|
Biography and Memoir November 2017
|
|
|
|
| Ali: A Life by Jonathan EigIn this balanced biography of boxer Muhammad Ali, author Jonathan Eig relates Ali's family background, the complexities of his status as a celebrity, and his later life, in addition to his boxing career. Ali places political and personal controversies in the context of the 1960s and draws on previously unavailable resources to correct the record in some instances. For another well-researched and compelling study of Ali, take a look at David Remnick's King of the World. |
|
| Cuz: The Life and Times of Michael A. by Danielle AllenHarvard University professor Danielle Allen had a much-loved younger cousin, Michael, who drifted into petty criminal activities that escalated until he was convicted of a felony at age 15; while rebuilding his life after 11 years of imprisonment, he was murdered. In Cuz, Allen chronicles Michael's life and death while criticizing the American criminal justice system. This heartwrenching memoir starkly contrasts Michael's life with Allen's relatively privileged one and offers details about how society fails young African American men. For additional memoirs that delve into these issues, try Jesmyn Ward's Men We Reaped and Lezley McSpadden's Tell the Truth & Shame the Devil. |
|
| A Disappearance in Damascus: Friendship and Survival in the Shadow of War by Deborah CampbellCanadian journalist Deborah Campbell began working undercover in Syria in 2007, reporting on Iraqi refugees. She became friends with Ahlam, an Iraqi woman who did humanitarian work and (at risk to her own safety) provided information to foreign reporters. After they had worked together for several years, Ahlam was arrested, and Campbell embarked on a dangerous and frustrating search for her. Vividly describing conditions in Syria, from the refugee camps to the jails, this award-winning, emotionally intense memoir may appeal to those who appreciated David Rhode and Kristen Mulvihill's A Rope and a Prayer or Amanda Lindhout's A House in the Sky. |
|
| Real American: A Memoir by Julie Lythcott-HaimsIn this absorbing, moving, and candid memoir, bestselling author Julie Lythcott-Haims recounts her upbringing as a biracial child in 1970s America. Pulling no punches, she recounts the effects of racism on her psyche during her childhood and teen years, as well as the issues she faced in bringing up "quadroon" children with her Jewish husband. Her gradual understanding of the world as complex rather than starkly black and white leads to her self-acceptance, as well as making her determined to help Americans address racism more forthrightly. |
|
Focus on: Science and Medicine
|
|
|
Journalist Allen shares the virtually unknown story of how two Polish scientists worked for the Nazis during WWII and used their positions to simultaneously conduct important medical research and save Jews from the Holocaust. Rudolf Weigl, who in the 1930s developed the first true vaccine against typhus, was put to work by the Nazis producing the vaccine and conducting research to improve it. Ludwik Fleck, a Jewish assistant to Weigl, was forced to conduct similar work for the Nazis from within the concentration camp system. Weigl smuggled typhus vaccines into the Jewish ghettos and used his institute to shield important Polish resistance fighters and intellectuals from the Gestapo. Meanwhile, Fleck used his status as a medical researcher to get the Nazis to protect his Jewish medical team from persecution inside the Buchenwald concentration camp as he produced bogus results for his Nazi supervisors. Both men were able to continue their research as they assisted those actively fighting the Nazis and survived the occupation of Poland. Allen delivers a captivating story of ethics during wartime and the perils of working with the enemy. -Publishers Weekly
|
|
|
On a Farther Shore: The Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson
by William Souder
In 1962, marine biologist and conservationist Rachel Carson published what would become her magnum opus, Silent Spring. Already a bestselling author, Carson reached her biggest audience yet through her meticulously researched yet accessible discussion of environmental issues -- especially those caused by synthetic pesticides. This "expansive, nuanced" (Publishers Weekly) biography of Carson examines not only her career and the impact of her work on public policy, but also her carefully guarded private life -- which she struggled to protect in the face of both unexpected celebrity and opposition from the chemical industry. For a fascinating glimpse at the life of a woman scientist whose ideas proved prescient -- and remain largely relevant today -- don't miss this book.
|
|
| The Secret Lives of Bats: My Adventures with the World's Most Misunderstood Mammals by Merlin TuttleAt age 17, ecologist Merlin Tuttle became fascinated by bats that lived in a local cave. In this engaging memoir, he relates his subsequent lifetime of studying these much-misunderstood, oft-maligned creatures. Explaining how he tracks their social relationships and their contributions to sustainable ecology, he recounts his unnerving adventures while observing and photographing them. Both bat-fans and the bat-averse will find The Secret Lives of Bats informative and compelling. |
|
|
A Warrior of the People: How Susan La Flesche Overcame Racial and Gender Inequality to Become America's First Indian Doctor by Joe StaritaStarita opens his thoroughly researched biography of the first Native American doctor in January 1892, as La Flesche began living her dream of caring for 1,244 members of her Omaha band living on 1,350 square miles of northeast Nebraska. Raised by a father who stressed education as the key value to adopt from the white man, La Flesche and her sister attended a private girls' school in New Jersey; then, in 1884, they enrolled in Hampton School in Virginia, where one-sixth of the school population were Native Americans from 19 different tribes. With the aid of a scholarship, La Flesche enrolled in the Medical College of Pennsylvania, and in 1889, she graduated first in her class. But as Starita points out, it would be 31 years before she could vote and 35 years before she and other Native Americans could become U.S. citizens. Besides serving as the sole doctor for her tribe, La Flesche undertook religious and educational projects. Starita's biography of this remarkable woman is both heartening and enlightening. -Booklist
|
|
Contact Reference at 847-720-3230 for more great titles! |
|
|
|
|
|