Dennis Rodman shoots from the lip as he talks about everythingfrom the NBA and his game, his sexuality, dating, his wild flingwith superstar Madonna, and morality. Reprint."

As a singer and songwriter, Gram Parsons stood at the nexus ofcountless musical crossroads, and he sold his soul to the devil atevery one. His intimates and collaborators included Keith Richards,William Burroughs, Marianne Faithfull, Peter Fonda, Roger McGuinn,and Clarence White. Parsons led the Byrds to create the seminalcountry rock masterpiece Sweetheart of the Rodeo, helped to guidethe Rolling Stones beyond the blues in their appreciation ofAmerican roots music, and found his musical soul mate in EmmylouHarris. Parsons’ solo albums, GP and Grievous Angel, are nowrecognized as visionary masterpieces of the transcendentaljambalaya of rock, soul, country, gospel, and blues Parsons named“Cosmic American Music.” Parsons had everything–looks, charisma,money, style, the best drugs, the most heartbreaking voice–andthrew it all away with both hands, dying of a drug and alcoholoverdose at age twenty-six. In this beautifully written, raucous, meticulously researchedbiography, David N. Meyer gi

'Michelangelo's artistic personality has been profoundly read. It will be difficult to be content again with any view that does not look into its depth, or with one which does not see the man's life, his visual works and his poetry together.' - Lawrence Gowing 'So tightly packed with meaning that it must be read more than once - I myself have read it three times, and with each reading have found increased understanding and pleasure' - Herbert Read 'The importance of Stokes is he asserted that art is extremely important for our sanity.' - Eric Rhode on BBC 'Kaleidoscope' 'This is a book I hope to read at least once, if not twice, more. I think Adrian Stokes has made a new, deep and penetrating contribution to present-day art criticism.' - Henry Moore Michelangelos artistic personality has been profoundly read. It will be difficult to be content again with any view that does not look into its depth, or with one which does not see the mans life, his visual works and his poetry together. - Lawrenc

Warren Buffett is the most successful investor of all time. His ability to consistently find undervalued companies has made him one of the world's richest men. Yet while his track record is hard to argue with, the Buffett way isn't the only way, nor is it always the best way, to invest. Even Buffett Isn't Perfect dispels many myths about Buffett and his "solid as a rock" style. It shows readers how to learn from the master's best moves while avoiding strategies that don't apply to small investors -- and avoiding Buffett's mistakes, such as sometimes riding his winners too long.

Here is a multidimensional playland of ideas from the world'smost eccentric Nobel-Prize winning scientist. Kary Mullis islegendary for his invention of PCR, which redefined the world ofDNA, genetics, and forensic science. He is also a surfer, a veteranof Berkeley in the sixties, and perhaps the only Nobel laureate todescribe a possible encounter with aliens. A scientist of boundlesscuriosity, he refuses to accept any proposition based on secondhandor hearsay evidence, and always looks for the "money trail" whenscientists make announcements.

Andrew Jackson, his intimate circle of friends, and histumultuous times are at the heart of this remarkable book about theman who rose from nothing to create the modern presidency. Belovedand hated, venerated and reviled, Andrew Jackson was an orphan whofought his way to the pinnacle of power, bending the nation to hiswill in the cause of democracy. Jackson’s election in 1828 usheredin a new and lasting era in which the people, not distant elites,were the guiding force in American politics. Democracy made itsstand in the Jackson years, and he gave voice to the hopes and thefears of a restless, changing nation facing challenging times athome and threats abroad. To tell the saga of Jackson’s presidency,acclaimed author Jon Meacham goes inside the Jackson White House.Drawing on newly discovered family letters and papers, he detailsthe human drama–the family, the women, and the inner circle ofadvisers–that shaped Jackson’s private world through years of stormand victory. One of our most significant

“The most comprehensive and authoritative study ofWashington’s military career ever written.” –Joseph J. Ellis, author of His Excellency: GeorgeWashington Based largely on George Washington’s personal papers, thisengrossing book paints a vivid, factual portrait of Washington thesoldier. An expert in military history, Edward Lengel demonstratesthat the “secret” to Washington’s excellence lay in hiscompleteness, in how he united the military, political, andpersonal skills necessary to lead a nation in war and peace.Despite being an “imperfect commander”–and at times even atactically suspect one–Washington nevertheless possessed therequisite combination of vision, integrity, talents, and goodfortune to lead America to victory in its war for independence. Atonce informative and engaging, and filled with some eye-openingrevelations about Washington, the American Revolution, and the verynature of military command, General George Washington is a bookthat reintroduces reader

