Other books that might interest you

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  Molly Brown from Hannibal...

  Ken Marks, Lisa Marks

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  The real story of the “unsinkable” Titanic survivor and her early life in the Midwest. 
   
  In the film version of the life of the “Unsinkable Molly Brown,” she is rescued from the Colorado River and raised in the Rocky Mountains, but the actual Margaret Tobin Brown was born and raised in Hannibal, Missouri. Her formative years took place in the town’s Gilded Age; the railroad brought in lumber barons, and as the wealth of Hannibal grew, so too did the dreams of young Margaret, who would go on to fight for women’s rights, help build a cathedral, and more.  
   
  Even though her future career as a philanthropist and socialite would span continents and she would become most famous for surviving the sinking of the Titanic, Molly Brown was always proud to be from Hannibal, and this is the true story of her life in the Midwestern town.

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  I'll Never Be French - Living in...

  Mark Greenside

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  This memoir of moving to a tiny Breton village is “a charming story about growing wiser, humbler and more human through home owning in a foreign land” (Publishers Weekly). 
   
  When Mark Greenside—a native New Yorker living in California, political lefty, writer, and lifelong skeptic—is dragged by his girlfriend to a tiny Celtic village in Brittany at the westernmost edge of France in Finistère, or what he describes as “the end of the world,” his life begins to change. 
   
  In a playful, headlong style, and with enormous affection for the Bretons, Greenside shares how he makes a life for himself in a country where he doesn’t speak the language or understand the culture. He gradually places his trust in the villagers he encounters—neighbors, workers, acquaintances—and he’s consistently won over and surprised as he manages to survive day-to-day trials. From opening a bank account and buying a house to removing a beehive from the chimney, he begins to learn the cultural ropes, live among his neighbors, and make new friends. 
   
  Until he came to this town, Greenside was lost, moving through life without a plan, already in his forties with little money and no house. He lived as a skeptic who seldom trusted others and had an inclination to be alone. So when he settles into the rhythm of this new culture—against the backdrop of Brittany’s gorgeous architecture and breathtaking landscapes—not only does he find a home and meaningful relationships in this French countryside, he finds himself. 
   
  I’ll Never Be French (no matter what I do) is both a new beginning and a homecoming for Greenside. It is a memoir about fitting in, not standing out; being part of something larger, not being separate from it; following, not leading. He has never regretted his journey and, as he advises those searching for their next adventure, neither will you. 
   
  “Funny, insightful, and winningly self-deprecatory.” —Lydia Davis, author of the National Book Award finalist Varieties of Disturbance 
   
  “Heartwarming.” —San Francisco Chronicle 
   
  “One of the nicest of the trillions of books about France.” —Diane Johnson, New York Times–bestselling author of Lorna Mott Comes Home 
   
  “A funny, funny book.” —Detroit Free Press

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  Disappeared for Good - A Memoir...

  Jeanne Griener

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  In January 1972, my beloved teen brother, Richard, was late coming home from sledding. Extensive searches yielded no indication of Richard’s whereabouts. No one reported seeing or hearing anything that helped. We found no sled, no gloves, no hat… 
  And no Richard.                         
  He had vanished without a trace. There was not one solid clue for my parents or the police to investigate. How did life go on after a loved one goes missing? My 11-year-old self was grieved and confused. Was Richard someone’s captive? Was he being hurt? Would the police advocate for Richard? Who could I trust? Who would help? What was now a normal day? Life became insane. 
  So began an endless cycle of searches, ransom calls, and police investigations. Unanswered questions swirled with dashed hopes to make a slurry of heartache. I blocked out the trauma. The ever-present need for closure left me anxious and angry. I was angry with the police, my parents, myself, and, even God. My faith in Jesus, fragile as a snowflake, had melted. 
  Did God overlook evil? Did I have to forgive? Who received Mercy? And what about Justice? As I matured, my yearning for these answers actually led me to find Jesus as Lord. Together we traversed these faith-crushing questions to glean true faith. 
  Despite years of living in the traumatic chaos of an unsolved crime against my family, I found answers in Jesus. I hope my journey of faith will inspire you to find God’s Goodness. His Love never fails.

