54 results for "Literature"

The bigger picture: my blockbuster life & lessons learned along the way

Landau, Jon
Jon Landau, the Academy Award-winning film producer behind Titanic, Avatar, Alita: Battle Angel, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, and Dick Tracy, knew two things well: how to tell an unforgettable story and how to find solutions. So, when he found himself confronting his fate, a diagnosis of improbable odds, he began to problem solve, ensuring that everything he learned behind the camera would live on after he was gone.In his retrospective and advice-driven memoir, Landau shares behind-the-scenes stories about some of the greatest movies of our time and advice on how to live well while working in a notoriously all-consuming job by centering the things that mattered to him most--his love for his family and his dedication to his friends and creative partners--turning his own story into another blockbuster hit.The Bigger Picture is at once a deeply poignant memoir, a tribute to storytelling in its many forms, and a celebration of a life well lived, told from the third act. Imbued with Landau's trademark compassion, humanity, and humor, the stories he shares and the wisdom he imparts in The Bigger Picture will inspire, delight, and touch the hearts of readers for years to come.
Hyperion Avenue 2025-11-04 263 pages

INHERIT THE TRUTH 1939-1945 : THE DOCUMENTED EXPERIENCES OF A SURVIVOR OF AUSCHWITZ AND BELSEN

Lasker-Wallfisch, Anita
Told in her own words, this is the incredible true story of one young woman's survival of Auschwitz and Belsen because she happened to play the cello. Although my head was shaved and I had a number on my arm, I had not lost my identity totally. I may no longer have had a name, but I was identifiable ... I was 'the cellist'. When eighteen-year-old Anita arrived at Auschwitz, she found herself plucked from the Nazi death machine by a twist of fate: she played the cello, and the camp orchestra needed a cellist. Now the last living survivor of the Auschwitz Women's Orchestra, this is her story told in her own words. Like so many German Jewish schoolgirls, Anita had been busy with her studies and ambitions when her everyday life began to turn by degrees into one of unimaginable horror. School was cancelled, her parents were summoned for deportation, and when she and her sister, Renate, attempted to escape to France, they were arrested and imprisoned. Through her sharp-etched memories, alongside family letters, photos, and other historical documents, Inherit the Truth leads us into one of humanity's darkest chapters, where we are forced to confront the fragility of the line between civilisation and barbarity. Marking the eightieth anniversary of her arrival in the UK after her release from Belsen concentration camp, Anita Lasker-Fallfisch's account of her and her sister's survival of both Auschwitz and Belsen is a testament to their remarkable courage, resilience, ingenuity and luck. This edition includes a new foreword from Philippe Sands.
FABER AND FABER 2026-04-23 272 pages

Roman Year A Memoir

André Aciman
The author of Call Me by Your Name returns with a deeply romantic memoir of his time in Rome while on the cusp of adulthood. In Roman Year , André Aciman captures the period of his adolescence that began when he and his family first set foot in Rome, after being expelled from Egypt. Though Aciman’s family had been well-off in Alexandria, all vestiges of their status vanished when they fled, and the author, his younger brother, and his deaf mother moved into a rented apartment in Rome’s Via Clelia. Though dejected, Aciman’s mother and brother found their way into life in Rome, while Aciman, still unmoored, burrowed into his bedroom to read one book after the other. The world of novels eventually allowed him to open up to the city and, through them, discover the beating heart of the Eternal City. Aciman’s time in Rome did not last long before he and his family moved across the ocean, but by the time they did, he was leaving behind a city he loved. In this memoir, the author, a genius of “the poetry of the place” (John Domini, The Boston Globe ), conjures the sights, smells, tastes, and people of Rome as only he can. Aciman captures, as if in amber, a living portrait of himself on the brink of adulthood and the city he worshipped at that pivotal moment. Roman Year is a treasure, unearthed by one of our greatest prose stylists.
Picador 2025-10-21 368 pages

