Biographies and Memoirs Books

"It always bothered me that Aasif was more than merely funny-he's also a great actor. Now I've learned he's an amazing storyteller as well, and I am furious . . . but also grateful. Aasif's movement between cultures and genres is what makes him and his story...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “An absolute delight to read . . . How lucky we are that [Ruth Reichl] had the courage to follow her appetite.”—NewsdayAt an early age, Ruth Reichl discovered that “food could be a way of making sense of the world. If you watched people as...

An “achingly beautiful” memoir about a mother’s mission to rescue her two teenage daughters from the streets and bring them back home (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). After a miserably failed marriage, Debra Gwartney moves with her four young daughters to Eugene,...

Of the forty-four presidents who have led the United States, nine made mistakes that permanently scarred the nation. Which nine? Brion McClanahan, author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers and The Founding Fathers' Guide to the Constitution,...

As her father’s memory fails, a daughter explores his military past: “Part family memoir, part history book . . . Compelling and moving from start to finish” (Financial Times).   One of the San Francisco Chronicle’s Ten Best Books of the Year   For most of Keggie...

A New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller — What happened that night on Dead Mountain?The mystery of Dead Mountain: In February 1959, a group of nine experienced hikers in the Russian Ural Mountains died mysteriously on an elevation known as Dead Mountain....

An Amazon Charts Most Read and Most Sold book.The harrowing true story of one man’s life in—and subsequent escape from—North Korea, one of the world’s most brutal totalitarian regimes.Half-Korean, half-Japanese, Masaji Ishikawa has spent his whole life feeling like a...

A woman discovers her marriage is built on an illusion in this harrowing and ultimately inspiring memoir.“Be forewarned: You won’t sleep until you finish the last page.”—Caroline Leavitt, author of Cruel Beautiful WorldOne night. One email. Two realities...Before: Jen...

From victims to victims to victors, this collection of stories contains intricate details of thirteen women who went on to leave their permanent mark on the face face of the Mumbai Mafiosi.

Arch swindler. Conman. Survivor. Poseur.Between American business, organised crime, the CIA, the Pentagon and four White House administrations, Ferdinand Marcos was able to maintain his iron grip over the Philippines for over two decades.During this time the Filipino...

Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2017Washington Post Best Book of 2017Amazon Editors' Top 100 Pick of the YearAmazon Best Humor and Entertainment Pick of the YearBooklist Top Ten Arts BookQueen of Bebop brilliantly chronicles the life of jazz singer Sarah Vaughan, one...

“Not Every War Story is Heroic”During the peak of the Afghanistan War, a group of soldiers is dropped by helicopter into the remote mountains outside of Kandahar City. Mismanaged and overlooked by command, the squad must rely on each other to survive. Their mission is...

A New York Times BestsellerFrank Sinatra desperately wanted to be part of John F. Kennedy, Jr.’s gang. He had his own famed “Rat Pack,” made up of hard drinking, womanizing individuals like himself—guys like Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Peter Lawford—but the guy...

Many of the stars of the silver screen in twentieth-century Hollywood became national icons, larger-than-life figures held up as paragons of American virtues. Unfortunately, the private lives of actors such as John Wayne, Henry Fonda, and Errol Flynn rarely lived up...

This memoir by a refugee from Sudan tells of the wonder—and disappointment—that he faced as he began to experience life in the strange place called America.Nineteen-year-old refugee Alephonsion Deng, from war-ravaged Sudan, had great expectations when he arrived in...

Award-winning writer, producer, and public broadcasting executive Fred Flaxman shares a lifetime's worth of anecdotes and experiences in the world of radio and television broadcasting. Praised by Susan Stamberg, Cal Thomas, Cleve Mathews, and other giants of...

A Vietnamese Bicycle Days by a stunning new voice in American letters.Andrew X. Pham dreamed of becoming a writer. Born in Vietnam and raised in California, he held technical jobs at United Airlines-and always carried a letter of resignation in his briefcase. His...

