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July 1 - Canada Day
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CELA will be closed on Tuesday, July 1st for Canada Day. Our office will reopen and our Contact Centre services will resume on Wednesday, July 2nd. Enjoy your holiday!
Showing 1 - 20 of 18462 items
By Catherine Lacey. 2025
Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2025 by The New York Times, Vulture, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe,…
A.V. Club, Chicago Review of Books, OurCulture, and LitHubAdrift after a sudden breakup and its ensuing depression, the novelist Catherine Lacey began cataloguing the wreckage of her life and the beauty of her friendships, a practice that eventually propagated fiction both entirely imagined and strangely true. Betrayed by the mercurial partner she had trusted with a shared mortgage and suddenly catapulted into the unknown, Lacey’s appetite vanished, a visceral reminder of the teenage emaciation that came when she stopped believing in God. Through relationships, travel, reading, and memories of her religious fanaticism, Lacey charts the contours of faith’s absence and reemergence. She and her characters recall gnostic experiences with animals, close encounters with male anger, grief-driven lust, and the redemptive power of platonic love and of narrative itself. The result is a book of uncommon vulnerability and wisdom, and heartbreaking—and heart-mending—exploration of endings and beginnings. A hybrid work with no beginning or ending, readable from either side, The Möbius Book troubles the line between memory and fiction with an openhearted defense of faith’s power, and inherent danger.By Sara Kehaulani Goo. 2025
Set in one of the world’s most beautiful landscapes, Kuleana is the story of an award-winning journalist’s effort to hold…
on to her family’s ancestral Hawaiian lands—and find herself along the way.“A powerful story of land, belonging, loss, and survival that challenges us all to think about what we are responsible for.” —Rebecca Nagle, bestselling author of By the Fire We CarryFrom an early age, Sara Kehaulani Goo was enchanted by her family’s land in Hawai‘i. The vast area on the rugged shores of Maui’s east side—given by King Kamehameha III in 1848—extends from mountain to sea, encompassing ninety acres of lush, undeveloped rainforest jungle along the rocky coastline and a massive sixteenth-century temple with a mysterious past.When a property tax bill arrives with a 500 percent increase, Sara and her family members are forced to make a decision about the property: fight to keep the land or sell to the next offshore millionaire. When Sara returns to Maui from the mainland, she reconnects with her great-uncle Take and uncovers the story of how much land her family has already lost over generations, centuries-old artifacts from the temple, and the insidious displacement of Native Hawaiians by systemic forces.Part journalistic offering and part memoir, Kuleana interrogates deeper questions of identity, legacy, and what we owe to those who come before and after us. Sara’s breathtaking story of unexpected homecomings, familial hardship, and fierce devotion to ancestry creates a refreshingly new narrative about Hawai‘i, its native people, and their struggle to hold on to their land and culture today.By Stan Herman. 2023
In Uncross Your Legs: A Life in Fashion, learn the story behind the man whose vision, over 60 years, has…
dramatically helped forge and transform American style.On any given day, more people will be &“wearing&” Stan Herman than any other American fashion designer. As he continues to work and thrive in his 95th year, Herman is the most acclaimed uniform designer of our time. But that is just part of a life well-lived, and well-loved. In Uncross Your Legs: A Life in Fashion, Herman reflects on a remarkable life and career, from his childhood in Brooklyn, NY and Passaic, NJ, to WWII Army service in Europe, and back to NYC as a young freelance designer in the fashion hothouse of the Garment District. Next up, 16 years as head of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, where he was instrumental in bringing New York Fashion Week to Bryant Park – all the while continuing his thriving uniform and leisurewear design business. It&’s also a deeply moving and insightful memoir, following personal triumphs and tragedies, including his nearly 40 year relationship with novelist Gene Horowitz, who suffered a heart attack and passed away in 1992. Together they lived their lives in the shadow of the AIDS crisis that decimated their personal and professional worlds. They also shared a beloved poodle named &“Mozart,&” who helped fill the void when Herman found himself suddenly alone. With equal aplomb, Herman writes with good humor and compassion, recalling the cruel and casual racism he witnessed in the military, his focus on animal rights in the fashion industry – as well as encountering the indignities of one&’s aging anatomy. Learn the story behind the man whose vision, over 60 years, has dramatically helped forge and transform American style.By Maris Kreizman. 2025
