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Undisputed: A Champion's Life
Par Donovan Bailey. 2023
A memoir of Olympic glory, the value of mentorship and the courage to champion your own excellence, from the long-reigning…
world's fastest man, Canadian sprinting legend Donovan Bailey.From the lush fields of his boyhood in Jamaica, to the basketball courts of Oakville, where he came of age in one of Canada’s most thriving cultural mosaics, to his sprint toward double Olympic gold for Canada in Atlanta in 1996, Donovan Bailey got a long way on natural talent. But he also learned that in the bureaucratic world of Canadian sports, an athlete who didn't come up in the system needed to take charge of his fate if he was going to become the world’s best. As he ascended from outsider to dominant athlete, others didn’t always understand the rigour at work behind Bailey’s confident demeanour. He’d learned from watching Muhammad Ali that a champion needed to act like a champion. But media grew fixated on the sprinter’s immodesty, the likes of which they never saw from Canadian athletes, especially track athletes in the wake of the Ben Johnson doping scandal at Seoul in 1988. Bailey was having none of it, and when he called out Canada's subtle racism and contradicted the prevailing idea most Canadians had of their country, he left in his wake a media uproar and cracked wide open the nation’s moral complacency. In addition to his unforgettable 100-metre and 4x100 relay gold-medal sprints in Atlanta, Bailey's track career was a litany of records and rare accomplishments, including his audacious 1997 race in Toronto's SkyDome against American 200-metre Olympic champion Michael Johnson to determine who was really the world’s fastest man. There was no disputing the result. Bailey had been coached in success before he was seriously coached in athletics. Following the lead of his father, a machinist-turned-real estate investor, Bailey became a millionaire by the age of 21, an experience he continues to draw on as an entrepreneur and philanthropist. Frank about his dominance on the track and unapologetic for expecting as much of those around him as he expects of himself, Undisputed is an athlete's story that refuses to settle for second best.The Utility of Boredom: Baseball Essays
Par Andrew Forbes. 2016
Spitball literary essays on the off-kilter joys, sorrows and wonder of North America’s national pastime. A collection of essays for…
ardent seamheads and casual baseball fans alike, The Utility of Boredom is a book about finding respite and comfort in the order, traditions, and rituals of baseball. It’s a sport that shows us what a human being might be capable of, with extreme dedication—whether we’re eating hot dogs in the stands, waiting out a rain delay in our living rooms, or practising the lost art of catching a stray radio signal from an out-of-market broadcast. From learning about America through ball-diamond visits to the most famous triple play that never happened on Canadian soil, Forbes invites us to witness the adult conversing with the O-Pee-Chee baseball cards of his youth. Tender, insightful, and with the slow heartbreak familiar to anyone who’s cheered on a losing team, The Utility of Boredom tells us a thing or two about the sport, and how a seemingly trivial game might help us make sense of our messy lives.The Road Years: A Memoir, Continued . . .
Par Rick Mercer. 2023
THE INSTANT #1 BESTSELLERRick Mercer is back—again!—with the eagerly awaited sequel to his bestselling memoirAt the end of his memoir…
Talking to Canadians, Rick Mercer was poised to make the biggest leap yet in his extraordinary career. Having overcome a serious lack of promise as a schoolboy and risen through the showbiz ranks—as an aspiring actor, star of a surprisingly successful one-man show about the Meech Lake Accord, co-founder of This Hour Has 22 Minutes, creator and star of the dark-comedy sitcom Made in Canada—he was about to tackle his biggest opportunity yet. The Road Years picks up the story at that exciting point, with the greenlighting of what would become Rick Mercer Report. Plans for the show, of course, included political satire and Rick’s patented rants. But Rick and his partner, Gerald Lunz, were also determined to do something that comedy tends to avoid as too challenging: they would emphasize the positive. Rick would travel from coast to coast to coast in search of everything that’s best about Canada, especially its people. He found a lot to celebrate, naturally, and was rewarded with a huge audience and a run of 15 seasons. The Road Years tells the inside story of that stupendous success. A time when Rick was heading to another town—or military base, sports centre, national park—to try dogsledding, chainsaw carving, and bear tagging; hang from a harness (a lot); ride the “Train of Death;” plus countless other joyous and/or reckless assignments. Added to the mix were encounters with the country’s great. Every living prime minister. Rock and roll royalty from Rush to Randy Bachman. Olympians and Paralympians. A skinny-dipping Bob Rae. And Jann Arden, of course, who gets a chapter to herself. Along the way he even found the time to visit several countries in Africa and co-found and champion the charity Spread the Net, which has gone on to protect the lives of millions. Join the celebration, and revive a wealth of happy memories, with what is Rick Mercer’s funniest, most fascinating book yet.Letters with Smokie: Blindness and More-than-Human Relations
