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Books > Language & Literature > Biography & autobiography
Is he Jumpin' Jack Flash? A Street Fighting Man? A Man of Wealth
and Taste? All this, it turns out, and far more. By any definition,
Mick Jagger is a force of nature, a complete original--and
undeniably one of the dominant cultural figures of our time.
Swaggering, strutting, sometimes elusive, always spellbinding, he
grabbed us by our collective throat a half-century ago and--unlike
so many of his gifted peers--never let go. For decades, Mick has
jealously guarded his many shocking secrets--until now. As the
Rolling Stones mark their 50th anniversary, #1 New York Times
bestselling author Christopher Andersen tears the mask from rock's
most complex and enigmatic icon in a no-holds-barred biography as
impossible to ignore as Jagger himself.
Ben Viljoen sal in die eerste plek onthou word as die
Boeregeneraal, die oorwinnaar in die Slag van Vaalkrans en, danksy
FW Reitz se bekende gedig, die veroweraar van die Lady Roberts.
Viljoen was flambojant van geaardheid, romanties, ’n sterk leier,
behulpsaam en lojaal. Gedurende die Anglo-Boereoorlog word hy
bevorder van kommandant tot assistent-kommandant-generaal. Sy
individualisme het hom egter verhinder om effektief in ’n groter
georganiseerde eenheid te funksioneel. Hy verkies om sy eie kop te
volg en sy besluite was dikwels omstrede. Kort voor die einde van
die oorlog word hy krygsgevange geneem en na St. Helena verban. Na
die oorlog vestig hy hom in Nieu-Mexiko in die VSA en Mexiko en
word daar militere raadgewer van die Mexikaanse president.
A TRUE STORY OF FINDING THE AMERICAN DREAM . . . ABROAD
India is a country with more than one billion people, a fanatical
national cricket obsession, and exactly zero talent scouts. There,
superstar sports agent J. B. Bernstein knew that he could find the
Yao Ming of baseball-- someone with a strong arm and enough raw
talent to pitch in the major leagues. Almost no one in India is
familiar with the game, but Bernstein had heard enough coaches
swear that if you gave them a guy who throws a hundred miles an
hour, they could teach him how to pitch. So in 2007, Bernstein flew
to Mumbai with a radar gun and a plan to find his diamond in the
rough. His idea was "The Million Dollar Arm," a reality television
competition with a huge cash prize and a chance to become the first
native of India to sign a contract with an American major-league
team.
The result is a humorous and inspiring story about three guys
transformed: Bernstein, the consummate bachelor and shrewd
businessman, and Dinesh and Rinku, the two young men from small
farming villages whom he brought home to California. "Million
Dollar Arm" is a timeless reflection on baseball and the American
dream, as well as a tale of victory over incredible odds. But,
above all, it's about the limitless possibilities inside every one
of us.
'A perfect mirror to its subject... should be compulsory reading'
Observer Vladimir Putin is a pariah to the West. He has the power
to reduce the West to nuclear ashes. He invades his neighbours,
meddles in western elections and orders assassinations. Yet many
Russians continue to support him. Under Putin's leadership, Russia
has once again become a force to be reckoned with. Philip Short's
magisterial biography explores in unprecedented depth the
personality of Russia's leader and demolishes many of our
preconceptions about Putin's Russia. To explain is not to justify.
Putin's regime is dark. But on closer examination, much of what we
think we know about him turns out to rest on half-truths. This book
is as close as we will come to understanding Russia's ruler.
