When both of their parents died within a short time of each other, the writers Frederick and Steven Barthelme, both professors of English in Mississippi, inherited a goodly sum of money. What followed was a binge during which they gambled away their entire fortune-and more. And then, in a cruel twist of fate, they were charged with cheating at the tables.Told with a mixture of sadness and wry humor, and with a compelling look at the physical aura of gambling-the feel of the cards, the smell of the crowd, the sounds of the tables-Double Down is a reflection on the lure of challenging the odds, the attraction of stepping into the void. A cautionary tale (the brothers were eventually exonerated), it is a book that, once read, will never be forgotten.

    Now in her ninety-fourth year, this timely celebration sheds new light on the myriad attributes and personal qualities she brings to the nation. From fortitude in the face of adversity to standing as the nation's ambassador all over the world, no one could doubt the work ethic that powers this remarkable woman, even into her nineties. Equally, her love of family - from her rock of over sixty years' marriage, Prince Philip, to her great grandchildren - shines through. But what are the secrets of her success? How does she still approach her day-to-day with such vitality and aplomb, even when culture and society are changing rapidly all around her?The Queen on fame: When an MP commented that it must be a strain meeting so many strangers all the time, the Queen smiled, 'It is not as difficult as it might seem. You see, I don't have to introduce myself. They all seem to know who I am.'The Queen on fashion: In the late sixties when Mary Quant and the mini skirt came to epitomize all that was fashionable, Princess Anne suggested her mother might also consider shortening her hemline. The Queen was adamant, 'I am not a film star.' The Queen on family: As Great Britain's most famous great grandmother, it is no surprise that the Queen values family life. 'Marriage gains from the web of family relationships between parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren, cousins, aunts and uncles.'In this book Karen Dolby unpicks the key elements that make the Queen so special to - and so loved by - the nation and presents a guide to how you too could put into practice some of Her Majesty's traits to help overcome adversity, find inner strength and present yourself as wonderfully considered and calm, even when all about you seems in chaos.

    He spoke to his pregnant wife on the telephone before he began his evacuation after the South Tower fell. Sensing something ominous, Pasquale crouched down and huddled into a corner of the stairwell as the 110-story tower came crashing down around him. He survived the tower collapse and woke up in the open air hours later on The Pile, a stack of debris seven stories high. The firemen who rescued Pasquale shared his remarkable story of survival with the media, as did others who cared for him that day. His story became a myth, an urban legend, and an enigma that gave rise to much speculation. Here he tells his story in captivating detail of falling and "surfing' the collapse of the North Tower.Visit www.911surfer.com for more details.

    Feared, loathed, and admired in equal measure, early on he drew the wrath of many fans, who literally wore their emotions on their sleeve, donning tee-shirts that read: I hate warm beer, cold women, and Darrell Waltrip. As the decade progressed, he won over their hearts and was voted NASCAR's most popular driver in 1989 and 1990-and his popularity has continued to soar ever since. Waltrip retired in 2000, tied for third all-time with eighty-four career victories, and immediately began attracting new fans with his folksy style as a color commentator for FOX Sports' NASCAR coverage. Now, with that same inimitable charm, he shares his memories of his life in racing. It's the tale of a man who lived his dream every time he stepped into a race car, and whose dreams got better every time he climbed out in Victory Lane. But it's also the story of NASCAR, as Waltrip serves as a bridge between its earlier days and its explosion into one of the world's most popular sports. Having raced against immortals like Richard Petty and David Pearson, modern-day legends Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon, and rising stars Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Waltrip provides a knowing look at the evolution of the sport and its greatest drivers and personalities.

    She had survived both a diagnosis of lupus and brain surgery, had a fulfilling career, and was married at last to the love of her life. Everything was good as she coasted along, meeting the eyes of a truck driver as he approached the stop sign beside her.He didn't stop. The truck hit Colleen, running over her lower body with front and back tires and dragging her across the pavement. As she bled out in the street, nearby strangers surrounded her and the driver attempted to get away. An EMT herself, Colleen knew she had to stay awake. "I've just been reconnected with my soulmate," she told the medic. "We want to have a baby. I can't die now. Please don't let me die."Five weeks in a coma and twenty-nine surgeries later, Colleen survived. Rather than let the trauma and PTSD control her life, she became determined to find a way to make something positive from her pain. She decided she'd run again and dedicate her race medals to the everyday heroes around us, including the medical staff and blood donors who saved her life. Since then Colleen has run fifty races and completed forty triathlons, including four half-Ironman events. Now a spokesperson for the Red Cross, Colleen shares her incredible inspirational story to encourage others to take that first step forward.

