2221 results for "Autobiography"

The Amorous Busboy of Decatur Avenue A Child of the Fifties Looks Back

Robert Klein
A funny and evocative coming-of-age memoir by Robert Klein, the beloved and award-winning comedian who has entertained audiences for more than four decades. Best known for his unique brand of observational humor—seen on Broadway and in film and television—Klein details his life from ages nine to twenty-five as seen “through the gauze of time.” Klein’s theme park of memories alternates dark moments with sunlit humor. Teenage frustrations prompted a visit to a Harlem prostitute, which filled Klein with “shame and triumph and guilt.” He encountered individual and institutional anti-Semitism at Alfred University, yet led the frat house fun, moving on to the Yale School of Drama, Chicago’s Second City, New York theater and a variety of romances. Along the way, Klein had successes and failures, both in bed and on stage. Probing not only his own psyche but also the evolution of sexual mores during the 1950s and ‘60s, he unfurls an array of captivating anecdotes, writing with wry wit and honesty.
Touchstone 2006-06-05 384 pages

Locked in the Cabinet

Robert B. Reich
Locked in the Cabinet is a close-up view of the way things work, and often don't work, at the highest levels of government--and a uniquely personal account by the man whose ideas inspired and animated much of the Clinton campaign of 1992 and who became the cabinet officer in charge of helping ordinary Americans get better jobs. Robert B. Reich, writer, teacher, social critic--and a friend of the Clintons since they were all in their twenties--came to be known as the "conscience of the Clinton administration and one of the most successful Labor Secretaries in history. Here is his sometimes hilarious, sometimes poignant chronicle of trying to put ideas and ideals into practice. With wit, passion, and dead-aim honesty, Reich writes of those in Washington who possess hard heads and soft hearts, and those with exactly the opposite attributes. He introduces us to the career bureaucrats who make Washington run and the politicians who, on occasion, make it stop; to business tycoons and labor leaders who clash by day and party together by night; to a president who wants to change America and his opponents (on both the left and the right) who want to keep it as it is or return it to where it used to be. Reich guides us to the pinnacles of power and pretension, as bills are passed or stalled, reputations built or destroyed, secrets leaked, numbers fudged, egos bruised, news stories spun, hypocrisies exposed, and good intentions occasionally derailed. And to the places across America where those who are the objects of this drama are simply trying to get by--assembly lines, sweatshops, union halls, the main streets of small towns and the tough streets of central cities. Locked in the Cabinetis an intimate odyssey involving a memorable cast--a friend who is elected President of the United States, only to discover the limits of power; Alan Greenspan, who is the most powerful man in America; and Newt Gingrich, who tries to be. Plus a host of others: White House staffers and cabinet members who can't find "the loop; political consultant Dick Morris, who becomes "the loop; baseball players and owners who can't agree on how to divide up $2 billion a year; a union leader who accuses Reich of not knowing what a screwdriver looks like; a heretofore invisible civil servant deep in the Labor Department whose brainchild becomes the law of the land; and a wondrous collection of senators, foreign ministers, cabinet officers, and television celebrities. And it is also an odyssey for Reich's wife and two young sons, who learn to tolerate their own cabinet member but not to abide Washington. Here is Reich--determined to work for a more just society, laboring in a capital obsessed with exorcising the deficit and keeping Wall Street happy--learning that Washington is not only altogether different from the world of ordinary citizens but ultimately, and more importantly, exactly like it: a world in which Murphy's Law reigns alongside the powerful and the privileged, but where hope amazingly persists. There are triumphs here to fill a lifetime, and frustrations to fill two more. Never has this world been revealed with such richness of evidence, humor, and warmhearted candor.
Random House Value Publishing 1998-12-15

I Am Not Dead-- Yet!, Or, "The Corpse Moved" A Medical Memoir

Robby Benson
A riveting medical memoir actor/writer/director Robby Benson takes us on a candid journey from athletic soft-spoken heartthrob on Broadway and film, to husband, father, professor and courageous survivor of 4 open-heart surgeries. From One on One, Ice Castles, The Chosen, and Disney's Beauty and the Beast to directing Ellen and Friends, the funny and explicit narrative is a must for fans and essential reading for heart patients, patients of all kinds, their loved ones, and anyone searching for what should be the template for healthcare in America. New York Times #1 bestselling author, Michael F. Roizen, M.D. praised I'm Not Dead... Yet : "When you read this funny and courageously blunt book, you'll understand how to gain the vibrancy that Robby and his wife, Karla, have. ...What a great read and what an important story for all patients and their families dealing with a challenging illness."
ValorEditions.com 2012 384 pages

