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.
In the spring of 1884 Ulysses S. Grant heeded the advice of MarkTwain and finally agreed to write his memoirs. Little did Grant orTwain realize that this seemingly straightforward decision wouldprofoundly alter not only both their lives but the course ofAmerican literature. Over the next fifteen months, as the two menbecame close friends and intimate collaborators, Grant racedagainst the spread of cancer to compose a triumphant account of hislife and times—while Twain struggled to complete and publish hisgreatest novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn . Inthis deeply moving and meticulously researched book, veteran writerMark Perry reconstructs the heady months when Grant and Twaininspired and cajoled each other to create two quintessentiallyAmerican masterpieces. In a bold and colorful narrative, Perry recounts the early careersof these two giants, traces their quest for fame and elusivefortunes, and then follows the series of events that brought themtogether as friends. The reason Grant let Twain talk
He was one of pro football’s most beloved and respected stars,admired not only by NFL fans and his own teammates, but by hisopponents as well. Super Bowl champion; six time Pro Bowler; NFLComeback Player of the Year; NFL Man of the Year; fifth all-timeleading rusher in the NFL; future Hall of Famer; now NBC Sportscommentator. You may think you know Jerome Bettis, but you don’t. In The Bus, Jerome Bettis tells his full, unvarnished story forthe first time--from his sometimes troubled childhood in inner-cityDetroit to his difficult transition at Notre Dame, to a pro coachwho almost caused him to quit the game, to a trade for the agesthat resulted in ten glorious seasons with the PittsburghSteelers. As a chunky child wearing glasses, Jerome’s only sports-relatedaspiration was to become a professional bowler. But growing up inone of the roughest neighborhoods in Detroit, he eventually foundhis escape on the high school football field, thanks to thedevotion of hard-working parents, a
Deborah Santana is best known for her marriage to music iconCarlos Santana–a thirty-year bond that endures to this day. But asa girl growing up in San Francisco in the 1960s, daughter of awhite mother and a black father–the legendary blues guitaristSaunders King–her life was charged with its own drama long beforeshe married. In this beautiful, haunting memoir, Deborah Santana shares forthe first time her early experiences with racial intolerance, herromantic involvement with musician Sly Stone and the suffering sheendured in that relationship, and her adventures in thefreewheeling 1960s. Yet it is her spiritual awakening that is thecore of this story. The civil rights movement was the foundation ofher growth, the Woodstock era the backdrop of her love with Carlos.The couple was drawn indelibly together by a search for truth andspirituality, but while yearning to be filled with God’s light,they were pulled dangerously toward a manipulative cult. Theyeventually disengage themselves from th
“I feel like I’ve joined an enormous club, something like theVeterans of Foreign Wars. We are weary with battle fatigue andsometimes even gripped by nostalgia for the good old, bad old days,but our numbers are large,” writes Theo Pauline Nestor in this wry,fiercely honest chronicle of life after divorce. Less than an hour after confronting her husband over his massivegambling losses, Theo banishes him from their home forever. Withtwo young daughters to support and her life as a stay-at-homemother at an abrupt end, Nestor finds herself slipping from“middle-class grace” as she attends a court-ordered custody class,stumbles through job interviews, and–much to her surprise–falls inlove once again. As Theo rebuilds her life and recovers her senseof self, she’s forced to confront her own family’s legacy ofdivorce. “I’m from a long line of stock market speculators, artistsof unmarketable talents, and alcoholics,” writes Nestor. “Thehigher, harder road is not our road. We move,
