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Biography and MemoirNovember 2014
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''The reason you are so sore you missed the war is because war is the best subject of all. It groups the maximum of material and speeds up the action and brings out all sorts of stuff that normally you have to wait a lifetime to get.'' ~ Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), American author
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New and Recently Released!
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| Slow Dancing With a Stranger: Lost and Found in the Age of Alzheimer's by Meryl ComerIn this frank, often heart wrenching memoir, award-winning journalist Meryl Comer relates her oncologist husband's mental decline and subsequent diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease at the height of his career. She details how she gave up her own career to care for him through 20 difficult years and describes her advocacy for research about the disease and its diagnosis and treatment. Slow Dancing with a Stranger dramatically presents the disease's horrific personal reality and public health significance in a "poignant love story with a powerful message" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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| Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin DoughtyIn Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, mortician Caitlin Doughty offers an informative account of her lifelong interest in death, relating how her college major in medieval history prepared her to deal with the subject of mortality before she enthusiastically began work as a mortician's assistant in a large crematory. Describing some of the details of preparing corpses for burial or cremation while wittily depicting the natural processes of decomposition, Doughty also explores traditional attitudes and rituals that surround death. This "sincere, hilarious, and perhaps life-altering memoir" (Booklist) seeks to demystify death and promote understanding and acceptance of it. |
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| Foreign Correspondent: A Memoir by H.D.S. GreenwayBoston Globe columnist H.D.S. Greenway worked for 50 years as a foreign correspondent for several major news publications, covering wars from Vietnam to Afghanistan and a range of post-colonial struggles in between. In this engaging memoir, he recounts his early life and how he became a reporter, relates anecdotes about well known journalists and writers, and offers his opinions about foreign policy. His vivid depictions of combat zone experiences bring to life the wars he covered (especially in Vietnam) and provide readers with insight into the attraction of war reporting. Foreign Correspondent "snapshots a career of astounding scope and proportion" (Library Journal). |
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| Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh by John LahrTennessee Williams was a highly celebrated American playwright even during his lifetime, but the insightful characterizations that brought so much popular and critical acclaim grew out of his personal doubts, fears, addictions, and family tragedies. In this compelling biography, New Yorker drama critic John Lahr draws on voluminous resources to delineate the relationship between Williams' personal struggles and those of the characters he created. Whether you're interested in American dramatists, curious about Williams' life, or looking for a stunningly well written life story, be sure to pick up Tennessee Williams. |
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| My Life as a Foreign Country: A Memoir by Brian TurnerU.S. Army infantry veteran Brian Turner has previously portrayed his war experiences through poetry, published in Here, Bullet. In this vivid memoir, he employs poetic language to create a tapestry of vignettes that depict war from several perspectives and powerfully examine the many facets of warfare. From that variety, Turner derives both a sense of moral ambiguity and a profound understanding of how war irrevocably changes people. My Life as a Foreign Country offers a compelling meditation that may appeal to readers who appreciated Brian Castner's memoir The Long Walk or Phil Klay's short story collection, Redeployment. |
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Focus on: Military Life Stories
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| Bolívar: American Liberator by Marie AranaIn 1813, 200 years before the publication of this biography, Simón Bolívar began the military campaign that would eventually lead to the liberation of much of South America from Spanish rule. Bolívar isn't well known in North America, but his vision and military skill made him one of the most important figures in the history of the Western Hemisphere. This vivid and thoroughly researched biography explores his family background, his youth, and his career following independence to create a nuanced portrait of this complex man, viewed both as a dictatorial strongman and as a visionary leader. |
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| Battle Ready: Memoir of a SEAL Warrior Medic by Mark L. Donald with Scott MacTavishTraining to be a Navy SEAL offers one of the most difficult personal challenges anyone can undertake, but author Mark Donald not only qualified as a SEAL -- he also became a combat medic. In Battle Ready, Donald relates why he chose the Marines, his progress to medical service and battlefield experiences, and his subsequent struggles with PTSD and adjustment to civilian life. Though he was the first medical officer since Vietnam to receive the Navy Cross, he expresses ambivalence about both the demands of war and the value of military engagement in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is a thought-provoking examination of war and what it means to be a soldier. |
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| Code Talker by Chester Nez with Judith Schiess AvilaDuring World War II, Japanese codebreakers successfully cracked many of the Americans' encrypted communications -- until the U.S. Navy developed a code based on the Navajo language. Marines who were native speakers of Navajo safely transmitted and received messages about operations in the Pacific theater until the end of the war. In Code Talker, one of these Marines, Chester Nez, relates his life story, providing details of his traditional Navajo childhood and his reasons for enlisting, the fierce engagements on Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, and other locations, and his postwar life. This absorbing autobiography of a World War II veteran relates a "unique, inspiring story," according to Kirkus Reviews. |
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| Westmoreland: The General Who Lost Vietnam by Lewis SorleyGeneral William Westmoreland had a highly successful Army career that included combat service in World War II and Korea, command of the 101st Airborne Division, and Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy, closing his service with a period as Army Chief of Staff. Despite these impressive achievements, however, he's primarily remembered for the American loss in Vietnam. In this detailed biography, author Lewis Sorley begins by asserting, "unless and until we understand William Childs Westmoreland, we will never understand fully what happened to us in Vietnam, or why," and argues that Westmoreland's failed strategies led to the U.S. defeat. For a more sympathetic view of the general, read Gregory Daddis' Westmoreland's War. |
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| Love My Rifle More Than You: Young and Female in the U.S. Army by Kayla WilliamsFemale soldiers make up a significant minority of American military personnel today, and in Love My Rifle More Than You, Iraq War veteran Kayla Williams provides an unreserved, gritty, and revealing account of women soldiers' lives. Williams describes her five years in uniform, including her decision to enlist, her experience as an Arabic interpreter in Iraq, and how she was viewed (both positively and negatively) by her fellow soldiers. Williams' language is rough, macho, and profane, and some of the situations she describes are shocking. Read this vivid memoir for a realistic -- and perhaps unexpected -- view of the contemporary military experience. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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