“It is now Bill Shatner’s universe---we just live in it.”---New York Daily NewsAfter almost sixty years as an actor, William Shatner has become one of the most beloved entertainers in the world. And it seems as if Shatner is everywhere. Winning an Emmy for his role on Boston Legal. Doing commercials for Priceline. com. In the movie theaters. Singing with Ben Folds. He’s sitting next to Jay Leno and Jimmy Kimmel, and he’s practically a regular on Howard Stern’s show. He was recently honored with election to the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame. He was a target on a Comedy Central’s Celebrity Roast entitled “The Shat Hits the Fan.” In Up Till Now, Shatner sits down with readers and offers the remarkable, full story of his life and explains how he got to be, well,... Less

This unique guide will enable students, librarians, teachers, and general readers to easily identify the best biographies and autobiographies of 500 of the most notable women in American history. Spanning from colonial America through 1998, the guide features entries on historical and contemporary women who have achieved recognition in more than 100 fields of endeavor. It annotates approximately 1350 recommended books published since 1970 about these women. The compilation of works selected here is unavailable in any other reference. Adamson, author of the acclaimed companion volume Notable Women in World History: A Guide to Recommended Biographies and Autobiographies, provides the most up-to-date information on each woman's life, biographies, and autobiographies. Each entry contains a... Less

Nomadic Narratives, Visual Forces explores issues, questions, and problems emerging in the analysis of epistolary and visual narratives. This book focuses in particular on Gwen Johns letters and paintings. It offers an innovative theoretical approach to narrative analysis by drawing on Foucaults theory of power, Deleuze and Guattaris analytics of desire, and Cavareros concept of the narratable self. Furthermore, it examines the use of letters as documents of life in narrative research and highlights the dynamics of spatiality in the constitution of the female self in art. This study brings together theoretical insights that emerge from the analysis of life documentssome of them previously unpublishedcombin ing innovative research with specific methodological suggestions on doing narrative... Less

When he was sixteen years old, Larry Miller came home one summer night to find all his possessions sitting in three bags on the porch of his darkened house. The door was locked. From those troubled and humble beginnings rose a man whose influence has touched, according to reliable pollsters, more than 99 percent of the population of Utah as well as myriads of people worldwide. Seven months before Miller passed away, he began working with Doug Robinson on this biography. Written in first person, the book talks about the many facets of Larry s life and legacy and speaks candidly about the people and experiences that influenced him. It doesn t just tell Larry Miller s story, it shares lessons painful as well as joyful lessons he has learned from his experiences. This fascinating and... Less

Mathews's standard biography of Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937), based on extensive research in archives in this country and family records in France. An important artist in the salons of Paris, Tanner was born and studied in Philadelphia but left America for Europe, where his race would not stand in the way of his ambition. Providing a full account of the artist's life and art, Henry Ossawa Tanner gives readers insight into the art trends of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as well as into the struggle of African Americans of this period."[Tanner] ranks not only as the first truly distinguished Negro American artist but as one of America's first outstanding successes in the salons of Europe. In this work [Mathews] has significantly added to our knowledge of the history of... Less

For more than forty years Miles Davis has been in the front rank of American music. Universally acclaimed as a musical genius, Miles is one of the most important and influential musicians in the world. The subject of several biographies, now Miles speaks out himself about his extraordinary life."Miles: The Autobiography, " like Miles himself, holds nothing back. For the first time Miles talks about his five-year silence. He speaks frankly and openly about his drug problem and how he overcame it. He condemns the racism he has encountered in the music business and in American society generally. And he discusses the women in his life. But above all, Miles talks about music and musicians, including the legends he has played with over the years: Bird, Dizzy, Monk, Trane, Mingus, and many... Less

IGOR STRAVINSKY- An Autobiography. Contents include: Foreword: ONE Development of the Composer 1. TWO Composer and Performer 87. Foreword The aim of this volume is to set down a few recollections connected with various periods of my life. It is equally in tended for those interested in my music and in myself. Rather therefore, than a biography it will be a simple account of im portant events side by side with facts of minor consequence bothy however, have a certain significance for me, and I wish to relate them according to the dictates of my memory. Naturally I shall not be able to keep within the bounds of bare statement. As I call my recollections to mind, I shall necessarily be obliged to speak of my opinions, my tastes, my preferences, and my abhorrences. I am but too well aware of... Less

