Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s


Robert Christgau - 2000
    It was a fertile era for new genres, from alt-rock to Afropop, hip hop to techno. Rock critic Robert Christgau's obsessive ear and authoritative pen have covered it all-over 3,800 albums graded and classified, from A+s to his celebrated turkeys and duds. A rich appendix section ensures that nothing's been left out-from "subjects for further research" to "everything rocks but nothing ever dies." Christgau's Consumer Guide is essential reading and reference for any dedicated listener.

Cocky: The Rise & Fall of Curtis Warren, Britain's Biggest Drug Baron


Tony Barnes - 2000
    He forged direct links with the the cocaine cartels of Columbia, the heroine godfathers of Turkey, the cannabis cultivators of Marocco and the Ectasy manufacturers of Holland and Eastern Europe. His drugs went around the world, from the clubs of Manchester, Glasgow and Dublin to the golden beaches of Sydney.This acclaimed and best-selling biography uncovers his meteoric rise from street mugger to the richest and most successful British criminal who has ver been caught. It relates how the Liverpool mafia became the UK's foremost drug importers; tells how Warren survived gang warfare and how he corrupted top-level police officers; unveils the inside story of the biggest and most successful British law enforcement operation ever undertaken; and reveals the explosive contents of the covert wiretaps that brought his global empire crashing down. Thoroughly revised and updated, COCKY is a shocking insight into organized crime and an important investigation into a contemporary international drug baron.'Compelling' - The Observer. Shortlisted for the Macallan Gold Dagger for Crime Non-fiction.

Requiem: By the Photographers Who Died in Vietnam and Indochina


Tim Page - 1997
    This book is a memorial to those men and women, and in many cases it includes the last photographs they took.    Horst Faas and Tim Page, two photographers who worked and were wounded in Vietnam, have gathered many thousands of pictures by those who were killed. Their search has taken them through the archives in Hanoi as well as those of Western agencies. In some cases families have generously provided access to private files where unknown bodies of work have lain unseen for more than forty years.    The list of the dead includes some of the greatest photographers of the century, such as Robert Capa and Larry Burrows, and some who had been working in Vietnam for only a matter of days before their deaths. A number of the Cambodian photographers working for the Western press were executed. Other photographers, like Sean Flynn and Dana Stone, disappeared. Their loss inspired Tim Page to begin this memorial.    The resulting sequence of photographs follows the course of the war and the transformation of the serene landscapes of Cambodia and Vietnam into scenes of nightmarish devastation. At the moments of intense battle one is reminded not only of the courage of the photographers but of the compassion amid the brutality of war. These photographers were intimate with war to a degree that may well be denied future generations. That intimacy led to their deaths. Their photographs are their legacy.

Distraction Pieces


Scroobius Pip - 2016
    Distraction Pieces features both curated highlights from the iTunes-chart-topping podcast - from Akala to Howard Marks via the likes of Adam Buxton, Romesh Ranganathan and Amanda Palmer - and exclusive new content, with chapters on politics, social media, music, comedy and more. Featuring illustrations by tattoo artist mr heggie, this is a must-have for fans of the Distraction Pieces podcast, and a must-read for anyone interested in the creative mind.

John Badham On Directing: Notes from the Set of Saturday Night Fever, War Games, and More


John Badham - 2013
    Badham’s list of “12 Questions You Must Ask Before Stepping On Set” is an absolute must in any filmmaker’s toolbox. Whether actor, director, cinematographer, production designer, or any other creative, Badham gives you the tools to deconstruct and solve scenes that either don’t work or need sharpening. Continuing the work begun in his best-selling book I’ll Be In My Trailer, Badham shares more insights into working with difficult actors, rehearsal techniques, and getting the best performance from your cast.

