V. S. Naipaul has always faced the challenges of "fitting onecivilization to another." In A Writer's People , he takes usinto this process of creative and intellectual assimilation, whichhas shaped both his writing and his life. Naipaul discussesthe writers to whom he was exposed early on—Derek Walcott, GustaveFlaubert, and his father, among them—and his first encounters withliterary culture. He illuminates the ways in which the writings ofGandhi, Nehru, and other Indian writers both reveal and conceal theauthors themselves and their nation. And he brings the samescrutiny to bear on his own life: his early years in Trinidad; theempty spaces in his family history; his ever-evolving reactions tothe more complicated India he would encounter for the first time atage thirty.

The private letters of Truman Capote, lovingly assembled herefor the first time by acclaimed Capote biographer Gerald Clarke,provide an intimate, unvarnished portrait of one of the twentiethcentury’s most colorful and fascinating literary figures. Capote was an inveterate letter writer. He wrote letters as hespoke: emphatically, spontaneously, and passionately. Spanning morethan four decades, his letters are the closest thing we have to aCapote autobiography, showing us the uncannily self-possessed na?fwho jumped headlong into the post—World War II New York literaryscene; the more mature Capote of the 1950s; the Capote of the early1960s, immersed in the research and writing of In Cold Blood; andCapote later in life, as things seemed to be unraveling. Withcameos by a veritable who’s who of twentieth century glitterati,Too Brief a Treat shines a spotlight on the life and times of anincomparable American writer.

In a book that is both biography and the most exciting form ofhistory, here are eighteen years in the life of a man, AlbertEinstein, and a city, Berlin, that were in many ways the definingyears of the twentieth century. Einstein in Berlin In the spring of 1913 two of the giants of modern sciencetraveled to Zurich. Their mission: to offer the most prestigiousposition in the very center of European scientific life to a manwho had just six years before been a mere patent clerk. AlbertEinstein accepted, arriving in Berlin in March 1914 to take up hisnew post. In December 1932 he left Berlin forever. “Take a goodlook,” he said to his wife as they walked away from their house.“You will never see it again.” In between, Einstein’s Berlin years capture in microcosm theodyssey of the twentieth century. It is a century that opens withextravagant hopes--and climaxes in unparalleled calamity. These aretumultuous times, seen through the life of one man who is at oncewitness to and architect of his day--and

Amusing, irreverent, sophisticated and highly accessible,Einstein for Beginners is the perfect introduction to Einstein'slife and thought. Reaching back as far as Babylon (for the origins of mathematics)and the Etruscans (who thought they could handle lightning), thisbook takes us through the revolutions in electrical communicationsand technology that made the theory of relativity possible. In theprocess, we meet scientific luminaries and personalities ofimperial Germany, as well as Galileo, Faraday, and Newton; learnwhy moving clocks run slower than stationary ones, why nothing cango faster than the speed of light; and follow Albert's thought ashe works his way toward E = mc2, the most famous equation of thetwentieth century.

In a witty and elegant autobiography thattakes up where his bestelling Palimpsest left off, thecelebrated novelist, essayist, critic, and controversialist GoreVidal reflects on his remarkable life.Writing from his desks inRavello and the Hollywood Hills, Vidal travels in memory throughthe arenas of literature, television, film, theatre, politics, andinternational society where he has cut a wide swath, recountingachievements and defeats, friends and enemies made (and sometimeslost). From encounters with, amongst others, Jack and JacquelineKennedy, Tennessee Williams, Eleanor Roosevelt, Orson Welles,Johnny Carson, Francis Ford Coppola to the mournful passing of hislongtime partner, Howard Auster, Vidal always steers his narrativewith grace and flair. Entertaining, provocative, and often moving, Point to Point Navigation wonderfully captures the life ofone of twentieth-century America’s most important writers.