Soon after the fall of the Taliban, in 2001, Deborah Rodriguezwent to Afghanistan as part of a group offering humanitarian aid tothis war-torn nation. Surrounded by men and women whose skills–asdoctors, nurses, and therapists–seemed eminently more practicalthan her own, Rodriguez, a hairdresser and mother of two fromMichigan, despaired of being of any real use. Yet she soon foundshe had a gift for befriending Afghans, and once her professionbecame known she was eagerly sought out by Westerners desperate fora good haircut and by Afghan women, who have a long and proudtradition of running their own beauty salons. Thus an idea wasborn. With the help of corporate and international sponsors, the KabulBeauty School welcomed its first class in 2003. Well meaning butsometimes brazen, Rodriguez stumbled through language barriers,overstepped cultural customs, and constantly juggled the challengesof a postwar nation even as she learned how to empower her studentsto become their families’ breadwinners

Extraordinary. A brilliant, painful, and important book. THE NEW YORK TIMES If there was any one man who articulated the anger, the struggle,and the beliefs of African Americans in the 1960s, that man wasMalcolm X. His AUTOBIOGRAPHY is the result of a uniquecollaboration between Alex Haley and Malcolm X, whose voice andphilosophy resonate from every page, just as his experience and hisintelligence continue to speak to millions.

The Secretary of Defense for the Kennedy and Johnsonadministrations provides an account of how and why America becameinvolved in Vietnam and discusses the long-term ramifications ofdecisions made during the 1960s. Reprint. 125,000 firstprinting.

Of all our great presidents, Theodore Roosevelt is the only onewhose greatness increased out of office. When he toured Europe in1910 as plain “Colonel Roosevelt,” he was hailed as the most famousman in the world. Crowned heads vied to put him up in theirpalaces. “If I see another king,” he joked, “I think I shall bitehim.” Had TR won his historic “Bull Moose” campaign in1912 (when he outpolled the sitting president, William HowardTaft), he might have averted World War I, so great was hisinternational influence. Had he not died in 1919, at the early ageof sixty, he would unquestionably have been reelected to a thirdterm in the White House and completed the work he began in 1901 ofestablishing the United States as a model democracy, militarilystrong and socially just. This biography by Edmund Morris, the PulitzerPrize and National Book Award–winning author of The Rise ofTheodore Roosevelt and Theodore Rex, is itself the completion of atrilogy sure to stand as definitive. Packed with m

From one of the most important intellectuals of our time comesan extraordinary story of exile and a celebration of anirrecoverable past. A fatal medical diagnosis in 1991 convincedEdward Said that he should leave a record of where he was born andspent his childhood, and so with this memoir he rediscovers thelost Arab world of his early years in Palestine, Lebanon, andEgypt. Said writes withgreat passion and wit about his family and his friends from hisbirthplace in Jerusalem, schools in Cairo, and summers in themountains above Beirut, to boarding school and college in theUnited States, revealing an unimaginable world of rich, colorfulcharacters and exotic eastern landscapes. Underscoring all is theconfusion of identity the young Said experienced as he came toterms with the dissonance of being an American citizen, a Christianand a Palestinian, and, ultimately, an outsider. Richly detailed,moving, often profound, Out of Place depicts a young man'scoming of age and the genesis of a great modern think

When he was 4 years old, spurred by insatiable curiosity andthe beat of a marching drum, Wole Soyinka slipped silently throughthe gate of his parents' yard and followed a police band to adistant village. This was his first journey beyond Aké, Nigeria,and reading his account is akin to witnessing a child'sepiphany: The parsonage wall had vanished forever but it no longermattered. Those token bits and pieces of Aké which had entered ourhome on occasions, or which gave off hints of their nature in thoseSunday encounters at church, were beginning to emerge in theirproper shapes and sizes. He returned, perched upon the handlebars of a policeman'sbicycle, "markedly different from whatever I was before the march."The reader's horizons feel similarly expanded after finishing thisastonishing book. Nobel laureate Soyinka is a prolific playwright, poet, novelist,and critic, but seems to have found his purest voice as anautobiographer. Aké: The Years of Childhood is a memoir of st

