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NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS &’ CHOICE • In Ai Weiwei&’s widely anticipated memoir, &“one of the most important artists working…
in the world today&” ( Financial Times ) tells a century-long epic tale of China through the story of his own extraordinary life and the legacy of his father, the nation&’s most celebrated poet. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Time • BookPage • Kirkus Reviews • &“With uncommon humanity, humbling scholarship, and poignant intimacy, Ai Weiwei recounts a life of courage, argument, defeat, and triumph. His is one of the great voices of our time.&”—Andrew Solomon Hailed as &“an eloquent and seemingly unsilenceable voice of freedom&” by The New York Times, Ai Weiwei has written a sweeping memoir that presents a remarkable history of China over the last hundred years while also illuminating his artistic process. Once an intimate of Mao Zedong and the nation&’s most celebrated poet, Ai Weiwei&’s father, Ai Qing, was branded a rightist during the Cultural Revolution, and he and his family were banished to a desolate place known as &“Little Siberia,&” where Ai Qing was sentenced to hard labor cleaning public toilets. Ai Weiwei recounts his childhood in exile, and his difficult decision to leave his family to study art in America, where he befriended Allen Ginsberg and was inspired by Andy Warhol. With candor and wit, he details his return to China and his rise from artistic unknown to art world superstar and international human rights activist—and how his work has been shaped by living under a totalitarian regime. Ai Weiwei&’s sculptures and installations have been viewed by millions around the globe, and his architectural achievements include helping to design the iconic Bird&’s Nest Olympic Stadium in Beijing. His political activism has long made him a target of the Chinese authorities, which culminated in months of secret detention without charge in 2011. Here, for the first time, Ai Weiwei explores the origins of his exceptional creativity and passionate political beliefs through his life story and that of his father, whose creativity was stifled. At once ambitious and intimate, Ai Weiwei&’s 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows offers a deep understanding of the myriad forces that have shaped modern China, and serves as a timely reminder of the urgent need to protect freedom of expression
Examines the role of FBI informant Gary Thomas Rowe Jr., who infiltrated the Alabama Klan and identified suspects in the…
1965 murder of civil rights activist Viola Liuzzo, a white woman from Detroit, while he participated in other race crimes. Criticizes the effectiveness of the FBI's reliance upon informants. 2005
Author of How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll (DB 71861) researches the origins of Mississippi Delta blues. Recaps the…
life of African American singer Robert Johnson (1911-1938) and his influence on white performers who revived the genre in the 1960s. Debunks stereotypes and myths surrounding the music. 2004
Cultural history of women in American law enforcement focuses on events that helped or hindered their progress toward equality. Uses…
archival documents and interviews to illuminate the expansion of women's roles from the 1840s, when matrons guarded prisoners, to the twenty-first century. Highlights incidents of workplace discrimination. Some violence. 2010
Baltimore director of cult films Pink Flamingos and Hairspray pens essays about the people he admires, including singers Johnny Mathis…
and Little Richard, writer Tennessee Williams, former Charles Manson groupie Leslie Van Houten, gay pornographers, and bar owners. Strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. Bestseller. 2010
Author of Religious Literacy (DB 64243) posits that religion is more than a private matter and affects the world socially,…
economically, politically, and militarily--as a force for both good and evil. Discusses the major religions, their traditions, and the importance of the differences among them. 2010
American diplomat and foreign correspondent uses overseas archives to document French fashion designer Coco Chanel's collaboration with the Nazis during…
World War II. Discusses Chanel's childhood; emergence on the social scene as a couture, perfume maker, and mistress of titled men; anti-Semitism; and involvement with the Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS). 2011
Biography of Dutch artist van Gogh (1853-1890) by the Pulitzer Prize-winning authors of Jackson Pollock (DB 33540). They use primary…
documents from the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam to analyze his family life, work, and death at age thirty-seven--and raise doubts that van Gogh killed himself. 2011
Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post journalist details the December 30, 2009, gathering in Khost, Afghanistan, of CIA and U.S. military officials…
and Pakistani and Afghani operatives to meet Jordanian pediatrician and spy Humam Khalil al-Balawi. Relates Balawi's subsequent suicide bombing, which killed himself and seven CIA personnel. 2011
Biography of American artist Chuck Close (born 1940), famous for his larger-than-life photo-imitative portraits. Close discusses his learning disabilities, his…
marriage to his former student Leslie Rose, the bohemian 1960s New York, the challenges of balancing career and family, his paralysis at age forty-eight, and his return to painting. 2010
Commentary from post-9/11 veterans collected from the Library of Congress Veterans History Project and supplemented by author interviews. Covers reasons…
for enlisting; dealing with combat, local populations, and contractors; and living with post-traumatic stress disorder and brain injury. Strong language and some violence. 2010
Two Philadelphia Daily News reporters chronicle their probe into corruption in the Philadelphia Police Department narcotics squad, for which they…
won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. Some strong language. 2014
Biography of Seattle photographer Edward Curtis (1868-1952), who in 1900 became enamored of Native American culture. Sponsored by J.P. Morgan,…
Theodore Roosevelt, and others, Curtis spent three decades living with different tribes, creating films, and producing the twenty-volume publication The North American Indian. Discusses Curtis's legacy. National Book Award. 2012
Biography of the graffiti artist known as Banksy details his early work in Bristol, England; the success of his Oscar-nominated…
film Exit through the Gift Shop; and his efforts to maintain his anonymity. Explores the culture of outsider art and Banksy's place in it. Young adult appeal. 2012
Author of The Lunar Men (DB 58797) presents a biography of Sarah Losh (1786-1853), who designed a uniquely decorated church…
in the village of Wreay, England, in 1842. Details her family history, her architectural and artisan endeavors, and the socioeconomic and cultural changes that influenced her. 2012
Grammy Award-winning gospel singer Cissy Houston recalls the life of her daughter, singer/actress Whitney (1963-2012). Discusses Whitney's career and family…
relationships, including her tumultuous marriage to fellow entertainer Bobby Brown. Speculates on Whitney's drug use and the pitfalls of fame. Foreword by Dionne Warwick. 2013
Winner of seventeen Grammy Awards, singer Bennett (born 1926) reminisces about growing up in New York City, his sixty years…
in the entertainment industry, and his friendships with musicians. Forward by Mitch Albom, author of The Time Keeper (DB 75616). 2012
Biography of painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610). Chronicles his formative years in Milan, time in Rome, exile to the…
island of Malta, and his death at the age of thirty-eight. Examines his preferred subjects of religious scenes using everyday models, including prostitutes and the poor. Some violence. 2010
Journalist recounts his 2008 search for the lost city of Ciudad Blanca in Central America. Discusses studying the 1940 expedition…
journals of American spy Theodore Morde, who claimed to have found the city. Compares Morde's journey with his own. Young adult appeal. 2013
Explores tensions between the African American community and the NYPD during the 1960s. Examines the murders of two white upper-East-Side…
women and the coerced confession of nineteen-year-old drifter George Whitmore Jr., corruption on the police force, and the roles played by leading activists. Violence and strong language. 2011