Book Description
In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American. It begins in New York, where Barack Obama learns that his father—a figure he knows more as a myth than as a man—has been killed in a car accident. This sudden death inspires an emotional odyssey—first to a small town in Kansas, from which he retraces the migration of his mother’s family to Hawaii, and then to Kenya, where he meets the African side of his family, confronts the bitter truth of his father’s life, and at last reconciles his divided inheritance.
Customer Reviews:
warning.......2007-10-09
great read, but once you're done there's no way you could look at this man the same way again.
"PT 109" for the 21st Century.......2007-10-08
As my readers will know, I am a tough critic, but I can find precious little about "Dreams from my Father" to criticize. Of course, the book will not appeal to those who don't care about race in America, or who have extremely fixed ideas about the subject. I like to think though that the majority of the reading public at least (if not the general public) are both engaged with and to some extent open-minded about our nation's central bugaboo/crisis/character flaw.
An editorial review mentioned that Obama's mother is almost absent from the book. To some extent he may have taken her somewhat for granted -- unlike his father or himself, he always had a good idea who she was and what she was about. In the preface to this edition, Obama mentions that she has died of cancer between the original publication and his nomination for U. S. Senate from Illinois, and that if he had known she would not be around to see that, he might have written a different book, spending more time hailing her for having stood by him. In the introduction to the first edition (written in 1995), he admits that he can't speak for everyone in the world. This is the most ironic part of the book, since it was only a year after that that he first ran for the Illinois state legislature. Thereafter, he has increasingly been compelled to try to do just that.
Although finding oneself has become a cliche, especially in the literary world, it was Barack Obama's mission for the first thirty years of his life. Defined as a black man, he sought to make his race more than a social construct, but something central and ineffable, and at the same time not cut off his ties to the rest of humanity, particularly his white mother and grandparents. He doesn't take his mother completely for granted -- he spends thirty to fifty pages talking about her background and that of her parents, who moved from Kansas to Hawaii, seeing it as the last frontier, when she was about to start college. Another one hundred pages or so explore his life with them in Hawaii (with a short stint in Indonesia, where his mother married a man who had studied in America and gave birth to Obama's half-sister Maya).
Readers of any race will be overwhelmed by the sheer power of Obama's writing. I choked up reading this several times. That is ultimately the best reason to read it, not the fact that Barack Obama has become a serious candidate for the presidency. This book also helps you figure out how he did that. The only thing he feels more keenly than his own hopes and fears are the hopes and fears of everyone around him. At the end of the book, having learned the whole story of his father's and grandfather's lives, he stands over their graves and weeps, feeling what they must have felt at each turning point of their lives. Although Obama is quintessentially American, I somehow would not be surprised, given the epiphany he had there, if he chose upon his death to be buried in Kenya alongside them. But perhaps my sympathy is making me romanticize the man.
This book leaves me with two regrets and one big hope. First, it is probably unfilmable. Second, there is one man running with even more vision and courage than Barack Obama, so I won't be able to vote for him in the primary election (although I will in the general if he is the candidate). My big hope is that Obama will write a third book in 2017, having waited eleven years between books as he did between his first and second, that will combine the autobiography he did with this book and the political manifesto he did with "The Audacity of Hope" (a phrase which you have to read "Dreams from my Father" to know Obama doesn't take credit for). Although I haven't finished the latter book, there is basically no way it could top this one. I give it my highest recommendation.
Moving, eloquent and inspirational..........2007-09-26
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama is a moving, eloquent and honest book that was originally published in 1995. This is an amazing story, and not just because he is a presidential candidate. Although autobiographical in scope, it is not intended to be a complete history of the author's life. Instead, it is "a boy's search for his father."
Barack Obama had a most unusual childhood. His mother was a white American living in Hawaii. His father, Barack Obama Sr., was a brilliant black Kenyan who received a college scholarship to the University of Hawaii. When Obama was two, his father graduated college and received a scholarship to obtain his PhD at Harvard. Unfortunately, the scholarship did not include living expenses for his family, and this proved the end of the marriage. After that, Obama only saw his father one more time before being killed in an auto accident when Obama was 21. Obama's mother subsequently married a man from Indoesia, where Obama lived for several years. But that marriage also ended and Obama returned to Hawaii to live with his grandparents. Dreams from My Father also includes Obama's college experiences, as well as the work he did as an organizer in Chicago.
The most moving part of Dreams from My Father involves his trip to Kenya for the first time several years after his father died. As a youth, he describes the reaction of others when they discover his background "Privately, they guess at my troubled heart, I supposed--the mixed blood, the divided soul, the ghostly image of a tragic mulatto trapped between two worlds." In Kenya, he meets his African family including grandparents, half-brothers and sisters, step-mothers, aunts, uncles and cousins. At the Kenyan airport, an airport employee recognizes his name and knew his father. "For the first time in my life, I felt the comfort, the firmness of identity that a name might provide, how it could carry an entire history in other people's memories...My name belonged and so I belonged." I was also moved by Obama's discovery of faith.
Even if Obama was not a presidential candidate for the 2008 election, Dreams is still an eloquent and inspirational story about his search for his father and his efforts to reconcile the histories of this white and black families.
A worthy memoir of Obama's complicated early life.......2007-09-06
Due to its multi-section arrangement, falling into three precise stages, this book feels like a well-paced coming-of-age novel, an impression buoyed by the fact that, to a degree that is unusual for politicians, Obama can actually write well. If you are looking for information on what policies Obama would support as a presidential candidate, you should look elsewhere. However, the book does give the impression that the writer is unusually forthright, both about himself and his beliefs.
Watching Obama's attitudes on race evolve is one of the key points of interest in the book, and the reader comes away with a picture of a man who is both reflective and self-critical. It is somewhat apparent that the author was not running for office at the time the book was written, and yes, it (very briefly) mentions his now infamous flirtation with cocaine use. However, if you want to read a portrait of the man, if not his political platform, and interested in the struggles of someone growing up in between two different cultures, this book is well worth reading.
just great.......2007-08-17
Obama wrote his memoirs of his growing up some years ago (and with his political career I expect he'll be writing them again in twenty or so years). It is an honest book about a remarkable man who had a remarkable life. Nothing political about it.
Book Description
In this raucous collection of true-life stories, actress and comedian Chelsea Handler recounts her time spent in the social trenches with that wild, strange, irresistible, and often gratifying beast: the one-night stand.
