"This is an autobiography of one of the pioneers of hearing implants, Dr. Ellis Douek, who was the first to monitor the hearing of a baby at birth, and who participated in the development of a middle ear device for the restoration of hearing that now bears his name: Douek-MED. The book sheds light on the life of a surgeon from the early days of the UK National Health Service, and covers the highlights of Douek's medical career"--

When Ellis Douek was nine, his mother insisted that he take up embroidery, in case he became a surgeon when he grew up. Of course she was right, for he became Consultant ENT Surgeon at Guy's Hospital in London. The Douek parents had the unerring quality of belonging in whichever country they lived - Egypt, the Sudan, Columbia and, finally, England. Ellis Douek's memoirs describe the hedonism of life in Egypt, the Suez Crisis which uprooted them, 1950s Bradford, and Paris. He began his medical training in Paris where he, his sister Claudia (Claudia Roden, the cookery writer), and brother Zaki lived free of adult supervision. His training continued in London during a time of smog, digs and landladies. Ellis's days as an army medic provide hilarious accounts of whisky-sodden soldiers, circumcisions and bureaucratic procedures.

"For over five decades, Elliott Sharp has been on a quest to take the music he hears in his inner ear and bring it to life in the real world. In this vivid memoir and manifesto, we share the adrenalin rush of New York's Downtown scene of the '80s and beyond, where--against a backdrop of junkies frozen 'in a perpetual fall' and escaped tarantulas skittering across club floors--Sharp becomes a pivotal figure at the junction of rock and the avant-garde. Moving deftly between the abstractions of Spinoza and fractal geometry and the gritty physicality of guitars, saxophones, silicon hardware, and offbeat instruments of his own devising, Sharp makes music solo and in a dizzying range of aggregations and collaborations with the likes of Cecil Taylor, Nusrat Fateh Ali-Khan, Sonny Sharrock, Hilary Hahn and blues legend Hubert Sumlin. We watch as he dodges fake cowboys' real bullets by the side of a highway near Colby, Kansas; segues from Zen tea to single malt with an elfin John Cage; trades licks with Bedouin sumsumiya players in a goat's-hair tent in the Negev; and looks up from his teenage strumming of 'Gloria' in Manny's Music on 48th Street to find Jimi Hendrix smiling benignly upon him. A mix of tales from the road and sky with thoughts on music, art, politics, technology, and the process of thinking itself, IrRational Music is a glimpse inside the smooth cranium of one of our most exacting, exciting creative artists"--Back cover.

Elkie Brooks is a genuine national treasure. Blessed with one of the richest and most distinctive voices in showbusiness, she has been entertaining people around the world for the last five decades. Her professional debut at age 15 began a career that has spanned most musical genres and collaborations with some of the finest musicians of their generation, making her a household name. Along the way she has recorded some of the most iconic songs in rock history, including Lilac Wine, Sunshine After the Rain, Fool (If You Think It's Over) and her signature tune Pearl's A Singer. But the road to stardom was never an easy journey. Along the way she has experienced hardships that would have daunted most, and dealt with them with the same spirit, grit and determination that colours the extraordinary emotional power of her singing.

A legendary figure from Hollywood's Golden Age tells the story of his life, from "royal" upbringing, through his salad days, stormy marriage, and numerous affairs, to his adventures as a naval commander in World War II

A political adviser to the formidably intellectual Foreign Secretary Tony Crosland and to Prime Minister Jim Callaghan, and a senior journalist at The Times and The Economist, David Lipsey has been close to the heart of government for more than four decades. Providing a unique perspective on a period of great economic and political upheaval, In the Corridors of Power details such flashpoints as the 1976?77 IMF crisis, which saw Britain under a divided government hovering on the edge of national bankruptcy, and reveals why Jim Callaghan ducked an election in 1978? and led Labour to disast ...