Nominated for a National Book Critics Circle award, Wherethe Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs gathers togetherWallace Stegner’s most important and memorable writings on theAmerican West: its landscapes, diverse history, and shiftingidentity; its beauty, fragility, and power. With subjects rangingfrom the writer’s own “migrant childhood” to the need to protectwhat remains of the great western wilderness (which Stegner dubs“the geography of hope”) to poignant profiles of western writerssuch as John Steinbeck and Norman Maclean, this collection is ariveting testament to the power of place. At the same time itcommunicates vividly the sensibility and range of this most giftedof American writers, historians, and environmentalists.

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.

Although his popularity is eclipsed by Rembrandt today, PeterPaul Rubens was revered by his contemporaries as the greatestpainter of his era, if not of all history. His undeniableartistic genius, bolstered by a modest disposition and a reputationas a man of tact and discretion, made him a favorite among monarchsand political leaders across Europe—and gave him the perfect coverfor the clandestine activities that shaped the landscape ofseventeenth-century politics. In Master of Shadows, Mark Lamster brilliantly recreates theculture, religious conflicts, and political intrigues of Rubens’stime, following the painter from Antwerp to London, Madrid, Paris,and Rome and providing an insightful exploration of Rubens’s art aswell as the private passions that influenced it.

Sex, intrigue and adultery in the world of high politics andhuge wealth in late eighteenth-century England. Georgiana, Duchessof Devonshire, was one of the most flamboyant and influential womenof the eighteenth century. The great-great-great-great aunt ofDiana, Princess of Wales, she was variously a compulsive gambler, apolitical savante and operator of the highest order, a drug addict,an adulteress and the darling of the common people. Thisauthoritative, utterly absorbing book presents a mesmerizingpicture of a fascinating world of political and sexual intrigues,grand houses, huge parties, glamour and great wealth -- always onthe edge of being squandered by the excesses and scandals ofindividuals. Georgiana's extraordinary life has now been made intoa major film - starring Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes - whichis due for release in summer 2008. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

No writer alive today exerts the magical appeal of GabrielGarcía Márquez. Now, in the long-awaited first volume of hisautobiography, he tells the story of his life from his birth in1927 to the moment in the 1950s when he proposed to his wife. Theresult is as spectacular as his finest fiction. Here is García Márquez’s shimmering evocation of his childhoodhome of Aracataca, the basis of the fictional Macondo. Here are themembers of his ebulliently eccentric family. Here are the forcesthat turned him into a writer. Warm, revealing, abounding in imagesso vivid that we seem to be remembering them ourselves, Living toTell the Tale is a work of enchantment.

In the tradition of our best-selling Secret Lives of the U.S.Presidents (120,000 copies in print), here are outrageous anduncensored profiles of the world's greatest artists, complete withhundreds of little-known, politically incorrect, and downrightbizarre facts. Consider: Michelangelo had such repellant body odorthat his assistants couldn't stand working for him. Pablo Picassodid jail time for ripping off several statues from the Louvre.Gabriel Dante Rossetti's favorite pet was a wombat that slept onhis dining room table. Vincent van Gogh sometimes ate paintdirectly from the tube. Georgia O'Keeffe liked to paint in thenude. Salvador Dal concocted a perfume from dung to attract theattention of his future wife. With outrageous anecdotes abouteveryone from Leonardo (accused sodomist) to Caravaggio (convictedmurderer) to Edward Hopper (alleged wife beater), Secret Lives ofGreat Artists is an art history lesson you'll never forget

In GRACE POWER: THE PRIVATE WORLD OF THE KENNEDY WHITEHOUSE , New York Times bestselling author Sally BedellSmith takes us inside the Kennedy White House with unparalleledaccess and insight. Having interviewed scores of Kennedy intimates,including many who have never spoken before, and drawing on lettersand personal papers made available for the first time, Smith paintsa richly detailed picture of the personal relationships behind thehigh purpose and poiltical drama of the twentieth century's moststoried presidency. At the dawn of the 1960s, a forty-three-year-old president and histhirty-one-year-old first lady – the youngest couple ever to occupythe White House – captivated the world with their easy elegance andtheir cool conviction that anything was possible. Jack and JackieKennedy gathered around them an intensely loyal and brillantcoterie of intellectuals, journalists, diplomats, internationaljet-setters and artists. Perhaps as never before, Washington wassharply divided between the “ins” an