You've either done it or know someone who has: the one-night stand, the familiar outcome of a night spent at a bar, sometimes the sole payoff for your friend's irritating wedding, or the only relief from a disastrous vacation. Often embarrassing and uncomfortable, occasionally outlandish, but most times just a necessary and irresistible evil, the one-night stand is a social rite as old as sex itself and as common as a bar stool.
Enter Chelsea Handler. Gorgeous, sharp, and anything but shy, Chelsea loves men and lots of them. My Horizontal Life chronicles her romp through the different bedrooms of a variety of suitors, a no-holds-barred account of what can happen between a man and a sometimes very intoxicated, outgoing woman during one night of passion. From her short fling with a Vegas stripper to her even shorter dalliance with a well-endowed little person, from her uncomfortable tryst with a cruise ship performer to her misguided rebound with a man who likes to play leather dress-up, Chelsea recalls the highs and lows of her one-night stands with hilarious honesty. Encouraged by her motley collection of friends (aka: her partners in crime) but challenged by her family members (who at times find themselves a surprise part of the encounter), Chelsea hits bottom and bounces back, unafraid to share the gritty details. My Horizontal Life is one guilty pleasure you won't be ashamed to talk about in the morning.
Customer Reviews:
Just ok...not side splitting funny........2007-10-13
From reading most of the reviews, you would think that this was a drop dead hilarious book but, in my opinion it really isn't that funny. I thought it took awhile to get going and even then it had it's slow parts. But, I must admit the last three chapters do make up for the rest of the book!
If you are looking for a book you can spend a day reading curled up on the couch and be somewhat entertained then this is the book for you. Afrer all, it is a very quick read. If you are looking for a book with side splitting laughs, you might want to look somewhere else.
TOO FUNNY!!!.......2007-10-01
So I noticed a lot of people bashing this book for Chelsea being a pill-poppin tramp who only loves vodka and sex... and she WAS, but I found this book hilarious!!! I am in my late 20's and found this book to be extremely funny, witty and courageous (because Lord knows I wouldn't write about my past sex life for all my family and friends to read!)
I laughed nearly the entire book - especially about the S&M guy who wanted to be "smacked". HAHA!
Good job Chelsea! You continue to make me laugh and I'll def pick up another one of your books! See you on E!
Hilarious, fast read.......2007-09-20
One of the funniest, laugh out loud books ive ever read. It's become a favorite gift to give to my girlfriends!
The title really IS misleading.......2007-09-06
This book really is about Chelsea's "near misses". Instead of gloriously detailed sex-capades, her writings were more about her trying to weasel out of sex related situations. Reading it, I had a hard time believing that her character was even having sex at all. There was all this fluff concerning wild and crazy conversations/situations that would ultimately lead up to the 'come back to my room?' moment, which would then be quickly followed with her chickening out and having to find a less than tactful means of escape. I was left thinking that her character would be the type to walk around shouting 'I'm a slut! Come on boys!', when in reality all she would do is kiss. Not very promiscuous. The entire book was impersonal and, at times, had struggled to remain witty. It was surprising to find that by the last five or six pages, Chelsea actually began to write in a more biographical style where you began to feel some sort of raw emotion from her, which had been refreshing after two-hundred pages of emptiness. I don't regret having read it, I'm just a little sad with the money wasted purchasing it.
Let's here it for Chelsea Handler!.......2007-08-30
While I am a fan of Chelsea's stand up I found reading it and hearing it in the voice of hers I'm familiar with even more entertaining. Not all the jokes I've heard live on her show have the kind of punch that the material in this laugh out loud book does. It's a great book if you want to have a really good time and also have the freedom to put it down after each chapter/story. You can use this book as your light pick me up reading between deeper, darker, heavier reading.
Just so we're clear this book will teach you nothing about sex. It is in no way "erotic". Chelsea is merely offering up her sex life as comic material that is truly unique!
Customer Reviews:
A Shy Man With Inner Strength of Iron.......2005-06-26
I have seen Chuck Norris interviewed on several TV shows and he comes across as a very soft spoken shy man, yet you can tell he has a very powerful inner strength. In his career he has helped countless young people who doubted themselves to pick themselves up from despair and a feeling of uselessness and to believe in themselves and to do something great with their lives. He cares for his fellow man and has given of himself when he didn't have to. This book allows you to see inside his heart and to see and feel the struggles he has gone through and conquered. Chuck Norris is a Winner and so is this book. It is definitely a must read. Someone should do a movie on his life! He started at the bottom (he failed his first black belt test) and came out on top.
I came away with More Respect for the man..........2004-08-05
I like action movies, and TV. Chuck Norris is reliable and delivers in his films. But this book reveals a depth of character that seems to be depressiongly rare in the entertainment business.
In the end, Mr. Norris is an optimist.
He thinks that things will eventually work out OK.
He thinks that people can overcome adversity.
H thinks that people can succeed if they really apply thmeselves.
But he notes that success is rarely easy. Persistence and attitude are everything, and that strong character is essential. What are the elements of a strong character? According to Chuck Norris, they include the same qualities that The Boy Scouts and other institutions which claim to build character stress: Honesty, bravery, humility, humor, loyalty, commitment to truth, learning, duty, assissting others, etc.
If this book has a cental falw, it is the long (and often tedious) sections detailing some of Mr. Norris' films. But woven in wiht the narratives are some excellent insights into the value of strong character.
In the value free world of entertainment and media, Chuck Norris is not afraid or ashamed to state that "right" and "wrong" are valid and applicable concepts. He gives several concreate examples to express his life philosophy and the validity thereof. Being didactic and judgemental are often frowned upon in media, entertainment, and publishing. But Norris makes a case 9with anecdotes and examples) that sound judgements premised or rooted upon well-formed values, are a positive thing.
In the end, a portrait emerges of a man shaped by his values, not his past. And Chuck Norris had a very hard start in life. But he decided that he would not fall into despair; instead, he would rise above expectations, and succeed.
I can recommend this book for many reasons. THe two main reasons I do so are that it dispels the cyncial belief that honesty and good values are no longer worth anything. And in the end, Chuck Norris' life story serves as an inspirational motivator; to go out and make something of oneself.
This is a very positive book, and one I highly recommend.
