"Extremely readable recollections of the author... A rare testimony of a period of the history of 20th century mathematics. Includes very interesting recollections on the author's participation in the formation of the Bourbaki Group, tells of his meetings and conversations with leading mathematicians, reflects his views on mathematics. The book describes an extraordinary career of an exceptional man and mathematicians. Strongly recommended to specialists as well as to the general public." EMS Newsletter (1992) "This excellent book is the English edition of the author's autobiography. ... This very enjoyable reading is recommended to all mathematicians." Acta Scientiarum Mathematicarum (1992)

winningly combines never-before-heard stories featuring A-list entertainers with fan favorites and Kevin’s own thoughts about how he made it. He turned down his first invitation to do stand-up on The Tonight Show because he knew that he’d make a bigger impact if he sat on the couch next to Johnny. That huge risk—which paid off in spades—was just the beginning. Find out how he brought John Belushi to his knees, tortured Paul Reiser (twice), bamboozled Larry King, stole Alan Arkin’s soul, almost killed Warren Beatty, and sucked face with Robert DeNiro’s girlfriend. Now a new media entrepreneur, he’s laughing proof that if you follow your gut and believe in yourself, you can do anything you want—except have a rational conversation with Rip Torn, who’s an evil, paranoid $#!%.

Joseph Epstein demonstrates time and again his talent for taking nearly any subject and polishing it into a gem of sparkling wit and fascination. In Narcissus Leaves the Pool, he displays his signature verve and charm in sixteen agile, entertaining pieces. Among his targets in this collection are name-dropping, talent versus genius, the cult of youthfulness, and the information revolution.

"I have been a Jew during Fascism, a bourgeois under Communism, a rebel defeated in an uprising, a refugee among the free, and a have-not amid plenty. This book contains over 60 stories that range from my youth in Hungary, the ordeal of a death march and concentration camps, the oppression of the Communist dictatorship, the promise and defeat of the Hungarian Revolution and, finally, my American years"--Preminary pages

Why I Left America and Other Essays by Oliver W. Harrington edited, with an introduction, by M. Thomas Inge To American black newspapers of the 1930s and 1940s "Ollie" Harrington was a prolific contributor of humorous and editorial cartoons. He emerged as an artist during the Harlem Renaissance and created Bootsie, the popular cartoon figure that became a fixture in black newspapers. Langston Hughes praised Harrington as America's greatest black cartoonist. After serving as a war correspondent in Italy, he returned to his homeland and the impediment of racism that pervaded American life. As director of public relations for the NAACP, he crusaded against America's policies of institutionalized racism, openly supporting leftist reform leaders. Upon hearing in this era of "red-baiting" that he was targeted for investigation, Harrington left America. In the culturally rich American community on the Left Bank in Paris that would come to include Chester Himes, James Baldwin, and Richard Wright, he became a fixture. In 1961 he found himself trapped behind the Berlin Wall, but he chose to remain in East Germany. His cartoons appeared in East German magazines and in the American Communist newspaper The Daily World. Although he became a favorite with Eastern Bloc students and intellectuals, in America Harrington was mainly forgotten. The autobiographical pieces included in Why I Left America and Other Essays, written mainly during the 1960s and 1970s, detail Oliver W. Harrington's experiences as an African American artist in exile. One theme that persists in these writings and his cartoons is his intolerance of racism. Hence, as an artist, he has found it impossible not to be political. One essay, from Ebony magazine, fuels speculation about the mysterious circumstances in the death of his friend Richard Wright. In another piece Harrington details how he created the celebrated Bootsie. He writes in others of his life in New York during the Harlem Renaissance and in Paris with fellow black expatriate figures. Why did this African American choose to live in exile for over forty years? In an affectionate foreword to this volume Richard Wright's daughter Julia gives clues to the answer. Her insights, along with M. Thomas Inge's introductory essay about Harrington's life and achievements, bring special focus to the experiences of an outstanding African American artist and social critic who has been virtually without recognition in his homeland. Oliver W. Harrington (1912-1995), cartoonist and political satirist, was an outspoken advocate for civil rights. He lived in exile in East Berlin for many years. M. Thomas Inge is the Robert Emory Blackwell Professor of Humanities at Randolph-Macon College.

This book obviously does not set out a complete record of the Nixon scandals or of the Nixon career. It doesn't even include all the cartoons about Nixon or relating to him--which probably number more than those Block did on almost any other public figure (good or bad), including such long-in-the-limelight persons as Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin. It does include a large number of the Nixon cartoons, along with dates of some incidents, and comments and recollections about their subject--a political career which in some way has affected all of us.

The Last Laugh is, as its title suggests, the very last of S. J. Perelman's twenty books. It contains seventeen pieces never before collected, in addition to the opening chapters of the author's uncompleted autobiography, The Hindsight Saga. The Last Laugh shows the master humorist at his very best, displaying his incomparable gift for ridicule, dazzling verbal effects, polished style, and keen observation. (6 X 9, 192 pages)