ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW’ S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR A Best Book of the Year: San Francisco Chronicl e, Seattle Times Winner of the Plutarch Award for Best Biography Penelope Fitzgerald, one of the most quietly brilliant novelists of the twentieth century, was a great English writer whose career didn’t begin until she was nearly sixty. Her life was marked by dramatic twists of fate, moving from a bishop’s palace to a sinking houseboat to a last, late blaze of renown. Her exquisite novels—short, spare masterpieces—would go on to win some of the most coveted awards in literature: the Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Now, in an impeccable match of talent between biographer and subject, Hermione Lee gives us this remarkable writer’s story.

Robert Shelton met Bob Dylan when the young singer arrived in New York in 1961. He became Dylan's friend, champion, and critic. His book, first published in 1986, was hailed as the definitive unauthorized biography of this moody, passionate genius. Shelton tells the intimate and first-hand story of Bob Dylan's formative years in Greenwich Village NYC, and it is the only biography that has been written with his active cooperation. ​ ​ Dylan gave Shelton access to his parents, Abe and Beatty Zimmerman - whom no other journalist has ever interviewed; to his brother, David; to childhood friends from Hibbing; to fellow students and friends from Minneapolis; and to Suze Rotolo, the muse immortalized on the cover of Freewheelin' , among others. Concluding Dylan's story during his triumphant 1978 world tour, No Direction Home took 20 years to complete and when it was finally published the book received widespread critical acclaim. ​ ​ Following his Nobel Prize for Literature Award in 2016, Dylan's standing is higher than at any time since the 1960s and Shelton's book is now seen as a classic. This new illustrated edition, published in the year of Dylan's 80th birthday, includes key images of Dylan throughout his incredible, enduring career, making it a must for all Dylan fans. ​

Named a Best Book of the Year by The Washington Post and NPR “We come to see in FDR the magisterial, central figure in the greatest and richest political tapestry of our nation’s entire history” —Nigel Hamilton, Boston Globe “Meticulously researched and authoritative” —Douglas Brinkley, The Washington Post “A workmanlike addition to the literature on Roosevelt.” —David Nasaw, The New York Times “Dallek offers an FDR relevant to our sharply divided nation” —Michael Kazin “Will rank among the standard biographies of its subject” — Publishers Weekly A one-volume biography of Roosevelt by the #1 New York Times bestselling biographer of JFK, focusing on his career as an incomparable politician, uniter, and deal maker In an era of such great national divisiveness, there could be no more timely biography of one of our greatest presidents than one that focuses on his unparalleled political ability as a uniter and consensus maker. Robert Dallek’s Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Political Life takes a fresh look at the many compelling questions that have attracted all his biographers: how did a man who came from so privileged a background become the greatest presidential champion of the country’s needy? How did someone who never won recognition for his intellect foster revolutionary changes in the country’s economic and social institutions? How did Roosevelt work such a profound change in the country’s foreign relations? For FDR, politics was a far more interesting and fulfilling pursuit than the management of family fortunes or the indulgence of personal pleasure, and by the time he became president, he had commanded the love and affection of millions of people. While all Roosevelt’s biographers agree that the onset of polio at the age of thirty-nine endowed him with a much greater sense of humanity, Dallek sees the affliction as an insufficient explanation for his transformation into a masterful politician who would win an unprecedented four presidential terms, initiate landmark reforms that changed the American industrial system, and transform an isolationist country into an international superpower. Dallek attributes FDR’s success to two remarkable political insights. First, unlike any other president, he understood that effectiveness in the American political system depended on building a national consensus and commanding stable long-term popular support. Second, he made the presidency the central, most influential institution in modern America’s political system. In addressing the country’s international and domestic problems, Roosevelt recognized the vital importance of remaining closely attentive to the full range of public sentiment around policy-making decisions—perhaps FDR’s most enduring lesson in effective leadership.

James Baldwin was beginning to be recognized as the most brilliant black writer of his generation when his first book of essays, Notes of a Native Son , established his reputation in 1955. No one was more pleased by the book’s reception than Baldwin’s high school friend Sol Stein. A rising New York editor, novelist, and playwright, Stein had suggested that Baldwin do the book and coaxed his old friend through the long and sometimes agonizing process of putting the volume together and seeing it into print. Now, in this fascinating new book, Sol Stein documents the story of his intense creative partnership with Baldwin through newly uncovered letters, photos, inscriptions, and an illuminating memoir of the friendship that resulted in one of the classics of American literature. Included in this book are the two works they created together–the story “Dark Runner” and the play Equal in Paris , both published here for the first time. Though a world of difference separated them–Baldwin was black and gay, living in self-imposed exile in Europe; Stein was Jewish and married, with a growing family to support–the two men shared the same fundamental passion. Nothing mattered more to either of them than telling and writing the truth, which was not always welcome. As Stein wrote Baldwin in a long, heartfelt letter, “You are the only friend with whom I feel comfortable about all three: heart, head, and writing.” In this extraordinary book, Stein unfolds how that shared passion played out in the months surrounding the creation and publication of Baldwin’s Notes of a Native Son , in which Baldwin’s main themes are illuminated. A literary event published to honor the eightieth anniversary of James Baldwin’s birth, Native Sons is a celebration of one of the most fruitful and influential friendships in American letters.