A "Not-So-Common" Common Man's Journey!.......2003-08-30
Martial arts and film buffs will enjoy this book, which is a straightforward autobiography (written with the assistance of Joe Hyams). Be forwarned that this book was published in 1988 (at least my hardcover version), so the filmography doesn't cover his more recent works.
Norris describes his experiences from childhood, to the time spent in the armed forces, where he originally took up the matrial art of Tang Soo Do under Jae-chul Shin (who today runs the World Tang Soo Do Association).
This volume describes Norris's tournament days, including quite a bit about his competition experiences. There is also information about his family life, his entry into film making during his time as a karate (Tang Soo Do) instructor, and his experiences as a self-made actor in Hollywood. Throughout, he is honest as he describes his triumphs and mistakes.
Chuck Norris is the quintessential all-American guy who worked his tail off, took a big gamble, and came out on top. This book describes his journey from average joe, to martial arts instructor, to professional film star. This book includes two sections of photographs which show Norris from childhood, with family, in the services, in karate competition, and during the filming of his movies.
The Secret of Inner Strength.......2002-11-28
I thought I knew Chuck Norris before buying this book. But what I found was nothing that I ever expected. Chuck had a hard life and had health problems that he had to over come, talk about bad luck, nothing came easy for him, not even being born! If you are into self improvement or want a really inspiring story, buy this book and read it over and over again, the knowledge contained is great. It has a whole system of self development contained within, I have so much to say on this book, but read it for yourself, it's worth every penny!
Inner look at a remarkable human being.......2001-08-21
This book is a must for all people of all ages. Whether your a Chuck Norris fan or not. As one review put it, he lays his emotions and home life on the table. I found it so intriguing that I couldn't put the book down for long periods of time, because I wanted to know more. This book has begun to open my eyes to look inside myself. I'm so motivated that I am going to get his second inner strength book about ZEN! This book is easy to read and he is an inspiring teacher. It's so good that I don't want to give the book up!
Book Description
In her own words, here is the captivating story of Julia Child’s years in France, where she fell in love with French food and found ‘her true calling.’
From the moment the ship docked in Le Havre in the fall of 1948 and Julia watched the well-muscled stevedores unloading the cargo to the first perfectly soigné meal that she and her husband, Paul, savored in Rouen en route to Paris, where he was to work for the USIS, Julia had an awakening that changed her life. Soon this tall, outspoken gal from Pasadena, California, who didn’t speak a word of French and knew nothing about the country, was steeped in the language, chatting with purveyors in the local markets, and enrolled in the Cordon Bleu.
After managing to get her degree despite the machinations of the disagreeable directrice of the school, Julia started teaching cooking classes herself, then teamed up with two fellow gourmettes, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, to help them with a book they were trying to write on French cooking for Americans. Throwing herself heart and soul into making it a unique and thorough teaching book, only to suffer several rounds of painful rejection, is part of the behind-the-scenes drama that Julia reveals with her inimitable gusto and disarming honesty.
Filled with the beautiful black-and-white photographs that Paul loved to take when he was not battling bureaucrats, as well as family snapshots, this memoir is laced with wonderful stories about the French character, particularly in the world of food, and the way of life that Julia embraced so wholeheartedly. Above all, she reveals the kind of spirit and determination, the sheer love of cooking, and the drive to share that with her fellow Americans that made her the extraordinary success she became.
Le voici. Et bon appétit!
Download Description
Julia Child was born in Pasadena, California. She was graduated from Smith College and worked for the OSS during World War II in Ceylon and China, where she met Paul Child. After they married they lived in Paris, where she studied at the Cordon Bleu and taught cooking with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, with whom she wrote the first volume of Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961). In 1963, Boston’s WGBH launched The French Chef television series, which made her a national celebrity, earning her the Peabody Award in 1965 and an Emmy in 1966. Several public television shows and numerous cookbooks followed. She died in 2004.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
Missing Julia.......2007-08-05
I just finished this book, and I am unashamed to say I have shed tears for the loss of this great woman. I am discovering the art of cooking later in life, as Julia did, and she has helped give me the courage I am needing to change careers and attend culinary arts training this spring. What a marvelous book, I felt that I was there with her in her "la belle France" and wish that I could have had the opportunity to spend time in the kitchen with her. You will not be disappointed in this fantastic read.
Great Read.......2007-07-27
This book was so enjoyable to read! I was fascinated by this look into post-war France, and into Julia's world there. It made me wish I would have know her and understand why it seems that everyone who knew her, loved her.
One thing I thought was fun was her encyclopedic recall of various meals they enjoyed, including the wine vintage.
You'll also love hearing how she came to write her first cookbook and become a host of her own show on PBS. For those of us who are over 40, it's also great to note that the most interesting parts of her life didn't even begin until then.
French Food as Accessible Art Form Thanks to Julia.......2007-07-20
My Life in France gives the reader a glimpse into the extraordinary and elegant life of Julia Child. The memoir adds another dimension to Julia the TV persona and looks beyond the lighthearted image. Indeed, beyond Julia's fun spirit was an unbelievable level of meticulous research and above all, fearlessness and stamina. My Life in France is a delight to read for anyone who wishes to understand the origin of Julia's passion for French cooking and her ability to transform one's vision of and taste for fine food. My Life in France
A must-read for any foodie.......2007-07-15
This has risen to the top of my favorite books list. It's so well written, with plenty of imagery and descriptive language that I felt I was in Julia's kitchen with her. I learned quite a bit about her relationship with her husband and both their careers. The best was reading about how the recipes and the books were written.
If you are planning to write a cook book or are very interested in cooking and chefs, you should definitely buy this book.
It's a Wonderful Life in France!.......2007-07-04
'My Life in France' is a superb book that effuses with that wonderful endearing quality we have all come to know and love in Julia Child. The book focuses mainly on the early years of developing her first cookbooks and television show.