Unbelievable Happiness and Final Sorrow: The Hemingway-Pfeiffer Marriage


Ruth A. Hawkins - 2012
    Scott Fitzgerald, John Dos Passos, and Dorothy Parker. Pauline grew close to Hadley but eventually forged a stronger bond with Hemingway himself; with her stylish looks and dedication to Hemingway's writing, Pauline became the source of "unbelievable happiness" for Hemingway and, by 1927, his second wife.Pauline was her husband's best editor and critic, and her wealthy family provided moral and financial support, including the conversion of an old barn to a dedicated writing studio at the family home in Piggott, Arkansas. The marriage lasted thirteen years, some of Hemingway's most productive, and the couple had two children. But the "unbelievable happiness" met with "final sorrow," as Hemingway wrote, and Pauline would be the second of Hemingway's four wives.Unbelievable Happiness and Final Sorrow paints a full picture of Pauline and the role she played in Ernest Hemingway's becoming one of our greatest literary figures.

Notes from Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture


Stephen Duncombe - 1997
    In this multifarious underground, Pynchonesque misfits rant and rave, fans eulogize, hobbyists obsess. Together they form a low-tech publishing network of extraordinary richness and variety. Welcome to the realm of zines.In this, the first comprehensive study of zine publishing, Stephen Duncombe describes their origins in early-twentieth-century science fiction cults, their more proximate roots in 60s counter-culture and their rapid proliferation in the wake of punk rock. While Notes from Underground pays full due to the political importance of zines as a vital web of popular culture, it also notes the shortcomings of their utopian and escapist outlook in achieving fundamental social change. Duncombe’s book raises the larger questionof whether it is possible to rebel culturally within a consumer society that eats up cultural rebellion.Packed with extracts and illustrations from a wide array of publications, past and present, Notes from Underground is the first book to explore the full range of zine culture and provides a definitive portrait of the contemporary underground in all its splendor and misery.

He Who Must Be Obeid: The Untold Story


Kate McClymont - 2014
    New South Wales has Eddie Obeid.Meet Australia's most corrupt politician whose brazen misdeeds were on a scale said to be "unexceeded since the days of the Rum Corps".From the shadows Obeid ran the state as his fiefdom, making and unmaking premiers. Along the way he pocketed tens of millions of dollars following corrupt deals. This explosive book chronicles the grubby deals the powerbroker had been making for decades before he was exposed. His tentacles stretched through all levels of government, encircling almost every precious resource - coal leases, Circular Quay cafes, marinas, even the state's water. All of them were secret money-spinners for Obeid and his family.Above ground, below ground, in the air, on the water, there was no domain beyond Obeid's grasp. Now, many of the key politicians of his era have given a candid account of Obeid's pernicious backroom influence.Following their groundbreaking investigations, the award-winning journalists Kate McClymont and Linton Besser have unearthed the vast but secret empire Obeid built over the decades, producing an authoritative account of how he got away with so much for so long.

Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers' Guide from the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University


Mark Kramer - 2007
    Telling True Stories presents their best advice—covering everything from finding a good topic, to structuring narrative stories, to writing and selling your first book. More than fifty well-known writers offer their most powerful tips, including: • Tom Wolfe on the emotional core of the story • Gay Talese on writing about private lives • Malcolm Gladwell on the limits of profiles • Nora Ephron on narrative writing and screenwriters • Alma Guillermoprieto on telling the story and telling the truth • Dozens of Pulitzer Prize–winning journalists from the Atlantic Monthly, New Yorker, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and more . . .The essays contain important counsel for new and career journalists, as well as for freelance writers, radio producers, and memoirists. Packed with refreshingly candid and insightful recommendations, Telling True Stories will show anyone fascinated by the art of writing nonfiction how to bring people, scenes, and ideas to life on the page.

