Author: Alan Sharavsky
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 265
Book Description
"Alan Sharavsky's 'Boarding School Bastard' is a 'Me Too' manifesto from a male perspective. Writing in crisp prose, laced with humor, Sharavsky immerses a reader in the travails of childhood and adolescence. But his is not an ordinary coming of age story." -- Annette Libeskind Berkovits, Author of 'In the Unlikeliest of Places' and 'Confessions of an Accidental Zoo Curator'"Sharavsky has dug deep for this gripping and emotional memoir, exposing a childhood sure to leave as big a mark on the reader as it did on the writer. Unforgettable."-- Jon Clinch, Author of 'Finn', 'Marley' and 'Kings of the Earth'A deaf widow leaves her eight-year-old son, Alan, at an orphanage, hoping he'll find a better life than she can provide on a sweatshop paycheck. She dreams that Girard College, a boarding school for fatherless boys, will be his Camelot. What she doesn't know is that child abuse, anti-Semitism, pedophilia, and bullying await him. And Alan doesn't know whether his mother is ever coming back, or if he'll have to run away.'Boarding School Bastard' is the moving memoir of a frightening yet fascinating childhood, spent in a historic Philadelphia orphanage from 1962 to 1970.Leavening tragedy with humor and humanity, Boarding School Bastard reveals a world we'd prefer to avoid but is too riveting to ignore. To experience how hope and friendship triumph over grief, abuse and fear, this stunning debut is essential reading."While aspects are reminiscent of Oliver Twist, especially the deliberate cruelties inflicted by many of the adults on those in their care, Sharavsky's story is also a testament to the resilience of children who travel through painful events. Touching, and at times, humorous, this memoir will linger long in the reader's mind."-- Nancy Christie, Author of 'Traveling Left of Center and Other Stories' and 'The Gifts of Change'"I was rooting for the pint-sized protagonist from the first page, gripped and fearing for him by the 10th. This modern-day Oliver struggles to find his way in a well-intentioned but troubled institution, founded at a time when 'orphan' equaled 'fatherless,' ."-- Valerie, M. Jones, CEO, Speaker and Author of 'Non-Profit Hero' "Sharavsky's experiences, as depicted in this moving book, provide an important lens into the loneliness and fear felt by children who feel vulnerable and unprotected. Boarding School Bastard eloquently portrays the trauma experienced by victims and witnesses to child abuse."-- Debra Schilling Wolfe, MEd, Executive Director, University of Pennsylvania Center for Children's Policy"This memoir is a brilliant exploration of our humanity through the eyes of a powerless boy and his lonely life, illustrating how he coped with brutal, institutional guardians. His inspiring story of resilience demonstrates how creative adaptation and sheer will can overcome emotional deprivation. A tour de force."-- Bruce J. Levin, MD, Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst"Sharavsky pulls off the remarkable feat of drawing us into a page-turner while sharing the true story of his abused yet fascinating childhood. This powerful book provides necessary insights for people who have not experienced child abuse, abandonment, and anti-Semitism, while bearing witness for those who have."--Liz Dow, CEO, Leadership Philadelphia
Boarding School Bastard. a Memoir
Author: Alan Sharavsky
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 265
Book Description
"Alan Sharavsky's 'Boarding School Bastard' is a 'Me Too' manifesto from a male perspective. Writing in crisp prose, laced with humor, Sharavsky immerses a reader in the travails of childhood and adolescence. But his is not an ordinary coming of age story." -- Annette Libeskind Berkovits, Author of 'In the Unlikeliest of Places' and 'Confessions of an Accidental Zoo Curator'"Sharavsky has dug deep for this gripping and emotional memoir, exposing a childhood sure to leave as big a mark on the reader as it did on the writer. Unforgettable."-- Jon Clinch, Author of 'Finn', 'Marley' and 'Kings of the Earth'A deaf widow leaves her eight-year-old son, Alan, at an orphanage, hoping he'll find a better life than she can provide on a sweatshop paycheck. She dreams that Girard College, a boarding school for fatherless boys, will be his Camelot. What she doesn't know is that child abuse, anti-Semitism, pedophilia, and bullying await him. And Alan doesn't know whether his mother is ever coming back, or if he'll have to run away.'Boarding School Bastard' is the moving memoir of a frightening yet fascinating childhood, spent in a historic Philadelphia orphanage from 1962 to 1970.Leavening tragedy with humor and humanity, Boarding School Bastard reveals a world we'd prefer to avoid but is too riveting to ignore. To experience how hope and friendship triumph over grief, abuse and fear, this stunning debut is essential reading."While aspects are reminiscent of Oliver Twist, especially the deliberate cruelties inflicted by many of the adults on those in their care, Sharavsky's story is also a testament to the resilience of children who travel through painful events. Touching, and at times, humorous, this memoir will linger long in the reader's mind."