    When both of you are diagnosed within weeks of each other the uncertainty is relentless. Jay Otterbacher's memoir details one unbelievable year he could never have imagined. Anyone with a friend, colleague or loved one facing cancer can better understand what they are going through from this amazing story of thirty-two weeks in 2006. "It's Cancer" provides an unfiltered view behind the public facade into the home, relationships and treatment of one ordinary couple facing an inconceivable battle against two cancers at the same time. The implausible circumstances created the story. This narrative captures it in an open and friendly manner that allows you to be there with Karen and Jay as they use humor and strength to navigate through the fear, stress and uncertainty that all cancer patients know too well. Whether it was family, friends, dolphins or doctors something always appeared just the way it had to at just the time they needed it during this incredible year. In amazing detail, Jay shares the impact that each of these encounters had on their fight with the disease and their perspectives on life. If you have been told "It's Cancer," this book can be a source of hope and inspiration while you learn from the choices (both good and bad) that Karen and Jay made in their treatment and in communicating with the people who cared about them. If cancer has touched someone in your life the details captured in this book will give you insight into the week to week grind of the fight to regain control of their lives. Excerpt: When he finished walking us through the plan I asked about mastectomy. He said it was not even something he was considering in Karen's case. He explained that mastectomy was invasive surgery with a long recovery time and there was no evidence that it would improve her survival chances. I thought about debating with him since I had about twelve hours of exhaustive internet self-study on breast cancer but since we loved his answer I let him ride on this one. By the time we had walked back across the causeway through the hospital and to our car, Karen had her jaw set. She was going to beat this and she was going to do it in a big way. She declared that she wanted an elliptical machine so she could work out at home and stay in shape during her recovery. I responded that we would get one. Karen let me know that that was not good enough; she wanted one now. We drove from the hospital to an exercise equipment store. They had six or eight different models in the store, three of which were on sale. Karen pointed to one of the top models and said "that one." At that point the salesman in the store started his pitch on a lesser model that was on sale. He apparently did not understand that the answer to everything that day was to be yes. I gave him a shut up look, a credit card and asked how much to have it delivered that day. By the end of the day it was installed in our exercise room. It would be nine months before either of us would use it.

    Instead, she discovered she’d been granted an invaluable chance to witness firsthand what she calls the “spiritual work of dying”—the work of finding or making meaning of one’s life, the experiences it’s contained and the people who have touched it, the betrayals, wounds, unfinished business, and unrealized dreams. Instead of talking, she mainly listened: to stories of hope and regret, shame and pride, mystery and revelation and secrets held too long. Most of all, though, she listened as her patients talked about love—love for their children and partners and friends; love they didn’t know how to offer; love they gave unconditionally; love they, sometimes belatedly, learned to grant themselves. This isn’t a book about dying—it’s a book about living. And Egan isn’t just passively bearing witness to these stories. An emergency procedure during the birth of her first child left her physically whole but emotionally and spiritually adrift. Her work as a hospice chaplain healed her, from a brokenness she came to see we all share. Each of her patients taught her something—how to find courage in the face of fear or the strength to make amends; how to be profoundly compassionate and fiercely empathetic; how to see the world in grays instead of black and white. In this poignant, moving, and beautiful book, she passes along all their precious and necessary gifts.

    From revelations about the meanest, softest, and smelliest players in the league, to Williams’s early days as a “young man with a lot of money and not a lot of sense,” to his strong and powerful views on race, privilege, and giving back, Loose Balls is a basketball book unlike any other.No inspirational pieties or chest-thumping boasting here—instead, Jayson Williams gives us the real insider tales of refs, groupies, coaches, entourages, and all the superstars, bench warmers, journeymen, clowns, and other performers in the rarefied circus that is professional basketball.From the Trade Paperback edition.

    A close encounter in a childhood swimming pool left him terrified of the depths, but he had no idea that it was the heights of this world that would eventually call him—and threaten his life over and over again.In the course of 20 years spent scaling the highest peaks in the world, Filippi has repeatedly cheated death. From a Taliban attack on a mountainside in northern Pakistan that felled ten of his climbing companions to the deadliest disaster in Everest’s history, Filippi has survived again and again.But sometimes survival comes with a price.In The Escapist, Filippi proves an old axiom true: no climber returns from a summit the same person as when he began his ascent. Sometimes the alteration is physical, but more often it’s buried within. The Escapist is an unflinching account of extreme feats and devastating loss that takes readers to the highest peaks on six continents and into the deepest valleys of the human soul. In a book marked by adventure and tragedy, Filippi dissects what it takes to get to the top of the world, and what that quest takes out of you.Haunted by survivor’s guilt and post-traumatic stress disorder, Filippi explains how life on the brink of death can change someone. He chronicles how his experiences on mountains ranging from K2 to Everest to Nanga Parbat, a mountain in Pakistan also known as The Maneater, transformed him from a hubristic young man who pushed himself to the brink into the cautious adventurer who preserved seven lives when he halted an ascent up Everest just an hour from the summit.In this gripping, heartfelt and inspiring memoir, one of Canada’s foremost mountaineers shares a life spent in and out of the death zone. The Escapist is a story about human perseverance and triumph in the pursuit of one man’s dreams, and helps to explain why some people will never give up on trying to climb to the top of the world.