The book begins when she and her husband, Paul, make their first trip to France because of his new job assignment. You feel her giddy excitement upon landing on the shores of a place she had for so long desired to go. We hear in minute detail the look, smell and taste of her first French meal, and from there we are introduced to "La Belle France". Before I began the book, I wondered for how long I could sustain reading each night about a person's breakfast, lunch or dinner meal that had been eaten 50 years prior, but Julia has such an adorable way of speaking, and her sometimes child-like observations of life and people around her are so heartwarming, you just wish you had been there. As the book progresses, she speaks about her collaboration with two women for her first book, and sometimes the claws come out. You're thinking, "Julia!" But, as with all friendships, there are things that agree with us and things that don't. Without some of these tidbits, the book may have been too trite, or frankly boring. Subsequently, it was interesting to hear of the minor squabbles that occurred between the women and the simple controversies concerning her husband and his role as a "diplomat". Paul and Julia Child made many friends overseas, whom they adored and loved. The majority of these people stayed in her inner circle until the end of their lives. For me, night after night, I couldn't wait to sit down and read about so many dinner parties with simmering meats and side dishes, lovely conversations, and eccentric friends. The only thing I didn't like about the book is that it ended too quickly, and I found myself missing the evenings with Julia.
Amazon.com
The most honest, wildly enjoyable book written about motherhood is surely Anne Lamott's account of her son Sam's first year. A gifted writer and teacher, Lamott (Crooked Little Heart) is a single mother and ex-alcoholic with a pleasingly warped social circle and a remarkably tolerant religion to lean on. She responds to the changes, exhaustion, and love Sam brings with aplomb or outright insanity. The book rocks from hilarious to unbearably poignant when Sam's burgeoning life is played out against a very close friend's illness. No saccharine paean to becoming a parent, this touches on the rage and befuddlement that dog sweeter emotions during this sea change in one's life.
Book Description
It’s not like she’s the only woman to ever have a baby. At thirty-five. On her own. But Anne Lamott makes it all fresh in her now-classic account of how she and her son and numerous friends and neighbors and some strangers survived and thrived in that all important first year. From finding out that her baby is a boy (and getting used to the idea) to finding out that her best friend and greatest supporter Pam will die of cancer (and not getting used to that idea), with a generous amount of wit and faith (but very little piousness), Lamott narrates the great and small events that make up a woman’s life.
Customer Reviews:
conservatives, beware.......2007-08-20
I just had my first baby (an amazing boy) & started reading this after he was born. I would not recommend for mothers, since the author drones on endlessly about her fears for her son. This only puts the same thoughts in the readers minds, things which never would have occurred to me before. I would also discourage anyone from reading this who is the slightest bit conservative. The author goes on and on about her hatred for Republicans and especially George Bush. She seems more interested in pushing a liberal agenda and teaching her son about fear and hatred than writing a good memoir. I found that part quite offensive, regardless of my political opinions. The only good thing I can say about this book is that it inspired me to write down my own observations, thoughts and feelings for my beloved baby boy, so that made it worthwhile.
So Real It Hurts: Just Like Parenting.......2007-08-16
You have an idea in your head of how Anne Lamott would be as a parent: so irreverent, so comical, so knowing and wise. Then Anne walks in and blows you away by living up to all your expectations: and destroying them!
Raw, honest, frustrating, hilarious, complicated -- this book is so dead-on about parenting it's amazing. And it's so Anne. Very simply Anne is one of the best writers currently working in English: read this even if you don't have kids.
Somehow even in the messiness (or because of it?) Anne Lamott's voice always brings us a harmony of hope. You just know, even in the worst of times, that this mother loves her son and is grateful for him.
Anne, the rest of us are grateful for you.
David & Lisa Frisbie
The Center for Marriage & Family Studies
Authors of: Raising Great Kids on Your Own: A Guide and Companion for Every Single Parent
Healing.......2007-07-10
I actually bought this book for my daughter at the recommendation of a friend who has a PHD in Psychology. I had asked my friend for something as an antidote to "Drama of the Gifted Child" (nothing against the book - was just a hard time for my daughter to read it) and my friend suggested this book. My daughter enjoyed it so much. She kept calling a reading/reciting exerpts from the book - laughing and feeling understood were such a relief for her. My son'law even sent me an email "thank you" for how uplifting it was for her.
Laugh out loud funny........2007-06-26
This book is fantastic. Lamott says the things most mothers would be too ashamed and embarrassed to admit feeling. At the same time, she expresses the love and joy that come with motherhood in a way few of us could.
I thought this was a great book! Great for first-time mothers!.......2007-05-13
This book was given to me as a shower gift and I have since given it as a gift to new mothers numerous times. The humor really helped to alleviate anxiety with regard to motherhood, plus it was very poignant! Would definitely recommend it!
Amazon.com
People around the world have found inspiration in the story of Lance Armstrong--a world-class athlete nearly struck down by cancer, only to recover and win the Tour de France, the multiday bicycle race famous for its grueling intensity. Armstrong is a thoroughgoing Texan jock, and the changes brought to his life by his illness are startling and powerful, but he's just not interested in wearing a hero suit. While his vocabulary is a bit on the he-man side (highest compliment to his wife: "she's a stud"), his actions will melt the most hard-bitten souls: a cancer foundation and benefit bike ride, his astonishing commitment to training that got him past countless hurdles, loyalty to the people and corporations that never gave up on him. There's serious medical detail here, which may not be for the faint of heart; from chemo to surgical procedures to his wife's in vitro fertilization, you won't be spared a single x-ray, IV drip, or unfortunate side effect. Athletes and coaches everywhere will benefit from the same extraordinary detail provided about his training sessions--every aching tendon, every rainy afternoon, and every small triumph during his long recovery is here in living color. It's Not About the Bike is the perfect title for this book about life, death, illness, family, setbacks, and triumphs, but not especially about the bike. --Jill Lightner
Book Description
The #1 New York Times bestseller with legs as strong as its author's.
Lance Armstrong is one of the most talked about- and inspirational-sports figures of all time. He was Sports Illustrated 's 2002 Sportsman of the Year-and now, after his record-shattering string of Tour de France victories, some are proclaiming him the greatest athlete of all time.
This is the book in which he shares his journey through triumph, tragedy, transformation, and transcendence. It is the story of a world-famous cyclist and his fight against cancer.
This is the story of Lance Armstrong, the world-famous cyclist, and his fight against cancer.
Customer Reviews:
1/2 The Story: After "BIKE" Read "WAR".......2007-09-20
IT'S NOT ABOUT THE BIKE gives you a wonderful, inside view of Lance Armstrong. A great read. But only half the story...
Don't miss out on the "outer view," Lance through the eyes of a good reporter. LANCE ARMSTRONG'S WAR: ONE MAN'S BATTLE AGAINST FATE, FAME, LOVE, DEATH, SCANDAL, AND A FEW OTHER RIVALS ON THE ROAD TO THE TOUR DE FRANCE by Daniel Coyle is simply marvelous.