Here is the book that Rolling Stone called "the first Doorsbiography that feels like it was written for the right reasons, andit is easily the most informed account of the Doors' brief butbrilliant life as a group".

Drawing on myriad sources from the Tudor era, bestsellingauthor Alison Weir provides the first book ever to examine, inunprecedented depth, the gripping story of Anne Boleyn’s finaldays. The Lady in the Tower explores the motives and intrigues ofthose who helped to seal the queen’s fate, unraveling the tragictale of Anne’s fall, from her miscarriage of the son who would havesaved her to the final, dramatic scene on the scaffold. Whatemerges is an extraordinary portrayal of a woman of great courage,tested to the extreme by the terrible plight in which she foundherself, a powerful queen whose enemies were bent on utterlydestroying her. Horrifying but captivating, The Lady in the Towerpresents the full array of evidence of Anne Boleyn’s guilt—andinnocence. Only in Alison Weir’s capable hands can readers learnthe truth about the fate of one of the most influential andfascinating figures in English history. Look for special features inside. Join the Circle for author chats and mor

In this authoritative, insightful biography, we see themodernist master Joseph Conrad as a man who consistently reinventedhimself. Born in 1857 in the Ukraine, he left home early and workedas a sailor, traveling to the Far East and Africa, and eventuallysettled in England, beginning a precarious existence as a novelist.John Stape describes a man with a deep sense of otherness, a writerwho wrote in his third language and whose fiction became thecornerstone of modernism. With his exceptional understanding ofConrad, Stape succeeds in casting a new light on the life of a manwho remains one of the greatest writers of his, and our, time.

Acclaimed author Alison Weir brings to life the extraordinarytale of Katherine Swynford, a royal mistress who became one of themost crucial figures in the history of Great Britain. Born in themid-fourteenth century, Katherine de Ro?t was only twelve when shemarried Hugh Swynford, an impoverished knight. But her story hadtruly begun two years earlier, when she was appointed governess tothe household of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and fourth son ofKing Edward III. Widowed at twenty-one, Katherine became John'smistress and then, after many twists of fortune, his bride in ascandalous marriage. Mistress of the Monarchy reveals a woman aheadof her time—making her own choices, flouting convention, and takingcontrol of her own destiny. Indeed, without Katherine Swynford, thecourse of English history, perhaps even the world, would have beenvery different.

A rich evocation of Nabokov's life and times, even as it offersincisive insights into his major works, including LOLITA, PNIN,DESPAIR, THE GIFT and others.

Finally an expansive biography of one of the twentiethcentury’s greatest music and cultural icons From noted author and rock ’n’ roll journalist Marc Spitz comes amajor David Bowie biography to rival any other. Following Bowie’slife from his start as David Jones, an R B—loving kid fromBromley, England, to his rise to rock ’n’ roll aristocracy as DavidBowie, Bowie recounts his career but also reveals how much hismusic has influenced other musicians and forever changed thelandscape of the modern era. Along the way, Spitz reflects on howgrowing up with Bowie as his soundtrack and how writing thisdefinitive book on Bowie influenced him in ways he never expected,adding a personal dimension that Bowie fans and those passionateabout art and culture will connect with and that no other bio onthe artist offers. Bowie takes an in-depth look at the culture of postwar England inwhich Bowie grew up, the mod and hippie scenes of swinging Londonin the sixties, the sex and drug

