Biography & Autobiography

For decades, books about John or Robert Kennedy have woven either a shimmering tale of Camelot gallantry or a tawdry story of runaway ambition and reckless personal behavior. But the real story of the Kennedys in the 1960s has long been submerged -- until now. In Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years, David Talbot sheds a dramatic new light on the tumultuous inner life of the Kennedy presidency and its stunning aftermath. Talbot, the founder of Salon.com, has written a gripping political history that is sure to be one of the most talked-about books of the year. more...

Price: $15.00

Standing at the podium, Victor Villaseñor looked at the group of educators amassed before him, and his mind flooded with childhood memories of humiliation and abuse at the hands of his teachers. He became enraged. With a pounding heart, he began to speak of these incidents. When he was through, to his great disbelief he received a standing ovation. Many in the audience could not contain their own tears. So begins the passionate, touching memoir of Victor Villaseñor. Highly gifted and imaginative as a child, Villaseñor coped with an untreated learning disability (he was finally diagnosed, at the age of forty-four, with extreme dyslexia) and the frustration of growing up Latino in an English-only American school in the 1940s. Despite teachers who beat him because he could not speak English, Villaseñor clung to his dream of one day becoming a writer. He is now considered one of the premier writers of our time. more...

Price: $10.99

"Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise!". These words of fatherly advice helped shape Ted Turner's remarkable life, but they only begin to explain the colorful, energetic, and unique style that has made Ted into one of the most amazing personalities of our time. Along the way - among his numerous accomplishments -- Ted became one of the richest men in the world, the largest land owner in the United States, revolutionized the television business with the creation of TBS and CNN, became a champion sailor and winner of the America's Cup, and took home a World Series championship trophy in 1995 as owner of the Atlanta Braves. An innovative entrepreneur, outspoken nonconformist, and groundbreaking philanthropist, Ted Turner is truly a living legend, and now, for the first time, he reveals his personal story. From his difficult childhood to the successful launch of his media empire to the catastrophic AOL/Time Warner deal, Turner spares no details or feelings and takes the reader along on a wild and sometimes bumpy ride. You'll also hear Ted's personal take on how we can save the world...share his experiences in the dugout on the day when he appointed himself as manager of the Atlanta Braves....learn how he almost lost his life in the 1979 Fastnet sailing race (but came out the winner)...and discover surprising details about his dealings with Fidel Castro, Mikhail Gorbachev, Jimmy Carter, Bill Gates, Jack Welch, Warren Buffett, and many more of the most influential people of the past half century. Ted also doesn't shrink from the darker and more intimate details of his life. With his usual frankness, he discusses a childhood of loneliness (he was left at a boarding school by his parents at the tender age of four), and the emotional impact of devastating losses (Ted's beloved sister died at seventeen and his hard-charging father committed suicide when Ted was still in his early twenties). Turner is also forthcoming abou more...

Price: $30.00

Full of insight and wit, Candy Girl is the seductive memoir of a young woman who dared to bare it all as a stripper. Diablo Cody was twenty-four years old when she decided there had to be more to life than typing copy at an ad agency. On a whim, she signed up for amateur night at Minneapolis’s seedy Skyway Lounge. She didn’t win a prize that night, but she discovered that stripping delivered a rush she had never experienced before, and too many experiences to not write about it. While she didn’t fit the ordinary profile of a stripper—she had a supportive boyfriend, was equal parts brainpower and beauty, was from a good family, and was out to do a little soul searching—she soon immersed herself in this enticing life full-time. In Candy Girl, Diablo tells the captivating fish-out-of-water story of her yearlong walk on the wild side. In witty prose she gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at this industry through a writer’s keen eye, from quiet gentlemen’s clubs to multi-level sex palaces, with all of her wry observations along the way. Some of her discoveries? Blondes make more money; it takes a pro to master The Pole; and while the girls wield much sway over the customers, in reality the power is totally out of their hands. Eventually, the lucrative skin trade began to drain Diablo emotionally, but her foray into this world had a profound and, surprisingly, positive effect. Funny and fascinating, Candy Girl is a seductive treat. ''Diablo Cody is to stripping what Chuck Klosterman is to pop culture and Sarah Vowell is to American History--an off-kilter visionary cynical enough to trust and talented enough to blister all that her mighty pen touches. Candy Girl is fiendishly funny, muscle car fast, and frighteningly--and I do mean frighteningly--accurate. Lock up your daughters and get your lighters in the air, for Candy Girl proves Ms. Diablo to be a writer of rock star calibre.''. --Lily Burana, author, ''STRIP CITY: A Stripper's Farewell Journey Across America''. more...

Price: $15.00

In Chasing Lance, acclaimed journalist and bestselling author Martin Dugard tells the extraordinary story of Lance Armstrong's final race, guiding us on a 2,240-mile journey through the French countryside, up the rugged peaks of the Pyrenees, all the way to one final ride down the Champs-Elysées. Never before has the Tour de France been captured so fully and vividly. We are there among the rabid fans as they cheer riders on; in the frenzied media room, where journalists plot to score an interview with the fiercely private Armstrong; and deep inside the heart of the peloton as the Discovery team's top lieutenants sacrifice themselves to protect their leader. Dugard was granted the most exclusive press credential offered by the Tour's organizers, so he had total access to the riders, their teams, the courses, and the back rooms. As a result it's all here: the daring breakaways and heartbreaking crashes, the mind games and the intense competition, the strategy and the courage. We see Lance Armstrong's fearsome drive, his jubilation when his most loyal teammate wins a stage, and his rocky relationships with young, up-and-coming American riders. But Chasing Lance is not just an account of Armstrong's triumph. Dugard gives us the full Tour, from the yellow jersey up front to the strugglers who finish last; from the quiet countryside to the Paris pavement; from the lavender fields of Provence to the fields of drunken tourists who have come not only to see if Lance can win one last time, but to consume as much fine wine and cheese as possible-an endurance contest of a different sort. A gripping portrait of a champion at sunset, an illuminating exploration of what it means to persevere-on the road and in life-and a vibrant journey through France, Chasing Lance takes us to the Tour, and inside the mind of Lance Armstrong, like no other book ever has. more...

Price: $9.99