5053 results for "Biography"

Destined to live

Ungar, William
Memoirs of Wilo (Wolf) Ungar, a Jew born in 1913 in Krasne, near Tarnopol. In September 1939 he was drafted into the Polish Army; notes the anti-Jewish mood of Poles after the Polish defeat. He fled to Lvov, where the Nazi invasion caught up with him in July 1941. Describes Nazi measures against the Jews and life in the ghetto. Ungar's wife and newly-born child perished during the Nazi "action" in June 1942. He lived on "Aryan papers" in the vicinity of Lvov and later fled to Warsaw. From there he moved to Nowy Dwór, northwest of Warsaw, and before March 1943 was interned in the ghetto there. He fled and returned to Lvov. Having been exposed as a Jew, he narrowly escaped being sent to the Janowska camp; he was hidden by a Ukrainian woman until the liberation. He tried to enlist in the Polish army in Lvov in 1944, but was rejected as a Jew. After the war he emigrated to the USA.
University Press of America 2000 362 pages

Developing: my life

Zeckendorf, William, Jr.,Oliver, Joan Duncan
Offering a glimpse inside the high-stakes world of real estate development, from finding a property to securing financing to hiring an architect to constructing the building to seeing it profitably occupied, this is a history of New York in the 1970s and 1980s, from one of the people most responsible for its changing cityscape. In 1986, the New York Times called William Zeckendorf Jr. Manhattan's most active real-estate developer, a judgement borne out by Zeckendorf's fascinating memoir. The second generation of a legendary family of developers, Bill Zeckendorf was a developer with a social conscience, not only putting up buildings but opening neglected parts of the city and transforming whole communities. Among the projects Zeckendorf chronicles in detail - and with rich documentary illustrations - are the Columbia, which set off a building boom on the Upper West Side; the four-acre Worldwide Plaza, a landmark in West Midtown; Queens West, the first residential project on the waterfront in Queens; the enormous Ronald Reagan Office Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.; and numerous projects in Santa Fe, his beloved second home.
Andrea Monfried Editions 2016 303 pages

Becoming myself: reflections on growing up female

Shalit, Willa
Maya Angelou -- Janis Ian -- Suzanne Malveaux -- Brooke Shields -- Lynn Goldsmith -- Joyce Carol Oates -- Heidi Kuhn -- Lisa Gay Hamilton -- Sally Fisher -- Carol Channing -- Taina Bien Aime -- Marlee Matlin -- Martha McPhee -- J.K. Rowling -- Susan Stamberg -- Gloria Feldt -- Patti La Belle -- Carol Moseley Braun -- Anne Glauber -- Jamie Lynn Sigler -- Regina King -- Esther Hautzig -- Kate Spade -- Lisa Bernhard -- Margaret Hilary Marshall -- Lesléa Newman -- Kate Winslet -- Carole L. Glickfeld -- Eva Hoffman -- Judy Martin-- Zane -- Suzanne Somers -- Kate Michelman -- Jyl Lynn Felman -- Rue McClanahan -- Julia Stiles -- Judy Woodruff -- Nina Totenberg -- Luisah Teish -- Lillian Vernon -- Tatum ONeal -- Beverly Sills -- Vanessa Williams -- Suze Orman -- Ruth Knafo Setton -- Esta Soler -- Sylvia Boorstein -- Helen Hunt -- Kitty Carlisle Hart -- Cora Weiss -- Lily Tomlin -- Tawni ODell -- Helen Gurley Brown -- Ma Jaya -- Maria Shriver -- Meryl Streep.
Hyperion 2006-04-18 288 pages