Off Mike: How a Kid from Basketball-Crazy Indiana Became America's NHL Voice


Mike Emrick - 2020
    Yesterday in broadcasting. Tomorrow in book form.” —Steve Simmons, Toronto Sun After nearly 50 years behind the microphone, the voice of hockey in America opens up in a must-read memoir. Mike “Doc” Emrick has seen everything there is to see in a hockey game. Sizzling slap shots. Commitment, courage, and camaraderie. Pugnacious pugilists. Game-winning goals. To hockey fans across the country, his voice—and vocabulary—have become synonymous with the game they love.  In Off Mike, Doc takes readers back to the beginning, detailing how a Pittsburgh Pirates fan from small-town Indiana found himself in the wild world of professional hockey, calling games for the New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Flyers, and finally NBC.    He’s covered All-Star Games, Stanley Cup Finals, the Olympics, and everything in between, rubbing shoulders with hockey’s immortals both on and off the ice. Yet Doc’s life has had its share of ups and downs, from almost leaving behind the love of his life to the passing of beloved companions to personal health scares.  After years of being welcomed into our homes, in this autobiography Doc welcomes us into his, revealing the stories, wit, and wisdom that have made him one of the most beloved figures in sports.

Too Soon To Tell


Calvin Trillin - 1995
    His short takes send us back to contemporary life refreshed and delighted.

Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating Health Promotion Programs: A Primer


James F. McKenzie - 1992
    The Fifth Edition features updated information throughout, including new theories and models such as the Healthy Action Process Approach (HAPA) and the Community Readiness Model (CRM), sections on grant writing and preparing a budget, real-life examples of marketing principles and processes, and a new classification system for evaluation approaches and designs. Health Education, Health Promotion, Health Educators, and Program Planning, Models for Program Planning in Health Promotion, Starting the Planning Process, Assessing Needs, Measurement, Measures, Measurement Instruments and Sampling, Mission Statement, Goals, and Objectives, Theories and Models Commonly Used for Health Promotion Interventions, Interventions, Community Organizing and Community Building, Identification and Allocation of Resources, Marketing: Making Sure Programs Respond to Wants and Needs of Consumers, Implementation: Strategies and Associated Concerns, Evaluation: An Overview, Evaluation Approaches and Designs, Data Analysis and Reporting. Intended for those interested in learning the basics of planning, implementing, and evaluating health promotion programs

About Town: The New Yorker and the World It Made


Ben Yagoda - 2000
    With all the authority and elegance such a subject demands, Yagoda tells the fascinating story of the tiny journal that grew into a literary enterprise of epic proportions. Incorporating interviews with more than fifty former and current New Yorker writers, including the late Joseph Mitchell, Roger Angell, the late Pauline Kael, Calvin Trillin, and Ann Beattie, Yagoda is the first author to make extensive use of the New Yorker's archives. About Town penetrates the inner workings of the New Yorker as no other book has done, opening a window on a lost age.

Panic 2012: The Sublime and Terrifying Inside Story of Obama's Final Campaign


Michael Hastings - 2013
    With access to the Obama re-election machine, Michael Hastings reports the behind-the-scenes story of the campaign trail: from Obama's self-destructive performance at the first debate to the harrowing days of Hurricane Sandy, all culminating in his triumphant victory late in the evening on November 6th. Along the way, Hastings gives a first hand account of the excitement and madness traveling with the White House press corps, bringing to life a series of unforgettably strange moments from the trail. From one of the sharpest, funniest, and most controversial young American journalists writing today comes "Panic: 2012" - the definitive account of how President Obama almost blew it.

Follow the Story: How to Write Successful Nonfiction


James B. Stewart - 1998
    Stewart teaches you the techniques of compelling narrative writing, from nonfiction books to articles, feature stories, or memoirs. Stewart provides concrete directions for conceiving, reporting, structuring, and writing nonfiction—techniques that he has used in his own successful books and stories. By using examples from his own work, Stewart illustrates systematically a way of thinking about and executing stories, a method that has helped numerous reporters and Columbia students become better writers. Follow the Story examines in detail: How an idea is conceived How to “sell” ideas to editors and publishers How to report the nonfiction story Six models that can be used for any nonfiction story How to structure the narrative story How to write introductions, endings, dialogue, and description How to introduce and develop characters How to use literary devices Pitfalls to avoid Learn from this book a clear way of looking at the world with the alert curiosity that is the first indispensable step toward good writing.