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There Is No Blue
Par Martha Baillie. 2023
THE GLOBE AND MAIL: BOOKS TO READ IN FALL 2023Martha Baillie’s richly layered response to her mother’s passing, her father's…
life, and her sister’s suicide is an exploration of how the body, the rooms we inhabit, and our languages offer the psyche a home, if only for a time. Three essays, three deaths. The first is the death of the author’s mother, a protracted disappearance, leaving space for thoughtfulness and ritual: the washing of her body, the making of a death mask. The second considers the author’s father, his remoteness, his charm, a lacuna at the centre of the family even before his death, earlier than her mother’s. And then, the shocking death of the author’s sister, a visual artist and writer living with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, who writes three reasons to die on her bedroom wall and then takes her life."Martha Baillie’s novels are thrillingly, joyously singular, that rare combination of sui generis and just plain generous. That There Is No Blue, her memoir, is all of those things too, is no surprise; still, she has gone somewhere extraordinary. This triptych of essays, which exquisitely unfolds the “disobedient tale” of the lives and deaths of her mother, her father, and her sister, is a meditation on the mystery and wonder of grief and art making and home and memory itself. It made me think of kintsugi, the Japanese art of repair, in which the mending is not hidden but featured and beautifully illuminated. Baillie’s variety of attention, carved out of language, is tenderness, is love." – Maud Casey, author of City of Incurable Women"This is a stunning memoir, intense and meticulous in its observations of family life. Baillie subtly interrogates and conveys the devastating mistranslations that take place in childhood, the antagonism and porousness of siblings, and the tragedy of schizophrenia as it unfolds. I couldn’t put it down." – Dr. Lisa Appignanesi, author of Mad, Bad and Sad and Everyday Madness"Exquisite." – Souvankham Thammavongsa, author of How to Pronounce Knife"I am grateful for this profound meditation on family and loss.” – Charlie Kaufman, filmmaker"This strange, unsettling memoir of outer life and inner life and their bizarre twining captures the author’s identity by way of her mother’s death, her sister’s failing battle with mental illness, and the mysterious figure of her father. It combines anguished guilt, deep tenderness, and bemused affection in highly evocative, often disturbing prose. Its brave honesty is amplified by a persistent lyricism; its undercurrent of fear is uplifted by a surprising, resilient hopefulness. It is both a plea for exoneration and an act of exoneration, an authentic meditation on the terrible difficulty of being human." – Andrew Solomon, author of The Noonday DemonThe Good Habit Workbook: A Practical Toolkit to Help You Change Your Life One Good Habit at a Time
Par Freya Stephens. 2023
Break away from bad habits and build healthy ones with this step-by-step workbook, which will help you make positive changes…
in your life. Including practical advice, effective tips and guided exercises, it will help you free yourself from negative cycles and replace them with positive, productive habits for long-term health and happiness.Over the Ocean: A Wartime Story of Exile and Enduring Love
Par Erica Fischer, Andrew Brown. 2014
From the author of Aimée and Jaguar comes the extraordinary true love story of a couple who were separated during…
a shameful and fascinating chapter of British historyErica Fischer tells her own parents' astonishing story and at the same time sheds light on a little-known, little-discussed chapter in British history. Fischer's parents met in Austria in the early 1930s. Her mother, Irka, was a Polish Jew and her father, Erich, was a Viennese lapsed Catholic. In 1938, Irka fled to the United Kingdom, to be followed the year after by her husband. By no means a rarity as refugees, they found work in southern England. However at the outbreak of war, Erich was arrested as an "enemy alien," which was then common practice in time of war. After being interned, he was transported to Australia in July 1940, along with 2,500 other deportees. The conditions were appalling on board the Dunera: the men were locked up below decks with overflowing latrines and only seawater to clean themselves. Faced with unimaginable hardships, the deportees banded together in solidarity to face their new life. Erich and Irka struggled to maintain a correspondence to try to ensure that they would be able to find each other when the war came to an end. Amazingly crafted, this biography reads like fiction and vividly evokes a chapter in history with which few people are familiar.Moving Pictures: Memories of a Hollywood Prince
Par Budd Schulberg. 1981
