Other books that might interest you

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  Lou Gehrig - Pride of the Yankees

  Paul Gallico

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  A touching tribute to one of the greatest ballplayers of all time  For seventeen seasons, Lou Gehrig was the heart and soul of the New York Yankees. The power-hitting first baseman donned the pinstripes for 2,130 consecutive games, a streak that earned him the nickname “the Iron Horse” and went unbroken for more than five decades. World Series champion, All-Star, American League Most Valuable Player, Triple Crown winner—the list of Gehrig’s on-field achievements is spectacular. But he is best remembered for the grace and the strength with which he faced an insurmountable challenge off the field: the disease that ended his career and which now bears his name.   When he retired on April 30, 1939, Lou Gehrig called himself “the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” His words continue to resonate more than seventy-five years after they were spoken. In this heartfelt biography, which was the basis for the Academy Award–winning film The Pride of the Yankees, starring Gary Cooper, legendary sportswriter Paul Gallico tells the story of how a son of German immigrants rose to the pinnacle of greatness in America’s pastime and inspired the nation as no other athlete ever has.

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  A Radiant Life - The Selected...

  Nuala O'Faolain

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  Writings from the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Are You Somebody?, on topics from Catholicism to feminism to Irish American culture, and more.    Curious and funny, tender and scathing, Nuala O’Faolain’s columns in the Irish Times were never less than trenchant and always passionate. Through the prism of casual, everyday encounters, O’Faolain digs into her subjects in ways that transcend topicality. Taken together, her years of commentary form a historical narrative, a chronicle of Ireland’s transformation by one of its sharpest observers and canniest critics.   Covering a vast array of subjects, A Radiant Life includes more than seventy entries, showcasing the unequivocal voice of Nuala O’Faolain, hailed by Irish Times literary editor Fintan O’Toole as “one of the greatest columnists to ever inhabit the English language.”   “O’Faolain . . . writes with such precision and individuality that she could make the copy on the back of a cornflakes packet compelling.” —The Guardian on Almost There

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  Chancing It - The Laws of Chance...

  Robert Matthews

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  Over the years, some very smart people have thought they understood the rules of chance—only to fail dismally. Whether you call it probability, risk, or uncertainty, the workings of chance often defy common sense. Fortunately, advances in math and science have revealed the laws of chance, and understanding those laws can help in your everyday life. 
   
  In Chancing It, award-winning scientist and writer Robert Matthews shows how to understand the laws of probability and use them to your advantage. He gives you access to some of the most potent intellectual tools ever developed and explains how to use them to guide your judgments and decisions. By the end of the book, you will know:How to understand and even predict coincidencesWhen an insurance policy is worth havingWhy "expert" predictions are often misleadingHow to tell when a scientific claim is a breakthrough or baloneyWhen it makes sense to place a bet on anything from sports to stock markets 
  A groundbreaking introduction to the power of probability, Chancing It will sharpen your decision-making and maximize your luck.

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  There's Nothing in This Book...

  Paula Poundstone

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  Part memoir, part monologue, with a dash of startling honesty, There's Nothing in This Book That I Meant to Say features biographies of legendary historical figures from which Paula Poundstone can't help digressing to tell her own story. Mining gold from the lives of Abraham Lincoln, Helen Keller, Joan of Arc, and Beethoven, among others, the eccentric and utterly inimitable mind of Paula Poundstone dissects, observes, and comments on the successes and failures of her own life with surprising candor and spot-on comedic timing in this unique laugh-out-loud book. 
  If you like Paula Poundstone's ironic and blindingly intelligent humor, you'll love this wryly observant, funny, and touching book.

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  Dance or Die - From Stateless...

  Ahmad Joudeh

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  A Syria-born dancer offers his deeply personal story of war, statelessness, and the pursuit of the art of dance in this inspirational memoir. Dance or Die is an autobiographical coming-of-age account of Ahmad Joudeh, a young refugee who grows up in Damascus with dreams of becoming a dancer. When he is recruited by one of Syria's top dance companies, neither bombs nor family opposition can keep him from taking classes, practicing hard, and becoming a Middle Eastern celebrity on a Lebanese reality show. Despite death threats if Ahmad continues to dance, his father kicking him out of the house, and the war around him intensifying, he persists and even gets a tattoo on his neck right where the executioner's blade would fall that says, "Dance or Die."  A powerful look at refugee life in Syria, Dance or Die tells of the pursuit of personal expression in the most dangerous of circumstances and of the power of art to transcend war and suffering. It follows Ahmad from Damascus to Beirut to Amsterdam, where he finds a home with one of Europe's top ballet troupes, and from where he continues to fight for the human rights of refugees everywhere through his art, his activism, and his commitment to justice.

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  Journey Among Brave Men

  Dana Adams Schmidt

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  A gripping account of an award-winning journalist’s journey into the heart of rebel territory during the First Iraqi-Kurdish War.   On July 4, 1962, New York Times foreign correspondent Dana Adams Schmidt left his post in Beirut to be voluntarily smuggled into Iraqi Kurdistan. It was the beginning of a nearly two-month journey that would climax in a days-long visit with the leader of the Kurdish rebellion, the most loved and feared man in Kurdistan, Mullah Mustafa Barzani.   Accompanied by armed Kurdish guides and a 72-year-old Turkish interpreter, the six-feet-three-inch, seersucker-suit-clad Schmidt traveled, often at night, a secret route by foot, mule, horse and, on two occasions, jeep into the high Kurdish mountains to report on “the fightingest people in the Middle East” as no foreign journalist had done before. The physical dangers were acute—his group was strafed more than once by the Iraqi air force. Along the way, Schmidt learned about the history and culture of the Kurds, whose cause Barzani hoped Schmidt could convey to the world.   Originally published in 1964 and now back in print with a new foreword by historian Charles Glass, Journey Among Brave Men is an enduring testament to the power of audacious journalism and to the strong will of the Kurds, an embattled people who remain in search of an independent state today.   “One can only marvel at the author’s indefatigable industry and power of enthusi­asm, which makes him one of the most reliable of all daily paper reporters . . . An excellent, fair and patently honest piece of work.”—The New York Times

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