5053 results for "Biography"

Busting Vegas: the MIT whiz kid who brought the casinos to their knees

Mezrich, Ben
He played in casinos around the world with a plan to make himself richer than anyone could possibly imagine -- but it would nearly cost him his life. Semyon Dukach was known as the Darling of Las Vegas. A legend at age twenty-one, this cocky hotshot was the biggest high roller to appear in Sin City in decades, a mathematical genius with a system the casinos had never seen before and couldn't stop -- a system that has never been revealed until now; that has nothing to do with card counting, wasn't illegal, and was more powerful than anything that had been tried before. Las Vegas. Atlantic City. Aruba. Barcelona. London. And the jewel of the gambling crown -- Monte Carlo. Dukach and his fellow MIT students hit them all and made millions. They came in hard, with stacks of cash; big, seemingly insane bets; women hanging on their arms; and fake identities. Although they were taking classes and studying for exams during the week, over the weekends they stormed the blackjack tables only to be harassed, banned from casinos, threatened at gunpoint, and beaten in Vegas's notorious back rooms. The stakes were high, the dangers very real, but the players were up to the challenges, consequences be damned. There was Semyon Dukach himself, bored with school and broke; Victor Cassius, the slick, brilliant MIT grad student who galvanized the team; Owen Keller, with stunning ability but a dark past that would catch up to him; and Allie Simpson, bright, clever, and a feast for the eyes. In the classroom, they were geeks. On the casino floor, they were unstoppable. Busting Vega$ is Dukach's unbelievably true story; a riveting account of monumental greed, excess, hubris, sex, love, violence, fear, and statistics that is high-stakes entertainment at its best.
William Morrow/Harper Collins 2005-09-27 289 pages

First cameraman: documenting the Obama presidency in real time

Chaudhary, Arun
"The first official White House videographer chronicles his time capturing behind-the-scenes moments of the president and his administrationFrom the early months of the 2008 campaign and through the first two and a half years of the Obama administration, Arun Chaudhary had a unique perspective on the president of the United States. "I'm sort of like President Obama's wedding videographer," he explains, "if every day was a wedding with the same groom but a constantly rotating set of hysterical guests."Some of the moments Chaudhary captures are small, like the president throwing warm-up pitches deep inside Busch Stadium in St. Louis before the All-Star game. Some are intensely emotional, as when Obama comforts a grieving teenager whose father had died in a devastating tornado. And some are just plain bizarre--like getting thrown out of the Indian parliament by his belt, or being trapped in a White House bathroom while Obama conducts a YouTube town hall on the other side of the door. Film and politics have been intertwined ever since the first Edison reels rattled in projection halls a century ago. But with the advent of new technologies and a new public that is hungry for images of their leaders, Chaudhary has been in the right place at the right time to participate in the interplay of film and politics at the very highest level. His entertaining and eye-opening book--which includes stories and images of key players such as Barack and Michelle Obama, Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton, among others--gives readers a unique view of their government and their president in these historic and challenging times"--
Times Books 2012-08-21 306 pages

Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire

Foreman, Amanda
A rich, rollicking picture of late-eighteenth-century British aristocracy and the intimate story of a woman who for a time was its undisputed leader. Lady Georgiana Spencer, the great-great-great-great-aunt of Diana, Princess of Wales, achieved immediate celebrity at seventeen by marrying one of England's richest and most influential aristocrats, the Duke of Devonshire. Launched into a world of wealth and power, she quickly became the queen of fashionable society. But her public success concealed a personal life fraught with suffering, giving this vibrant story an astonishingly contemporary twist.
Thorndike Press 2000 936 pages

Moving pictures

MacGraw, Ali
In this candid, courageous autobiography, MacGraw discusses her artistic, emotionally cold parents, her schooling at Wellesley College and her stint as Diana Vreeland's "girl" at Harper's Bazaar. The focus, however, is on her struggle with addiction--alcoholism and "male dependency"--that grew as her acting career and personal life sputtered. A sudden star in her first major role 'Goodbye, Columbus' in 1969, and the following year with the even more popular 'Love Story' she felt immediately that she was "in way over my head," mainly because of her fear of the camera ("I was scarcely trained at all as an actress"). Alcohol compounded problems and she continued to run after unavailable or hard-drinking or cold men. (Third husband Steve McQueen forbade MacGraw from working yet convinced her to sign a prenuptial agreement that left her penniless after their divorce). In 1986, the actress spent a month at the Betty Ford clinic. Although she receives few film or TV job offers today, MacGraw is sober and "growing up at last."
Bantam Books 1991 228 pages

Finding Gobi: the true story of one little dog's big journey

Leonard, Dion,Rosenberg, Aaron
"Bring home the incredible true story of a friendship so strong that it crosses the globe! You will love the inspiring tale of Gobi, a lost dog who kept pace with an ultramarathon runner, Dion Leonard, across a vast desert. Follow their unlikely friendship through the challenges of an 80-mile race and Dion's struggle to bring Gobi home for good. Finding Gobi : The True Story of One Little Dog's Big Journey is the incredible true story of Dion Leonard, an athlete who was befriended by a stray dog while running an ultramarathon through the Gobi Desert. Named for the desert in which he found her, Gobi became Dion's closest companion throughout the 80-mile race across China. The scrappy little pup ran mile after mile alongside Dion, through treacherous conditions and across raging rivers. He let her sleep in his tent and share his food, and eventually, his focus shifted from winning to the newfound friendship he and Gobi shared. They crossed the finish line together--not first, but together--and Dion decided to bring Gobi home to Scotland. Just before they were about to leave, however, Gobi disappeared, setting off a worldwide search for the stray. In a town of more than 3 million people, the search seemed hopeless, but this tale of friendship will surprise and delight you as you find out what happens! Join the almost too-good-to-be-true story of hope, friendship, and beating incredible odds in Finding Gobi : The True Story of One Little Dog's Big Journey by Dion Leonard"--
Tommy Nelson, a division of Thomas Nelson Publishers 2017 190 pages