The Way I Was

Marvin Hamlisch,Gerald Gardner
The EGOT-winning composer of The Way We Were and A Chorus Line recounts his remarkable life from childhood to Broadway and Hollywood. The son of Jewish Viennese immigrants, six-year-old Marvin Hamlisch's early musical talent and discipline led him to Julliard, where he studied for more than a decade. From there, Hamlisch got his start as a rehearsal pianist for Funny Girl starring Barbra Streisand. He went on to co-create the classic American musical A Chorus Line and wrote the Oscar Award-winning musical score for The Way We Were . Hamlisch is one of only a handful of people to achieve EGOT status--winning an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony. In this autobiography, Hamlisch tells the tale of his life and career, revealing personal stories of his childhood, his marriage, and his friendships with stars including Liza Minnelli, Groucho Marx, and others. It offers an intimate view of his life and a compelling portrait of Broadway and Hollywood through the second half of the twentieth century.
Open Road Integrated Media, Incorporated 2024-11-05 254 pages

Georges Seurat

Rewald, John
This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
Kessinger Publishing, LLC 2010-09-10 146 pages

Highways and Byways Tall Tales and Short Stories from the Long Way Round from Australian Rock Legend and Bestselling Author of WORKING CLASS BOY, WORKING CLASS MAN and KILLING TIME

Jimmy Barnes
The new book from Jimmy Barnes, the award-winning author of the number-one bestsellers Working Class Boy, Working Class Man and Killing Time From larger-than-life adventures to vivid and poignant tales of the imagination, Highways and Byways is a collection of stories taking readers on an enthralling tour (complete with the odd detour) through the raucous, well-lived life of one of this country's most successful and beloved artists. Told with Jimmy's signature verve and flair, and richly coloured by his distinctive voice and wit, Highways and Byways sees him sharing a 1970s Texas stage with a dream line-up of US musicians; flirting with disaster in a Hawaiian high-rise; discovering a life-changing cassette tape; unearthing shattering family secrets in Glasgow; encountering charismatic and not-so-endearing superstars, ghosts of the recent and distant past, superfan traffic cops and shady salesmen; and confronting his own mortality - while pondering the more amusing effects of hospital medication. Charming, personal and poignant, Highways and Byways is a collection that celebrates Jimmy's Scottish heritage, family, friends, music and the adventure of a grand life.
HarperCollins Publishers Australia 2025-08-05 320 pages

What have I done? my autobiography

Elton, Ben
Many people think they know who Ben Elton is – but does he? For the first – and only – time, Ben tackles this question head on in his frank, forthright and entertaining autobiography. Taking a deep dive into his life and times, both private and public, to reveal the true stories behind iconic hits such as The Young Ones , Blackadder and We Will Rock You , his pioneering routines hosting Saturday Live , which birthed a revolution in stand-up comedy, and so much more. Ben recounts his life and uniquely varied career from his Catford childhood and being the BBC’s youngest ever sit com writer at 21 right up to the present day, with yet another hit sit com, Upstart Crow; a surprise late-life BAFTA; and his most critically acclaimed stand-up comedy show to date. Alongside unique insights into his ground-breaking work, Ben talks honestly and hilariously about his personal and professional relationships with two generations of brilliant friends, inspiring contemporaries, occasional foes, and the times in which they all lived. And Ben’s life has been just as challenging, rewarding and funny off screen as it has been on. He unpacks it all with wit, insight and complete honesty. And of course, there’s a ‘little bit of politics’. After living sixty five years on the planet, forty-five of them in public, tickling many funny bones and getting on a respectable number of wicks, Ben has a lot of stories to tell, and he tells them unvarnished and uncensored – because that’s who he is.
Macmillan 2025 470 pages

Who knew

Diller, Barry
"Growing up in Beverly Hills, Diller was neglected by his parents, abused by his brother, and overwhelmed by insecurity. Diller began his career in the mailroom of the William Morris Agency and had one of the most extraordinary ascents in show business history, inventing the TV Movie of the Week for ABC at age twenty-seven, becoming CEO of Paramount Pictures at age thirty-two, and launching the Fox TV network at age forty-four. . . . Diller shares his provocative and at times counterintuitive insights about advancing in a company; becoming a manager and a leader; and the value of confrontation. He describes his relentless quest for good ideas along with what he learned from the bad ones. For the first time, Diller also tells the story of his unconventional and very private personal life, describing relationships with men and the woman he calls his 'unique and complete love,' designer Diane von Furstenberg. Diller writes, 'I would have secrets, but I would tell no lies'"--
Simon & Schuster 2025-05-20 336 pages

