (two truck-stop waitresses tell them its nearby, but cant remember if its on the right or the left). They of course never get the story, but they do commit the only sins in Vegas: burning the locals, abusing the tourists, terrifying the help. For Thompson to remember and pen his experiences with such clarity and wit is nothing short of a miracle; an impressive feat no matter how one feels about the subject matter. A first-rate sensibility twinger, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a pop-culture classic, an icon of an era past, and a nugget of pure comedic genius. --Rebekah Warren From the Inside Flap Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is the best chronicle of drug-soaked, addle-brained, rollicking good times ever committed to the printed page. It is also the tale of a long weekend road trip that has gone down in the annals of American pop culture as one of the strangest journeys ever undertaken.Now this cult classic of gonzo journalism is a major motion picture from Universal, directed by Terry Gilliam and starring Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro. Opens everywhere on May 22, 1998. From the Back Cover Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is the best chronicle of drug-soaked, addle-brained, rollicking good times ever committed to the printed page. It is also the tale of a long weekend road trip that has gone down in the annals of American pop culture as one of the strangest journeys ever undertaken. Now this cult classic of gonzo journalism is a major motion picture from Universal, directed by Terry Gilliam and starring Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro. Opens everywhere on May 22, 1998. About the Author Hunter S. Thompson (July 18, 1937 - February 20, 2005) was an American journalist and author. He was known for his flamboyant writing style, most notably deployed in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which blurred the distinctions between writer and subject, fiction and nonfiction. The best source on Thompsons writing style and personality is Thompson himself. His books include Hells Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga (1966), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream (1972), Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 72 (1973); The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time (1979); The Curse of Lono(1983); Generation of Swine, Gonzo Papers Vol. 2: Tales of Shame and Degradation in the 80s (1988); and Songs of the Doomed (1990)...

-Titulo Original : Memories, Dreams, Reflections-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: An eye-opening biography of one of the most influential psychiatrists of the modern age, drawing from his lectures, conversations, and own writings. In the spring of 1957, when he was eighty-one years old, Carl Gustav Jung undertook the telling of his life story. Memories, Dreams, Reflections is that book, composed of conversations with his colleague and friend Aniela Jaffe, as well as chapters written in his own hand, and other materials. Jung continued to work on the final stages of the manuscript until shortly before his death on June 6, 1961, making this a uniquely comprehensive reflection on a remarkable life. Fully corrected, this edition also includes Jungs VII Sermones ad Mortuos. Review An important, firsthand document for readers who wish to understand this seminal writer and thinker. -Booklist From the Inside Flap aphy put together from conversations, writings and lectures with Jungs cooperation, at the end of his life. From the Back Cover An autobiography put together from conversations, writings and lectures with Jungs cooperation, at the end of his life. About the Author Carl Gustav Jung was one of the great pioneers of modern psychiatry. He was born in 1865 in Switzerland, where he studied medicine and psychiatry and later became one of Sigmund Freud’s early supporters and collaborators. Eventually, serious theoretical disagreements (among them Jung’s view of the religious instinct in man) led to a doctrinal and personal break between the two famed psychiatrists. Dr. Jung was the author of many books, and he lived and practiced for many years in his native Zurich. He died in 1961...

-Titulo Original : Life Undercover Coming Of Age In The Cia-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Fast and thrilling . . . Life Undercover reads as if a John le Carre character landed in Eat Pray Love. -The New York TimesAmaryllis Foxs riveting memoir tells the story of her ten years in the most elite clandestine ops unit of the CIA, hunting the worlds most dangerous terrorists in sixteen countries while marrying and giving birth to a daughterAmaryllis Fox was in her last year as an undergraduate at Oxford studying theology and international law when her writing mentor Daniel Pearl was captured and beheaded. Galvanized by this brutality, Fox applied to a masters program in conflict and terrorism at Georgetowns School of Foreign Service, where she created an algorithm that predicted, with uncanny certainty, the likelihood of a terrorist cell arising in any village around the world. At twenty-one, she was recruited by the CIA. Her first assignment was reading and analyzing hundreds of classified cables a day from foreign governments and synthesizing them into daily briefs for the president. Her next assignment was at the Iraq desk in the Counterterrorism center. At twenty-two, she was fast-tracked into advanced operations training, sent from Langley to the Farm, where she lived for six months in a simulated world learning how to use a Glock, how to get out of flexicuffs while locked in the trunk of a car, how to withstand torture, and the best ways to commit suicide in case of captivity. At the end of this training she was deployed as a spy under non-official cover--the most difficult and coveted job in the field as an art dealer specializing in tribal and indigenous art and sent to infiltrate terrorist networks in remote areas of the Middle East and Asia. Life Undercover is exhilarating, intimate, fiercely intelligent--an impossible to put down record of an extraordinary life, and of Amaryllis Foxs astonishing courage and passion. Review One of People Magazines Best Books of Fall 2019“Gripping…reads like a true-life thriller.” --San Francisco Chronicle“Genius… Fascinating…along with the cloak-and-dagger action, Fox writes movingly of trying to reconcile a career in espionage with family life… A look inside the CIA that the agency isn’t ready for you to see… a great read.”--Washington Post“Gripping…Life Undercover sets aside high-octane street chases and gunfights for an equally riveting narrative of compassion, revealing that the path to peace is through understanding the common humanity in us all.” --Paste MagazineA riveting account of the decade the author spent risking her life in the CIA’s most clandestine unit.--Peoplea timely, compelling story. As fellow citizens, we’d all do well to better understand what that vital work entails.--LA TimesGripping... Fox masterfully conveys the exhilaration and loneliness of life undercover, and her memoir reads like a great espionage novel.--Publishers Weekly (starred review)Extraordinary... [A] remarkable life...Fox engagingly-and transparently-describes her work as an undercover agent for the CIA.--Kirkus Reviews About the Author Following her CIA career in the field, AMARYLLIS FOX has covered current events and offered analysis for CNN, National Geographic, Al Jazeera, the BBC, and other global news outlets. She speaks at events and universities around the world on the topic of peacemaking. She is the co-host of History Channels series American Ripper and lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband and daughter...

