The definitive oral history of Bob Marley by one of the world's foremost reggae scholars. Bob Marley's life is the stuff of legend. Raised in the slums of Kingston, Jamaica, Marley (1945-1981) wrote songs that inspired millions. So Much Things to Say tells Marley's life story like never before. Roger Steffens traveled with the Wailers, interviewed Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer extensively, and took iconic Marley photographs. Now, drawing on forty years of intimate interviews with band members, family, lovers, and confidants -- many speaking publicly for the first time -- Steffens crafts a riveting oral history depicting Marley's life through vivid scenes: the future reggae star auditioning for Coxsone Dodd in Trench Town, the violent confrontation between the Wailers and producer Lee Perry, the attempted assassination (and conspiracy theories that followed) , triumphant live performances around the world, and the artist's tragic death from cancer at the age of thirty-six. Revealing and original, So Much Things to Say presents Marley as both man and musician, seen through the eyes of those who knew him best. 40 photographs
W W NORTON
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9780393058451
|
Print book
You Can't Be Serious
By Penn, Kal
You Can't Be Serious is a series of funny, consequential, awkward, and ridiculous stories from Kal's idiosyncratic life. It's about being the grandson of Gandhian freedom fighters, and the son of immigrant parents: people who came to this country with very little and went very far - and whose vision of the American dream probably never included their son sliding off an oiled-up naked woman in a raunchy Ryan Reynolds movie ... or getting a phone call from Air Force One as Kal flew with the country's first Black president. With intelligence, humor, and charm on every page, Kal reflects on the most exasperating and rewarding moments from his journey so far. He pulls back the curtain on the nuances of opportunity and racism in the entertainment industry and recounts how he built allies, found encouragement, and dealt with early reminders that he might never fit in.
Gallery Books
|
9781982171384
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Hardcover
Orwell
By Taylor, D. J.
A fascinating exploration of George Orwell - and his body of work - by an award-winning Orwellian biographer and scholar, presenting the author anew to twenty-first-century readers. We find ourselves in an era when the moment is ripe for a reevaluation of the life and the works of one of the twentieth century's greatest authors. This is the first twenty-first-century biography on George Orwell, with special recognition to D. J. Taylor's stature as an award-winning biographer and Orwellian. Using new sources that are now available for the first time, we are tantalizingly at the end of the lifespan of Orwell's last few contemporaries, whose final reflections are caught in this book. The way we look at a writer and his canon has changed even over the course of the last two decades; there is a post-millennial prism through which we must now look for such a biography to be fresh and relevant.
Pegasus Books
|
9781639364510
|
Hardcover
Fare Thee Well
By Selvin, Joel
A tell-all biography of the epic in-fighting of the Grateful Dead in the years following band leader Jerry Garcia's death in 1995The Grateful Dead rose to greatness under the inspired leadership of guitarist Jerry Garcia, but the band very nearly died along with him. When Garcia passed away suddenly in August of 1995, the remaining band members experienced full crises of confidence and identity. So long defined by Garcia's vision for the group, the surviving "Core Four," as they came to be called, were reduced to conflicting agendas, strained relationships, and catastrophic business decisions that would leave the iconic band in shambles. Wrestling with how best to define their living legacy, the band made many attempts at restructuring, but it would take twenty years before relationships were mended enough for the Grateful Dead as fans remembered them to once again take the stage.
Da Capo Press
|
9780306903052
|
Hardcover
The Only Girl in the World
By Julien, Maude
For readers of Room and The Glass Castle, a memoir to be read in one breathless sitting that will leave you astonished by the courage and creative power of even the most neglected soul. Maude Julien's parents were fanatics who believed it was their sacred duty to turn her into the ultimate survivor - raising her in isolation, tyrannizing her childhood and subjecting her to endless drills designed to "eliminate weakness." Maude learned to hold an electric fence for minutes without flinching, and to sit perfectly still in a rat-infested cellar all night long (her mother sewed bells onto her clothes that would give her away if she moved) . She endured a life without heat, hot water, adequate food, friendship, or any kind of affectionate treatment.But Maude's parents could not rule her inner life. Befriending the animals on the lonely estate as well as the characters in the novels she read in secret, young Maude nurtured in herself the compassion and love that her parents forbid as weak. And when, after more than a decade, an outsider managed to penetrate her family's paranoid world, Maude seized her opportunity. By turns horrifying and magical, The Only Girl in the World is a story that will grip you from the first page and leave you spellbound, a chilling exploration of psychological control that ends with a glorious escape.