The Oscar-winning screenwriter of On the Waterfront recounts his life, his career, and &“how Hollywood became the dream factory it…
still is today&” (Kirkus Reviews). When Seymour Wilson &“Budd&” Schulberg moved from New York to Los Angeles as a child, Hollywood&’s filmmaking industry was just getting started. To some, the region was still more famous for its citrus farms than its movie studios. In this iconic memoir, Schulberg, the son of one of Tinseltown&’s most influential producers, recounts the rise of the studios, the machinations of the studio heads, and the lives of some of cinema&’s earliest and greatest stars. Even as Hollywood grew to become one of the country&’s most powerful cultural and economic engines, it retained the feel of a company town for decades. Schulberg&’s sparkling recollections offer a unique insider view of both the glitter and dark side of the dream factory&’s early years. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Budd Schulberg including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author&’s estate.Brief Lives: Charlotte Brontë (Brief Lives)
Par Jessica Cox. 2011
Charlotte Brontë is one of the world's best-loved writers. Her extraordinary literary talent manifested itself at an early age when…
she penned a series of imaginative and entertaining tales. Before her untimely death at the age of 38 she produced the masterpieces Jane Eyre, Shirley, and Vilette. Superb and meticulously researched, Jessica Cox's biography provides a beautifully drawn portrait of the creator of some of the world's most remarkable novels.Brief Lives: Marquis De Sade (Brief Lives)
Par David Carter. 2011
As explicit in his prose as he was in his private life, the Marquis de Sade remains one of the…
most controversial writers of all time. This new biography, by the acclaimed translator and author David Carter, promises to shock as much as it informs. Arrested many times for sexual misdemeanors, the Marquis de Sade was imprisoned in the Bastille, where he was writing 120 Days of Sodom and The Misfortunes of Virtue at the time that it was stormed in 1789. After the French Revolution he was again imprisoned and sent to an asylum, where he wrote diaries and plays. This concise biography offers a fresh look at a relentlessly compelling figure with a fascinating life of scandal and imprisonment.Brief Lives: Wilkie Collins (Brief Lives)
Par Melisa Klimaszewski. 2009
Author of the first detective novel in English, Wilkie Collins was one of the most popular authors in Victorian England.…
In this illuminating biography, Melisa Klimaszewski situates the writer within his own milieu and demonstrates how his work sparks new understandings of Victorian life and letters. A close friend and collaborator of Charles Dickens, Collins secured his own fame with sensational novels that feature intricate legal plots, mistaken identities, and complex crimes. Boldly challenging the mores of Victorian society by maintaining two families and shunning the institution of marriage, Collins was also one of the most unconventional public figures of his day. His life story, succinctly told in this elegant biography, promises to instruct and to entertain.Tú, contigo y por ti: Espabila y cáete bien
Par Ángela Sánchez Del Río. 2023
Este libro solo es un libro, pero quizá es también el impulso que necesitas. Quiero que veas que otro tú…
es posible. Quiero que consigas el cambio. Quiero ayudarte.Este libro es una llamada a la acción. Un empujoncito -sin presión, pero con mimo y humor- para detectar y cambiar los hábitos, conductas y pensamientos que te alejan de la realidad en la que te gustaría vivir y de la versión de ti que te gustaría ser. Eres tú, contigo y por ti para toda la vida. Por eso mereces caerte bien y ver de una vez tus posibilidades.Yo confieso: 45 años de espía
Par Fernando Rueda, Mikel Lejarza. 2019
1974: Mikel Lejarza es captado por el servicio secreto para infiltrarse en ETA con el alias de El Lobo. 2019:…
Con otro nombre, Mikel Lejarza sigue trabajando para el CNI. Esta es su vida. Esta es la historia. Mikel Lejarza ha guardado silencio sobre su vida hasta este momento. Ahora ha decidido desvelar en primera persona en el libro Yo confiesotodo lo que ha hecho y todo por lo que ha pasado. Ha escrito, con la ayuda del periodista Fernando Rueda, unas memorias duras, sinceras, en las que por primera vez cuenta todo lo que ha sido su vida, sin olvidarse de los momentos amargos, de su éxitos e, incluso, de aquellas actuaciones de las que no está especialmente satisfecho. Yo confieso es un libro humano en el que Mikel ha querido que Mamen, su mujer, confidente y compañera en algunas de sus misiones, aporte su visión personal sobre los hechos, recordando los momentos vividos en una relación complicada, como no podía ser otra que la vivida por una mujer que ha compartido 40 años con el agente más antiguo que tienen los servicios secretos españoles. La crítica ha dicho...