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Biography & Autobiography | - 36 items found in your search |
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Allende, Isabel; Peden, Margaret Sayers (translated from Spanish) My Invented Country: A Nostalgic Journey Through Chile
HarperCollins 2003 006054564X / 9780060545642 First U.S. Edition Hard Cover Fine Near-Fine 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall
A photo of this book is available. Stated First U.S. Edition. Near-new condition. NO remainder marks or price clippings. Price inside dustcover: $23.95. NO writing, marks or tears inside book. 199 pages. Synopsis A highly personal memoir of exile and homeland, filled with the wit, melancholy and distinctive voice that have charmed readers of her fiction. My Invented Country is a memoir about her native Chile that acknowledges the role of memory and nostalgia in shaping her life, her books, and her very connection to that most intimate place of origin. Allende revisits the imaginary Chile of her childhood and young adult years as well as the real one that exists today. She evokes the magnificent landscapes of the country, a charming, idiosyncratic Chilean people with a violent history and indomitable spirit, and the politics, religion, myth and magic of her homeland that she carries with her even today. The book curls itself around two life–changing moments. The assassination of her uncle, Salvador Allende Gossens, on September 11, 1973, sent her into exile and transformed her into a literary writer; and the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, on her newly adopted homeland. It speaks compellingly to immigrants, and to all of us, who try to retain a coherent inner life in a world full of contradictions. The New York Times The freshest and most specific images in this book all come directly from Allende's life. Some of the loveliest writing is about her maternal grandfather, a ''formidable man'' who ''gave me the gift of discipline and love for language.'' Clearly this autocratic and idiosyncratic man had a large and lasting influence on Allende, and the picture of him that she creates in these pages is full-bodied and affecting. He was a man who ''never believed in germs, for the same reason he didn't believe in ghosts: he'd never seen one,'' and who admired the young Isabel's desire to be strong and independent but was unable to foster or even condone such unfeminine characteristics. — Peter Cameron Biography Aristocratic Chile is vividly evoked in Isabel Allende’s lyrical novels, in which a family’s past and future is linked inextricably with that of its country’s. A writer whose dreamy, imagistic books transport the reader to another time and place, Allende is considered by many to be the heir to Gabriel García Márquez’s lavish magic realism.
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7.78 USD
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Anderson, Joan A Year by the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman
Broadway Books 2000 0767905938 / 9780767905930 Trade Paperback Near-Fine 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall
Near-fine condition. NO remainder marks or clippings. Tight spine, clean pages. NO writing, marks or tears inside book. Covers are clean (NO tears). 190 pages. Pages show slight tanning. Synopsis Now available in paperback, the entrancing story of how one woman's journey of self-discovery gave her the courage to persevere in re-creating her life. Life is a work in progress, as ever-changing as a sandy shoreline along the beach. During the years Joan Anderson was a loving wife and supportive mother, she had slowly and unconsciously replaced her own dreams with the needs of her family. With her sons grown, however, she realized that the family no longer centered on the home she provided, and her relationship with her husband had become stagnant. Like many women in her situation, Joan realized that she had neglected to nurture herself and, worse, to envision fulfilling goals for her future. As her husband received a wonderful job opportunity out-of-state, it seemed that the best part of her own life was finished. Shocking both of them, she refused to follow him to his new job and decided to retreat to a family cottage on Cape Cod. At first casting about for direction, Joan soon began to take plea-sure in her surroundings and call on resources she didn't realize she had. Over the course of a year, she gradually discovered that her life as an "unfinished woman" was full of possibilities. Out of that magical, difficult, transformative year came A Year by the Sea, a record of her experiences and a treasury of wisdom for readers. This year of self-discovery brought about extraordinary changes in the author's life. The steps that Joan took to revitalize herself and rediscover her potential have helped thousands of woman reveal and release untapped resources within themselves.
