Part memoir, part commentary, Life on the Fringes charts a startling Jewish feminist journey both solitary and engaging. Haviva Ner-David draws us into the many facets of her life's story: a complex modern Orthodox childhood (including a battle with anorexia); adherence to a unique combination of Jewish observances; the emergence of her feminist commitments and support of gays and lesbians in Jewish life; a serious engagement with Jewish texts -- and now, studying for rabbinic ordination with an Orthodox rabbi in Israel, where Ner-David and her family have made their home. Over time, we see Ner-David take on both traditionally male practices -- donning a tallit and tefillin every day, wearing tzitzit at all times -- as well as those of traditional Jewish women -- covering her head, and observing in great detail the laws of niddah which govern a woman's separation from her husband in the days surrounding her menstrual period. Her personal wrestling and her halakhic analysis help us see Jewish tradition in new, more textured ways -- and lets us see new possibilities for our own lives. Writing with warmth, vision, and passion, Ner-David unwraps her often startling package of Jewish choices, inviting readers into her many worlds, even as she challenges us to examine and deepen our own allegiances and Jewish feminist journeys. No one who takes seriously the intersection of feminism and traditional Judaism will be able to ignore this book.

"Both moving and entertaining, George Lang's absorbing autobiography draws the reader into an extraordinarily rich life filled with talent, wonder, and passion: an example of how torment can be transformed into beauty."-Elie Wiesel "A heartfelt, funny, moving story of survival. A great read."-Paul Newman "Anyone reading this remarkable memoir will understand why George Lang remains not only one of New York's great restaurateurs but one of its most vibrant citizens as well."-David Halberstam "A book to savor, relish, smack one's lips over, and profoundly appreciate."-William Safire "You don't need to be Hungarian to enjoy this book."-George Soros "George Lang's success story, so brilliantly recounted here, is the absolute personification of the American dream."-Dominique LaPierre "This book is as charming and sophisticated as its author."-Walter Cronkite

Collection of unpublished lectures and a few articles and a review article of one of the author's books. Concludes with a memoir of the author written by the editor.

This memoir, a young poet's tragicomic account of crossed loves and rebellions as he grows from boy to man under the vigilant eyes of the state in the Soviet Union between the 1950s and 1970s, can be approached as a bildungsroman. It is set in Tallinn, Riga and Moscow (with episodes in Uzbekistan, Moldavia, and the Ukraine) and, apart from this author's own story, deals with the experiences of young people of that period, their friendships and attempts to form erotic/romantic attachments, as well as their search for national--Baltic, Jewish, Russian--identity while being watched and sometimes interrogated by the secret police. It also includes some reconstruction of the author's family history: expulsion from Spain, the Magician of Prague, the renowned historian Simon Dubnov. The volume progresses from the demonstration of two seven-year-old boys' against Stalin and Lenin, in Tallinn, in the mid-1950s to a dramatic and doomed love affair with a woman married to an army colonel who attempts to shoot the author as the latter is about to make his final exit from the country, with the KGB on his tail, in the early 1970s. While raising a number of important historical and contemporary issues, the memoir is also an involving narrative, a visually descriptive story, varied and engrossing, involving philosophical, theological, and detective elements; popular and literary culture; countries and languages; high seriousness and undercutting irony.

Launched in September 1982 -- one month after the opening interviews conducted for the oral history of Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr., Naval Institute oral historian Paul Stillwell embarked on a project to augment Zumwalt's memoir with those of some of the officers who had served under him. The highly influential admiral who reshaped the modern Navy and served as the youngest-ever Chief of Naval Operations, Zumwalt put his stamp on his era and was the sort of dynamic leader who inspires a range of opinions -- thus the importance of capturing these multiple points of view. Conceived as an ongoing effort, the first volume contains the accounts of three of those who worked closely with Zumwalt, and whose memories provide a worthwhile addition to Zumwalt's oral history.