«405 páginas que te dejan sin aliento. Estas confesiones de El Lobo son imprescindibles para conocer esa parte que ha permanecido oculta de nuestra historia reciente.»Julia Navarro «Un trabajo espléndido.»Nieves Herrero «La genteencontrará muchas informaciones que le gustará, le apasionarán, en este libro.»Bruno Cardeñosa, La rosa de los vientos, Onda Cero «Lejarza y Rueda cuentan todo lo que le ha pasado al agente de los servicios secretos españoles desde aquella primera misión que supuso un enorme golpe para la banda terrorista.»eldiario.es «Un estremecedor relato en el que aparece por primera vez Mamen, la mujer de El Lobo, que narra una historia humana y personal sobre los sufrimientos que entraña estar durante 40 años con alguien que vive en la clandestinidad.»El Español «Duro, inmisericorde, Mikel Lejarza revela en Yo Confieso, a través de la pluma de Fernando Rueda, lo que jamás había contado.»El ojo crítico«Detrás de ese libro, claramente, hay alguien que maneja fenomenalmente la pluma.»Adolfo Arjona, COPE «Yo confieso es, además de unas memorias, el resultado de un excelente trabajo editorial.»Jot Down «Un libro valiente, estremecedor, avalado por un héroe que cuenta de primera manomucho de lo que realmente pasó dentro de la organización terrorista que contribuyó a derrotar.»El Periódico de Aragón «Hay libros que enganchan más que una serie, se convierten en adición deseada y buscada. Puede pasar un tiempo pero volvemos a su llamada. El género del confidente informador es el de los observadores en la vida que vienen a poner luz en el otro lado de la luna.»Pilar Falcón, El Correo GallegoBuenos hábitos: Una guía minimalista para una vida mejor
Par Fumio Sasaki. 2018
Del autor del bestseller internacional Goodbye, Things, llega un nuevo fenómeno: una guía que nos ayudará a adoptar nuevos hábitos…
y a convertirnos en la mejor versión de nosotros mismos. Fumio Sasaki cambió su vida cuando se convirtió en minimalista, pero antes que nada tuvo que convertirlo en un hábito. Todos nosotros vivimos nuestras vidas basándonos en los hábitos que hemos ido formando, desde el momentoen que nos levantamos por la mañana hasta lo que comemos y bebemos o la probabilidad de que lleguemos a ir o no al gimnasio. En Buenos hábitos, Sasaki nos explica cómo podemos adquirir los nuevos hábitos que queremos y, lo más importante, cómo deshacernos de aquellos que no nos hacen ningún bien. Basándose en las principales teorías sobre la ciencia de la formación de hábitos de la psicología cognitiva, la neurociencia y la sociología,junto con ejemplos de la cultura popular y las técnicas experimentadas por el propio autor, Fumio Sasaki desentraña las percepciones erróneas y comunes sobre conceptos como «fuerza de voluntad» y «talento», ofreciendo una guía paso a paso hacia el equilibrio y el éxito, una serie de principios para crear unos buenos hábitos para mejorar y cambiar nuestra vida. La crítica ha dicho...«Una guía práctica que ofrece una metodología para desarrollar hábitos útiles y saludables. A aquellos a los que se les haga difícil establecer una rutina les encantará el método Sasaki.»Publishers Weekly«Solo diré que hoy mismo comienzo con un par de hábitos que, después de reflexionar, creo que van a ser beneficiosos para mi vida. ¡Muy recomendado!»Aytaragc, BabelioChoosing Family: A Memoir of Queer Motherhood and Black Resistance
Par Francesca T. Royster. 2022
Choosing Family: A Memoir of Queer Motherhood and Black Resistance is a brilliant literary memoir of chosen family and chosen…
heritage, told against the backdrop of Chicago’s North and South Sides. As a multiracial household in Chicago’s North Side community of Rogers Park, race is at the core of Francesca T. Royster and her family’s world, influencing everyday acts of parenting and the conception of what family truly means. Like Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts, this lyrical and affecting memoir focuses on a unit of three: the author; her wife, Annie, who’s white; and Cecilia, the Black daughter they adopt as a couple in their 40s and 50s. Choosing Family chronicles this journey to motherhood while examining the messiness and complexity of adoption and parenthood from a Black, queer, and feminist perspective. Royster also explores her memories of the matriarchs of her childhood and the homes these women created in Chicago’s South Side—itself a dynamic character in the memoir—where “family” was fluid, inclusive, and not necessarily defined by marriage or other socially recognized contracts. Calling upon the work of some of her favorite queer thinkers, including José Esteban Muñoz and Audre Lorde, Royster interweaves her experiences and memories with queer and gender theory to argue that many Black families, certainly her own, have historically had a “queer” attitude toward family: configurations that sit outside the white normative experience and are the richer for their flexibility and generosity of spirit. A powerful, genre-bending memoir of family, identity, and acceptance, Choosing Family, ultimately, is about joy—about claiming the joy that society did not intend to assign to you, or to those like you.Shirley Hazzard: A Writing Life
