In 1955, Garcia Marquez was working for El Espectador, a newspaper in Bogota, when in February of that year eight crew members of the Caldas, a Colombian destroyer, were washed overboard and disappeared. Ten days later one of them turned up, barely alive, on a deserted beach in northern Colombia. This book, which originally appeared as a series of newspaper articles, is Garcia Marquez's account of that sailor's ordeal. Translated by Randolf Hogan.
After Out on a Limb , MacLaine now offers more of her familybackground, with reproductions of parental game-playingconversations which must evoke poignant recognitions in children ofconflicting adults. Aided by spirit-guided acupuncture, she hasbeen recovering past-life experiences enabling her to deal withthis pain. Most moving is her meeting with her Higher Self, whichcontinues to guide her. Another colorful love affair in Paris andHollywood provides food for the gossip-column fans. More seriousare her ruminations on creative artistry, first as a dancer, thenas a movie star. Even readers put off by MacLaine's uncritical andwholehearted embrace of reincarnation will have to applaud hercandor and zest for discovering the meaning of her life. Jeanne S.Bagby, Tucson P.L., Ariz. Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information,Inc.
A chance encounter in Spain in 1959 brought young Irishreporter Valerie Danby-Smith face to face with Ernest Hemingway.The interview was awkward and brief, but before it ended somethinghad clicked into place. For the next two years, Valerie devoted herlife to Hemingway and his wife, Mary, traveling with them throughbeloved old haunts in Spain and France and living with them duringthe tumultuous final months in Cuba. In name a personal secretary,but in reality a confidante and sharer of the great man’s secretsand sorrows, Valerie literally came of age in the company of one ofthe greatest literary lions of the twentieth century. Five years after his death, Valerie became a Hemingway herselfwhen she married the writer’s estranged son Gregory. Now, at last,she tells the story of the incredible years she spent with thisextravagantly talented and tragically doomed family. In prose of brilliant clarity and stinging candor, Valerie evokesthe magic and the pathos of Papa Hemingway
“Buried as a g while tha whole world remembers me” –Tupac Shakur, from “Until the End ofTime” Tupac Shakur was larger than life. A giftedrapper, actor, and poet, he was fearless, prolific, andcontroversial–and often said that he never expected to live pastthe age of thirty. He was right. On September 13, 1996, he died ofgunshot wounds at age twenty-five. But even ten years after Tupac’stragic passing, the impact of his life and talent continues toflourish. Lauded as one of the greatest hip-hop artists of alltime, Tupac has sold more than sixty-seven million recordsworldwide, making him the top-selling rapper ever. How Long Will They Mourn Me? celebrates Tupac’sunforgettable life–his rise to fame; his tumultuous dark sidemarked by sex, drugs, and violence; and the indelible legacy heleft behind. Although Tupac’s murder remains unsolved, the spiritof this legendary artist is far from forgotten. How long will wemourn him? Fans worldwide will grieve his untimely death for a longti
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
Bono is one of the most influential musicians at work today.Over the past twenty-five years his band, U2, have sold astaggering 130 million albums and collected 14 Grammys. Theirsuccess has made Bono one of the most recognisable faces in theworld. Here, in a series of conversations with his friend, themusic journalist, Michka Assayas, Bono reflects on histransformation from extrovert singer of a small, Irish, post-punkband into an international rock star. Along the way he speakscandidly about his childhood, about his mother's death, about hisChristian faith and about his difficult relationship with hisfather, who died recently. Bono also speaks passionately about howhe has used his fame as a platform to campaign fervently on a rangeof global issues, and why these issues - which include the IRAceasefire, Third World debt and, most recently, the growing AIDScrisis in Africa - are so important to each of us. Intimate,humorous, and fiercely opinionated, BONO ON BONO is Bono's story inhis own words. It will
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."
