Growing up in a family of political journalists—and daughter of President Reagan's White House social secretary—Ali Wentworth rebelled against her blue-blood upbringing, embracing Hollywood, motorcycles, even a few wildly inappropriate marriage proposals. Today she is an acclaimed comedic actress and writer, former Oprah regular, wife of political and media star George Stephanopoulos, and a mother who lets her two girls eat cotton candy before bed. Though she's settled down, her rebellious nature thrives in her comedy and her view of her crazy world.In this addictively funny and warm memoir, she takes us through the looking glass and into the wonderland of her life, from a childhood among Washington's elite to a stint in the psych ward they called a New England prep school; days doing L.A. sketch comedy (with then-aspiring artists Will Ferrell and Lisa Kudrow) to a series of spectacularly failed loves (that eventually led her to Mr. Right). Constant throughou... Views: 62
When Angel moves to a new school after the death of her parents, she isn't interested in making friends. Until she meets Bavar - a strange boy, tall, awkward and desperate to remain unseen, but who seems to have a kind of magic about him. Everyone and everything within Bavar's enchanted house is urging him to step up and protect the world from a magical rift through which monsters are travelling, the same monsters that killed Angel's parents. But Bavar doesn't want to follow the path that's been chosen for him - he wants to be normal; to disappear. Fighting one another as well as their fears, Angel and Bavar must find a way to repair the rift between the worlds, and themselves, before it's too late . . .The second stunning novel full of magic and friendship from Amy Wilson, author of A Girl Called OwlPraise for A Girl Called Owl'A story of wild winds and bitter frosts with the warmth of friendship at its heart' - Abi Elphinstone,... Views: 62
In the rarefied world of New York City psychoanalysts and their patients, Dr. Estelle Berman belongs to a dying breed. A distinguished analyst, she lives and practices on the Upper West Side and changes outfits between patients, some of whom she likes more than others. And now she has started falling asleep during meetings and forgetting her patients' names. Her colleagues Dr. H. and Dr. Z. observe her mental decline with the objectivity of a Greek chorus, but when it comes to the disappointments in their own lives, they are far less detached. And then there are the patients: Justine, a movie star with a penchant for stealing things; Edith, who writes poems in secret and eats to subdue feelings of panic; and Anna, a self-harming college student whose depression baffles her parents. Ballad of the Black and Blue Mind is a novel of psychological realities that cut close to the bone, a book that dares to show us humanity in all its messy, mystifying, and glorious... Views: 62
Dazzlingly, daringly written, marrying the thoughtful originality of Maggie Nelson's The Argonauts with the revelatory power of Neurotribes and The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, this propulsive, stunning book illuminates the experience of living with schizophrenia like never before.Sandra Allen did not know her uncle Bob very well. As a child, she had been told he was "crazy," that he had spent time in mental hospitals while growing up in Berkeley in the 60s and 70s. But Bob had lived a hermetic life in a remote part of California for longer than she had been alive, and what little she knew of him came from rare family reunions or odd, infrequent phone calls. Then in 2009 Bob mailed her his autobiography. Typewritten in all caps, a stream of error-riddled sentences over sixty, single-spaced pages, the often incomprehensible manuscript proclaimed to be a "true story" about being "labeled a psychotic paranoid schizophrenic," and arrived with a plea... Views: 62
Who says men think about sex more than women do? Abby Lee is a smart, determined young woman who for almost three years has been writing an online journal about her sex life. Her writing is everything that writing about sex should be—frank, hysterical, provocative, and completely honest. Her website quickly attracted thousands of hits a day, with both men and women drawn to her observations about masturbation, one-night stands, and same-sex encounters. Girl with a One Track Mind is a year-long diary of Abby's desires, fantasies, and anxieties as she tries to answer the question: why do I always think about sex? Celebrating both her sensuality and her physical needs, Abby explores a swingers' club and a Dominatrix dungeon, and even participates in a pre-arranged three-way (which ends without any satisfaction for her). In between her new experiences are run-ins with lifelong friends; potential romances; and long, frustrating nights when all she really wants is a "great... Views: 62