Little, Brown and Company
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9780316466622
|
Hardcover
Dutch Girl
By Matzen, Robert
Twenty-five years after her passing, Audrey Hepburn remains the most beloved of all Hollywood stars, known as much for her role as UNICEF ambassador as for films like Roman Holiday and Breakfast at Tiffany's. Several biographies have chronicled her stardom, but none has covered her intense experiences through five years of Nazi occupation in the Netherlands. According to her son, Luca Dotti, "The war made my mother who she was." Audrey Hepburn's war included participation in the Dutch Resistance, working as a doctor's assistant during the "Bridge Too Far" battle of Arnhem, the brutal execution of her uncle, and the ordeal of the Hunger Winter of 1944. She also had to contend with the fact that her father was a Nazi agent and her mother was pro-Nazi for the first two years of the occupation. But the war years also brought triumphs as Audrey became Arnhem's most famous young ballerina. Audrey's own reminiscences, new interviews with people who knew her in the war, wartime diaries, and research in classified Dutch archives shed light on the riveting, untold story of Audrey Hepburn under fire in World War II. Also included is a section of color and black-and-white photos. Many of these images are from Audrey's personal collection and are published here for the first time.
GoodKnight Books
|
9781732273535
|
Hardcover
The Epic City
By Choudhury, Kushanava
A masterful, entirely fresh portrait of great hopes and dashed dreams in a mythical city from a new literary voice.Everything that could possibly be wrong with a city was wrong with Calcutta.When Kushanava Choudhury arrived in New Jersey at the age of twelve, he had already migrated halfway around the world four times. After graduating from Princeton, he moved back to the region his immigrant parents had abandoned, to a city built between a river and a swamp, where the moisture-drenched air swarms with mosquitos after sundown. Once the capital of the British Raj, and later India's industrial and cultural hub, by 2001 Calcutta was clearly past its prime. Why, his relatives beseeched him, had he returned? Surely, he could have moved to Delhi, Bombay, or Bangalore, where a new golden age of consumption was being born.
Bloomsbury USA
|
9781635571561
|
Hardcover
When Life Gives You Pears
By Gaffigan, Jeannie
In a book that is The Big Sick meets Dad is Fat, Jeannie Gaffigan, writing partner and wife of bestselling author/comedian Jim Gaffigan, writes with humor and heart about the pear-sized brain tumor she had removed, the toll it took on her enormous family, and the priceless lessons she learned along the way.In 2017, writer director producer and super mom Jeannie's life came to a crashing halt when she was diagnosed with a life-threatening brain tumor. The mother of 5 kids, 6 if you include her husband, could only think "I might die," as she sat in the ER in star-covered sweats too whimsical for the seriousness of the situation.Thankfully, Jeannie and her family were able to survive this time of crisis, and now she's ready to share her miraculous story: how she had the brutal conversation with her children, her parents, and close friends; how she came to terms with feeling powerless with the difficult recovery of being bedridden and not eating for a month; how she started to realize the importance of her relationships; and ultimately, to learn, and relearn to be more present in life.With sincerity and hilarity, Jeannie shares her insights during this trying time, emphasizing the importance of family, faith and humor.
Publisher: n/a
|
9781538751046
|
Hardcover
Making a Scene
By Wu, Constance
From actor Constance Wu, a powerful and poignant memoir-in-essays.Growing up in the friendly suburbs of Richmond, Virginia, Constance Wu was often scolded for having big feelings or strong reactions. "Good girls don't make scenes," people warned her. And while she spent most of her childhood suppressing her bold, emotional nature, she found an early outlet in local community theater - it was the one place where big feelings were okay - were good, even. Acting became her refuge, her touchstone, and eventually her vocation. At eighteen she moved to New York, where she'd spend the next ten years of her life auditioning, waiting tables, and struggling to make rent before her two big breaks: the TV sitcom Fresh Off the Boat and the hit film Crazy Rich Asians.
Scribner
|
9781982188542
|
Hardcover
My Own Devices
By Dessa,
"Incredible gravitas and presence and humanity. There's just so much intelligence to everything she does." - NPR, All Songs ConsideredDessa defies category--she is an intellectual with an international rap career and an inhaler in her backpack; a creative writer fascinated by philosophy and behavioral science; and a funny, charismatic performer dogged by blue moods and heartache. She's ferocious on stage and endearingly neurotic in the tour van. Her stunning literary debut memoir stitches together poignant insights on love, science, and language--a demonstration of just how far the mind can travel while the body is on a six-hour ride to the next gig. In "The Fool That Bets Against Me," Dessa writes to Geico to request a commercial insurance policy for the broken heart that's helped her write so many sad songs. "A Ringing in the Ears" tells the story of her father building a wooden airplane in their backyard garage. In "Congratulations," she describes the challenge of recording a song for The Hamilton Mixtape in a Minneapolis basement, straining for a high note and hoping for a break. "Call off Your Ghost" chronicles the fascinating project she undertook with a team of neuroscientists to try and clinically excise romantic feelings for an old flame. Her writing is infused with scientific research, dry wit, a philosophical perspective, and an abiding tenderness for the people she tours with and the people she leaves behind to be on the road.My Own Devices is an uncompromising and candid account of a life in motion, in music, and in love. Dessa is as compelling on the page as she is onstage, making My Own Devices the debut of a unique and deft literary voice.