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  The Lives of Isaac Stern

  David Schoenbaum

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  No single American could personify what Henry Luce called the American Century. But over his eighty-one years, Isaac Stern came closer than most. Russian-Jewish parents brought him to San Francisco at ten months; practice and talent got him to Carnegie Hall, critical acclaim, and the attention of the legendary impresario Sol Hurok at twenty-five.As America came of age, so too did Stern. He would go on to make music on five continents, records in formats from 78 rpm to digital, and friends as different as Frank Sinatra and Sir Isaiah Berlin. An unofficial cultural ambassador for Cold War America, he toured the world from Tokyo to Tehran and Tbilisi. He also shaped public policy from New York and Washington to Jerusalem and Shanghai. His passion for developing young talents—including Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, and Midori—led him to loan instruments to needy players, broker gigs for Soviet émigrés, and reply in person to inquiring fifth-graders.David Schoenbaum traces Stern's sixty-year career from his formative years in San Francisco to concurrent careers as an activist, public citizen, chairman, and cultural leader in the Jewish community. Wide-ranging yet intimate, The Lives of Isaac Stern is a portrait of an artist and statesman who began as an American dreamer and left a lasting inheritance to his art, profession, and the world.

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  Chicago's Deadliest Side -...

  Ron Hoskin, ronald hoskin

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  This book is a description of events that have occurred at the ground truth of violence that happens on Chicago's west side mean streets. There are various reasons for these events be they economic, environmental, or personal.Like war stories the most accurate accounts are from the soldiers who were there. I was There. For many years before leaving my porch I would ask myself "I wonder if it's my turn to die today".

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  Visions and Revisions

  Dale Peck

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  Part memoir, part extended essay, Visions and Revisions is a revolutionary look  at the 1990s AIDS epidemic from "one of our most adventurous and singularly  talented writers working today" (San Francisco Chronicle).  Reminiscent of Joan Didion's "White Album" or Kurt Vonnegut's Palm Sunday,   Visions and Revisionsis a collage-style portrait of a tumultuous era that puts the reader  on the streets of NYC during the early 90s AIDS crisis, also touching on such diverse  subjects as the serial murders of gay men, Peck's first loves upon coming out, and the  transformation of LGBT people from marginal, idealistic fighters to their present place in  a world of widespread, if fraught, mainstream acceptance.  Visions and Revisionscapitalizes on a wave of increased interest in the HIV/AIDS epidemic,  with the recent premiere of the groundbreaking AIDS documentary How to Survive a Plague.  This is the first memoir by one of our most controversial contemporary writers, and it offers a  jarring, street-level portrait of AIDS activism in the 1990s.  Visions and Revisions will follow the Soho Press reissue of Dale Peck's debut novel, Martin and  John, which received stunning critical praise, as well as our release of a new anthology he is  editing.    Novelist and critic Dale Peck's latest work--part memoir, part extended essay--is a foray into what the author calls "the second  half of the first half AIDS epidemic," i.e., the period between 1987, when the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) was  founded, and 1996, when the advent of combination therapy transformed AIDS from a virtual death sentence into a chronic  manageable illness.  Visions and Revisionshas been assembled from more than a dozen essays and articles that have been extensively rewritten  and recombined to form a sweeping, collage-style portrait of a tumultuous era. Moving seamlessly from the lyrical to the  analytical to the reportorial, Peck's story takes readers from the serial killings of gay men in New York, London and Milwaukee,  through Peck's first loves upon coming out of the closet, to the transformation of LGBT people from marginal, idealistic fighters to  their present place in a world of widespread, if fraught, mainstream acceptance.  The narrative pays particular attention the words and deeds of AIDS activists, offering up a street-level portrait of ACT UP  together with considerations of AIDS-centered fiction and criticism of the era, as well as intimate, sometimes elegiac portraits of  artists, activists, and HIV-positive people Peck knew. Peck's fiery rhetoric against a government that sat on its hands for the first  several years of the epidemic is tinged with the idealism of a young gay man discovering his political, artistic, and sexual identity.  The result is a book that is as rich in ideas as it is in feeling.  A visionary and indispensable work from one of America's most brilliant and controversial authors.

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