Altri libri che potrebbero interessarti

• 

  The Flats

  Michael Stephanic

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  The Flats is a delightful, humorous romp through the lives of a coal miner’s patchwork family in the early 1950s. Tucked away in a secluded area of Pennsylvania’s majestic Allegheny Mountains, Michael Stephanic learns to navigate the many obstacles of a dysfunctional family. Together with his stepfather John, his mother Julia and his sister Turtle, life is nothing less than one amazing adventure after another. Even when dark clouds gather and dangerous, physical and emotional storms roll in, life is still an exciting world of discovery when seen through the eyes of a six-year-old. But something sinister threatens to tear Michael’s young world apart, and even the strongest love can’t overcome overwhelming odds.

  Mostra libro

• 

  A Question of Freedom - A Memoir...

  Reginald Dwayne Betts

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  At the age of sixteen, R. Dwayne Betts—a good student from a lower-middle-class family—carjacked a man with a friend. He had never held a gun before, but within a matter of minutes he had committed six felonies. In Virginia, carjacking is a "certifiable" offense, meaning that Betts would be treated as an adult under state law. A bright young kid, he served his nine-year sentence as part of the adult population in some of the worst prisons in the state. 
  A Question of Freedom chronicles Betts's years in prison, reflecting back on his crime and looking ahead to how his experiences and the books he discovered while incarcerated would define him. Utterly alone, Betts confronts profound questions about violence, freedom, crime, race, and the justice system. Confined by cinder-block walls and barbed wire, he discovers the power of language through books, poetry, and his own pen. Above all, A Question of Freedom is about a quest for identity—one that guarantees Betts's survival in a hostile environment and that incorporates an understanding of how his own past led to the moment of his crime.

  Mostra libro

• 

  Playin' Possum - My Memories of...

  Nancy Jones, Ken Abraham

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  In Playin' Possum, readers get an intimate look at country music legend George Jones through the eyes of his wife of thirty years.  
  Ask anyone who knows country music, “Who was the GOAT—the greatest of all time?” and the answers will inevitably lead to George Jones.  
  Millions of people know the name of the iconic country music artist, George Jones, but few people know that behind the man and his golden voice was a strong, feisty woman who not only saved his life from cocaine addiction, alcoholism, and other abusive and self-destructive behaviors, but also was instrumental in saving his soul.  
  Legends, half-truths, and downright lies abound about the iconic singer, but what secrets do people not know about him? What was it like to live with him through the darkest shadows and in the brightest of lights?  
  Married for more than thirty years to the greatest country music singer who ever lived, the man Frank Sinatra had whimsically referred to as “the second-greatest singer in America,” Nancy Jones knew George Jones better than anyone else on earth—the good George and the bad George, the horrendous, and the hilarious. George and Nancy married March 4, 1983, and with her help and encouragement, he quit his wild and wicked ways—for a while. Nancy soon learned, however, that the demons held a strong grip on the man she loved, and they were not about to release him without a fight. But Nancy Jones is a tenacious fighter, and most people who knew “the Possum,” credit Nancy with saving his life and rebuilding his career.  
  For the first time, in Playin' Possum, Nancy Jones reveals the true “insider” perspectives and little known poignant and as well as humorous stories about the country music icon—his battles with cocaine, alcohol, abusive behavior toward her and others, his battles with himself, and most of all, his battles against the demons that sought to control him and ultimately destroy him.

  Mostra libro

• 

  The Humorous Short Stories of...

  Mark Twain

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  This delightful collection of gems by Mark Twain begins with the story of a town called Hadleyburg, which prides itself on the honesty of its citizens. One day a citizen of Hadleyburg offends a stranger passing through, who vows to take his revenge by revealing just how corruptible the sanctimonious town really is. Twain is at his best here, poking fun at common hypocrisy as the self-satisfied pillars of the community are done in by their own greed. 
  Other stories in the collection include: 1. The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg2. The Double Barrelled Detective Story3. The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County4. The Million Dollar Bank Note5. Benton and Mills6. A Tale7. Cannibalism in the Cars8. The Stolen White Elephant9. The Man Who Put Up at Gadsby's10. The Good Little Boy11. The Bad Little Boy12. Baker's Blue Jay Yarn

  Mostra libro

• 

  A Cruel Captivity - Prisoners of...

  Ellie Taylor

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  “The harrowing story of the brutality and cruelty of life in a Japanese POW camp has been told in many books but this is a novel and sensitive presentation.” —Firetrench   Differing in a number of respects from other moving POW accounts, this book covers the experiences of twenty-two servicemen from the Army, Royal Navy, RAF and volunteer forces who were held captive in numerous locations through South East Asia including Thailand, Burma, Hong Kong, the Spice Islands and Japan itself. Some had to endure the inhumane conditions during hazardous journeys on the hellships and all suffered appalling cruelty, starvation, disease and prolonged degradation on an epic scale. Yet these were the fortunate ones—many thousands perished and their graves were unmarked.   The book also examines the differing mental and physical effects that the prisoners’ captors’ cruel treatment had on them. The author’s handling of the “legacy” of their experiences during the post-war years makes this moving book particularly important. For a full understanding of this dreadful aspect of the Second World War, A Cruel Captivity is a must-read.  “Ellie Taylor has produced a poignant tale of not only the suffering of these men but of the comradeship that sustained the survivors. The work has been well researched and help was received from the Imperial War Museum, Java FEPOW club and the Thai Burma Railway Centre.” —The Army Rumour Service (ARRSE)

  Mostra libro

• 

  Biting the Hand - Growing Up...

  Julia Lee

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  "Lee's narration of her brilliant memoir is penetrating with insight, raw with confessions, radiant with fury. Her meticulous writing is already stupendous, but the unguarded emotions that flow through her candid voice are a remarkable enhancement. Her tears of frustration and gratitude will surely prove contagious." - Booklist (starred review)"Lee's narration is powerful. She communicates all of her anger and frustration at the racism she experiences and sees around her. She shatters the idea that Asian Americans are the 'model minority', clearly laying out her points while also imbuing her performance with intense emotions that come from living in America's racist society." - AudioFile MagazineThis program is read by the author.In the vein of Eloquent Rage and Minor Feelings—a passionate, no-holds-barred memoir about the Asian American experience in a nation defined by racial stratificationWhen Julia Lee was fifteen, her hometown went up in smoke during the 1992 Los Angeles riots. The daughter of Korean immigrant store owners in a predominantly Black neighborhood, Julia was taught to be grateful for the privilege afforded to her. However, the acquittal of four white police officers in the beating of Rodney King, following the murder of Latasha Harlins by a Korean shopkeeper, forced Julia to question her racial identity and complicity. She was neither Black nor white. So who was she?This question would follow Julia for years to come, resurfacing as she traded in her tumultuous childhood for the white upper echelon of elite academia. It was only when she began a PhD in English that she found answers—not in the Brontës or Austen, as Julia had planned, but rather in the brilliant prose of writers like James Baldwin and Toni Morrison. Their works gave Julia the vocabulary and, more important, the permission to critically examine her own tortured position as an Asian American, setting off a powerful journey of racial reckoning, atonement, and self-discovery that has shaped her adult life.With prose by turns scathing and heart-wrenching, Julia Lee lays bare the complex disorientation and shame that stems from this country’s imposed racial hierarchy to argue that Asian Americans must leverage their liminality for lasting social change alongside Black and brown communities.A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt & Company.

  Mostra libro