-- Nancy Christie, Author of 'Traveling Left of Center and Other Stories' and 'The Gifts of Change'"I was rooting for the pint-sized protagonist from the first page, gripped and fearing for him by the 10th. This modern-day Oliver struggles to find his way in a well-intentioned but troubled institution, founded at a time when 'orphan' equaled 'fatherless,' ."-- Valerie, M. Jones, CEO, Speaker and Author of 'Non-Profit Hero' "Sharavsky's experiences, as depicted in this moving book, provide an important lens into the loneliness and fear felt by children who feel vulnerable and unprotected. Boarding School Bastard eloquently portrays the trauma experienced by victims and witnesses to child abuse."-- Debra Schilling Wolfe, MEd, Executive Director, University of Pennsylvania Center for Children's Policy"This memoir is a brilliant exploration of our humanity through the eyes of a powerless boy and his lonely life, illustrating how he coped with brutal, institutional guardians. His inspiring story of resilience demonstrates how creative adaptation and sheer will can overcome emotional deprivation. A tour de force."-- Bruce J. Levin, MD, Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst"Sharavsky pulls off the remarkable feat of drawing us into a page-turner while sharing the true story of his abused yet fascinating childhood. This powerful book provides necessary insights for people who have not experienced child abuse, abandonment, and anti-Semitism, while bearing witness for those who have."--Liz Dow, CEO, Leadership Philadelphia
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 265
Book Description
"Alan Sharavsky's 'Boarding School Bastard' is a 'Me Too' manifesto from a male perspective. Writing in crisp prose, laced with humor, Sharavsky immerses a reader in the travails of childhood and adolescence. But his is not an ordinary coming of age story." -- Annette Libeskind Berkovits, Author of 'In the Unlikeliest of Places' and 'Confessions of an Accidental Zoo Curator'"Sharavsky has dug deep for this gripping and emotional memoir, exposing a childhood sure to leave as big a mark on the reader as it did on the writer. Unforgettable."-- Jon Clinch, Author of 'Finn', 'Marley' and 'Kings of the Earth'A deaf widow leaves her eight-year-old son, Alan, at an orphanage, hoping he'll find a better life than she can provide on a sweatshop paycheck. She dreams that Girard College, a boarding school for fatherless boys, will be his Camelot. What she doesn't know is that child abuse, anti-Semitism, pedophilia, and bullying await him. And Alan doesn't know whether his mother is ever coming back, or if he'll have to run away.'Boarding School Bastard' is the moving memoir of a frightening yet fascinating childhood, spent in a historic Philadelphia orphanage from 1962 to 1970.Leavening tragedy with humor and humanity, Boarding School Bastard reveals a world we'd prefer to avoid but is too riveting to ignore. To experience how hope and friendship triumph over grief, abuse and fear, this stunning debut is essential reading."While aspects are reminiscent of Oliver Twist, especially the deliberate cruelties inflicted by many of the adults on those in their care, Sharavsky's story is also a testament to the resilience of children who travel through painful events. Touching, and at times, humorous, this memoir will linger long in the reader's mind."-- Nancy Christie, Author of 'Traveling Left of Center and Other Stories' and 'The Gifts of Change'"I was rooting for the pint-sized protagonist from the first page, gripped and fearing for him by the 10th. This modern-day Oliver struggles to find his way in a well-intentioned but troubled institution, founded at a time when 'orphan' equaled 'fatherless,' ."-- Valerie, M. Jones, CEO, Speaker and Author of 'Non-Profit Hero' "Sharavsky's experiences, as depicted in this moving book, provide an important lens into the loneliness and fear felt by children who feel vulnerable and unprotected. Boarding School Bastard eloquently portrays the trauma experienced by victims and witnesses to child abuse."-- Debra Schilling Wolfe, MEd, Executive Director, University of Pennsylvania Center for Children's Policy"This memoir is a brilliant exploration of our humanity through the eyes of a powerless boy and his lonely life, illustrating how he coped with brutal, institutional guardians. His inspiring story of resilience demonstrates how creative adaptation and sheer will can overcome emotional deprivation. A tour de force."-- Bruce J. Levin, MD, Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst"Sharavsky pulls off the remarkable feat of drawing us into a page-turner while sharing the true story of his abused yet fascinating childhood. This powerful book provides necessary insights for people who have not experienced child abuse, abandonment, and anti-Semitism, while bearing witness for those who have."--Liz Dow, CEO, Leadership Philadelphia
We Used to Own the Bronx
Author: Eve Pell
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 1438424973
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 277
Book Description
An inside story of privilege, inherited wealth, and the bizarre values and customs of the American upper crust.
