Book picks similar to
The Reaper by Nick Irving


biography
book-review
gonna-read-soon
memoirs

Philly Special: The Inside Story of How the Philadelphia Eagles Won Their First Super Bowl Championship


Sal Paolantonio - 2018
    This is the inside story you will get nowhere else—from the team’s storybook start to the nail-biting victory over the New England Patriots in Minneapolis, featuring the “Philly Special,” perhaps the most memorable play in Super Bowl history. Through exclusive interviews, readers will learn how the Eagles overcame Carson Wentz’s season-ending injury, how the team defied the odds and the critics and how they beat the greatest dynasty in modern pro football. With exclusive inside access, Paolantonio reveals a rare look into the dynamic between head coach Doug Pederson, back-up quarterback and eventual Super Bowl LII MVP Nick Foles, and the many individuals who stepped up and answered the call at the right times. Paolantonio captures the mood of the team week by week, every step of the way, profiling numerous key players, coaches, and much, much more.

Kerry Stokes: The Boy from Nowhere


Andrew Rule - 2014
    Kerry Stokes is a remarkable Australian. Not because he is one of this country's wealthiest and most powerful people but because of what he overcame to get there and because he has endured when others didn't. He is the last mogul. His rise has intrigued the business world for decades but there is so much more to him than takeover targets and balance sheets. Behind the laconic front is a human story as tough and touching as a Dickens tale: Oliver Twist with great self-expectations. It is the story of a poor boy who stared down poverty, ignorance and the stigma of his birth to achieve great wealth and fulfilment. A compelling story that, until now, he has not told. Now he oversees a multi-billion dollar media, machinery and property empire. He is renowned for his art collection and for philanthropy, spending millions of dollars to buy Victoria Crosses from soldiers' families to donate to the Australian War Memorial. But he's a private man. A man apart. He made his name in the West but kept his distance from the buccaneering band of entrepreneurs who forged fabulous fortunes in Perth from the 1960s until the 1987 crash. Bond went to jail, Holmes a Court died; Connell did both. Lesser lights flickered and faded but Stokes grew stronger, becoming a player alongside Murdoch, Packer and Lowy. His story fascinates all the more because he has spent most of his life guarding it. But now he's telling it, to one of Australia's great storytellers. This book will tell his story, scars and all.

The Making of a Stand-Up Guy


Charlie Murphy - 2009
    Celebrated in particular for his “Charlie Murphy’s True Hollywood Stories” skits, featuring hilarious renditions of Rick James and Prince, Murphy now recounts many of the actual stories that inspired these popular sketches in vivid and comical detail in Doing Time: The Making of a Stand-Up Guy. With his flare for storytelling and his distinctive and fearless voice, it’s no wonder that Charlie Murphy has been the subject of many featured stories in numerous magazines, including GQ, Essence, Rolling Stone, and he was recently listed as one of the Hottest People to Watch in Entertainment Weekly’s “Must List.” Featuring outrageous misadventures as part of his younger brother Eddie’s entourage, and hysterical encounters with numerous celebrities, Doing Time: The Making of a Stand-Up Guy is a fascinating and wildly funny chronicle from one of the most talented comedians today.

A Crafty Cigarette – Tales of a Teenager Mod: Foreword by John Cooper Clarke


Matteo Sedazzari - 2016
    Want to remember what it was like to be young and angry? Buy this book. A great read.’ - Phil Davis (Actor Chalky in Quadrophenia)‘Written in first person narrative, in a style and delivery reminiscent of Hunter S Thompson.’ - Scootering Magazine‘It’s a good book and an easy read. That’s pretty much what most pulp fiction needs to be.’ - Mod Culture‘A coming of age story, ‘A Crafty Cigarette’ maybe Matteo Sedazzari’s debut novel but it’s an impressive story.’ - Vive Le Rock‘Like a good Paul Weller concert the novel leaves you wanting more. I’ll be very interested in reading whatever Matteo Sedazzari writes next.’ - Louder Than WarA Crafty Cigarette is the powerful story of a teenager coming of age in the 70s as seen through his eyes, who on the cusp of adulthood, discovers a band that is new to him, which leads him into becoming a Mod. A mischievous youth prone to naughtiness, he takes to mod like a moth to a flame, which in turn gives him a voice, confidence and a fresh new outlook towards life, his family, his school friends, girls and the world in general. Growing up in Sunbury –on-Thames where he finds life rather dull and hard to make friends, he moves across the river with his family to Walton –on –Thames in 1979, the year of the Mod Revival, where to his delight he finds many other Mods his age and older, and slowly but surely he starts to become accepted....