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2.78 USD
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Auletta, Ken The Highwaymen: Warriors of the Information Superhighway
Random House Inc 1997 0679457380 / 9780679457381 First Edition Hard Cover Fine Fine 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall
Like-new condition - Appears unread - NO remainder marks or price clippings - Stated First Edition - Price inside dustcover: $27.50 - NO writing, marks or tears inside book - Tight spine - Bright pages - 346 pages - A titanic struggle is taking place - not just among corporate titans, but among entire industries across the globe. At stake is control of the world's fastest-growing industry: communications. The contestants are the huge Hollywood studios, the television networks, and telephone, publishing, and computer companies. The prize is not only vast wealth, but a virtual lock on the dissemination of information worldwide. The Highwaymen is a riveting and compelling look behind the scenes at the vanities and visions of such chief players as Rupert Murdoch, Ted Turner, Time Warner, Disney, Viacom, and Microsoft. An astounding tale of greed, enterprise, and corporate achievement, The Highwaymen is an account of the explosive landscape of telecommunications, and as such provides an indispensable guide to today's world.
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5.00 USD
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Bergen, Peter L. Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama Bin Laden
Free Press 2001 0743205022 / 9780743205023 Hard Cover Fine Fine 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall
Near-new condition - Appears unread. 285 pages. Price inside dustcover: $26.00. NO remainder marks or price clippings. Tight spine - Bright pages. NO writing, marks or tears inside book. British journalist Peter Bergen takes a look at Osama Bin Laden, the man who perpetrated the most brazen and deadly attack on U.S. soil ever. How do Bin Laden and his organization operate, and what will it take to defeat them? Why did the CIA wind up funding groups that are now allied with the terrorist mastermind? And how did he plan and execute the earlier attacks on U.S. embassies and the USS Cole? Bergen explains how terrorism has become a well-oiled operation, almost corporate in its efficiency. FROM THE PUBLISHER Contents Note from the Author Prologue How to Find the World's Most Wanted Man Chapter 1 While America Slept Chapter 2 The Afghan Jihad: The Making of a Holy Warrior Chapter 3 Blowback: The CIA and the Afghan War Chapter 4 The Koran and the Kalashnikov: Bin Laden's Years in Sudan Chapter 5 From the Peaks of the Hindu Kush: The Declaration of War Chapter 6 Investigation and Retaliation: The Embassy Bombings Chapter 7 The American Connection: From Brooklyn to Seattle Chapter 8 True Believers: The Taliban and Bin Laden Chapter 9 The Holy Warriors of Yemen: The Bombing of the U.S.S. Cole Chapter 10 The Global Network: Around the World in Eighty Jihads Afterword Acknowledgments Notes Index
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10.00 USD
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Blount, Roy Jr. Be Sweet: A Conditional Love Story
Alfred A Knopf Inc 1998 0679400540 / 9780679400547 Hard Cover Fine Fine 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall
Near-new condition - NO remainder marks or price clippings - Stated Second Printing (June, 1998) - NO writing, marks or tears - Tight spine - Bright pages - 289 pages - Roy Blount Jr. -- Georgia boy turned New York wit, lover of baseball and interesting women, bumbling adventurer, literary lion, salty-limerick virtuoso and impassioned father -- journeys into the past and his psyche (also all the way to China, sixty feet underwater and to various Manhattan hot spots) in search of the answers to three riddles that have haunted him intimately: One: the riddle of "the family curse." Two: the riddle of what drives him (or anyone) to be funny. Three: the riddle of what so cruelly tangled his unseverable bond with the beguiling, beaten orphan girl who became the impossible mother who raised him to Be Sweet.
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5.00 USD
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Bragg, Rick Ava's Man
Alfred A Knopf Inc 2001 0375410627 / 9780375410628 First Edition Hard Cover Fine Fine 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall
Near-new condition - Appears unread. NO remainder marks or price clippings - Tight spine - Bright pages. Stated First Edition. 259 pages. NO writing, marks or tears inside book. "The author of All Over but the Shoutin' continues his personal history of the Deep South with an evocation of his mother's childhood in the Appalachian foothills during the Great Depression, and the magnificent story of the man who raised her." Charlie Bundrum was a roofer, a carpenter, a whiskey-maker, a fisherman who knew every inch of the Coosa River, made boats out of car hoods and knew how to pack a wound with brown sugar to stop the blood. He could not read, but he asked his wife, Ava, to read him the paper every day so he would not be ignorant. He was a man who took giant steps in rundown boots, a true hero whom history would otherwise have overlooked.