I Still Have It ... I Just Can't Remember Where I Put It Confessions of a Fiftysomething

Rita Rudner
While there are people who actually embrace getting older (although we confess not to know any) most try to deny it. Rita Rudner is no exception. When she reached 50, she couldn't even bear to admit it: "It was more comfortable getting a laugh and telling people I was filthy than having to say the word fffiffffty," she writes. In her hysterically dead-on book I Still Have It...I Just Can't Remember Where I Put It , she relates her absurd adventures as a woman of a certain age navigating the strange and terrifyingly funny world of "near-sighted insights." In chapters such as "Artificially Hip"; "Older Than Springtime, Younger Than Angela Lansbury"; "I Won't Blog, Don't Ask Me"; and "The Advantage of Vintage," Rudner tackles body issues, style, and technology, and looks at the wonders and surprises of life on the dark side of 50. So put on your bifocals and get ready to laugh. Just don't blame Rita if your laugh lines become visibly deeper. "Sexy deadpan is comedian Rita Rudner's trademark style, never more in evidence than in I Still Have It ... I Just Can't Remember Where I Put It ... Pure vaudeville, a kick at any age."-- O, The Oprah Magazine
Crown Publishing Group 2009-05-05 272 pages

Kings of the Hill How Nine Powerful Men Changed the Course of American History

Richard B. Cheney,Lynne Cheney
Since the early days of our country, leaders in the House of Representatives have exerted tremendous force and influence on governmental policy and consequently on both domestic and world affairs. Now, two government insiders profile nine of America's most provocative, colorful and controversial congressional leaders--from Henry Clay and James K. Polk to Sam Rayburn and Newt Gingrich. photo insert. National ads, print.
DIANE Publishing Company 1996-07 248 pages

The Diary of Petr Ginz

Petr Ginz
Not since Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl has such an intimately candid, deeply affecting account of a childhood compromised by Nazi tyranny come to light. As a fourteen-year-old Jewish boy living in Prague in the early 1940s, Petr Ginz dutifully kept a diary that captured the increasingly precarious texture of daily life. His stunningly mature paintings, drawings, and writings reflect his insatiable appetite for learning and experience and openly display his growing artistic and literary genius. Petr was killed in a gas chamber at Auschwitz at the age of sixteen. His diaries--recently discovered in a Prague attic under extraordinary circumstances--are an invaluable historical document and a testament to one remarkable child's insuppressible hunger for life.
Grove Press 2008-09 192 pages

Strength of a Champion Finding Faith and Fortitude Through Adversity

O.J. Brigance,Peter Schrager
Following a stellar career as an NFL linebacker, O. J. Brigance joined the Baltimore Ravens’ front office. But in 2007, O.J. was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis—also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease—and given only three to five years to live. As a player, he’d battled hundreds of setbacks, but none prepared him for this. With faith and determination in his heart and his wife, Chanda, praying by his side, O.J. fought back against the debilitating disease, even as ALS robbed him of the ability to walk and speak. He kept working, smiling, and touching players’ lives all the way to the Ravens’ victory at Super Bowl XLVII in 2013—more than five years after his diagnosis. Now, O.J. shares his incredible story, offering lessons in resilience and reflecting on the team that inspired him in turn. With insights into the Ravens’ dynamics from the best seat in the house, O.J. highlights their perseverance, confidence, and leadership, the best that sports can bring out in people. Full of profound revelations and anecdotes, Strength of a Champion is a celebration of the human spirit from a man who left everything on the field.
Penguin Publishing Group 2014-10-07 272 pages

The Jewish Woman in America

Charlotte Baum,Charlotte Brown,Paula Hyman,Sonya Michel
This encyclopedia provides the first standard reference work on the lives, history and activities of Jewish women in the United States. Covering a period which extends from the arrival of the first Jewish women in North America in 1654 to the present, this two-volume set presents the most comprehensive and detailed portrait of American Jewish women ever published, and brings together for the first time the wealth of recent scholarship on this subject. Includes: * Biographical entries on over 800 individual women. * 128 topical articles on organizations such as Hadassah, the National Council of Jewish Women, Mizrachi, and the Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. * Major essays on Jewish women's participation in the movement for women's suffrage, social reform, civil rights, and the recent women's movement. * The activities of Jewish women in politics, business, education, the arts, and religion. * A readable, inviting format with over 500 large photographs. * Bibliographies at the end of each entry which include overviews of major scholarship in the field, complete citations of more general works and citations of additional bibliographical and reference sources. * The comprehensive index includes citations to every substantive discussion in the entries as well as all proper names appearing in the text, such as organizations, book, song and film titles, schools, and individuals. The "Encyclopedia" provides information on American Jewish women in all fields of endeavor, and pays special attention to the work of women in the arts, academics, law, the labor movement, education, science, medicine, journalism and publishing, and on the lives of ordinary Jewish women during all time periods and in all regions of the United States.
New American Library 1977 290 pages