It all started when Douglas Adams demolished planet Earth inorder to make way for an intergalactic expressway–and then invitedeveryone to thumb a ride on a comical cosmic road trip with thelikes of Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, and the other daft denizens ofdeep space immortalized in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.Adams made the universe a much funnier place to inhabit and foreverchanged the way we think about towels, extraterrestrial poetry, andespecially the number 42. And then, too soon, he was gone. Just who was this impossibly tall Englishman who wedded sciencefiction and absurdist humor to create the multimillion-sellingfive-book “trilogy” that became a cult phenomenon read round theworld? Even if you’ve dined in the Restaurant at the End of theUniverse, you’ve been exposed to only a portion of the offbeat,endearing, and irresistible Adams mystique. Have you met the onlyofficial unofficial member of Monty Python’s Flying Circus? Thevery first person to purchase a Mac
"Franklin''s is one of the greatest autobiographies inliterature, and towers over other autobiographies as Franklintowered over other men." -William Dean Howells
Hillary Rodham Clinton is known to hundreds of millions ofpeople around the world. Yet few beyond her close friends andfamily have ever heard her account of her extraordinary journey.She writes with candor, humor and passion about her upbringing insuburban, middle-class America in the 1950s and her transformationfrom Goldwater Girl to student activist to controversial FirstLady. Living History is her revealing memoir of life through theWhite House years. It is also her chronicle of living history withBill Clinton, a thirty-year adventure in love and politics thatsurvives personal betrayal, relentless partisan investigations andconstant public scrutiny. Hillary Rodham Clinton came of age during a time of tumultuoussocial and political change in America. Like many women of hergeneration, she grew up with choices and opportunities unknown toher mother or grandmother. She charted her own course throughunexplored terrain -- responding to the changing times and her owninternal compass -- and became an
"A true emotional phenomenon...Entertaining...Of particularinterest to fans will be the evolution of Johnson's relationshipwith Bird, his great karmic partner in the game." NEW YORK NEWSDAY He's faced challenges all of his life, butnow Magic Johnson faces the biggest challenge of all, his own bravebattle with HIV. In this dramatic, exciting, and inspirationalautobiography, Magic Johnson allows readers into his life, into histirumphs and tragedies on and off the court. In his own exuberantstyle, he tells readers of the friends and family who've beenconstant supporters and the basketball greats he's worked with.It's all here, the glory and the pain the character, charisma, andcourage of the hero called Magic. AN ALTERNATE SELECTION OF THE BOOK-OF-THE-MONTHCLUB
When the first Superman movie came out I was frequently asked'What is a hero?' I remember the glib response I repeated somany times. My answer was that a hero is someone who commitsa courageous action without considering the consequences--a soldierwho crawls out of a foxhole to drag an injured buddy tosafety. And I also meant individuals who are slightly largerthan life: Houdini and Lindbergh, John Wayne, JFK, and JoeDiMaggio. Now my definition is completely different. Ithink a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength topersevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles: afifteen-year-old boy who landed on his head while wrestling withhis brother, leaving him barely able to swallow or speak; TravisRoy, paralyzed in the first thirty seconds of a hockey game in hisfreshman year at college. These are real heroes, and so arethe families and friends who have stood by them." The whole world held its breath when Christopher Reeve struggledfor life on Memorial Day, 1995. On the
Michael Servetus is one of those hidden figureheads of historywho is remembered not for his name, but for the revolutionary deedsthat stand in his place. Both a scientist and a freethinkingtheologian, Servetus is credited with the discovery of pulmonarycirculation in the human body as well as the authorship of apolemical masterpiece that cost him his life. The ChrisitianismiRestituto, a heretical work of biblical scholarship, written in1553, aimed to refute the orthodox Christianity that Servetus' oldcolleague, John Calvin, supported. After the book spread throughthe ranks of Protestant hierarchy, Servetus was tried andagonizingly burned at the stake, the last known copy of theRestitutio chained to his leg. Servetus's execution is significant because it marked a turningpoint in the quest for freedom of expression, due largely to thedevelopment of the printing press and the proliferation of books inRenaissance Europe. Three copies of the Restitutio managed tosurvive the burning, despite every effo
“I can tell you that some force within me rejected death at thelast moment and then guided me, blind and stumbling — quiteliterally a dead man walking — into camp and the shaky start of myreturn to life....” In 1996 Beck Weathers and a climbing team pushed toward the summitof Mount Everest. Then a storm exploded on the mountain, rippingthe team to shreds, forcing brave men to scratch and crawl fortheir lives. Rescuers who reached Weathers saw that he was dying,and left him. Twelve hours later, the inexplicable occurred. Weathers appeared,blinded, gloveless, caked with ice — coming down the mountain as a“dead man walking.” In this powerful memoir, Weather describes not only his escape fromhypothermia and the murderous storm that killed nine climbers; hedescribes another journey, a life’s journey. This is the story of aman’s route to a dangerous sport and a fateful expedition, as wellas the road of recovery he has traveled since. In Left for Dead , we are witness to survival in the face ofce