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5.00 USD
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Braselton, Jeanne A False Sense of Well Being
Ballantine Books 2002 0345443128 / 9780345443120 Trade Paperback Fine 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall
Near-new condition. NO remainder marks or clippings. Tight spine, bright pages. NO writing, marks or tears. Synopsis WINNER OF THE GEORGIA AUTHOR OF THE YEAR AWARD FOR FIRST NOVEL Braselton’s confident first novel is [a] depiction of love on the rocks in the New South that combines small town charm with major league angst. . . . A down-home Proustian recherché search . . . [An] entertaining, rueful account of an apparently ‘normal’ marriage. Los Angeles Times Simply extraordinary. [This novel] has the wit and modern comedy of Nora Ephron and the literary force of Flannery O’Connor. KAYE GIBBONS Author of Ellen Foster At thirty-eight, Jessie Maddox has a comfortable life in Glenville, Georgia, with the most responsible husband in the world. But after the storybook romance, happily ever after never came. Now Jessie is left to wonder: Why can’t she stop picturing herself as the perfect grieving widow? As Jessie dives headlong into her midlife crisis, she is joined by a colorful cast of eccentrics. There’s her best friend Donna, who is having a wild adulterous affair with a younger man; Wanda McNabb, the sweet-natured grandmother who is charged with killing her husband; Jessie’s younger sister Ellen, who was born to be a guest on Jerry Springer; their mother, who persistently crosses the dirty words out of library books; and of course the stuffed green headless duck. . . . When a trip home to the small town of her childhood raises more questions than it answers, Jessie is forced to face the startling truth head-on and confront the tragedy that has shadowed her heart and shaken her faith in love . . . and thefuture. Author Biography: Jeanne Braselton was born and raised in Georgia. She is the adopted daughter of a poet who was designated chief of the Cherokee Nation. While working as a journalist for the Rome News Tribune, she won numerous Georgia Press Association awards. She currently lives in Rome, Georgia, with her husband. A False Sense of Well-Being is her first novel.
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2.78 USD
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Bush, Millie Millie's Book: As Dictated to Barbara Bush
William Morrow & Co 1990 0688040330 / 9780688040338 First Edition Hard Cover Fine Fine 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall
Near-new copy. Stated First Edition. NO remainder marks or price clippings. Tight spine - Bright pages. Illustrated throughout with color photos. NO writing, marks or tears inside book.
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7.50 USD
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Chang, Leslie Beyond the Narrow Gate: The Journey of Four Chinese Women from the Middle Kingdom to the Middle America
New York, New York, U.S.A. E P Dutton 1999 0525942572 / 9780525942573 Hard Cover Fine Fine 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall
A photo of this book is available. Near-new condition. Appears unread. Stated First Edition. NO remainder marks or price clippings. Price inside dustcover: $24.95. Tight spine, bright pages. NO writing, marks or tears. Synopsis In 1937, the year Leslie Chang's mother was born, the city of Nanking was destroyed by Japanese invaders with instructions from the Emperor to "kill all: destroy all; burn all." Eleven years later, when the Red Army marched into China, Han Man-li's family fled to Taiwan. It was there, at an elite girl's school in Taipei, that Han Man-li met Xiao Mei, Ling, and Ma-hua. They became close friends, sharing secrets, confidences, and the uncertainty of a country in turmoil. A few years later, they would leave their homeland, passing through the "narrow gate" of the First Girl's School on their way to America. Student visas and scholarships brought them to the United States, but for Han Man-li, Xiao Mei, Ling, and Ma-hua - now Mary, Dolores, Suzanne, and Margaret - their journey was just beginning. In cities as far apart as New York and Los Angeles, from the biology lab of a women's college to Wall Street to the gilded Chinese ghetto in California's Palos Verdes, Mary, Dolores, Suzanne, and Margaret made their choices and their compromises. That is part of the legacy they have passed on to their children. And the memories. Beyond the Narrow Gate is the story of four women whose lives took divergent paths, yet who will always be bound by their shared heritage. It is a moving, insightful portrait of what it means to be a foreigner in America, to move from world to world without ever belonging to either - a truth that is at the heart of the immigrant experience.
