"A searing memoir about growing up behind the Iron Curtain, motherhood, addiction, and finding sustenance in the natural world." -KirkusIn The Hunger Book, Agata Izabela Brewer evokes her Polish childhood under Communism, where the warmth of her grandparents' love and the scent of mushrooms drying in a tiny apartment are as potent as the deprivations and traumas of life with a terrifyingly unstable, alcoholic single mother. Brewer indelibly renders stories of foraging for food, homemade potato vodka (one of the Eastern Bloc's more viable currencies), blood sausage, sparrows plucked and fried with linseed oil, and the respite of a country garden plot, all amid Stalinist-era apartment buildings, food shortages, martial law, and nuclear disaster in nearby Ukraine.Brewer reflects on all of this from her immigrant's vantage point, as she wryly tries to convince her children to enjoy the mushrooms she gathers from a roadside and grieves when they choose to go by Americanized versions of their Polish names. Hunting mushrooms, like her childhood, carried both reward and mortal peril. The Hunger Book, which includes recipes, is an unforgettable meditation on motherhood and addiction, resilience and love.
"A personal memoir in which Lyn Slater, known on Instagram as "Accidental Icon," brings her characteristic style, optimism, forward-thinking, and rules-are-meant-to-be-broken attitude to the question of how to live boldly at any age. When Lyn Slater started her fashion blog, Accidental Icon, at age sixty-one, she discovered that followers were flocking to her account for more than just her A-list style. As Lyn flaunted gray hair, wrinkles, and a megadose of self-acceptance, they found in her an alternative model of older life: someone who defied the stereotypes, refused to become invisible, and showed that all women have the opportunity to be relevant and take major risks at any stage of their life. Youth is not the only time we can be experimental. How to Be Old tells the ten-year story of Lyn's sixties, the sometimes-glamorous, sometimes-turbulent decade of Accidental Icon. This memoir is about the hopeful and future-oriented process of reinvention. It shows readers that while you can't control everything, what you can control is the way you think about your age and the creative ways you respond to the changes in your mind and body as they happen. Rather than trying to meet standards of youth and beauty as a measure of successful aging, Lyn promotes a more inclusive and empowering standard to judge our older selves by. In this paradigm-shifting memoir, Lyn exemplifies that even with its unique challenges, being old is just like any new beginning in your life and can be the best and most invigorating of all of life's phases, full of rebellion and reinvention, connection and creativity"--
Richard Gallegos is a veteran ultramarathoner, husband, father, and mental health advocate. In this searingly honest account of his life, Richard relates his descent into alcohol and opiate abuse to cope with the emotional toll of being a first responder paramedic, witnessing every aspect of the horror and devastation that can be experienced by humanity.Faced with the reality of the irreparable damage his addictions were causing, Richard made the decision to regain control of his life and re-build his self-esteem by taking part in a series of ultramarathons, culminating in his participation in a one hundred mile raceThis is a truly inspiring and heartfelt autobiography, written by a man who hit absolute rock bottom and clawed his way back with astounding strength and determination. For anyone struggling with addiction, PTSD or any mental or emotional obstacles, Recovery Run is a must-read.
In 1913 a young second lieutenant discovers the terrible danger of pity. He had no idea the girl was lame when he asked her to dance -- his compensatory afternoon calls relieve his guilt but give her a dangerous glimmer of hope.Stefan Zweig's only novel is a devastating depiction of the torment of the betrayalof both honour and love, realised against the background of the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
"'I was a writer, but not the writer I needed to be. For that I had to become a different person,' Robert Glèuck, widely acclaimed as a novelist and as a theorist of 'the new narrative,' recently told the Paris Review, in which a section of About Ed has appeared. About Ed is Glèuck's portrait of the artist Ed Aulerich-Sugai, his sometime lover, met in the seventies in San Francisco, when gay life emerged unabashedly from the closet. 'I wanted to find in Ed something to latch on to that was outside my egotism and fear, my threadbare relation to the world-a leap through Ed into lyric time,' Glèuck has said, and in this book that is both 'a novel and my version of an AIDS memoir' he wanted to capture the full range of his feelings for Ed: 'estranged from Ed, bored by him, moved by him.' It is a book about the life they lived together-art and writing and family and sex and death-and, composed over many decades, it is also a book about how the past continues to change in memory and to charge the present. 'What is the right question to ask about a life?' Glèuck asks, describing About Ed as a 'collaborative project,' since 'Ed helped me write this book.' Ed gave him 'notes to fashion a chapter about the day he was diagnosed so I could describe his experience from the inside,' and 'after Ed died, Daniel, Ed's partner, lent me Ed's dream journals.... He started writing them in 1970, the year that we met. We both used his journals, not as puzzles to solve the truth of a self but as a commons producing images that we harvested for paintings and poems. And fifty years later, there I was reading and copying out and running away from his dreams. Are they a condensed version of Ed? Shorthand? Distillation? Is he knowable and unknowable in the same degree sleeping or waking?' About Ed is a challenging and beautiful book by one of America's finest and most adventurous writers"
For 13 years, Peter Hince lived the rock 'n' roll dream. As head roadie for Queen he had a front row seat and backstage pass to some of the greatest moments in music.Now, he is opening up his incredible archive and sharing hundreds of photographs and mementoes - many never seen before - as well as stories and memories from life inside rock 'n' roll history.Queen Uncovered is packed with images and ephemera from this truly unique collection, covering life on the road and in the studio, backstage and on-stage, relaxing at parties, filming iconic music videos and much more besides.
