Selvbiografier

From an early age, Richard Hell dreamed of running away. He arrived penniless in New York City at seventeen; ten years later he was a pivotal voice of the age of punk, cofounding such seminal bands as Television, The Heartbreakers, and Richard Hell and the Voidoids—whose song "Blank Generation" remains the defining anthem of the era, an era that would forever alter popular culture in all its forms. How this legendary downtown artist went from a bucolic childhood in the idyllic Kentucky foothills to igniting a movement that would take over New York and London''s restless youth culture—cementing CBGB as the ground zero of punk and spawning the careers of not only Hell himself, but a cohort of friends such as Tom Verlaine, Patti Smith, the Ramones, and Debby Harry—is a mesmerizing chronicle of self-invention, and of Hell''s yearning for redemption through poetry, music, and art. An acutely rendered, unforgettable coming-of-age story, I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp evokes with feeling, lyricism, and piercing intelligence both the world that shaped him and the world he shaped.

With 30 million records sales to his name, Bobby Womack stood shoulder to shoulder with Ray Charles, James Brown and Marvin Gaye as a true giant of Soul, R&B and Blues music. His life story is an incredible, colourful and moving piece of music history. Honest, insightful and unflinching, this is the authentic voice of a music legend.

Perry Como put aside his career as a barber to become one of the top American crooners of the 20th century and also one of the first multimedia stars. His record sales exceeded 100 million. In 1948, Como was the first popular singer to cross over to television and The Perry Como Show became the benchmark for a broadcast music and variety show. Como's career illuminates developments in the music and television business in the middle of the last century. This biography features 73 photographs, a complete discography, a listing of all television appearances, and a year by year chronology of Perry Como's life from 1912 to 2001.

World Snooker Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan's frank and honest account of his astonishingly dramatic life.

NATIONAL BESTSELLERMarc Maron is "a master of spinning humor out of anguish" (Bookforum), even when that anguish is pretty clearly self-inflicted. In Attempting Normal, he threads together twenty-five stories from his life and near-death, from his first comedy road trips (with a fugitive junkie comic with a missing tooth) to his love affair with feral animals (his cat rescues are bloody epics) to his surprisingly moving tales of lust, heartbreak, and hope. The stories are united by Maron's thrilling storytelling style-intensely smart, disarmingly honest, and explosively funny. Together, they add up to a hilarious and moving tale of failing, flailing, and finding a way.Praise for Attempting Normal "I laughed so hard reading this book."-David Sedaris "Funny . . . surprisingly deep . . . laced with revelatory insights."-Los Angeles Times "Superb . . . A reason that [it] is a superior example of an overcrowded genre-the comedian memoir-is Mr. Maron's hardheaded approach to his history, the wisdom of experience."-The New York Times "Marc Maron is a legend because he is both a great comic and a brilliant mind. Attempting Normal is a deep, hilarious megashot of feeling and truth as only this man can administer."-Sam Lipsyte Praise for Marc Maron and WTF "The stuff of comedy legend."-Rolling Stone "Marc Maron is a startlingly honest, compelling, and hilarious comedian-poet. Truly one of the greatest of all time."-Louis C.K. "I've known Marc for years and I can tell you first hand that he's passionate, fearless, honest, self-absorbed, neurotic, and screamingly funny."-David Cross "Revered among his peers . . . raw and unflinchingly honest."-Entertainment Weekly"Devastatingly funny."-Los Angeles Times "For a comedy nerd, this show is nirvana."-Judd Apatow

Biography of Oxford Classics don who led intriguing life.

A tender and moving account of Jean-Michel Basquiat's life as seen through the eyes of his muse

You put together two things that have not been put together before. And the world is changed... In Levels of Life Julian Barnes gives us Nadar, the pioneer balloonist and aerial photographer; then, finally, he gives us the story of his own grief, unflinchingly observed. This is a book of intense honesty and insight;

When Elspeth Huxley's pioneer father buys a remote plot of land in Kenya, the family sets off to discover their new home: five hundred acres of Kenyan scrubland, infested with ticks and white ants, and quavering with heat.

"Vladimir Ilyich Lenin is among the most enigmatic and influential figures of the twentieth century. While his life and work are crucial to any understanding of modern history and the socialist movement, generations of writers on the left and the right have seen fit to embalm him endlessly with superficial analysis or dreary dogma. Now, after the fall of the Soviet Union and 'actually-existing' socialism, it is possible to consider Lenin afresh, with sober senses trained on his historical context and how it shaped his theoretical and political contributions. Reconstructing Lenin, four decades in the making and now available in English for the first time, is an attempt to do just that. Tamaas Krausz, an esteemed Hungarian scholar writing in the tradition of Gyeorgy Lukaacs, Ferenc Tiokei, and Istvaan Maeszaaros, makes a major contribution to a growing field of contemporary Lenin studies. This rich and penetrating account reveals Lenin busy at the work of revolution, his thought shaped by immediate political events but never straying far from a coherent theoretical perspective. Krausz balances detailed descriptions of Lenin's time and place with lucid explications of his intellectual development, covering a range of topics like war and revolution, dictatorship and democracy, socialism and utopianism. Reconstructing Lenin will change the way you look at a man and a movement; it will also introduce the English-speaking world to a profound radical scholar"--Provided by publisher.

