Book picks similar to
Coming to Las Vegas: A True Tale of Sex, Drugs & Sin City in the '70s by Carolyn V. Hamilton
biography
1-autobio-memoir
non-fiction-biography
history
When it was Great: A Dealer's Autobiographic Story (Memoirs From Las Vegas)
Jim Sinay - 2015
His “Uncle” Ed Pucci, who was Frank Sinatra’s bodyguard and a close family friend, set him up with an entry level dealer’s job in Vegas. Over the next three decades, Jimmy experienced all Las Vegas had to offer. He dealt craps to famous gangsters in a private game, he interacted with John Wayne, Elvis Presley, Redd Foxx, Debbie Reynolds, Louis Prima and other celebrities. Jimmy was a confirmed bachelor who lived the high life with the ladies, although at times his carousing nearly cost him his life. He saw hundreds of thousands of dollars bet on one roll of the dice, he caught gambling cheaters and had run ins with some very nasty types. ˃˃˃ Folktales from a bygone era Jimmy’s stories are folktales from a bygone era, the 1960s, 70s and 80s when Vegas was still a relatively small town. Back in the day, the “joints” were ruled by men whose names all ended in vowels and there was a good time to be had 24/7. When It Was Great will make you laugh and touch your heart, but most of all it will take you back to the Las Vegas of yesterday, when the Rat Pack played at the Sands, Elvis headlined at the Hilton and working stiffs like Jimmy partied like there was no tomorrow.
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Family Secrets: The scandalous history of an extraordinary family
Derek Malcolm - 2017
The secret, though, that surrounded my parents’ unhappy life together, was divulged to me by accident . . .’ Hidden under some papers in his father’s bureau, the sixteen-year-old Derek Malcolm finds a book by the famous criminologist Edgar Lustgarten called The Judges and the Damned. Browsing through the Contents pages Derek reads, ‘Mr Justice McCardie tries Lieutenant Malcolm – page 33.’ But there is no page 33. The whole chapter has been ripped out of the book. Slowly but surely, the shocking truth emerges: that Derek’s father, shot his wife’s lover and was acquitted at a famous trial at the Old Bailey. The trial was unique in British legal history as the first case of a crime passionel, where a guilty man is set free, on the grounds of self-defence. Husband and wife lived together unhappily ever after, raising Derek in their wake. Then, in a dramatic twist, following his father’s death, Derek receives an open postcard from his Aunt Phyllis, informing him that his real father is the Italian Ambassador to London . . . By turns laconic and affectionate, Derek Malcolm has written a richly evocative memoir of a family sinking into hopeless disrepair. Derek Malcolm was chief film critic of the Guardian for thirty years and still writes for the paper. Educated at Eton and Merton College, Oxford, he became first a steeplechase rider and then an actor after leaving university. He worked as a journalist in the sixties, first in Cheltenham and then with the Guardian where he was a features sub-editor and writer, racing correspondent and finally film critic. He directed the London Film Festival for a spell in the 80s and is now President of both the International Film Critics Association and the British Federation of Film Societies. He lives with his wife Sarah Gristwood in London and Kent and has published two books – one on Robert Mitchum and another on his favourite 100 films. He is a frequent broadcaster on radio and television and a veteran of film festival juries all over the world.
The Last Gangster: My Final Confession
Charlie Richardson - 2013
Boss of the Richardson Gang and rival of the Krays, to cross him would result in brutal repercussions. Famously arrested on the day England won the World Cup in 1966, his trial heard he allegedly used iron bars, bolt cutters and electric shocks on his enemies.The Last Gangster is Richardson’s frank account of his largely untold life story, finished just before his death in September 2012. He shares the truth behind the rumours and tells of his feuds with the Krays for supremacy, undercover missions involving politicians, many lost years banged up in prison and reveals shocking secrets about royalty, phone hacking, bent coppers and the infamous black box.Straight up, shocking and downright gripping, this is the ultimate exposé on this legendary gangster and his extraordinary life.