In George Michael: A Life,“Gavin’s engrossing biography of the singer takes the measure of a gifted, tragic, and infuriating man” (New York Times Book Review). George Michael was an extravagantly gifted, openhearted soul singer whose work was both pained and smolderingly erotic. He was a songwriter of true craft and substance, and his music swept the world, starting in the mid-1980s. His fabricated image—that of a hypermacho sex god—loomed large in the pop culture of his day. It also hid—for a time—the secret he fought against revealing: Michael was gay. Soon his obsession with fame would start to backfire. As one of the industry’s most privileged yet tortured men began to self-destruct, the press showed little sympathy. George Michael: A Life explores the compelling story of a superstar whose struggles, as well as his songs, continue to touch fans all over the world. Acclaimed music biographer James Gavin traces Michael’s metamorphosis from the shy and awkward Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou into the swaggering, dominant half of the leading British pop duo of the 1980s Wham! He then details Michael’s sensational solo career and its subsequent unraveling. With deep analysis of the creative process behind Michael’s albums, tours, and music videos, as well as interviews with hundreds of his friends and colleagues, George Michael: A Life is a probing, definitive portrait of a pop legend.
The eight-time world champion has been riding two wheels his entire life. In what way has it shaped him, how does it satisfy him? Does the much-vaunted »freedom on two wheels« exist in racing? Or is that too much of a romantic notion in a world where you compete elbow to elbow at 350 km/h?Being Marc Márquez is not a linear biography, because the story of his life, his career, has not been written yet. The man behind the iconic acronym MM93 reveals what matters to him on the racetrack and in life, and what guides him there. In 10 chapters, he allows readers to get an up-close look, much closer than ever before. Marc opens his tinted vizor and allows a peak into the mind and soul of an all-out racer, a tireless fighter and an unapologetically optimistic family guy.In this book, the likeable Spaniard provides an intimate insight into his emotional world and the passion that has formed his personality-and has millions on the edges of their seats every single Sunday: How on earth did he do it this time?
An illustrated exploration of the story behind Vivienne Westwood and her iconic fashion house.
'Where have all my friends gone?'When Max Dickins decided to propose to his girlfriend, he realised there was no one he could call on to be his best man. He quickly learned that he wasn't the only man struggling with friendships. For decades, countless studies from across the world have confirmed that men have fewer close friends than women - and the problem gets worse the older men get. But what goes wrong? And what can men do about it? Dickins is going to find out. His funny and charmingly candid search takes him to the doors of world-leading experts. It forces him to examine the friendships he's had over the years, and where they have foundered. And, briefly, it sends him to the website 'Rent A Friend', where he pays someone to hang out with him. But let's not dwell on that. Join Max as he takes a defibrillator to his social life. As he ultimately discovers that if he wants a Best Man, then he needs to be a better man.
An illustrated exploration of the story behind the brand, from Pierre Balmain's work in the 1950s fashion world, through to the brand as it is in the 21st century.
In this follow-up to Clanlands Sam & Graham document their journey across New Zealand, a country Graham calls home and that Sam has longed to visit since learning it was a popular destination for Scottish immigrants to settle back in the 19th century.Follow the 'outlandish' pair as they explore the Scottish influence of New Zealand: connecting with the rich culture and Scottish heritage, sampling world-class food & drink, and being humbled by incredible landscapes and pulse-raising activities. All of this accompanied (of course!) by a healthy side of Sam torturing his faithful travel companion, Graham.Told in the pair's characteristic bantering style, Clanlands 2 promises to be an informative and entertaining deep dive into a much-loved country... and yet another unforgettable wild adventure.
From the million-copy bestselling author Philip Norman comes a revealing portrait of GEORGE HARRISON, the most undervalued and mysterious Beatle. Unprecedented in scope, this rich biography captures Harrison at his most multi-faceted: master guitarist, songwriter, addict, philanderer, philanthropist, spiritualist, and, ultimately, beloved artist.
Presents a collection of the year's best essays as selected by author and critic Vivian Gornick.