-Titulo Original : The Best Cook In The World Tales From My Mommas Southern Table-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Part cookbook, part memoir, these “rollicking, poignant, sometimes hilarious tales” (USA Today) are the Pulitzer Prize-winner’s loving tribute to the South, his family and, especially, to his extraordinary mother.Here are irresistible stories and recipes from across generations. They come, skillet by skillet, from Bragg’s ancestors, from feasts and near famine, from funerals and celebrations, and from a thousand tales of family lore as rich and as sumptuous as the dishes they inspired. Deeply personal and unfailingly mouthwatering, The Best Cook in the World is a book to be savored. Review “Wonderful, rollicking, poignant, sometimes hilarious tales about how generations of Bragg’s extended family survived from one meal to the next.” -USA Today“A glorious collection of tales. . . . Bragg writes stories about family . . . and he does it better than almost anybody else. His just happens to be a family of excellent cooks who do much of their relating through the food they grow, hunt, prepare and occasionally steal.” -The New York Times Book Review“A tribute, a monument, to [Bragg’s] mother and her people, captured here in solid recipes for good food, charming details and funny conversations.” -The Wall Street Journal “A loving, recipe-filled ode.” -Garden & Gun “Put together, all those stories read like a lush and lyrical novel, sometimes hilarious, sometimes harrowing. . . . Bragg’s deep love for his mother, and her cooking, shines throughout.” -Tampa Bay Times“Rick Bragg serves up a feast. . . . A love song to the woman who raised him and who has been his greatest muse.” -The New Orleans Advocate “The stories, as much as the portrait they paint of [Bragg’s] family and their times, are baroque and profane, simultaneously moral and amoral, loving and blunt.” -San Francisco Chronicle “One of my favorite writers of all time. . . . Both an incredibly evocative portrait of [Bragg’s] mother and a collection of his mother’s recipes.” -Ed Levine, Serious Eats “Bragg has a bone-deep empathy for people who endure hard times. . . . [He is] a leisurely, soulful storyteller, a reporter with a poet’s eye, and an appreciative diner. Most of all . . . he’s a ferociously devoted son.” -The Christian Science Monitor “Affectionate, funny, and beautifully written. . . . Heartfelt, often hilarious stories from an Alabama kitchen, a place from which issue wondrous remembrances and wondrous foods alike.” -Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “An engaging read about food that is dear to me.” -Hugh Acheson, Food & Wine “A testament that cooking and food still bind culture together.” -Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Many of the tales Bragg tells are ones he remembers hearing from his family, which must have been full of the best storytellers of all time. . . . [The Best Cook in the World] winds through family stories, memories of his mother and recipes of their food.” -Post and Courier (Charleston) “[Bragg] generously preserves a way of life that has endured in America’s backcountry. His prose evokes the sights, sounds, and smells of a rural Alabama kitchen and transforms apparent poverty into soul-satisfying plenty.” -Booklist (starred review) “One of the finest American writers of our time.” -Billy Watkins, The Clarion Ledger (Jackson, MS) “Bragg writes with a powerful, page-turning punch. The result is unimaginably delectable.” -BookPage “The Best Cook in the World is a cookbook, but not like one of those old Betty Crocker volumes. . . . Bragg’s work is more a narrative cookbook that’s heavy on stories about growing up poor, wearing out stoves and the role food plays both in his family and his native South, which gets a little more like everywhere else each time Domino’s delivers a pizza out in the county.” -Associated Press About the Author Rick Bragg is the author of eight books, including the best-selling Ava’s Man and All Over but the Shoutin’. He is...

-Titulo Original : Leaving Isnt The Hardest Thing Essays-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A memoir in essays about so many things-growing up in an abusive cult, coming of age as a lesbian in the military, forced out by homophobia, living on the margins as a working class woman and what it’s like to grow into the person you are meant to be. Hough’s writing will break your heart. -Roxane Gay, author of Bad FeministSearing and extremely personal essays, shot through with the darkest elements America can manifest, while discovering light and humor in unexpected corners.As an adult, Lauren Hough has had many identities: an airman in the U.S. Air Force, a cable guy, a bouncer at a gay club. As a child, however, she had none. Growing up as a member of the infamous cult The Children of God, Hough had her own self robbed from her. The cult took her all over the globe--to Germany, Japan, Texas, Chile-but it wasnt until she finally left for good that Lauren understood she could have a life beyond The Family. Along the way, shes loaded up her car and started over, trading one life for the next. Shes taken pilgrimages to the sights of her youth, been kept in solitary confinement, dated a lot of women, dabbled in drugs, and eventually found herself as what she always wanted to be: a writer. Here, as she sweeps through the underbelly of America-relying on friends, family, and strangers alike-she begins to excavate a new identity even as her past continues to trail her and color her world, relationships, and perceptions of self. At once razor-sharp, profoundly brave, and often very, very funny, the essays in Leaving Isnt the Hardest Thing interrogate our notions of ecstasy, queerness, and what it means to live freely. Each piece is a reckoning: of survival, identity, and how to reclaim ones past when carving out a future.A VINTAGE ORIGINAL Review ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: NPR, The Philadelphia Inquirer“Stark and riveting . . . searingly honest and often painfully funny. . . . Hough’s conversational prose reads like the voice of a blues singer, taking breaks between songs to narrate her heartbreak in verse, cajoling her audience to laugh to keep from crying.” -Leah Mirakhor, The New York Times Book Review“Any appraisal of Lauren Hough that attempts to match the author’s own coruscating honesty in her debut memoir-in-essays can only conclude that she is the sort of hard-bitten hero who has no expletives left to give . . . [Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing’s] sometimes shocking circumstances are related using a potent literary style that combines mordant humor and helpless indignation with ferocious intellect . . . [Hough’s] salvation was the discovery of an inimitable voice - her own, speaking truths about human society that are hard to hear but not, sadly, to believe.” -Melissa Holbrook Pierson, The Washington Post“Revealing and honest . . . [Hough] tells it like it is, and its heartbreaking . . . Houghs book isnt really a cult memoir - its about so much more than that (and its also quite funny, although youll have to take my word on that because most of the funny bits include expletives I cant quote here) . . . [Hough] makes the ties between her own upbringing and the coltishness of American ideology explicit, but also opens up room for hope via small acts of resistance.” -Ilana Masad, NPRLauren Hough’s extraordinary essay collection Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing is as powerful as it is poignant. So many moments in this exceptionally crafted essays brought me to tears and before long I would find myself laughing as Hough wielded her razor sharp wit. This is a memoir in essays about so many things-growing up in an abusive cult, coming of age as a lesbian in the military, forced out by homophobia, living on the margins as a working class woman and what it’s like to grow into the person you are meant to be. Hough’s writing will break your heart. The ways she lays herself bare will leave you marveling at the strength it takes to reveal such d...

-Titulo Original : Lab Girl-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER *NATIONAL BESTSELLER * Geobiologist Hope Jahren has spent her life studying trees, flowers, seeds, and soil. Lab Girl is her revelatory treatise on plant life-but it is also a celebration of the lifelong curiosity, humility, and passion that drive every scientist. Does for botany what Oliver Sacks’s essays did for neurology, what Stephen Jay Gould’s writings did for paleontology.” -The New York TimesIn these pages, Hope takes us back to her Minnesota childhood, where she spent hours in unfettered play in her father’s college laboratory. She tells us how she found a sanctuary in science, learning to perform lab work “with both the heart and the hands.” She introduces us to Bill, her brilliant, eccentric lab manager. And she extends the mantle of scientist to each one of her readers, inviting us to join her in observing and protecting our environment. Warm, luminous, compulsively readable, Lab Girl vividly demonstrates the mountains that we can move when love and work come together. Review Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography* A New York Times Notable Book *Winner of the American Association for the Advancement of Science/Subaru Science Books & Film Prize for Excellence in Science Books * Finalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award *One of the Best Books of the Year: The Washington Post, TIME , NPR, Slate, Entertainment Weekly, Newsday, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Kirkus Reviews“Lab Girl by Hope Jahren is a beautifully written memoir about the life of a woman in science, a brilliant friendship, and the profundity of trees. Terrific.” -President Barack Obama“Engrossing. . . . Thrilling. . . . Does for botany what Oliver Sacks’s essays did for neurology, what Stephen Jay Gould’s writings did for paleontology.” -The New York Times“Lab Girl made me look at trees differently. It compelled me to ponder the astonishing grace and gumption of a seed. Perhaps most importantly, it introduced me to a deeply inspiring woman-a scientist so passionate about her work I felt myself vividly with her on every page. This is a smart, enthralling, and winning debut.” -Cheryl Strayed“Brilliant. . . . Extraordinary. . . . Delightfully, wickedly funny. . . . Powerful and disarming.” -The Washington Post “Clear, compelling and uncompromisingly honest . . . Hope Jahren is the voice that science has been waiting for.” -NatureSpirited. . . . Stunning. . . . Moving.” -The New York Times Book Review “A powerful new memoir . . . Jahren is a remarkable scientist who turns out to be a remarkable writer as well. . . . Think Stephen Jay Gould or Oliver Sacks. But Hope Jahren is a woman in science, who speaks plainly to just how rugged that can be. And to the incredible machinery of life around us.” -On Point/NPR “Lyrical . . . illuminating . . . Offers a lively glimpse into a scientifically inclined mind.” -The Wall Street Journal “Some people are great writers, while other people live lives of adventure and importance. Almost no one does both. Hope Jahren does both. She makes me wish I’d been a scientist.” -Ann Patchett, author of State of Wonder “Lab Girl surprised, delighted, and moved me. I was drawn in from the start by the clarity and beauty of Jahren’s prose. . . . With Lab Girl, Jahren joins those talented scientists who are able to reveal to us the miracle of this world in which we live.” -Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone “Revelatory. . . . A veritable jungle of ideas and sensations.” -Slate “Warm, witty . . . Fascinating. . . . Jahren’s singular gift is her ability to convey the everyday wonder of her work: exploring the strange, beautiful universe of living things that endure and evolve and bloom all around us, if we bother to look.” -Entertainment Weekly “Deeply affecting. . . . A totally original work, both fierce and uplifting. . . . A belletrist in the mold of Oliver Sacks, she is terrific at showing ...