'Exhaustively researched... as a chronicle of Putin's public
doings, the book is near faultless' The Times 'Timely... a
comprehensive, extensively researched account of Putin's life' New
Statesman 'Extensively covers the dark moments of Putin's
career.... The Putin of Short's book is not someone you would
invite to dinner' New York Times
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Love Dream
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Lillian Bosnack
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This autobiography by Leanne Benjamin with Sarah Crompton reveals
the extraordinary life and career of one of the worlds most
important ballet dancers of the past fifty years. The book takes
you behind the scenes to find a real understanding of the pleasure
and the pain, the demands and the intense commitment it requires to
become a ballet dancer. It is a book for ballet-lovers which will
explain from Benjamins personal point of view, how ballet has
changed and is changing. It is a book of history: she was first
taught by the people who created ballet in its modern form and now
she works with the dancers of today, handing on all she has known
and learnt. But it is also a book for people who are just
interested in the psychology of achievement, how you go from being
a child in small-town Rockhampton in the centre of Australia to
being a power on the worlds biggest stages -- and how an individual
copes with the ups and downs of that kind of career. It is a story
full of big names and big personalities -- Margot Fonteyn, Kenneth
MacMillan, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Darcey Bussell, Carlos Acosta to
name a few. President Clinton, Michelle Obama, Diana Princess of
Wales and David Beckham all make an appearance. But it is also a
book of small moments of insight: what makes a performance special,
how you recover from injury, illness and childbirth; how you
combine athletic and artistic prowess with motherhood, how a
different partner can alter everything, what it is like to fall
over in front of thousands of people and what it is like to
triumph. Above all, it seeks to explain, in warm and human terms,
why women get the reputation for being difficult in a world where
being a good girl is too much prized. And what they can do about
it.
The true story of a young lady's escape to better things. Of love,
marriage and children. A tale of death and despair in a foreign
land. Of fate taking a hand and joining two people in a deep and
lasting love. The author has used letters and anecdotal evidence
from family members who are the lead players in this story. He
hopes he has done justice to the tale of their lives.
This book is about my lifetime of adventure and inside I explain
how I overcame a hand disability from birth to become a British and
Scottish Rally Champion, but my story is not just about motor
sport: I have also worked for a top Hollywood film producer and
shared breakfast with one of the world's top female film stars. I
have also interacted with two US presidents, and met many other
wonderful people. My book also delves into the realms of working
with top world rally constructor as well as major motor
manufacturer. The many and varied characters I have met during my
lifetime has also made my life so much more colourful, and you can
meet many of these characters within the pages of this book. Yes, I
have met all of life's challenges to date.
With this singular book Nataniël tells the story of a childhood in three small towns and one large suburb, in an era during which rules were seldom questioned and of a young boy’s overwhelming fear of the ordinary. Look At Me is Nataniël's first full-length memoir.
I have to assume that there is a very real chance that Putin or
members of his regime will have me killed some day. If I'm killed,
you will know who did it. When my enemies read this book, they will
know that you know. Reads like a classic thriller, with an everyman
hero alone and in danger in a hostile foreign city ... but it's all
true, and it's a story that needs to be told. LEE CHILD An
unburdening, a witness statement and a thriller all at the same
time ... electrifying. THE TIMES A shocking true-life thriller. TOM
STOPPARD --- In November 2009, the young lawyer Sergei Magnitsky
was beaten to death by eight police officers in a freezing cell in
a Moscow prison. His crime? Testifying against Russian officials
who were involved in a conspiracy to steal $230 million of taxes.
Red Notice is a searing expose of the whitewash of this
imprisonment and murder. The killing hasn't been investigated. It
hasn't been punished. Bill Browder is still campaigning for justice
for his late lawyer and friend. This is his explosive journey from
the heady world of finance in New York and London in the 1990s,
through battles with ruthless oligarchs in turbulent post-Soviet
Union Moscow, to the shadowy heart of the Kremlin. With fraud,
bribery, corruption and torture exposed at every turn, Red Notice
is a shocking political roller-coaster.
Charmé word met pre-eklampsia gediagnoseer toe sy 27 weke swanger is met Lisa. Klein Lisatjie word met ’n noodkeisersnee gebore en Charmé se lewe verander heeltemal. Lisa weeg 850 gram, en sy veg elke dag om haar lewe. Charmé se reis tot ma-word was nie maklik nie. Maar Charmé vertel haar storie met humor en deernis: ‘n universiële storie van oorlewing van elke modern ma. Charmé se storie help ons om te weet dat ons nie alleen is nie, die ma langs jou het dieselfde pyne, vreugde, angs en vrae.