Foreword by Bob StanleyOn a sunny Saturday morning in May 1956, a fifteen-year-old, then called Harry Webb, was mooching down Waltham Cross High Street. He heard some music blaring out of a parked car. It stopped him in his tracks.The song was 'Heartbreak Hotel' by Elvis Presley. It sounded like nothing he had ever heard before. In that instant, the schoolboy who was destined to take the hit parade by storm as Cliff Richard fell in love with rock and roll. It gave him the thrill, the purpose and the mission that has shaped his life ever since.Cliff lives in and for music. And with 65 years as a hitmaker, the music filling his head is a broad category. His soundtrack begins by blasting us all back into that first life-changing explosion of rock and also includes great soul soul stars such as Aretha Franklin, longtime colleagues like Elton John, and much-missed close friends Cilla Black and Olivia Newton-John.This book is meaningful to Cliff on many levels. The 30 or so songs here that make up the soundtrack to his life have each moved him deeply, but it's also about the legendary artists he met, and often got to know. He shares those stories and memories with you, too.A Head Full of Music is a vibrant personal journey for Cliff, and it's a joy to accompany him on it. Get wired for sound with him and read on.
Philip Guston paintings?particularly the liberated and instinctual forms of his late work?continue to exert a powerful influence on younger generations of contemporary painters. His daughter, Musa Mayer, manages the estate of Philip Guston and is president of The Guston Foundation. She has curated exhibitions of Guston's work and written books including the memoir Night Studio, first published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1988. In 2022 the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced that more than two hundred Guston works from her collection would be gifted to the museum.
"Featuring 8 newly commissioned pieces alongside more than 20 classic essays from the likes of Fraçnois Truffaut and Jonas Mekas, DO NOT DETONATE explores key influences on celebrated director Wes Anderson's new film Asteroid City. Together they form a detailed, captivating portrait of the mid-century film world and the enduring myths of the American West." --
The first biography of a major American cultural symbol ever written, Betty Boop: The Most Popular Female Comic Strip and Cartoon Character of All Time describes Betty Boop's creation and incredibly active romantic and family life as revealed in her numerous comic strips, comic books, cartoons, and movies since 1930.
"In the mid-eighteenth century, as new ideas...begin to sweep the Continent, a young Jew of mysterious origins arrives in a village in Poland. Before long, he has changed not only his name but his persona; visited by what seem to be ecstatic experiences, Jacob Frank casts a charismatic spell that attracts an increasingly fervent following. In the decade to come, Frank will traverse the Hapsburg and Ottoman empires with throngs of disciples in his thrall as he reinvents himself again and again, converts to Islam and then Catholicism, is pilloried as a heretic and revered as the Messiah, and wreaks havoc on the conventional order, Jewish and Christian alike, with scandalous rumors of his sect's secret rituals and the spread of his increasingly iconoclastic beliefs"--
THE NO 1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERA personal account of the life and character of Britain's longest-reigning monarch, from the writer who knew her family best'Compelling . . . Fascinating' DAILY MAIL'The writer who got closest to the human truth about our long-serving senior royals' THE TIMES'The book overflows with nuggets of insider knowledge' TELEGRAPHPaints a unique picture of the remarkable woman who reigned for seven decades. Fascinating insights' HELLO!__________Gyles Brandreth first met the Queen in 1968, when he was twenty.Over the next fifty years he met her many times, both at public and at private events. Through his friendship with the Duke of Edinburgh, he was given privileged access to Elizabeth II.He kept a record of all those encounters, and his conversations with the Queen over the years, his meetings with her family and friends, and his observations of her at close quarters are what make this very personal account of her extraordinary life uniquely fascinating.From her childhood in the 1920s to the era of Harry and Meghan in the 2020s, from her war years at Windsor Castle to her death at Balmoral, this is both a record of a tumultuous century of royal history and a truly intimate portrait of a remarkable woman.__________Praise for Gyles Brandreth's bestselling royal writing:'Beautifully written book. I have read many other books about Philip but this is the best' DAILY EXPRESS'Brilliant, totally inspiring . . . It's a joy to read a book that comes from a perspective of fondness' KIRSTIE ALLSOPP, THE TIMES'As a sparkling celebration of Prince Philip, the book will be hard to beat' TELEGRAPH'So readable and refreshing even after the millions of words that have been written about Prince Philip in the past couple of weeks' THE TIMES 'Brilliant . . . There is so much in this book you won't find anywhere else' LORRAINE
A scientist's journey from observation to discovery is anything but straightforward. It is littered with failure, unexpected diversions and joyous realizations. Science helps us to understand ourselves - but what we know about the world around us, what has already been explored and discovered, is only half of science's story. Dr Camilla Pang will look at some of the biggest mysteries facing science today and how some of the best, most cutting-edge scientists can illuminate our own approaches to observation, hypothesis, exploration, troubleshooting and discovery in our own lives.
A look at 100 inspiring novels that have left a significant mark on the world of literature and popular culture.
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