-Titulo Original : Titan The Life Of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist From the acclaimed, award-winning author of Alexander Hamilton: here is the essential, endlessly engrossing biography of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.-the Jekyll-and-Hyde of American capitalism. In the course of his nearly 98 years, Rockefeller was known as both a rapacious robber baron, whose Standard Oil Company rode roughshod over an industry, and a philanthropist who donated money lavishly to universities and medical centers. He was the terror of his competitors, the bogeyman of reformers, the delight of caricaturists-and an utter enigma. Drawing on unprecedented access to Rockefeller’s private papers, Chernow reconstructs his subjects’ troubled origins (his father was a swindler and a bigamist) and his single-minded pursuit of wealth. But he also uncovers the profound religiosity that drove him “to give all I could”; his devotion to his father; and the wry sense of humor that made him the country’s most colorful codger. Titan is a magnificent biography-balanced, revelatory, elegantly written. Review “A biography that has many of the best attributes of a novel. . . . Wonderfully fluent and compelling.” -The New York Times “A triumph of the art of biography. Unflaggingly interesting, it brings John D. Rockefeller Sr. to life through sustained narrative portraiture of the large-scale, nineteenth-century kind.” -The New York Times Book Review “Important and impressive. . . . Reveals the man behind both the mask and the myth.” -The Wall Street Journal “One of the great American biographies. . . . [Chernow] writes with rich impartiality. He turns the machinations of Standard Oil . . . into fascinating social history.” -Time From the Back Cover John D. Rockefeller, Sr.--historys first billionaire and the patriarch of Americas most famous dynasty--is an icon whose true nature has eluded three generations of historians. Now Ron Chernow, the National Book Award-winning biographer of the Morgan and Warburg banking families, gives us a history of the mogul etched with uncommon objectivity and literary grace . . . as detailed, balanced, and psychologically insightful a portrait of the tycoon as we may ever have (Kirkus Reviews). Titan is the first full-length biography based on unrestricted access to Rockefellers exceptionally rich trove of papers. A landmark publication full of startling revelations, the book will indelibly alter our image of this most enigmatic capitalist. Born the son of a flamboyant, bigamous snake-oil salesman and a pious, straitlaced mother, Rockefeller rose from rustic origins to become the worlds richest man by creating Americas most powerful and feared monopoly, Standard Oil. Branded the Octopus by legions of muckrakers, the trust refined and marketed nearly 90 percent of the oil produced in America. Rockefeller was likely the most controversial businessman in our nations history. Critics charged that his empire was built on unscrupulous tactics: grand-scale collusion with the railroads, predatory pricing, industrial espionage, and wholesale bribery of political officials. The titan spent more than thirty years dodging investigations until Teddy Roosevelt and his trustbusters embarked on a marathon crusade to bring Standard Oil to bay. While providing abundant new evidence of Rockefellers misdeeds, Chernow discards the stereotype of the cold-blooded monster to sketch an unforgettablyhuman portrait of a quirky, eccentric original. A devout Baptist and temperance advocate, Rockefeller gave money more generously--his chosen philanthropies included the Rockefeller Foundation, the University of Chicago, and what is today Rockefeller University--than anyone before him. Titan presents a finely nuanced portrait of a fascinating, complex man, synthesizing his public and private lives and disclosing numerous family scandals, tragedies, and misfortunes that have never before come to light. John D. Rockefellers story capt...

-Titulo Original : Red Comet The Short Life And Blazing Art Of Sylvia Plath-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST * The highly anticipated biography of Sylvia Plath that focuses on her remarkable literary and intellectual achievements, while restoring the woman behind the long-held myths about her life and art.“One of the most beautiful biographies Ive ever read. -Glennon Doyle, author of #1 New York Times Bestseller, UntamedWith a wealth of never-before-accessed materials, Heather Clark brings to life the brilliant Sylvia Plath, who had precocious poetic ambition and was an accomplished published writer even before she became a star at Smith College. Refusing to read Plath’s work as if her every act was a harbinger of her tragic fate, Clark considers the sociopolitical context as she thoroughly explores Plath’s world: her early relationships and determination not to become a conventional woman and wife; her troubles with an unenlightened mental health industry; her Cambridge years and thunderclap meeting with Ted Hughes; and much more.Clark’s clear-eyed portraits of Hughes, his lover Assia Wevill, and other demonized players in the arena of Plath’s suicide promote a deeper understanding of her final days. Along with illuminating readings of the poems themselves, Clark’s meticulous, compassionate research brings us closer than ever to the spirited woman and visionary artist who blazed a trail that still lights the way for women poets the world over. Review A New York Times Top 10 Book of the Year * Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the LA Times Book Prize * A New York Times Notable Book * Named aBook of the Year: O, the Oprah Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Boston Globe, Literary Hub, The Times (London), The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph,and The Times of India * Winner of the Biographers Club Slightly Foxed Prize for Best First Biography “Mesmerizing . . . Comprehensive . . . Stuffed with heretofore untold anecdotes that illuminate or extend our understanding of Plath’s life . . . Clark is a felicitous writer and a discerning critic of Plath’s poetry . . . There is no denying the book’s intellectual power and, just as important, its sheer readability.” -The New York Times“A majestic tome with the narrative propulsion of a thriller. We now have the complete story.” -O, The Oprah Magazine“An exhaustively researched, frequently brilliant masterwork. . . . It is an impressive achievement representing a prizeworthy contribution to literary scholarship and biographical journalism.”-The Washington Post“One of the most beautiful biographies Ive ever read. -Glennon Doyle, author of #1 New York Times Bestseller, Untamed“Clark masterfully analyzes the poetry with intelligent incorporation of the biography. . . . Red Comet shows that the achievement of Sylvia Plath was miraculous-but it wasn’t spasmodic, or rare. It was hard-won, every single day.” -Los Angeles Times “Massive, insightful . . . Red Comet is a critical examination of what it means to be a female artist, to suffer from depression, and to be alone, as it is revelatory about this one particular life and the art that came from it. The red comet (an image from her poem ‘Stings’) is an apt metaphor for Plath.” -Boston Globe “Revelatory. . . . Plath’s struggles with depression and her marriage to Ted Hughes emerge in complex detail, but Clark does not let Plath’s suicide define her artistic achievement, arguing with refreshing rigor for her significance to modern letters. The result is a new understanding and appreciation of an innovative, uncompromising poetic voice.” -The New Yorker “A definitive biography. . . . What ultimately bursts off the page is Plath’s short, vibrant life, which is too often most remembered for the way it ended: ‘That’s the irony, isn’t it?’ says Clark. ‘She’s so incredibly alive.’” -Entertainment Weekly “Red Comet is absolutely necessary. . . . In Clark’s attentive hands, Plath’s life is laid out in its full complexity.” -Lit Hub“Aiming to shake the public pe...