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5.78 USD
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Conway, Jill Ker The Road from Coorain
Vintage Books 1990 0679724362 / 9780679724360 Trade Paperback Very Good + 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall
Very-good, clean copy. NO writing, marks or tears. Tight spine - NO remainder marks or price clippings. 238 pages. - Annotation From the shelter of a protective family to the lessons of tragedy and independence this is an indelible portrait of a remarkable woman's life. From the Publisher In A Memoir that pierces and delights us, Jill Ker Conway tells the story of her astonishing journey into adulthood — a journey that would ultimately span immense distances and encompass worlds, ideas, and ways of life that seem a century apart. She was seven before she ever saw another girl child. At eight, still too small to mount her horse unaided, she was galloping miles, alone, across Coorain, her parents' thirty thousand windswept, drought-haunted acres in the Australian outback, doing a "man's job" of helping herd the sheep because World War II had taken away the able-bodied men. She loved (and makes us see and feel) the vast unpeopled landscape, beautiful and hostile, whose uncertain weathers tormented the sheep ranchers with conflicting promises of riches and inescapable disaster. She adored (and makes us know) her large-visioned father and her strong, radiant mother, who had gone willingly with him into a pioneering life of loneliness and bone-breaking toil, who seemed miraculously to succeed in creating a warmly sheltering home in the harsh outback, and who, upon her husband's sudden death when Jill was ten, began to slide — bereft of the partnership of work and love that had so utterly fulfilled her — into depression and dependency. We see Jill, staggered by the loss of her father, catapulted to what seemed another planet — the suburban Sydney of the 1950s and its crowded, noisy, cliquish school life. Then the heady excitement of the University, but with it a yet more demanding course of lessons — Jill embracing new ideas, new possibilities, while at the same time trying to be mother to her mother and resenting it, escaping into drink,pulling herself back, striking a balance. We see her slowly gaining strength, coming into her own emotionally and intellectually -and beginning the joyous love affair that gave wings to her newfound self. Worlds away from Coorain, in America, Jill Conway became a historian and the first woman president of Smith College. Her story of Coorain and the road from Coorain startles by its passion and evocative power, by its understanding of the ways in which a total, deep-rooted commitment to place or to a dream can at once liberate and imprison. It is a story of childhood as both Eden and anguish, and of growing up as a journey toward the difficult life of the free.
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2.50 USD
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Cowell, Simon I Don't Mean to Be Rude, But...: Backstage Gossip from American Idol & the Secrets That Can Make You a Star
New York, New York, U.S.A. Broadway Books 2003 0767917413 / 9780767917414 Hard Cover Fine Fine 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" Tall
Like-new condition - Appears unread - NO remainder marks or price clippings - Tight spine - Bright pages - 246 pages - NO writing, marks or tears - Since the debut of American Idol, puckish Brit judge Simon Cowell has become America's most notorious critic -- not only on account of his incredible instinct for spotting the next breakout musical stars but also for his hilarious, shockingly candid repartee with everyone who crosses his path. Now, true to form, he holds nothing back, offering you a backstage pass to America's hottest show -- the highlights, the gossip, the contestants who blew their chances -- and takes you on a whirlwind tour of the music business while sharing his own insider opinions, on everything. From his days in the mailroom at EMI Records to the creation of American Idol, Simon has always had a knack for judging talent -- and for being center stage. Here, he tells the rollicking stories of his first insult (to his mother), his first music criticism (to his first-grade teacher Mrs. Jones), and his first image makeover (on his unfortunate younger brother). And, of course, the sidesplitting backstory of the birth of American Idol -- and all the dreadful auditions, bad hair days, judges' squabbles, juicy rumors, surprise triumphs, and #1 singles that followed. With his trademark with and brutal honesty, Simon delivers the real dish on: Who gave the best and worst performances on the show? What really goes on between the three judges (and what was it like to kiss Paula Abdul)? Who were the biggest divas when the cameras weren't rolling? And, if you're an aspiring Justin or J.Lo, you'll also learn the trade secrets that only Simon knows: how to develop an image and make the most of your talent, how to find an agent or manager, how to nail an audition, and -- should you be so lucky as to make it to the top -- how to stretch your 15 minutes into a career. Packed with razor-sharp insights into music, the fame game, and pop-music powerhouses from the Beatles to Britney Spears. I Don't Mean to Be Rude, But... is your ticket inside American Idol, and a highly amusing, no-holds-barred look at what it takes to make it big.