A debut essay collection by the inimitable cultural critic Maris Kreizman—an introspective, searing account of the life experiences that have…
pushed this former “good Democrat” even further to the political leftAt the heart of this funny, acerbic, and bravely honest book of essays is Maris Kreizman, a former rule follower and ambition monster who once believed the following truths to be self-evident: that working very hard would lead to admission to a good college, which would lead to a good job at a good company, which would then lead to personal fulfillment and a sense of purpose, along with adequate health care and eventual home ownership and plenty of money waiting in a retirement account. Like any good Democrat and feminist, she believed that if she just worked hard and played by the rules, she was guaranteed a safe and comfortable life.Now in her forties, the only thing Maris Kreizman knows for sure is that she no longer has faith in American institutions or any of their hollow promises. Now she knows that the rules are meant to serve some folks better than others; and, actually, they serve no one all that well—not even Kreizman. Disturbed by the depth and scope of the liberal myths in which she once so fervently believed, Kreizman takes readers on an intimate journey that revisits some of her most profound revelations, demonstrating that it’s never too late to become radicalized.With Kreizman’s signature wit and blunt self-reflection, and more than a little transformative rage, I Want to Burn This Place Down is a book for anyone who wishes they could go back in time to give their younger selves the real truth about the fractured country they have inherited—and the encouragement to rebuild something better in its place.By Christopher Brown. 2024
An "instant classic", this genre-bending blend of naturalism, memoir, and social manifesto is a fascinating study for rewilding the city,…
the self, and society (Jeff VanderMeer, New York Times bestselling author). During the real estate crash of the late 2000s, Christopher Brown purchased an empty lot in an industrial section of Austin, Texas. The property—abandoned and full of litter and debris—was an unlikely site for a home. Brown had become fascinated with these empty lots around Austin, so-called &“ruined&” spaces once used for agriculture and industry awaiting their redevelopment. He discovered them to be teeming with natural activity, and embarked on a twenty-year project to live in and document such spaces. There, in our most damaged landscapes, he witnessed the remarkable resilience of wild nature, and how we can heal ourselves by healing the Earth. Beautifully written and philosophically hard-hitting, A Natural History of Empty Lots offers a new lens on human disruption and nature, offering a sense of hope among the edgelands. &“Brown lives far from any conventional battlefield, but he is surrounded by the wreckage of a different war, and he, too, finds hope in cultivating the ruins of nature…A Natural History of Empty Lots is less a departure from the nature writing tradition than a welcome addition to its edgelands.&” —New York Review of Books "The nature writing we need now." —Michelle Nijhuis, author of Beloved Beasts"Incredible" —Kelly Link, Pulitzer Prize finalistBy Dr Nicholas O'Connell. 2025
In Crush Nicholas O&’Connell provides a behind-the-scenes look at the daily operations of some of the world&’s most prestigious wineries…
on the West Coast. This insider&’s view of the wine world includes the intense competition for the best grapes, the bizarre lingo of the tasting rooms, and the visionary winemakers who magically transform grapes into high-end wine. It is a world that includes not only romance and refinement but long hours, backbreaking labor, mind-numbing repetition, and fanatical dedication to quality. Such devotion resulted in the 1973 Stag&’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet that won the best red wine at the 1976 Judgment of Paris and transformed the U.S. wine industry. O&’Connell&’s quest to master the art of wine making begins in his garage. From there he embarks on an apprenticeship at Betz and DeLille Cellar and other great wineries in California, Oregon, and Washington. He provides a first-person, ground-up view of a business not yet fully explored despite record interest in wine. O&’Connell also includes conversations with some of the world&’s most gifted vintners, including Warren Winiarski, former owner of Stag&’s Leap Wine Cellars. Wine is surrounded by a seemingly impenetrable cloud of descriptors—&“wet dog,&” &“kumquats,&” &“cat pee&”—and a fog of pretention. Crush pierces this fog with colorful, concrete storytelling, in-depth portraits of famous winemakers, and a lively, down-to-earth description of the process by which wine is made: not in the critic&’s mind but in the winery and vineyard.By Bobbito García. 2025