-Titulo Original : No Disrespect-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: From the #1 New York Times bestselling author, rapper, and activist-Sister Souljah uses her passionate voice to deliver what is at once a fiercely candid autobiography and a survival manual for any Black woman determined to keep her heart open and her integrity intact in modern America. Each chapter of No Disrespect is devoted to someone who made a difference in Sister Souljah’s life-from the mother who raised her to the men who educated (and mis-educated) her about love-and each bares a controversial truth about the Black condition in America: the disintegration of families; the unremitting combat between the sexes; and the thousand and one ways in which racism continues to circumscribe how Black people see themselves and treat one another. The result is an outspoken and often courageous rejoinder to the pieties of race, class, and gender by a writer who is at once wise, bawdy, brutally funny, and as sensitive a lightning rod in a thunderstorm. From Publishers Weekly Controversial hip-hop artist Souljah presents a memoir of growing up in the Bronx projects and offers broader views on the state of Afro-American life in America. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. Review Sister Souljah is one of the most eloquent and articulate spokespersons of her generation. Listen to her courageous and painful words in this book.-Cornel West Sister Souljah is a legitimate young voice in black America, a solid thinker who is astute, justifiably angry, and boldly outspoken. In No Disrespect she sets the record straight on where she stands on life, love, spirituality, and race. -Nathan McCall, author of Makes Me Wanna Holler From the Publisher Sister Souljah is one of the most eloquent and articulate spokespersons of her generation. Listen to her courageous and painful words in this book.--Cornel West Sister Souljah is a legitimate young voice in black America, a solid thinker who is astute, justifiably angry, and boldly outspoken. In No Disrespect she sets the record straight on where she stands on life, love, spirituality, and race.--Nathan McCall From the Inside Flap Rapper, activist, and hip-hop rebel, Sister Souljah possesses the most passionate and articulate voice to emerge from the projects. Now she uses that voice to deliver what is at once a fiercely candid autobiography and a survival manual for any African American woman determined to keep her heart open and her integrity intact in 1990s America. About the Author Sister Souljah is a political activist and educator of underclass youth. She is the author of five novels and a memoir, No Disrespect. She lives in New York City with her husband and son...

-Titulo Original : The Monk Of Mokha-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: The Monk of Mokha is the exhilarating true story of a young Yemeni American man, raised in San Francisco, who dreams of resurrecting the ancient art of Yemeni coffee but finds himself trapped in Sana’a by civil war. Mokhtar Alkhanshali is twenty-four and working as a doorman when he discovers the astonishing history of coffee and Yemen’s central place in it. He leaves San Francisco and travels deep into his ancestral homeland to tour terraced farms high in the country’s rugged mountains and meet beleagured but determined farmers. But when war engulfs the country and Saudi bombs rain down, Mokhtar has to find a way out of Yemen without sacrificing his dreams or abandoning his people. Review “Exquisitely interesting… This is about the human capacity to dream-here, there, everywhere.” -Gabriel Thompson, San Francisco Chronicle “A cracking tale of intrigue and bravery… A gripping, triumphant adventure story.” -Paul Constant, Los Angeles Times I wish someone had asked me to blurb The Monk of Mokha so I could have said, I couldn’t put it down, because I couldn’t put it down. -Ann Patchett, Parnassas Bookstore blog “A true account of a scrappy underdog, told in a lively, accessible style... Absolutely as gripping and cinematically dramatic as any fictional cliffhanger.” -Michael Lindgren, The Washington Post “Remarkable… offers hope in the age of Trump… Ends as a kind of breathless thriller as Mokhtar braves militia roadblocks, kidnappings and multiple mortal dangers.” -Tim Adams, The Guardian “A heady brew… Plainspoken but gripping… Dives deep into a crisis but delivers a jolt of uplift as well.” -Mark Athitakis, USA Today A vibrant depiction of courage and passion, interwoven with a detailed history of Yemeni coffee and a timely exploration of Muslim American identity. -David Canfield, Entertainment Weekly “The Monk of Mokha is not merely about ‘coming to America,’ it is a thrilling chronicle of one man’s coming-and-going between two beloved homelands-a brilliant mirror on the global community we have become.” -Marie Arana, author of American Chica and Bolivar: American Liberator “This American coming of age story reminds us all of how much our country is enriched by all who call it home.” -Dalia Mogahed, author of Who Speaks For Islam?: What a Billion Muslims Really Think “Here’s a story for our time: filled with ethos and pathos. You’ll laugh, cry, and discover worlds unknown to most. From scamming in the Tenderloin to dodging bombs in Yemen, Mokhtar and Eggers take us on a worthwhile ride through the postmodern topography of our times.” -Hamza Hanson Yusuf “Like many great works, Eggers’ book is multifaceted. It combines, in a single moving narrative, history, politics, biography, psychology, adventure, drama, despair, hope, triumph and the irrepressible, indomitable nature of the human spirit -at its best.” -Imam Zaid Shakir “In telling Mokhtar’s story with such clarity, honesty, and humor, Eggers allows readers to consider Yemen and Yemenis - long invisible, side-lined, or maligned in the American imagination - in their wonderful and complicated fullness.” -Alia Malek, author of The Home That Was Our Country: A Memoir of Syria and A Country Called Amreeka: Arab Roots, American Stories About the Author Dave Eggers is the author of eleven books, including: The Circle; Heroes of the Frontier, longlisted for the International DUBLIN Literary Award; A Hologram for the King, a finalist for the National Book Award; and What Is the What, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and winner of Frances Prix Medicis Etranger and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. His nonfiction and journalism has appeared in The Guardian, The New Yorker, Best American Travel Writing, and Best American Essays. He is the founder of McSweeneys, the publishing company that distributes the Voice of Witness series of books, which use oral history to illuminate human rights crises aro...

-Titulo Original : Stalin The Court Of The Red Tsar-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: From the Back Cover Fifty years after his death, Stalin remains a figure of powerful and dark fascination. The almost unfathomable scale of his crimes-as many as 20 million Soviets died in his purges and infamous Gulag-has given him the lasting distinction as a personification of evil in the twentieth century. But though the facts of Stalins reign are well known, this remarkable biography reveals a Stalin we have never seen before as it illuminates the vast foundation-human, psychological and physical-that supported and encouraged him, the men and women who did his bidding, lived in fear of him and, more often than not, were betrayed by him. In a seamless meshing of exhaustive research, brilliant synthesis and narrative elan, Simon Sebag Montefiore chronicles the life and lives of Stalins court from the time of his acclamation as leader in 1929, five years after Lenins death, until his own death in 1953 at the age of seventy-three. Through the lens of personality-Stalins as well as those of his most notorious henchmen, Molotov, Beria and Yezhov among them-the author sheds new light on the oligarchy that attempted to create a new world by exterminating the old. He gives us the details of their quotidian and monstrous lives: Stalins favorites in music, movies, literature (Hemmingway, The Forsyte Saga and The Last of the Mohicans were at the top of his list), food and history (he took Ivan the Terrible as his role model and swore by Lenins dictum, A revolution without firing squads is meaningless). We see him among his courtiers, his informal but deadly game of power played out at dinners and parties at Black Sea villas and in the apartments of the Kremlin. We see the debauchery, paranoia andcravenness that ruled the lives of Stalins inner court, and we see how the dictator played them one against the other in order to hone the awful efficiency of his killing machine. With stunning attention to detail, Montefiore documents the crimes, small and large, of all the members of Stalins court. And he traces the intricate and shifting web of their relationships as the relative warmth of Stalins rule in the early 1930s gives way to the Great Terror of the late 1930s, the upheaval of World War II (there has never been as acute an account of Stalins meeting at Yalta with Churchill and Roosevelt) and the horrific postwar years when he terrorized his closest associates as unrelentingly as he did the rest of his country. Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar gives an unprecedented understanding of Stalins dictatorship, and, as well, a Stalin as human and complicated as he is brutal. It is a galvanizing portrait: razor-sharp, sensitive and unforgiving. From the Hardcover edition. This widely acclaimed biography of Stalin and his entourage during the terrifying decades of his supreme power transforms our understanding of Stalin as Soviet dictator, Marxist leader, and Russian tsar.Based on groundbreaking research, Simon Sebag Montefiore reveals the fear and betrayal, privilege and debauchery, family life and murderous cruelty of this secret world. Written with bracing narrative verve, this feat of scholarly research has become a classic of modern history writing. Showing how Stalins triumphs and crimes were the product of his fanatical Marxism and his gifted but flawed character, this is an intimate portrait of a man as complicated and human as he was brutal and chilling. Review “An extraordinary book. . . . For anyone fascinated by the nature of evil-and by the effects of absolute power on human relationships-this book will provide new insights on every page.” -Anne Applebaum, Evening Standard (London)“The first intimate portrait of a man who had more lives on his conscience than Hitler. . . . Disturbing and perplexing.” -Richard Pipes, The New York Times Book Review“Superb. . . . No Western writer has got as close. . . . A dark and excellent book.” -The New York Review of Books“Ter...

