At the age of eight, Karl Popper was puzzling over the idea of infinity and by fifteen was beginning to take a keen interest in his father's well-stocked library of books. Unended Quest recounts these moments and many others in the life of one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century, providing an indispensable account of the ideas that influenced him most. As an introduction to Popper's philosophy, Unended Quest also shines. Popper lucidly explains the central ideas in his work, making this book ideal for anyone coming to Popper's life and work for the first time.

In 2011, when she was in her late fifties, beloved author and journalist Joyce Maynard met the first true partner she had ever known. Then, just after their one-year wedding anniversary, her new husband was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. During the nineteen months that followed, as they battled his illness together, she discovered for the first time what it really meant to be a couple - to be a true partner and to have one. This is their story. Charting the course through their whirlwind romance, a marriage cut short by tragedy, and Joyce's return to singleness on new terms, 'The Best of Us' is a heart-wrenching, ultimately life-affirming reflection on coming to understand true love

Minor Characters: A Memoir Of A Young Women In The 1950s In The B by Johnson, Joyce

This amazing story of World War 2 chronicles the carrer of Dr Felix Kersten, physicain to the high-demon of the Third Reich, Heinrich Himmler. Kersten, an alternative medicine specialist, could alleviate Himmler's severe stomach pains with his hands, using massage and manipulation. In return, Kersten bargained with Himmler to order the release of innocent prisoners condemned to die. By war's end, thanks to Kersten, thousands of jews and other prisoners had eluded the fate of the concentration camp. This is a memorable account of a little-known miracle of World War 2.

"As an orphaned survivor and witness to the horrors of Auschwitz, Elie Wiesel (1928-2016) compelled the world to confront the Holocaust with his searing memoir Night. How did this soft-spoken man from a small Carpathian town become such an influential figure on the world stage. Drawing on Wiesel's prodigious literary output and interviews with his family, friends, scholars, and critics, Joseph Berger seeks to answer this question."--

"In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries a small but conspicuous fringe of the Jewish population became the world's most resolute, intellectually driven, and philosophical revolutionaries, among them the pre-Marxist Karl Marx. Yet the roots of their alienation from existing society and determination to change it extend back to the very heart of the Enlightenment, when Spinoza and other philosophers living in a rigid, hierarchical society colored by a deeply hostile theology first developed a modern revolutionary consciousness. Leading intellectual historian Jonathan Israel shows how the radical ideas in the early Marx's writings were influenced by this legacy, which, he argues, must be understood as part of the Radical Enlightenment. He traces the rise of a Jewish revolutionary tendency demanding social equality and universal human rights throughout the Western world. Israel considers how these writers understood Jewish marginalization and ghettoization and the edifice of superstition, prejudice, and ignorance that sustained them. He investigates how the quest for Jewish emancipation led these thinkers to formulate sweeping theories of social and legal reform that paved the way for revolutionary actions that helped change the world from 1789 onward-but hardly as they intended"--

Jonathan Freedland looks on as his eight-day-old son is about to be circumcised and admitted into the Covenant of Abraham'. So begins a search for the meaning of his son's inheritance and an epic journey into the nature of this, the world's oldest civilisation. What has Freedland done by enlisting his son into the Jewish people? What gift or burden has he given him? Freedland digs deep into his own family's past, telling the story of three remarkable people, each of whom came up with radically different answers to a quintessentially modern dilemma: how to live as a minority in the modern world. Rich in both human drama and reflection, Jacob's Gift is the story of this quest, and a delightful meditation on belonging.

"As one of a handful of journalists allowed in the courtroom, for 23 days Jonathan Alter sat just feet away from the most dangerous threat to democracy in American history, watching the spectacle of the century: the felony trial of Donald Trump. Highly publicized but untelevised and thus largely hidden from public view, this landmark trial offered hope of real justice amid a grueling eight-year national ordeal and foreshadowed the drama of the 2024 presidential election. Alter shares everything he witnessed--from eviscerating takes on the colorful characters to the chilling legal ups and downs--to offer a barbed account of the trial and its aftermath, including fresh reporting about the historic events of the summer of 2024. A Zelig of journalism experiencing a crisis of faith in the good sense of the American people, Alter chronicles the shaping of his political consciousness and his bracing, unpredictable relationships with Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John McCain, and Joe Biden, whose decision to stand down in favor of former prosecutor Kamala Harris put the criminal trial front and center as Americans render their own verdict at the polls."--