A Radio Hall of Famer and sneaker culture icon, Bobbito García is also a basketball sage who chronicles his unlikely…
experiences in and around the game as a Latino raised on hip-hop. BASKETBALL ON NEW YORK CITY’S 700+ OUTDOOR COURTS was bubbling during the seventies and eighties and coincided with the birth of hip-hop and sneaker culture. Bobbito García came of age during this era and caught an uncontrollable fever to be a ballplayer, witnessing firsthand the gumbo of sports, music, and fashion in the local parks. The game influenced his style, language, movement, creative thought, and, in a personal manner, his well-being. He couldn’t go anywhere without a ball in his hand, practice shorts under his pants, and kicks on his feet, ready for action at any point, any day (including his first job interview). In the 1990s, Bobbito became a world-famous hip-hop radio host as well as the progenitor of sneaker journalism, but his world never stopped revolving around living and breathing at every local court he could find. Simultaneously, the outdoor basketball aesthetic emerged as a force in the sports/entertainment/footwear industry, a catalyst to market authenticity when a brand wanted to garner street credibility. Bobbito stood firmly at this cross section of subcultures, not only as a historian, photographer, writer, filmmaker, and active participant, but as a curator of the shift itself. Advertising legend John Jay, former global creative director at Wieden+Kennedy, called García his “cultural DJ” after they collaborated on Nike’s groundbreaking “NYC City Attack” ad campaign. The lifestyle of the park pickup player, now exposed, went on to impact the world, and the ripple effect could even be seen on the hardwood floors of the NBA. In 2013, the New York Times referred to Bobbito as “an ardent ambassador for New York City street basketball.” This book is an intimate view into his life as a ballplayer, announcer, and performer. It doubles as a profound document for the unspoken folklore and history of the outdoor game, while speaking volumes to the roots of García’s favorite pastime—putting up jumpers and getting busy with the rock in his hands. In his words: Basketball is a religion. The park is my church . . .By Tiffany Jenkins. 2025
The bestselling author of High Achiever chronicles life after addiction—the raw, the dark, and the hilarious—from setting out with nothing…
but a backpack to discovering her marriage was built on a shakier foundation than she&’d ever imagined to staying sober when life fell apart.&“Tiffany Jenkins illustrates that recovery is not just about sobriety, but about learning to live and feel again. Her compelling story is a testament to the power of resilience, humor, and hope.&”—Sarah Levy, author of Drinking GamesA Clean Mess opens with the moment that changed everything. Tiffany is about to go on stage when she receives an odd message from her husband: &“Hey Babe, some of the guys here are making some stupid decisions. Not me. But I just wanted to let you know in case you heard it from some of the other wives.&” By the end of the night, Tiffany knew her life would never be the same.This wasn&’t the first time she had to start over. After the opioid addiction and jail sentence that she chronicled in her bestselling memoir, High Achiever, Tiffany was ready for a fresh start. A chance to try life again, this time without drugs coursing through her veins. In A Clean Mess, she takes us back to those early days of recovery, and the whirlwind that she entered the moment she was out of prison. In just two years, she went from inmate to married and sober mom of three. Told with humor and honesty, A Clean Mess is Tiffany Jenkins&’s story of how she learned to live and feel for the first time without numbing herself with drugs—and how she discovered inner reserves of strength she didn&’t know she had. From her tentative first days of sobriety, to seeing two pink lines on a pregnancy test weeks later, to navigating anxiety, a new marriage, and motherhood at the same time, to surviving betrayal and divorce, Jenkins shows how she got through it all when her crutches and Band-Aids were taken away from her. An inspiring memoir that reads like fiction, A Clean Mess is a book that will buoy anyone seeking a life raft in hard times.By Danny Trejo, Donal Logue. 2021
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER &“If you&’re a fan like I am this is definitely the book for you.&” —Pete…