-Titulo Original : Dancing Naked In The Mind Field-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: Here is a multidimensional playland of ideas from the worlds most eccentric Nobel-Prize winning scientist. Kary Mullis is legendary for his invention of PCR, which redefined the world of DNA, genetics, and forensic science. He is also a surfer, a veteran of Berkeley in the sixties, and perhaps the only Nobel laureate to describe a possible encounter with aliens. A scientist of boundless curiosity, he refuses to accept any proposition based on secondhand or hearsay evidence, and always looks for the money trail when scientists make announcements. Mullis writes with passion and humor about a wide range of topics: from global warming to the O. J. Simpson trial, from poisonous spiders to HIV, from scientific method to astrology. Dancing Naked in the Mind Field challenges us to question the authority of scientific dogma even as it reveals the workings of an uncannily original scientific mind. Review Delightful . . . joyous . . . an autobiography of the nervous system of an extraordinary chemist. --The New York Times Book ReviewOne of the most mind-stretching and inspirational books Ive read for a long time. --Arthur C. ClarkeKary Mullis, perhaps the weirdest human ever to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, [has written] a chatty, rambling, funny, iconoclastic tour through the wonderland that is [his] mind. --The Washington Post From the Inside Flap Here is a multidimensional playland of ideas from the worlds most eccentric Nobel-Prize winning scientist. Kary Mullis is legendary for his invention of PCR, which redefined the world of DNA, genetics, and forensic science. He is also a surfer, a veteran of Berkeley in the sixties, and perhaps the only Nobel laureate to describe a possible encounter with aliens. A scientist of boundless curiosity, he refuses to accept any proposition based on secondhand or hearsay evidence, and always looks for the money trail when scientists make announcements. Mullis writes with passion and humor about a wide range of topics: from global warming to the O. J. Simpson trial, from poisonous spiders to HIV, from scientific method to astrology. Dancing Naked in the Mind Field challenges us to question the authority of scientific dogma even as it reveals the workings of an uncannily original scientific mind. From the Back Cover Here is a multidimensional playland of ideas from the worlds most eccentric Nobel-Prize winning scientist. Kary Mullis is legendary for his invention of PCR, which redefined the world of DNA, genetics, and forensic science. He is also a surfer, a veteran of Berkeley in the sixties, and perhaps the only Nobel laureate to describe a possible encounter with aliens. A scientist of boundless curiosity, he refuses to accept any proposition based on secondhand or hearsay evidence, and always looks for the money trail when scientists make announcements. Mullis writes with passion and humor about a wide range of topics: from global warming to the O. J. Simpson trial, from poisonous spiders to HIV, from scientific method to astrology. Dancing Naked in the Mind Field challenges us to question the authority of scientific dogma even as it reveals the workings of an uncannily original scientific mind. About the Author Kary Mullis lives in La Jolla and Anderson Valley, California. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. From Chapter OneChristopher was settling down to some Japanese television when the knock on the door came. It was the imperial security forces and they wanted him downstairs. He dressed and came down to the cocktail party with gray-suited men on either side of him. I spied him in the doorway looking interested but also like a high school student who had been dragged away from the television. He was promptly sent through the receiving line, and the emperors face lit up when Chris introduced himself in Japanese. It was a memorable night. I was confident I...

-Titulo Original : Dirt Adventures In Lyon As A Chef In Training, Father, And Sleuth Looking For The Secret Of French Cooking-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: “You can almost taste the food in Bill Buford’s Dirt, an engrossing, beautifully written memoir about his life as a cook in France.” -The Wall Street JournalWhat does it take to master French cooking? This is the question that drives Bill Buford to abandon his perfectly happy life in New York City and pack up and (with a wife and three-year-old twin sons in tow) move to Lyon, the so-called gastronomic capital of France. But what was meant to be six months in a new and very foreign city turns into a wild five-year digression from normal life, as Buford apprentices at Lyon’s best boulangerie, studies at a legendary culinary school, and cooks at a storied Michelin-starred restaurant, where he discovers the exacting (and incomprehensibly punishing) rigueur of the professional kitchen. With his signature humor, sense of adventure, and masterful ability to bring an exotic and unknown world to life, Buford has written the definitive insider story of a city and its great culinary culture. Review An Amazon Best Book of May 2020: It seems like a crazy idea to pick up stakes from a comfortable life in New York and move your wife and three-year-old twins to a city in France (not Paris) to look for a job in a restaurant. It might make more sense if you are Bill Buford, author of Heat, the 2006 book that did for Italian food what, frankly, Dirt will do for French cuisine. But that doesn’t make it any easier. Bill Buford is a foodie with literary chops-he founded the literary magazine Granta and was fiction editor of the New Yorker--but he is also an adventurer, and apparently a very hard worker. After locating a home abroad (Buford’s wife is essential in many of his endeavors), enrolling his kids in a local school, learning French, studying technique at L’Institute Bocuse, and enduring fifteen hour days at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Lyon, the heart of French cuisine, he still managed to write down his experiences with humor and vibrancy. Dirt is the result of five years living and working in France, learning to know the people and their food, and getting to the heart of something-some feeling or quality of living-for which many of us are searching. -Chris Schluep, Amazon Book Review Review “A profound and intuitive work of immersive journalism.” -The New York Times“You can almost taste the food in Bill Buford’s Dirt, an engrossing, beautifully written memoir about his life as a cook in France. . . .Buford brings a novelistic approach to his story; he is both observerand participant. He’s an entertaining, often comical, raconteur.” -The Wall Street Journal“Blazingly entertaining and frequently scalding.” -NPR“A delightful, highly idiosyncratic exploration. . . . [Dirt] may well bean even greater pleasure than its predecessor.” -The New York Times Book ReviewPure pleasure. Masterfully written. If you care at all about food, about writing, about obsessive people with a sense of adventure, you have to read this book. It is, in a word, wonderful.” -Ruth Reichl“[Buford] is knowledgeable, quick, and funny-and Dirt is a work of cultural, historical, and gastronomical depth that reads like an action memoir. . . . He truly took me to the heart of French cuisine.” -Eleanor Beardsley, NPR“A satisfying and envy-inspiring travelogue.” -Joumana Khatib, The New York TimesBill’s ability to fully immerse himself in a foreign place, seemingly at the drop of a dime, is always a sight to behold. With Dirt, Bill dives deep into the unforgiving kitchen culture of Lyon and expresses what it’s truly like to be a cook in this legendary food city.” -Marcus Samuelsson“[Buford’s] writing is filled with humor and heart. . . . [He] underlines a deeply resonant tenet of life: the value of community.” -Time“Required reading for anyone with a love of history, good eating, and masterful storytelling.” -David Chang“Buford has created a unique brand of immersive food writing that channels some of the greatest eve...