Wednesday's Children: The Memoirs of a Nurse-Turned-Social-Worker in Rural Appalachia


Kathryn Anne Michaels - 2018
    When a friend urges her to switch from nursing to paramedic medicine and child protection social work, Kate accepts the challenge and finds herself in an isolated rural area of the Appalachian Mountains.Here a new set of challenges await: technical cliff rescues and hikes into remote back-country “hollers” to remove child victims of sexual assault from their homes only to have an indifferent judge order them back the next day, and dealing with some of America’s poorest and most distrustful citizens.And from all appearances, and even though she’s white, former members of the Ku Klux Klan have just set her house on fire…Based on the memoirs of a registered nurse-turned-social worker, this is a tale of heartbreak and laughter, courage and cowardice seasoned with a candid look at the early days of social work and emergency rescue medicine that will both challenge and renew your faith in humanity.Warning: Some graphic content

The Irishman: Frank Sheeran’s True Crime Story


Daniel Brand - 2018
    The world knew him as a union official, a long-time member of the Teamsters Union; he was a member of Jimmy Hoffa’s inner circle at the top of the national union. He had run-ins with the law in this position. He was charged with the murder of a rebel union member in a riot that occurred outside the Teamster’s Local Philadelphia Union Hall, but the charges were later dropped. He went to prison in the 80s after being caught on a wire instructing once of his crew to break someone’s legs and was named in Rudy Giuliani’s Mafia Commission Trial as an unindicted co-conspirator and one of only two non-Italian members of the Mafia Commission. As an old man suffering from cancer that would soon kill him, Frank Sheeran shared his story with his attorney. He told him of the things that were already known, but he shared much, much more. This book explores Frank Sheeran’s confessions as a lifelong criminal with ties to some of the biggest crimes of the 20th century. Inside this book, you will find: A detailed account of Frank Sheeran’s time in the army during the second world war, where he was in combat for an astounding four hundred and eleven days, with a focus on the war crimes he has admitted to; A look into Sheeran’s post-war slides into a life of crime, finding himself working for the Mafia before he even knew what the Mafia was; Information on his time as a hitman for the Mafia and how that led him to work for Jimmy Hoffa as muscle and hitman for the powerful Teamster Boss; Frank Sheeran’s accounts of his connections to the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Assassination of JFK; and His confession to the murders of Crazy Joe Gallo and of his friend, Jimmy Hoffa.

Without Hope: A Childhood Ruined by the Man she should Trust the Most


Barbara Naughton - 2010
    Also for kicks, he took his children out on to the lake and held them under until they were gasping for their lives. He sexually assaulted Barbara from a young age, often when the rest of the family were in the house. He repeatedly threatened to kill her, and made two very serious attempts. During the final attempt, as he was raping and choking her, Barbara made a vow - if she survived, she would come forward and get justice against her father ... Without Hope is a powerful and inspiring true story of a girl who finally found the inner strength to escape her brutal childhood.

Steve Jobs Ek Zapatlela Tantradnya (Marathi)


ATUL KAHATE ACHYUT GODBOLE - 2011
    The PCs, the i- phones, the i-pods, the tablet PCs all will be a constant reminder of the genuine and witty ways that Steve handled and fondled. He was always lost in a world of his own. He hugged the glory and the downfalls with equal aloofness. Not once were his beliefs shattered. Throughout his life, he struggled and dared to bring his dreams come true. His dreams had a silvery lining of consistency, persuasion and intention. He was unique in every way. The life threatening disease of cancer could not prevent him from working till his last breath, literally. Though stubborn and dominant by nature he stood as a magician in the field of technology. Here is a simple gesture to pay him respect and honour. A magnificent journey presented authentically.

Some True Adventures in the Life of Hugh Glass, a Hunter and Trapper on the Missouri River (1857)


Philip St. George Cooke - 2015
    1780–1833) was an American fur trapper and frontiersman noted for his exploits in the American West during the first third of the 19th century. Glass was born in Pennsylvania, to Irish parents. He was an explorer of the watershed of the Upper Missouri River in present day North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana. Glass was famed, most of all, as a frontier folk hero for his legendary cross-country trek after being mauled by a grizzly bear. Glass' most famous adventure began in 1822, when he responded to an advertisement in the Missouri Gazette and Public Adviser, placed by General William Ashley, which called for a corps of 100 men to "ascend the river Missouri" as part of a fur trading venture. These men would later be known as Ashley's Hundred. Besides Glass, others who joined the enterprise included notables such as James Beckwourth, Thomas Fitzpatrick, David Jackson, John Fitzgerald, William Sublette, Jim Bridger, and Jedediah Smith. Early in the trek, Glass established himself as a hard-working fur trapper. He was apparently wounded on this trip in a battle with Arikara, and later traveled with a party of 13 men to relieve traders at Fort Henry, at the mouth of the Yellowstone River. The expedition, led by Andrew Henry, planned to proceed from the Missouri, up the valley of the Grand River in present-day South Dakota, then across to the valley of the Yellowstone. The sketch in this book is related by the explorer and Army officer Philip St. George Cooke. This book originally published by Lindsay & Blakiston in 1857 has been reformatted for the Kindle and may contain an occasional defect from the original publication or from the reformatting.

