| Dadland by Keggie CarewAuthor Keggie Carew grew up knowing her father, Tom, as a brilliant, unconventional man who failed to keep his family in the style his first wife expected. Until he began showing symptoms of dementia, Keggie knew nothing of her father's World War II experiences as a Jedburgh -- a skilled guerilla who parachuted behind the lines in Burma and France. After she accompanied him to a Jedburgh reunion, she started piecing together his earlier life, discovering his wartime exploits and the reasons he struggled to achieve normality after the war. Dadland provides a "tender evocation of an extraordinary life" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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Letterman : the last giant of late night by Jason ZinomanA definitive account of the life and career of comedic talk show host David Letterman evaluates how his ironic style transcended traditional television and how his remote and reclusive personality contrasts with his widely misunderstood achievements.
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Imagine wanting only this
by Kristen Radtke
"A gorgeous graphic memoir about loss, love, and confronting grief. When Kristen Radtke was in college, the sudden death of a beloved uncle and, not long after his funeral, the sight of an abandoned mining town marked the beginning moments of a lifelong fascination with ruins and with people and places left behind. Over time, this fascination deepened until it triggered a journey around the world in search of ruined places. Now, in this genre-smashing graphic memoir, she leads us through deserted towns in the American Midwest, Italian villas, islands in the Philippines, New York City, and the delicate passageways of the human heart. At once narrative and factual, historical and personal, Radtke's stunning illustrations and piercing text never shy away from the big questions: why are we here, and what will we leave behind?"
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| Grace Notes: My Recollections by Katey SagalBest known for her role as Peggy Bundy on television's Married...with Children, Katey Sagal has experienced a varied career in show business as a singer-songwriter and actress. In Grace Notes, she chronicles her life in conversational vignettes about growing up, her relationships with her parents (both of whom died young), her own illness with cancer, her addictions, and her friends and family. This book is for readers who appreciate insightful memoirs about the authors' lives, as well as for Sagal's fans. For another reflective autobiography that omits superficial gossip, check out Linda Ronstadt's Simple Dreams. |
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Focus on: Athletes and Competitors
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| Imperfect: An Improbable Life by Jim Abbott and Tim BrownMajor League Baseball star Jim Abbott was born with no right hand, but became one of the most celebrated pitchers in the game. In Imperfect, Abbott reflects on his life, which has included starring for the University of Michigan, pitching for the gold medal-winning U.S. team in the 1988 Olympics, and going straight to a Major League team without first playing in the Minors. This modest and candid account provides not just Abbot's record of growing up with a disability, but an absorbing baseball autobiography that will also appeal to general biography fans. |
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| When the Game Was Ours by Larry Bird and Earvin Magic Johnson with Jackie McMullanBasketball greats Larry Bird and Magic Johnson first played together in a 1978 college all-star game, where they learned that their different playing styles and personalities produced equally stunning results. Fans (if they're old enough) still remember the 1979 NCAA championship game featuring the methodical blond from Indiana State and the flashy African American from Michigan State -- but that was only a prelude to their spectacular NBA performances with the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers, respectively. As 1980s NBA stars, they were credited with restoring the popularity of professional basketball. Hoops fans and sports biography lovers will find their joint memoir a "captivating look" (Kirkus Reviews) at their lives and careers. |
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Casey Stengel : baseball's greatest character
by Marty Appel
A biography of the only baseball player in history to play for all the New York Teams describes how he went on to revolutionize the role of manager and won 10 pennants and seven World Series with the Yankees.
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| Pin Action: Small-Time Gangsters, High-Stakes Gambling, and the Teenage Hustler Who... by Gianmarc ManzioneFew people pay attention to professional bowling, and even fewer know about the 1960s and '70s phenomenon of action bowling, where teenaged bowling hustlers could make big bucks...as long as they didn't run afoul of the Mob. In Pin Action, Gianmarc Manzione brings action bowling to life and vividly depicts Ernie Schlegel, a former hustler who succeeded in the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). Profiling other colorful bowlers (such as Joe the Kangaroo and Bernie Bananas), gangsters, and gamblers, Manzione weaves a gritty and absorbing tale of a nearly forgotten sport and one of its most fascinating practitioners. |
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| Find a Way by Diana NyadDistance swimmer Diana Nyad (who had already swum 28 miles around Manhattan) tried in 1978 to swim between Florida and Cuba, failing on that occasion and (years later) on three more. Her initial attempts at the Cuba-Florida transit were stymied by weather, dehydration, hypothermia, asthma, and jellyfish. In Find a Way, Nyad recounts her life, details her training methods, and explains her strategy for long open-water swims. At age 64, on August 31, 2013, she set out again from Havana, completing the crossing to Key West in 53 hours. This absorbing sports memoir offers a "gripping example of the strength of the human spirit" (Library Journal). |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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