-Titulo Original : M Train-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: NATIONAL BESTSELLER * From the National Book Award-winning author of Just Kids: a “sublime collection of true stories … and wild imaginings that take us to the very heart of who Patti Smith is” (Vanity Fair), told through the cafes and haunts she has worked in around the world. Patti Smith calls this bestselling work “a roadmap to my life.”M Train begins in the tiny Greenwich Village cafe where Smith goes every morning for black coffee, ruminates on the world as it is and the world as it was, and writes in her notebook. Through prose that shifts fluidly between dreams and reality, past and present, we travel to Frida Kahlo’s Casa Azul in Mexico; to the fertile moon terrain of Iceland; to a ramshackle seaside bungalow in New York’s Far Rockaway that Smith acquires just before Hurricane Sandy hits; to the West 4th Street subway station, filled with the sounds of the Velvet Underground after the death of Lou Reed; and to the graves of Genet, Plath, Rimbaud, and Mishima.Woven throughout are reflections on the writer’s craft and on artistic creation. Here, too, are singular memories of Smith’s life in Michigan and the irremediable loss of her husband, Fred Sonic Smith. Braiding despair with hope and consolation, illustrated with her signature Polaroids, M Train is a meditation on travel, detective shows, literature, and coffee. It is a powerful, deeply moving book by one of the most remarkable multiplatform artists at work today.Featuring a postscript with five new photos from Patti Smith Review “This book is brilliant. A poetic, energetic search for the secret links between life and art-and coffee.” -Henning Mankell“An eloquent-and a deeply moving-elegy for what she has ‘lost and cannot find’ but can remember in words.” -The New York Times “Elegiac, melancholic, and meditative, filled with wistful flashbacks and haunting Polaroid snapshots.” -NPR “Begins in a tiny Greenwich Village cafe and ends as a dream requiem to the same place, encompassing an entire lost world. . . . Yet despite all of these losses, there is extraordinary joy here. . . . Readers who share in Smith’s transcendent pilgrimage may find themselves reborn within the pages of this exquisite memoir.” -The Washington Post “[Smith] opens her extraordinary heart and soul to us, holding nothing back and never permitting vanity to intrude. It’s a gift, this record of beloved absences, to which one can only respond: thank you.” -O, The Oprah Magazine“Weaves poetry, dreams, art, literature, and conversational fragments into a phantasmagoric, atmospheric, and transportive whole. . . . Brilliant. . . . Where Just Kids concerned Smith’s hopefulness, hunger, callowness, and loss, M Train is about being lost and found.” -The Boston Globe “M Train is a great meditation on solitude, independence, age, a ride-along with the last Romantic standing. . . . Patti Smith inventories her inspirations, and makes her house out of the life lived, out of the love spent.” -USA Today “M Train comes near to accomplishing Marcel Proust’s goal to follow the workings of the human mind and the human heart. By the end of the book you know that nothing is everything, and that life is a labor of love.” -Harper’s Bazaar“M Train is an impressionistic weave of dreams, disasters, and epiphanies, a meditation on life and art by a woman who sees them as one.” -Rolling Stone “A sublime collection of true stories concerning irredeemable loss, memory, travel, crime, coffee, books, and wild imaginings that take us to the very heart of who Patti Smith is.” -Vanity Fair“Marvelous . . . M Train is a book of days, a year in the life, a series of reflections. . . . The message is that living is a kind of invocation, or better yet, a form of prayer.” -Los Angeles Times About the Author Patti Smith is a writer, performer, and visual artist. She gained recognition in the 1970s for her revolutionary merging of poetry and rock. She has released twelve albums, includi...

-Titulo Original : My Twenty-five Years In Provence Reflections On Then And Now (vintage Departures)-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: From the moment Peter Mayle and his wife, Jennie, uprooted their lives in England and crossed the Channel permanently, they never looked back. Here the beloved author of A Year in Provence pays tribute to the most endearing and enduring aspects of his life in France-the charming and indelible parade of village life, the sheer beauty, the ancient history. He celebrates the cafe and lists some of his favorites; identifies his favorite villages, restaurants, and open-air markets; and recounts his most memorable meals. A celebration of twenty-five years of Provençal living-of lessons learned and changes observed-with his final book Mayle has crafted a lasting love letter to his adopted home, marked by his signature warmth, wit, and humor. Review “Full of thoughtful reflections and trenchant observations. . . . It’s wonderful to get to go on one more journey with [Mayle] and remember why we fell in love with him and his writing.” -San Francisco Chronicle“Idyllic.” -USA Today“A warm, nostalgia-soaked look at the place [Mayle] loved so dearly, packed with fond recollections of the pleasures of life in the region, from pastis to Petanque.” -Travel Leisure “[Mayle’s] keen eye and wit are much on display.” -The Philadelphia Inquirer“[A] well-loved writer’s contented recap of a life well lived. . . . Mayle set a new course for travel writing.” -Minneapolis Star Tribune “Delightfully quaint anecdotes from the years since Mayle and his wife, Jennie, escaped office life in New York and London in the 1980s for ‘a simpler, sunnier life’ in Provence. . . . Composed in a uniformly bright and jocular voice, this is a breezy valedictory note for a much admired writer.” -Publishers Weekly “A welcome, if bittersweet, victory lap. The book’s final sentences are particularly resonant of a life well lived: ‘I must go. Lunch is calling.’” -The New York Times Book Review “Mayle takes readers back to the idyllic, slow-paced and occasionally befuddling world that [he] first wrote about in his best-selling memoir A Year in Provence. . . . [My Twenty-Five Years in Provence] treads delightfully familiar ground for fans who succumbed to the charms of Mayle’s first book. The new volume transports readers to the South of France through the eyes of an Englishman who never ceases to marvel at the sunshine, fine food and sometimes inscrutable culture of his adopted turf.” -Associated Press “In this final memoir, Mayle returns to the beginning. . . . This is France, so of course food and wine play a large part in his writing. But while Mayle can pen a mouthwatering description of bouillabaisse, what has always drawn readers to his writing are his loving portraits of people, community and the Provençal way of life.” -BookPage “Mayle’s mellowest book, touched by the tenderness of a writer summing himself up. . . . Even in moments of majesty, Mayle’s puckish humor prevails.” -The Wall Street Journal “One of the most successful and influential memoirists of our era. . . . [Mayle’s writings] not only inspired people to explore the French countryside, they encouraged travelers to explore the world differently.” -Toronto Star “Peter Mayle may have single-handedly created an American and British obsession with the French region of Provence when he published A Year in Provence in 1989. . . . [His] latest book . . . retains the charm of the original. His gentle humor and precise descriptions bring to life a region where time is relative and old ways persist.” -The Providence Journal “A warm, sentimental, vicarious glimpse into a life well lived.” -Canadian Living “[An] amusing, pleasantly written, and easily read book.” -The New Criterion “Confirmation that daydreams do come true. . . . Mayle had the gumption to do what many only daydream about: run away to a paradise.” -Library Journal About the Author Peter Mayle wrote fifteen previous books. He was a proud recipient of the Legion d’Honneur from the Fren...