Par Brigitta Olubas. 2007
The first biography of Shirley Hazzard, the author of The Transit of Venus and a writer of “shocking wisdom” and…
“intellectual thrill” (The New Yorker).Shirley Hazzard: A Writing Life tells the extraordinary story of a great modern novelist. Brigitta Olubas, Hazzard’s authorized biographer, has drawn, with great subtlety and understanding, on her fiction; on an extensive archive of letters, diaries, and notebooks; and on the memories of surviving friends and colleagues to create this resonant portrait of an exceptional woman. This biography explores the distinctive times of Hazzard’s life, from her youth and middle age to her widowhood and years of decline, and traces the complex and intricate processes of self-fashioning that lay beneath Hazzard’s formidable, beguiling presence. Olubas shows us the places of Hazzard’s life, of which she wrote with characteristic lyricism, accompanied by rare photographs from Hazzard’s collection and elsewhere.Hazzard was the last of a generation of self-taught writers, devotees of a great literary tradition, and her depth of perception and expressive gifts have earned her iconic status. Olubas has brought her brilliantly alive, enhancing and deepening our understanding of the singular woman who created some of the most enduring fiction of the past sixty years. As Dwight Garner wrote in The New York Times, “Hazzard’s stories feel timeless because she understands, as she writes in one of them: ‘We are human beings, not rational ones.’” Here, in Shirley Hazzard, is the story of a remarkable human being.Lost to the World: A Memoir of Faith, Family, and Five Years in Terrorist Captivity
Par Shahbaz Taseer. 2022
Shahbaz Taseer’s memoir of his five-year-long captivity at the hands of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. In late August 2011,…
Shahbaz Taseer was dragged from his car at gunpoint and kidnapped by members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), a Talibanaffiliated Uzbek terrorist group. Taseer’s father, the governor of Punjab, Pakistan, had recently been assassinated for speaking in support of a Christian woman who had been accused of blasphemy and sentenced to death. Though Taseer himself wasn’t involved in politics, he was still a public figure who represented a more tolerant, internationally connected Pakistan that the IMU condemned. What followed his kidnapping was nearly five years of torture and constant peril as Taseer was held captive by the IMU in the ungoverned reaches of Pakistan and Afghanistan, his fate subject to the unpredictable whims and machinations of terrorists. Lost to the World is his memoir of that time—a story of extraordinary sorrow but also of empathy and faith.While deeply harrowing, this tale is also about resilience. Taseer countered his captors’ narrative of a holy war by immersing himself in the Quran in search of hope and a means to see his own humanity under even the most inhumane conditions, and ultimately to find a way back to his family.Jack in the Box: or, How to Goddamn Direct
Par Jack O'Brien. 2022
The Tony Award–winning director gathers memories of people, productions, and problems surmounted from his fifty-year career in this one-of-a-kind how-to…
handbook.What do directors do? Jack O’Brien, the winner of Tony and Drama Desk Awards and the former artistic director of San Diego’s historic Old Globe theatre, describes it like this: “You stand before a situation in which something is presented to you. You’re afforded a challenge. Like catching an enormous ball. And you respond. You come up with a vision of some kind. That is, if you respond to the material at all, and one must, or it’s doomed. You sort of feel that since you relate to the material at hand, you might as well try to be helpful.”In Jack in the Box, O’Brien’s follow-up to his memoir Jack Be Nimble, the director collects stories from the many productions he has worked on, the great talents he encountered and collaborated with (including Tom Stoppard, Mike Nichols, Jerry Lewis, Marsha Mason, and many others), and the choices he made, on the stage and off, that have come to define his career. With humor, warmth, and contagious excitement, O’Brien takes the reader by the shoulder, pulls them in, and tells them how to become a director—or, at the very least, relates an unfailingly honest story of how he did.The Real Hergé: The Inspiration Behind Tintin
Par Sian Lye. 2020
&“If you are looking to understand a bit more about the circumstances that inspired The Adventures of Tintin—this book will provide…