The two books belong together.
Dr. Kirtland C Peterson
Good at the beginning....but it IS about the bike........2007-09-17
I was eager to read this book, I saw Lance on several t.v. shows, his battle with cancer interested me because my mom also had cancer at an early age (29), so I bought the book with the hope of learning what made him strong, wondering: how can he inspire others? Well, the first half was pretty good, I was amazed at how much the cancer took over his body and the grueling recovery. I was in awe of Kik and how she stood by him, along thinking he was a humble,family man. I was wrong. The latter part of the book indeed was "all about the bike" going on and on about all the prep for the upcoming races, the TDF (the biggest, most prestigous bike race), the move to Europe (for the bike) and all the proper cycling terms...ho hum. I almost left that part unread, but I hate doing that, so I trudged on. I was sad to find out later after having read the book, that he no longer was with Kik and his children, but doing just spendidly peddling away and loving his singlehood.
I think in writing this book I only learned that for Lance it IS about the bike (and himself). He seems cold, egotistical and unappreciative of those who sacrificed for him. Is that what it takes to get to the top??
Must read.......2007-09-16
This is a must read for cancer survivors, the most inspirational book I have ever read!
It's not about the bike: My jouney back to life.......2007-09-02
This book has been one of the most inspirational books that I have ever read. Now whenever I'm at the gym I just say to myself, come on mike if Lance can do it so can you. I raced bicycles myself when I was younger and after breaking my collarbone at sixteen years old I thought biking was over for me; If only I realized at that age a broken bone was nothing compared to Lance. Thank you Lance Armstrong.
Inspirational.......2007-08-31
This book is an inspiration. It shows the hardships of battling cancer and the effort of recovery. Lance Armstrong is one of the most driven individuals I've ever read about; I could not put it down. Recommended for anyone and everyone, MUST READ!!!
Book Description
In this moving and compelling memoir about parent and child, father and daughter, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Lucinda Franks discovers that the remote, nearly impassive man she grew up with had in fact been a daring spy behind enemy lines in World War II. Sworn to secrecy, he began revealing details of his wartime activities only in the last years of his life as he became afflicted with Alzheimer's. His exploits revealed a man of remarkable bravado -- posing as a Nazi guard, slipping behind enemy lines to blow up ammunition dumps, and being flown to one of the first concentration camps liberated by the Allies to report on the atrocities found there.My Father's Secret War is an intimate account of Franks coming to know her own father after years of estrangement. Looking back at letters he had written her mother in the early days of WWII, Franks glimpses a loving man full of warmth. But after the grimmest assignments of the war his tone shifts, settling into an all-too-familiar distance. Franks learns about him -- beyond the alcoholism and adultery -- and comes to know the man he once was.Her story is haunting, and beautifully told, even as the tragedy becomes clear: Franks finally comes to know her father, but only as he is slipping further into his illness. Lucinda Franks understands her father as the disease claims him. My Father's Secret War is a triumph of love over secrets, and a tribute to the power of the connection of family.
Customer Reviews:
A Book You Just Can Put Down.......2007-10-04
After all the hype and with the authors oh-so-impressive cred, one expects a book that you just can't put down. She delivers a nice, warm story, but by all means, you CAN put it down.
Slow start.......2007-09-10
As I read the other reviews, I realized they are all true. In many ways this is a poignant and touching story. But Franks takes so long describing their disfunctional family and getting to the interesting part -- her father's war experiences and the process of finding the information -- that I almost put it down without finishing it. I'm glad I stayed with it, as Lucinda finally gets to the real story and redeems herself. (I didn't like her at all at the beginning of the story but I forgave her for her honesty at the end.)
Disappointment.......2007-06-16
You asked me for comments. Perhaps I was expecting more focus on the father. If one enjoys home videos of other families, this book might be of interest.
Buried secrets.......2007-06-13
I almost wish Lucinda Franks chose not to write this book.It was fairly obvious from the start that her father didn't want to remember his role in war..at one point she even asks him if he was a nazi sympathizer.definitely not.My goodness Ms. Frank,leave the poor old guy alone.The book tells a lot about her father and a lot about his daughter.When one of his old buddies phones her and said her dad needs living expenses, some extra cash, she responds that she and her husband have to maintain 3 houses, she can't send dad a few extra dollars..she visits , sees a pile of rancid leftovers in the refrigerator and proceeds to reheat the freshest one for her dad's meal..Golly Lucinda, buy and roast a chicken, peel a few potatoes, buy some canned vegetables.. how hard can that be? Poor dad wears K-mart clothes, so order something for him from Lands'End, you don't even have to go to a store. Again, this is a book that didn't need to be written.
My Father's Secret War: A Memoir.......2007-05-30
I found this book to be very well-written, powerful and thought provoking. I can't even imagine what I would have done or felt in the authors situation. Reading this book made me re-evaluate some of my thoghts, feeling and actions as my mother was dying of cancer. The historical aspect of this book alone makes it worth reading, but if you are dealing or have dealt with someone afflicted with cancer or alzhiemers, this book can make you both laugh and cry.
Amazon.com
Right in time for the Grateful Dead's 40th anniversary, eccentric bass player extraordinaire Phil Lesh has delivered fans a most welcome gift: his autobiography. There are many books out there about the Dead told from the perspective of roadies, journalists, third party observers, and fans. However, with the exceptions of Jerry Garcia's ramblings in Garcia: A Signpost to New Space and Conversations With the Dead, Lesh's Searching for the Sound is the first time a founding member of America's favorite band tells their own story of what it was like inside the Grateful Dead. And what a wonderful, strange tale it is.