Dharma Punx

Noah Levine
Fueled by the music of revolution, anger, fear, and despair, we dyed our hair or shaved our heads ... Eating acid like it was candy and chasing speed with cheap vodka, smoking truckloads of weed, all in a vain attempt to get numb and stay numb. This is the story of a young man and a generation of angry youths who rebelled against their parents and the unfulfilled promise of the sixties. As with many self-destructive kids, Noah Levine's search for meaning led him first to punk rock, drugs, drinking, and dissatisfaction. But the search didn't end there. Having clearly seen the uselessness of drugs and violence, Noah looked for positive ways to channel his rebellion against what he saw as the lies of society. Fueled by his anger at so much injustice and suffering, Levine now uses that energy and the practice of Buddhism to awaken his natural wisdom and compassion. While Levine comes to embrace the same spiritual tradition as his father, bestselling author Stephen Levine, he finds his most authentic expression in connecting the seemingly opposed worlds of punk and Buddhism. As Noah Levine delved deeper into Buddhism, he chose not to reject the punk scene, instead integrating the two worlds as a catalyst for transformation. Ultimately, this is an inspiring story about maturing, and how a hostile and lost generation is finally finding its footing. This provocative report takes us deep inside the punk scene and moves from anger, rebellion, and self-destruction, to health, service to others, and genuine spiritual growth.
HarperCollins 2004-05-04 272 pages

The Three Lives of James Madison Genius, Partisan, President

Noah Feldman
A sweeping reexamination of the Founding Father who transformed the United States in each of his political “lives”—as a revolutionary thinker, as a partisan political strategist, and as a president “In order to understand America and its Constitution, it is necessary to understand James Madison.”—Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci Over the course of his life, James Madison changed the United States three times: First, he designed the Constitution, led the struggle for its adoption and ratification, then drafted the Bill of Rights. As an older, cannier politician he co-founded the original Republican party, setting the course of American political partisanship. Finally, having pioneered a foreign policy based on economic sanctions, he took the United States into a high-risk conflict, becoming the first wartime president and, despite the odds, winning. Now Noah Feldman offers an intriguing portrait of this elusive genius and the constitutional republic he created—and how both evolved to meet unforeseen challenges. Madison hoped to eradicate partisanship yet found himself giving voice to, and institutionalizing, the political divide. Madison’s lifelong loyalty to Thomas Jefferson led to an irrevocable break with George Washington, hero of the American Revolution. Madison closely collaborated with Alexander Hamilton on the Federalist papers—yet their different visions for the United States left them enemies. Alliances defined Madison, too. The vivacious Dolley Madison used her social and political talents to win her husband new supporters in Washington—and define the diplomatic customs of the capital’s society. Madison’s relationship with James Monroe, a mixture of friendship and rivalry, shaped his presidency and the outcome of the War of 1812. We may be more familiar with other Founding Fathers, but the United States today is in many ways Madisonian in nature. Madison predicted that foreign threats would justify the curtailment of civil liberties. He feared economic inequality and the power of financial markets over politics, believing that government by the people demanded resistance to wealth. Madison was the first Founding Father to recognize the importance of public opinion, and the first to understand that the media could function as a safeguard to liberty. The Three Lives of James Madison is an illuminating biography of the man whose creativity and tenacity gave us America’s distinctive form of government. His collaborations, struggles, and contradictions define the United States to this day.
Picador 2020-02-11 832 pages

Scythe Tleppo My Survival of a Cult, Abandonment, Addiction and Homelessness

Nathan Rich
Inspirational true story of a boy escaping the clutches of a cult, homelessness, emotional decimation, and rampant drug abuse.The story of surviving on the streets, completely without family, friends or hope. The story of how to overcome against all odds; of will to carry on.Born into Scientology, Nathan resisted indoctrination from the start. Eventually he was sent to the cult's infamously abusive Mace Kingsley Ranch, at age 8. He was sent again to the ranch at age 14. He was not allowed contact with his family for nearly 3 years.After finally getting away, his family disowned him.He lived for 7 long years homeless and without hope. Drugs, violence and despair plagued his mind until he was finally able to rise out of the gutter, face his past and live in the present.From wild LSD experiences to gangs and past life recall, Nathan bears all in this brutally open memoir.
Dynasty Systems 2018-09-17 348 pages