" A no-holds-barred memoir that charts the rise and fall - and rise - of one of Australia's most iconic music performers. You think you know Deborah Conway? You think seeing her striding and scowling down Sydney's back streets in an oversize coat or galavanting around a golf course wearing a close approximation of plus fours means you know who Deborah Conway is? She figures you probably don't know the half of it. And there's a lot to know. If you have listened to any of Deborah Conway's songs and were half curious about the origins; if you have ever wondered whatever happened to that chick who covered herself in Nutella and was photographed shovelling cream cakes in to her mouth; if you gave a nanosecond of thought to whose bare arse adorned the giant Billboard ads for Bluegrass jeans in the 1980's and how much someone could get paid to do that; if you liked Tracey Mann's vocals in The Takeaways but asked yourself, ""did she really sing them?""; if you were a movie buff who thought Running On Empty was a classic BEFORE it became a cult phenomenon and need behind the scenes gossip, now's your chance to find out all this and so much more. Conway pulls back the curtain on the fevered world of a 1980's post punk band, the spectacular rise and fall and rise of one of the more obstreperous women working inside Australia's music industry, a woman who has straddled the high arts and the low without losing her footing or her mind and whose fierce independence has seen her produce her best work. Book Of Life : the good, the bad, and the ugly of being alive in the 20th and 21st centuries from the vantage point of a music insider (and outsider) with a deep need to tell the truth about it all. "

Lately, it seems as if we wake up to a new atrocity each day. Every morning is now a ritual of scrolling through our Twitter feeds or scanning our newspapers for the latest updates on fresh horrors around the globe. Despite the countless protests we attend, the phone calls we make, or the streets we march, it sometimes feels like no matter how hard we fight, the relentless crush of injustice will never abate. David Shulman knows intimately what it takes to live your beliefs, to return, day after day, to the struggle, despite knowing you are often more likely to lose than win. Interweaving powerful stories and deep meditations, Freedom and Despair offers vivid firsthand reports from the occupied West Bank in Palestine as seen through the eyes of an experienced Israeli peace activist who has seen the Israeli occupation close up as it impacts on the lives of all Palestinian civilians. Alongside a handful of beautifully written and often shocking tales from the field, Shulman meditates deeply on how to understand the evils around him, what it means to persevere as an activist decade after decade, and what it truly means to be free. The violent realities of the occupation are on full display. We get to know and understand the Palestinian shepherds and farmers and Israeli volunteers who face this situation head-on with nonviolent resistance. Shulman does not hold back on acknowledging the daily struggles that often leave him and his fellow activists full of despair. Inspired by these committed individuals who are not prepared to be silent or passive, Shulman suggests a model for ordinary people everywhere. Anyone prepared to take a risk and fight their oppressive political systems, he argues, can make a difference—if they strive to act with compassion and to keep hope alive. This is the moving story of a man who continues to fight for good in the midst of despair. An indispensable book in our era of reactionary politics and refugee crises, political violence and ecological devastation, Freedom and Despair is a gripping memoir of struggle, activism, and hope for peace.

The name of Cyril Ornadel may not be known to many outside the musical theatre. The back of his head, however, was for many years the most famous on television, for Cyril Ornadel was the conductor in the orchestra pit for ITV's immensely popular programme, Sunday Night at the London Palladium. But this efficient and unassuming man was the musical director for numerous West End 'hit' shows: Kismet, Call Me Madam, Pal Joey, Wonderful Town, The King and I and My Fair Lady, to name but a few. He is also a composer in his own right. His song 'Portrait of My Love' is a standard, known and loved by an entire generation, while 'If I Ruled the World' from Pickwick, the musical he wrote with Wolf Mankowitz and Leslie Bricusse, became a world-class hit and turned into what was virtually the late Sir Harry Secombe's theme tune. Now, in this rich and illuminating memoir, Cyril Ornadel shares the fruits of his experience in almost every aspect of the music business - theatre, films, recording, composing, orchestrating, conducting, producing. With wit, wisdom and humility he candidly discusses the triumphs and disasters of his lifelong love affair with Show Business.