Phil Lesh, considered the most academic of the group due to his avant-garde classical composition training, literate mind, and passion for the arts, decided to write his story himself. Written without the crutch of a ghostwriter, Searching for the Sound might be considered disjointed in places, but overall it comes across as conversational, intimate, informative, and candid (particularly regarding topics of drug use and death). If you are familiar with the band and their extended family, their history, the sixties' musical milestones and influences and all the band's famous tales (the Garcia/ Lesh "silent" confrontation, being busted on Bourbon Street, the Wall of Sound), you may be a little disgruntled there is not much new here in the way of content. However, what is "new" and totally satisfying is Phil's warm, optimistic perspective on the many events that helped shape his life. As described by Lesh, his life's journey, much like the Dead's music, is "a [series] of recurring themes, transpositions, repetitions, unexpected developments, all converging to define form that is not necessarily apparent until it's ending has come and gone." For the many fans who enjoyed the fruits of his life pursuit of sonic explorations, Searching for the Sound is a welcome addition to their Dead library. --Rob Bracco
Book Description
Right in time for the Grateful Dead's 40th anniversary, eccentric bass player extraordinaire Phil Lesh has delivered fans a most welcome gift: his autobiography. There are many books out there about the Dead told from the perspective of roadies, journalists, third party observers, and fans.However, with the exceptions of Jerry Garcia's ramblings in Garcia: A Signpost to New Space and Conversations With the Dead, Lesh's Searching for the Sound is the first time a founding member of America's favorite band tells their own story of what it was like inside the Grateful Dead. And what a wonderful, strange tale it is. Phil Lesh, considered the most academic of the group due to his avant-garde classical composition training, literate mind, and passion for the arts, decided to write his story himself. Written without the crutch of a ghostwriter, Searching for the Sound might be considered disjointed in places, but overall it comes across as conversational, intimate, informative, and candid (particularly regarding topics of drug use and death). If you are familiar with the band and their extended family, their history, the sixties' musical milestones and influences and all the band's famous tales (the Garcia/ Lesh "silent" confrontation, being busted on Bourbon Street, the Wall of Sound), you may be a little disgruntled there is not much new here in the way of content. However, what is "new" and totally satisfying is Phil's warm, optimistic perspective on the many events that helped shape his life. As described by Lesh, his life's journey, much like the Dead's music, is "a [series] of recurring themes, transpositions, repetitions, unexpected developments, all converging to define form that is not necessarily apparent until it's ending has come and gone." For the many fans who enjoyed the fruits of his life pursuit of sonic explorations,Searching for the Sound isa welcome addition to their Dead library. --Rob Bracco
Customer Reviews:
Moonlight Rain.......2007-05-31
I FINALLY finished this book. It took two or three false starts (i.e., read up to page fifty and stop; wait a month or two, read up to page 50 and stop) but 6 days in the hospital (nothing life threatening) gave me ample time to finish the book. Fascinating- yes. Filled with interesting facts- yes. Reads more a history text book than the autobiography of a rock star- yes. I kept referring to a dictionary ever time (frequently) Phil used a word that I had never heard before. One cool thing is Phil refers to composers (Stockhausen, Berio, etc.) that most Deadheads would enjoy. (BTW, I've been hip to Stockhausen for several years. If you think the Grateful Dead invented "Space", you are wrong.) The same goes for references to books he has read. Basically, it's a slow read but very interesting. What I want to know is with all of the LSD he took, how he was able to remember tiny details from 1966?
Bass-ically where its at!.......2007-05-14
As a bassist myself, I relate to Lesh's writing and train of thought. He documents being a part of Grateful Dead as more of an ironic string of occurances than a drugged out trip. His book is incredibly personal while he discusses such moments as learning an instrument overnight, attending classical concerts while on tour, loosing friends, and finding the inner peace in chaos. He is funny, sad, and everything in between. Although some of the technical parts get a bit too detailed for those unfamiliar with sound technology, one can understand how dedicated he was to his craft aside from the music and lyrics. I liked how Lesh pointed no fingers, rather pushed towards the positives in everyone. I would recommend reading this book with Rock Scully's Living With the Dead because they follow the same format and share similar situations. Lesh's however comes across more intimately humorous. I strong urge readers to dig into this book!
Interesting and Illuminating.......2007-03-26
I've never been to a Dead concert, but once had a roommate in college who'd recorded about 100 of them, which he constantly played, so I've certainly heard my share of Live Dead. Everyone w/ a passing knowledge of the Dead knows that their best stuff was live, not studio. Just an observation that has nothing to do with the Lesh book. It's an interesting read and Lesh is an interesting character. Especially funny was how he got out of the army:
Army Doctor: "read the bottom line on the eye chart" Lesh: "I can't see anything" Army Doctor: "You can't see the bottom line of the chart?" Lesh: "What chart?" Army Doctor: "The chart on the wall" Lesh: "What wall?" Lesh certainly is thoughtful and observant. A good journey through the history of the Dead and sometimes quite moving.
Good 'Ol G.D........2007-01-21
My brother got this book signed by Phil himself. Another biography of the Grateful Dead. Written by One of the band members. It's good. Phils good. Check it out.
Searching for a Ghost Writer.......2006-11-23
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Not by the writing. In fact, some of the prose is quite unnerving, such as "if Mickey had been born Native American, his name would have been `Pushing the Envelope.'" Although he did remember the concept of foreshadowing from High School English, and he makes of point of highlighting all of the ominous signs of the chaos to come. But overall I was surprised, because, unlike many musicians' autobiographies I've read (for example, Miles Davis), Phil Lesh does not come off as a brittle narcissist. He does not use this opportunity as a format for squabbling, for giving his side of the story. He actually comes off as a thoughtful, sincere guy, and someone willing to take the time to reflect on the past.
I was interested to hear his take on the disintegration of the Grateful Dead in the eighties and nineties. His take on it was not unlike my own. He takes some ownership for his role, admitting that the Grateful Dead had become too large of an organization, too much of a money-maker with too many dependents. The band had to keep up an outrageous tour schedule, despite the obvious decline in the quality of the music and the painfully obvious deterioration of Jerry Garcia.
He makes a note-worthy observation about the parallel process between the band and the audience. At first, it was a bunch of guys with different musical backgrounds, but all with open minds, all in the right place at the right time, who used drugs to expand the individual consciousness of each member as well as the group consciousness in step with the counter-cultural revolution happening around them. They pushed boundaries but they also communicated with each other through the music, with novel sounds erupting organically from their collective experiments. But the drugs that fueled their creativity would also eventually isolate each of them from each other and from themselves. As alcoholism and heroin addiction destroyed the sense of community within the band, the dead head scene would suffer as well. By the end, prior to Jerry's death, you had a band on stage pretending they were playing together, pretending to play with even a fraction of their potential. And as an audience, we pretended too. Or at least those of us who still believed we were there for the music pretended, and the frat boys just came for the party. And they continued to sell out stadiums, while shows were marred by police stings, gate crashers, riots, tear gas, and death threats.
