Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is the best chronicle ofdrug-soaked, addle-brained, rollicking good times ever committed tothe printed page. It is also the tale of a long weekend road tripthat has gone down in the annals of American pop culture as one ofthe strangest journeys ever undertaken. Now this cult classic of gonzo journalism is a major motionpicture from Universal, directed by Terry Gilliam and starringJohnny Depp and Benicio del Toro. Opens everywhere on May 22,1998.

Edith Kermit Carow grew up in New York City in the same circlesas did Theodore Roosevelt. But only after TR's first wife died atage twenty-two did the childhood friends forge one of the mostsuccessful romantic and political partnerships in American history.Sylvia Jukes Morris's access to previously unpublished letters anddiaries brings to full life her portrait of the Roosevelts andtheir times. During her years as First Lady (1901-09), Edith KermitRoosevelt dazzled social and political Washington as hostess,confidante, and mother of six, leading her husband to remark, "Mrs.Roosevelt comes a good deal nearer my ideal than I do myself."

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

First U.S. Publication A major literary event--the complete, uncensored journals of SylviaPlath, published in their entirety for the first time. Sylvia Plath's journals were originally published in 1982 in aheavily abridged version authorized by Plath's husband, Ted Hughes.This new edition is an exact and complete tran*ion of thediaries Plath kept during the last twelve years of her life. Sixtypercent of the book is material that has never before been madepublic, more fully revealing the intensity of the poet's personaland literary struggles, and providing fresh insight into both herfrequent desperation and the bravery with which she faced down herdemons. The complete Journals of Sylvia Plath is essentialreading for all who have been moved and fascinated by Plath's lifeand work. First U.S. Publication A major literary event--the complete, uncensored journals of SylviaPlath, published in their entirety for the first time. Sylvia Plath's journals were originally published in 1982 in aheavily abridged ve

Of all our great presidents, Theodore Roosevelt is the only onewhose greatness increased out of office. When he toured Europe in1910 as plain “Colonel Roosevelt,” he was hailed as the most famousman in the world. Crowned heads vied to put him up in theirpalaces. “If I see another king,” he joked, “I think I shall bitehim.” Had TR won his historic “Bull Moose” campaign in1912 (when he outpolled the sitting president, William HowardTaft), he might have averted World War I, so great was hisinternational influence. Had he not died in 1919, at the early ageof sixty, he would unquestionably have been reelected to a thirdterm in the White House and completed the work he began in 1901 ofestablishing the United States as a model democracy, militarilystrong and socially just. This biography by Edmund Morris, the PulitzerPrize and National Book Award–winning author of The Rise ofTheodore Roosevelt and Theodore Rex, is itself the completion of atrilogy sure to stand as definitive. Packed with m

This funny and tender book combines three of Alice Steinbach’sgreatest passions: learning, traveling, and writing. Afterchronicling her European journey of self-discovery in WithoutReservations , this Pulitzer Prize—winning columnist for theBaltimore Sun quit her job and left home again. This time sheroamed the world, taking lessons and courses in such things asFrench cooking in Paris, Border collie training in Scotland,traditional Japanese arts in Kyoto, and architecture and art inHavana. With warmth and wit, Steinbach guides us through thepleasures and perils of discovering how to be a student again. Shealso learns the true value of this second chance at educatingherself: the opportunity to connect with and learn from the peopleshe meets along the way.

Soon after the fall of the Taliban, in 2001, Deborah Rodriguezwent to Afghanistan as part of a group offering humanitarian aid tothis war-torn nation. Surrounded by men and women whose skills–asdoctors, nurses, and therapists–seemed eminently more practicalthan her own, Rodriguez, a hairdresser and mother of two fromMichigan, despaired of being of any real use. Yet she soon foundshe had a gift for befriending Afghans, and once her professionbecame known she was eagerly sought out by Westerners desperate fora good haircut and by Afghan women, who have a long and proudtradition of running their own beauty salons. Thus an idea wasborn. With the help of corporate and international sponsors, the KabulBeauty School welcomed its first class in 2003. Well meaning butsometimes brazen, Rodriguez stumbled through language barriers,overstepped cultural customs, and constantly juggled the challengesof a postwar nation even as she learned how to empower her studentsto become their families’ breadwinners

