With an afterword by Michael McClure.

    Born and raised in Czechoslovakia, Martina Navratilova knew by the age of ten that she wanted to be a Wimbledon champion -- and a U.S. citizen. She would attain her goals and so much more -- but not before her incredible life unfolded in ways not even she could have dared imagine.MARTINA is more than the thrilling story of an unparalleled career in the tough, sexy world of women's tennis. It is a startling tale of love (with famed novelist Rita Mae Brown), tragedy (her father "disappeared" when Martina was eight, and only later did she learn the true cause of his death), and personal as well as professional triumph. It includes fascinating, intimate portraits of the greats of women's tennis -- King, Evert, Casals, Austin -- plus revealing glimpses of her working relationship with basketball star Nancy Lieberman.Emotion. Grit. Intensity. Integrity. Martina's shown them all from Flushing Meadows to Wimbledon, from Dallas to Paris to Sydney to Prague. Here they are again, in an autobiography only a champion could write."Fascinating and unexpectedly candid." --The San Francisco Chronicle

    In the years since, Anne Rice has created a remarkable and acclaimed body of work--encompassing her celebrated Vampire Chronicles, The Lives of the Mayfair Witches novels, two haunting historical epics, and her controversial, equally sought-after excursions into erotica. One of the world's best known and biggest bestselling authors of contemporary fiction, Rice has herself been the subject of countless interviews, profiles, and a full-length biography. Yet, who Anne Rice is, and the beliefs, fascinations, desires, fears, and passions that inspire her work, remain endlessly fascinating topics. In this first-of-its-kind book-length interview with Anne Rice, film scholar and author Michael Riley seeks out--and finds--the truth behind the extraordinary life and work of a unique, tantalizing writer.In Conversations with Anne Rice, the creator of Lestat, Louis, and Lasher talks in depth--and in her own words--about everything: from her early struggles toward publication to the tremendous literary reputation she has achieved. From the success and adulation of the vampire novels to the lesser-known books that are her personal favorites. From the influence of classical and popular literature to that of Catholicism and eroticism. From the role of movies in her literary vision to her definitive critique of the film version of Interview with the Vampire, and far beyond. Here, then, is Anne Rice--her heart, her psyche, her soul--in candid and captivating dialogue with her audience.

    It contains a discography, gig list and a full set of lyrics.

    We have been constrained by unwritten rules not to do so, by the robes of tradition and by the sanctity of our exclusive calling...But I feel it is time to speak out."Celebrated as the most successful geisha of her generation, Mineko Iwasaki was only five years old when she left her parents' home for the world of the geisha. For the next twenty-five years, she would live a life filled with extraordinary professional demands and rich rewards. She would learn the formal customs and language of the geisha, and study the ancient arts of Japanese dance and music. She would enchant kings and princes, captains of industry, and titans of the entertainment world, some of whom would become her dearest friends. Through great pride and determination, she would be hailed as one of the most prized geishas in Japan's history, and one of the last great practitioners of this now fading art form.In Geisha, a Life, Mineko Iwasaki tells her story, from her warm early childhood, to her intense yet privileged upbringing in the Iwasaki okiya (household), to her years as a renowned geisha, and finally, to her decision at the age of twenty-nine to retire and marry, a move that would mirror the demise of geisha culture. Mineko brings to life the beauty and wonder of Gion Kobu, a place that "existed in a world apart, a special realm whose mission and identity depended on preserving the time-honored traditions of the past." She illustrates how it coexisted within post-World War II Japan at a time when the country was undergoing its radical transformation from a post-feudal society to a modern one."There is much mystery and misunderstanding about what it means to be a geisha. I hope this story will help explain what it is really like and also serve as a record of this unique component of Japan's cultural history," writes Mineko Iwasaki. Geisha, a Life is the first of its kind, as it delicately unfolds the fabric of a geisha's development. Told with great wisdom and sensitivity, it is a true story of beauty and heroism, and of a time and culture rarely revealed to the Western world.

    I think he will be a most interesting tutor to have.Interesting? Yes, he's certainly that, said the man, who I later learned was J. R. R. Tolkien. You'll never get to the bottom of him.Over the next twenty-nine years, author George Sayer's first impression about C. S. Lewis proved true. He was interesting; but he was more than just that. He was a devout Christian, gifted literary scholar, best-selling author, and brilliant apologist. Sayer draws from a variety of sources, including his close friendship with Lewis and the million-word diary of Lewis's brother, to paint a portrait of the man whose friends knew him as Jack.Offering glimpses into Lewis's extraordinary relationships and experiences, Jack details the great scholar's life at the Kilns; days at Magdalen College; meetings with the Inklings; marriage to Joy Davidman Gresham; and the creative process that produced such world-famous works as the classic Chronicles of Narnia, Mere Christianity, and The Screwtape Letters.This book is an intimate account of the man who helped--and through his works, continues to help--generations hear and understand the heart of Christianity.

    But the world’s best-loved female authors are usually mythologized as solitary eccentrics or isolated geniuses. Coauthors and real-life friends Emily Midorikawa and Emma Claire Sweeney prove this wrong, thanks to their discovery of a wealth of surprising collaborations: the friendship between Jane Austen and one of the family servants, playwright Anne Sharp; the daring feminist author Mary Taylor, who shaped the work of Charlotte Brontë; the transatlantic friendship of the seemingly aloof George Eliot and Harriet Beecher Stowe; and Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield, most often portrayed as bitter foes, but who, in fact, enjoyed a complex friendship fired by an underlying erotic charge. Through letters and diaries that have never been published before, A Secret Sisterhood resurrects these forgotten stories of female friendships. They were sometimes scandalous and volatile, sometimes supportive and inspiring, but always—until now—tantalizingly consigned to the shadows.

     Bono's career is unlike any other in rock history. As the lead singer of U2, Bono has sold 130 million albums, won fourteen Grammys, and played numerous sold-out world tours, but he has also lobbied and worked with world leaders from Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to Nelson Mandela on debt relief, AIDS, and other critical global issues. He has collaborated with the same musicians for nearly three decades and has been married to his childhood sweetheart since 1982. His life, at all turns, resists the rock star clich?s. In a series of intimate conversations with his friend Michka Assayas, a music journalist who has been with the band since the very beginning, Bono reflects on his transformation from the extrovert singer of a small Irish post-punk band into one of the most famous individuals in the world; and from an international celebrity to an influential spokesperson for the Third World. He speaks candidly about his faith, family, commitment, influences, service, and passion. "Bono: A Self-Portrait in Conversation" is the closest we will come, for now, to a memoir from the iconic frontman of U2.

    Describes the Clintons' troubled marriage and why they have remained married in spite of the President's infidelities.

    This autobiography traces Janet Frame's childhood in a poor but intellectually intense family, life as a student, years of incarceration in mental hospitals and eventual entry into the saving world of writers.