When Cosmo Landesman's American parents decided to move their young family to London in the swinging sixties, it was not to pursue a quieter life on this side of the pond. Quite the reverse: it was out of unbridled, unashamed lust for fame and fortune. But things did not go according to plan, and as a child Cosmo found himself charged with raising his starstruck parents and trying to cope with the publicity stunt of their 'open marriage'. Over the years he wrote press releases, blurbs and proposals for their plays, film treatments, novels, book ideas and demo tapes. He found himself playing the roll of creative midwife, personal manager, publicist, psychoanalyst and apologist. Not any more. In this hilarious memoir he finally lays bare his extraordinary childhood and the twists and turns of his parents' bizarre desire for the spotlight - and how they were always doomed to failure.

A memoir by the critically acclaimed actor Cliff Simon. Paris Nights, the memoir of a South African soldier turned performer in the world's most famous cabaret, delivers in a hugely entertaining way. He writes of Paris as no one has done before, the after-dark city of night clubs, dance groupies, street fights, and shady characters. His is a truly singular story, and it's told with humor, swagger, and absolute honesty." --Marcia DeSanctis, author of 100 Places in France Ever Woman Should Go Little did Cliff Simon know that a single phone call and a one-way ticket to Paris would ultimately change his life forever. Now the acclaimed television and film actor shares his journey from Johannesburg to the Moulin Rouge to Hollywood in his debut memoir, Paris Nights: My Year at the Moulin Rouge. From a young age Cliff Simon knew he was headed towards big places. Having grown up as both a skilled gymnast and a competitive swimmer, performance was in his blood. But with the onset of Apartheid and the looming threat of war, he and his Jewish family soon retreated from Johannesburg, South Africa to the London countryside. Before he knew it, he joined the British swim team and was near Olympics-bound with a full-ride offer to a United States university. But something wasn't quite right. Instead, Cliff returned home and enlisted in the South African Air Force. Cliff's habit of impulsive risk-taking would continue but ultimately pave the foundation for an experience most of us would only dream of. After he was honorably discharged, twenty-seven-year-old Cliff worked a series of odd jobs at a resort near the Indian Ocean until he received a phone call from an old friend inviting him to join him at the iconic Moulin Rouge. Here begins the story of Cliff's meteoric rise at the Moulin from swing dancer to principal in the glamour filled show, Formidable; his offstage encounters with street thugs and diamond smugglers; and the long nights filled with after parties and his pick of gorgeous women. Encounter the magic, the mayhem, and the glory that was and still is the Moulin Rouge.

A poignant and raucous memoir of a mother — feminist, fighter against injustice, and unbridled lover — and her madcap son.

Reflections and rumblings on human nature and the law from one of Australia's longest serving criminal defence barristers, once nicknamed 'The Smiling Funnelweb', Chester Porter QC. Chester Porter's life in the law began in 1948, when at the age of 21 he was the youngest lawyer to be admitted to the Bar. He took silk in 1974 and quickly became known as Sydney's best defence lawyer, shunning the courtroom theatricals favoured by many of his rivals.'Young Chester' was the man others would go to if they were in strife. Chester's most famous cases included successfully defending the 'once only's' such as Detective Sgt Roger Rogerson on bribery charges, and Judge John Foord who was accused of attempting to pervert the course of justice. He was counsel assisting the Northern Territory Commissions of Inquiry into the convictions of Lindy and Michael Chamberlain. After clocking up scores of legendary victories, some of Macquarie Street's more larrikin lawyers produced a limited edition t- shirt with 'Chester Porter Walks on Water'- a slogan that sums up an illustrious career that spanned more than 50 years. This is not merely a reflection of human nature at its worst but also an overview of how the law has changed and developed over the years. From the McDermott Royal Commission to the reform of forensic evidence and the future of the law in Australia, this is the long-awaited memoir from one of Australia's most respected QC's.

