Book picks similar to
John Steinbeck: The California Years by Brian St. Pierre


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High Adventure in the Great Outdoors


Henry Rollins - 1990
    

Most Wanted: Pursuing Whitey Bulger, the Murderous Mob Chief the FBI Secretly Protected


Thomas J. Foley - 2012
    Foley’s twenty-year pursuit of murderous Boston gangster Whitey Bulger, and of Foley’s key role in exposing the FBI’s protection of Bulger’s criminal empire.June 23, 2011. The news of the notorious gangster Whitey Bulger’s capture—after sixteen years on the FBI’s Most Wanted list—swept the nation. Many breathed a sigh of relief. But for Thomas J. Foley, a former Massachusetts state police colonel and the investigator who sparked Bulger’s flight from Boston, the moment was bittersweet. The FBI may have caught Bulger, but as Foley had painfully discovered almost two decades before, they were also responsible for his escape. It has been known that Whitey Bulger was a secret informant for the FBI, but it has never been revealed—until now—that the FBI was actually actively protecting Bulger from Foley, effectively derailing Foley’s efforts to stop Bulger’s horrific crime sprees time and again. At one point, the FBI even presented Foley with a plaque at a holiday party that read “the Most Hated Man in Law Enforcement,” a not-so-subtle suggestion that he and his team should lay off their investigation. Most Wanted is a true-life thriller, and Foley is the hero at its center. His investigative efforts resulted in criminal convictions of a half-dozen of Boston’s most notorious thugs and also led to the conviction of John Connolly, one of the FBI agents who abetted Bulger; Connolly is now serving a forty-year prison sentence. In this book, Foley, a cop’s cop, honestly recounts how his wide-eyed admiration for the nation’s top law enforcement agency was gradually transformed by dark realities he didn’t want to believe.

Black Metal: The Cult Never Dies, Vol. 1


Dayal Patterson - 2015
    Comprised entirely of exclusive interviews, many with artists who have never spoken about their careers before, this tome begins the project by examining three facets of the genre in detail, returning to the subject of Norwegian Black Metal, discussing Polish Black Metal and telling the story of the subgenre of Depressive/Suicidal Black Metal.

Roger Ailes: Off Camera


Ze'ev Chafets - 2013
    He more or less invented modern politi­cal consulting and helped Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush win their races for the White House. Then he reinvented himself as a master of cable television, first as the head of CNBC and, since 1996, as the creator and leader of Fox News, the most influential news network in the country. To liberals, Ailes is an evil genius who helped polarize the country by breaking the mainstream media’s long monopoly on what constitutes news. To conservatives, he’s a champion of free speech and fair reporting whose values and view of Amer­ica reflect their own. But no one doubts that Ailes has transformed journalism. Barack Obama once called him “the most powerful man in America”— and given that Fox News has changed the way millions understand the world, it may be true. Yet for all that fame and infamy, very few people know the real person behind the headlines. Journalist Zev Chafets received unprecedented access to Ailes and his family, friends, and Fox News colleagues. The result is a candid, compelling portrait of a fascinating man. We see Ailes in action at Fox News and hear him reflect on personal mat­ters he has never before discussed publicly. And we discover the heart of his sometimes surprising political beliefs: his profane piety and his unwav­ering belief in the values of his small-town Ohio boyhood. Ailes loves to fight, but he is a happy warrior who has somehow managed to charm and befriend many of the people he has defeated in political campaigns and television wars. Barbara Walters, Rachel Maddow, Jesse Jackson, the Kennedy clan— all are unexpected Ailes fans. Chafets also gives us an unprecedented look at the inner workings of Fox News and explores Ailes’s relationships with Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Megyn Kelly, Neil Cavuto, Chris Wallace, and the other stars he has nurtured. Ultimately, Ailes is neither villain nor hero but a man full of contradictions and surprises. As Chafets writes, “What will he do next? What stokes his competitive fires and occasional rages? How to reconcile his acts of exceptional loyalty and pri­vate generosity (even to rivals) with his impulse to present himself to the world as a ruthless leg breaker? What makes Roger run—and where, if anywhere, is the finish line? As Ailes himself might say: I report, you decide.”

When Nietzsche Wept by Irvin D. Yalom Lesson Plans


BookRags - 2012
    Inside you'll find 30 Daily Lessons, 20 Fun Activities, 180 Multiple Choice Questions, 60 Short Essay Questions, 20 Essay Questions, Quizzes/Homework Assignments, Tests, and more. The lessons and activities will help students gain an intimate understanding of the text; while the tests and quizzes will help you evaluate how well the students have grasped the material.

To Kill A Mockingbird


Harper Lee - 1960
    Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with exuberant humour the irrationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina of one man's struggle for justice. But the weight of history will only tolerate so much. To Kill a Mockingbird is a coming-of-age story, an anti-racist novel, a historical drama of the Great Depression and a sublime example of the Southern writing tradition.

The Yellow Wallpaper


Charlotte Perkins Gilman - 1998
    This edition of The Yellow Wallpaper features historical materials which include nineteenth-century advice manuals for young women and mothers; medical texts discussing the nature of women's sexuality; social reform literature concerning women's rights, the working classes, and immigration; and excerpts from periodicals, diaries, and writers' notebooks that help give you a sense of the changing literary scene that Gilman entered.