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 1438424973
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 277
Book Description
An inside story of privilege, inherited wealth, and the bizarre values and customs of the American upper crust.
Jesus Land
Author: Julia Scheeres
Publisher: Catapult
ISBN: 161902134X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 263
Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER: An “exquisitely wrought memoir” about how “love can flourish even in the harshest climates”—for readers of The Liar’s Club and Running with Scissors (People). “One of the best memoirs in years” (Anne Lamott): A poignant account of two siblings—one white, one Black—growing up in the Christian fundamentalist communities of Indiana and the Dominican Republic. Julia and her adopted brother, David, are 16 years old. Julia is white. David is black. It is the mid–1980s and their family has just moved to rural Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees, trailer parks, and an all–encompassing racism. At home are a distant mother—more involved with her church’s missionaries than her own children—and a violent father. In this riveting and heartrending memoir, Julia Scheeres takes us from the Midwest to a place beyond imagining. Surrounded by natural beauty, Escuela Caribe—a religious reform school in the Dominican Republic—is characterized by a disciplinary regime that extracts repentance from its students by any means necessary. Julia and David strive to make it through these ordeals and their tale is relayed here with startling immediacy, extreme candor, and wry humor. Over a decade after its first publication, Jesus Land remains deeply resonant with readers. This New York Times bestselling memoir is a gripping tale of rage and redemption, hope and humor, morality and malice—and most of all, the truth: that being a good person takes more than just going to church.
Publisher: Catapult
ISBN: 161902134X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 263
Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER: An “exquisitely wrought memoir” about how “love can flourish even in the harshest climates”—for readers of The Liar’s Club and Running with Scissors (People). “One of the best memoirs in years” (Anne Lamott): A poignant account of two siblings—one white, one Black—growing up in the Christian fundamentalist communities of Indiana and the Dominican Republic. Julia and her adopted brother, David, are 16 years old. Julia is white. David is black. It is the mid–1980s and their family has just moved to rural Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees, trailer parks, and an all–encompassing racism. At home are a distant mother—more involved with her church’s missionaries than her own children—and a violent father. In this riveting and heartrending memoir, Julia Scheeres takes us from the Midwest to a place beyond imagining. Surrounded by natural beauty, Escuela Caribe—a religious reform school in the Dominican Republic—is characterized by a disciplinary regime that extracts repentance from its students by any means necessary. Julia and David strive to make it through these ordeals and their tale is relayed here with startling immediacy, extreme candor, and wry humor. Over a decade after its first publication, Jesus Land remains deeply resonant with readers. This New York Times bestselling memoir is a gripping tale of rage and redemption, hope and humor, morality and malice—and most of all, the truth: that being a good person takes more than just going to church.