Three toilets, a deceased poodle and some sadly depreciated real-estate . a rollicking, laugh-out-loud memoir of how a practical joke went too far from one of Australia's brightest young comedians.

Anthony Sher’s enthralling account of the struggle—and the triumph – of bringing Primo Levi’s Auschwitz memoir to the stage. Sher tells how he first came across Levi’s book, of how he conceived the notion of adapting it, of the long-drawn-out negotiations, research trips to Auschwitz and of the struggle to stage his adaptation and remain true to Levi’s precepts. A critical success in both London’s West End and on Broadway.

Exile is an investigative memoir where faith, history, and anthropology meet. The breadth of countries covered--combined with historical analysis, personal anecdotes, and interviews--is not only certain to delight the senses, but also foster a greater understanding of the Jewish experience.

"The Poetry Lesson is a must-have manual for emerging poetry-monsters; a book of caveats for the peddlers of "creative" snake oil; an archaeo-psychological scan of instantly obsolete technology; the memoir of a professor relectantly abandoning his sex fantasies; the collected portrait of deluded youth about to find out something horrific; an affectionate treatise on poetry as a cure of hubris; and a de profundis moan of flesh turning into fortune cookies" --Cover, p. 4.

Alexei Sayle reveals his true vocation: proprietor of an imaginary sandwich shop. Blending politics, comedy, philosophy and memoir, this is the Godfather of Alternative Comedy at his most anarchic and irresistibly entertaining Alexei Sayle has been telling people he runs a sandwich bar on Gray's Inn Road that doesn't exist since the mid-1970s. From behind this imaginary counter Alexei dispenses wisdom and focaccia to his famous customers as he explores his love of pretending, reveals why he disappeared from our TV screens in the 1990's, lobbies for eleven-hour long episodes of Newsnight and discusses rampant nepotism in coveted careers. And from drawing striking comparisons between capitalism and all-you-can-eat buffets to discussing the hidden depths of Taylor Swift, this flight of fancy packs a surprising punch and will leave you hungry for more.

The Public Is Never Wrong: The Autobiography of Adolph Zukor is a memoir written by Adolph Zukor, one of the most influential figures in the early days of Hollywood. In this book, Zukor recounts his life story, from his humble beginnings as an immigrant in New York City to his rise to fame as the founder of Paramount Pictures.Zukor's narrative takes readers on a journey through the early days of the film industry, as he describes his experiences working as a nickelodeon operator and film distributor before ultimately founding his own studio. He also discusses his relationships with some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks.Throughout the book, Zukor emphasizes the importance of listening to the audience and giving them what they want. He argues that the public is never wrong and that the key to success in the film industry is to understand and cater to their tastes. He also provides insights into the business side of the industry, discussing topics such as financing, marketing, and distribution.Overall, The Public Is Never Wrong offers a fascinating glimpse into the life and career of one of the most important figures in the history of Hollywood. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the early days of the film industry and the art of storytelling on the big screen.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.

Felix Gilbert begins this book of memoirs by describing his peaceful and protected childhood in Germany before the First World War. That war, and the revolutionary events that followed it, strongly influenced his choice of profession; he studied history at Heidelberg, Munich, and the University of Berlin. He gives a firsthand account of the intellectually stimulating and politically restless atmosphere in 1920s Berlin. During the first six months of 1933, when the Nazi takeover occurred in Germany, Mr. Gilbert was at work in the archives in Italy. There he received letters from relations and friends in Germany; published here, these letters convey the impact of Nazism on the daily lives of these people. In other chapters of the book Mr. Gilbert, who served as a member of the OSS, vividly describes wartime London, liberated Paris, and occupied Germany. These memoirs end with an account of a mission to Berlin which, for Mr. Gilbert, was also a search for what remained of a world that once had been.

Memoirs of motion picture director, Sergei Eisenstein, 1898-1948; translated from Russian text.