With flair, humor, and style, Sydney Biddle Barrows tells the whole intriguing story of how she merged business and sex to create Cachet--the escort service of choice among rich, powerful, and prominent men. Adapting business management methods of the 1980s to the world's oldest profession, in this frank, surprising, and insightful, book, Ms. Barrows emerges as a woman who seized a chance and made the most of it.

What does is it mean to be a citizen of the United States? Susan Griffin’s provocative investigation of that question takes us from the Declaration of Independence to the Iraq War, with many stops in between. Her conclusion: democracy is nothing less than a revolution of consciousness, and the revolution has just begun.

Comic send-up of radical lesbian feminist mores in the

Triumph of Hope From Theresienstadt and Auschwitz to Israel Now available in English, here is the award-winning and internationally acclaimed testament of a Jewish woman who was taken to Auschwitz while several months pregnant, where she was forced to confront perhaps the most agonizing choice ever imposed upon any woman, upon any human being . so that both she and her newborn infant should not die in a Nazi ""medical"" experiment personally conducted by the infamous Dr. Josef Mengele. And just as vividly, Ruth Elias recounts the aftermath of her imprisonment, and the difficult path to a new life in a new land: Israel, where new challenges, new obstacles awaited. ""One of the most powerful memoirs provided to us by a survivor."" --Indiana Jewish Post and Opinion ""Well-written . not only provides a remarkably honest picture of the unspeakable reality of living in ghettos and slave-labor and death camps, but also what it meant to be Jewish in Europe. in the 1920s and 1930s.. This is one of the best Holocaust memoirs I have read."" --Washington Jewish Week ""The understated tone of this memoir adds to the author's powerful re-creation of her life as a young Czechoslovak Jewish woman during the Holocaust."" --Publishers Weekly

A visually arresting volume of reflections on nature and life illustrated with vivid, color photographs and watercolors of a lush tropical island. Following the course of a day, the author transports readers into a paradise of physical splendor and spiritual exploration. Through visuals and text, she communicates her experiences with nature and its impact on the senses.

The National Book Award-winner Patti Smith updates her treasure box of a childhood memoir about "clear unspeakable joy" and "just the wish to know" with a radiant new afterword, written during the pandemic and reflecting on current times. This expanded paperback edition also includes new photographs by the author. A great book about becoming an artist, Woolgathering tells of a child finding herself as she learns the noble vocation of woolgathering, "a worthy calling that seemed a good job for me." She discovers--often at night, often in nature--the pleasures of rescuing "a fleeting thought." Woolgathering calls up our own memories, as the child "glimpses and gleans, piecing together a crazy quilt of truths." Smith shares the fierce, vital pleasures of stargazing and wandering. Her new Afterword, penned during the quarantine, opens new horizons in "the scarcely charted landscape of memory governed by clouds." Woolgathering celebrates the sacred nature of creation in Smith's singular language, acclaimed as "glorious" (NPR), "spellbinding" (Booklist), "rare and ferocious" (Salon), and "shockingly beautiful" (New York Magazine).

An honest, heartbreaking and brutally funny memoir about losing a mother you never really had - and a comfort to anyone who loves someone who drives them crazy.[Bokinfo]

Portraits of five Black women and the kind of music they sang during a period of social change. Includes Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Mahalia Jackson, Billie Holiday, and Aretha Franklin.

"The number of women who have ruled as queens or empresses, or governed as presidents or prime ministers, remains but a small subset of the total of those who have attained ultimate political power. But this elite group of women have reached the hights of political and ceremonial leadership, including some of the most charismatic figures." -- BOOK JACKET.

Part memoir, part humor, and part myth, this entertaining and inspirational volume explores the moment the author realized his high-school basketball career would not last forever and examines why women continue to be perplexed by men's fascination with sports.

A biography of the American poet, activist for humane causes, and friend to immigrants, who wrote the words now inscribed on the Statue of Liberty.

In this engrossing biography, acclaimed novelist Muriel Spark recreates Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's turbulent life and career and persuasively defends the enigmatic writer's place among the giants of literary history.

A finalist for the 2017 George Freedley Memorial Award "A compelling, absolutely unputdownable story . . . And, in case you're wondering, yes, the book is funny. In places, very funny. A remarkable story, magnificently told." -- Booklist In this richly reported, scene-driven narrative, Sam Wasson charts the meteoric rise of improv from its unlikely beginnings in McCarthy-era Chicago. We witness the chance meeting between Mike Nichols and Elaine May, hang out at the after-hours bar where Dan Aykroyd hosted friends like John Belushi, Bill Murray, and Gilda Radner, and go behind the scenes of cultural landmarks from The Graduate to The Colbert Report . Along the way, we befriend pioneers such as Harold Ramis, Chevy Chase, Steve Carell, Amy Poehler, Alan Arkin, Tina Fey, Judd Apatow, and many others. Wasson shows why improv deserves to be considered the great American art form of the last half century. " One of the most important stories in American popular culture . . . Wasson may be the first author to explain [improv's] entire history . . . For that reason alone, it's a valuable book . " -- New York Times Book Review "A compelling history . . . It holds the element of surprise--true to the spirit of its subject." -- Entertainment Weekly

On August 10, 1938, Lucy S. Dawidowicz set sail from New York to Vilna, Poland, to study at the Yiddish Scientific Institute (YIVO). For a year, while she studied the Jewish past, she immersed herself in Vilna's present, getting to know the Jewish rich and poor, witnessing Poland's brutal anti-Semitism. Then she was forced to flee Vilna, just a week before German tanks and troops rumbled into Poland and eventually destroyed this citadel of East European Jewish culture forever. After the war Lucy Dawidowicz again sailed to Europe -- this time to work with Jewish survivors and to identify the remnants of the precious YIVO library of Vilna.