Autobiography, Ecology, and the Well-Placed Self expands the field of autobiography studies by describing an emergent genre, natural biography, that embeds the human subject in a more-than-human world. Through an ecocritical analysis of three contemporary U.S. authors—William Kittredge, Terry Tempest Williams, and Mary Clearman Blew—Nathan Straight illustrates how ecologically situated life writing bridges the human/nature divide and responds to the pressing environmental and communal demands of our times. In his exploration of the well-placed self he challenges traditional concepts of the autobiographical subject and considers new models of selfhood in relation to regional and national identities. His illuminating discussions of specific texts engage with ecofeminist and bioregional... Less

John Gielgud’s long and distinguished career in the theatre forever changed our interpretation of the classical repertoire, and marked him out as one of the finest and most influential actors of all time. This authoritative and comprehensive biography is the definitive account of his life and glittering stage career on both sides of the Atlantic: in Shakespeare and other classics; in plays by contemporary dramatists such as Edward Albee, Harold Pinter, David Storey, Edward Bond and Alan Bennett; and in seventy films, including his Academy Award-winning role in Arthur. Like other gay men of his time, Gielgud had to lead a double life outside the theatre. The book throws fresh light on his arrest for "importuning male persons for immoral purposes" in a public lavatoryand its aftermath, a... Less

Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) was one of the foremost crusaders against black oppression. This engaging memoir tells of her private life as mother of a growing family as well as her public activities as teacher, lecturer, and journalist in her fight against attitudes and laws oppressing blacks."No student of black history should overlook Crusade for Justice."—William M. Tuttle, Jr., Journal of American History"Besides being the story of an incredibly courageous and outspoken black woman in the face of innumerable odds, the book is a valuable contribution to the social history of the United States and to the literature of the women's movement as well."—Elizabeth Kolmer, American Quarterly"[Wells was] a sophisticated fighter whose prose was as though as her intellect."—Walter Goodman, New York... Less

Histories of autobiography in England often assume the genre hardly existed before 1600. But Tudor Autobiography investigates eleven sixteenth- century English writers who used sermons, a saint’s biography, courtly and popular verse, a traveler’s report, a history book, a husbandry book, and a supposedly fictional adventure novel to share the secrets of the heart and tell their life stories.             In the past such texts have not been called autobiographies because they do not reveal much of the inwardness of their subject, a requisite of most modern autobiographies.  But, according to Meredith Anne Skura, writers reveal themselves not only by what they say but by how they say it. Borrowing methods from affective linguistics, narratology, and psychoanalysis, Skura shows that a... Less

This collective biography on twelve world-class leaders provides timeless principles on how families, as well as educational, civic, religious, and military organizations, can facilitate the development of exemplary leaders. The biographies and autobiographies of great leaders reveal the importance of an involved parent, happy childhood, plethora of "apprenticeships, " rich formal and informal education, a steady stream of prodigious patrons, gracious critics, and a favorable fate.In addition to biographical data, this study synthesizes the various trends in leadership studies to develop a comprehensive model. A coherent theory on leadership has been elusive because scholars have focused on specific parts of leadership without recognition of the whole. The biographical data and synthesis... Less

Village Voice and Interview cofounder John Wilcock was first drawn into the milieu of Andy Warhol through filmmaker Jonas Mekas, assisting on some of Warhol's early films, hanging out at his parties and quickly becoming a regular at the Factory. "About six months after I started hanging out at the old, silvery Factory on West 47th Street," he recalls, "[Gerard] Malanga came up to me and asked, 'When are you going to write something about us?'" Already fascinated by Warhol's persona, Wilcock went to work, interviewing the artist's closest associates, supporters and superstars. Among these were Malanga, Naomi Levine, Taylor Mead and Ultra Violet, all of whom had been in the earliest films; scriptwriter Ronnie Tavel, and photographer Gretchen Berg; art dealers Sam Green, Ivan Karp, Eleanor... Less

The following translation was commenced, the first Ten Books had already appeared in America. It vas the intention of the Publisher to reprint these without alteration, but, on comparing them with the original, it was perceived that the American version was not sufficiently faithful, and therefore the present was undertaken. The Translator, however, is bound to acknowledge, that he found many successful renderings in the work of his predecessor, and these he has engrafted without hesitation. The title " Truth and Poetry" is adopted in common with the American translation, as the nearest rendering of Dichtung und Wahrheit, and preferable to " Truth and Fiction," which has sometimes been used. The poet, by the expression Dichtung, did not mean that he invented incidents in the... Less