Par Rod Michalko, Dan Goodley. 2023
Letters with Smokie captures an epistolic exchange between Dan Goodley and Rod Michalko, or rather, Rod Michalko's late guide dog,…
Smokie. A lively exploration of human-animal relationships and disability as disruption, disturbance, and art, the book offers a refreshing re-evaluation of cultural misunderstandings of disability.The Complete Idiot's Guide to American Literature
Par Laurie Rozakis. 1999
You're no idiot, of course. You know that Samuel Clemens had a better-known pen name, Moby Dick is a famous…
whale, and the Raven only said,"Nevermore." But when it comes to understanding the great works of Mark Twain, Herman Melville, and Edgar Allan Poe, you'd rather rent the videos than head to your local library. Don't tear up your library card yet! The Complete Idiot's Guide® to American Literature teaches you all about the rich tradition of American prose and poetry, so you can fully appreciate its magnificent diversity.Kindergarten: A Teacher, Her Students, and a Year of Learning (Early Childhood Education Series)
Par Julie Diamond. 2011
&“[Diamond] has captured the world of the class—at times chaotic, always busy, usually inspired&”— Essential reading for parents and teachers…
alike (Los Angeles Times). Hailed by renowned educator Deborah Meier as &“a rare and special pleasure to read,&” Kindergarten explores a year in the life of a kindergarten classroom through the eyes of the gifted veteran teacher and author Julie Diamond. In this lyrical, beautifully written first-person account, Diamond explains the logic behind the routines and rituals children need to thrive. As she guides us through all aspects of classroom life—the organization, curriculum, and relationships that create a unique class environment—we begin to understand what kindergarten can and should be: a culture that builds children&’s desire to understand the world and lays the foundation for lifelong learning. Kindergarten makes a compelling case for an expansive definition of teaching and learning, one that supports academic achievement without sacrificing students&’ curiosity, creativity, or development of social values. Diamond&’s celebration of the possibilities of classroom life is a welcome antidote to today&’s test-driven climate. Written for parents and teachers alike, Kindergarten offers a rare glimpse into what&’s really going on behind the apparent chaos of a busy kindergarten classroom, sharing much-needed insights into how our children can have the best possible early school experiences. &“As a classroom insider, Diamond pulls back the curtain and allows parents and others a view of how an effective classroom actually works.&” —Library Journal &“An extraordinary resource for parents and teachers at all stages. It is honest and masterful, engrossing and unique. And it is utterly real.&” —Ruth Sidney Charney, author of Teaching Children to CareFlight to Arras
Par Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. 1969
The World War II aviator and author of The Little Prince tells his true story of flying a reconnaissance plane…
during the Battle of France in 1940. When the Germans first invaded France in May of 1940, the French Air Force had a mere fifty reconnaissance crews, twenty-three of which served in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry&’s Group II/33. After only a few days, seventeen of the crews in Saint-Exupéry&’s unit had already perished. Flight to Arras is the harrowing story of a single mission over the French town of Arras, an endeavor Saint-Exupéry realized the futility of even as he witnessed it unfolding. Filled with tension, emotion, philosophy, and historical detail, and penned by a master storyteller, this extraordinary memoir serves as a record of a little-known chapter of the Second World War, and an unforgettable portrait of the brave souls who fought despite desperate odds.The Suicide Index: Putting My Father's Death in Order
Par Joan Wickersham. 2009
National Book Award Finalist: &“Wickersham has journeyed into the dark underworld inside her father and herself and emerged with a…
powerful, gripping story.&” —The Boston Globe One winter morning in 1991, Joan Wickersham&’s father shot himself in the head. The father she loved would never have killed himself, and yet he had. His death made a mystery of his entire life. Who was he? Why did he do it? And what was the impact of his death on the people who loved him? Using an index—the most formal and orderly of structures—Wickersham explores this chaotic and incomprehensible reality. Every bit of family history, every encounter with friends, doctors, and other survivors, exposes another facet of elusive truth. Dark, funny, sad, and gripping, at once a philosophical and a deeply personal exploration, The Suicide Index is, finally, a daughter&’s anguished, loving elegy to her father.Kowalski's in Love (The Thriller Shorts #1)