When I was catching shows, late eighties early nineties, you would hear two different kinds of fans as you filed out of one of their 2 in 3 mediocre shows. The Pollyanna-heads would be glowing, talking about how Jerry lifted his arm at one point, or almost rocked his shoulders with the beat, "Yeah, he was really into it tonight." The more jaded heads would just be complaining, complaining about the lackluster set-list, complaining the Jerry continued to tune himself down in the mix, that he was quitting on solos, that Bobby was trying to steal the show again. Both types annoyed me. I like to tell people that I quit going to shows because I realized that the fans who supported the Dead were enablers, burying our heads in the sand. But in reality, that's a post-hoc, grandiose explanation. I quit going because I was paying $35 for tickets a mile away from the stage, to see dishearteningly bad performances, while the drunken frat boys all around me didn't even know enough to get quiet during those increasingly rare moments of musical transcendence. The breakdown was complete, and for both band and audience, going to show meant little more than participating in a ritual.
Phil spends the most time on the early years. That's a good thing. That's the most interesting part. When they were actually hippies, living like hippies, and things were just starting to happen. Woodstock and Altamont are recounted not just as events but as contrasting symbols of everything that was good about the hippie scene and everything that was wrong about it. Ultimately it is a commentary on human nature, the capacity to love and experience ecstasy versus the tendency to retreat into hostility and hatred.
Like I said, Phil owns his role in it all, admits to mistakes, and doesn't spend a lot of time defending himself or trying to bolster his reputation. The only part where it felt like he had a little bit of a self-serving agenda was when he talked about the different directions he wanted to push the band, more experimentation with exotic time signatures for example. But even then, he talks about it in terms of lessons learned. He realizes he misread the mood of the band, they were content to play their songs and didn't want Phil as martinet. I think Phil is giving an honest account here. If you listen to the post-Dead music coming from all the living members of the Dead, it is Phil and Friends who continue to be the most exploratory. Though not the most charismatic of a stage presence, he may have been the biggest "believer" of the bunch, the most devout in his quest for the divine through the psychedelic. Along those lines, it's also interesting hearing Phil weave in and out of magical thinking. He's often grounded and very down-to-Earth, but moments later can go off on a tangent about any kind of mystical spirituality that he can tie in to the moment.
It's worth a read. Not great writing but good enough, readable, and will certainly be of interest to any fan of the band. The book ends with the recent history, the fall-out from Jerry's death, some of the ugly fighting over who owns the rights to what, and ultimately Phil's hepatitis and liver transplant. He really does end up sounding like a likeable guy, the grinning musical little brother of Jerry, the classically-trained marching band nerd, and the survivor who gets a second chance at the gift of being a father.
Book Description
Temple Grandin, Ph.D., is a gifted animal scientist who has designed one third of all the livestock-handling facilities in the United States. She also lectures widely on autism—because Temple Grandin is autistic, a woman who thinks, feels, and experiences the world in ways that are incomprehensible to the rest of us.
In this unprecedented book, Grandin delivers a report from the country of autism. Writing from the dual perspectives of a scientist and an autistic person, she tells us how that country is experienced by its inhabitants and how she managed to breach its boundaries to function in the outside world. What emerges in Thinking in Pictures is the document of an extraordinary human being, one who, in gracefully and lucidly bridging the gulf between her condition and our own, sheds light on the riddle of our common identity.
Customer Reviews:
Temple Grandin is an inspiration.......2007-06-08
Temple Grandin's "Thinking in Pictures", is a must read for anyone who is affected by Autism Spectrum Disorders. Her book is well written and provides a lot of insight into what life is like for a young adult on the spectrum. This has been especially helpful for my husband and I as our first Aspie (we have four) is heading off to college and the "real" world. Definitely worth the money.
Amazing.......2007-05-21
Read this and Autism is more understandable (though still a mystery for those who do not have Autism) It also helps one to know better how to work with and interact with anyone having Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Aside from learning more about Autism, you will enjoy the writing and the stories used by the author.
More Conceptual than She Thinks.......2007-03-29
This book provides fascinating, intelligent, entertaining insights into the autistic mind.
Grandin is actually very conceptual, as the ability to use language requires, but appropriate concepts and contexts are difficult for her to define, seemingly due to a sensory system that leads to focusing on details rather than a broader scope. She and psychologists in general simply think she is largely non-conceptual due to their inadequate understanding of concepts, language, etc.
Actually, we all think in pictures; however, most of us use generalized, essentialized pictures most of the time for efficiency.
A grasp of how concepts are formed and organized, and how they are the essence of language, will help greatly. Best and easy to read for effective general psychology is "The Psychology of Self-Esteem," by Branden. Self-esteem is acquired from experience, not by choosing it. Emotions result from thoughts, not vice versa. The best and easy to read for the nature of concepts and language is "Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology," by Rand, and then for a comparison with other theories and how they go wrong "Evidence of the Senses," by Kelly.
must read.......2007-03-08
gives insight and hope for parents of kids with autism. also realization of what kids with aspergers can accomplish. this woman has a phd!!!
Temple Grandin and Eleanor Roosevelt would have loved each other.......2007-03-06
Dip vat, squeeze machine, restraining chute...Temple Grandin makes poetry of these unlikely words, and out of the whole of the English language. It's a spiritual miracle that we experience the noise and overpowering smells of the stockyards, yet also find in them the triumph of compassion.
Quite simply, Grandin is one of the greatest women of the 20th and 21st centuries. She should be draped with laurels, carried through the streets on our shoulders as we sing our praise-songs; she should be awarded keys to cities, MacArthur Foundation buckets of money, a Nobel Prize, a Presidential Medal of Freedom...and any other accolade we can think of to bestow on her. Did I say she was one of the greatest women? Check that. She is one of the greatest human beings of any century.
In addition, she is delightful company. She humanizes scary conditions, autism and asperger's, evoking in readers compassion and curiosity they might not have known they had. In this regard, Grandin is a superb spiritual guide with abundant personal experience and vast knowledge, which she generously shares via neat, accessible anecdotes and lists.
Reading Grandin, it is easy to imagine being in the same room with her, listening wide-eyed, and never wanting her to leave. Some nights, I confess that I fall asleep thinking of her as a young girl, joyfully flying those kites in the park...
