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."

The first complete, unvarnished history of Southern rock’slegendary and most popular band, from its members’ hardscrabbleboyhoods in Jacksonville, Florida and their rise to worldwide fameto the tragic plane crash that killed the founder and the band’srise again from the ashes. In the summer of 1964 Jacksonville, Florida teenager Ronnie VanZant and some of his friends hatched the idea of forming a band toplay covers of the Rolling Stones, Beatles, Yardbirds and thecountry and blues-rock music they had grown to love. Naming theirband after Leonard Skinner, the gym teacher at Robert E. Lee SeniorHigh School who constantly badgered the long-haired aspiringmusicians to get haircuts, they were soon playing gigs at parties,and bars throughout the South. During the next decade LynyrdSkynyrd grew into the most critically acclaimed and commerciallysuccessful of the rock bands to emerge from the South since theAllman Brothers. Their hits “Free Bird” and “Sweet Home Alabama”became classics. The

In this extraordinary memoir, one of the best young writers inAmerica today transforms into a work of art the darkest passageimaginable in a young woman's life: an obsessive love affairbetween father and daughter that began when Kathryn Harrison,twenty years old, was reunited with a parent whose absence hadhaunted her youth. Exquisitely and hypnotically written, like a bold and terrifyingdream, The Kiss is breathtaking in its honesty and in the power andbeauty of its creation. A story both of taboo and of familycomplicity in breaking taboo, The Kiss is also about love -- aboutthe most primal of love triangles, the one that ensnares a childbetween mother and father. From the Hardcover edition.

William Lee Miller’s ethical biography is a fresh, engagingtelling of the story of Lincoln’s rise to power. Through carefulscrutiny of Lincoln’s actions, speeches, and writings, and ofaccounts from those who knew him, Miller gives us insight into themoral development of a great politician — one who made the choiceto go into politics, and ultimately realized that vocation’sfullest moral possibilities. As Lincoln’s Virtues makes refreshingly clear, Lincoln wasnot born with his face on Mount Rushmore; he was an actual humanbeing making choices — moral choices — in a real world. In anaccount animated by wit and humor, Miller follows this unschooledfrontier politician’s rise, showing that the higher he went and thegreater his power, the worthier his conduct would become. He wouldbecome that rare bird, a great man who was also a good man.Uniquely revealing of its subject’s heart and mind, it represents amajor contribution to our understanding and of Lincoln, and to theperennial American discu

“You keep fighting, okay?” I whispered. “We’re in thistogether. You and me. You’re not alone. You hear me? You are notalone. ” 5:38 p.m. It was the precise moment Sean Manning was born and thetime each year that his mother wished him happy birthday. But justbefore he turned twenty-seven, their tradition collapsed. A heartattack landed his mom in the hospital and uprooted Manning from hislife in New York. What followed was a testament to a family’sindestructible bond—a life-changing odyssey that broke a boy andmade a man—captured here in Manning’s indelible memoir.

Saddle shoes. Camp shorts. Girdles. Bell-bottoms. Each plays asignificant role as we follow B., the wardrobe's owner, through herbuttoned-up Midwestern childhood to the freedom of miniskirts,sundresses, and New York City. We watch as B. copes with theuntimely death of her mother, makes a go of glamorous magazinework, and, after the inevitable false starts and fashion missteps,finally comes into her own.Part memoir, part fashion and culturalhistory of the last five decades, Autobiography of a Wardrobe is anexploration of the clothes each generation has embraced and thesmallest details in which we are able to seek comfort andmeaning.

In a brilliant combination of biography, literary criticism,and history, The Bronté Myth shows how Charlotte, Emily, and AnneBronté became cultural icons whose ever-changing reputationsreflected the obsessions of various eras. When literary London learned that Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heightshad been written by young rural spinsters, the Brontés instantlybecame as famous as their shockingly passionate books. Soon aftertheir deaths, their first biographer spun the sisters into apicturesque myth of family tragedies and Yorkshire moors. Eversince, these enigmatic figures have tempted generations ofreaders–Victorian, Freudian, feminist–to reinterpret them, castingthem as everything from domestic saints to sex-starved hysterics.In her bewitching “metabiography,” Lucasta Miller follows thetwists and turns of the phenomenon of Bront-mania and rescues thesethree fiercely original geniuses from the distortions oflegend.

Everybody wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant. Cary Grant He is Hollywood s most fascinating and timeless star. Although he came to personify the debonair American, Cary Grant was born Archibald Leach on January 18, 1904, in the seaport village of Bristol, England. Combining the captivating beauty of silent-screen legend Rudolph Valentino with the masculine irresistibility of Clark Gable, Grant emerged as Hollywood s quintessential leading man. Today, the man from dream city, as critic Pauline Kael once described him, remains forever young, an icon of quick wit, romantic charm, and urbane sophistication, the epitome of male physical perfection. Yet beneath this idealized movie image was a conflicted man struggling to balance fame with a desire for an intensely private life separate from the Cary Grant persona celebrated by directors and movie studios. Exploring Grant s troubled childhood, ambiguous sexuality, and lifelong insecurities as well as the magical amalgam of characteristi

Mohandas K. Gandhi is one of the most inspiring figures of ourtime. In his classic autobiography he recounts the story of hislife and how he developed his concept of active nonviolentresistance, which propelled the Indian struggle for independenceand countless other nonviolent struggles of the twentiethcentury. In a new foreword, noted peace expert and teacher Sissela Bokurges us to adopt Gandhi's "attitude of experimenting, of tesingwhat will and will not bear close scrutiny, what can and cannot beadapted to new circumstances,"in order to bring about change in ourown lives and communities. All royalties earned on this book are paid to the NavajivanTrust, founded by Gandhi, for use in carrying on his work.

