Other books that might interest you

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  Algren - A Life

  Mary Wisniewski

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  Chicago Writers Association Nonfiction Book of the Year (2017) Society of Midland Authors Literary Award in Biography (2017)
  
  A tireless champion of the downtrodden, Nelson Algren, one of the most celebrated writers of the 20th century, lived an outsider's life himself. He spent a month in prison as a young man for the theft of a typewriter; his involvement in Marxist groups earned him a lengthy FBI dossier; and he spent much of his life palling around with the sorts of drug addicts, prostitutes, and poor laborers who inspired and populated his novels and short stories. Most today know Algren as the radical, womanizing writer of The Man with the Golden Arm, which won the first National Book Award, in 1950, but award-winning reporter Mary Wisniewski offers a deeper portrait. Starting with his childhood in the City of Big Shoulders, Algren sheds new light on the writer's most momentous periods, from his on-again-off-again work for the WPA to his stint as an uninspired soldier in World War II to his long-distance affair with his most famous lover, Simone de Beauvoir, to the sense of community and acceptance Algren found in the artist colony of Sag Harbor before his death in 1981. Wisniewski interviewed dozens of Algren's closest friends and inner circle, including photographer Art Shay and author and historian Studs Terkel, and tracked down much of his unpublished writing and correspondence. She unearths new details about the writer's life, work, personality, and habits and reveals a funny, sensitive, and romantic but sometimes exasperating, insecure, and self-destructive artist. The first new biography of Algren in over 25 years, this fresh look at the man whose unique style and compassionate message enchanted readers and fellow writers and whose boyish charm seduced many women is indispensable to anyone interested in 20-century American literature and history.

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  Rhythm & Fire - A Life in...

  Ralph Johnson, Rory Pullens, ...

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  "As a member of EWF during its heyday, Johnson was arguably the band’s most important member … A gentle reminiscence about a hard-driving pop act."—Kirkus Reviews  
    
  Embrace over fifty years of Earth, Wind & Fire through percussionist and vocalist Ralph Johnson’s profound memoir. Ralph has seen it all and, for the first time, shares the inside story of their rise to fame through uplifting music, the challenges of the music industry, and the iconic mega band’s mission to ascend themselves and listeners to greater heights. 
    
  Rhythm & Fire is a roadmap of music, resilience, and reflection as Ralph Johnson digs deep to tell the motivational story of Earth, Wind & Fire, from humble roots to worldwide fame and success. 
    
  Ralph began his drumming craft absorbing the vibrant energy of the ’60s and ’70s Los Angeles music culture where family and faith built the band’s strong foundation. With the aid of founding vocalist Maurice White, they swear off the era’s vices of excessive drugs and sex, instead aspiring to create powerful music of spirituality, hope, and soulfulness. Through this artistic exploration and their goal of spreading positive influence, their music propelled them around the world. 
    
  While the band was as strong as Earth and ascended like the Wind, they faced their share of Fire as Ralph provides real insight into the band’s struggles (such as Maurice’s abrupt hiatus, leaving their future uncertain) and the years of personal evolution needed to reclaim their triumphs. As Ralph and the other bandmates learned to persevere individually, they found a renewed purpose and reignited the band, keeping their shining star ever bright. 
    
  Ralph Johnson’s genuine and inspiring stories delve into the deeper meanings of fame, success, faith, and community, proving why, even after fifty years of Earth, Wind & Fire, the band and its message still resonates with fans around the world today.

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  Designing Terry Pratchett’s...

  Paul Kidby

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  A brilliant fully illustrated biography that brings Terry Pratchett’s universally beloved Discworld to life as never before and pays tribute to an enduring creative collaboration. 
  “It's still magic, even if you know how it's done.” –Sir Terry Pratchett 
  Designing Terry Pratchett’s Discworld is a celebration of Discworld art and a brilliant homage to the decades-long collaboration between artist Paul Kidby and Sir Terry Pratchett that takes readers behind the scenes of one of the great creative partnerships. 
  It shows how the Discworld was brought to visual life—from the earliest sketches to the final magnificent masterpieces—and how Pratchett and Kidby were influenced by art and pop culture, fusing them into the Discworld universe. While Pratchett was the undisputed creative fountainhead, for three decades Kidby has been the artistic force taking the people, places, and pieces of man-eating luggage from Terry's ever-fertile imagination right into our world. 
  Packed with never-before-seen art and the stories behind it, it is a must-have for Pratchett fans of all ages. 
  Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

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  A Fabulous Thru-Hike - 3100...

  Derick Lugo

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  New York City native Derick Lugo's life changed in 2012 when he spontaneously decided to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. In the years that followed, he became an advocate for the outdoors and eventually set out on his second thru-hike—this time on the Continental Divide Trail, one of the most challenging long trails in the world.A Fabulous Thru-Hike: 3,100 Miles on the Continental Divide Trail is the relatable, laugh-out-loud story of Derick Lugo's six-month adventure. From the deserts of New Mexico to the rugged mountains of Montana, Derick confronts heat sickness, vertigo, and self-doubt—all with his trademark optimism. There are plenty of missteps and hard lessons, but also classic moments of trail magic, natural beauty, and deep friendships.Capturing both the grueling reality and transformative beauty of life on the CDT, Lugo invites listeners along for a journey that is both inspiring and entertaining. Whether he's questioning his choices on a sun-scorched ridgeline or finding joy in a package of Oreos, A Fabulous Thru-Hike is a celebration of perseverance, self-discovery, and the courage to keep moving forward.

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  Radical - A Life of My Own

  Xiaolu Guo

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  Xiaolu Guo has been lauded as a "voice . . . speaking with full freedom" (Wall Street Journal), which has made her one of the most acclaimed Chinese-born writers of her generation. Her new memoir, Radical, is an exploration of a city, an electrically honest rendering of what it means to be an outsider, and the sojourn that upended her sense of self as a woman, partner, mother, and artist. 
   
   
   
  The world can seem strange and lonely when you step away from your family and everything you have built for yourself. Yet beauty may also appear. In the autumn of 2019, Guo traveled to New York to take up her position as a visiting professor for a year, leaving her child and partner behind in London. What she experienced, however, amidst excursions throughout the city and time spent on her own, was solitude and a destabilizing of self. Her encounter with American culture and people threatened her sense of identity and threw her into a crisis—of meaning, desire, obligation, and selfhood. 
   
   
   
  Radicals, or bushous, are the building blocks of Chinese characters; they are the “root” from which all words get their meaning. In this feminist lexicon, as she threads together her search for creative and personal freedom, Guo illuminates the integral role language plays in forming our sense of self.

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  Best British Short Stories 2024

  Nicholas Royle

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  The nation's favourite annual guide to the short story, now in its fourteenth year
  Inspired by Giles Gordon and David Hughes's Best Short Stories series, which ran to ten volumes between 1986 and 1995, Best British Short Stories this year reaches its thirteenth volume.
  Best British Short Stories 2024 showcases an excellent and varied selection of stories, by British writers, first published during 2023 in magazines, journals, anthologies, collections, chapbooks and online.
  'If the latest iteration of Salt's Best British Short Stories collection is anything to go by then the genre remains in safe hands.' —Lawrence Foley, TLS

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