    He was born to race —some of the fastest cars ever to tear up a speedway.  Carroll Shelby wasn’t born to run. He was born to race—some of the fastest cars ever to tear up a speedway. The exciting new feature film Ford v Ferrari--starring Matt Damon as Shelby and Christian Bale as fellow racer Ken Miles--immortalizes the small-town Texas boy who won the notorious Le Mans 24-hour endurance challenge, and changed the face of auto racing with the legendary Shelby Cobra. But there’s much more to his high-velocity, history-making story.A wizard behind the wheel, he was also a visionary designer of speed machines that ruled the racetrack and the road. While his GT40s racked up victories in the world’s most prestigious professional racing showdowns, his masterpiece, the Ford Cobra, gave Europe’s formidable Ferrari an American--style run for its money. If you’ve got a need for speed, strap in next to the man who put his foot down on the pedal, kept his eyes on the prize, and never looked back.

    Winik's amusing tales of outrageous mistakes, haunting uncertainty, and the never-ending struggle to stay true to her heart strike a powerful chord with creative, impassioned, independent-minded free spirits who know they're different -- and want to stay that way. Winik's seven Rules for the Unruly are: THE PATH IS NOT STRAIGHT · MISTAKES NEED NOT BE FATAL PEOPLE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN ACHIEVEMENTS OR POSSESSIONS BE GENTLE WITH YOUR PARENTS · NEVER STOP DOING WHAT YOU CARE ABOUT MOST LEARN TO USE A SEMICOLON · YOU WILL FIND LOVE Rules for the Unruly shows us how taking risks, living creatively, and cherishing our inner weirdness can become the secret of our happiness and success, not our downfall.

    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.

    Do not buy this summary & analysis if you are looking for a full copy of this fascinating book, which can be found back on the Amazon search page.Instead, we have already read Orange Is the New Black and pulled out some of the key points, story lines and insights to give you a comprehensive chapter-by-chapter summary & review. In doing so, unfortunately we do not have the space to include all of the many important ideas and anecdotes found in Orange Is the New Black. To get it all, you should first order the full book. Packaged together in an engaging and easily digestible format, this concise summary & analysis works best as an unofficial guide or companion to read alongside the book. ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK: MY YEAR IN A WOMEN’S PRISON by PIPER KERMAN -- SUMMARY, REVIEW & ANALYSIS As a naive 24-year-old looking for adventure, Piper Kerman got into a romantic relationship with a woman 10 years her senior who was running a heroin smuggling operation. For a short time, being the girlfriend of an older woman who was a drug smuggler seemed exciting and risqué to Piper. Puppy-like, she followed her girlfriend around the world and played the role of the "kept woman" in all sorts of exotic locales: Bali, Belgium, France, and Switzerland. Although Nora didn't ask anything illegal of Piper in the beginning, the day came when Nora asked Piper to carry a suitcase full of cash into Brussels. Piper agreed to help. Several years later, when Piper was living in New York City, working as an art director and dating her future husband Larry, federal agents knocked on her door. In this summary, you will discover:•The prison work system, where inmates are often paid about as much for their labor as people who work in factories in developing nations. •Most of her new neighbors in Prison Dorm B were African-American; spending time with them helped Piper to recognize and overcome some of her more subtle racial prejudices.•Sometimes inmates would flirt with male officers; other times, male officers would give unwelcome and uninvited sexual attention to the women.•Most federal prisoners, both at the time of Piper's incarceration and today, are non-violent drug offenders.•Piper finally admitted fault and revealed a sense of remorse for her actions when she described herself as a party to the drug addictions of some of her incarcerated friends.You will get all this and much more!FROM START-TO-FINISH IN JUST 30 MINUTES!Here's your chapter-by-chapter guide to Piper Kerman's Orange Is the New Black that you can download right now!

    Personal accounts and anecdotes offer insight into life during the Great Depression, describing such events as the closing of the banks, looking for a job, braving the ""Dust Bowl,"" and discovering homemade fun.

    This autobiographical history of Scientology is told by one of L. Ron Hubbard’s staunchest defenders.