When he was sixteen years old, Larry Miller came home one summer night to find all his possessions sitting in three bags on the porch of his darkened house. The door was locked. From those troubled and humble beginnings rose a man whose influence has touched, according to reliable pollsters, more than 99 percent of the population of Utah as well as myriads of people worldwide. Seven months before Miller passed away, he began working with Doug Robinson on this biography. Written in first person, the book talks about the many facets of Larry s life and legacy and speaks candidly about the people and experiences that influenced him. It doesn t just tell Larry Miller s story, it shares lessons painful as well as joyful lessons he has learned from his experiences. This fascinating and... Less

When he was sixteen years old, Larry Miller came home one summer night to find all his possessions sitting in three bags on the porch of his darkened house. The door was locked. From those troubled and humble beginnings rose a man whose influence has touched, according to reliable pollsters, more than 99 percent of the population of Utah as well as myriads of people worldwide. Seven months before Miller passed away, he began working with Doug Robinson on this biography. Written in first person, the book talks about the many facets of Larrys life and legacy and speaks candidly about the people and experiences that influenced him. It doesn t just tell Larry Millers story, it shares lessons painful as well as joyful lessons he has learned from his experiences. This fascinating and inspiring... Less

Me and My Father's Shadow is both biography and autobiography woven together. It tells the story of Ted Lewis, “The Jazz King," who was the originator of The Big Bands, and considered by many of his contemporaries as the most famous and highest paid bandleader, recording artist, entertainer, and movie/radio/telev ision personality of the twentieth century. This quest and biography is told by his daughter, and only child, whom he never knew. The story is also about famed restaurants such as Reisenwebers and Rectors, vaudeville/burles que theaters, and nightclub stages that blazed with the names of Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, Sophie Tucker, Fanny Brice, and Will Rogers, plus hundreds of other stars made famous by the Hammersteins, Shuberts, and Ziegfelds. It is about Tin Pan... Less

This is the first complete biography of Georges Perec (1936-1982), novelist, poet, verbal gamesman, master puzzler a man at once eccentric, brilliant, and endearingly ordinary, whom Italo Calvino called "so singular a literary personality that he bears absolutely no resemblance to anyone else."Perec's novels are widely regarded as modern classics, but his linguistic mastery actually extended to a stunning variety of forms: from autobiography, drama, and criticism to crossword puzzles and the world's longest palindrome. Ever in search of new verbal challenges, he wrote one novel entirely without the letter e; and in 1978 he published the monumental, structurally complex Life A User's Manual, which many critics have placed (in the words of The Boston Globe) "on the level of Joyce, Proust,... Less

"During the last twenty years, seven books of mine have been published as historical novels which to me are biographies of previous lives I have known. Far Memory is the autobiography of my first thirty years in the twentieth century. From early childhood, often to my extreme discomfort, I was sometimes aware beyond the usual range of the five senses. I tried to ignore the implications of this awareness, but it was too insistent; so in an attempt to understand what was happening I laboriously trained the faculty of far memory. This book describes, among other things, how I did so and what happened to me as the result. "Far Memory, Joan Grant's autobiography, tells how Winged Pharaoh came to be written. It is a most touching, most amusing, most astonishing real life story." London Daily... Less

This book presents the Nobel Laureate Vitaly Ginzburg's views on the development in the field of superconductivity . It contains a selection of Ginzburg's key writings, including his amended version of the Nobel lecture in Physics 2003. Also included are an expanded autobiography, which was written for the Nobel Committee, an article entitled "A Scientific Autobiography: An Attempt," a fundamental article co-written with L.D. Landau entitled "To the theory of superconductivity , " an expanded review article "Superconductivit y and superfluidity (what was done and what was not done)," and some newly written short articles about superconductivity and related subjects. So, in toto, presented here are the personal contributions of Ginzburg, that resulted in the Nobel Prize, in the context of... Less

This book presents the Nobel Laureate Vitaly Ginzburg's views on the development in the field of superconductivity . It contains a selection of Ginzburg's key writings, including his amended version of the Nobel lecture in Physics 2003. Also included are an expanded autobiography, which was written for the Nobel Committee, an article entitled "A Scientific Autobiography: An Attempt," a fundamental article co-written with L.D. Landau entitled "To the theory of superconductivity , " an expanded review article "Superconductivit y and superfluidity (what was done and what was not done)," and some newly written short articles about superconductivity and related subjects. So, in toto, presented here are the personal contributions of Ginzburg, that resulted in the Nobel Prize, in the context of... Less

The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fiction / General; Biography