Jackie under my skin: interpreting an icon

Koestenbaum, Wayne
Jackie Under My Skin is a richly original and fascinating investigation into how Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis transformed our definitions of personal identity and style. For thirty years we have lived with our internalized images of Jackie, but until now no writer has definitively explored what it feels like to exist in imaginative and heartfelt connection to this ubiquitous icon. In an elegiac gallery of fantasies and tableaux, Wayne Koestenbaum explains the late First Lady's mesmeric hold on America by anatomizing the myths and metaphors that have attached to her. Analyzing her iconography with both passion and precision, he places stories about Jackie - and photos of Jackie - within the context of literature, film, and the idiosyncratic imagination. Following her into America's dreamwork, far from pious family values, Wayne Koestenbaum dares to see her as an embodiment of pleasure, a figure of Circean extravagance, and a unique and necessary emblem of that most exhilarating of pursuits: freedom without responsibility.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux 1995 291 pages

One-car caravan: the amazing true saga of the 2004 Democratic race from its humble beginnings to the Boston convention

Shapiro, Walter
By the time most Americans see the presidential candidates on the campaign trail, they are practiced performers surrounded by a platoon of staffers and a brigade of reporters. But on their initial forays into Iowa and New Hampshire in 2002 and early 2003, their entourages were decidedly unpresidential--just an aide or two, perhaps a local reporter, and the candidate himself. Their motorcades were literally one-car caravans; their campaign stops, small gatherings in living rooms. The national media only intermittently follow the candidates as they struggle to define themselves, work out the kinks in their message and refine their personas. But Walter Shapiro did. One-Car Caravan is Shapiro's revealing account of the humble roots of the current presidential campaign, and he provides a telling picture of the 2004 Democratic contenders in their metaphorical boxers and briefs. He shows us John Kerry, Dick Gephardt, Joe Lieberman, John Edwards, Howard Dean, and the others with their hair down, their ties askew, and their foibles bared. It's not pretty to watch a candidate who dreams of flying on Air Force One bump his head on a luggage bin on a small commuter jet, but it can be pretty funny.
PublicAffairs 2004-09-29 254 pages

Emma Goldman: revolution as a way of life

Gornick, Vivian
A vibrant, deeply human portrait of a woman dedicated to fierce protest against the tyranny of institutions over individuals, by the celebrated author Emma Goldman is the story of a modern radical who took seriously the idea that inner liberation is the first business of social revolution. Her politics, from beginning to end, was based on resistance to that which thwarted the free development of the inner self. The right to stay alive in one's senses, to enjoy freedom of thought and speech, to reject the arbitrary use of power--these were key demands in the many public protest movements she helped mount. Anarchist par excellence, Goldman is one of the memorable political figures of our time, not because of her gift for theory or analysis or even strategy, but because some extraordinary force of life in her burned, without rest or respite, on behalf of human integrity--and she was able to make the thousands of people who, for decades on end, flocked to her lectures, feel intimately connected to the pain inherent in the abuse of that integrity. To hear Emma describe, in language as magnetic as it was illuminating, what the boot felt like on the neck, was to experience the mythic quality of organized oppression. As the women and men in her audience listened to her, the homeliness of their own small lives became invested with a sense of drama that acted as a catalyst for the wild, vagrant hope that things need not always be as they were. All you had to do, she promised, was resist. In time, she herself would become a world-famous symbol for the spirit of resistance to the power of institutional authority over the lone individual. In Emma Goldman, Vivian Gornick draws a surpassingly intimate and insightful portrait of a woman of heroic proportions whose performance on the stage of history did what Tolstoy said a work of art should do: it made people love life more.
Yale University Press 2013 151 pages