Body Counts
Author: Sean Strub
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451661959
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 432
Book Description
Sean Strub arrived in Washington, D.C. in 1976 harbouring a terrifying secret: his attraction to men. As Strub explored the capital's political and social circles, he discovered a parallel world where powerful men lived double lives shrouded in shame. When the AIDS epidemic hit in the early '80s, Strub turned to activism to combat discrimination and demand research. Strub takes readers through his own diagnosis and inside ACT UP, the activist organisation that transformed a stigmatised cause into one of the defining political movements of our time.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451661959
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 432
Book Description
Sean Strub arrived in Washington, D.C. in 1976 harbouring a terrifying secret: his attraction to men. As Strub explored the capital's political and social circles, he discovered a parallel world where powerful men lived double lives shrouded in shame. When the AIDS epidemic hit in the early '80s, Strub turned to activism to combat discrimination and demand research. Strub takes readers through his own diagnosis and inside ACT UP, the activist organisation that transformed a stigmatised cause into one of the defining political movements of our time.
Teardown
Author: Gordon Young
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520377540
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 314
Book Description
"After living in San Francisco for fifteen years, journalist Gordon Young found himself yearning for his Rust Belt hometown: Flint, Michigan, the birthplace of General Motors and the “star” of the Michael Moore documentary Roger & Me. Hoping to rediscover and help a place that had once boasted one of the world’s highest per capita income levels but had become one of the country's most impoverished and dangerous cities, he returned to Flint with the intention of buying a house. What he found was a place of stark contrasts and dramatic stories, where an exotic dancer could afford a lavish mansion, speculators scooped up cheap houses by the dozen on eBay, and arson was often the quickest route to neighborhood beautification. He also uncovered the misguided policies, flawed leadership, and unforgiving economic trends that lead to disasters like the Flint water crisis. Updated with a new preface, Young skillfully blends personal memoir, historical inquiry, and interviews with Flint residents, constructing a vibrant tale of a once-thriving city still fighting - despite overwhelming odds - to rise from the ashes. Hard-hitting, insightful, and often painfully funny, Teardown reminds us that cities are ultimately defined by the people who live there."--Back cover.
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520377540
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 314
Book Description
"After living in San Francisco for fifteen years, journalist Gordon Young found himself yearning for his Rust Belt hometown: Flint, Michigan, the birthplace of General Motors and the “star” of the Michael Moore documentary Roger & Me. Hoping to rediscover and help a place that had once boasted one of the world’s highest per capita income levels but had become one of the country's most impoverished and dangerous cities, he returned to Flint with the intention of buying a house. What he found was a place of stark contrasts and dramatic stories, where an exotic dancer could afford a lavish mansion, speculators scooped up cheap houses by the dozen on eBay, and arson was often the quickest route to neighborhood beautification. He also uncovered the misguided policies, flawed leadership, and unforgiving economic trends that lead to disasters like the Flint water crisis. Updated with a new preface, Young skillfully blends personal memoir, historical inquiry, and interviews with Flint residents, constructing a vibrant tale of a once-thriving city still fighting - despite overwhelming odds - to rise from the ashes. Hard-hitting, insightful, and often painfully funny, Teardown reminds us that cities are ultimately defined by the people who live there."--Back cover.
Love from Boy
Author: Donald Sturrock
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0698151208
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 337
Book Description
From the author of The BFG, Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and many more beloved classics—a whimsical, witty, and revealing collection of the legendary children’s author and writer Roald Dahl's letters written to his mother, from early childhood through Dahl’s travels to Africa, his career in the Royal Air Force, his work in post-war Washington, D.C., and Hollywood, and the books that made him a literary star. Roald Dahl penned his first letter to his mother, Sofie Magdalene, when he was just nine years old. The origins of a brilliantly funny, subversive, creative mind were evident in boarding school, and as he entered adulthood, his penchant for storytelling emerged in his missives home from Africa, where he was stationed by Shell Oil, and then the desert camps of the Royal Air Force. His skills were sharpened after a plane crash in Egypt landed him in Washington, D.C., where his cheery letters home were cover for his work in the British Secret Service, along with gossipy updates on his spontaneous rise in Hollywood and his budding New York literary career. His mother was, in many ways, Dahl’s first reader, and without her correspondence he might never have become a writer. Sofie Magdalene kept every letter her son wrote to her (sadly, her own side of the correspondence did not survive). It was she who encouraged him to tell stories and nourished his desire to fabricate, exaggerate, and entertain. In these letters, Dahl began practicing his craft, developing the dark sense of humor and fantastical imagination that would later produce his timeless tales. The author of James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, and The BFG, Dahl is known by millions the world over today. But, writing candidly to the person who knew him best, Dahl was as singular a character as any he created on paper. Assembled by Dahl’s authorized biographer Donald Sturrock, Love from Boy is a remarkable collection of never-before-published writing that spans four decades and chronicles the remarkable, unpredictable life of its author. While Dahl’s books remain bestselling favorites for all ages, Love from Boy provides an unprecedented glimpse of the author through his own eyes—a life punctuated by tragedy, creative stagnation, unexpected fame, and fantastic adventure.