A marvelous anthology from the editors of Las Christmas —the bestselling author of When I Was Puerto Rican and the founder of L.A. Weekly —in which our most acclaimed Latino authors share unforgettable memories of their mothers. The women lovingly portrayed in Las Mamis represent a cross section of Latino life and culture. They come from rich families in the big cities of Latin America, from rural immigrant families, and from the worlds in between—and they share an extraordinary inner strength, often maintained against incredible odds. Pressed by conflicting cultural expectations, circumstance, and religion, they have managed the challenges of motherhood, leaving enduring legacies for their children. Now, in these vivid, poignant, and sometimes hilarious reminiscences—all of them infused with distinct sabor latino— Las Mamis celebrates the universality of family love and the special bond between mothers and children. Contributors include: Esmeralda Santiago, Piri Thomas, Marjorie Agosin, Junot Diaz, Alba Ambert, Liz Balmaseda, Mandalit del Barco, Gioconda Belli, Maria Escandon, Dagoberto Gilb, Francisco Goldman, Jaime Manrique, Gustavo Perez-Firmat, Ilan Stavans.

America's favorite sportswriter teams up with Red Auerbach, the most successful and admired coach in basketball history, to share amazing highlights from a legendary life. of photos.

"Joel Grey, the Academy Award-winning master of ceremonies in Cabaret, finally tells his remarkable life story. Born Joel David Katz to a wild and woolly Jewish-American family in 1930's Cleveland, Joel began his life in the theater at the age of nine, starring in local productions of touring Broadway hits. He was hooked, and the search for the spotlight took him from the Cleveland Playhouse to seedy, gangster-filled nightclubs in Chicago, and finally to the lights of Broadway and the dizzying glamour of Hollywood. Master of Ceremonies is a memoir of a life lived in and out of the limelight, but it is also the story of the man behind the makeup. Coming of age in a time when being yourself tended to be not only difficult but also dangerous, Joel was required to act both on and off stage. Deftly capturing the pain and secrets of an era we have only just started to leave behind, Joel's story is one of love, loss, hard-won honesty, redemption, and success"--

Long before Cold Chisel, long before 'Barnesy', there was the true story of James Dixon Swan A household name, an Australian rock icon, the elder statesman of Ozrock - there isn't an accolade or cliche that doesn't apply to Jimmy Barnes. But long before Cold Chisel and 'Barnesy', long before the tall tales of success and excess, there was the true story of James Dixon Swan - a working class boy whose family made the journey from Scotland to Australia in search of a better life. Working Class Boy is a powerful reflection on a traumatic and violent childhood, which fuelled the excess and recklessness that would define, but almost destroy, the rock'n'roll legend. This is the story of how James Swan became Jimmy Barnes. It is a memoir burning with the frustration and frenetic energy of teenage sex, drugs, violence and ambition for more than what you have. Raw, gritty, compassionate, surprising and darkly funny, Jimmy Barnes's childhood memoir is at once the story of migrant dreams fulfilled and dashed. After arriving in Australia in the summer of 1962, things went from bad to worse for the Swan family - Dot, Jim and their six kids. The scramble to manage in the tough northern suburbs of Adelaide in the 60s would take its toll on the Swans as dwindling money, too much alcohol and fraying tempers gave way to violence and despair. This is the story of a family's collapse, but also of a young boy's dream to escape the misery of the suburbs with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to join a rock'n'roll band and get out of town for good. Nothing will prepare you for the power of Jimmy's memoir. A fierce, graphic, bawdy account of his working class childhood - truly harrowing, and yet often tender and funny. I couldn't put it down because, above all, it is also a story of resilience and bravery. - Sam Neill Visceral, brave, honest: it is like Angela's Ashes meets Trainspotting - only more brutal. A deep, guttural howl of a book, it speaks of the pain and hurt that haunt so many men. And it may just save lives. - Magda Szubanski

Jess Oppenheimer, the man Lucille Ball called the "brains" of I Love Lucy, gives us a rare first-hand look at television history as it was being made. A rich entertainment resource, Laughs, Luck . . . and Lucy features a hilarious memoir, more than fifty rare photos, three never-before-published scripts (including the only I Love Lucy script that Lucy or Desi ever refused to perform), and CD of Lucy's classic radio comedy performances, unheard for more than 40 years! Oppenheimer's book, written with his son, Gregg, is not only a reliable record of how I Love Lucy was conceived an executed, but also a humorous insider's account of the broadcasting industry's development from the wild early days of radio to television's "golden age."