In this first-ever biography of the star, David O'Dornan reveals the amazing highs and lows of Danny's personal and professional life and speaks to music industry experts and artists to find out more about the man behind the music that is adored by so many. This is a must-read book for any fan, or as Danny likes to call them, 'The Script Family'.

As he films the final episode, actor David Suchet recalls his experience of playing Agatha Christie's world-famous detective, Hercule Poirot, for almost a quarter of a century.

The extraordinary life of the man who founded Islam, and the world he inhabited - and remade.

The amazing life of Madness frontman and national treasure, Suggs

Drawing heavily on their 15-year correspondence, this book is the first English-language biography of Carlos Kleiber ever written. Charles Barber offers unique insights into how Kleiber worked. This biography considers Kleiber's singular aesthetic, his playful and often erudite sense of humor, his reputation for perfectionism, his much-studied baton technique, and the famous concert and opera performances he conducted. It explores the great conductor's musical lineage and the contemporary contexts in which he worked, and it repudiates myths that inevitably crop up around genius and reflects on Kleiber's contribution to modern musical performance.

Finally in paperback comes Mo' Meta Blues Questlove's New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed psychedelic, punch-drunk memoir

In this extraordinary memoir we look at Africa's wonders through the eyes of a visionary, live through hair-raising adventure and personal sorrow, and also bear witness to a natural world now largely lost from view.

After his conversion, this African boy is sent by God to prepare an American university for its mission in the world.

An autobiography of George Grosz, one of the twentieth century's greatest satirical artists. It presents a graphic portrait of Germany in chaos after the Treaty of Versailles. It includes a chapter on Grosz's experience in the Soviet Union as well as writings about his twenty-year self-imposed exile in America, and a fable written in English.

The long-awaited memoir of Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp, whose autobiography is as unique and special as the player himself

From the time she saw the movie Fame, the author wanted to be a star. A line from the theme song stayed with her - 'I'm gonna live for ever, I'm gonna learn how to fly.' This book gives us the chance to fly alongside her on her journey from lonely teenager to international star.

The life of Karl Dane was a Cinderella story gone horribly wrong. The immigrant from Copenhagen was transformed from a machinist to a Hollywood star after his turn as the tobacco-chewing Slim in ""The Big Parade"". This biography tells the tale of a daring yet tragic man who aimed for his wildest dreams and succeeded, if only for a short time.

Presents the fascinating life of the father of the New Germany. This book tells how, in an astonishing political career that spanned six decades including fourteen years as chancellor of West Germany, Konrad Adenauer (1876-1967) was instrumental in shaping the modern political landscape, both of his own country and of Europe.

A catalogue of history's greatest military leaders - from the Classical Age to the Napoleonic Era - and what drove them to victory.

';A superb biography, not to be missed either by armchair explorers or students of human naturereveals the famed missionary and explorer as he really was.'Cleveland Plain DealerDavid Livingstone is revered as one of history's greatest explorers and missionaries, the first European to cross Africa, and the first to find Victoria Falls and the source of the Congo River. In this exciting new edition of his biography, Tim Jeal, author of the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning Stanley, draws on fresh sources and archival discoveries to provide the most fully rounded portrait of this complicated mandogged by failure throughout his life despite his full share of success.Using Livingstone's original field notebooks, Jeal finds that the explorer's problems with his African followers were far graver than previously understood. From recently discovered letters he elaborates on the explorer's decision to send his wife, Mary, back home to England. He also uncovers fascinating information about Livingstone's importance to the British Empire and about his relationship with the journalist-adventurer Henry Morton Stanley. In addition, Jeal here evokes the full pathos of the explorer's final journey. This masterful, updated biography also features an excellent selection of new maps and illustrations.';Fascinating.'Los Angeles Times';A thrilling and in the end moving workThe Livingstone who emerges is a man of terrifying dimensions.'Irish Press

The story of the Scottish missionary pioneer John Gibson Paton (1824-1907). Born in Dumfrieshire, trained at Medical school and spent 10 years as city missionary in Glasgow and had felt compelled by God to be a missionary in the South sea Islands. This is the account of John G. Paton's pioneering mission work among cannibals in the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu). Living among constant dangers and death threats, battling against illness and enduring great perosnal loss and sacrifice, John G. Paton laboured on and showed great love for the island peoples. He had the joy eventually seeing people come to Christ and living a totally transformed lifestyle.

Saxon brings together more than 300 letters written by the self-styled "Prince of Humbugs." Here we see him, opinionated and exuberant, with only the rarest flashes of introspection and self-doubt, haggling with business partners, blustering over politics, and attempting to get such friends as Mark Twain to endorse his latest schemes.

Translated by Audie E. Bock."A first rate book and a joy to read.... It''s doubtful that a complete understanding of the director''s artistry can be obtained without reading this book.... Also indispensable for budding directors are the addenda, in which Kurosawa lays out his beliefs on the primacy of a good script, on scriptwriting as an essential tool for directors, on directing actors, on camera placement, and on the value of steeping oneself in literature, from great novels to detective fiction."--Variety"For the lover of Kurosawa''s movies...this is nothing short of must reading...a fitting companion piece to his many dynamic and absorbing screen entertainments."--Washington Post Book World