Other books that might interest you

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  Hedy Lamarr: The Life and Legacy...

  Charles River Editors

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  During the first half of the 20th century, American crowds developed a fascination with foreign actors whose native accents lent an enhanced air of mystery to their on-screen personae. Greta Garbo, Ingrid Bergman, and Marlene Dietrich, all European-born, ruled at the box office. Amid their prolific careers stood the curious case of Hedy Lamarr, acclaimed as the most beautiful star of her time, and living with a professional pastime that looms large in the modern day as new information technology emerges. 	The “Big Five” movie studios all have roots in these years, including Universal Studios, Paramount, Warner Brothers, Columbia, and even Disney. In the early days, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was created in a merger between Metro, belonging to Marcus Loew, one owned by Louis B. Mayer, and a third enterprise resulting in the still-famous logo of the MGM lion. In the United States and overseas, agents and studio heads were on the lookout for talent, and Western agents flooded Europe searching for the next foreign heartthrob. 
  	In an age less socially sensitive to matters of gender, the Austrian-born Lamarr, then hailed as “the most beautiful woman in the world,” dared to possess a daunting intellect and the mind of a scientist. For the cinematic peddlers of escapist on-screen seduction, such a problematic reality required total public suppression. As such, people are only now becoming aware of Lamarr’s scientific designs that led to the development of the globe’s most ubiquitous communications network, the internet, mobile phones, GPS, and Bluetooth, not to mention military and satellite technologies. Much of Lamarr’s early life and the seeming paradox of it was well-documented in Richard Rhodes Hedy’s Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World.

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  Deconstructing Sammy - Music...

  Matt Birkbeck

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  Sammy Davis Jr. lived a storied life. Adored by millions over a six-decade-long career, he was considered an entertainment icon and a national treasure. But despite lifetime earnings that topped $50 million, Sammy died in 1990 near bankruptcy. His estate was declared insolvent, and there was no possibility of it ever using Sammy's name or likeness again. It was as if Sammy had never existed.Years later his wife, Altovise, a once-vivacious woman and heir to one of the greatest entertainment legacies of the 20th century, was living in poverty, and with nowhere else to go, she turned to a former federal prosecutor, Albert "Sonny" Murray, to make one last attempt to resolve Sammy's debts, restore his estate, and revive his legacy. For seven years Sonny probed Sammy's life to understand how someone of great notoriety and wealth could have lost everything, and in the process he came to understand Sammy as a man whose complexity makes for a riveting work of celebrity biography as cultural history.Matt Birkbeck's serious work of investigative journalism unveils the extraordinary story of an international celebrity at the center of a confluence of entertainment, politics, and organized crime, and shows how even Sammy's outsized talent couldn't save him from himself.A HarperAudio production.

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  Bottled - A Mom's Guide to Early...

  Dana Bowman

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  An unflinching and hilarious memoir about recovery as a mother of young kids, Bottled explains the perils moms face with drinking and chronicles the author's path to recovery, from hitting bottom to the months of early sobriety — a blur of pain and chaos — to her now (in)frequent moments of peace.Punctuated by potent, laugh-out-loud sarcasm, Bottled offers practical suggestions on how to be a sober, present-in-the-moment mom, one day at a time, and provides much needed levity on an issue too often treated with deadly seriousness.

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  Japan - Culture Smart!: The...

  Paul Norbury

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  The Japanese people have always seen themselves as a nation uniquely apart. Their exquisite art forms and elegant culture, military prowess and technological precision, have long been the envy of friend and foe alike. Today, even as Japan adapts to a rapidly changing world, its traditional culture and consensus-based philosophy have proved remarkably resilient. 
  
  Culture Smart! Japan will broaden your perception and understanding of this complex, rich, and dynamic society. It will guide you through modern Japan’s shifting social and cultural maze and equip you with the tools to avoid the pitfalls of cultural misunderstanding. It provides practical tips and invaluable insights into people’s attitudes and behavior to help make your visit a more meaningful and successful experience.

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  Lessons From the Bench -...

  Gillian Hussey

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  When Gillian Hussey started out in Bridewell District Court in 1984, little did she realise that she would deal with some of the most notorious criminals in Ireland, including the Kinahans, the Cahills, 'The Monk' and John Gilligan.
  As one of Ireland's first female judges, Gillian was very much a woman in a man's world. Unafraid to look beyond the courtroom, she always sought to better understand the human – not just the criminal – who stood before her in the dock. Through her work, Gillian spent a lifetime learning about people, society and herself.
  This fascinating insight into the career of a trailblazing woman reveals the inner workings of Ireland's criminal courts, explores the changes in Irish society and shares some timeless truths learned from almost twenty years on the bench.

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  A Life of Dante

  Benedict Flynn

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  Dante’s vision The Divine Comedy has profoundly affected every generation since it first appeared in the early fourteenth century. Here is a brief account of his life, compiled from various sources (including his first biographer, Boccaccio) by Benedict Flynn, whose new translation of the Comedy on Naxos AudioBooks, read by Heathcote Williams, has been widely acclaimed. It sets the known facts of Dante’s life against the turmoil of the times, and puts the very personal nature of his poetry into perspective.

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