After the Voyage: An Irish American Story
Brenda Murphy - 2016
From different counties in Ireland, Maggie Qualter and Richard Terrett both sail to America as young adults in 1870 after surviving Ireland’s Great Hunger as children. Maggie works as a maid for a wealthy family. Richard finds work in a tannery. After the death of the young wife he loves passionately, Richard marries Maggie with the help of a deceptive go-between who brews trouble in their marriage that never goes away. They raise three children in the midst of Irish American culture, the Catholic Church, and Richard’s battles for the workingman in the Knights of Labor. Their daughter Mary dreams of being a nun, while Josie seeks the freedom of big-city life in Boston. Neither reckons on the future she will face, Mary as a wife and mother of nine children and Josie as a single working woman. Tom escapes factory life by joining the Navy, manages to see the world in the midst of two wars, and comes home to marry his sweetheart and start a new life. Their stories are both remarkable and familiar to everyone whose ancestors made their way to and in America.The events in the Terretts’ lives are as they emerge from the public record. But their inner lives, their thoughts, their relationships, their words are imagined as a route to understanding these five complicated and fascinating people
Super Nuke!: A Memoir About Life as a Nuclear Submariner and the Contributions of a "Super Nuke" - the USS RAY (SSN653) Toward Winning the Cold War
Charles Cranston Jett - 2016
He has succeeded in telling the unclassified story of the journey taken by an extraordinary group of men who built the first operational “Super Nuke” and effectively shared what they developed with others in the entire US nuclear submarine force. He created the SSN Pre Deployment training program, consolidated developments made on the Ray to create the highly useful Geographic Plot (Geo Plot) and wrote the tactical doctrine for the SSN based electronic intelligence collection system, AN/WLR-6. Well done, Charlie. I am proud to have had you as a shipmate.” Albert L. Kelln Rear Admiral, United States Navy (Ret.) Former Commanding Officer and Plank Owner USS RAY (SSN 653) - The original “Super Nuke” “Charlie Jett succeeds in providing an unclassified account of what it was like to be a nuclear qualified submariner who had the unique experience of building and serving aboard the first operational “Super Nuke” - the most modern fast attack nuclear submarine designed specifically to face the Soviet Navy during the Cold War. He describes the contributions of the commissioning crew in developing sonar techniques and operational tactics and how these lessons were ultimately and effectively communicated to later “Super Nukes.” Charlie provided the initial idea and was instrumental in establishing and implementing a new concept of training which significantly improved the operational readiness of the nuclear attack submarine force. He created the “Geographic Plot” to improve operational safety and wrote the tactical doctrine for a new and sophisticated nuclear attack submarine electronic intelligence gathering system. “Super Nuke” is a good read for those who have an interest in life as a submarine officer and how these marvelous machines and their crews contributed to winning the Cold War.” The Honorable John H. Dalton Former Nuclear Submarine Officer and 70th Secretary of the Navy “This is a most interesting work on the U.S. Navy’s program to combat the Soviet submarine threat during the long Cold War. Charlie was in at the beginning and accurately describes the significant efforts, both in individual sacrifice and technical development that led to U.S. undersea superiority. As a junior officer his individual accomplishments were most significant. The submarine efforts were probably the most important U.S. competitive strategy that drove the Soviets to the poor house and led to the demise of the Soviet Union.” Bruce DeMars Admiral, United States Navy (Ret.) Former Commanding Officer, USS CAVALLA (SSN 684) - a subsequent “Super Nuke” Former Director of Naval Reactors
Mad Frank and Sons
David Fraser - 2016
It includes the story of Frank's beloved sister, Eva, who was a top-class West End shoplifter, and his sons David and Patrick, who reveal in shocking detail the full extent of the family's network and the influences that shaped them.With sawn-off shotguns as toys, the Kray twins as family friends and a mother who urged them as teenagers to 'get out of bed and rob a bleedin' bank', it is little wonder that the Fraser boys were heavily involved in organized crime by the time they were in their twenties. Packed with new information, and featuring some of the most famous names in the London underworld, this is a fascinating slice of gangland history seen through the eyes of Frank Fraser and his two renegade sons.
September's Child #1
C.A. Staff - 2013
Finding love while in foster care, and having it stripped away from her by an adoption that turned into abuse. From neglect to abuse this little hero survived it all. She learned to become an emotionless child, to live another day, ultimately to tell her story. A story stained with tears and filled with heart ache.
Six Wives: The Women Who Married, Lived, And Died For Henry VIII
Michael W. Simmons - 2017
Anne Boleyn: ambitious upstart. Jane Seymour: virtuous mother. Anne of Cleves: Flanders Mare. Katherine Howard: adulterous whore. Katherine Parr: the one that got away. These are our lingering historical afterimages of the six women who married Henry VIII over the course of his thirty-six-year reign. At the age of 18, Henry succeeded to the English throne and married the Spanish princess who had briefly been the wife of his brother Arthur. Katherine of Aragon was both a virgin and a widow when the prince died at the age of fifteen, enabling Henry to marry her himself. Their marriage lasted sixteen contented years, until suddenly, Henry fell in love with Anne Boleyn and sundered England from Rome in order to keep her. But Henry VIII would not be satisfied even after he took Anne Boleyn for his wife. His vanity, his ego, and his desperate need for a male heir, led him to marry four more women during the last ten years of his life. In this book, you will read about the lives, loves, and secret passions of these women. Four of them died for Henry’s pleasure—but two escaped to tell their stories.