Paul Gallico, Shirley Povich, Ford Frick, Red Smith, Jimmy Cannon: these are among the twenty-four sportswriters Jerome Holtzman interviewed, reporters who were most active in what's known as the Golden Age of Sports, the time between the two world wars when newspapers, not TV, re-created the drama of the boxing ring, the racetrack, and, above all, the baseball field. This revised and updated edition includes six previously unpublished chapters, offering more of the era's most famous sportswriters - Wendell Smith, Al Abrams, Fred Russell, Gene Kessler, Ray Gillespie, and Jim Schlemmer - and a new introduction by the great journalist himself. In their own casual, spicy words, these men give us their reminiscences and opinions - a collection that stands as a landmark of American oral history.

"We think we know Emily Dickinson: the Belle of Amherst, virginal, reclusive, and possibly mad. But in A Loaded Gun, Jerome Charyn introduces us to a different Emily Dickinson: the fierce, brilliant, and sexually charged. Through interviews with contemporary scholars, close readings of Dickinson's correspondence and handwritten manuscripts, and a suggestive, newly discovered photograph that is purported to show Dickinson with her lover, Charyn's literary sleuthing reveals the great poet in ways that have only been hinted at previously: as a woman who was deeply philosophical, intensely engaged with the world, attracted to members of both sexes, and able to write poetry that disturbs and delights us today" -- Publisher's description

The very name of Franz Kafka is synonymous with a nightmare vision of the modern world in which the individual is in a perpetual state of struggle. Some critics believe his greatest influence was his father, a demonic man who called Franz an 'insect'; others believe it was the political climate of fin de siecle Prague. PENGUIN ILLUSTRATED LIVES is a new series of photographic biographies that allows you to step into the world of your favourite writers. Each book contains a brief text (15,000words), integrated with over 100 images, many in colour, allowing an immediate, intimate understanding of their life: their family, friends, home and their work. Also included are particular visual treats such as first-edition covers, letters etc..

What made Henry Kissinger the kind of diplomat he was? What experiences and influences shaped his worldview and provided the framework for his approach to international relations? Jeremi Suri offers a thought-provoking, interpretive study of one of the most influential and controversial political figures of the twentieth century. Drawing on research in more than six countries in addition to extensive interviews with Kissinger and others, Suri analyzes the sources of Kissinger's ideas and power and explains why he pursued the policies he did. Kissinger's German-Jewish background, fears of democratic weakness, belief in the primacy of the relationship between the United States and Europe, and faith in the indispensable role America plays in the world shaped his career and his foreign policy. Suri shows how Kissinger's early years in Weimar and Nazi Germany, his experiences in the U.S. Army and at Harvard University, and his relationships with powerful patrons--including Nelson Rockefeller and Richard Nixon--shed new light on the policymaker. Kissinger's career was a product of the global changes that made the American Century. He remains influential because his ideas are rooted so deeply in dominant assumptions about the world. In treating Kissinger fairly and critically as a historical figure, without polemical judgments, Suri provides critical context for this important figure. He illuminates the legacies of Kissinger's policies for the United States in the twenty-first century.

"A collection of comedic essays about the author's life as a reluctant adult"--

"Jennifer Shahade, a two-time US Women's Chess Champion, spent her teens and twenties travelling the world playing chess. Tournaments have taken her from Istanbul to Moscow, and introduced her to players from Zambia to China. In this ultra male-dominated sport, Jennifer found shocking sexism, but she also found friendships, feminism and hope. Through her own story as well as interviews with international players, Jennifer invites us into the extremely competitive world of chess. She shows us the rivalry and the camaraderie; the ecstatic highs and the excruciating losses; the glamour and the hard work. She describes the coach who told her that her period will affect her standard of play, and gives us thrilling blow by blow accounts of the matches that made history. Intertwined with Jennifer's own story are those of the top female players from around the world. We meet the famous Polgar sisters, the three Hungarian girls who were all child prodigies; we meet the glamorous jet setters who travel the world partying, and the players who escaped war-torn countries to become champions against the odds. Chess Queens is a fascinating glimpse into the exhilarating world of chess and an essential book for all the aspiring chess queens of today"--Publisher's description.