Boris Johnson: the gambler

Bower, Tom
With his trademark access, insight and candour, Britain's leading investigative biographer tackles his most fascinating subject yet: Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, the UK's Prime Minister. As divisive as he is beguiling, as misunderstood as he is scrutinised, Boris Johnson is a singular figure. Many of us think we know his story well. His ruthless ambition was evident from his insistence, as a three-year-old, that he would one day be 'world king'. Eton and Oxford prepared him well for a frantic career straddling the dog-eat-dog worlds of journalism and politics. His transformation from bumbling stooge on Have I Got New for You to a triumphant Mayor of London was overshadowed only by his colourful personal life, brimming with affairs, scandals and transgressions. His ascent to Number 10 in the wake of the acrimonious, era-defining Brexit referendum would prove to be only the first act in an epic drama that saw him play both hero and villain - from proroguing parliament to his controversial leadership of the Covid-19 Crisis, all against the backdrop of divorce, marriage, the birth of his sixth child, revolts among Tory MPs and the countdown to Brexit. Yet despite his celebrity, decades of media scrutiny, the endless vitriol of his critics and the enduring adoration of his supporters, there is so much we've never understood about Boris - until now. Previous biographies have either dismissed him as a lazy, deceitful opportunist or been transfixed by his charm, wit and drive. Both approaches fall short, and so many questions about Boris remain unanswered. What seismic events of his childhood have evaded scrutiny? How has he so consistently defied the odds, proved his critics wrong, and got away with increasingly reckless gambles? What were his real achievements and failures as Mayor of London, what was really going on during his time as Foreign Secretary, and why did he write two articles for the Telegraph, one in favour of Leave and the other for Remain? How have the women in his life exerted more influence than any of us realise, and why is his story ultimately one overshadowed by family secrets? Based on a wealth of new interviews and research, this is the deepest, most rounded and most comprehensive portrait to date of the man, the mind, the politics, the affairs, the family - of a loner, a lover, a leader. Revelatory, unsettling and compulsively readable, it is the most timely and indispensable book yet from Britain's leading investigative biographer
WH Allen 2020 578 pages

Wild Man

Schneebaum, Tobias
I have always lusted after the Wild Man of Borneo. Tobias Schneebaum relates his insights on culture, society and relationships between men in the far reaches of the Westerner's notion of the world, while simultaneously relating a journey into the self. An enlightened trail for anyone to explore. Wild Man by Tobias Schneebaum, part autobiographical journal, part social-historical novel, tracks Schneebaum's fascinating and almost epic life story from his earliest contemplations of homoerotic desire and his first exposure to what he would later term The Wild Man of Borneo to his travels through Borneo, Southeast Asia and beyond. The author offers his first hand experiences in an exposed and often almost awkwardly honest recounting of his travels, insights and relationships in the cultures and communities that he became so immediately a part of.
Iuniverse Inc 2000 272 pages

The investigator: fifty years of uncovering the truth

Lenzner, Terry F.
The Los Angeles Times once called investigative lawyer Terry Lenzner “one of the most powerful and dreaded private investigators in the world.” In his fifty-year career, Lenzner has worked with politicians, celebrities, governments, and corporations worldwide; with a steadfast commitment to the truth, he has uncovered facts that have shaped policy and influenced major legal battles. In this captivating memoir, Lenzner speaks about his varied career and high-profile cases for the first time. At the Justice Department in 1964, he investigated the murder of three civil rights workers—an infamous event that inspired the film Mississippi Burning . He led the national Legal Services Program for the poor, prosecuted organized crime in New York, defended peace activist Philip Berrigan, and represented CIA operative Sid Gottlieb. As a counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee, Lenzner investigated Nixon’s dirty tricks and followed the money trail that led to the Watergate burglary and cover-up. He was the first person to deliver a congressional subpoena to a sitting U.S. president. He uncovered cost overruns of the Alaska oil pipeline, helped identify the Unabomber, investigated the circumstances of Princess Diana’s death, and cleared Hugo Chavez of false corruption charges. Lenzner also worked with President Clinton’s defense team during the impeachment hearings. The Investigator is a riveting personal account: Lenzner astounds with anecdotes of scandal and intrigue, offers lessons in investigative methods, and provides an eye-opening look behind some of the most talked-about media stories and world events of our time.
Blue Rider Press, a member of Penguin Group (USA) 2013 371 pages

Desperately seeking something: a memoir about movies, mothers, and material girls