Par James Rollins. 2006
An ex-sailor finds himself washed ashore on an island set for destruction in this action-packed suspense story by a #1…
New York Times–bestselling author.This Thriller Short is not a love story, at least not in the traditional sense. Fans of James Rollins’s Sigma Force series know Joe Kowalski, a naval seaman with the heart of a hero, but lacking the brainpower to go with it. Kowalski stays in trouble, and here readers will get to know a bit more about his backstory. One that illustrates something Kowalski seems to live by. Dumb luck is better than no luck at all.Originally published in THRILLER: Stories to Keep You Up All Night (2006), edited by #1 New York Times–bestselling author James Patterson."To buy books would be a good thing," observed Arthur Schopenhauer, "if we also could buy the time to read…
them." All devoted readers long for more time to spend with their books, and the next best thing to buying time is making the most of the available moments. Great Short Short Stories: Quick Reads by Great Writers offers that opportunity. An outstanding collection of 30 brilliant short stories, each just six or fewer pages in length, it provides the chance to absorb an entire story (or two or three) in just one sitting.Well-known tales from masters of the short-story genre include: Mark Twain, "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"; Franz Kafka, "A Country Doctor"; Edgar Allan Poe, "The Cask of Amontillado"; Guy de Maupassant, "A Piece of String"; Stephen Crane, "The Veteran"; Kate Chopin, "A Pair of Silk Stockings"; plus works by Dickens, O. Henry, Chekhov, Wilde, and many others. Includes 2 selections from the Common Core State Standards Initiative: "A White Heron" and "Cask of Amontillado."Two Left Shoes
Par Kenneth Roger Adams. 2018
Discover the story of a determined mother who fought hard to keep her family together during wartime and its aftermath,…
with hardly any support from others. The battle didn’t end with the war; it extended into my own life. Growing up in poverty, I faced my own set of challenges that made every step towards success feel like a steep climb. However, these trials pushed me to strive harder and sparked a desire to help others. This tale follows our family’s journey through hard times, my own fight to achieve my goals, and how these experiences ignited a passion for giving back.Refrigerator Door
Par Thomas Edgar McNally. 2024
Refrigerator Door!How one household item became the epicenter for cherished memories.The refrigerator door – that communal billboard found in every…
home. Covered in photos, mementos, report cards, and takeout menus, this humble appliance takes on far greater meaning. It becomes a tapestry of everything important to a family.In Refrigerator Door, author and father Thom reminisces on the refrigerator door of his childhood. This mosaic of fading photos and fridge magnets shaped his upbringing and brought his family together. Now Thom passes along the tradition to his own children, reminding them that even an ordinary door can be transformed into something extraordinary with the memories we choose to display.Join Thom on this heartwarming journey that reveals how a refrigerator door quietly yet profoundly chronicles the story of a family. More than just a surface for sticking homework assignments and takeout menus, it is a celebration of all that gives our fast-paced lives meaning.A Voice from Old New York: A Memoir of My Youth
Par Louis Auchincloss. 2010
An &“entertaining and occasionally even moving&” personal recollection by the lawyer, historian, and renowned chronicler of old-money WASP society (The…
Boston Globe). At the time of his death, Louis Auchincloss—enemy of bores, self-pity, and stale gossip—had just finished taking on a subject he had long avoided: himself. His memoir confirms that, despite the spark of his fiction, Auchincloss himself was the most entertaining character he ever created. No traitor to his class, but occasionally its critic, Auchincloss returns to his insular society, which he maintains was less interesting than its members admitted—and unfurls his life with dignity, summoning family (particularly his father, who suffered from depression and forgave him for hating sports) and intimates. Brooke Astor and her circle are here, along with glimpses of Jacqueline Onassis. Most memorable, though, is Auchincloss&’s way with those outside the salon: the cranky maid; the maiden aunt, perpetually out of place; the less-than-well-born boy who threw himself from a window over a woman and a man. Above all, here is what it was like to be Auchincloss, an American master, a New York Times–bestselling novelist, and a rare, generous, lively spirit to the end. &“[Auchincloss] concentrates on bringing back to life—literary alchemy, after all—the people who loved him: his mother, father, aunts, uncles, school friends and colleagues. He understands how lucky he was to have them, and &‘A Voice From Old New York&’ is his thank-you note.&” —The New York TimesA Dedicated Life: Journalism, Justice and a Chance for Every Child