So Much Things to Say
By Steffens, Roger
The definitive oral history of Bob Marley by one of the world's foremost reggae scholars. Bob Marley's life is the stuff of legend. Raised in the slums of Kingston, Jamaica, Marley (1945-1981) wrote songs that inspired millions. So Much Things to Say tells Marley's life story like never before. Roger Steffens traveled with the Wailers, interviewed Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer extensively, and took iconic Marley photographs. Now, drawing on forty years of intimate interviews with band members, family, lovers, and confidants -- many speaking publicly for the first time -- Steffens crafts a riveting oral history depicting Marley's life through vivid scenes: the future reggae star auditioning for Coxsone Dodd in Trench Town, the violent confrontation between the Wailers and producer Lee Perry, the attempted assassination (and conspiracy theories that followed) , triumphant live performances around the world, and the artist's tragic death from cancer at the age of thirty-six. Revealing and original, So Much Things to Say presents Marley as both man and musician, seen through the eyes of those who knew him best. 40 photographs
You Can't Be Serious
By Penn, Kal
You Can't Be Serious is a series of funny, consequential, awkward, and ridiculous stories from Kal's idiosyncratic life. It's about being the grandson of Gandhian freedom fighters, and the son of immigrant parents: people who came to this country with very little and went very far - and whose vision of the American dream probably never included their son sliding off an oiled-up naked woman in a raunchy Ryan Reynolds movie ... or getting a phone call from Air Force One as Kal flew with the country's first Black president. With intelligence, humor, and charm on every page, Kal reflects on the most exasperating and rewarding moments from his journey so far. He pulls back the curtain on the nuances of opportunity and racism in the entertainment industry and recounts how he built allies, found encouragement, and dealt with early reminders that he might never fit in.
Orwell
By Taylor, D. J.
A fascinating exploration of George Orwell - and his body of work - by an award-winning Orwellian biographer and scholar, presenting the author anew to twenty-first-century readers. We find ourselves in an era when the moment is ripe for a reevaluation of the life and the works of one of the twentieth century's greatest authors. This is the first twenty-first-century biography on George Orwell, with special recognition to D. J. Taylor's stature as an award-winning biographer and Orwellian. Using new sources that are now available for the first time, we are tantalizingly at the end of the lifespan of Orwell's last few contemporaries, whose final reflections are caught in this book. The way we look at a writer and his canon has changed even over the course of the last two decades; there is a post-millennial prism through which we must now look for such a biography to be fresh and relevant.
Fare Thee Well
By Selvin, Joel
A tell-all biography of the epic in-fighting of the Grateful Dead in the years following band leader Jerry Garcia's death in 1995The Grateful Dead rose to greatness under the inspired leadership of guitarist Jerry Garcia, but the band very nearly died along with him. When Garcia passed away suddenly in August of 1995, the remaining band members experienced full crises of confidence and identity. So long defined by Garcia's vision for the group, the surviving "Core Four," as they came to be called, were reduced to conflicting agendas, strained relationships, and catastrophic business decisions that would leave the iconic band in shambles. Wrestling with how best to define their living legacy, the band made many attempts at restructuring, but it would take twenty years before relationships were mended enough for the Grateful Dead as fans remembered them to once again take the stage.
The Only Girl in the World
By Julien, Maude
For readers of Room and The Glass Castle, a memoir to be read in one breathless sitting that will leave you astonished by the courage and creative power of even the most neglected soul. Maude Julien's parents were fanatics who believed it was their sacred duty to turn her into the ultimate survivor - raising her in isolation, tyrannizing her childhood and subjecting her to endless drills designed to "eliminate weakness." Maude learned to hold an electric fence for minutes without flinching, and to sit perfectly still in a rat-infested cellar all night long (her mother sewed bells onto her clothes that would give her away if she moved) . She endured a life without heat, hot water, adequate food, friendship, or any kind of affectionate treatment.But Maude's parents could not rule her inner life. Befriending the animals on the lonely estate as well as the characters in the novels she read in secret, young Maude nurtured in herself the compassion and love that her parents forbid as weak. And when, after more than a decade, an outsider managed to penetrate her family's paranoid world, Maude seized her opportunity. By turns horrifying and magical, The Only Girl in the World is a story that will grip you from the first page and leave you spellbound, a chilling exploration of psychological control that ends with a glorious escape.