a good snapshot.&” —The BookBuff Review Hergé created only twenty-four Tintin books which have been translated into more than seventy languages and sold 230 million copies worldwide.The Real Hergé: The Inspiration Behind Tintin takes an in-depth look at the man behind the cultural phenomenon and the history that helped shape these books. As well as focusing on the controversies that engulfed Hergé, this biography will also look at his personal life, as well as the relationships and experiences that influenced him.&“Tintin is more famous now than when Hergé was actually writing and illustrating his adventures. Sian Mye&’s book is another in the excellent series about the real lives of our most famous authors, and is well worth a look. Brilliant!&” —Books Monthly&“It is certainly possible to enjoy the Tintin books without knowing Hergé. But they are more interesting after learning about this complex, sometimes frustrating, man. We can learn from him, even if we learn from his mistakes.&” —Rose City ReaderSaddled: How a Spirited Horse Reined Me In and Set Me Free
Par Susan Richards. 2010
The New York Times bestselling author of Chosen by a Horse explains how caring for an animal taught her to…
care for herself. One day, at the age of thirty-one, Susan Richards realized that she was an alcoholic. She wrote it down in her journal, struck by the fact that it had taken nine years of waking up hung-over to name her illness. What had changed? Susan had a new horse, a spirited Morgan named Georgia, and, as she says: &“It had something to do with Georgia. It had something to do with making a commitment as enormous as caring for a horse that might live as my companion for the next forty years. It had something to do with love.&” Every day begins with a morning ride. Every day Susan lives a little more and thinks about her mistakes a little less. Every day she learns a little more from Georgia, the kind of horse who doesn&’t go in for indecision, who doesn&’t apologize for her opinions, and who isn&’t afraid to be herself. In Georgia, Susan finds something to draw her back to herself, but also something to keep her steady and focused, to teach her about stepping carefully in unknown territory, to help her learn again about balance. This is a memoir about the power of animals to carry us through the toughest times of our lives—about the importance of constancy, the beauty of quiet, steadfast love, the way loving a good (and sometimes bad!) animal can keep you going. It&’s a wonderful story for Susan&’s (and Georgia&’s) fans, and for anyone who has ever loved an animal enough to keep on living.Nadie se arrepiente de ser valiente
Par Virginia Torrecilla. 2023
UNA VERDADERA LECCIÓN DE PASIÓN Y CORAJE DE UNA DE LAS FUTBOLISTAS MÁS QUERIDAS DE ESTE PAÍS «¿Qué es un…
tumor en el cerebelo? ¿Qué tengo que hacer? ¿Volveré a jugar?». Esas fueron las primeras preguntas que se le pasaron por la mente a la exitosa futbolista Virginia Torrecilla al recibir los resultados de las pruebas que le habían realizado a raíz de un persistente dolor de cabeza. Era el año 2020 y, aunque ella entonces no lo sabía, su vida acababa de cambiar para siempre.Desde sus primeros años en Mallorca, cuando su abuela la tenía que sacar a la fuerza del campo de fútbol en el que destacaba por encima de cualquier niño, hasta los momentos que marcaron el principio de una nueva era en el fútbol femenino en España o el día en que le detectaron un tumor cerebral que debía ser operado con urgencia, en este libro Virginia Torrecilla nos habla con el corazón en la mano de los sueños, de la incertidumbre, del cáncer, de la importancia del compañerismo, del miedo a la muerte, del regalo de estar viva… Y, principalmente, nos habla de superación, de esa capacidad que tiene el ser humano para seguir adelante día tras día pese a las mayores dificultades. Porque, como dice la propia Virginia, no nacemos valientes, el valiente se construye ante la adversidad. Reseñas: «Este libro que tienes en las manos no es un libro cualquiera, es más bien una sumade momentos que te harán reír, pensar, recordar, sentir e incluso llorar».DEL PRÓLOGO DE ALEXIA PUTELLAS «En estas páginas habéis descubierto el relatode unapersona que no ha tenido problema en plantarle cara a lavida una y otra vez, en reinventarse y seguir adelante».DEL EPÍLOGO DE NAHIKARI GARCÍA PÉREZLiving the Beatles Legend: The Untold Story of Mal Evans
Par Kenneth Womack. 2023
The first full-length biography of Mal Evans, the Beatles’ beloved friend, confidant, and roadie. Malcolm Evans, the Beatles’ long-time roadie, personal…