DIRTY WHITE BOY: One Addict's Lifelong Battle Against Heroin Addiction
Frank Ruhl Peterson - 2014
My narrative covers many issues which increasingly threaten all classes of modern day society. Principle among these is the heartbreak of Addiction, and the collateral devastation it exacts in all its’ forms. Regrettably, true appreciation of addiction’s desperate landscape, too often requires one’s intimate personal involvement with its twisted and insidious nature. Despite this grim caveat, a powerfully descriptive account can nevertheless provide some measure of protective awareness. With this in mind, please consider some of the issues discussed in my story: · Raised primarily by an abusive, unemployed, alcoholic step-father, and a mother more concerned with maintaining her tenuous relationship than protecting her children. · My gradual descent into the drug-culture of the 1960’s, culminating in Heroin use at 15, and addiction by 16 years of age. · Forcible eviction from my home by my stepfather at age 16; the grueling adaptation to street-life and homelessness, while supporting a significant drug habit. · Surviving as a frightened white teenager in Spanish Harlem; forced to live in abandoned buildings (which doubled as “Shooting Galleries”), Central Park, the Subways (during winter), stairwells or boiler-rooms. · Ejection from High School after being caught shooting Heroin in the school bathroom. · My criminal involvement and subsequent arrests, resulting in jail time, jumping parole, and interstate flight to avoid prosecution. · My decision to begin Methadone Maintenance. · My mysterious “Epiphany”, providing incentive for my detox, and subsequent devotion to Physical Fitness. · Falsifying documents to enter College without ever achieving a GED or Diploma. · Gaining early admission to Medical School, with neither a College Degree nor High School Diploma. · Relapse into narcotic addiction following surgery during my 3rd year of Medical School. · Completing Internship and gaining acceptance to an Anesthesiology Residency while maintaining a narcotics habit. · Entry into treatment following my 1st year of Residency; my re-entry into another Anesthesia Residency. · Relapse after completing Residency, while performing 3rd world medicine; taking a position at a hospital in Penn. · My arrest for narcotic diversion; my imprisonment which ultimately totaled 34 months, and the loss of my Medical License. · Becoming the subject of a 20/20 television broadcast which was intentionally twisted and malevolently distorted through disingenuous editing. · The years following the loss of my profession. My depression, anxiety, hopelessness, and subsequent suicide attempts; my eventual acceptance of life’s disparate and capricious nature, and how life, and our success within it, is defined simply by our own perspective. DIRTY WHITE BOY avidly supports and encourages the belief that no matter how desperate our current life appears, we all have the power to rise above it. Those currently struggling with personal demons need to realize their future is malleable by design, not immutable or cast in stone. It is also a cautionary tale warning that success comes hand-in-hand with inherent temptations. Arrogance and conceit are equally as addictive as any narcotic; to forget our past quite often means we are destined to repeat it.
"It's Cancer"
Jay Otterbacher - 2012
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.
Letting Go: A Marine's Journey Through War and His Search for Meaning
Jeffrey Sands - 2014
Letting Go: A Marine’s Journey Through War and His Search for Meaning takes the reader deep inside the authors head, giving them an unfiltered view of his struggles with war, and the difficulty he faced trying to adjust as a civilian to a world out of touch with his values. “I looked inside, compelled to stare, staining the image of a dead body into my memory. I did not deserve to look away. I had to know the awfulness of war; the wickedness of our species.” - Page 162 MORE FROM THE BACK COVER Letting Go is an excellent account of a Marine before, during, and after 9/11. Through the eyes of Jeff Sands, he retells his story with brutal honesty, describing what possessed him to join the Marine Corps, his experiences while serving, to include deploying to Iraq during the initial invasion, and the demons he endured while trying to readjust to civilian life. This book was begun as a diary of sorts. It was written to try and understand the chaos that exists inside one’s own head, especially after experiencing war and seeing its effects. It was flushed out over many sleepless nights, and refined over time with clarity. It’s more than just a story about war and struggle, it’s a story about what compels someone to join the Marine Corps, risking his life for something greater than himself. It’s a story about how the Marine Corps molds not only men’s bodies, but their minds. It’s a story about war, and its effects... good and bad. It's a story about heartbreak. And it’s a story about trying to adjust to a corporate world out of touch with the values of the Marine Corps; a world without a purpose. Follow Jeff as he takes you through the streets of Baghdad, giving you an unfiltered description of what he experienced and the injustice he saw. Then, watch him try to adjust as a civilian, eventually leaving behind his job, his marriage, and everything he owns, in order to pursue the ideals that were the reasons he joined the Marine Corps; ideals that were reinforced by war. See how he deals with his tortured mind, eventually teaching himself how to let go. ABOUT LETTING GO: A MARINE’S JOURNEY THROUGH WAR AND HIS SEARCH FOR MEANING Released December 15th, 2014, this is the first book by Jeff Sands about his own life and his own experiences.
