NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A searing, deeply moving memoir of illness and recovery that traces one young woman's journey from diagnosis to remission and, ultimately, a road trip of healing and self-discovery. "A work of breathtaking creativity."--Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat Pray Love"Elegant and heartbreaking."--Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of The Emperor of All Maladies"Mended parts I thought were forever disintegrated."--Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy"A propulsive, soulful story of mourning and gratitude."--Tara Westover, author of Educated In the summer after graduating from college, S... View More...
Astonishing in their lush realism and symbolic depth, the images in this book draw readers into the mysterious Forbidden City. This fictionalized memoir of Cixi, a former Imperial concubine who ruled behind the throne for nearly half a century, includes intimate details about daily court life and presents a sympathetic look at how this strong woman thrived in a male-dominated world. View More...
In 1925, the 22-year-old Kenneth Clark (1903-1983) and the legendary art critic and historian Bernard Berenson (1865-1959) met in Italy. From that moment, they began a correspondence that lasted until Berenson's death at age 94. This book makes available, for the first time, the complete correspondence between two of the most influential figures in the 20th-century art world, and gives a new and unique insight into their lives and motivations. The letters are arranged into ten chronological sections, each accompanied by biographical details and providing the context for the events and personal... View More...
A son's story of living in his father's shadow of genius tainted by depression Harry Abley was a nightmare of a father: depressive, self-absorbed, unpredictable, emotionally unstable. He was also a dream of a father: gentle, courageous, artistically gifted. Mark Abley, his only child, grew up in the shadow of music and mental illness. How he came to terms with this divided legacy, and how he learned to be a man in the absence of a traditional masculine role model, are central to this beautifully written memoir. This extraordinary story will speak to all those who love music, who struggle with ... View More...
""What can you do?" You can do a lot. You can support justice for all by speaking out loudly to your family, friends, community, politicians and religious leaders. You can support foundations that do good work. You can volunteer for humanitarian organizations. You can vote regressive politicians out of office. You can do many things to move the world toward greater harmony... "I know that what I have lost, what was taken from me, will never come back. But as a physician and a Muslim of deep faith, I need to move forward to the light, motivated by the spirits of those I lost. I need to bring th... View More...
1939: the Germans have invaded Poland. The keepers of the Warsaw zoo, Jan and Antonina Zabinski, survive the bombardment of the city, only to see the occupiers ruthlessly kill many of their animals. The Nazis then carry off the prized specimens to Berlin for their program to create the "purest" breeds, much as they saw themselves as the purest human race. Opposed to all the Nazis represented, the Zabinskis risked their lives by hiding Jews in the now-empty animal cages, saving as many as three hundred people from extermination. Acclaimed, best-selling author Diane Ackerman, fascinated both by ... View More...
1939: the Germans have invaded Poland. The keepers of the Warsaw zoo, Jan and Antonina Zabinski, survive the bombardment of the city, only to see the occupiers ruthlessly kill many of their animals. The Nazis then carry off the prized specimens to Berlin for their program to create the "purest" breeds, much as they saw themselves as the purest human race. Opposed to all the Nazis represented, the Zabinskis risked their lives by hiding Jews in the now-empty animal cages, saving as many as three hundred people from extermination. Acclaimed, best-selling author Diane Ackerman, fascinated both by ... View More...
Poet, painter, engraver and visionary, William Blake was a radical spirit fired by genius. This work shows Blake in the context of his period - caught up in the Gordon Riots, excited by the French Revolution and attracted by various forms of spiritual radicalism and sexual magic. It reveals the true affinities between Blake's art and his poetry, and recreates the atmosphere of 18th-century London. View More...
In 1851, struggling, self-taught physicist Leon Foucault performed a dramatic demonstration inside the Pantheon in Paris. By tracking a pendulum's path as it swung repeatedly across the interior of the large ceremonial hall, Foucault offered the first definitive proof -- before an audience that comprised the cream of Parisian society, including the future emperor, Napoleon III -- that the earth revolves on its axis.Through careful, primary research, world-renowned author Amir Aczel has revealed the life of a gifted physicist who had almost no formal education in science, and yet managed to suc... View More...
Among the important stories that need to be told about noteworthy Canadians, Lincoln Alexander's sits at the top of the list. Born in Toronto in 1922, the son of a maid and a railway porter, Alexander embarked on an exemplary life path that has involved military service for his country, a successful political career, a thriving law career, and vocal advocacy on subjects ranging from antiracism to the importance of education. In this biography, Shoveller traces a remarkable series of events from Alexander's early life to the present that helped shape the charismatic and influential leader whose... View More...
In this profoundly affecting memoir from the internationally renowned author of The Caged Virgin, Ayaan Hirsi Ali tells her life story, from her traditional Muslim childhood in Somalia to her intellectual awakening in the Netherlands to her life under armed guard in the West. View More...
The Harry Potter Books Were Just The Beginning of the Story... During the brief span of just one decade, hundreds of millions of perfectly ordinary people made history: they became the only ones who would remember what it was like when the Harry Potter saga was still unfinished. What it was like to seek out friends, families, online forums, fan fiction, and podcasts to get a fix between novels. When the potential death of a character was a hotter bet than the World Series. When the unfolding story of a boy wizard changed the way books are read for all time. And as webmistress of the Leaky... View More...
