Beautiful Memoir

In 1940 Edmund Wilson was the undisputed big dog of American letters. Vladimir Nabokov was a near-penniless Russian exile seeking asylum in the States. Wilson became a mentor to Nabokov, introducing him to every editor of note, assigning to him book reviews for the New Republic, engineering a Guggenheim. Their intimate friendship blossomed over a shared interest in all things Russian, ruffled a bit by political disagreements. But then came Lolita, and suddenly Nabokov was the big (and very rich) dog.

Barbara Pamplin’s life was changed by 50, 3, and 3. That's 50 days in intensive care, 3 open heart surgeries, and 3 deaths and resuscitations - all in the fall of 2017. Barbara is a passionate storyteller, committed to inspiring Black women and others to celebrate and engage in the soul work of personal transformation, to confront the health crisis among Black women at its root level.

Martha Gellhorn died in February 1998, just shy of her 90th birthday. Well before her death, she had become a legend. She reported on wars from Spain in the 1930s to Panama in the 1980s, and her travel books have become classics. Her marriage to Ernest Hemingway and affairs with legendary lovers like H. G. Wells, and her relationship with two presidents, Roosevelt and Kennedy, reflect her campaigns against tyranny and deprivation, and her outrage at the corruption and cruelty of modern governments.

In the final days of World War II, with the ravenous Red Army marching across Czechoslovakia, a wily band of American soldiers did the unexpected: They teamed up with the Nazis and went behind enemy lines to save the world's rarest horses from imminent extinction at the hands of the Russians - including the exquisite white Lipizzaner, whose bloodlines date back to Genghis Khan.

What happens when an ordinary teenager has to turn into a warrior just to survive? And can the journey through post-traumatic stress disorder really become an “adventure"? Amy had ambitious plans for college and a Broadway career, until her stomach exploded a week before senior prom. As a survivor - and “thriver” - of abuse and extensive medical, she creates a tapestry made from each thread of her journey, empowering others to find gratitude in every setback and discover their own infinite inner strength.

Lene Fogelberg is dying - she is sure of it - but no doctor in Sweden, her home country, believes her. Love stories enfold her, with her husband, her two precious daughters, her enchanting surroundings, but the question she has carried in her heart since childhood - will I die young? - is threatening all she holds dear, even her sanity. When her young family moves to the US, an answer, a diagnosis, is finally found: She is in the last stages of a fatal congenital heart disease. But is it too late?

Recently diagnosed with terminal cancer, Sven talks candidly about his extraordinary successes (as well as overcoming his failures). He shares the lessons he has learned on the way – about life, leadership and love. It is a story of lives touched and connections made in the dogged pursuit of excellence. But for Sven the true journey he wants to share is the one he’s made on the inside – the man he has become.

The Hollywood Canteen was the jewel in the crown of World War II Hollywood. From 1942 to 1945, over three million servicemen came through its doors on their way to fight in the Pacific - some never to return. There, in a converted barn in the heart of Hollywood, soldiers were fed, entertained by, and danced with some of the biggest stars in the world.

Ann Hedreen's story of what it was like to become a mom just as her own beautiful, brainy mother began to lose her mind to an unforgiving disease. Arlene was a copper miner’s daughter who was divorced twice, widowed once, raised six kids singlehandedly, survived the turbulent ‘60s, and got her BA and MA at 40 so she could support her family as a Seattle schoolteacher - only to start showing signs of Alzheimer’s disease in her late 50s, taking Ann and her siblings on a long descent they never could have anticipated or imagined.

Linda Phillips followed the light and found her joy after emerging from the overwhelming darkness of losing her son to suicide following a lifelong struggle with severe depression. In the decades since, the state of mental health care has declined. In this tender retelling of the most painful experience of her life, Phillips not only gives raw insight into the reeling effects of suicide on her family and herself, she examines the process that helped her regain herself in the aftermath.