The Ring Record Book and Boxing Encyclopedia

Nat Fleischer
The Ring: Record Book And Boxing Encyclopedia is a comprehensive guide to the world of boxing, written by renowned sportswriter Nat Fleischer. This book is a must-have for anyone interested in the sport, as it provides a wealth of information on boxers, fights, and the history of the sport itself. The book is divided into several sections, each of which covers a different aspect of boxing. The first section provides an overview of the sport, including its history and how it has evolved over time. The second section focuses on the boxers themselves, with detailed profiles of some of the greatest fighters in history. The third section is a record book, which lists the career statistics of all the major fighters in the sport. This section is a valuable resource for anyone looking to learn more about the accomplishments of their favorite boxers. The fourth section of the book is an encyclopedia of boxing terms, providing definitions for all the key words and phrases used in the sport. This section is particularly useful for those new to boxing, as it can help them understand the language of the sport. Overall, The Ring: Record Book And Boxing Encyclopedia is a comprehensive guide to the world of boxing. It is a valuable resource for anyone interested in the sport, whether they are a casual fan or a serious student of the game.1955 Edition.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. 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 their original work.
Literary Licensing, LLC 2013-08 912 pages

No Snowflake in an Avalanche The Military Religious Freedom Foundation, Its Battle to Defend the Constitution and One Family's Courageous War Against Religious Extremism in High Places

Michael L. Weinstein
No Snowflake in an Avalanche goes deep inside the world of religious extremism in America s military and political infrastructure from the perspective of Michael L. Mikey Weinstein proud Academy graduate and father of graduates who single-handedly brought to light the Evangelicals' utter disregard of the constitutional principle of separation of church and state that is so essential to the nations military mission. Weinsteins war pits him and his small band of fellow graduates, cadets, and concerned citizens of varying religious backgrounds against a program of Christian fundamentalist indoctrination that could transform our fighting men and women into right-thinking warriors more befitting a theocracy than a democracy.
Rare Bird Books 2012-02 224 pages

Confessions of a Wall Street Insider A Cautionary Tale of Rats, Feds, and Banksters

Michael Kimelman
Although he was a suburban husband and father, living a far different life than the “Wolf of Wall Street,” Michael Kimelman had a good run as the cofounder of a hedge fund. He had left a cushy yet suffocating job at a law firm to try his hand at the high-risk life of a proprietary trader — and he did pretty well for himself. But it all came crashing down in the wee hours of November 5, 2009, when the Feds came to his door—almost taking the door off its hinges. While his wife and children were sequestered to a bedroom, Kimelman was marched off in embarrassment in view of his neighbors and TV crews who had been alerted in advance. He was arrested as part of a huge insider trading case, and while he was offered a “sweetheart” no-jail probation plea, he refused, maintaining his innocence. The lion’s share of Confessions of a Wall Street Insider was written while Kimelman was an inmate at Lewisburg Penitentiary. In nearly two years behind bars, he reflected on his experiences before incarceration—rubbing elbows and throwing back far too many cocktails with financial titans and major figures in sports and entertainment (including Leonardo DiCaprio, Alex Rodriguez, Ben Bernanke, and Alan Greenspan, to drop a few names); making and losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in daily gambles on the Street; getting involved with the wrong people, who eventually turned on him; realizing that none of that mattered in the end. As he writes: “Stripped of family, friends, time, and humanity, if there’s ever a place to give one pause, it’s prison . . . Tomorrow is promised to no one.” In Confessions of a Wall Street Insider , he reveals the triumphs, pains, and struggles, and how, in the end, it just might have made him a better person. Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Arcade, Good Books, Sports Publishing, and Yucca imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. Our list includes biographies on well-known historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela, and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as villains from history, such as Heinrich Himmler, John Wayne Gacy, and O. J. Simpson. We have also published survivor stories of World War II, memoirs about overcoming adversity, first-hand tales of adventure, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Skyhorse 2017-03-28 296 pages

You're Not Doing It Right Tales of Marriage, Sex, Death, and Other Humiliations

Michael Ian Black
"You're not doing it right." Writer/comedian Michael Ian Black has been hearing these five words all his life. And now--on the eve of his fortieth birthday--he is finally beginning to wonder why. As a husband and father living in the suburbs, Michael asks the question so many of us ask ourselves at one point or another: How did I end up here? (And also: If Fat Kevin Federline succumbs to his own wasted potential, what does that mean for the rest of us?) The answers to these questions, and others that you probably would have never thought to ask, are painstakingly detailed in Black's debut memoir. Darkly humorous and told with raw honesty, Michael shares his neuroses as he takes on his childhood, his marriage, his children, and his career with candor and deadpan wit in this funny-because-it's-true essay collection.--From publisher description.
Simon and Schuster 2012-10-16 256 pages