MARVELOUS . . . BREATHTAKING. --The New York Times Book Review "MAILER SHINES . . . Explaining Kennedy's assassination throughthe flaws in Oswald's character has been attempted before, notablyby Gerald Posner in Case Closed and Don Delillo in Libra. Butneither handled Oswald with the kind of dexterity and literaryimagination that Mailer here supplies in great force. . . .Oswald's Tale weaves a story not only about Oswald or Kennedy'sdeath but about the culture surrounding the assassination, one thatremains replete with miscomprehensions, unraveled threads and lackof resolution: All of which makes Oswald's Tale more true-to-lifethan any fact-driven treatise could hope to be. . . . VintageMailer." --The Philadelphia Inquirer "FASCINATING . . . A MASTER STORYTELLER . . . Mailer gives us ourclearest, deepest view of Oswald yet. . . . Inside three pages youare utterly absorbed." --Detroit Free Press "MAILER AT HIS BEST . . . LIVELY AND CONVINCING . . .EXTREMELY LUCI
For decades, Elizabeth Taylor has been a part of our lives.Now acclaimed biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli looks past thetabloid version of Elizabeth's life and offers the first‐ever fullyrealized portrait of this American icon. You'll meet hercontrolling mother who plotted her daughter's success from birth,see the qualities that catapulted Elizabeth to stardom in 1940sHollywood, understand the psychological and emotional underpinningsbehind the eight marriages, and, finally, rejoice in Elizabeth'smost bravura performance of all: the new success in family,friendships, and philanthropy she achieved despite substance abuseand chronic illness. It's the story of the woman you thought youknew, and now can finally understand.
Modern views of Columbus are overshadowed by guilt about pastconquests. Credit for discovering the New World, we are told,belongs to its original inhabitants rather than any European, andColumbus gave those inhabitants nothing apart from death, diseaseand destruction. Yet for the Old World of Europe the four voyagesof Columbus brought revelation where before there had been onlymyths and guesswork. People had thought it was only the greatdistance that made it impossible to reach Asia sailing west fromSpain. No one had predicted that a vast continent stood in the way.And indeed, for Columbus himself, the revolution of understandingwas too much to comprehend. He had counted on a new route to Asiathat would bring him glory, riches and titles, and the thought ofan unknown and undeveloped continent held no attractions. Thetrials and disappointments of the great explorer are graphicallydetailed in this biography first published in 1828, when WashingtonIrving was America's most famous writer.
A PRESIDENTIAL DYNASTY. AN ARAB TERRORIST ATTACK. DEMOCRACYUNDER SIEGE. Mario Puzo envisioned it all in his eerily prescient1991 novel, The Fourth K. President Francis Xavier Kennedy is elected to office, in largepart, thanks to the legacy of his forebears–good looks, privilege,wealth–and is the very embodiment of youthful optimism. Too soon,however, he is beaten down by the political process and, disabusedof his ideals, he becomes a leader totally unlike what he has beenbefore. When his daughter becomes a pawn in a brutal terrorist plot,Kennedy, who has obsessively kept alive the memory of his uncles’assassinations, activates all his power to retaliate in a series ofviolent measures. As the explosive events unfold, the world andthose closest to him look on with both awe and horror.
Fully documented and highly detailed, this is the biographythat Sinatra tried but failed to stop. A runaway #1 bestseller. HC:Bantam. (Nonfiction)
A breakaway bestseller since its first printing, AllSouls takes us deep into Michael Patrick MacDonald's Southie,the proudly insular neighborhood with the highest concentration ofwhite poverty in America. Rocked by Whitey Bulger's crime schemesand busing riots, MacDonald's Southie is populated by sharply hewncharacters like his Ma, a miniskirted, accordion-playing singlemother who endures the deaths of four of her eleven children.Nearly suffocated by his grief and his community's code of silence,MacDonald tells his family story here with gritty but movinghonesty.
Shortly after arriving on Cape Cod to spend a year by herself,Joan Anderson’s chance encounter with a wise, playful, andastonishing woman helped her usher in the transformations andself-discoveries that led to her ongoing renewal. First glimpsed asa slender figure on a fogged-in beach, Joan Erikson was not only afriend and confidante when one was most needed, but also a guide asAnderson stretched and grew into her unfinished self. Joan Erikson was perhaps best known for her collaboration withher husband, Erik, a pioneering psychoanalyst and noted author.After Erik’s death, she wrote several books extending their theoryof the stages of life to reflect her understanding of aging as sheneared ninety-five. But her wisdom was best taught through theirfriendship; as she sat with Anderson, weaving tapestries of theirlives with brightly colored yarn while exploring the strengthgathered from their accumulated experiences, Joan Erikson’s lessonstook shape on their small cardboard looms as well as in