Title search results
Showing 1 - 20 of 14596 items
Memoir by the author of The Madonnas of Echo Park (DB 71696). Describes being raised as an American Indian by…
his single mother in Echo Park, California, in the 1970s and 1980s and discovering at the age of twelve or thirteen that he was really Mexican. Strong language. 2014
Explores the last twenty-seven years of the life of writer Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) and describes the solace that he found…
aboard his fishing boat Pilar, which he obtained in 1934. Discusses both Hemingway's literary career and his family, including his cross-dressing youngest son Gregory. Some strong language. 2011
Author recounts spending the summer of 2008 in mission control of the Phoenix Mars expedition with one hundred thirty scientists…
and engineers. Describes the team's discovery of ice on Mars, discusses the possibility of life on the planet, and addresses conspiracy stories about the mission's findings. 2011
Essayist explores the life and work of George Orwell (1903-1950), best known as the author of 1984 and Animal Farm.…
Discusses Orwell's political beliefs and the ways they were shaped by the times in which he lived. Challenges Orwell's critics and argues that his ideas remain relevant. 2002
Children's book author/illustrator describes suffering from a brain injury received in a 1999 car accident when she was forty; reuniting…
with her mother, a homeless schizophrenic, in 2006 after a seventeen-year separation; and discovering a storage room filled with family memorabilia. Nat'l Book Critics Circle Award. 2011
Detailed account of college intern Thad Roberts's theft of moon rocks from NASA in 2002 and the FBI sting that…
snared him. Describes Roberts's sheltered upbringing, his estrangement from his parents, and his romance with a coworker that motivated the heist. Some strong language. 2011
Compilation of personal stories and essays written by teens--gay and straight--describes their conflicts with the homosexual identity, attempts to establish…
relationships, and struggles for acceptance. For senior high and older readers. 2009
Focuses on the early life of American playwright Arthur Miller (d. 2005), exploring the forces that shaped him and ideas…
he grappled with in his writing. Examines Miller's marriage to Marilyn Monroe and analyzes his principal works, including Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, and the film The Misfits. 2009
Columbia history professor places the life of playwright and memoirist Hellman (1905-1984) in the context of twentieth-century upheavals. Chronicles her…
Jewish family's southern background and Hellman's own New York upbringing, marriage, and affairs. Discusses her personality, friends, and political and social beliefs. 2012
Theoretical physicist and author of From Eternity to Here (DB 71474) explains the research involved in and the potential impact…
of the 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson, also known as the God particle, that gives particles their mass. Details the role of engineers, theorists, and experimentalists. 2012
Acclaimed British novelist chronicles his 1842 trip to the United States and offers observations about North American society. Includes Dickens's…
celebrated visit with Laura Bridgman at the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind. Introduction and notes by Patricia Ingham. 2004
Collection of essays by Lisa Scottoline, author of Come Home (DB 74517), and her daughter Francesca Serritella, previously published in…
The Philadelphia Inquirer. Topics include Serritella's moving to New York City to live on her own and Scottoline's subsequent empty-nest lifestyle in the Philadelphia suburbs. 2012
English professor examines the life of Henry James, focusing on the period during which the author wrote The Portrait of…
a Lady (DB 51264). Examines James's previous literary successes, his travels through Europe, and the Victorian culture in which he lived. 2012
Chemistry professor and Sherlock Holmes scholar O'Brien analyzes the ways the fictional detective relied on forensic science to solve crimes.…
Details Holmes's use of handwriting analysis, cryptology, and--two years before police did--fingerprinting. Traces the development of these techniques and their application in actual cases. 2013
Journalist explores the rivalry between financier Henry Graves Jr. and automobile magnate James Ward Packard to build and own the…
most remarkable watch in history. Graves and Packard spurred Swiss watchmaker Patek Phillipe to manufacture the Graves Supercomplication--the most complex mechanical watch ever created. Details early-twentieth-century watchmaking techniques. 2013
A man travels to the depths of Hell with the Roman poet Virgil as his guide. This version of Dante's…
fourteenth-century poem incorporates references to modern cultural touchstones such as Bob Dylan, Sigmund Freud, and Eric Cartman from the television show South Park. Translated from Italian. Some strong language. 2012
Twenty essays by popular authors on the reasons behind their pursuit of writing. Sue Grafton, author of A is for…
Alibi (DB 35069), ruminates on the source of "writer's block" and David Baldacci discusses his compulsion for writing. Also includes Isabel Allende, Jodi Picoult, and others. 2013
Biography of Georgette Heyer (1902-1974), the author primarily known for Regency-era romances--including Devil's Cub (DB 59285) and Faro's Daughter (DB…
67512)--as well as historical novels and mysteries. Details her relationship with her parents, traveling adventures, and writing career. Includes lists of her novels and short stories. 2011
Collection of letters exchanged between J.M. Coetzee, Nobel Prize winner for literature, and Paul Auster, author of Winter Journal (DB…
75501), begun in July 2008, shortly after they met. Coetzee and Auster discuss the nature of friendship, cultural taboos, and books they have read, among other topics. 2013
Autobiography of the author of Empire of the Sun (DB 22409). Describes his youth in Shanghai, incarceration in a Japanese…
prison camp, and later life in England. Includes introduction by China Mieville, author of The City and the City (DB 72153). 2008