Book De*ion He’s an American legend, a straight-shooting businessman whobrought Chrysler back from the brink and in the process became amedia celebrity, newsmaker, and a man many had urged to run forpresident. The son of Italian immigrants, Lee Iacocca rose spectacularlythrough the ranks of Ford Motor Company to become its president,only to be toppled eight years later in a power play that shouldhave shattered him. But Lee Iacocca didn’t get mad, he got even. Heled a battle for Chrysler’s survival that made his name a symbol ofintegrity, know-how, and guts for millions of Americans. In his classic hard-hitting style, he tells us how he changed theautomobile industry in the 1960s by creating the phenomenalMustang. He goes behind the scenes for a look at Henry Ford’s reignof intimidation and manipulation. He recounts the miraculousrebirth of Chrysler from near bankruptcy to repayment of its $1.2billion government loan so early that Washington didn't know how tocash the check.
When Anne Rice stopped crafting stories about vampires andbegan writing about Jesus, many of her fans were shocked. Thisautobiographical spiritual memoir provides an account of how theauthor rediscovered and fully embraced her Catholic faith afterdecades as a self-proclaimed atheist. Rice begins with herchildhood in New Orleans, when she seriously considered entering aconvent. As she grows into a young adult she delves into concernsabout faith, God and the Catholic Church that lead her away fromreligion. The author finally reclaims her Catholic faith in thelate 1990s, describing it as a movement toward total surrender toGod. She writes beautifully about how through clouds of doubt andpain she finds clarity, realizing how much she loved God anddesired to surrender her being, including her writing talent, toGod. Covering such a large sequence of time and life events is noteasy, and some of the author's transitions are a bit jarring. Fansof Rice's earlier works will enjoy discovering more about her lifean
To illuminate the mysterious greatness of Anton Chekhov'swritings, Janet Malcolm takes on three roles: literary critic,biographer, and journalist. Her close readings of the stories andplays are interwoven with episodes from Chekhov's life and framedby an account of Malcolm's journey to St. Petersburg, Moscow, andYalta. She writes of Chekhov's childhood, his relationships, histravels, his early success, and his self-imposed "exile"--alwayswith an eye to connecting them to themes and characters in hiswork. Lovers of Chekhov as well as those new to his work will betransfixed by "Reading Chekhov."
In the most inspiring speech of his career, Ted Kennedy oncevowed: "For all those whose cares have been our concern, the workgoes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dreamshall never die." Unlike his martyred brothers, John and Robert, whose lives werecut off before the promise of a better future could be realized,Ted lived long enough to make many promises come true. During acareer that spanned an astonishing half-century, he put his imprinton every major piece of progressive legislation–from health careand education to civil rights.
I don’t want to get out of bed.I’m so stupid.I did so manythings wrong.I don’t know what to do.I’m going to be in so muchtrouble.What am I going to do?I’m completely screwed.In 1991,fourteen-year-old Brent Runyon came home from school, doused hisbathrobe in gasoline, put it on, and lit a match. He sufferedthird-degree burns over 85% of his body and spent the next yearrecovering in hospitals and rehab facilities. During that year ofphysical recovery, Runyon began to question what he’d done,undertaking the complicated journey from near-death back to highschool, and from suicide back to the emotional mainstream oflife.In the tradition of Running with Scissors and Girl,Interrupted , The Burn Journals is a truly remarkablebook about teenage despair and recovery.
In 1987, John Rember returned home to Sawtooth Valley, wherehe had been brought up. He returned out of a homing instinct: thesame forty acres that had sustained his family’s horses hadsustained a vision of a place where he belonged in the world, alife where he could get up in the morning, step out the door, andcatch dinner from the Salmon River. But to his surprise, he foundthat what was once familiar was now unfamiliar. Everything mighthave looked the same to the horses that spring, but to Rember thiswas no longer home. In Traplines , Rember recounts his experiences of growing upin a time when the fish were wild in the rivers, horses werebrought into the valley each spring from their winter pasture, andelectric light still seemed magical. Today those same experiencesno longer seem to possess the authenticity they once did. In hisjourney home, Rember discovers how the West, both as a place inwhich to live and as a terrain of the imagination, has beentransformed. And he wonders whether his recollections o
Logan Ward and his wife, Heather, were prototypical NewYorkers circa 2000: their lives steeped in ambition, work, andstress. Feeling their souls grow numb, wanting their toddler son tosee the stars at night, the Wards made a plan. They would return totheir native South, find a farm, and for one year live exactly aspeople did in 1900 Virginia: without a car or electricity–and withonly the food they could grow themselves. It was a project thatwould push their relationship to the brink–and illuminate stunninghardships and equally remarkable surprises. From Logan’s emotionally charged battles with Belle, the familyworkhorse, to Heather’s daily trials with a wood-fired cookingstove and a constant siege of garden pests and cantankerousanimals, the Wards were soon overwhelmed by their new life. At thesame time as Logan and Heather struggled with their increasinglyfragile relationship, as their son relished simple joys, the couplediscovered something else: within their self-imposed time warp,they
