Used in many colleges as an introduction to the saint. Beautiful translation and story from the French edition.

    He was the policeman's son whose tweed-jacketed demeanour belied his true anarchic nature. More than any other Python he lived the complete lunacy of the show. Chapman was John Cleese's writing partner from their early days at Cambridge Footlights right through the Monty Python years. But it was Chapman's off-screen antics that are closest to the surreal qualities of a Python sketch. Terry Gilliam remembers how he would go into a restaurant and suddenly disappear: "He'd be under somebody's table licking the girl's feet while her date was there!" Chapman was a founder member of an infamous drinking club with The Who's drummer, Keith Moon. Chapman had a wine cellar stuffed full with bottles of gin and at the height of his drinking - which started out as a nerve-calmer for performances - he would consume eight pints of gin a day. He fearlessly flaunted his homosexuality at a time when it was certainly not the done thing. To add further mix to his personal life, Chapman and his partner David Sherlock adopted a 14-year-old boy. Graham Chapman died in 1989 with brilliant comic timing on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the first recording of Python. A huge celebratory Python party was cancelled as a result and Terry Jones harrumphed Chapman's death as "the greatest act of party-pooping in history". Bob McCabe has had the full co-operation of Sherlock and the Pythons in writing this fascinating and revealing account of the life of one of British comedy's best-loved figures.

    This volume of his diaries reveals how Python emerged and triumphed, how he, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, the two Terrys---Jones and Gilliam---and Eric Idle came together and changed the face of British comedy.But this is but only part of Palin's story. Here is his growing family, his home in a north London Victorian terrace, which grows as he buys the house next door and then a second at the bottom of the garden; here, too, is his solo effort---as an actor, in Three Men in a Boat, his writing endeavours (often in partnership with Terry Jones) that produces Ripping Yarns and even a pantomime.Meanwhile Monty Python refuses to go away: the hugely successful movies that follow the TV (his account of the making of both The Holy Grail and the Life of Brian movies are page-turners), the at times extraordinary goings-on of the many powerful personalities who coalesced to form the Python team, the fight to prevent an American TV network from bleeping out the best jokes on U.S. transmission, and much more---all this makes for funny and riveting reading.The birth and childhood of his three children, his father's growing disability, learning to cope as a young man with celebrity, his friendship with George Harrison, and all the trials of a peripatetic life are also essential ingredients of these diaries. A perceptive and funny chronicle, the diaries are a rich portrait of a fascinating period.

    The candid memoirs of a great character actor Steven Spielberg called him "the best actor in the world," about which Postlethwaite said: "I'm sure what Spielberg actually said was, 'the thing about Pete is that he thinks he's the best actor in the world.'" This is the story of a diverse and multi-talented actor's eventful life, told in his own vibrant words as he was at the end of it.

    Flying around the world presenting Formula 1 to 6 million people is not a bad occupation. And there is plenty that the viewer doesn't get to see, quite a lot of it rather surprising too. Travelling around the globe in the F1 bubble, Jake brings you close to the action. With his unique access to the key characters in the sport he reveals a side of figures such as Jenson and Hamilton, Schumacher and Ecclestone not seen before. From techie heaven driving the Red Bull simulator to witnessing moments of great sporting triumph, Jake brings you behind the scenes in the paddock to behold the changing face of F1 and his life as a TV presenter permanently walking the tightrope of public humiliation.

    In this, her first memoir, the beloved and award-winning television actress reflects on the role that made her famous—Rhoda Morgenstern on the groundbreaking series The Mary Tyler Moore Show and on the spin-off show Rhoda—and the pressures of helming her own sitcom, Valerie. From her childhood in New Jersey and upstate New York to the beginnings of her acting career as a dancer and chorus girl on Broadway—performing alongside stars like Lucille Ball and Jackie Gleason—to her recent battle with lung cancer, Valerie shares the story of her life, both the highs and the lows, in this heartwarming memoir, filled with charming anecdotes about Betty, Lucy, and Mary, to name a few.

    This new edition has been updated by his friend and former Rolling Stone comrade Mitch Glazer and includes an epilogue about the memorial concerts for Timothy that James Taylor helped organize.

    Krakauer's book, Into the Wild, became an international bestseller, translated into thirty-one languages, and Sean Penn's inspirational film by the same name further skyrocketed Chris McCandless to global fame. But the real story of Chris's life and his journey has not yet been told—until now. The missing pieces are finally revealed in The Wild Truth, written by Carine McCandless, Chris's beloved and trusted sister. Featured in both the book and film, Carine has wrestled for more than twenty years with the legacy of her brother's journey to self-discovery, and now tells her own story while filling in the blanks of his. Carine was Chris's best friend, the person with whom he had the closest bond, and who witnessed firsthand the dysfunctional and violent family dynamic that made Chris willing to embrace the harsh wilderness of Alaska. Growing up in the same troubled household, Carine speaks candidly about the deeper reality of life in the McCandless family. In the many years since the tragedy of Chris's death, Carine has searched for some kind of redemption. In this touching and deeply personal memoir, she reveals how she has learned that real redemption can only come from speaking the truth.