When Uriel Sang: Parenting an Exceptional Child
Danny Or Fuchs - 2016
After the end of his first marriage, Danny is remarried to Nataly, the love of his life. When their beautiful baby boy, Uriel, is diagnosed with autism, their lives are changed forever. At first, the family is devastated, anxious and confused, but the complex situations they are faced with will teach them insightful lessons and change them forever, as a couple, as parents and as human beings.
An exceptional story of fate, devotion, love and dedication that proves hope is the strongest weapon of all.
As Danny narrates in his honest and passionate tone, that will melt your heart and touch your soul, the family suddenly finds itself struggling with inconsiderate institutes and indifferent bureaucracy; dealing with social ignorance, discrimination and prejudice; coping with rejection, failure, frustration, anger, self-doubt and despair; collecting small victories, weaving dreams and making the impossible come true. By Exposing the most intimate and personal situations, it reveals a powerful and exciting world that is usually left out of sight, and teaches voluble lessons that are relevant to all.
Open your minds to an exceptional life story: prepare to laugh, cry, love, and believe.
When Uriel Sang exposes the topic of autism and addresses the general issue of exceptional people and people with differences. It promotes openness to unique children and adults in our society and opens one’s mind to see them as our equals, and not as a burden. It is an unforgettable journey for any reader, at any age. Get your copy of When Uriel Sang now!
Edison: A Life of Invention | The True Story of Thomas Edison (Short Reads Historical Biographies of Famous People)
Alexander Kennedy - 2016
If today you’ve listened to recorded music, watched a television show or movie, plugged something into an electric socket, had an X-ray, turned on your car, spoke on the telephone, or flicked on an electric light, you have Edison to thank for his pioneering work in these fields, and many more. Yet Edison is all too often remembered in popular culture only as villain for his feuds with other inventors, most notably the mad genius Nikola Tesla. In this thrilling, compact biography, Alexander Kennedy sorts fact from fiction in the life of the most prolific inventor in human history. We follow Edison, the ultimate self-made man, from his origins as a Michigan telegraph boy to the pinnacle of success as an industrial titan. Along the way, Kennedy carefully explains each of Edison’s key breakthroughs as well as the blots on his record, such as his anti-Semitism and his unhappy family life. The portrait that emerges is a man who is neither hero nor villain, sometimes a saint and sometimes a sinner—but always a genius... "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." - Thomas Edison Buy Now to Discover:
Explanations of Edison’s most important breakthroughs, written in accessible layman’s language.
The founding of Menlo Park, one of the world’s greatest laboratories.
The true story of Edison’s rivalry with Tesla.
Edison’s pioneering role in discovering the health effects of tobacco.
The surprising history of the electric chair and the electrocution of Topsy the elephant.
Edison’s friendship with Henry Ford—and the trouble it led him into.
Edison’s role in World War I.
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Olive Oatman: Explore The Mysterious Story of Captivity and Tragedy from Beginning to End
Brent Schulte - 2019
She is the girl with the blue tattoo.The story behind the distinctive tattoo is the stuff of legends. Some believed it was placed on her face during her captivity, following the brutal murders of her family members and the kidnapping of her and her sister. Others believe it was placed on her after her return.Rumors swelled. Her tattoo became a symbol of Native barbarianism and the triumph of American goodness, but like many stories of that era, the truth is far more complicated.This short book details the murders, her captivity, the aftermath, and her baffling return to her captors. Unravel the mystery of the woman who would become famous for all the wrong reasons and discover what her life story says about cultural identity, the power of resiliency, and what happens when fact and fiction bend and twist to muddy the waters.Read on to find out the truth!
True State Trooper Stories
Charles A. Black - 2016
Sgt. Charles Black is a 35 year veteran of the Iowa State Patrol during those years he has had many experiences and he shares his favorites in this book. In 35 years I have seen a lot of changes from the name of the organization to the primary function. From hearses to ambulances to rescue units with EMT's. From paper list of stolen cars to computers.From no recorders to body cameras. From fist fights to gun fights.But human nature and the effects of drugs and alcohol remain the same.