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5.00 USD
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Einstein, Albert; Harris, Alan (translation) The World As I See It
Citadel Press 1991 080650711X / 9780806507118 Trade Paperback Very Good Ex-Library 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall
Very-good, clean copy of this ex-libris book. FEWER than usual library marks. Only 2 pages have any indication that this is ex-libris. 112 pages. Tight spine, bright pages. NO tears inside book. Covers are clean (NO tears). 14 pages inside book have light writing/underlining. Does NOT interfere with reading. Synopsis The Einstein revealed in these writings is witty, keenly perceptive, and deeply concerned for humanity. Einstein believed in the possibility of a peaceful world and in the high mission of science to serve human well-being. As we near the end of a century in which science has come to seem more and more remote from human values, Einstein's perspective is indispensable.
Price:
2.28 USD
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16 |
Eiseley, Loren The Night Country
Charles Scribner's Sons 1971 0684132249 / 9780684132242 Trade Paperback Very Good 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall Fisher, Leonard Everett
Very-good condition NO remainder marks or price clippings - ONLY writing/mark inside book is previous owner's signature in book front on blank page "Wallace Jamison - 1993" NO tears inside book. Tight spine - Page-tanning. Illustrated - 241 pages
Price:
2.48 USD
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Fredericks, Emmi Fatal Distraction: Or How I Conquered My Addiction to Celebrities and Got a Life
St. Martin's Press 2004 0312312946 / 9780312312947 First Edition Hard Cover Fine Fine 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall
Near-new condition. NO writing, marks or tears inside book. Tight spine - Bright pages. Stated First Edition. NO remainder marks or price clippings. 290 pages. "My name is Eliza H., and I am a celebraholic." So begins this cautionary tale of how celebraholism can ruin one's life--or at least one's twenties. Once, Eliza dreamed of walking down the aisle (at the Oscars) and having a meaningful existence (every minute of which would be chronicled by People magazine). But by her twenties, her soaring ambitions have been reduced to friendships with two people who have some small chance at fame: Danny, a gorgeous and sadly untalented actor, and the unscrupulous Dinah, who has no attribute she will not exploit. Oh, and not to mention a lot of E! True Hollywood Stories and The National Enquirer. But when her boyfriend dumps her because she has no life, Eliza resolves to try to kick her celebraholism once and for all. Consulting a sham shrink and going cold turkey on People, Eliza seems to be on the rough road to recovery when the unexpected happens: Dinah's boyfriend, white rapper Lylo, is involved in a hit-and-run accident that claims the life of a beloved citizen--bringing Dinah tantalizingly close to fame...and jail. Can Eliza get Danny his big break as a cute but expendable sidekick in action flicks? Will she save Dinah from taking the fall? Or will this finally be the opportunity for the Barbara Walters interview she's waited for her whole life? Hip, humorous, and self-aware, this sublimely witty novel parodies today's cult of celebrity with hilarity and sympathy.
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4.50 USD
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Fynn Anna, Mister God and the Black Knight
HarperSanFrancisco 1991 0060625333 / 9780060625337 First Edition Hard Cover Fine Fine 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall Papas
Near-new condition - NO remainder marks or price clippings. ONLY writing/mark inside book is gift inscription in book front - on blank page. Nicely illustrated throughout by Papas. Tight spine - Bright pages. NO writing, marks or tears inside book. 176 pages. "The Long-Awaited Companion to Mister God, This is Anna."
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5.00 USD
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Kidder, Tracy Home Town
Random House Inc 1999 0679455884 / 9780679455882 First Edition Hard Cover Fine Fine 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall
Near-new condition. Appears unread. NO remainder marks or price clippings. Stated First Edition. 351 pages. Tight spine - Bright pages. NO writing, marks or tears inside book. In this book, one of America's masters of nonfiction takes us home - into Hometown, U.S.A., the town of Northampton, Massachusetts, and into the extraordinary, and the ordinary, lives that people live there. As Tracy Kidder reveals how, beneath its amiable surface, a small town is a place of startling complexity, he also explores what it takes to make a modern small city a success story. Weaving together compelling stories of individual lives, delving into a rich and varied past, moving among all the levels of Northampton's social hierarchy, Kidder reveals the sheer abundance of life contained within a town's narrow boundaries. Does the kind of small town that many Americans came from and long for, still exist? Kidder says yes, although not quite in the form we may imagine. A book about civilization in microcosm, Home Town makes us marvel afresh at the wonder of individuality, creativity, and civic order - how a disparate group of individuals can find common cause and a code of values that transforms a place into a home. And this book makes you feel you live there.
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5.00 USD
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