-Titulo Original : I Am, I Am, I Am Seventeen Brushes With Death-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: On seventeen occasions, award-winning novelist Maggie O’Farrell has stared death in the face-and lived to tell the tale. In this astonishing memoir, the New York Times bestselling author of Hamnet shares the near-death experiences that have punctuated and defined her life.The childhood illness that left her bedridden for a year, which she was not expected to survive. A teenage yearning to escape that nearly ended in disaster. An encounter with a disturbed man on a remote path. And, most terrifying of all, an ongoing, daily struggle to protect her daughter from a condition that leaves her unimaginably vulnerable to life’s myriad dangers. Here, O’Farrell stiches together these discrete encounters to tell the story of her entire life. In taut prose that vibrates with electricity and restrained emotion, she captures the perils running just beneath the surface, and illuminates the preciousness, beauty, and mysteries of life itself.Don’t miss Maggie O’Farrell’s new novel, The Marriage Portrait, coming in September! Review One of LitHub’s 10 Best Essay Collections of the Decade“Transfixing. . . . A mystical howl, a thrumming, piercing reminder of how very closely we all exist alongside what could have happened, but didn’t.” -The New York Times Book Review“Heartbreaking, life-affirming, beautiful. . . . Taken together, these vignettes make up a sharply intimate portrait of what it is to be a person in a body-and in particular, a female body.” -San Francisco Chronicle “An extraordinary book, a reminder that while life has its limits and can be unpredictable, we should push against limitations and not give in to fear.” -NPR“A uniquely complete portrait of a life fully lived. . . . Its unconventional structure probes deep ­questions about the human condition, and it establishes a narrative that finds meaning and truth in life’s chaos and randomness.” -Entertainment Weekly “Clever and poignant, thought provoking and deeply affective.” -GOOP“This intense, unsparing memoir is less about death than about chance, risk and the gift of another day.” -People Magazine “A pleasure to read. And, indeed, difficult to stop reading. . . . There are echoes of Virginia Woolf not just in the rhythm of the prose but also in its dreamlike immediacy. The effect, ingeniously, is of a life told through the gaps, those near misses, on the eluding of which the rest of life hangs.” -The Wall Street Journal “Where other writers may be playing with paper, O’Farrell takes up a bow and arrow and aims at the human heart.” -The Guardian “[A] breathtaking memoir. . . . The book O’Farrell was born to write.” -Bustle “We all have them, those experiences that are even more terrifying in retrospect than they were in the moment, but in this riveting memoir, O’Farrell has written hers down. . . . Her stories are harrowing, but the purpose of these essays is not to frighten. It is to affirm.” -Minneapolis Star Tribune “I Am, I Am, I Am is a gripping and glorious investigation of death that leaves the reader feeling breathless, grateful, and fully alive. Maggie O’Farrell is a miracle in every sense. I will never forget this book.” -Ann Patchett “A page-turner of a memoir.” -Elle “[O’Farrell] manages to relate all . . . without self-pity and in a tone that finds a balance between defiance and resilience. The revelatory journey that the author skillfully takes the reader on is also the path from youthful recklessness to a more judicious standpoint, later in life.” -Santa Fe New Mexican “A mesmerising read.” -The Sunday Times (London) “Intimate in all senses of the word-physically, psychologically, mentally, and emotionally. There is something truly generous about [O’Farrell’s] style. . . . This is a memoir to be cherished.” -The Rumpus “Ingenious and original. . . . A rich celebration of every breath O’Farrell’s taken.” -The Independent “[A] gloriously unconventional memoir. Maggie O’Farrell deconstructs our relations...

-Titulo Original : This Republic Of Suffering Death And The American Civil War (vintage Civil War Library)-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Preface: The work of deathMortality defines the human condition. “We all have our dead-we all have our Graves,” a Confederate Episcopal bishop observed in an 1862 sermon. Every era, he explained, must confront “like miseries”; every age must search for “like consolation.” Yet death has its discontinuities as well. Men and women approach death in ways shaped by history, by culture, by conditions that vary over time and across space. Even though “we all have our dead,” and even though we all die, we do so differently from generation to generation and from place to place.[1]In the middle of the nineteenth century, the United States embarked on a new relationship with death, entering into a civil war that proved bloodier than any other conflict in American history, a war that would presage the slaughter of World War I’s Western Front and the global carnage of the twentieth century. The number of soldiers who died between 1861 and 1865, an estimated 620,000, is approximately equal to the total American fatalities in the Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, and the Korean War combined. The Civil War’s rate of death, its incidence in comparison with the size of the American population, was six times that of World War II. A similar rate, about 2 percent, in the United States today would mean six million fatalities. As the new southern nation struggled for survival against a wealthier and more populous enemy, its death toll reflected the disproportionate strains on its human capital. Confederate men died at a rate three times that of their Yankee counterparts; one in five white southern men of military age did not survive the Civil War.[2]But these military statistics tell only a part of the story. The war killed civilians as well, as battles raged across farm and field, as encampments of troops spread epidemic disease, as guerrillas ensnared women and even children in violence and reprisals, as draft rioters targeted innocent citizens, as shortages of food in parts of the South brought starvation. No one sought to document these deaths systematically, and no one has devised a method of undertaking a retrospective count. The distinguished Civil War historian James McPherson has estimated that there were fifty thousand civilian deaths during the war, and he has concluded that the overall mortality rate for the South exceeded that of any country in World War I and that of all but the region between the Rhine and the Volga in World War II. The American Civil War produced carnage that has often been thought reserved for the combination of technological proficiency and inhumanity characteristic of a later time.[3]The impact and meaning of the war’s death toll went beyond the sheer numbers who died. Death’s significance for the Civil War generation arose as well from its violation of prevailing assumptions about life’s proper end-about who should die, when and where, and under what circumstances. Death was hardly unfamiliar to mid-nineteenth-century Americans. By the beginning of the 1860s the rate of death in the United States had begun to decline, although dramatic improvements in longevity would not appear until late in the century. Americans of the immediate prewar era continued to be more closely acquainted with death than are their twenty-first century counterparts. But the patterns to which they were accustomed were in significant ways different from those the war would introduce. The Civil War represented a dramatic shift in both incidence and experience. Mid-nineteenth-century Americans endured a high rate of infant mortality but expected that most individuals who reached young adulthood would survive at least into middle age. The war took young, healthy men and rapidly, often instantly, destroyed them with disease or injury. This marked a sharp and alarming departure from existing preconceptions about who sho...

-Titulo Original : Furious Hours Murder, Fraud, And The Last Trial Of Harper Lee-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * This “superbly written true-crime story” (The New York Times Book Review) masterfully brings together the tales of a serial killer in 1970s Alabama and of Harper Lee, the beloved author of To Kill a Mockingbird, who tried to write his story.Reverend Willie Maxwell was a rural preacher accused of murdering five of his family members, but with the help of a savvy lawyer, he escaped justice for years until a relative assassinated him at the funeral of his last victim. Despite hundreds of witnesses, Maxwell’s murderer was acquitted-thanks to the same attorney who had previously defended the reverend himself. Sitting in the audience during the vigilante’s trial was Harper Lee, who spent a year in town reporting on the Maxwell case and many more trying to finish the book she called The Reverend. Cep brings this remarkable story to life, from the horrifying murders to the courtroom drama to the racial politics of the Deep South, while offering a deeply moving portrait of one of our most revered writers. Review One of the Best Books of the Year The New York Times * The Washington Post * Time * Dallas Morning News * The Economist“Captivating. . . . A spellbinding true crime story.” -The New York Times Book Review“A triumph on every level. One of the losses to literature is that Harper Lee never found a way to tell a gothic true-crime story she’d spent years researching. Casey Cep has excavated this mesmerizing story and tells it with grace and insight and a fierce fidelity to the truth.” -David Grann, author of Killers of the Flower Moon“An enthralling work of narrative nonfiction. . . . Cep delivers edge-of-your-seat courtroom drama while brilliantly reinventing Southern Gothic.” -O, The Oprah Magazine “The sort of story that even Lee would have been proud to write.” -Michael Lewis, The New York Times“A marvel.” -Time“Impossible to put down.” -Helen Macdonald, author of H Is for Hawk“Remarkable, thoroughly researched. . . . Cep manages the feat that all great nonfiction aspires to: combining the clean precision of fact with the urgency of gossip.” -The New York Review of BooksFascinating. . . . Lyrically composed. -Minneapolis Star TribuneStunning. -Financial Times“A rich, ambitious, beautifully written book.” -The Washington Post“[A] well-told, ingeniously structured double mystery.” -The Economist“A gripping, incredibly well-written portrait of not only Harper Lee, but of mid-20th century Alabama. . . . What I didn’t see coming was the emotional response I’d have as I blazed through the last 20 pages of the book-yet there I was, weeping.” -Ilana Masad, NPR“A brilliant take on the mystery of inspiration and the even darker mysteries of the human heart.” -People“A compelling hybrid of a novel, at once a true-crime thriller, courtroom drama, and miniature biography of Harper Lee.” -Southern Living“There’s a stirring poetry to Furious Hours that eludes most contemporary nonfiction. . . . [The book] fills in the gap of Lee’s post-Mockingbird career with insatiable curiosity and impressive research. It reveals not just her intellectual interests, but within them, her personal relationships and motivations.” -Entertainment Weekly“Gripping and meticulous, Cep’s work doesn’t make us choose between fidelity and style.” -Vulture “This riveting account of both the murders and Lee’s reporting, writing, and editing process is fascinating for its behind-the-scenes look at one of the South’s cherished creative minds.” -Garden & Gun“Essential reading.” -Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Cep paints a vivid picture of the political and social makeup of a small Southern town, where family trees and the organizational charts of local institutions intersect often; where memories are long; and where the collective conscience of a community sometimes carries more weight than the law.” -The Atlanta Journal-Constitution “A riveting true crime story, and a dazzling biography of one of Amer...