Scratching the Surface: Adventures in Storytelling is a deeply
personal and intimate memoir told through the lens of Harvey
Ovshinsky's lifetime of adventures as an urban enthusiast. He was
only seventeen when he started The Fifth Estate, one of the
country's oldest underground newspapers. Five years later, he
became one of the country's youngest news directors in commercial
radio at WABX-FM, Detroit's notorious progressive rock station.
Both jobs placed Ovshinsky directly in the bullseye of the nation's
tumultuous counterculture of the 1960s and 70s. When he became a
documentary director, Ovshinsky's dispatches from his hometown were
awarded broadcasting's highest honors, including a national Emmy, a
Peabody, and the American Film Institute's Robert M. Bennett Award
for Excellence. But this memoir is more than a boastful trip down
memory lane. It also doubles as a survival guide and an instruction
manual that speaks not only to the nature of and need for
storytelling but also and equally important, the pivotal role the
twin powers of endurance and resilience play in the creative
process. You don't have to be a writer, an artist, or even
especially creative to take the plunge, Ovshinsky reminds his
readers. ""You just have to feel strongly about something or have
something you need to get off your chest. And then find the courage
to scratch your own surface and share your good stuff with
others."" Above all, Ovshinsky is an educator, known for his
passionate support of and commitment to mentoring the next
generation of urban storytellers. When he wasn't teaching
screenwriting and documentary production in his popular workshops
and support groups, he taught undergraduate and graduate students
at Detroit's College for Creative Studies, Wayne State University,
Madonna University, and Washtenaw Community College. ""The thing
about Harvey,"" a colleague recalls in Scratching the Surface, ""is
that he treats his students like professionals and not like newbies
at all. His approach is to, in a very supportive and
non-threatening way, combine both introductory and advanced
storytelling in one fell swoop.
Kojo Baffoe embodies what it is to be a contemporary African man. Of Ghanaian and German heritage, he was raised in Lesotho and moved to South Africa at the age of 27. Forever curious, Kojo has the enviable ability to simultaneously experience moments intimately and engage people (and their views) sincerely, while remaining detached enough to think through his experiences critically. He has earned a reputation as a thinker, someone who lives outside the box and free of the labels that society seeks to place on us.
Listen to Your Footsteps is an honest and, at times, raw collection of essays from a son, a father, a husband, a brother and a man deeply committed to doing the internal work. Kojo reflects on losing his mother as a toddler, being raised by his father, forming an identity, living as an immigrant, his tussles with
substance abuse, as well as his experiences of fatherhood, marriage and making a career in a fickle industry. He gives an extended glimpse into the experiences that make boys become men, and the battles that make men discover what they are made of, all the while questioning what it means to be ‘a man’.
Runner-up, Carr P. Collins Award for Best Book of Non-Fiction, 2021
Go-Go's bassist Kathy Valentine's story is a roller coaster of sex,
drugs, and of course, music; it's also a story of what it takes to
find success and find yourself, even when it all comes crashing
down. At twenty-one, Kathy Valentine was at the Whisky in Los
Angeles when she met a guitarist from a fledgling band called the
Go-Go's-and the band needed a bassist. The Go-Go's became the first
multi-platinum-selling, all-female band to play instruments
themselves, write their own songs, and have a number one album.
Their debut, Beauty and the Beat, spent six weeks at the top of the
Billboard 200 and featured the hit songs "We Got the Beat" and "Our
Lips Are Sealed." The record's success brought the pressures of a
relentless workload and schedule culminating in a wild, hazy,
substance-fueled tour that took the band from the club circuit to
arenas, where fans, promoters, and crew were more than ready to
keep the party going. For Valentine, the band's success was the
fulfillment of a lifelong dream-but it's only part of her story.
All I Ever Wanted traces the path that took her from her childhood
in Texas-where she all but raised herself-to the height of rock n'
roll stardom, devastation after the collapse of the band that had
come to define her, and the quest to regain her sense of self after
its end. Valentine also speaks candidly about the lasting effects
of parental betrayal, abortion, rape, and her struggles with drugs
and alcohol-and the music that saved her every step of the way.
Populated with vivid portraits of Valentine's interactions during
the 1980s with musicians and actors from the Police and Rod Stewart
to John Belushi and Rob Lowe, All I Ever Wanted is a deeply
personal reflection on a life spent in music.
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