Other books that might interest you

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  The Hidden Face of the Dalai-Lama

  Maxime Vivas

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  A Nobel Peace Prize winner who embodies the martyrdom of Tibet, beneath the Chinese yoke. The very image of wisdom, who brings people together all over the world. Sacred and adored—who would dare question this living god who claims to carry within himself the hope of freedom for an entire people? Maxime Vivas dares to attack the myth. What if the Dalai Lama was nothing more than a theocrat, who fills the coffers of his palaces with gold while the Tibetans are mere slaves who are denied even an education? What if he is the good opportunist who is sometimes a friend, sometimes an enemy of the Chinese? What if he was puppet of the Americans and the CIA, rather than an advocate for the Tibetans he claims to defend? Based on the words of the Dalai Lama, on the testimonies of proselytes and on his own trip to Tibet, the author paints a vitriolic portrait of "His Holiness" and shows us that all is not so Zen in the kingdom of the Buddha. Maxime Vivas is a journalist and co-administrator of the alternative information website legrandsoir.info. He also hosts a cultural program on several radio stations and was a literary advisor for ATTAC-France. 
  This audiobook is read by a synthesized voice.

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  Johnny Cash and the Paradox of...

  Leigh H. Edwards

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  Throughout his career, Johnny Cash was depicted — and depicted himself — as a walking contradiction: social protestor and establishment patriot, drugged wildman and devout Christian crusader, rebel outlaw hillbilly thug and elder statesman.  
  Leigh H. Edwards explores the allure of this paradoxical image and its cultural significance. She argues that Cash embodied irresolvable contradictions of American identity that reflect foundational issues in the American experience, such as the tensions between freedom and patriotism, individual rights and nationalism, the sacred and the profane. She illustrates how this model of ambivalence is a vital paradigm for American popular music, and for American identity in general.  
  Making use of sources such as Cash's autobiographies, lyrics, music, liner notes, and interviews, Edwards pays equal attention to depictions of Cash by others, such as Vivian Cash's publication of his letters to her, documentaries and music journalism about him, Walk the Line, and fan club materials found in the archives at the Country Music Foundation in Nashville, to create a full portrait of Cash and his significance as a cultural icon. The book is published by Indiana University Press.

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  Daughter of Spies

  Elizabeth Winthrop Alsop

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  As a child, Elizabeth Winthrop Alsop, along with her five brothers, was raised to revere the tribal legends of the Alsop and Roosevelt families. Her parents’ marriage, lived in the spotlight of 1950s Washington where the author’s father, journalist Stewart Alsop, grew increasingly famous, was not what either of her parents had imagined it would be. Her mother’s strict Catholicism and her father’s restless ambition collided to create a strangely muted and ominous world, one that mirrored the whispered conversations in the living room as the power brokers of Washington came and went through their side door. Through it all, her mother, trained to keep secrets as a decoding agent with MI5, said very little. In this brave memoir, the author explores who her mother was, why alcohol played such an important role in her mother’s life, and why her mother held herself apart from all her children, especially her only daughter. In the author’s journey to understand her parents, particularly her mother, she comes to realize that the secrets parents keep are the ones that reverberate most powerfully in the lives of their children.

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  Literary Philadelphia - A...

  Thom Nickels

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  “Peppered with many . . . unexpected literary treasures . . . A wonderful introduction to/overview of [Philadelphia’s] abundant literary heritage” (Philly.com).   Since Thomas Paine and Benjamin Franklin put type to printing press, Philadelphia has been a haven and an inspiration for writers. Local essayist Agnes Repplier once shared a glass of whiskey with Walt Whitman, who frequently strolled Market Street. Gothic writers like Edgar Allan Poe and George Lippard plumbed the city’s dark streets for material. In the twentieth century, Northern Liberties native John McIntyre found a backdrop for his gritty noir in the working-class neighborhoods, while novelist Pearl S. Buck discovered a creative sanctuary in Center City. From Quaker novelist Charles Brockden Brown to 1973 US poet laureate Daniel Hoffman, author Thom Nickels explores Philadelphia’s literary landscape.   Includes photos

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  Restavec - From Haitian Slave...

  Jean-Robert Cadet

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  This inspiring memoir recounts a man’s harrowing journey from unpaid child labor in Haiti to a successful life in the United States. 
   
  African slaves in Haiti emancipated themselves from French rule in 1804 and created the first independent black republic in the Western Hemisphere. But they reinstituted slavery for the most vulnerable members of Haitian society—the children of the poor—by using them as unpaid servants to the wealthy. These children were—and still are—restavecs, a French term whose literal meaning of "staying with" disguises the unremitting labor, abuse, and denial of education that characterizes the children's lives. 
   
  In this memoir, Jean-Robert Cadet recounts the harrowing story of his youth as a restavec, as well as his inspiring climb to middle-class American life. He vividly describes what it was like to be an unwanted illegitimate child "staying with" a well-to-do family whose physical and emotional abuse was sanctioned by Haitian society. He also details his subsequent life in the United States, where, despite American racism, he put himself through college and found success in the Army, in business, and finally in teaching.

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  First Into Action Again

  Duncan Falconer

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  The latest, gripping memoir from Duncan Falconer.

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