Dutch Girl
By Matzen, Robert
Twenty-five years after her passing, Audrey Hepburn remains the most beloved of all Hollywood stars, known as much for her role as UNICEF ambassador as for films like Roman Holiday and Breakfast at Tiffany's. Several biographies have chronicled her stardom, but none has covered her intense experiences through five years of Nazi occupation in the Netherlands. According to her son, Luca Dotti, "The war made my mother who she was." Audrey Hepburn's war included participation in the Dutch Resistance, working as a doctor's assistant during the "Bridge Too Far" battle of Arnhem, the brutal execution of her uncle, and the ordeal of the Hunger Winter of 1944. She also had to contend with the fact that her father was a Nazi agent and her mother was pro-Nazi for the first two years of the occupation. But the war years also brought triumphs as Audrey became Arnhem's most famous young ballerina. Audrey's own reminiscences, new interviews with people who knew her in the war, wartime diaries, and research in classified Dutch archives shed light on the riveting, untold story of Audrey Hepburn under fire in World War II. Also included is a section of color and black-and-white photos. Many of these images are from Audrey's personal collection and are published here for the first time.
The Epic City
By Choudhury, Kushanava
A masterful, entirely fresh portrait of great hopes and dashed dreams in a mythical city from a new literary voice.Everything that could possibly be wrong with a city was wrong with Calcutta.When Kushanava Choudhury arrived in New Jersey at the age of twelve, he had already migrated halfway around the world four times. After graduating from Princeton, he moved back to the region his immigrant parents had abandoned, to a city built between a river and a swamp, where the moisture-drenched air swarms with mosquitos after sundown. Once the capital of the British Raj, and later India's industrial and cultural hub, by 2001 Calcutta was clearly past its prime. Why, his relatives beseeched him, had he returned? Surely, he could have moved to Delhi, Bombay, or Bangalore, where a new golden age of consumption was being born.
When Life Gives You Pears
By Gaffigan, Jeannie
In a book that is The Big Sick meets Dad is Fat, Jeannie Gaffigan, writing partner and wife of bestselling author/comedian Jim Gaffigan, writes with humor and heart about the pear-sized brain tumor she had removed, the toll it took on her enormous family, and the priceless lessons she learned along the way.In 2017, writer director producer and super mom Jeannie's life came to a crashing halt when she was diagnosed with a life-threatening brain tumor. The mother of 5 kids, 6 if you include her husband, could only think "I might die," as she sat in the ER in star-covered sweats too whimsical for the seriousness of the situation.Thankfully, Jeannie and her family were able to survive this time of crisis, and now she's ready to share her miraculous story: how she had the brutal conversation with her children, her parents, and close friends; how she came to terms with feeling powerless with the difficult recovery of being bedridden and not eating for a month; how she started to realize the importance of her relationships; and ultimately, to learn, and relearn to be more present in life.With sincerity and hilarity, Jeannie shares her insights during this trying time, emphasizing the importance of family, faith and humor.
Making a Scene
By Wu, Constance
From actor Constance Wu, a powerful and poignant memoir-in-essays.Growing up in the friendly suburbs of Richmond, Virginia, Constance Wu was often scolded for having big feelings or strong reactions. "Good girls don't make scenes," people warned her. And while she spent most of her childhood suppressing her bold, emotional nature, she found an early outlet in local community theater - it was the one place where big feelings were okay - were good, even. Acting became her refuge, her touchstone, and eventually her vocation. At eighteen she moved to New York, where she'd spend the next ten years of her life auditioning, waiting tables, and struggling to make rent before her two big breaks: the TV sitcom Fresh Off the Boat and the hit film Crazy Rich Asians.
My Own Devices
By Dessa,
"Incredible gravitas and presence and humanity. There's just so much intelligence to everything she does." - NPR, All Songs ConsideredDessa defies category--she is an intellectual with an international rap career and an inhaler in her backpack; a creative writer fascinated by philosophy and behavioral science; and a funny, charismatic performer dogged by blue moods and heartache. She's ferocious on stage and endearingly neurotic in the tour van. Her stunning literary debut memoir stitches together poignant insights on love, science, and language--a demonstration of just how far the mind can travel while the body is on a six-hour ride to the next gig. In "The Fool That Bets Against Me," Dessa writes to Geico to request a commercial insurance policy for the broken heart that's helped her write so many sad songs. "A Ringing in the Ears" tells the story of her father building a wooden airplane in their backyard garage. In "Congratulations," she describes the challenge of recording a song for The Hamilton Mixtape in a Minneapolis basement, straining for a high note and hoping for a break. "Call off Your Ghost" chronicles the fascinating project she undertook with a team of neuroscientists to try and clinically excise romantic feelings for an old flame. Her writing is infused with scientific research, dry wit, a philosophical perspective, and an abiding tenderness for the people she tours with and the people she leaves behind to be on the road.My Own Devices is an uncompromising and candid account of a life in motion, in music, and in love. Dessa is as compelling on the page as she is onstage, making My Own Devices the debut of a unique and deft literary voice.