Saucerful of Secrets is the first in-depth biography of thisvery private group. At the heart of the saga is Syd Barrett, thegroup's brilliant founder, whose public decline into shatteredincoherence--attributable in part to his marathon use of LSD--isone of the tragedies of rock history. The making of Dark Side ofthe Moon and Floyd's other great albums is recounted in detail, asare the mounting of "The Wall"? ? and the creation of the flyingpigs, crashing? ? planes, "Mr. Screen" and the other elements oftheir spectacular stage shows. The book also explores the manybattles between bass player/song writer Roger Waters and the restof the group, leading up to Water's acrimonious departure for asolo? ? career in 1984 and his unsuccessful attempt to disolve thegroup he had left behind. Saucerful of Secrets is an electrifying account of thisground-breaking, mind-bending group, covering every period of theircareer from? ? earliest days to latest recordings. It is full of? ?revealing information that will

Now in paperback: the third volume of John Richardson’smagisterial Life of Picasso. Here is Picasso at the height of his powers in Rome and Naples,producing the sets and costumes with Cocteau for Diaghilev’sBallets Russes, and visiting Pompei where the antique statuary fuelhis obsession with classicism; in Paris, creating some of his mostimportant sculpture and painting as part of a group that includedBraque, Apollinaire, Miró, and Breton; spending summers in theSouth of France in the company of Gerald and Sara Murphy,Hemingway, and Fitzgerald. These are the years of his marriage tothe Russian ballerina Olga Khokhlova—the mother of his onlylegitimate child, Paulo—and of his passionate affair withMarie-Thérèse Walter, who was, as well, his model and muse. A groundbreaking contribution to our understanding of one of thegreatest artists of the twentieth century.

A gathering ofbrilliant and viciously funny recollections from one of thetwentieth century’s most famous literary enfants terribles. Written in 1980 but published here for the first time, thesetexts tell the story of the various farces that developed aroundthe literary prizes Thomas Bernhard received in his lifetime.Whether it was the Bremen Literature Prize, the Grillparzer Prize,or the Austrian State Prize, his participation in the acceptanceceremony—always less than gracious, it must be said—resulted inscandal (only at the awarding of the prize from Austria’s FederalChamber of Commerce did Bernhard feel at home: he received thatone, he said, in recognition of the great example he set forshopkeeping apprentices). And the remuneration connected with theprizes presented him with opportunities for adventure—of thenew-house and luxury-car variety. Here is a portrait of the writer as a prizewinner: laconic,sardonic, and shaking his head with biting amusement at the w

Michael Jackson: The Making of "Thriller" is an illustratedtribute to the King of Pop and his groundbreaking music video, withnever-before-seen photos of its creation. The book features over200 exclusive, behind-the-scenes photographs of the artist on setduring the 1983 production of the Grammy award winning videodirected by John Landis. Considered to be the most successful project of all time,"Thriller" is beloved the world over, inspiring imitation and acult-like following of millions of fans. Documenting the creationof the most popular and iconic music video of all time, this bookcelebrates the artist and his music at the top of his career. Famed photographer Douglas Kirkland and journalist Nancy Griffinwere the only members of the media allowed on the set of the video.The resulting photos capture Jackson both in high performance modeand relaxing on the set and depict his transformation into thecharacters in the video as well capturing the public and privatefaces of Michael Jackson.

Gies recalls how, during WW II, she, her husband and some of their coworkers sheltered her boss Otto Frank, his family and several other Jews in a secret annex of their Amsterdam office building. PW found that although Gold's retelling is "disappointing," Gies's "sincerity, humility and courage emerge . . . and will not fail to inspire." Photos. Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Thirty years ago, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt won both thePulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. A collector’s item inits original edition, it has never been out of print as apaperback. This classic book is now reissued in hardcover, alongwith Theodore Rex, to coincide with the publication of ColonelRoosevelt, the third and concluding volume of Edmund Morris’sdefinitive trilogy on the life of the twenty-sixth President. Although Theodore Rex fully recounts TR’s years in the WhiteHouse (1901–1909), The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt begins with abrilliant Prologue describing the President at the apex of hisinternational prestige. That was on New Year’s Day, 1907, when TR,who had just won the Nobel Peace Prize, threw open the doors of theWhite House to the American people and shook 8,150 hands, more thanany man before him. Morris re-creates the reception with suchauthentic detail that the reader gets almost as vivid an impressionof TR as those who attended. One visitor remarked