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0698151208
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 337
Book Description
From the author of The BFG, Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and many more beloved classics—a whimsical, witty, and revealing collection of the legendary children’s author and writer Roald Dahl's letters written to his mother, from early childhood through Dahl’s travels to Africa, his career in the Royal Air Force, his work in post-war Washington, D.C., and Hollywood, and the books that made him a literary star. Roald Dahl penned his first letter to his mother, Sofie Magdalene, when he was just nine years old. The origins of a brilliantly funny, subversive, creative mind were evident in boarding school, and as he entered adulthood, his penchant for storytelling emerged in his missives home from Africa, where he was stationed by Shell Oil, and then the desert camps of the Royal Air Force. His skills were sharpened after a plane crash in Egypt landed him in Washington, D.C., where his cheery letters home were cover for his work in the British Secret Service, along with gossipy updates on his spontaneous rise in Hollywood and his budding New York literary career. His mother was, in many ways, Dahl’s first reader, and without her correspondence he might never have become a writer. Sofie Magdalene kept every letter her son wrote to her (sadly, her own side of the correspondence did not survive). It was she who encouraged him to tell stories and nourished his desire to fabricate, exaggerate, and entertain. In these letters, Dahl began practicing his craft, developing the dark sense of humor and fantastical imagination that would later produce his timeless tales. The author of James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, and The BFG, Dahl is known by millions the world over today. But, writing candidly to the person who knew him best, Dahl was as singular a character as any he created on paper. Assembled by Dahl’s authorized biographer Donald Sturrock, Love from Boy is a remarkable collection of never-before-published writing that spans four decades and chronicles the remarkable, unpredictable life of its author. While Dahl’s books remain bestselling favorites for all ages, Love from Boy provides an unprecedented glimpse of the author through his own eyes—a life punctuated by tragedy, creative stagnation, unexpected fame, and fantastic adventure.
How I Learned to Understand the World
Author: Hans Rosling
Publisher: Flatiron Books
ISBN: 1250266904
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 230
Book Description
The moving, playful memoir of Hans Rosling, Swedish statistics mastermind, researcher extraordinaire and author of the global bestseller, Factfulness, with Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Rönnlund This is a book that contains very few numbers. Instead, it is about meeting people who have opened my eyes. It was facts that helped him explain how the world works. But it was curiosity and commitment that made the late Hans Rosling, author of the bestselling book Factfulness with Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Rönnlund, the most popular researcher of our time. How I Learned to Understand the World is Hans Rosling’s own story of how he became a revolutionary thinker, and takes us from the swelter of an emergency clinic in Mozambique, to the World Economic Forum at Davos. In collaboration with Swedish journalist Fanny Härgestam and translated by Dr Anna Paterson, Hans Rosling wrote his memoir with the same joy of storytelling that made a whole world listen when he spoke.
Publisher: Flatiron Books
ISBN: 1250266904
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 230
Book Description
The moving, playful memoir of Hans Rosling, Swedish statistics mastermind, researcher extraordinaire and author of the global bestseller, Factfulness, with Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Rönnlund This is a book that contains very few numbers. Instead, it is about meeting people who have opened my eyes. It was facts that helped him explain how the world works. But it was curiosity and commitment that made the late Hans Rosling, author of the bestselling book Factfulness with Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Rönnlund, the most popular researcher of our time. How I Learned to Understand the World is Hans Rosling’s own story of how he became a revolutionary thinker, and takes us from the swelter of an emergency clinic in Mozambique, to the World Economic Forum at Davos. In collaboration with Swedish journalist Fanny Härgestam and translated by Dr Anna Paterson, Hans Rosling wrote his memoir with the same joy of storytelling that made a whole world listen when he spoke.
