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Biography and Memoir January 2021
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| The Last American Aristocrat: The Brilliant Life and Improbable Education of Henry Adams by David S. BrownWhat it is: a richly detailed portrait of historian and intellectual Henry Adams (1838-1918), a member of the Adams political family and author of the classic autobiography The Education of Henry Adams.
What sets it apart: David S. Brown's "critical profile" of his subject examines the imperialist attitudes of the Gilded Age gentry and addresses Adams' racist and anti-Semitic views.
Book buzz: The Last American Aristocrat was named a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice. |
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The adventurer's son : a memoir
by Roman Dial
An Alaska Pacific University scientist and National Geographic Explorer recounts his two-year effort to uncover the fate of his adventurer son, who in 2014 disappeared into the untracked rainforest of Corcovado National Park. 150,000 first printing. Illustrations.
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All boys aren't blue : a memoir-manifesto
by George M. Johnson
A first book by the prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist shares personal essays that chronicle his childhood, adolescence and college years as a Black queer youth, exploring subjects ranging from gender identity and toxic masculinity to structural marginalization and Black joy. Simultaneous eBook.
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| How to Make a Slave and Other Essays by Jerald WalkerWhat it is: a darkly humorous essay collection from Emerson College creative writing professor and Street Shadows author Jerald Walker.
Why you might like it: This wide-ranging National Book Award Finalist offers personal reflections on Black identity and culture, life in academia, parenting, disability, and more.
Try this next: For another incisive essay collection by a Black academic, read Kiese Laymon's How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America. |
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Spotlight on: Healthcare Professionals |
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| In Shock: My Journey from Death to Recovery and the Redemptive Power of Hope by Dr. Rana AwdishWhat it's about: how critical care physician Rana Awdish coped after an unknown illness hospitalized her seven months into her first pregnancy.
Is it for you? The author's heartwrenching account chronicles her miscarriage, near-death experiences, and the years it took to recover from her maladies.
What sets it apart: Awdish's patient experience prompted her to reflect on how physicians should be more empathetic while providing care. |
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Chasing my cure : a doctor's race to turn hope into action : a memoir
by David C. Fajgenbaum
An award-winning doctor and former college athlete recounts his battle with a rare health disorder that compelled his work with world-class scientists to find a cure, describing how he became a driven advocate for patients with under-researched diseases. Illustrations.
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The erratics
by Vicki Laveau-Harvie
"In this award-winning memoir, two sisters reckon with the convalescence and death of their outlandishly tyrannical mother and the care of their psychologically terrorized father, all relayed with dark humor and brutal honesty. When Vicki and her sister learn their mother has been hospitalized for a broken hip, they return to their parents' home in Alberta to put things back in order. Though their parents disowned them years before, the sisters now reassert themselves in the dysfunctional household: their father, undernourished and suffering from Stockholm syndrome, is unable to see that he is in danger from his outlandish and vindictive wife. Rearranging their lives to be the daughters they were never allowed to be, the sisters focus their efforts on helping their father cope with the unending manipulations of their mother, and must encounter all the characters common in the circus of caretaking--oddball nurses and home helpers; over-opinionated hospital staff who have fallen for their mother's compulsive lies--along with the pressures that come with caring for elderly loved (and sometimes unloved) ones. Set against the natural world of remotest Alberta ("in winter the cold will kill you, nothing personal"), this memoir--at once dark and hopeful--shatters precedents about grief, anger and family trauma with surprising tenderness and humor"
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In Pain: A Bioethicist's Personal Struggle with Opioids
by Travis Rieder
What it is: bioethicist and research scholar Travis Rieder's compelling memoir about the opioid addiction that led him to contemplate suicide after a gruesome motorcycle accident.
What sets it apart: The author's vocation gives him a unique perspective on this complicated issue and makes him "a convincing and effective advocate for opioid use reform" (Kirkus Reviews).
Is it for you? Rieder doesn't shy away from the details of his injuries or the withdrawals he experienced while in recovery.
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The real doctor will see you shortly : a physician's first year
by Matt McCarthy
A funny, candid memoir about the author's intern year at a New York hospital provides a frank look at how doctors are made, taking readers into the critical-care unit to see one burgeoning physician's journey from ineptitude to competence.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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