Upon arriving at the kibbutz, after years of running and living in a constant state of fear and anxiety, I finally felt that I could unburden my heart and mind. I had dreamed of the day I would arrive, alive, in Eretz Israel. The constant stress of the last few years was made easier by my constant desire to achieve that goal. So, when I first arrived in the kibbutz dining hall, it was as if all my dreams had come true. David J. Azrieli was born in 1922 in Maków Mazowiecki, Poland. Written by his daughter Danna, this gripping account of survival during World War II describes David’s extraordinary travels, always just one step ahead of life-threatening danger, which took him to the Soviet-occupied zones of Poland and later to Ukraine, Tashkent, and Buchara. He subsequently served in the Anders Army, before making his way from Baghdad to the frontiers of British-occupied Palestine. The memoir chronicles David J. Azrieli’s arrival in Palestine, his studies at the Technion in Haifa, his experiences as a soldier in the War of Independence, and his realization that most of his immediate family had perished in the Holocaust. Azrieli finally settled in Canada in 1954. There he married his wife, Stephanie, and together they raised four children—Rafi, Sharon, Naomi, and Danna. This story of survival is all the more remarkable given Azrieli’s later achievements as a successful real estate developer and philanthropist. One of the economic giants of the Jewish world, his many developments changed the face of Israel and stand as a striking testament to the strength and courage of a boy whom Hitler could not defeat. The highlight of his activities is the establishment of the Canadian and Israeli Azrieli Foundations, which focus on improving the lives of present and future generations through education, research, healthcare, and arts. -- page 4 of cover.

The mob couldn't live with Jimmy Roselli and it couldn't live without him. Roselli is Hoboken's other great singer, and to a greater degree than Frank Sinatra, who lived down the street from him, Roselli maintained his ties to his old neighborhood and its people. He's their link to their cultural heritage and Italy, and he continues to sing a good half of his repertoire in Italian. But this didn't stop his wiseguy following from getting angry at him from time to time. Roselli's best-loved song, "Little Pal, " is the wiseguy anthem, which he sang at John Gotti, Jr.'s wedding reception. Carlo Gambino attended shows regularly and had Jimmy chauffeured to his Massapequa estate for dinner. Mobster Larry Gallo was buried with a Roselli record in his hands. Hoboken's unsung great singer feuded with Sinatra, stood up to shakedown artists, befriended godfathers. But he also spurned legitimate help, sometimes when he needed it the most, by telling off Ed Sullivan, refusing Merv Griffin, and turning down Francis Ford Coppola's offer to sing "Senza Mamma" in The Godfather, Part II. Nevertheless, Roselli now has thirty-six recordings in print, owns his own record company, and commands more than $100,000 a night in performance. With a cast of characters that includes Jimmy Durante, the Rat Pack, comedian Joe E. Lewis, and Tony Bennett, Making the Wiseguys Weep is the story of a brilliant entertainer as well as a portrait of Italian-American culture from the 240 saloons that lined Hoboken's streets to the ritzy Copacabana and the bright lights of Caesars Palace in Atlantic City.

Vladimir Horowitz (1903-1989) was the measure of pianistic prowess for most of the twentieth century. Not since Liszt and Paderewski has any pianist created such a legend. When Horowitz condescended to perform, lines formed days in advance. His recordings, the most listened-to discography in history, are unique documents in the art of piano playing. Horowitz, the incomparable colorist, conjured in the mind's ear the spectrum of an orchestra with the expressive beauty of the greatest singing.

Few writers have inspired such affection ain their contemporaries, and in later generations of readers, as Robert Louis Stevenson. And yet, difficult though it is to resist the generous, enchanting personality tht shines out from his letters, it is even harder to define it. A descendant of Calvinists who spent his youth in a Bohemian milieu, a lover of his native Scotland who became committed to exile, a man whose humorous enjoyment of human foibles did not preclude an awareness of the nightmarish background against which some lives are lived - Stevenson was highly complex, with a deep sense of moral ambiguities which runs throughout his work. He could have no abler or more sympathetic biographer than David Daiches, Professor of English Studies at Sussex University, and author of an earlier book on the master (Robert Louis Stevenson: A Revaluation) as well as of biographies of Burns and Scott in this series. In a brilliant and absorbing text, Professor Daiches traces Stevenson's life, from his childhood and early manhood in Scotland (whose scenery and townscapes inspired his work throughout his life), through his visits to France and the United States, and on to his las years in Samoa. Professor Daiches also discusses Stevenson's writings, explaining how he harnessed the disparate elements in his nature so that they fertilized his imagination while he developed his gifts as a romancer, essayist, poet and historical novelist, from his early travel books and Treasure Island - the greatest of all adventure stories for boys - to the tragic conflict so superbly realised in Weir of Hermiston, the masterpiece which he did not live to complete.

Book and jacket rate fine/like new used better than very good not quite mint.