Showing titles in Entertainment & Celebrities

Gigmentia is a reflection on the raw, challenging, and gritty vocation of a blue-collar musician living in the Pacific Northwest, and the varied adventures of a hard working, day-in day-out rock band. Introspective, insightful, and eloquently observed, Michael B. Koep chronicles a summer season of fifty rock shows performed in small clubs, huge bars, and on outdoor festival stages, in barns, backyards, and the middle of the woods.

Jan Swafford's biographies have established him as a revered music historian, capable of bringing his subjects vibrantly to life. His magnificent new biography of Ludwig van Beethoven peels away layers of legend to get to the living, breathing human being who composed some of the world's most iconic music.

Cary Grant: The Making of a Hollywood Legend tells the incredible story of how a sad, neglected boy became the suave, glamorous star many know and idolize. The first biography to be based on Grant's own personal papers, this book takes us on a fascinating journey from the actor's difficult childhood through years of struggle in music halls and vaudeville, a hit-and-miss career in Broadway musicals, and three decades of film stardom during Hollywood's golden age.

The second book by Sunset Strip video vixen Bobbie Brown, Cherry on Top documents Brown's transformation from 1990s sex symbol to comedy queen, revealing the dramatic ups and downs of her biggest reinvention yet. Once the hottest girl on the Sunset Strip, the blonde beauty in the video to Warrant's 1990s hit, "Cherry Pie" is now in her late 40s, and she's letting her mouth run wild as a headliner on the comedy stage a few doors down from the rock clubs she once frequented. She's still smoking hot, but telling jokes about farting on men's balls isn't helping her find The One.

Shy but with a steely self-confidence; inscrutable despite ten decades in the public eye; unflappable; devout; indulgent; outwardly reserved, inwardly passionate; unsentimental; inquisitive; young at heart. All of these describe Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned through more seismic social change than any monarch since 1066. Robert Hardman has already examined the Queen as a modern monarch and her role as a stateswoman abroad. Now, he wraps up the full story of one of the undisputed greats in a thousand years of monarchy.

In the tradition of the late, great George Carlin, Corey Taylor, the lead singer of Slipknot and Stone Sour, sounds off in hilarious fashion about the many vagaries of modern life that piss him off. Whether it's people's rude behavior in restaurants and malls, the many indignities of air travel, eye-searingly terrible fashion choices, dangerously clueless drivers, and - most of all - the sorry state of much modern music, Taylor's humor and insight cover civil society's seeming decline.

Erika Jayne didn't make it this far by holding back. Now, in her first-ever memoir, the fan favorite star of Bravo's The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills bares her heart, mind, and soul. In Pretty Mess, Erika spills on every aspect of her life: from her rise to fame as a daring and fiery pop/dance performer and singer; to her decision to accept a role on reality television; to the ups and downs of family life (including her marriage to famed lawyer Tom Girardi, 33 years her senior). There's much more to Erika Jayne than fans see on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

His career as a naturalist and broadcaster has spanned nearly five decades and there are very few places on the globe that he has not visited. In this volume of memoirs David tells stories of the people and animals he has met and the places that he has visited. Over the last 25 years he has established himself as the world's leading Natural History programme maker with several landmark BBC series.

Live in Love is a deeply personal memoir that offers inspiring guidance for anyone looking to keep romance alive, balance children and marriage, express true faith, and live a life of purpose.

Tupac Shakur is one of the greatest and most controversial artists of all time. More than a quarter of a century after his tragic death in 1996 at the age of just twenty-five, he continues to be one of the most misunderstood, complicated, and prolific figures in modern history. Drawing on exclusive access to Tupac’s private notebooks, letters, and uncensored conversations with those who loved and knew him best, this estate-authorized biography paints the fullest and most intimate picture to date of the young man who became a legend for generations to come.

For Craig Melvin this book is more an investigation than a memoir. It's an opportunity to better understand his father; to interrogate his family's legacy of addiction and despair but also transformation and redemption; and to explore the challenges facing all dads - including Craig himself, a father of two young children.

Joan Crawford was a leading film personality for more than 50 years, from her beginnings as a dancer in silent films of the 1920s, to her portrayals of working-class shop girls in the Depression '30s, to her Oscar-winning performances in classic films such as Mildred Pierce. Today, many picture Crawford only as a wire hanger-wielding shrew rather than the personification of Hollywood glamour. This new biography of Crawford sets the record straight, going beyond the gossip to find the truth about the legendary actress.

In March 1999, a Palm Beach matron and her socially ambitious husband invited the elite of the island for a dinner dance honoring Prince Edward. Among those dancing to the string orchestra that evening would be those accused of murder and spousal abuse, and others who would suffer fates both unseemly and unspeakable. Among the outer circle there would be murders, suicides, and fatal fires.

After her acclaimed memoir, Mostly Sunny, Janice Dean figured she was done trying to survive or bring down awful men. Then she found herself taking on Governor Andrew Cuomo on social media and then at rallies. What at first seemed like a futile fight ended with Cuomo’s historic resignation. But it caused Janice to wonder: What fuels someone’s resolve to go up against a powerful opponent? And how can ordinary people make the world a better place?

Louisa first met Robert Lockhart when they were both 17. Their stop-start romance lasted decades, in which time he became a celebrated composer and she an acclaimed novelist. Always snapping at their heels was Robert’s alcoholism, a helpless, ferocious dependency that affected his personality before crippling and finally, despite five years of hard-won sobriety, killing him. There are a million love stories and a million stories of addiction. This one is truly transcendent.

Turns out, one lesson applies to living through illness, keeping the show on the road, letting go of the person you love most, and eating fire: The trick is there is no trick. You eat fire by eating fire. Two journeys - a daughter’s and a mother’s - bear witness to this lesson in The Electric Woman.

Ein immerzu hungriger Junge, mit der Mutter aus dem bombardierten München in ein bitterarmes Nest in den Alpen geflohen. Ein Jugendlicher mit alles sprengender Abenteuerlust, der ganz allein lostrampt und im Südsudan schwer krank wird und sich nach Ägypten zurück durchschlägt. Ein Mann, der mitten im Dschungel ein 340 Tonnen schweres Dampfschiff über einen Berg wuchten lässt und dabei seinen tobsüchtigen Hauptdarsteller Klaus Kinski unter Kontrolle halten muss. Ein Mann, der seinem sterbenden Freund Bruce Chatwin seinen Film über Nomaden in kleinen Abschnitten vorführt.

In this definitive biography of one of Hollywood's most beloved stars, Michael Munn reveals the truth behind the diffident, earnest and kindly persona of Jimmy Stewart. Drawn from the author's formal interviews and informal meetings with the star and his friendship with Stewart's wife, Gloria, is this portrait of a man who came from the Presbyterian traditions of Pennsylvania to become one of the silver screen's enduring legends.

This autobiography was immediately hailed as a masterpiece upon publication and has even been called the greatest nonfiction book ever written. Henry Adams, whose great-grandfather and grandfather were both U.S. presidents, fills his story with one unforgettably brilliant observation after another. Filled with uncommon wisdom, this book also serves as a thoughtful history of 19th-century America.

Joni Mitchell is a cultural touchstone for generations of Americans. In her heyday she released 10 experimental, challenging, and revealing albums; her lyrics captivated people with the beauty of their language and the rawness of their emotions, both deeply personal to Mitchell and universally relatable to her audience. In this intimate biography, composed of dozens of in-person interviews with Mitchell, David Yaffe reveals the backstory behind the famous songs.