Who are the pivotal figures in American history, the men andwomen who have helped shape us as a people and have influenced howwe perceive ourselves as Americans? In this companion to hispopular 1001 Events That Made America, Alan Axelrod looks into allareas of our collective past and highlights the famous as well asthe infamous, the virtuous as well as the notorious, from thenation’s earliest days to the present. Serving up history in lively, accessible bites, the book presentsa Who’s Who in American politics, arts, science, business,religion, and pop culture, along with concise explanations of eachfigure’s historical significance. Featured personalities range fromJesse James to Al Capone, Harriet Beecher Stowe to Betty Friedan,George Washington to George W. Bush, Harriet Tubman to MartinLuther King, Jr., Stephen Foster to Elvis, John L. Sullivan toMuhammad Ali, Edwin Booth to Marlon Brando, Washington Irving toThomas Pynchon, and John Jacob Astor to Bill Gates. Packed with informatio

The first dual biography of two of the world’s most remarkablewomen—Elizabeth I of England and Mary Queen of Scots—by one ofBritain’s “best biographers” ( The Sunday Times ). In a rich and riveting narrative, Jane Dunn reveals theextraordinary rivalry between the regal cousins. It is the story oftwo queens ruling on one island, each with a claim to the throne ofEngland, each embodying dramatically opposing qualities ofcharacter, ideals of womanliness (and views of sexuality) anddivinely ordained kingship. As regnant queens in an overwhelmingly masculine world, they weredeplored for their femaleness, compared unfavorably with each otherand courted by the same men. By placing their dynamic andever-changing relationship at the center of the book, Dunnilluminates their differences. Elizabeth, inheriting a weak,divided country coveted by all the Catholic monarchs of Europe, isrevolutionary in her insistence on ruling alone and inspired in heruse of celibacy as a political tool—yet also possessed of

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

V. S. Naipaul is perhaps the most famous émigré writer sinceVladimir Nabokov, and though he always spoke and wrote English, hisself-imposed exile to England from his native Trinidad representeda cultural shift as profound as learning to think in anotherlanguage. In this moving, novel-like correspondence, we witness thegreat writer’s early transformation from an expatriate adrift to aworld-renowned man of letters. The letters collected here illuminate with unalloyed candor therelationship between a sacrificing father and his determined son asthey encourage each other to persevere with their writing. Forthough his father’s literary aspirations would go unrealized,Naipaul’s triumphant career would ultimately vindicate his belovedmentor’s legacy.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER “ The Social Network , themuch anticipated movie…adapted from Ben Mezrich’s book TheAccidental Billionaires .” — The New York Times Best friends Eduardo Saverin and Mark Zuckerberg had spent manylonely nights looking for a way to stand out among HarvardUniversity’s elite, comptetitive, and accomplished studentbody. Then, in 2003, Zuckerberg hacked into Harvard’s computers,crashed the campus network, almost got himself expelled, and was inspired to create Facebook, the socialnetworking site that has since revolutionized communication aroundthe world. With Saverin’s funding their tiny start-up went from dorm room toSilicon Valley. But conflicting ideas about Facebook’s futuretransformed the friends into enemies. Soon, the undergraduateexuberance that marked their collaboration turned into out-and-outwarfare as it fell prey to the adult world of venture capitalists,big money, lawyers.

Abraham Lincoln's remarkable emergence from the rural Midwestand his rise to the presidency have been the stuff of romance andlegend. But as Douglas L. Wilson shows us in Honor's Voice,Lincoln's transformation was not one long triumphal march, but aprocess that was more than once seriously derailed. There weretimes, in his journey from storekeeper and mill operator to lawyerand member of the Illinois state legislature, when Lincoln lost hisnerve and self-confidence - on at least two occasions he became sodespondent as to appear suicidal - and when his acute emotionalvulnerabilities were exposed. Focusing on the crucial years between 1831 and 1842, Wilson'sskillful analysis of the testimonies and writings of Lincoln'scontemporaries reveals the individual behind the legends. We seeLincoln as a boy: not the dutiful son studying by firelight, butthe stubborn rebel determined to make something of himself. We seehim as a young man: not the ascendant statesman, but the cannylocal politician who was renowned for hi

This explosive, revelatory history of the early years ofpsychoanalysis shows that the bitterly unresolvable split betweenJung and Freud pivoted around a former patient and lover of Jung'swhose story and own potentially important theoretical contributionsto psychoanalysis were blocked by both men. "A huge scholarly work. . . gripping."--The New York Times.