Davidson, actor, producer, and cast member on Saturday Night Live &“Danny&’s incredible life story shows that even though we may fall down at some point in our lives, it&’s what we do when we stand back up that really counts.&” —Robert Rodriguez, creator of Spy Kids, Desperado, and Machete Discover the full, fascinating, and inspirational true story of Danny Trejo&’s journey from crime, prison, addiction, and loss—it&’s &“enough to make you believe in the possibility of a Hollywood ending&” (The New York Times Book Review).On screen, Danny Trejo the actor is a baddie who has been killed at least a hundred times. He&’s been shot, stabbed, hanged, chopped up, squished by an elevator, and once, was even melted into a bloody goo. Off screen, he&’s a hero beloved by recovery communities and obsessed fans alike. But the real Danny Trejo is much more complicated than the legend. Raised in an abusive home, Danny struggled with heroin addiction and stints in some of the country&’s most notorious state prisons—including San Quentin and Folsom—from an early age, before starring in such modern classics as Heat, From Dusk till Dawn, and Machete. Now, in this funny, painful, and suspenseful memoir, Danny takes us through the incredible ups and downs of his life, including meeting one of the world&’s most notorious serial killers in prison and working with legends like Charles Bronson and Robert De Niro. An honest, unflinching, and &“inspirational study in the definition of character&” (Kevin Smith, director and actor), Trejo reveals how he managed the horrors of prison, rebuilt himself after finding sobriety and spirituality in solitary confinement, and draws inspiration from the adrenaline-fueled robbing heists of his past for the film roles that made him a household name. He also shares the painful contradictions in his personal life. Although he speaks everywhere from prison yards to NPR about his past to inspire countless others on their own road to recovery and redemption, he struggles to help his children with their personal battles with addiction, and to build relationships that last. Redemptive and painful, poignant and real, Trejo is a portrait of a magnificent life and an unforgettable and exceptional journey.By Katy Tur. 2007
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER &“It&’s a hell of a story.&” —The New York Times &“A stunning and revelatory memoir.&”…
—Oprah Daily From MSNBC anchor and instant New York Times bestselling author Katy Tur, a shocking and deeply personal memoir about a life spent chasing the news.When a box from her mother showed up on Katy Tur&’s doorstep, months into the pandemic and just as she learned she was pregnant with her second child, she didn&’t know what to expect. The box contained thousands of hours of video—the work of her pioneering helicopter journalist parents. They grew rich and famous for their aerial coverage of Madonna and Sean Penn&’s secret wedding, the Reginald Denny beating in the 1992 Los Angeles riots, and O.J. Simpson&’s notorious run in the white Bronco. To Tur, these family videos were an inheritance of sorts, and a reminder of who she was before her own breakout success as a reporter. In Rough Draft, Tur writes about her eccentric and volatile California childhood, punctuated by forest fires, earthquakes, and police chases—all seen from a thousand feet in the air. She recounts her complicated relationship with a father who was magnetic, ambitious, and, at times, frightening. And she charts her own survival from local reporter to globe-trotting foreign correspondent, running from her past. Tur also opens up for the first time about her struggles with burnout and impostor syndrome, her stumbles in the anchor chair, and her relationship with CBS Mornings anchor Tony Dokoupil (who quite possibly had a crazier childhood than she did). Intimate and captivating, Rough Draft explores the gift and curse of family legacy, examines the roles and responsibilities of the news, and asks the question: To what extent do we each get to write our own story?By Stephanie Land. 2023
NATIONAL BESTSELLER A Good Morning America Book Club Pick A New York Times Most Anticipated Books of Fall From the…