Par David Lawrence Jr.. 2018
In this inspiring memoir, &“an unfailing champion for all children . . . shares his ever- committed life story . . . What an example he…
is for all of us&” (Marian Wright Edelman, President of the Children&’s Defense Fund). After spending three decades in journalism as a newspaper reporter, editor and publisher, Dave Lawrence dedicated his life to a new mission: making sure every child has a real chance to succeed. A prominent advocate for children across the country, David helped found The Children&’s Movement of Florida, an organization that launched in 2010 with the purpose of making Florida&’s children, especially in their early years, the top priority for state investment. In A Dedicated Life, David tells his story from his time at the Detroit Free Press and the Miami Herald to his &“retirement&” at fifty-six, when he transitioned into his new calling and began making significant strides in Florida&’s pre-K programs, parent skill-building, and so much more. &“This special book is the story of a good man who has lived an impressive, fascinating, full life dedicated to his family, his profession, his faith and his service to others, especially the youngest and most vulnerable among us.&” —Jeb Bush, Florida&’s 43rd Governor &“[A] highly principled man applying his talents and values in a transitioning America.&” —Bob Graham, Florida&’s 38th Governor and former SenatorInside a Thug's Heart
Par Angela Ardis. 2004
An intimate and revealing window into one of modern culture&’s most iconic figures, this twentieth-anniversary re-release of Inside a Thug&’s…
Heart celebrates the gifted and impassioned yet vulnerable and uncertain human behind the legend of Tupac Shakur. In 1995, one year before Tupac Shakur was shot dead in Las Vegas, he was jailed for two months inside New York City&’s notorious Rikers Island. While there, he received a letter from a stranger—Angela Ardis, acting on a casual bet with her friends. She included her photo and phone number . . . and soon found herself answering a call from Tupac himself. Remarkably, their near-daily contact grew into a complex kinship of souls that neither could define—and touched both in unexpected ways. Alive in letters and original poems—some available nowhere else—Tupac&’s ever-relevant heart beats within these pages. Playful, sensual, and serious, he gives insightful observations on music, prison, and life&’s uncertainties—and his dreams for a future that would soon be tragically cut short. In this moving, one-of-a-kind tribute, generations of fans can experience a profound connection to the mind and unbroken spirit of a passionate, unpredictable musical icon.The Unforgivable: And Other Writings
Par Cristina Campo. 1998
Thrilling, stylish essays about everything from flying carpets and Doctor Zhivago to God and Shakespeare, by a rediscovered Italian writer.Christina Campo…
published only two short collections of essays in her lifetime: Fairy Tale and Mystery (1962) and The Flute and the Carpet (1971). The Unforgivable and Other Writings brings together both volumes, along with a selection of essays on literature and an autobiographical short story, offering readers of English the first full-length portrait of a writer who has long been admired in Italy and abroad.Campo's subjects range from the canonical to the esoteric. She writes stylishly about Shakespeare and Doctor Zhivago, as well as flying carpets, sprezzatura, and the theophagic origins of the Latin liturgy. Her passion for Marianne Moore and T. S. Eliot makes her a modernist, but like these American counterparts she is a modernist preoccupied by the deep past and by her desire to escape from personality through sustained attention to form. For Campo, writing was a spiritual discipline, and her sentences are at once wonderfully and wildly alive and serenely self-effacing. "I have written little," she once said, "and would like to have written less."Outofshapeworthlessloser: A Memoir of Figure Skating, F*cking Up, and Figuring It Out
Par Gracie Gold. 2024
In this explosive tell-all memoir, an Olympic figure skater reveals her battle to survive mental illness, eating disorders, and the…
self-destructive voice inside that she calls &“outofshapeworthlessloser.&”When Gracie Gold stepped onto center stage (or ice, rather) as America&’s sweetheart at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, she instantly became the face of America&’s most beloved winter sport. Beautiful, blonde, Midwestern, and media-trained, she was suddenly being written up everywhere from The New Yorker to Teen Vogue to People and baking cookies with Taylor Swift.But little did the public know what Gold was facing when the cameras were off. In 2017, she entered treatment for what was publicly announced as an eating disorder and anxiety treatment but was, in reality, suicidal ideation. While Gold&’s public star was rising, her private life was falling apart: Cracks within her family were widening, her bulimia was getting worse, and she became a survivor of sexual assault. The pressure of training for years with demanding coaches and growing up in a household that accepted nothing less than gold had finally taken its toll.Now Gold reveals the exclusive and harrowing story of her struggles in and out of the pressure-packed world of elite figure skating: the battles with her family, her coaches, the powers-that-be at her federation, and her deteriorating mental health.Told with unflinching honesty and stirring defiance, Outofshapeworthlessloser is not only a forceful reckoning from a world-class athlete but also an intimate account of surviving as a young woman in a society that rewards appearances more than anything and demands perfection at all costs.White Rat: Short Stories