In The Cubist Rebel, 1907–1916 , the second volume of his Life of Picasso , John Richardson reveals the young Picassoin the Baudelairean role of “the painter of modern life”—a rolethat stipulated the brothel as the noblest subject for a modernartist. Hence his great breakthrough painting, Les Demoisellesd’Avignon , with which this book opens. As well as portrayingPicasso as a revolutionary, Richardson analyzes the morecompassionate side of his genius. The misogynist of posthumouslegend turns out to have been surprisingly vulnerable—more oftensinned against than sinning. Heartbroken at the death of hismistress Eva, Picasso tried desperately to find a wife. Richardsonrecounts the untold story of how his two great loves of 1915–17successively turned him down. These disappointments, as well as hishorror at the outbreak of World War I and the wounds it inflictedon his closest friends, Braque and Apollinaire, shadowed hispainting and drove him off to work for the Ballets Russes in Romeand Naples—

The philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau burst unexpectedly onto the eighteenth-century literary scene as a provocateur whose works electrified readers. An autodidact who had not written anything of significance by age thirty, Rousseau seemed an unlikely candidate to become one of the most influential thinkers in history. Yet the power of his ideas is felt to this day in our political and social lives. In a masterly and definitive biography, Leo Damrosch traces the extraordinary life of Rousseau with novelistic verve. He presents Rousseau's books -- The Social Contract, one of the greatest works on political theory; Emile, a groundbreaking treatise on education; and the Confessions, which created the genre of introspective autobiography -- as works uncannily alive and provocative even today. Jean-Jacques Rousseau offers a vivid portrait of the visionary’s tumultuous life.

Prize-winning biographer Robert D. Richardson has written thedefinitive biography of the fascinating William James, whose lifeand writing put an indelible stamp on psychology, philosophy,teaching, and religion—and on modernism itself. A pivotal member ofthe Metaphysical Club, author of The Varieties of ReligiousExperience, and older brother of extraordinary siblings Henry andAlice, William emerges here as an immensely complex man.Richardson’s thought-provoking and utterly moving work, ten yearsin the making, draws on a vast number of unpublished letters,journals, and family records. Through impassioned scholarship,Richardson illuminates James’s hugely influential works: TheVarieties, Principles of Psychology, Talks to Teachers, andPragmatism. Finally, brought richly to life through Richardson’sbrilliant insights, James is given his due as a man whose influenceresonates in innumerable areas of modern life.

The first compilation of Bruce Lee photographs published inassociation with the Bruce Lee estate. This book reveals the fullrange of Lee's talents. It includes rare photos spanning from hisearly stage career in Hong Kong to his worldwide success as anactor and martial arts phenomenon. Selected with the assistance ofLee's widow, Linda Lee Cadwell, Bruce Lee expert John Littlepresents a photographic record, accompanied by de*ivecommentary, of all facets of this fascinating man, from the startof his career to his untimely death a quarter century ago. Includedare photos from Bruce's personal family photos, from his childhoodyears, through the early years in Hollywood, to the peak of hiscareer as an international star.

From October to December of 1888, Paul Gauguin shared a yellowhouse in the south of France with Vincent van Gogh. They were theodd couple of the art world -- one calm, the other volatile -- andthe denouement of their living arrangement was explosive. Makinguse of new evidence and Van Goghs voluminous correspondence, MartinGayford describes not only how these two hallowed artists paintedand exchanged ideas, but also the texture of their everyday lives.Gayford also makes a persuasive analysis of Van Goghs mentalillness -- the probable bipolar affliction that led him to commitsuicide at the age of thirty-seven. The Yellow House is a singularbiographical work, as dramatic and vibrant as the work of thesebrilliant artists.

With the utterance of a single line—“Doctor Livingstone, Ipresume?”—a remote meeting in the heart of Africa was transformedinto one of the most famous encounters in exploration history. Butthe true story behind Dr. David Livingstone and journalist HenryMorton Stanley is one that has escaped telling. Into Africa is anextraordinarily researched account of a thrilling adventure—definedby alarming foolishness, intense courage, and raw humanachievement. In the mid-1860s, exploration had reached a plateau. The seasand continents had been mapped, the globe circumnavigated. Yet onevexing puzzle remained unsolved: what was the source of the mightyNile river? Aiming to settle the mystery once and for all, GreatBritain called upon its legendary explorer, Dr. David Livingstone,who had spent years in Africa as a missionary. In March 1866,Livingstone steered a massive expedition into the heart of Africa.In his path lay nearly impenetrable, uncharted terrain, hostilecannibals, and deadly predators. W