New York Times bestselling author who inspired the hit Netflix series about a struggling mother barely making ends meet as a housecleaner, a &“raw and inspiring&” (People) memoir about college, motherhood, poverty, and life after Maid.When Stephanie Land set out to write her memoir Maid, she never could have imagined what was to come. Handpicked by President Barack Obama as one of the best books of 2019, he called it an &“unflinching look at America&’s class divide…and a reminder of the dignity of all work.&” Later, it was adapted into the hit Netflix series Maid, which was viewed by sixty-seven million households and was Netflix&’s fourth most-watched show in 2021, garnering three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Stephanie&’s escape out of poverty and abuse in search of a better life inspired millions. Maid was a story about a housecleaner, but it was also a story about a woman with a dream. In Class, Land takes us with her as she finishes college and pursues her writing career. Facing barriers at every turn including a byzantine loan system, food insecurity, the judgments of professors and fellow students who didn&’t understand the demands of attending college while under the poverty line—Land finds a way to survive once again, finally graduating in her mid-thirties. Class paints an intimate and heartbreaking portrait of motherhood as it converges and often conflicts with personal desire and professional ambition. Who has the right to create art? Who has the right to go to college? And what kind of work is valued in our culture? In clear, candid, and moving prose, Class grapples with these questions, offering a searing indictment of America&’s educational system and an inspiring testimony of a mother&’s triumph against all odds.Like many of us, Bob Miglani felt overwhelmed and anxious. He worried constantly about his job, his finances, and his…
family. It was a chance invitation to India, the land of his birth, that finally freed him. India, Miglani writes, is “the capital of chaos”: over a billion people living on one-third the space of the United States. And it was there that he learned to let go. The secret is to stop trying to control the chaos and focus on what you can control—your own actions, words, and thoughts. Move forward, make mistakes, trust your intuition, find your purpose. In this inspiring book, Miglani shares the experiences and encounters that helped him finally get it. What happens when you find yourself in an Indian village with no money and a plane to catch? How could an educated urban woman agree to a marriage after two dates? What keeps a rural health worker motivated despite the enormous need and such limited ability to help? What does trying to catch an insanely overcrowded bus teach you about perfection? Embracing the chaos, Miglani found, “leads us down paths we never would have walked on...It brings out strengths we never knew existed inside of us.”By Seth Adam Smith. 2014
Give Your Life to Live Your LifeIn this book, Seth Adam Smith expands on the philosophy behind his extraordinarily popular…
blog post "Marriage Isn't for You"—which received over 30 million hits and has been translated into over twenty languages—and shares how living for others can enrich every aspect of your life, just as it has his. With a mix of humor, candor, and compassion, he reveals how, years before his marriage, his self-obsession led to a downward spiral of addiction and depression, culminating in a suicide attempt at the age of twenty. Reflecting on the love and support he experienced in the aftermath, as well as on the lessons he learned from a difficult missionary stint in Russia, his time as a youth leader in the Arizona desert, his marriage, and even a story his father read to him as a child, he shares his deep conviction that the only way you can find your life is to give it away to others. Your Life Isn't For You was recently named the Gold Medalist for Inspirational Memoir in the 2015 Living Now Book Awards!By Daniel Seddiqui. 2011
Like lots of college grads, Daniel Seddiqui was having a hard time finding a job. But despite more than forty…
rejections, he knew opportunities had to exist. So he set out on an extraordinary quest: fifty jobs in fifty states in fifty weeks. And not just any jobs—he chose professions that reflected the culture and economy of each state. Working as everything from a cheesemaker in Wisconsin, a border patrol agent in Arizona, and a meatpacker in Kansas to a lobsterman in Maine, a surfing instructor in Hawaii, and a football coach in Alabama, Daniel chronicles how he adapted to the wildly differing people, cultures, and environments. From one week to the next he had no idea exactly what his duties would be, where he’d be sleeping, what he’d be eating, or how he’d be received. He became a roving news item, appearing on CNN, Fox News, World News Tonight, MSNBC, and the Today show—which was good preparation for his stint as a television weatherman. Tackling challenge after challenge—overcoming anxiety about working four miles underground in a West Virginia coal mine, learning to walk on six-foot stilts (in a full Egyptian king costume) at a Florida amusement park, racing the clock as a pit-crew member at an Indiana racetrack—Daniel completed his journey a changed man. In this book he shares stories about the people he met, reveals the lessons he learned, and explains the five principles that kept him going.Now in paperback and featuring an interview with Ben Stiller; a guided group tour to concentration camps allows Stahl to…