Originally published in 1958, this is Lillian Roth's story in her own words following up on her blockbuster memoir I'll Cry Tomorrow. "Nothing in my wildest imaginings could have prepared me for what has happened these past five years," says Lillian Roth in her new book, which continues the story of her life from the publication of I'll Cry Tomorrow to the present. Catapulted back into the limelight as a "reformed" alcoholic, faced with the problems of a professional come-back, besieged by people who sought solace and advice, troubled by her own weaknesses and doubts, she found herself on the verge of panic and blindness. But the love and strength of her husband, the will to make good on her own, and the faith and affection of a vast audience who turned to her for help, carried her over the troubled waters. Step by step she found her way out of the darkness that still threatened her. With the same frankness and honesty that made her autobiography a deeply moving experience, Lillian Roth now describes her struggle back to the top of the nightclub circuit, of the lean and the full years, of the disappointments and triumphs, and of her search for religious understanding. She tells of her decision to become a serious actress, of the way she finally found a home, after forty-six years, and of the never-ending struggle that everyone is faced with. "Life is a struggle-and to stop struggling is to stop living. But that struggle is not for money alone, but to create, to realize the best within us." "People turned to me for help, not realizing that I too suffered human frailty. But wondrously, they brought me their strength along with their fears." Seldom has there been a story as inspiring and warmly human as this continuation of the record of a woman's search to find peace and happiness within herself.

Thelma and Louise meets Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance in the story of a woman who transcends gender boundaries to drive faster and delveplex and unholy union between car and driver.

My Brothers’ Keeper carries the reader through a deeply personal and intimate journey, as Gloria Reuben explores her love of the life she shared with her brothers, as well as the myriad of emotions and experiences after their sudden deaths. The death of a sibling is unlike any other. Gloria Reuben’s little brother died just before his twenty-second birthday. Two decades later, her oldest brother Denis died two weeks short of his sixtieth birthday. Just as Gloria felt like she was finally healing from David’s death, the shock of Denis’ unexpected death was almost too much to take. In My Brothers’ Keeper , Gloria bares her soul as she reveals the intimate details of her life at home as a young girl. How the death of her father when she was twelve shaped her view of love and life. How David’s death was the impetus for her move from Canada to the United States. And how her brother Denis was her heart’s twin in a multitude of ways. Gloria, most well known as an actress, debuts her talent as a writer in My Brothers’ Keeper , an intimate and honest tribute to David and Denis. Their lives. Their deaths. And the hope that awaits. “Gloria has written a truly wonderful and inspirational tribute to her brothers and to life. Helpful to all of us who have suffered losses.”—Pete Earley

“A satisfying read from a masterful stylist, this will appeal to any fan of nature writing or personal essays.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) Ever since her daughter rescued a fledgling rook several years ago, Esther Woolfson has been fascinated with corvids, the bird group that includes crows, rooks, magpies, and ravens. Today, the rook, named Chicken, is a member of the Woolfson family along with a talking magpie named Spike, a baby crow named Ziki, a starling, a parrot, and others. From their elaborate bathing rituals to springtime broodiness and their tendency to stash food in the most unlikely places, these corvids share bonds with Woolfson that would have been considered rare, if not impossible, before. Letting her experience speak for itself, Woolfson likens the fears and foibles of corvids to those of humans, taking into account the science of bird intelligence, evolution,song, and flight. She highlights their big personalities and capacity for affection: Chicken hates computers and machines, while she loves evening neck scratches on Woolfson’s knee. It is through this intimate lens that Woolfson invites us to reconsider what creatures can be human’s best friend. “Woolfson shares a house with a host of free–ranging birds who cache bits of brie and raw squid in jean cuffs and under rugs, who excavate holes in the kitchen wall, and who, ahem, are decidedly not housebroken. But are these lifestyles really so peculiar? Should we not applaud them?” — Orion Magazine “What makes Woolfson’s memoir such enjoyable reading (even for the non–birdobsessed) is that she is funny and knows it’s rather crazy to have a magpie, crow, starling or, more significantly, a rook named ‘Chicken’ running about your house.” —Bookslut

In "Men I'm Not Married To," Dorothy Parker offers a sharp, witty collection of essays and character sketches that explore the complexities of love, desire, and disillusionment through her incisive lens. Known for her acerbic humor and keen observations of the societal norms of her time, Parker employs a conversational yet poignant literary style, weaving personal anecdotes with broader social critiques. This work emerges from the early 20th century, a pivotal era in American literature marked by a burgeoning feminism and shifting gender dynamics, which Parker critiques with a blend of irony and authenticity. Dorothy Parker, a prominent member of the Algonquin Round Table, was known for her biting wit and advocacy for women's rights, often reflecting her personal experiences with romance and disappointment. Her own tumultuous relationships and her struggles within the patriarchal society profoundly influenced her writing. Parker's work not only illuminates her individual concerns but also resonates with the broader existential questions of her generation, establishing her as a significant voice in American literature. "Men I'm Not Married To" is an essential read for those who appreciate humor laced with wisdom. Parker's insightful commentary on relationships remains relevant, inviting readers to reflect on the intricacies of human connections, making this collection a timeless exploration of love's transient nature.