Marco Polo: from Venice to Xanadu

Bergreen, Laurence
As the first European to travel extensively throughout Asia, Marco Polo was the earliest bridge between East and West. His famous journeys took him across the boundaries of the known world, along the dangerous Silk Road, and into the court of Kublai Kahn, where he won the trust of the most feared and reviled leader of his day. Polo introduced the cultural riches of China to Europe, spawning centuries of Western fascination with Asia. In this lively blend of history, biography, and travelogue, acclaimed author Laurence Bergreen separates myth from history, creating the most authoritative account yet of Polo's remarkable adventures. Exceptionally narrated and written with a discerning eye for detail, Marco Polo is as riveting as the life it describes.
Vintage Books 2007 415 pages

Woody Allen on Woody Allen: In Conversation With Stig Bjorkman

Allen, Woody
Woody Allen on Woody Allen is a unique self-portrait of this uncompromising filmmaker that offers a revealing account of his life and work. In a series of rare, in-depth interviews, Allen brings us onto the sets and behind the scenes of all his films. Woody Allen on Woody Allen is punctuated with his memories and opinions: afternoon movie-watching while growing up in Brooklyn; anecdotes about the film industry; discussions of favorite films, most inspirational actresses, most revered cinematographers; his love of jazz; his fascination with the city of New York. From his youthful interest in the nonsensical surrealism of Charlie Chaplin and the Marx Brothers to the poetic lyricism of Ingmar Bergman, the conversations in Woody Allen on Woody Allen reveal the broad influences of Woody Allen's eclectic vision and bring him closer, in all his vulnerable complexity, than ever before.
Diane Pub Co 1998-10 288 pages

The Making of Some Like It Hot My Memories of Marilyn Monroe and the Classic American Movie

Tony Curtis
A Special Memoir for a Special Moment in Hollywood History . . . Some Like It Hot occupies a unique place in American culture. This beloved classic showcases five comic geniuses: Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, I. A. L. Diamond, Billy Wilder, and Marilyn Monroe. It has been honored by the American Film Institute as the ""Funniest Film of All Time"". It has contributed quotes, styles, and stories to film lore. Yet the full story of its making has never been told--until now.
John Wiley & Sons Canada, Limited 2009-09 248 pages

Memoir of a Debulked Woman Enduring Ovarian Cancer

Susan Gubar
Diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2008, Susan Gubar underwent radical debulking surgery, an attempt to excise the cancer by removing part or all of many organs in the lower abdomen. Her memoir mines the deepest levels of anguish and devotion as she struggles to come to terms with her body 's betrayal and the frightful protocols of contemporary medicine. She finds solace in the abiding love of her husband, children, and friends while she searches for understanding in works of literature, visual art, and the testimonies of others who suffer with various forms of cancer. Ovarian cancer remains an incurable disease for most of those diagnosed, even those lucky enough to find caring and skilled physicians. Memoir of a Debulked Woman is both a polemic against the ineffectual and injurious medical responses to which thousands of women are subjected and a meditation on the gifts of companionship, art, and literature that sustain people in need.
Thorndike Press 2012 475 pages

The Destruction of Hillary Clinton

Bordo, Susan
"If you want to understand not only what happened in 2016, but what's going to happen tomorrow, this book is essential reading. Susan Bordo brings a scholar's rigor and a lioness' heart to this important work." --Paul Begala "Among the best books I've read on the 2016 election . . . the perfect companion to Clinton's What Happened ." --Peter Daou The Destruction of Hillary Clinton is an answer to the question many have been asking: How did an extraordinarily well-qualified, experienced, and admired candidate--whose victory would have been as historic as Barack Obama's--come to be seen as a tool of the establishment, a chronic liar, and a talentless politician? In this masterful narrative of the 2016 campaign year and the events that led up to it, Susan Bordo unpacks the Rights' assault on Clinton and her reputation, the way the left provoked suspicion and indifference among the youth vote, the inescapable presence of James Comey, questions about Russian influence, and the media's malpractice in covering the candidate. Urgent, insightful, and engrossing, The Destruction of Hillary Clinton is an essential guide to understanding the most controversial presidential election in American history.
Melville House 2017 244 pages

The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2004

Tim Folger,Steven Pinker
Since its inception in 1915, the Best American series has become the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction. For each volume, a series editor reads pieces from hundreds of periodicals, then selects between fifty and a hundred outstanding works. That selection is pared down to the twenty or so very best pieces by a guest editor who is widely recognized as a leading writer in his or her field. This unique system has helped make the Best American series the most respected -- and most popular -- of its kind. The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2004, edited by Steven Pinker, is another "provocative and thoroughly enjoyable [collection] from start to finish" (Publishers Weekly). Here is the best and newest on science and nature: the psychology of suicide terrorism, desperate measures in surgery, the weird world of octopuses, Sex Week at Yale, the linguistics of click languages, the worst news about cloning, and much more.
Houghton Mifflin 2004 209 pages