"An illuminating insight...fascinating." —Amanda Grange, bestselling author of Mr. Darcy's Diary"A journey through both a physical landscape and the geography of the human heart and mind...delightfully entertaining and often deeply moving, this book reminds us that Austen's world—and her characters—are very much alive." —Michael Thomas Ford, author of Jane Bites BackWHERE DO BOOKS TAKE YOU?With a suitcase full of Jane Austen novels en español, Amy Elizabeth Smith set off on a year-long Latin American adventure: a traveling book club with Jane. In six unique, unforgettable countries, she gathered book-loving new friends—taxi drivers and teachers, poets and politicians—to read Emma, Sense and Sensibility, and Pride and Prejudice. Whether sharing rooster beer with Guatemalans, joining the crowd at a Mexican boxing match, feeding a horde of tame iguanas with Ecuadorean children, or... Views: 62
Brenda Ashford is the quintessential British nanny. Prim and proper, gentle and kind, she seems to have stepped straight out of Mary Poppins. For more than six decades Nanny Brenda swaddled, diapered, dressed, played with, sang to, cooked for, and looked after more than one hundred children. From the pampered sons and daughters of lords ensconced in their grand estates, to tough East End evacuees during the war, Brenda has taught countless little ones to be happy, healthy and thoroughly well bred. In this delightful memoir, Brenda shares her endearing, amusing, and sometimes downright bizarre experiences turning generations of children into successful adults. From the moment Brenda first held her baby brother David she was hooked. She became a second mother to him, changing his nappies, reading him stories and giving all the love her warm heart had. Knowing a career caring for children was her only calling in life, Brenda attended London's prestigious Norland... Views: 61
How did everything get so dumb? How did we become hostages to idiocy? What must we do to be freed from a captor whose ransom note simply reads, 'D'oh'?The deteriorating quality of our public debate and the dwindling of common sense in media, politics and culture can drive you to despair and rage. It certainly drove writers Helen Razer and Bernard Keane to a desperate act: befriending each other for long enough to write a book. Join forces with these uneasy allies to fight against a world that has lost its reason. Explore what's behind the remorseless spread of idiocy, and why there's just so much damn Stupid around you.Stupid isn't just ignorance; it's not just laziness. Worse than the absence of thought, Stupid is a virus that drains our productivity and leaves us sick and diminished. And Stupid has a long, complex and terrible past, one we need to understand in order to defeat it.A Short History of Stupid traces the origins of this maddening ill, examining... Views: 61
The “technically and emotionally heart-stopping poems” ( Spectator ) of Clive James are collected in this decades-spanning volume.
The poetry of Clive James has been delighting readers and winning awards for decades. His recent poems looking back over his extraordinarily rich life have brought him an even wider readership; some, such as “Japanese Maple” (first published in The New Yorker ), became global news events upon their publication. In this first collected volume of poetry, James makes his own selection from over fifty years’ work in verse: from his early satires to his late poems of valediction, he proves himself to be as well-suited to the intense demands of the short lyric as to those of the comic excursion. Collected Poems places James’s effortless fluency, his breath-taking thematic range, and his emotional power on full display―and will burnish his reputation as one of the most accomplished of our contemporary poets. ** Views: 61
"My name is Shelley... and I'm a sex addict." Follow Shelley as her passions awaken in this erotic journey perfect for anyone who loved Fifty Shades of Grey. (First published as 'The Secret Diary of a Sex Addict') Shelley Matthews is married to her job as a journalist at a glossy women's magazine. Which is just as well as she hasn't had sex for over a year. But when her editor decides a re-vamp of the magazine is needed, Shelley is forced to go undercover - as a sex addict... Attending therapy sessions, Shelley meets a whole host of extraordinary characters. There's: Cian, lead singer of a hot new band, enjoying ALL the trappings of fame. Dominatrix Abigail, who finds that inflicting pain has become a necessary part of sex. Will, family man and serial adulterer. He knows his marriage is in jeopardy but he just can't help himself. Former porn star... Views: 61