From Hermione Lee, the internationally acclaimed, award-winningbiographer of Virginia Woolf and Willa Cather , comesa superb reexamination of one of the most famous American women ofletters. Delving into heretofore untapped sources, Lee does away with theimage of the snobbish bluestocking and gives us a new EdithWharton-tough, startlingly modern, as brilliant and complex as herfiction. Born into a wealthy family, Wharton left America as anadult and eventually chose to create a life in France. Her renownednovels and stories have become classics of American literature, butas Lee shows, Wharton's own life, filled with success and scandal,was as intriguing as those of her heroines. Bridging two centuriesand two very different sensibilities, Wharton here comes to life inthe skillful hands of one of the great literary biographers of ourtime.

This classic story of a boy and a dog growing up in small-townAmerica by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Willie Morris is "writtenwith the gentle wisdom of an E.B. White and the eternal youth of aHuck Finn" (Atlanta Journal-Constitution). Author reading tour.

Celebrated Stanford University historian Clayborne Carson isthe director and editor of the Martin Luther King Papers Project;with thousands of King's essays, notes, letters, speeches, andsermons at his disposal, Carson has organized King's writings intoa posthumous autobiography. In an early student essay, Kingprophetically penned: "We cannot have an enlightened democracy withone great group living in ignorance.... We cannot have a nationorderly and sound with one group so ground down and thwarted thatit is almost forced into unsocial attitudes and crime." Suchstatements, made throughout King's career, are skillfully woventogether into a coherent narrative of the quest for social justice.The autobiography delves, for example, into the philosophicaltraining King received at Morehouse College, Crozer TheologicalSeminary, and Boston University, where he consolidated theteachings of Afro-American theologian Benjamin Mays with thephilosophies of Locke, Rousseau, Gandhi, and Thoreau. ThroughKing's voice, the

Jeanne Marie Laskas had a dream of fleeing her otherwise happyurban life for fresh air and open space — a dream she woulddiscover was about something more than that. But she never expectedher fantasy to come true — until a summer afternoon’s drive in thecountry. That’s when she and her boyfriend, Alex — owner of Marley thepoodle — stumble upon the place she thought existed only in herdreams. This pretty-as-a-picture-postcard farm with an Amish barn,a chestnut grove, and breathtaking vistas is real ... and for sale.And it’s where she knows her future begins. But buying a postcard — fifty acres of scenery — and living onit are two entirely different matters. With wit and wisdom, Laskaschronicles the heartwarming and heartbreaking stories of thecolorful two- and four-legged creatures she encounters onSweetwater Farm. Against a backdrop of brambles, a satellite dish, and sheep,she tells a tender, touching, and hilarious tale about life, love,and the unexpected complic

Succeeds more than any previous book in bringing Ali into focus. . . as a starburst of energy, ego and ability whose like willnever be seen again.-- The Wall Street Journal "Best Nonfiction Book of the Year"-- Time "Penetrating . . . reveal[s] details that even close followers of[Ali] might not have known. . . . An amazing story." -- The NewYork Times On the night in 1964 that Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay)stepped into the ring with Sonny Liston, he was widely regarded asan irritating freak who danced and talked way too much. Six roundslater Ali was not only the new world heavyweight boxing champion:He was "a new kind of black man" who would shortly transformAmerica's racial politics, its popular culture, and its notions ofheroism. No one has capturedAli--and the era that he exhilarated and sometimes infuriated--withgreater vibrancy, drama, and astuteness than David Remnick, thePulitzer Prize-winning author of Lenin's Tomb (and editor of The New Yorker ). In charting Ali's rise fro