Never Settle: Sports, Family, and the American Soul


Marty Smith - 2019
    The guy who visits Nick Saban's lake house and somehow gets Coach to jump in the lake. The guy who sits down with Dale Jr. at Daytona to talk through tears about his miraculous return to racing. The guy who interviews Tiger Woods, Tim Tebow, Peyton Manning and Jimmie Johnson -- the guy who gets paid to live the fantasy of every sports fan in America.Never Settle is the funny but oh, it's true story of how Marty got here, and a revealing look at his journey. Never Settle includes all the best stories and behind-the-scenes moments from Marty's wild life, covering topics including: college football, racing, fathers and sons, how sports can bring us together, and how it all goes back to growing up on a farm and playing high school ball in Pearisburg, Virginia.

When I Was a Kid, This Was a Free Country


G. Gordon Liddy - 2002
    Gordon Liddy offers his unabashedly politically incorrect view on America.

Cherry on Top: Flirty, Forty-Something, and Funny as F**k


Bobbie Brown - 2019
    She’s still smoking hot, but telling jokes about farting on men’s balls isn’t helping her find The One...Hilarious, sweet, and bitingly honest, Cherry On Top reveals how one gorgeous, potty-mouthed blonde took back Hollywood in middle age, and embarked on a fresh search for love―one fart joke at a time.

Paco: The cat who meowed in space


Homer Hickam - 2012
    But when Paco was struck down by a disease that left him unable to walk, Hickam was faced with a terrible decision, let his beloved cat live in misery or put him to sleep. Before that decision could be made, the space mission Hickam was working on needed to be rescued and there was only one sure way to save it: Paco's magic meow! This is a true story of the space age that is also a delightful tale of the love between an engineer and his cat.

American Legends: The Life of Lucille Ball


Charles River Editors - 2013
    *Includes Lucille Ball's own quotes about her life and career. *Includes a Bibliography for further reading.*Includes a Table of Contents.Lucille Ball, one of the most famous and versatile stars in American history, is above all defined by her charisma. She did not possess the overwhelming beauty of her contemporaries in the entertainment industry, yet her infectious enthusiasm continues to endear her to the American public even decades following her death. Indeed, at the time that I Love Lucy (1951-1957) ended, the show still remained the most-watched show in America. Ball possessed an intangible quality that captivated audiences, who were transfixed by even the most banal plot sequences in her sitcoms. That Ball was able to withhold her popularity even after the ending of I Love Lucy testifies to the fact that she was always the star attraction on the famous sitcom. Indeed, even after separating from Arnaz, Ball continued to achieve high ratings on her subsequent programs, most notably The Lucy Show (1962-1968) and Here’s Lucy (1968-1974). Without doubt, Ball’s longevity and the magnitude of her popularity make her the most cherished comedienne in American history. Given Ball’s immense fame, it is easy to strip her career out of its original context and assume that she would have risen to fame regardless of the medium. However, it is important to remember that I Love Lucy actually began when Ball was already 40 years of age, a relatively advanced age for someone in the entertainment industry. In fact, from 1933 through the end of the 1940s, Ball appeared in over 80 films (with very minor roles in almost all of these) while serving as a contract player for the MGM and RKO film studios. There is thus a massive discrepancy between the fame she achieved in the television medium and her lack of success in cinema. To this end, Ball’s career reflects the evolutions that occurred throughout the mid-1950s with regard to the entertainment industry, mass culture, and the ways in which the American public consumed popular culture. Where Ball was unable to rise to prominence in cinema, she represented the ideal actress for the television medium, and in this regard she introduced a new model for media celebrity, one that was more accessible if less physically dazzling. This biography explores the entirety of Ball’s life and career, with attention paid to her both her childhood and her pre-television and television periods. In so doing, this study provides as complete a picture as possible of the enormity of Ball’s rise to fame and how she was able to capture the favor of the American public. American Legends: The Life of Lucille Ball profiles the life and career of one of America’s most iconic actresses.

The Grand Illusion: Love, Lies, and My Life with Styx


Chuck Panozzo - 2007
    With four consecutive triple-platinum albums and 54 million records sold, their tours continue to sell out and classic songs like "Lady," "Renegade," "Come Sail Away," and "The Grand Illusion" have earned them a whole new generation of fans. At the height of their fame, they were living the ultimate rock 'n' roll fantasy -- an odyssey of groupies, drugs, and music that most musicians only dream of. As a band, Styx seemed invincible. But their founding member and bass player, Chuck Panozzo, was about to hit rock bottom. His seemingly debauched life as the ultimate rocker was a lie -- and the truth was about to catch up with him.The Grand Illusion is a no-holds-barred, backstage pass to the journey of one of the world's most revered bands, and the true story of Chuck Panozzo's 50-year struggle to reconcile his public life as a rock star with his private life as a gay man. Beginning with the birth of Styx in Chicago and their meteoric rise, The Grand Illusion is a revealing look at the triumphs and tragedies that surrounded Panozzo's life. He chronicles life on the road, the break-up of the band, his struggle to help his twin brother and bandmate John Panozzo battle addiction, as well as his split with Dennis De Young, and finally coming to terms with his HIV positive status. Illuminating and unflinching, The Grand Illusion will captivate the band's legions of devoted fans, as well as music lovers everywhere.