The Story of My Life is Helen Keller's own account of how she miraculously triumphed over blindness and deafness-and became one of the most inspiring and intriguing figures of our time. "I recall my surprise on discovering that a mysterious hand had stripped the trees and bushes, leaving only here and there a wrinkled leaf. The birds had flown, and their empty nests in the bare trees were filled with snow. Winter was on hill and field. The earth seemed benumbed by his icy touch, and the very spirits of the trees had withdrawn to their roots, and there, curled up in the dark, lay fast asleep. All life seemed to have ebbed away, and even when the sun shone the day was. "

“Number One” was a phrase my father—and, for that matter, mymother—repeated time and time again. It was a phrase spoken by myparents’ friends and by their friends’ children. Whenever adultsdiscussed the great Chinese painters and sculptors from the ancientdynasties, there was always a single artist named as Number One.There was the Number One leader of a manufacturing plant, theNumber One worker, the Number One scientist, the Number One carmechanic. In the culture of my childhood, being best waseverything. It was the goal that drove us, the motivation that gavelife meaning. And if, by chance or fate or the blessings of thegenerous universe, you were a child in whom talent was evident,Number One became your mantra. It became mine. I never begged myparents to take off the pressure. I accepted it; I even enjoyed it.It was a game, this contest among aspiring pianists, and although Imay have been shy, I was bold, even at age five, when faced with afield of rivals. Born in China to parents whose mu

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.

Steven Gerrard is a hero to millions, not only as the inspirational captain of Liverpool FC, but as a key member of the England team. Here, for the first time, he tells the story of his lifelong obsession with football, in an honest and revealing book which captures the extraordinary camaraderie, the soul-destroying tensions and the high-octane thrills of the modern game as never before. He speaks for the first time about the torturous will-he-won't-he Chelsea rumours and his undying passion for Liverpool. We experience first-hand the highs of winning in Istanbul and elsewhere, as well as the occasional lows of being parted from his much-loved family and friends. And of course, the book contains a full blow-by-blow account of England's world cup campaign in Germany 2006.

Fully documented and highly detailed, this is the biographythat Sinatra tried but failed to stop. A runaway #1 bestseller. HC:Bantam. (Nonfiction)

In 1997, Tony Blair won the biggest Labour victory in history tosweep the party to power and end eighteen years of Conservativegovernment. He has been one of the most dynamic leaders of moderntimes; few British prime ministers have shaped the nation's courseas profoundly as Blair during his ten years in power, and hisachievements and his legacy will be debated for years to come. Nowhis memoirs reveal in intimate detail this unique political andpersonal journey, providing an insight into the man, the politicianand the statesman, and charting successes, controversies anddisappointments with an extraordinary candour. A Journey will proveessential and compulsive reading for anyone who wants to understandthe complexities of our global world. As an account of the natureand uses of power, it will also have a readership that extends wellbeyond politics, to all those who want to understand the challengesof leadership today.

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.

Emily Dickinson, probably the most loved and certainly the greatest of American poets, continues to be seen as the most elusive. One reason she has become a timeless icon of mystery for many readers is that her developmental phases have not been clarified. In this exhaustively researched biography, Alfred Habegger presents the first thorough account of Dickinson s growth a richly contextualized story of genius in the process of formation and then in the act of overwhelming production.

Frédéric Chopin’s reputation as one of the Great Romanticsendures, but as Benita Eisler reveals in her elegant and elegiacbiography, the man was more complicated than his iconicimage. A classicist, conservative, and dandy who relished his conquestof Parisian society, the Polish émigré was for a while blessed withgenius, acclaim, and the love of Europe’s most infamous womanwriter, George Sand. But by the age of 39, the man whose brilliantcompositions had thrilled audiences in the most fashionable salonslay dying of consumption, penniless and abandoned by his lover. Inthe fall of 1849, his lavish funeral was attended by thousands—butnot by George Sand. In this intimate portrait of an embattled man, Eisler tells thestory of a turbulent love affair, of pain and loss redeemed by art,and of worlds—both private and public—convulsed by momentouschange.

A wild, lyrical, and anguished autobiography, in which CharlesMingus pays short shrift to the facts but plunges to the verybottom of his psyche, coming up for air only when it pleases him.He takes the reader through his childhood in Watts, his musicaleducation by the likes of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, andCharlie Parker, and his prodigious appetites--intellectual,culinary, and sexual. The book is a jumble, but a glorious one, bya certified American genius.