-Titulo Original : I Am Not Your Negro-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: NATIONAL BESTSELLER * In his final years, Baldwin envisioned a book about his three assassinated friends, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King. His deeply personal notes for the project had never been published before acclaimed filmmaker Raoul Peck mined Baldwin’s oeuvre to compose his stunning documentary film I Am Not Your Negro.Peck weaves these texts together, brilliantly imagining the book that Baldwin never wrote with selected published and unpublished passages, essays, letters, notes, and interviews that are every bit as incisive and pertinent now as they have ever been. Peck’s film uses them to jump through time, juxtaposing Baldwin’s private words with his public statements, in a blazing examination of the tragic history of race in America. This edition contains more than 40 black-and-white images from the film, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary. Review “I Am Not Your Negro is a kaleidoscopic journey through the life and mind of James Baldwin, whose voice speaks even more powerfully today than it did 50 years ago. . . . He was the prose-poet of our injustice and inhumanity. . . . The times have caught up with his scalding eloquence.” -Variety “A searing and topical indictment of racial prejudice and hatred in America that makes for uneasy viewing and is not easily forgotten. . . . Vividly intelligent.” -Hollywood Reporter “A striking work of storytelling. . . . One of the best movies about the civil rights era ever made. . . . This might be the only movie about race relations that adequately explains-with sympathy-the root causes.” -The Guardian “Thrilling. . . . A portrait of one man’s confrontation with a country that, murder by murder, as he once put it, ‘devastated my universe.’… One of the best movies you are likely to see this year.” -The New York Times About the Author JAMES BALDWIN (1924-1987) was a novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, social critic, and the author of more than twenty books. His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, appeared in 1953 to excellent reviews, and his essay collections Notes of a Native Son and The Fire Next Time were bestsellers that made him an influential figure in the civil rights movement. Baldwin spent many years in France, where he moved to escape the racism and homophobia of the United States. He died in 1987. RAOUL PECK is a filmmaker acclaimed for his historical, political, and artistic work. Haitian-born, he grew up in Congo, France, Germany, and the United States. His body of work includes the films The Man by the Shore (Competition, Cannes 1993); Lumumba (Cannes 2000, HBO); and Sometimes in April (2005, HBO). He is currently chairman of the French national film school, La Femis, and recently completed his next feature film, The Young Karl Marx (2017). Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. As concerns Malcolm and Martin,I watched two men, coming from unimaginably different backgrounds,whose positions, originally, were poles apart,driven closer and closer together.By the time each died, their positions had become virtually the same position.It can be said, indeed, that Martin picked up Malcolm’s burden,articulated the vision which Malcolm had begun to see,and for which he paid with his life.And that Malcolm was one of the people Martin saw on the mountaintop.Medgar was too young to have seen this happen,though he hoped for it, and would not have been surprised;but Medgar was murdered first.I was older than Medgar, Malcolm, and Martin.I was raised to believe that the eldest was supposed to be a model for the younger,and was, of course, expected to die first.Not one of these three lived to be forty...

-Titulo Original : The First Tycoon The Epic Life Of Cornelius Vanderbilt-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: NATIONAL BESTSELLERWINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARDIn this groundbreaking biography, T.J. Stiles tells the dramatic story of Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt, the combative man and American icon who, through his genius and force of will, did more than perhaps any other individual to create modern capitalism. Meticulously researched and elegantly written, The First Tycoon describes an improbable life, from Vanderbilt’s humble birth during the presidency of George Washington to his death as one of the richest men in American history. In between we see how the Commodore helped to launch the transportation revolution, propel the Gold Rush, reshape Manhattan, and invent the modern corporation. Epic in its scope and success, the life of Vanderbilt is also the story of the rise of America itself. Review A The New York Times Notable Book A Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, The New Yorker, Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, and Kansas City Star Book of the Year “A mighty-and mighty confident-work. . . . This is state-of-the-art biography. . . . The First Tycoon has been widely praised, and rightly so. . . . This is state-of-the-art biography.”-The New York Times “Superbly written and researched. . . . Worthy of its subject.” -The Economist “Truly remarkable. . . . A landmark study that significantly enhances one’s understanding of U.S. economic history. . . . [Stiles is] one of the most exciting writers in the field.” -Foreign Affairs “Stiles has painted a full-bodied, nuanced picture of the man. . . . Elegance of style and fair-minded intent illuminate Stiles’s latest, expectedly profound exploration of American culture in the raw.” -The Boston Globe “Stiles, a superb researcher, has unearthed quantities of new material and crafted them into the illuminating, authoritative portrait of Vanderbilt that has been missing for so long.” -The Washington Post “Very absorbing. . . . Much more than a biography. The book is filled with important, exhaustively researched and indeed fascinating details that would profit every student of American business and social history to read.” -San Francisco Chronicle “Stiles writes with both the panache of a fine journalist and the analytical care of a seasoned scholar. And he offers a fruitful way to think about the larger history of American elites as well as the life of one of their most famous members.” -The New York Times Book Review “Vanderbilt’s story is indeed epic, and so is The First Tycoon. . . .Stiles is a perceptive and witty writer with a remarkable ability to paint a picture of the America in which Vanderbilt lived.” -The Christian Science Monitor “Fascinating. . . . A reminder that Vanderbilt’s life and times still have much to teach us.” -Newsweek “Gracefully written. . . . [Vanderbilt] was the right man in the right place at the right time, and the meticulous Stiles seems to be the right man to tell us about it.” -St. Petersburg Times “Stiles has given us a balanced and absorbing biography of this colorful and often ruthless entrepreneur.” -James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era “Monumental. . . . Arresting. . . . Stiles has a gift for making readers admire unsavory characters. . . . [The First Tycoon] resembles a five-course meal at a three-star restaurant: rich and pleasurable.” -Bloomberg “Engrossing and provocative. . . . Stiles draws on exhaustive archival research to clear away the apocryphal and celebrate Vanderbilt as an American icon.” -Tulsa World “At long last a biography worthy of the Commodore, meticulously researched, superbly written, and filled with original insights.” -Maury Klein, author of The Life and Legend of Jay Gould “Stiles writes with the magisterial sweep of a great historian and the keen psychological insight of a great biographer. . . . With panache and admirable ease, Stiles maps the financial and political currents on which Vanderbilt buccaneered and shows that it was Vand...