Offers a remarkable perspective on how a brutal mobster couldlead a sweet home life as a suburban dad.” —New York Times “One of the most searing volumes ever written about the mob .. . An] unforgettable memoir.” —Publishers Weekly “Admirers of Mafia fiction . . . should enjoy DeMeo’s attemptto strip off the gaudy veneer of what is, what was, and [what]always will be very dirty business.” —Detroit Free Press

A bestseller since 1880... The classic saga of the Roman Empire From a thrilling sea battle to its famouschariot race to the agony of the Crucifixion, this is the epic taleof a prince who became a slave and by a twist of fate and his ownskill-won a chance at freedom.

Ashley Judd is best known as the acclaimed actress in films suchas De Lovely and Double Jeopardy , but these days sheis more likely to be found wading through an African refugee campor Asian brothel than on a film set. For most of the past decadeJudd has been visiting human rights hotspots around the world tospread the word of hope, health, and gender equality on behalf ofone of the leading public health nonprofits, PSI/YouthAIDS. Herwork has put her in the company of Bono, Bill Clinton, and otherworld leaders in the battle against disease and poverty and inadvocating grassroots programs to improve the lives of women andchildren. Memories of her own painful childhood inspired Judd to reach out tothose in desperate need, especially abused and abandoned girls. Shewrites movingly of friends such as Kausar, an AIDS sufferer in theslums of Mumbai who becomes an activist and peer-educator, andheroes such as Dr. Rene, who lends his heart and soul to keep thesex workers of Madagascar from contracting and spreadi

modern-day classic. "Gift from the Sea is like a shell itself inits small and perfect form . . . It tells of light and life andlove and the security that lies at the heart."--New York Times BookReview.

William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody was the most famous American ofhis age. He claimed to have worked for the Pony Express when only aboy and to have scouted for General George Custer. But what was hisreal story? And how did a frontiersman become a worldwidecelebrity? In this prize-winning biography, acclaimed author Louis S. Warrenexplains not only how Cody exaggerated his real experience as anarmy scout and buffalo hunter, but also how that experienceinspired him to create the gigantic, traveling spectacle known asBuffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. A dazzling mix of Indians, cowboys,and vaqueros, they performed on two continents for three decades,offering a surprisingly modern view of the United States and aremarkably democratic version of its history. This definitivebiography reveals the genius of America’s greatest showman, and thestartling history of the American West that drove him and hisperformers to the world stage.

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK In the fall of 1988, Sue Miller found herself caring for herfather, James Nichols, once a truly vital man, as he succumbed toAlzheimer’s disease. Beginning an intensely personal journey, sherecalls the bitter irony of watching this church historian wrestlewith his increasingly befuddled notion of time and meaning. Shedetails the struggles with doctors, her own choices, and theattempt to find a caring response to a disease whose specialcruelty is to diminish the humanity of those it strikes. Inluminous prose, Sue Miller has fashioned a compassionate inventoryof two lives, a memoir destined to offer comfort to all sons anddaughters struggling to make peace with their fathers and withthemselves.

Chris Coste dreamed of playing major-league baseball from theage of seven. But after eleven grueling years in the minors, a spoton a major-league roster still seemed just out of his reach–untilthat fateful call came from the Philadelphia Phillies in May 2006.At age thirty-three (“going on eighty”), Coste was finally headingto the big time. The 33-Year-Old Rookie is a real-life Rocky, anunforgettable and inspirational story of one man’s unwaveringpursuit of a lifelong goal. Beginning in a single-parent home inFargo, North Dakota, and ending behind home plate on the flawlessdiamond of the Phillies’ Citizens Bank Park–where fans andteammates call him “Chris Clutch” because of his knack for gettingtimely hits–this intimate account of Coste’s baseball odyssey is apowerful story of determination, perseverance, and passion.

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.

From one of modern literature’s most captivating and elusivemasters comes a posthumous volume of thoughtful, elegant, andquick-witted autobiographical writings, all previously unpublishedin English. Here is Italo Calvino paying homage to his literaryinfluences and tracing the evolution of his signature style. Hereare his reminiscences of Italy’s antifascist resistance and thefrenzy of politics and ideas of the postwar era. The longest and most delightfully revealing section of the bookis Calvino’s diary of his travels in the United States in 1959 and1960, which show him marveling at color TV, wrinkling his nose atthe Beats, and reeling at the outpouring of racial hatred attendinga civil rights demonstration in Alabama. Overflowing with insightand amusement, Hermit in Paris is an invaluable addition to theCalvino legacy.