More, Now, Again A Memoir of Addiction

Elizabeth Wurtzel
Wurtzel pub. her groundbreaking memoir of depression, Prozac Nation, at the age of 26. It was a worldwide success, but no success could staunch her continuous battle with depression. The absence of fulfillment in the wake of success became yet another seemingly insurmountable hurdle. Her doctor prescribed Ritalin to boost the effects of her anti-depression medication, and it worked. But she reached the point where she couldn t go more than 5 minutes without a fix of Ritalin, then cocaine, & then more Ritalin. In this harrowing account, she contemplates what it means to be in love within something in your blood that takes over your body, becomes the life force within you -- & could kill you. Recounts a courageous fight back to a life worth living.
DIANE Publishing Company 2004-02 333 pages

Memoirs of Lorenzo Da Ponte

Ponte, Lorenzo Da
From the glittering salons of Venice to the grand opera houses of Vienna and the bustling streets of New York, Memoirs of Lorenzo Da Ponte offers a fascinating journey through the life of one of history’s most intriguing figures. Best known as Mozart’s librettist for Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro, and Così fan tutte, Da Ponte was much more than a lyricist—he was a poet, priest, adventurer, and immigrant who reinvented himself time and again. In this candid and engaging autobiography, Da Ponte recounts his tumultuous life with wit and charm. Born a Jewish convert to Catholicism, he became a priest, only to be exiled from Venice due to scandal. He found fortune and fame in Vienna under Emperor Joseph II, collaborating with Mozart to create some of the most enduring works in opera. Yet his life was marked by upheaval—falling from grace, wandering through Europe, and eventually settling in America, where he became a bookseller, teacher, and even helped establish Italian opera in the New World. A tale of artistic genius, resilience, and reinvention, Memoirs of Lorenzo Da Ponte is a captivating firsthand account of an extraordinary life lived at the crossroads of history, music, and adventure.
Independently published 2025-02-02 479 pages

Fear of Fifty

Jong, Erica
Seducing the Demon has introduced Erica Jong to readers who hadn't been born when Fear of Flying was published in 1973. Now one of her finest works of nonfiction -and a New York Times bestseller-is back in print with a new afterword. In Fear of Fifty , a New York Times bestseller when first published in 1994, Erica Jong looks to the second half of her life and "goes right to the jugular of the women who lived wildly and vicariously through Fear of Flying" ( Publishers Weekly ), delivering highly entertaining stories and provocative insights on sex, marriage, aging, feminism, and motherhood. "What Jong calls a midlife memoir is a slice of autobiography that ranks in honesty, self-perception and wisdom with [works by] Simone de Beauvoir and Mary McCarthy," wrote the Sunday Times (U.K.). "Although Jong's memoir of a Jewish American princess is wittier than either."
Harpercollins Publisher 1994

It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time The Worst TV Shows in History and Other Things I Wrote

Bruce Vilanch
"Bruce Vilanch, a storyteller without peer, has written a tell-all . . . on himself! And it's hilarious! He's finally coming clean and owning up to his part in creating some of the worst television of the twentieth century, and that's saying a lot. There's no one like him. As they've been saying since I discovered him as a cub reporter at the Chicago Tribune , when you're in a pinch . . . Get Bruce!" --BETTE MIDLER Bruce Vilanch is known as a go-to comedy writer for award shows, sitcoms, and over-the-top variety specials, but he has also been responsible for quite a few of the most legendary disasters ever made. Some of his work lives in infamy-- The Star Wars Holiday Special , The Paul Lynde Halloween Special , Rob Lowe dancing with Snow White at the Oscars, and The Brady Bunch Variety Hour . How did these ever seem like a good idea? Well, everyone has screwed up a few times, or had their work screwed up by others. It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time is a lifetime reflection of what Vilanch has experienced, learned, and forgotten in decades of working in show business, specifically the south forty acres known as comedy. It involves very famous people and people who were not very famous but should have been. It explains to the people in the audience who say to themselves, once they have gotten their jaw off the floor, "'How did this ever get made?" Don't we all want to know?
Chicago Review Press, Incorporated 2026-06-02 208 pages