My octogenarian dad wanted to study Homer's epic and learn its lessons about life's journeys. First he took my class. Then we sailed for Ithaca. When eighty-one-year-old Jay Mendelsohn decides to enroll in the undergraduate Odyssey seminar his son teaches at Bard College, the two find themselves on an adventure as profoundly emotional as it is intellectual. For Jay, a retired computer scientist who sees the world through a mathematician's unforgiving eyes, this return to the classroom is his "one last chance" to learn the great literature he'd neglected in his youth--and, even more, a final opportunity to more fully understand his son, a writer and classicist. But through the sometimes uncomfortable months during which the two men explore Homer's great work together--first in the classroom, where Jay persistently challenges his son's interpretations, and then during a surprise--filled Mediterranean journey retracing Odysseus's famous voyages--it becomes clear that Daniel has much to learn, too: Jay's responses to both the text and the travels gradually uncover long-buried secrets that allow the son to understand his difficult father at last. As this intricately woven memoir builds to its wrenching climax, Mendelsohn's narrative comes to echo The Odyssey itself, with its timeless themes of deception and recognition, marriage and children, the pleasures of travel and the meaning of home. Rich with literary and emotional insight, An Odyssey is a renowned author-scholar's most triumphant entwining yet of personal narrative and literary exploration.

"I wonder if Judy Blume really knows how many girls' lives she affected. I wonder if she knows that at least one of her books made a grown woman finally feel like she'd been a normal girl all along..." —from Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume Whether laughing to tears reading Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great or clamoring for more unmistakable "me too!" moments in Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret , girls all over the world have been touched by Judy Blume's poignant coming-of-age stories. Now, in this anthology of essays, twenty-four notable female authors write straight from the heart about the unforgettable novels that left an indelible mark on their childhoods and still influence them today. After growing up from Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing into Smart Women , these writers pay tribute, through their reflections and most cherished memories, to one of the most beloved authors of all time.

Although Galileo Galilei lived and died centuries ago, his story is more relevant to our lives than we might realize. Today we face enormous challenges such as climate change that are disregarded or questioned by those who fear that their implications will damage business profitability. Others posit a false dichotomy between religion and science in order to reject scientific evidence whose implications they fear. Galileo confronted this problem 400 years ago. His discoveries were based on observation and experiment. His telescopes revealed previously unknown planets, moons orbiting other planets, and other discoveries that essentially confirmed the Copernican universe that the Church had rejected as heretical because Church theologians insisted on a literal reading of the Bible. Even St. Augustine in the fifth century maintained that the Bible pertained to the realm of faith, not reason. But when Galileo argued essentially the same position before an ecclesiastical court in Rome, he was forbidden from publishing any more books. Livio's life of Galileo shows us how the great thinker made his discoveries about the heavens and also formulated fundamental laws of physics. As an astrophysicist, Livio brings insight into how Galileo reasoned his way to his conclusions, which we know today were accurate. Along with Newton, Galileo remains one of the two great figures at the dawn of the scientific revolution. He insisted on reaching the widest audience possible, publishing his work in Italian rather than Latin as had been the case until his time, when vernacular languages were rapidly replacing Latin throughout Europe. Galileo believed that every educated person should know science as well as literature. Did Galileo actually say at the end of his trial when he was forced to recant his discoveries, as legend has it, And still it moves, referring to the motion of the earth around the sun? Not likely, says Livio, but Galileo nonetheless remains an inspiration to scientists and those who value open-minded inquiry, which as Livio reminds us, remains threatened even today.

Zsa Zsa Gabor: My Story is an autobiography written by the legendary Hollywood actress and socialite, Zsa Zsa Gabor. The book, co-authored by Gerold Frank, chronicles Gabor's life from her childhood in Hungary to her rise to fame as a Hollywood starlet. Gabor's story is one of glamour, scandal, and tragedy. She was married nine times to some of the most famous men in the world, including Conrad Hilton, George Sanders, and Jack Ryan. She also had affairs with numerous other high-profile figures, including Frank Sinatra and Richard Burton. The book delves into Gabor's personal life, including her relationships with her family, her struggles with health issues, and her experiences with aging. It also provides a behind-the-scenes look at the Hollywood of the 1950s and 1960s, including Gabor's interactions with other stars such as Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor.Overall, Zsa Zsa Gabor: My Story is a captivating and entertaining read that offers a glimpse into the life of one of Hollywood's most iconic figures.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.