    But what a wild ride!!!” —Bette Midler Originally published in 2006, this L.A. Times bestseller by Tony-nominated actress, iconic “scream queen”, and vampyre thriller author Adrienne Barbeau is many things: a touching coming-of-age journal, an inspiring actor’s handbook on how to survive in the biz, and a witty Hollywood memoir—chronicling five decades of stage, screen, and romance.There’s only one Adrienne Barbeau, as singular and irreplaceable as Marilyn, Meryl, or Hepburn—and as down-to-earth as any soccer mom (which she is). Only one Swamp Thing girlfriend, only one Ruthie the snake charmer, only one original Rizzo. No other voice in Hollywood can you imagine as Creepshow’s Billie growling, “Get out of the way, Henry, or I swear to God you’ll be wearing your balls for earrings.”Twelve-year-old Barbeau entrusted her journal with a secret: she must become an actress. She set out with single-minded determination, succeeding on the strengths of an unsurpassed work ethic and discipline, unshakable commitment to the truth of her characters, a soul-stirring voice, a preternaturally perfect beauty, and her bawdy sense of humor—all on full display here!Barbeau hilariously details her early years as a naif in New York, securing her first apartment with roommates: “One of the girls was an alcoholic…. The other had male friends who left money on the dresser on the nights I’d come home to find myself locked out of the bedroom.” Then getting her first job, as a barmaid: “My boss … is a ‘big man’ in New York—although not a member of the Mafia, they are good friends.” And, memorably, starring on Broadway in Grease. She warmly remembers her two hit television series (Maude and Carnivale), and spins tales of her many television and feature films (The Fog, Escape from New York, Cannonball Run, Swamp Thing, Back to School, Creepshow).But unlike most showbiz biographies, Barbeau’s story doesn’t stop—or even slow down—at fifty, which finds our heroine newly in love, wandering the halls of the maternity ward a new mother (the only new mother on the floor with an AARP card), becoming a published author (of vampire thrillers!), and taking up trapeze-performance at seventy. Always behind the scenes of Adrienne’s rise to iconic “scream queen” is the introspective girl, facing her fears to develop her concert singing career, searching for self-knowledge, the right guy, and happiness as a wife and mother with a very busy career—and always pushing the boundaries. WHO WILL LIKE IT: Fans of Hollywood memoirs, young artists seeking the secrets to success, every starstruck male who was older than thirteen when Maude’s daughter Carol popped into our living rooms, every woman who could use a touch of the encouraging warmth of a friend, anybody who needs a rip-roaring good laugh— or fifty.“This book will make you laugh, cry, and just root for the skinny little girl with glasses and bushy hair who became a beautiful woman, mother, wife and a darned good actress.” —Electric Review

    Celebrated NY Post columnist, author and playwright Chip Deffaa edited this dark, yet inspirational story. "Heartbreaking," "surprising," "emotionally charged." "Shocking," "volatile," "riveting" and "just plain scary." Those comments are from readers of this book who cut a wide swath across a varied demographic--men, women; young, old; and who are from varying socio-economic and cultural backgrounds and locales. Michael Musto, award-winning columnist for The Village Voice in NYC and TV's "E! Channel" regular calls it: A gritty tale of dark struggle!" America's largest Italian American newspaper promises: "You'll be captured by his story from the very first page!" Jerry Seinfeld, sitcom star and comedian says, "I'm tellin' you right now--this guy is gonna be the biggest thing in show business."

    Included are accounts of Ferry's affair with supermodel Jerry Hall and its public end when she left him for Mick Jagger, the band's various splits and regroupings, and the recent reunion in 2001 for a sold-out greatest hits tour. Years of research and interviews with all the major participants, including Ferry himself, have resulted in a definitive history of a band that changed popular music forever.

    She was a leading film personality for more than fifty years, from her beginnings as a dancer in silent films of the 1920s, to her portrayals of working-class shop girls in the Depression thirties, to her Oscar-winning performances in classic films such as Mildred Pierce . Crawford's legacy has become somewhat tarnished in the wake of her daughter Christina's memoir, Mommie Dearest, which tu

    history tells the untold story behind the war on terror in post-9/11 America. In his own words, John Ashcroft shares his unique perspective on the dangers to and within America from outside forces and explains what he did to repair the serious breaches in the country's security.

    After 45 days of starvation and terror, only sixteen of the original forty-five members survived. Left by the Indians is the story told by a 13-year old survivor.

    And then she looked ahead. What next? 'Live adventurously', a Quaker advice, was hovering around her brain. Putting her and John's much-loved house in France on the market she embarked on a series of journeys.