The first African to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, aswell as a political activist of prodigious energies, Wole Soyinkanow follows his modern classic Ake: The Years of Childhood with anequally important chronicle of his turbulent life as an adult in(and in exile from) his beloved, beleaguered homeland. In the tough, humane, and lyrical language that has typified hisplays and novels, Soyinka captures the indomitable spirit ofNigeria itself by bringing to life the friends and family whobolstered and inspired him, and by describing the pioneeringtheater works that defied censure and tradition. Soyinka not onlyrecounts his exile and the terrible reign of General Sani Abacha,but shares vivid memories and playful anecdotes–including hisimprobable friendship with a prominent Nigerian businessman and thetime he smuggled a frozen wildcat into America so that his studentscould experience a proper Nigerian barbecue. More than a major figure in the world of literature, Wole Soyinkais a courag

By piecing the lives of selected individuals into a grandmosaic, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Daniel J. Boorstinexplores the development of artistic innovation over 3,000 years. Ahugely ambitious chronicle of the arts that Boorstin delivers withthe scope that made his Discoverers a national bestseller.

Described by the Chicago Tribune as "a classic," TheRise of Theodore Roosevelt stands as one of the greatestbiographies of our time. The publication of The Rise of TheodoreRoosevelt on September 14th, 2001 marks the 100th anniversaryof Theodore Roosevelt becoming president.

In 1773, the great Samuel Johnson–then 63–and his young friendand future biographer, James Boswell, traveled together around thecoast of Scotland, each writing his own account of the 83-dayjourney. Published in one volume, the very different travelogues ofthis unlikely duo provide a fascinating picture not only of theScottish Highlands but also of the relationship between two menwhose fame would be forever entwined. Johnson's account contains elegant de*ions and analysesof what was then a remote and rugged land. In contrast, theScottish-born Boswell's journal of the trip focuses on thepsychological landscape of his famously gruff and witty companion,and is part of the material he was already collecting for hisfuture Life of Samuel Johnson, the masterly biography that wouldmake his name. Read together, the two accounts form both a unique classic oftravel writing and a revelation of one of the most famous literaryfriendships.

A Freewheelin’ Time is Suze Rotolo’s firsthand, eyewitness,participant-observer account of the immensely creative and fertileyears of the 1960s, just before the circus was in full swing andBob Dylan became the anointed ringmaster. It chronicles theback-story of Greenwich Village in the early days of the folk musicexplosion, when Dylan was honing his skills and she was in the ringwith him. A shy girl from Queens, Suze Rotolo was the daughter of Italianworking-class Communists. Growing up at the start of the Cold Warand during McCarthyism, she inevitably became an outsider in herneighborhood and at school. Her childhood was turbulent, but Suzefound solace in poetry, art, and music. In Washington Square Park,in Greenwich Village, she encountered like-minded friends who werealso politically active. Then one hot day in July 1961, Suze metBob Dylan, a rising young musician, at a folk concert at RiversideChurch. She was seventeen, he was twenty; they were young, curious,and inseparable. During the y

From Ann Wroe, a biographer of the first rank, comes astartlingly original look at one of the greatest poets in theWestern tradition. Being Shelley aims to turn the poet's life inside out: ratherthan tracing the external events of his life, she tracks the innerjourney of a spirit struggling to create. In her quest tounderstand the radically unconventional Shelley, Wroe pursues thequestions that consumed the poet himself. Shelley sought to freeand empower the entire human race; his revolution was meant toshatter illusions, shock men and women with new visions, find truelove and liberty—and take everyone with him. Now, for the firsttime, this passionate quest is put at the center of his life. Theresult is a Shelley who has never been seen in biographybefore.

This comprehensive, original portrait of the life and work ofone of America's greatest poets--set in the social, cultural, andpolitical context of his time--considers the full range of writingsby and about Whitman, including his early poems and stories, hisconversations, letters, journals, newspaper writings, and daybooks. of photos.

Book De*ion The 400th anniversary of the death of Elizabeth I occasionsAnchor's publication of Anne Somerset's magisterial biography,singled out by Lady Antonia Fraser as her "favourite among thebiographies of the Queen." Glitteringly detailed and engagingly written, Elizabeth I brings tovivid life the golden age of sixteenth-century England and theuniquely fascinating monarch who presided over it. A woman ofintellect and presence, Elizabeth firmly believed in the divineprovidence of her sovereignty and exercised supreme authority overthe intrigue-laden Tudor court and Elizabethan England at large.Brilliant, mercurial, seductive, and maddening, an inspiration toartists and adventurers and the subject of vicious speculation overher choice not to marry, Elizabeth is immortalized in thissplendidly illuminating account. Unraveling the political complexities of Elizabethan England andEurope, bringing alive the alluring, intrigue-laden Tudor court,Anne Somerset examines the life and times of Elizabeth I, themonarc