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.

Alfred Kazin burst onto the American literary scene in 1942, when his first book, "On Native Grounds," announced the arrival of an important new literary critic. "A Walker in the City," his second, signaled the other direction his career would follow: author of several intense, intimate, and lyrical memoirs. Years later he would admit how he struggled writing it. He thought he wanted to concentrate on New York itself, describing a series of walks around the city. But what emerged was the story of his own boyhood encounters with it, starting from Brownsville, the Brooklyn Jewish neighborhood of his birth, then stretching out to alluring, mysterious Manhattan and from there to the world. Each walk is simultaneously a journey out and a journey in: outward, from the neighborhood to the land beyond, the great, electric, canyoned streets of the city; inward, into his own soul, as it grows and falls in love with books and language and literature, with music and metaphysics and politics, with the city and the country and the world and rapturously tries to take them all in.

Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War is New York Times bestselling author Steve Sheinkin's award-winning nonfiction account of an ordinary man who wielded the most dangerous weapon: the truth. “Easily the best study of the Vietnam War available for teen readers.”— Kirkus Reviews (starred review) A YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award winner A National Book Award finalist A Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon book A Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature finalist Selected for the Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People List In 1964, Daniel Ellsberg was a U.S. government analyst, helping to plan a war in Vietnam. It was the height of the Cold War, and the government would do anything to stop the spread of communism—with or without the consent of the American people. As the fighting in Vietnam escalated, Ellsberg turned against the war. He had access a top-secret government report known as the Pentagon Papers, and he knew it could blow the lid off of years of government lies. But did he have the right to expose decades of presidential secrets? And what would happen to him if he did it? A lively book that interrogates the meanings of patriotism, freedom, and integrity, the National Book Award finalist Most Dangerous further establishes Steve Sheinkin—author of Newbery Honor book Bomb as a leader in children's nonfiction. This thoroughly-researched and documented book can be worked into multiple aspects of the common core curriculum. “Gripping.”— New York Times Book Review “A master of fast-paced histories...[this] is Sheinkin’s most compelling one yet. ”— Washington Post Also by Steve Sheinkin: Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism & Treachery Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights Which Way to the Wild West?: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About Westward Expansion King George: What Was His Problem?: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About the American Revolution Two Miserable Presidents: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About the Civil War Born to Fly: The First Women's Air Race Across America

2010 Reprint of 1927 First English Edition. Professor Freud's autobiography, first published in English in 1927, is written in his usual forceful, straightforward and frank style, which has now become so familiar to readers of psychoanalytic literature. The autobiography as a whole is really a condensed account of the development of the psychoanalytic concepts as they unfolded themselves in Professor Freud's mind, and he says this much of it and adds that "no personal experiences of mine are of any interest in comparison to my relation with that science."

Memoir of a Hungarian woman who was imprisoned for several years in the German concentration camp Auschwitz. This is the true, documented chronicle of a beautiful woman who survived the nightmare horror of the worst death camp of them all. Olga Lengyel tells, frankly and without compromise, one of the most horrifying stories of all time. This book is a necessary reminder of one of the ugliest chapters in the history of human civilization. ""You have done a real service by letting the ones who are now silent and most forgotten speak.""-Albert Einstein "This book is a horrifying, but necessary, reminder of one of the ugliest chapters in the history of human civilization."-New York Herald-Tribune "It is a picture of utter hell."-Saturday Review of Literature

The final previously unpublished work from two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and winner of the National Book Award, Norman Mailer. Norman Mailer is one of America's most consequential public intellectuals of the postwar period. He cofounded the Village Voice , and he was the author of twelve novels, among them The Naked and the Dead and Harlot’s Ghost , as well as numerous works of nonfiction. He is truly one of the giants of American literature. Lipton's, A Marijuana Journal is the only work by Norman Mailer that has not been published previously. Written between 1954-55, from December to March, it contains many ideas he would develop in his later work. The journal includes daily musings, as well as thoughts profound. It is a must-read for Norman Mailer scholars, as well as literature professors. Lipton’s, A Marijuana Journal also includes never before published letters between Robert Lindner (author of Rebel Without a Cause , Prescription for a Reberllion , and The 50 Minute Hour) and Norman Mailer. They introduce the reader to Mailer’s state of mind during the time he was writing the journal and to the unique relationship he had with Dr. Lindner.