Par Gayl Jones. 2023
The acclaimed author&’s first collection of stories&“Gayl Jones&’s work represents a watershed in American literature. From a literary standpoint, her…
form is impeccable . . . and as a Black woman writer, her truth-telling, filled with beauty, tragedy, humor, and incisiveness, is unmatched.&” —Imani PerryGayl Jones has been described as one of the great literary writers of the 20th century and was recently a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and The National Book Award. This collection of short fiction was her third book, originally edited and published by Toni Morrison in 1977, and is reissued now alongside her second collection, BUTTER, in paperback for the first time.The collection contains twelve provocative tales that explore the emotional and mental terrain of a diverse cast of characters, from the innocent to the insane. In each, Jones displays her unflinching ability to dive into the most treacherous of psyches and circumstances: the title story examines the identity and relationship conundrums of a black man who can pass for white, earning him the name &“White Rat&” as an infant; &“The Women&” follows a girl whose mother brings a line of female lovers to live in their home; &“Jevata&” details eighteen-year-old Freddy&’s relationship with the fifty-year-old title character; &“The Coke Factory&” tracks the thoughts of a mentally handicapped adolescent abandoned by his mother; and &“Asylum&” focuses on a woman having a nervous breakdown, trying to protect her dignity and her private parts as she enters an institution. In uncompromising prose, and dialect that veers from northern, educated tongues to down-home southern colloquialisms, Jones illuminates lives that society ignores, moving them to center stage.The Boys and Me: My Life in the Country Music Supergroup Sawyer Brown
Par Mark Miller. 2024
The Boys and Me is the behind-the-scenes, untold story of front man and lead singer Mark Miller and his band—country…
music icons Sawyer Brown!Before The Voice and American Idol, there was Star Search with Ed McMahon. In the first season, an eclectic and charismatic country-rock band called Sawyer Brown appeared on the show, taking America by storm. From ignored underdogs in Nashville to overnight rock stars from LA to New York, they swept the competition and won. Since 1984, &“the boys&” legendary live shows, along with their relentless drive to stay true to themselves, have captivated faithful fans around the world. As front man and lead singer of the band, Mark Miller&’s rise to fame wasn&’t exactly the path he envisioned for himself. After losing his father, Mark was raised by his mom whose solid faith and strong work ethic helped guide and shape him and his brother, Frank. With his sights set on playing pro basketball, Mark never dreamed of becoming an entertainer, especially considering he was terrified to stand on a stage. But God had a different plan. Now, forty years later, Sawyer Brown has eighteen studio albums to their name, multiple No. 1 singles, fifty-plus songs charting on the Billboard Hot Country Songs, and legendary award-winning videos. And they have no plans of stopping any time soon. The band&’s longevity is a testament to their strong songwriting, high-energy performances, and hard work. This is the behind-the-scenes, untold story of Mark Miller and &“the boys&”—country music icons Sawyer Brown!Creative Life: Music, Politics, People, and Machines
Par Bob Ostertag. 2008
In this eloquent and passionate volume, Bob Ostertag explores the common ground and points of friction among music, creativity, politics,…
culture, and technology. In terrain ranging from the guerrilla underground in El Salvador's civil war to the drag queen underground in San Francisco and New York, these essays combine journalism and autobiography to explore fundamental questions of what art is and what role it can occupy in a violent and fragmented world, a world in which daily events compromise the universality toward which art strives. Drawing on his intimate engagement with political conflict in Latin America and the Balkans, Ostertag identifies an art of "insurgent politics" that struggles to expand the parameters of the physical and social world. He also discusses his innovative collaborations with major modern performers, filmmakers, and artists around the world. Part memoir, part journalism, and part aesthetic manifesto, Creative Life is a dazzling set of writings from a musical artist who has worked on the cutting edge of new music for thirty years.