Twenty-six-year-old actor Daniel Wozniak was unemployed, facing eviction, and deep in debt for his upcoming wedding. So he devised a diabolical plan: He asked his neighbor Sam Herr, a young war veteran, to help him move some things into the attic of an empty theater. There, Wozniak shot Herr twice in the head before taking his ATM card and cell phone.

When a squad of federal agents burst through her parents' front door, Victoria Fedden felt ill-prepared to meet them: She was weeks away from her due date, and her T-shirt wasn't long enough to hide her maternity undies. As for the question of how to raise a child when you've just discovered that your mother and stepfather have allegedly masterminded a pump-and-dump scheme? She was pretty sure that wasn't covered in What to Expect When You're Expecting.

As a child, Susan Silverman was surrounded by a loving family; although her parents weren't happily married, they were devoted to their kids. In a vibrant, funny, imminently relatable voice (think Anne Lamott meets Katrina Kenison), Silverman tells of a family's evolution - from her parents' devastating loss of their infant son to raising bright and wildly unique daughters. It's also the creation story of her own family - raising her own bright and wildly unique daughters and taking a journey to adopt two boys from Ethiopia.

Carey Perloff, Artistic Director of San Francisco's legendary American Conservatory Theater, pens a lively and revealing memoir of her 20-plus years at the helm and delivers a provocative and impassioned manifesto for the role of live theater in today's technology-infused world. Perloff's personal and professional journey - her life as a woman in a male-dominated profession, as a wife and mother, a playwright, director, producer, arts advocate, and citizen in a city erupting with enormous change.

In her first book, A Beautiful Spiral, Dr. Ashanna Sevin tells her extraordinary story of healing from nine brain tumors caused by the life-threatening disease, cerebral cysticercosis. For seven years, she struggled to survive the devastating physical and psychological effects of the worms growing in her brain due to a parasite she contracted while serving in a remote African village for the U.S. Peace Corps. These creatures were first her torture and then her teachers, and through this experience a healer was born. However, death called again when she was violently attacked in her home.

My Beautiful Psychosis is a stunning debut memoir from international award winning documentary filmmaker, Emma Goude. It is a gritty tale of transformation, depicting from the inside some of the most powerful experiences a human mind can endure. What if psychosis is really a wake up call? Emma is a 20-something who likes to party and take drugs...until she decides to give them up...and that’s when the insomnia starts. After five nights without sleep she ends up in A&E. Three questions determine whether she is sane or not.

This is the second book in the (My Life) series. The first book was about my Teenage Years. This book is about more grown-up and adult experiences. Marriage, children, and jobs. After breaking my back and going through major back surgery, I had to spend a year and a half in rehab and physical therapy learning how to walk again. Then I needed a new career and a new adventure. This book will take you down the road to that adventure..Please Enjoy

A memoir of second chances, healing, and how rescuing a dog rescued me Having never had a dog of his own before, Don was not prepared for what it meant to adopt one of the most behaviorally difficult rescues in the shelter. But something about Barbie, a mutt that everyone had given up on and so fearful and unresponsive that she was within days of being put down, convinced Don to open his home and his heart for the first time to a canine companion, changing both of their lives forever.

Why Live? is a story of vulnerability and transformation. In the face of depression and trauma, Faolan Sugarman-Lash learns to love his life despite his pain. In this audiobook, he shares his mistakes, lessons, stories, and advice for how to overcome mental health challenges by experiencing each part of life fully and finding meaning. He offers the full spectrum of his life experience from relationships to travel and from trauma to spirituality. This audiobook is a manifestation of Faolan’s vision for a vulnerable, open, and courageous world.

Katie Piper's extraordinary story of strength and recovery after a brutal rape and acid attack has captivated Britain. In this powerful sequel to her bestselling memoir, Katie tells the remarkable story of what's happened in the years since she bravely left the safety of her parents' home. With her trademark honesty, humour and heartfelt emotion, Katie shares the highs and lows she has faced as her life changed in ways she never thought possible.