Science and Human Values is a thought-provoking book by Jacob Bronowski that explores the relationship between science and human values. The author argues that science is not just a collection of facts and theories, but a way of thinking that shapes our understanding of the world and our place in it. He contends that science and human values are intimately connected, and that science has the power to transform our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.The book is divided into five chapters, each of which explores a different aspect of the relationship between science and human values. The first chapter discusses the nature of scientific inquiry and the role of imagination in scientific discovery. The second chapter examines the relationship between science and art, arguing that both are essential to our understanding of the world. The third chapter explores the ethical implications of scientific research, particularly in the areas of genetics and nuclear physics.The fourth chapter examines the role of science in shaping our understanding of human nature, while the final chapter discusses the implications of scientific progress for our future as a species. Throughout the book, Bronowski emphasizes the importance of human values in shaping scientific research and the need for scientists to be mindful of the ethical implications of their work.Overall, Science and Human Values is a thought-provoking and insightful book that challenges readers to think deeply about the relationship between science and human values. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the role of science in our lives and the ethical implications of scientific research.The Impact Of Science On Ethics And Human Values.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.

In this open letter to his father – a letter which was never sent – Kafka tries to come to terms with one of the most deeply rooted obsessions of his troubled soul. Written as a long, tense and dramatic confession in which writer and man are gathered together in front of an ambivalent figure of authority, Dearest Father is a desperate attempt to retrace the origins of a turbulent relationship between an unflinching parent and an extremely sensitive child. Both a merciless indictment of his father and an impassioned appeal to him, Kafka's inspired work is one of the most lucid and touching psychological documents in twentieth-century literature. This volume also includes passages from Kafka's diaries and correspondence.

What an unforgettable drama! With swift, powerful strokes he brushes in the background of the age with its abounding vitality, its great discoveries, its exuberant art and literature, its pageant of battles like knightly jousts, and of kings' palaces and of swelling commerce, and the thirst for sensation and for learning and full-blooded life. Against this many-colored background Zweig has painted two magnificent heads, those of Erasmus and Luther, his titanic adversary..... A contribution to the literature of the world -- says the New York Herald Tribune.

Genet...Beckett...Burroughs...Miller...Ionesco, Oe, Duras. Harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard. Hubert Selby Jr. and John Rechy. The legendary film I Am Curious (Yellow) . The books that assaulted the fort of propriety that was the United States in the 1950s and '60s, Lady Chatterley's Lover and The Tropic of Cancer. The Evergreen Review. Victorian "erotica." The Autobiography of Malcolm X . A bombing, a sit-in, and a near-fistfight with Norman Mailer. The common thread between these disparate elements, a number of which reshaped modern culture, was Barney Rosset. Rosset was the antidote to the trope of the "gentleman publisher" personified by other pioneering figures of the industry such as Alfred A. Knopf, Bennett Cerf and James Laughlin. If Barney saw a crowd heading one way--he looked the other. If he knew something was forbidden, he regarded it as a plus. Unsurprisingly, financial ruin, along with the highs and lows of critical reception, marked his career. But his unswerving dedication to publishing what he wanted made him one of the most influential publishers ever. Rosset began work on his autobiography a decade before his death in 2012, and several publishers and a number of editors worked with him on the project. Now, at last, in his own words, we have a portrait of the man who reshaped how we think about language, literature--and sex. Here are the stories behind the filming of Norman Mailer's Maidstone and Samuel Beckett's Film ; the battles with the US government over Tropic of Cancer and much else; the search for Che's diaries; his romance with the expressionist painter Joan Mitchell, and more. At times appalling, more often inspiring, never boring or conventional: this is Barney Rosset, uncensored. Illustrated with black-and-white photographs; includes index

A deeply personal memoir about one woman's journey to finding her voice and rewriting her story by the creator and host of the award-winning podcast Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books (tm). Zibby Owens has become a well-known personality in the publishing world. Her infectious energy, tasteful authenticity, and smart, steadfast support of authors started in childhood, a precedent set by the profound effect books and libraries had on her own family. But after losing her closest friend on 9/11 and later becoming utterly stressed out and overwhelmed by motherhood, Zibby was forgetting what made her her . She turned to books and writing for help. Just when things seemed particularly bleak, Zibby unexpectedly fell in love with a tennis pro turned movie producer who showed her the path to happiness: away from type-A perfectionism and toward letting things unfold organically. What unfolded was a meaningful career, a great love, and finally, her voice, now heard by millions of listeners. An honest and moving story about relationships, love, food issues, the writing life, and finding one's true calling, Bookends will inspire and uplift.

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.