At a time in Russia's history when poets could be (and sometimes were) killed for a poem, the autobiographies of three prominent poets, Osip Mandelstam, Marina Tsvetaeva, and Boris Pasternak, became a courageous defense of poetry. The Most Dangerous Art shows how these autobiographies trace an emotional trajectory that corresponds to the intensity of the social and state pressures that threatened Russian poets from the early 1920s to the late 1950s. During a period when literature became intensely political, and creative freedom became intensely risky, these autobiographies proclaim poetry's immortality and defend the poet's right to individual creativity against an increasingly threatening Soviet literary hierarchy. Donald Loewen provides detailed close readings of these biographies and... Less

At a time in Russia's history when poets could be (and sometimes were) killed for a poem, the autobiographies of three prominent poets, Osip Mandelstam, Marina Tsvetaeva, and Boris Pasternak, became a courageous defense of poetry. The Most Dangerous Art shows how these autobiographies trace an emotional trajectory that corresponds to the intensity of the social and state pressures that threatened Russian poets from the early 1920s to the late 1950s. During a period when literature became intensely political, and creative freedom became intensely risky, these autobiographies proclaim poetry's immortality and defend the poet's right to individual creativity against an increasingly threatening Soviet literary hierarchy. Donald Loewen provides detailed close readings of these biographies and... Less

Village Voice and Interview cofounder John Wilcock was first drawn into the milieu of Andy Warhol through filmmaker Jonas Mekas, assisting on some of Warhol's early films, hanging out at his parties and quickly becoming a regular at the Factory. "About six months after I started hanging out at the old, silvery Factory on West 47th Street," he recalls, "[Gerard] Malanga came up to me and asked, 'When are you going to write something about us?'" Already fascinated by Warhol's persona, Wilcock went to work, interviewing the artist's closest associates, supporters and superstars. Among these were Malanga, Naomi Levine, Taylor Mead and Ultra Violet, all of whom had been in the earliest films; scriptwriter Ronnie Tavel, and photographer Gretchen Berg; art dealers Sam Green, Ivan Karp, Eleanor... Less

This definitive biography sheds new light on the phenomenon that was Edith Piaf, enlarging on and, in some cases, correcting the half-truths provided by Piaf in her two autobiographies. Piaf's rise to international stardom, her lifelong addiction to alcohol and heroin, and her turbulent love affairs are documented, as are her friendships with such stars as Jean Cocteau, Marlene Dietrich, Maurice Chevalier, Yves Montand, and Charlie Chaplin. This detailed account concludes with a moving description of Piaf's early death at the age of 47, when some two million fans followed the funeral procession through the streets of Paris to Pere Lachaise cemetery. "Expertly separates the woman from the myth, giving full weight to both the novelettish aspects of her life and to the intelligence and... Less

This collective biography on twelve world-class leaders provides timeless principles on how families, as well as educational, civic, religious, and military organizations, can facilitate the development of exemplary leaders. The biographies and autobiographies of great leaders reveal the importance of an involved parent, happy childhood, plethora of "apprenticeships, " rich formal and informal education, a steady stream of prodigious patrons, gracious critics, and a favorable fate.In addition to biographical data, this study synthesizes the various trends in leadership studies to develop a comprehensive model. A coherent theory on leadership has been elusive because scholars have focused on specific parts of leadership without recognition of the whole. The biographical data and synthesis... Less

Looking back on the work of William Apess, we can see the importance of such early Native American writing during the Jacksonian Era. This kind of writing explains the process of colonization and subjugation from the perspective of someone colonized and subjugated, a perspective often overlooked. Apess adds a unique and important perspective. Apess was not just writing his autobiography. He was using his story to convey his truth. Through his writing he claimed that Eastern Seaboard EuroAmericans greatly misunderstood and denigrated Mashpee and Pequot peoples, misrepresented early American history, and continued to unfairly subjugate Native Americans and other non- EuroAmericans. I trace shifting perspectives and subjectivities. With each shift in subjectivity, I find a changing... Less

Few people in the history of college sports have been more influential or had a bigger impact than Lou Holtz....

In this provocative new book, Elisabeth Young-Bruehl illuminates the psychological and intellectual demands writing biography makes on the biographer and explores the complex and frequently conflicted relationship between feminism and psychoanalysis. A practicing psychoanalyst, a distinguished scholar, and the widely praised biographer of Anna Freud and Hannah Arendt, Young-Bruehl here reflects on the relations between self-knowledge, autobiography, biography, and cultural history. She considers what remains valuable in Sigmund Freud's work, and what areas--theory of character, for instance--must be rethought to be useful for current psychoanalytic work, for feminist studies, and for social theory. Psychoanalytic theory used for biography, she argues, can yield insights for... Less