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Books > Biography > Film, television, music, theatre
Leonard Cohen has aimed high: to be all Jewish heroes at once. Like Jacob, he struggled with angels. Like David, he sang psalms and seduced women. But he never ceased doing what he did best: going from city to city and reviving our hearts. Leonard Cohen: The Man Who Saw the Angels Fall follows the singer’s cosmopolitan life from Montreal and New York to the Greek island of Hydra and examines his perpetual dialogues with himself, God, and avalanches.
We see how six decades of radiant pessimism and a few thousand nights in hotel rooms transformed a young Jewish poet who longed to be a saint into an existentialist troubadour in love with women and a gravelly-voiced crooner who taught a thousand ways of dissolving into love.
After more than two decades of research and travels, Christophe Lebold, who befriended the poet and spent time with him in Los Angeles, delivers a stimulating analysis of Cohen’s life and art. Gracefully blending biography and essay, he interrogates the mission Cohen set out for himself: to show us that darkness is just the flip side of light.
I've written another book and this will be one of those that when
you pick it up, you'll begin to regret it. You see, I don't read
books; I read the Sun newspaper. Actually, that's a lie; because
when I get to page three I can't let go of my cock, so I can't turn
the pages.
When Michael K. Williams died on 6 September 2021, he left behind a
career as one of the most electrifying actors of his generation.
From his star turn as Omar Little in The Wire to Chalky White in
Boardwalk Empire to Emmy-nominated roles in HBO's The Night Of and
Lovecraft Country, Williams inhabited a slew of indelible roles
that he portrayed with a rawness and vulnerability that leapt off
the screen. Beyond the nominations and acclaim, Williams played
characters who connected, whose humanity couldn't be denied, whose
stories were too often left out of the main narrative. At the time
of his death, Williams had nearly finished a memoir that tells the
story of his past while looking to the future, a book that merges
his life and his life's work. Mike, as his friends knew him, was so
much more than an actor. In Scenes from My Life, he traces his life
in whole, from his childhood in East Flatbush and his early years
as a dancer to his battles with addiction and the bar fight that
left his face with his distinguishing scar. He was a committed
Brooklyn resident and activist who dedicated his life to working
with social justice organisations and his community, especially in
helping at-risk youth find their voice and carve out their future.
Williams worked to keep the spotlight on those he fought for and
with, whom he believed in with his whole heart. Imbued with
poignance and raw honesty, Scenes from My Life is the story of a
performer who gave his all to everything he did-in his own voice,
in his own words, as only he could.
From the scene-stealing star of Pitch Perfect and Bridesmaids comes a
refreshingly candid, hilarious and inspiring book about an
unconventional journey to Hollywood success and self-celebration.
For decades, Rebel Wilson single-mindedly focused on her career,
forgoing relationships in favour of making a name for herself. In her
revealing and authentic memoir, Rebel chronicles the emotional and
physical lessons she has learned, as well as her most embarrassing
experiences. A malaria-induced Oscars hallucination? An all-style
martial-arts fighting tournament? Junior handling at dog shows? And
this was all before she moved to Hollywood!
Rebel Rising follows Rebel from her Aussie upbringing as the daughter
of parents who sold pet products at dog shows, to making millions as
LA’s favourite funny girl, always questioning "Am I good enough?”,
"Will I ever find love?" and "Will I ever change and become healthy?".
Rebel writes for the first time about the most personal and important
moments in her life – from fertility issues, weight gain and loss to
sexuality, overcoming shyness and dealing with rejection (and there's
at least one story thrown in about Brad Pitt!).
This brave and honest memoir shows us how to love ourselves while
always remembering the value of laughing.
In her long-awaited memoir, Ina Garten—aka the Barefoot Contessa,
author of thirteen bestselling cookbooks, beloved Food Network
personality, Instagram sensation, and cultural icon—shares her personal
story with readers hungry for a seat at her table.
Here, for the first time, Ina Garten presents an intimate,
entertaining, and inspiring account of her remarkable journey. Ina’s
gift is to make everything look easy, yet all her accomplishments have
been the result of hard work, audacious choices, and exquisite
attention to detail. In her unmistakable voice (no one tells a story
like Ina), she brings her past and her process to life in a
high-spirited and no-holds-barred memoir that chronicles decades of
personal challenges, adventures (and misadventures) and unexpected
career twists, all delivered with her signature combination of
playfulness and purpose.