confront personal and historical demons with both deep despair and savage humorIN SEPTEMBER 2016, JERRY STAHL was feeling nervous on the eve of a two-week trip across Poland and Germany. But it was not just the stops at Auschwitz, Buchenwald, and Dachau that gave him anxiety. It was the fact that he would be traveling with two dozen strangers, by bus. In a tour group. And he was not a tour-group kind of guy.The decision to visit Holocaust-world did not come easy. Stahl’s lifelong depression at an all-time high, his career and personal life at an all-time low, he had the idea to go on a trip where the despair he was feeling—out-of-control sadness, regret, and fear, not just for himself, but for the entire United States—would be appropriate. And where was despair more appropriate than the land of the Six Million?Seamlessly weaving global and personal history, through the lens of Stahl’s own bent perspective, Nein, Nein, Nein! stands out as a triumph of strange-o reporting, a tale that takes us from gang polkas to tourrash to the truly disturbing snack bar at Auschwitz. Strap in for a raw, surreal, and redemptively hilarious trip. Get on the bus.By Jeff Porter. 2021
The second installment in Ann Hood’s Gracie Belle imprint challenges the traditional solemnity that characterizes nonfiction books of grief, loss,…
and sorrow.“Few readers will fail to be gripped by this tragically common story about death and what comes after for those left behind . . . A haunting and thought-provoking consideration of death and ‘how utterly it rips apart our lives.'” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred ReviewPlanet Claire is the story of the untimely death of the author’s wife and his candid account of the following year of madness and grief. As his life unravels, Porter analyzes his sadness with growing interest. He talks to Claire as if to evoke a presence, to mark a space for memory. He reports on his daily walks and shares observations of life’s sadness, while reminiscing about various moments in their life together. Like Orpheus, the author searches for a lost love, and what he finds is not the dog of doom but flashes of an intimate symmetry that brighten the darkest places of sorrow.The second title from Ann Hood’s Gracie Belle imprint, Planet Claire takes readers on a journey of sorrow that recalls memorable works by C.S. Lewis (A Grief Observed), Joan Didion (The Year of Magical Thinking), and Julian Barnes (Levels of Life). Porter’s memoir, however, is also playful, quirky, and self-ironic in a way that challenges the genre’s traditional solemnity. Like the novel Grief Is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter, this is an unpredictably funny account of heartbreak, as if to say there’s something about the magnitude of loss that troubles even earnestness.By Catharine H. Murray. 2018
This memoir — the first release on best-selling author Ann Hood’s Gracie Belle imprint — about the fathomless loss of a…
beloved child reveals how tragedy can transform us and make us more fully alive.“Murray’s lucid meditations and living-in-the-moment attitude — e.g., providing simple pleasures like a favorite food to a sick child — serve as useful reminders to all of us that life is precious and fleeting and must be enjoyed to the fullest. It’s a simple message but an important one. As much a eulogy to Chan as a testament to the joy of life, the book is a heartwarming tale of dealing with life-altering loss . . . A tender, love-filled story of how one woman dealt with the loss of a young child.” —Kirkus Reviews “An extraordinary memoir. Forthright, honest and haunting . . . Murray’s memoir is wise and enlightened.” —Portland Press HeraldNow You See the Sky is a memoir about love, motherhood, and loss. When Catharine H. Murray travels to a small town on the banks of the Mekong River to work at a refugee camp, she falls in love and marries a local man with whom she has three sons. When their middle son is diagnosed with cancer at age five, their pursuit of a cure takes them from Thailand to Seattle, before they eventually return to Thailand, settling on a remote mountaintop. Full of honesty and grace, Now You See the Sky — the debut selection in Ann Hood’s new Gracie Belle imprint — allows the reader to witness the fathomless loss of a child and learn how tragedy can transform us, expand our vision, and make us more fully alive.Now You See the Sky is the debut selection of Ann Hood’s new nonfiction imprint with Akashic, Gracie Belle. Modeled after her experience writing the memoir Comfort: A Journey Through Grief, and named after her daughter, Grace, Hood’s imprint reaffirms for authors and readers that none of us is alone in our journeys.By John Densmore. 2023
Legendary drummer and founding member of The Doors, John Densmore, unpacks the intersection of art and commerce in this deeply…