Seidelman, Susan
"The funny and insightful first-person story of the trailblazing movie director of the 80s and 90s whose fearless punk drama, "Smithereens" became the first American indie film to compete at Cannes, and smash hit "Desperately Seeking Susan" led to a four-decade career in film. Starting out in the mid-70s, a time when few women were directing movies, Susan was determined to become a filmmaker. She longed to tell stories about the unrepresented characters she wanted to see on screen: unconventional women in unusual circumstances, needing to express themselves and maintain their autonomy. Her genre-blending films reflect a passion for classic Hollywood storytelling, mixed with a playful New Wave spirit, informed by her years living in downtown NYC. Seidelman continued to shape American pop culture well into the nineties, directing the pilot of the iconic TV series "Sex And The City," focusing her sharp lens on the changing place of women in American society and helping to fundamentally reshape our self-image in ways that are still felt today. Raised in the safe cocoon of 1960s suburbia, Susan Seidelman wasn't a misfit, an oddball, or an outlier. She was a "good-girl" with a little bit of "bad" hidden inside. A restless teenager, she dreamed of escape and reinvention, a theme that would play out in her films as well as in her own life. Because she loved stories, a high school guidance counselor suggested she become a librarian, but she had her sights set further afield. In 1973, she left the Philly suburbs, enrolled at NYU's burgeoning graduate film school and moved to NYC's Lower East Side. There, she found herself in the right place at the right time. New York City was falling apart, but out of that chaos came a burst of creative energy whose effects are still felt in American pop culture today. Downtown became a vibrant playground where film, music, performance and graffiti art cross-pollinated and where Seidelman chronicled the lives of the colorful misfits, oddballs, dreamers and schemers she met there. It's all in DESPERATELY SEEKING SOMETHING. Seidelman not only has a keen perspective on the times she's lived through -- from her Twiggy-obsessed girlhood, through the Women's Lib movement of the early 70s, the punk scene of the late 70s, Madonna-mania of the 80s, to the dot-com "greed is good" 90s, and beyond--she tells great stories"--
St. Martin's Press 2024-06-18 351 pages

My racing life

Moss, Stirling,Taylor, Simon
In this very personal book, Stirling Moss guides the reader through his motor racing life with a fascinating, insightful and often amusing commentary to an unrivalled collection of over 300 photographs, many of which will be unfamiliar to even his most ardent fans. He takes us from his childhood to the height of his fame as 'Mr Motor Racing' and then to the sudden end of his career with that crash at Goodwood in 1962. Along the way we dwell on his finest moments as well as the setbacks, and delight in the sheer variety of machinery - almost 100 different cars - in which he competed during his rollercoaster racing life. This is a book that all motor racing enthusiasts will treasure. - Starting in 1948, he made his name in little 500cc Coopers, moving towards stardom in HWM, ERA and Cooper F2 cars, then his own F1 Maserati 250F. - The 1955 Mercedes season and its twin highlights – winning the Mille Miglia and the British Grand Prix. - His longing to win in British cars was rewarded with two fine F1 seasons at Vanwall (1957–58), with whom he came very close to winning the F1 World Championship, and sports car successes with Aston Martin. - Rear-engined Cooper and Lotus F1 cars with Rob Walker (1958–62), including two celebrated Monaco GP wins. - Two-seater variety: the amazing range of sports cars he drove included Jaguars (XK120, C-type and D-type), Maseratis (150S to 450S), Ferraris (250 GT SWB and Testa Rossa) and Porsches (550 Spyder to RS61), plus Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica, Osca, Healey 100S, Cooper ‘Bobtail' and more. - Ever busy and versatile: rallying with Sunbeams, trialling a Harford special, Bonneville record-breaking with MG EX181, saloon car racing in a humble Standard Ten – and even a kart race. - Published to mark the 60th anniversary of Moss's famous win in the 1955 Mille Miglia road race in a Mercedes 300SLR. Foreword by 2014 Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton.
Evro Publishing 2015-05-15 312 pages

Cecil B. DeMille and the golden calf

Louvish, Simon
Cecil B. DeMille is Hollywood's most enduring legend, remembered, and often reviled, for his grandiose Biblical sagas, such as Samson and Delilah and his 1956 version of The Ten Commandments , with its cast of tens of thousands before computer graphics made the modern epic mundane. Simon Louvish tells the tale of Cecil B. DeMille through his work: a major re-examination of Hollywood's most monumental founder.
Faber 2007 507 pages