Real Men Wear Beige is a fascinating look at a journey through the US criminal justice system that’s truly unique in its perspective and delivery.Like most people, before author Donato Alfredano gets caught up in the system, he’s hardly given the issue of prison a...

Paul Newman, the Oscar-winning actor with the legendary blue eyes, achieved superstar status by playing charismatic renegades, broken heroes, and winsome antiheroes in such revered films as The Hustler, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Verdict,...

Prison camp, starvation, execution...all threaten her little family.A true wartime drama based on the experience of Dorothy Joy Kinney Chambers M.D. and her family.This sweeping biographical novel brings to life the dramatic experience of a valiant woman who, armed...

From Zora Neale Hurston, one of the most important African American writers of the twentieth century, comes her riveting autobiography—now available in a limited Olive Edition.First published in 1942 at the height of her popularity, Dust Tracks on a Road is Zora Neale...

Commemorating Desmond Tutu's eightieth birthday, this stirring biography commemorates the life, philosophy, faith, and achievements of one of the greatest moral heroes of our time. Written by Allister Sparks, Tutu: Authorized featuring contributions from His Holiness...

Becky Galli was born into a family that valued the power of having a plan. With a pastor father and a stay-at-home mother, her 1960s southern upbringing was bucolic—even enviable. But when her brother, only seventeen, died in a waterskiing accident, the slow...

For eleven years Rachel Devenish Ford has been writing about her not quite normal life at her blog, Journey Mama, telling stories about her days with characteristic honesty and humor. Now for the first time, this writing is captured in book format in the Journey Mama...

It's been said a man falls in love an average of three times in his life. If that's an accurate assessment, it stands to reason two of those three must end in heartbreak.Author RjCook had the misfortune of experiencing two of his three heartaches before the age of...

An extraordinary memoir about the cutting-edge brain therapy that dramatically changed the life and mind of John Elder Robison, the New York Times bestselling author of Look Me in the EyeNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST Imagine spending...

“[Art Buchwald] has given his friends, their families, and his audiences so many laughs and so much joy through the years that that alone would be an enduring legacy. But Art has never been just about the quick laugh. His humor is a road map to essential truths and...

This book tells a rare but real story about two young boys who received their high school diploma in Szeged – Hungary after the 1943 – 44 school year which was shortened because the Germans occupied the Country on March 19, 1944. They learned what the school...

Paul Newman, the Oscar-winning actor with the legendary blue eyes, achieved superstar status by playing charismatic renegades, broken heroes, and winsome antiheroes in such revered films as The Hustler, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Verdict,...

The name George Armstrong Custer looms large in American history, specifically for his leadership in the American Indian Wars and unfortunate fall at the Battle of Little Bighorn. But before his time in the West, Custer began his career fighting for the Union in the...

Coral and Brass is the biography of General Holland McTyeire "Howlin' Mad" Smith, known as the "father" of modern U.S. amphibious warfare. His book is a riveting first-hand account of key battles fought in the Pacific between the U.S. Army and Canadian troops against...

A “groundbreaking” memoir about raising a special-needs daughter in an era of misinformation and prejudice—a classic that helped transform our perceptions (Publishers Weekly).  It was my child who taught me to understand so clearly that all people are equal in their...

Rise Above is a detailed description of one man's journey of conquering adversity. You will read how the writer survived a near-fatal motor vehicle accident, which resulted in three skull fractures, a bruised brain, an eight-day coma and having to relearn how to walk...

The tsars of Russia reigned as absolute monarchs long past the time when the authority of other sovereigns had been curtailed. Here, historian Alexander Ivanov reveals their fears and betrayals, privilege and debauchery, conspiracies and rivalries, love and tragedy as...

During her sixty-three-year reign, Queen Victoria gathered around herself a household dedicated to her service. For some, royal employment was the defining experience of their lives; for others it came as an unwelcome duty or as a prelude to greater things. Serving...

A New Translation From The French By Marion WieselNight is Elie Wiesel's masterpiece, a candid, horrific, and deeply poignant autobiographical account of his survival as a teenager in the Nazi death camps. This new translation by Marion Wiesel, Elie's wife and...