From a difficult childhood to meeting the love of her life, Jeffrey,
and marrying him while still in college, from a boring bureaucratic job
in Washington, D.C., to answering an ad for a specialty food store in
the Hamptons, from the owner of one Barefoot Contessa shop to author of
bestselling cookbooks and celebrated television host, Ina has blazed
her own trail and, in the meantime, taught millions of people how to
cook and entertain. Now, she invites them to come closer to experience
her story in vivid detail and to share the important life lessons she
learned along the way: do what you love because if you love it you’ll
be really good at it, swing for the fences, and always Be Ready When
the Luck Happens.
The number one bestseller and Sunday Times Humour Book of the Year
by national treasure Bob Mortimer.'The most life-affirming, joyful
read of the year' - Sunday Times 'Winningly heartfelt' - The
Guardian 'A triumph' - Daily Mail Bob Mortimer's life was trundling
along happily until suddenly in 2015 he was diagnosed with a heart
condition that required immediate surgery and forced him to cancel
an upcoming tour. The episode unnerved him, but forced him to
reflect on his life so far. This is the framework for his hilarious
and moving memoir, And Away... Although his childhood in
Middlesbrough was normal on the surface, it was tinged by the loss
of his dad, and his own various misadventures (now infamous from
his appearances on Would I Lie to You?), from burning down the
family home to starting a short-lived punk band called Dog Dirt. As
an adult, he trained as a solicitor and moved to London. Though he
was doing pretty well (the South London Press once crowned him 'The
Cockroach King' after a successful verdict), a chance encounter in
a pub in the 1980s with a young comedian going by the name Vic
Reeves set his life on a different track. And now, six years on,
the heart condition that once threatened his career has instead led
to new success on BBC2's Gone Fishing. Warm, profound, and
irrepressibly funny, And Away... is Bob's full life story (with a
few lies thrown in for good measure.)
Bob Marley is the unchallenged king of reggae and one of music's
great iconic figures. Rita Marley was not just his wife and the
mother of four of his children but his backing singer and friend,
life-long companion and soul mate. They met in Trenchtown when he
was 19 and she was 18, and she was very much part of his musical
career, selling his early recordings from their house in the days
before Island Records signed up the Wailers. She shared the hard
times and the dangers - when Bob was wounded in a gunfight before
the Peace Concert, Rita was shot in the head and left for dead.
Their marriage was not always easy but Rita was the woman Bob
returned to no matter where music and other women might take him,
the woman who held him when he died at the age of 35. Today she
sees herself as the guardian of his legacy. Full of new insights,
No Woman No Cry is a unique biography of Marley by someone who
understands what it meant to grow up in poverty in Jamaica, to
battle racism and prejudice. It is also a moving and inspiring
story of a marriage that survived both poverty and then the strains
of global celebrity.
A heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by iCarly and Sam & Cat
star Jennette McCurdy about her struggles as a former child
actor-including eating disorders, addiction, and a complicated
relationship with her overbearing mother-and how she retook control
of her life. Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her
first acting audition. Her mother's dream was for her only daughter
to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother
happy. So she went along with what Mom called "calorie
restriction," eating little and weighing herself five times a day.
She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, "Your
eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn't
tint hers?" She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while
sharing her diaries, email, and all her income. In I'm Glad My Mom
Died, Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail-just as she
chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in
a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly, she is thrust into fame.
Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on
a first-name basis with the paparazzi ("Hi Gale!"), Jennette is
riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into
eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy
relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking
the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana
Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering
therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and
decides for the first time in her life what she really wants. Told
with refreshing candor and dark humor, I'm Glad My Mom Died is an
inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of
shampooing your own hair.
The explosive new book from Britain’s leading investigative biographer,
Tom Bower
As one of the most famous and influential couples in the world, David
and Victoria Beckham have attained iconic status. The ultimate power
couple have together built a multi-billion-dollar global brand. For
decades, adoring fans have been captivated by the glamorous world they
have created, while their unrivalled fusion of showbiz, fashion,
football and celebrity has been cultivated alongside the image of a
strong marriage.
When the much-trailed Netflix documentary Beckham aired in 2023,
viewers were offered an even more intimate insight into their private
lives. Produced by the Beckhams themselves, the series raised many
questions, not only about their success and personal relationship, but
also about the ruthlessly successful management of their image in the
media. Are their lives really as perfect as the Beckhams would like the
world to believe?
Through extensive research, expert sourcing and interviews with
insiders, Britain’s most celebrated investigative biographer, Tom
Bower, has unearthed a succession of revelations that give surprising
insight into the reality of ‘Brand Beckham’. Exploring the couple’s
relationship, and the truth about their football and fashion careers,
their finances and their new life in Miami, The House of Beckham
unravels the extraordinary reality of the business-savvy cultural icons
to tell an engrossing, often astonishing story of money, sex and power.
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