Robert McDowell, author of the forthcoming Poetry In Your Spiritual Practice
Book Description
I believe we were put on this earth to enjoy lives of joy and abundance, and that is what I want for you and for me. It's not my intention to give people advice on how to solve their problems (I leave that to my husband). But I've had my share of struggles over the years, and I know a thing or two about what has worked for me. I have chosen to be an active participant in my life rather than a spectator, and in so doing I have chosen how to be a woman, how to be a wife, and how to be a mother in ways that are uniquely my own. I offer the stories of these choices as evidence of the power of sheer determination, will, and faith in God.
You've seen her on television with her husband, Dr. Phil. But now it's time for a heart-to-heart conversation with Robin McGraw. In
Inside My Heart, Robin speaks woman to woman, inspiring you to embrace and celebrate the many roles you play and encouraging you to make deliberate choices that lead to a richer, happier, and more meaningful life.
She shares with you the life-changing moments of her childhood years, dating and marrying Dr. Phil McGraw, raising two sons, and asserting herself as a woman in a man's world to show you that you have the power to make choices in your life. In fact, she's convinced that you must choose to go after the life you want.
With a deep and abiding faith in God, Robin McGraw shares her story so you too can make choices that reflect your own heart's truest priorities and highest goals.
Customer Reviews:
Nicely done........2007-10-11
I found this book to be very tasteful and inspirational. Most women can relate to Robin at least in some ways and she writes as if you are having a chat with her. I think her underlying theme sends a good positive message. I enjoyed reading it. Thanks Robin for a nice positive book.
Great book for every single and married women.......2007-10-07
Am half through this book, but yet I have found it very engaging in the way she shared her journey in life. I flipped and read briefly in the bookshop and decided to buy it before reading reviews in Amazon. I read negative comments and/or critics about the book structure, repeated messages she kept saying from the first chapter. But I disagreed with all these, this book is NOT a self help book, the topic is about choices she made in her life to become a person she is now. She didn't say it's the best choice for everyone but she showed how she got to that choice. It's not about a journal of her roles as a wife of a fairly famous person, but she shared with the reader many revealing moments in her life, either funny, sad and heartbreaking stories when she discovered a choice she believed and stick to it. I've been away from my parents' house since my twenties and after 10 years living far away from them and my siblings, I felt so close with the way I tried to live my life the best I can the way she did ((well not all the time sometimes). What I meant is to reflect every struggle in life as a lesson and how to react to it. I've been living fairly secured with my parents, afterwards living without pennies as a student, be in the lowest point in spirit and then joined this company where I have lived to the extent I've never ever imagined before but still deep inside I hold to the values I believe and those are values I carried from home till now. I truly believe her saying she hasn't changed much in terms of values from her childhood up to this point where she could write a book. As a single woman, I also found her comments on how she managed the relationships with Philips very helpful to understand and some even renew my own belief to see the thin line between loving other person and loving myself, when to hold it or just let it go. This is a great book for women who determine to keep looking for better choices in lives, in good and bad times. For some who just want to take easy road to feel as victims in life, then there would be a major work to see Robin's points.
Disappointed.......2007-10-04
AS much as I wanted to, I just couldn't get into this book...extremely repetitive....I was unable to continue reading...
Wonderful!!.......2007-09-09
I love this book!! I'm not a big reader, but I couldn't put this book down. In this book she tells you her life story, and you realize she is just like the rest of us. She is an amazing woman and has such a positive attitude!
Something To Be Said For Nice.......2007-09-03
There are times that I enjoy reading a book, and I read it quickly, and still, I cannot give it top marks. Inside My Heart by Robin McGraw, perhaps better known as wife to Dr. Phil, is one of those books. It is an easy read, one chapter leading into another, as we grow warm with empathy and curious about the life of this woman, arguably successful via her marriage more than for any particular accomplishment of her own. I've come to respect her husband's work (and I didn't initially, feeling he was riding on Oprah's coattails and reducing psychiatry to sound bites, yet after watching some of his shows and reading his columns in O Magazine, realized this man has pretty sound judgment about the quirks of human nature), and so, rather vicariously, became interested in what his wife had to say...
Robin has nothing new to say that we haven't already read in other women's inspirational and empowerment type of books. Nor am I clear on why a religious-based publisher like Nelson would have chosen to market her book in Christian circles and bookstores; there is very little mention in it about Robin's spiritual beliefs or influences on her life. And yet, I must admit, by the end of the book, I'd grown sympathetic to this woman, could imagine enjoying a personal friendship with someone like her, and give her my nod of respect for the life decisions she has made, and for her courageous value system. Ah yes, values. Something of which we are so achingly devoid in modern society. Robin makes sense of having them again. She writes about her approach to being a woman, a wife, a mother, a businesswoman, all based on well-defined and usually very traditional values. Husband Phil comes out pretty shiny and admirable, too, subscribing to the same values, as any good husband and father would and should. Even if we already know these values, we certainly can use reminders such as this. They work.
Nothing literary about this writing, reading more like a protracted magazine article than a soul-baring deep-diving personal expose. And the pull quotes are rather annoying every few pages, serving no purpose that I can see other than getting in the way of a smooth flow. But you know? I liked it. It's a nice book, with nice things to say, and perhaps it is time to fly the flag for the value of niceness again. I dare say we all secretly long for it.
Books:
- Einstein: His Life and Universe
- Encyclopedia of the Holocaust
- Fire in the Bones: William Tyndale--Martyr, Father of the English Bible
- First Marathons
- First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers (P.S.)
- Forever Lily: An Unexpected Mother's Journey to Adoption in China
- Georgia O'Keeffe: A Life
- Getting In: A STEP-BY-STEP PLAN FOR GAINING ADMISSION TO GRAD SCHOOL IN PSYCHOLOGY
- Girl with a Pearl Earring
- Gold and Iron
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Spiderwick Chronicles
- N or M
- Contrived Competition: Regulation and Deregulation in America
- Essays on Economics and Economists
- History: Fiction or Science
- Killing Grounds
- Georgia Business Directory 2000-2001: The Ultimate Sales & Credit Tool
- Economic Theory in Retrospect
- Inside the House of Money: Top Hedge Fund Traders on Profiting in the Global Markets
- The Clover and the Bee: A Book of Pollination
African-American & Black
| Ethnic & National
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
Great Speeches by African Americans: Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack Obama, and Others (Thrift Edition)
Barack Obama: Working to Make a Difference (Gateway Biographies)
The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography (Oprah's Book Club)
The Pursuit of Happyness