assistant, and devoted friend, was an invaluable member of the band’s inner circle. A towering figure in horn-rimmed glasses, Evans loomed large in the Beatles’ story, contributing at times as a performer and sometime lyricist, while struggling mightily to protect his beloved “boys.” He was there for the whole of the group’s remarkable, unparalleled story: from the Shea Stadium triumph through the creation of the timeless cover art for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and the famous Let It Be rooftop concert. Leaving a stable job as telecommunications engineer to serve as road manager for this fledgling band, Mal was the odd man out from the start—older, married with children, and without any music business experience. And yet he threw himself headlong into their world, traveling across the globe and making himself indispensable. In the years after the Beatles’ disbandment, Big Mal continued in their employ as each embarked upon solo careers. By 1974, he was determined to make his name as a songwriter and record producer, setting off for a new life in Los Angeles, where he penned his memoirs. But in January 1976, on the verge of sharing his book with the world, Evans’s story came to a tragic end during a domestic standoff with the LAPD.For Beatles devotes, Mal’s life and untimely death have always been shrouded in mystery. For decades, his diaries, manuscripts, and vast collection of memorabilia was missing, seemingly lost forever…until now. Working with full access to Mal’s unpublished archives and having conducted hundreds of new interviews, Beatles’ scholar and author Kenneth Womack affords readers with a full telling of Mal’s unknown story at the heart of the Beatles’ legend. Lavishly illustrated with unseen photos and ephemera from Mal’s archives, Living the Beatles’ Legend: The Untold Story of Mal Evans is the missing puzzle piece in the Fab Four’s incredible story.By My Hands: A Potter's Apprenticeship (A Memoir)
Par Florian Gadsby. 2023
The internet&’s favorite potter opens up about his life and craft in this inspiring, stunningly photographed ode to the beauty…
of small things that brighten life's daily rituals.Florian Gadsby has devoted his life to pottery, refining his technique towards the point of perfection—and as his skill has grown, he has shared his work online, inspiring millions with his meditative videos of gorgeous pottery. Based at a studio in North London, he releases three new collections per year, characterized by simple forms and sharp edges, which sell out in a matter of minutes.In By My Hands, Florian tells the story of his artistic awakening, his education in England, Ireland and Japan, and the sheer discipline which has led him to become the cultural sensation he is today. Arguing for the value in dedicating yourself to a craft, Florian weaves anecdotes about particular pots and processes into the narrative of his life. He explores what he has learned from specific pieces he was taught to create during his apprenticeships—including yunomi, a Japanese teacup, in Mashiko, Japan—and how they have informed his philosophy and approach to his work.By My Hands is a thoughtful, visual celebration of the simple things, such as a hand-thrown mug or bowl, that add meaning to our lives, as well as an inspiring testament to the power of perseverance.The Upcycled Self: A Memoir on the Art of Becoming Who We Are
Par Tariq Trotter. 2023
&“One of hip-hop&’s greatest MCs, unpacking his harrowing, remarkable journey in his own words, with enough insights for two lifetimes.&”—Lin-Manuel…
Miranda, award-winning songwriter, producer, director, and creator of In the Heights and Hamilton From one of our generation&’s most powerful artists and incisive storytellers comes a brilliantly crafted work about the art—and war—of becoming who we are.upcycle verbup·cy·cle ˈəp-ˌsī-kəl: to recycle (something) in such a way that the resulting product is of a higher value than the original item: to create an object of greater value from (a discarded object of lesser value)Today Tariq Trotter—better known as Black Thought—is the platinum-selling, Grammy-winning co-founder of The Roots and one of the most exhilaratingly skillful and profound rappers our culture has ever produced. But his story begins with a tragedy: as a child, Trotter burned down his family&’s home. The years that follow are the story of a life snatched from the flames, forged in fire. In The Upcycled Self, Trotter doesn&’t only narrate a riveting and moving portrait of the artist as a young man, he gives readers a courageous model of what it means to live an examined life. In vivid vignettes, he tells the dramatic stories of the four powerful relationships that shaped him—with community, friends, art, and family—each a complex weave of love, discovery, trauma, and loss. And beyond offering the compellingly poetic account of one artist&’s creative and emotional origins, Trotter explores the vital questions we all have to confront about our formative years: How can we see the story of our own young lives clearly? How do we use that story to understand who we&’ve become? How do we forgive the people who loved and hurt us? How do we rediscover and honor our first dreams? And, finally, what do we take forward, what do we pass on, what do we leave behind? This is the beautifully bluesy story of a boy genius&’s coming-of-age that illuminates the redemptive power of the upcycle.