Zero Dial: The Dangerous World Of Informers


Jyotirmoy Dey - 2015
    

The 20-Month Legend: My Baby Boy's Fight with Cancer


Steve Tate - 2018
    The once-star collegiate football player finds himself fighting for his son’s life. This memoir takes you through the various challenges of raising a family of six kids and balancing a career, all while his son battles to defeat the odds of survival. Both Steve and his high school sweetheart, Savanna, found hope and happiness through the example of their 20-month-old son Hayes.

Eyebags & Dimples


Bonnie Henna - 2012
    A shockingly naked chronicle of how her depression almost robbed her of her shine, this unflinchingly honest book recounts Bonnie's intricate journey living in constant fear of darkness. After she unsuccessfully tried to pursue her acting career in Hollywood, she was diagnosed with clinical depression. Thanks to this diagnosis, Bonnie began the painful climb back to a life of health and mental stability. This is the candid account of her new life trek.

The Athlete Inside: The Transforming Power of Hope, Tenacity, and Faith


Sue Reynolds - 2020
    After being on yo-yo diets almost all her life, she tried one more time without much hope for positive results. But this time was different. She was fed up with not being able to do things because of her size. She was tired of not being able to tie her own shoes, fit in restaurant booths, or walk more than a few feet. She was ready.The Athlete Inside follows Reynolds's journey as she lost 200 pounds and found an athlete hiding inside her body. From her first walk to the neighbor's mailbox to finishing sixth in the world at the Triathlon World Championship, Reynolds discovered the joy of conquering fear and pride to find that the best version of herself had been there all along.A world-class triathlete and a grandmother, Reynolds is proof that you can transform your life at any age. Her story is one of hope, tenacity, and faith, as she committed to doing whatever it took to be among the best triathletes in the world.

God Must Have Forgotten About Me


Jason Lee - 2020
    Jason’s story is one of survival, endurance, passion, and divine favor—even in the midst of what would seem like unrelenting trauma.As a well-respected entertainment journalist, Jason Lee built the foundation of his career reporting on the lives of other celebrities. Often viewed as a catalyst to controversy, his breaking stories have sometimes caused friction with celebrity and fan alike. Jason has been responsible for releasing the most provocative and headline-worthy stories to date, but no other story has been more rewarding and pressing to share than his own. Growing up in the violent, drug-infested streets of Stockton, California, Jason Lee spent most of his childhood learning how to thrive on his own. While his mother struggled with drug addiction and his father remained physically and emotionally absent, Jason was eventually thrust into the foster care system which caused him to resent his parents for their abandonment. The remaining years of his young adulthood would be filled with indescribable emptiness and a yearning for purpose. After a life punctuated with molestation, abuse, and the devastating murder of a loved one, the once carefree, bright-eyed child quickly dimmed into a young adult who struggled with the toxicity of his own grief and depression. God Must Have Forgotten About Me is a vulnerable reintroduction to Jason Lee. Despite a macabre past and a constant battle with his own demons, Jason recounts with candor how his drive and boldness propelled him into some of the most coveted spaces and relationships in the entertainment industry. Whether it is sneaking backstage to meet Queen Latifah at a local Hip Hop festival, dancing on stage with Prince, or pulling out all the stops on “Wild ‘N Out,” Jason Lee has managed to position himself as a go-getter without allowing anyone or anything to stop his momentum.

The Last of the Giants: How Christ Came to the Lumberjacks


Harry Rimmer - 2015
    Men were employed as lumberjacks and worked like beasts, only to be tossed aside like used equipment when no longer needed. The grand forests were raped for their prime timber, the balance burned wastefully. The men were coarse and hard, but they had to be to survive. More than any other people that ever lived in our land, these old-time lumberjacks could truthfully say, “No man cared for my soul.” That is, until God sent three men to the great Northwoods of our country ¬– Frank Higgins, John Sornberger, and Al Channer. These men blazed new trails of the Spirit and founded an empire for God. They reached a sector of humanity for which no spiritual work had ever been done before, storming the Northwoods with a consuming passion for Christ. And with that passion, they also brought a heart as big as all outdoors, a love for men that burned like a flame, and a desperate desire to see these men saved.

Betty Smith: A Life of the Author of a Tree Grows in Brooklyn


Valerie Raleigh Yow - 2008
    Over sixty years later, this novel, which was an immediate bestseller when published in 1942, is still selling. The child of German American parents, Betty Smith was born and raised in the immigrant slums of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Forced to go to work at the age of fourteen, she never graduated from high school, but she achieved success as a playwright and novelist, writing four bestsellers over the course of her career. She married three times, was divorced twice, lived for many years with her lover, attended and taught graduate-level courses, raised two daughters, and supported her family during the Depression. While her writing focused on Brooklyn, she lived and worked for most of her adult life in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. This is the first published biography of Betty Smith. Valerie Raleigh Yow has a PhD in history from the University of Wisconsin. She has published two previous academic books and a biography of North Carolina novelist Bernice Kelly Harris (Louisiana State University Press, 1999) and is a psychotherapist in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Mount Allegro: A Memoir of Italian American Life


Jerre Gerlando Mangione - 1998
    Jerre Mangione's autobiographical chronicle of his youth in a Sicilian community in Rochester is one of the truly enduring books about the immigrant experience in this country. Family squabbles, soul-nourishing food, and the casting of evil eyes are only some of the ingredients of this richly textured book, although they must all take second place to its unforgettable characters. As Eugene Paul Nassar writes in the book's Foreword, Mount Allegro . . . gave a literary visibility and identity, amiable and appealing, to a poorly understood ethnic group in America, and did so at a very high level of artistry.