principled middle finger to greed "The Doors drummer Densmore rockets through his tumultuous six-year lawsuit against former bandmates Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger in this no-holds-barred account . . . Throughout, the author's initial question—at what point does money cheapen art's original message?—remains salient, even if he hammers it home a bit repetitively. Devoted fans will be eager to get their hands on this deep dive." —Publishers Weekly"Densmore's concerns about his band's legacy and its meaning in today's society are thought-provoking and worth pondering. Also impressive is his continued respect for his former bandmates' creativity and musicianship, despite the in-fighting, philosophical differences, and court battles. Not a typical rock memoir, but something more interesting to those who want to look past the hit songs and off-stage antics." —Kirkus Reviews"Part courtroom drama, part morality tale, The Doors Unhinged reminds us what happens when greed and deception get in the way of teamwork and the creative process." —BooklistIN THE DOORS UNHINGED, NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR and legendary Doors drummer John Densmore offers a powerful exploration of the "greed gene"—that part of the human psyche that propels us toward the accumulation of more and more wealth, even at the expense of our principles, friendships, and the well-being of society. This is the gripping account of the legal battle to control The Doors's artistic destiny. In it, Densmore looks at his conflict with his bandmates over the right to use The Doors's name, revealing the ways in which this struggle mirrors and reflects a much larger societal issue: that no amount of money seems to be enough for even the wealthiest people.The Doors continue to attract new generations of fans, with more than one hundred million albums sold worldwide and counting, and nearly twenty million followers to the band's social media accounts. As such, Densmore occupies a rarefied space in popular culture. He's beloved by artists across the decades for his fierce, uncompromising dedication to art. His writing consistently earns accolades and has appeared in a range of publications, such as the Los Angeles Times and Rolling Stone. As his friend and American novelist Tom Robbins recently said to him, "If you keep writing like this, I'll have to get a drum set."This is an incredibly timely and important volume in a contemporary world that is increasingly consumed by an insatiable profit motive. John Densmore has given us a blueprint for an approach to life and culture that is not driven by greed.By Victor Villasenor. 2004
Standing at the podium, Victor Villaseñor looked at the group of educators amassed before him, and his mind flooded with…
childhood memories of humiliation and abuse at the hands of his teachers. He became enraged. With a pounding heart, he began to speak of these incidents. When he was through, to his great disbelief he received a standing ovation. Many in the audience could not contain their own tears.So begins the passionate, touching memoir of Victor Villaseñor. Highly gifted and imaginative as a child, Villaseñor coped with an untreated learning disability (he was finally diagnosed, at the age of forty-four, with extreme dyslexia) and the frustration of growing up Latino in an English-only American school in the 1940s. Despite teachers who beat him because he could not speak English, Villaseñor clung to his dream of one day becoming a writer. He is now considered one of the premier writers of our time.By Stephen King. 2010
CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF WRITING with fresh testimonials from fellow writers about why they love Stephen King and On Writing—and…
a few new words on the joy of writing from King himself. *ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE&’S TOP 100 NONFICTION BOOKS OF ALL TIME* Immensely helpful and illuminating to any aspiring writer, this special edition of Stephen King&’s critically lauded, million-copy bestseller shares the experiences, habits, and convictions that have shaped him and his work. &“Long live the King&” hailed Entertainment Weekly upon publication of Stephen King&’s On Writing. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer&’s craft, comprising the basic tools of the trade every writer must have. King&’s advice is grounded in his vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer, from his struggling early career to his widely reported, near-fatal accident in 1999—and how the inextricable link between writing and living spurred his recovery. Brilliantly structured, friendly and inspiring, On Writing will empower and entertain everyone who reads it—fans, writers, and anyone who loves a great story well told.