Although the private lives of political couples have in ourera become front-page news, the true story of this extraordinaryand tragic first family has never been fully told. TheLincolns eclipses earlier accounts with riveting newinformation that makes husband and wife, president and first lady,come alive in all their proud accomplishments and earthy humanity.Award-winning biographer and poet Daniel Mark Epstein gives a freshclose-up view of the couple’s life in Springfield, Illinois(of their twenty-two years of marriage, all but six were spentthere), and dramatizes with stunning immediacy how the Lincolns’ascent to the White House brought both dazzling power and the slow,secret unraveling of the couple’s unique bond. The first full-length portrait of the marriage of Abraham andMary Todd Lincoln in more than fifty years, The Lincolns iswritten with enormous sweep and striking imagery. Daniel MarkEpstein makes two immortal American figures seem as real and humanas the rest of us.

They called him Neutron Jack. They called him the world'stoughest boss. And then Fortune called him "The Manager of theCentury." In his twenty-year career at the helm of GeneralElectric, Jack Welch defied conventional wisdom and turned an agingbehemoth of a corporation into a lean, mean engine of growth andcorporate innovation. In this remarkable autobiography-a classicbusiness book and runaway New York Times bestseller now updatedwith a new afterword by the author-Jack Welch takes us on therough-and-tumble ride that has been his remarkable life. From hisworking-class childhood to his early days in G.E. Plastics to hislife at the top of the world's most successful company, Welch tellshis intensely personal story with his well-known fire and candor.And although it chronicles billion-dollar deals and high-stakescorporate standoffs, Jack is ultimately a story about people-from aman who based his career on demanding only the best from others andfrom himself.

An erudite history of medicine...a welcome addition to anymedical collection. -- Booklist How does medical science advance? Popular historians would have usbelieve that a few heroic individuals, possessing superhumantalents, lead an unselfish quest to better the human condition. Butas renowned Yale surgeon and medical historian Sherwin B. Nulandshows in this brilliant collection of linked life portraits, thetheory bears little resemblance to the truth. Through the centuries, the men and women Who have shaped theworld of medicine have been not only very human people but alsovery much the products of their own times and places. Presentingcompelling studies of great medical innovators and pioneers,Doctors gives us the extraordinary story of the development ofmodern medicine -- told through the lives of thephysician-scientists whose deeds and determination paved the way.Ranging from the legendary Father of Medicine, Hippocrates, toAndreas Vesalius, whose Renaissance masterwork on anatomy offeredinval

“I have been incredibly fortunate over the course of mycareer to have been associated with some extraordinary dramatic andmusical productions, and also some rather spectacular disasters.Looking back, I can find gifts and life lessons in everyone.” The legendary Patti LuPone is one of the theatre’s most belovedleading ladies. Now she lays it all bare, sharing the intimatestory of her life both onstage and off--through the dizzying highsand darkest lows--with the humor and outspokenness that have becomeher trademarks. With nearly 100 photographs, including an 8-page four-color insert,and illuminating details about the life of a working actor, frominspired costars and demanding directors to her distinctperspective on how she developed and honed her Tony Award–winningperformances, Patti LuPone: A Memoir is as inspirational asit is entertaining. And though the title might say “a memoir,” thisis ultimately a love letter to the theatre by a unique Americanartist. Raised on Long Island’s North Shor

'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

Michael J. Neufeld, curator and space historian at theSmithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, delivers a brilliantlynuanced biography of Wernher von Braun. Chief rocket engineer of the Third Reich and one of the fathersof the U.S. space program, Wernher von Braun is a source ofconsistent fascination. Glorified as a visionary and vilified as awar criminal, he was a man of profound moral complexities, whoseintelligence and charisma were coupled with an enormous and, somewould say, blinding ambition. Based on new sources, Neufeld'sbiography delivers a meticulously researched and authoritativeportrait of the creator of the V-2 rocket and his times, detailinghow he was a man caught between morality and progress, between hisdreams of the heavens and the earthbound realities of his life.