Street Without a Name
Author: Kapka Kassabova
Publisher: Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited
ISBN: 1742539009
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 305
Book Description
After years on the outside, Bulgaria has finally made it into the EU club, but beyond the clichés about undrinkable plonk, cheap property, and assassins with poison-tipped umbrellas, the country remains a largely unknown quantity. Born on the muddy outskirts of Sofia, Kapka Kassabova grew up under Communism, got away just as soon as she could, and has loved and hated her homeland in equal measure ever since. In this illuminating and entertaining memoir, Kapka revisits Bulgaria and her own muddled relationship to it, travelling back to the scenes of her childhood, sampling its bizarre tourist sites, uncovering its centuries' old history of bloodshed and blurred borders, and capturing the absurdities and idiosyncrasies of her own and her country's past. Also available as an eBook
Publisher: Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited
ISBN: 1742539009
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 305
Book Description
After years on the outside, Bulgaria has finally made it into the EU club, but beyond the clichés about undrinkable plonk, cheap property, and assassins with poison-tipped umbrellas, the country remains a largely unknown quantity. Born on the muddy outskirts of Sofia, Kapka Kassabova grew up under Communism, got away just as soon as she could, and has loved and hated her homeland in equal measure ever since. In this illuminating and entertaining memoir, Kapka revisits Bulgaria and her own muddled relationship to it, travelling back to the scenes of her childhood, sampling its bizarre tourist sites, uncovering its centuries' old history of bloodshed and blurred borders, and capturing the absurdities and idiosyncrasies of her own and her country's past. Also available as an eBook
More About Boy
Author: Roald Dahl
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0374350558
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 252
Book Description
Originally published: London: Puffin Books, 2008.
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0374350558
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 252
Book Description
Originally published: London: Puffin Books, 2008.
Joseph Anton
Author: Salman Rushdie
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0679643885
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 670
Book Description
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY San Francisco Chronicle • Newsweek/The Daily Beast • The Seattle Times • The Economist • Kansas City Star • BookPage On February 14, 1989, Valentine’s Day, Salman Rushdie was telephoned by a BBC journalist and told that he had been “sentenced to death” by the Ayatollah Khomeini. For the first time he heard the word fatwa. His crime? To have written a novel called The Satanic Verses, which was accused of being “against Islam, the Prophet and the Quran.” So begins the extraordinary story of how a writer was forced underground, moving from house to house, with the constant presence of an armed police protection team. He was asked to choose an alias that the police could call him by. He thought of writers he loved and combinations of their names; then it came to him: Conrad and Chekhov—Joseph Anton. How do a writer and his family live with the threat of murder for more than nine years? How does he go on working? How does he fall in and out of love? How does despair shape his thoughts and actions, how and why does he stumble, how does he learn to fight back? In this remarkable memoir Rushdie tells that story for the first time; the story of one of the crucial battles, in our time, for freedom of speech. He talks about the sometimes grim, sometimes comic realities of living with armed policemen, and of the close bonds he formed with his protectors; of his struggle for support and understanding from governments, intelligence chiefs, publishers, journalists, and fellow writers; and of how he regained his freedom. It is a book of exceptional frankness and honesty, compelling, provocative, moving, and of vital importance. Because what happened to Salman Rushdie was the first act of a drama that is still unfolding somewhere in the world every day. Praise for Joseph Anton “A harrowing, deeply felt and revealing document: an autobiographical mirror of the big, philosophical preoccupations that have animated Mr. Rushdie’s work throughout his career.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times “A splendid book, the finest . . . memoir to cross my desk in many a year.”—Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post “Thoughtful and astute . . . an important book.”—USA Today “Compelling, affecting . . . demonstrates Mr. Rushdie’s ability as a stylist and storytelle. . . . [He] reacted with great bravery and even heroism.”—The Wall Street Journal “Gripping, moving and entertaining . . . nothing like it has ever been written.”—The Independent (UK) “A thriller, an epic, a political essay, a love story, an ode to liberty.”—Le Point (France) “Action-packed . . . in a literary class by itself . . . Like Isherwood, Rushdie’s eye is a camera lens —firmly placed in one perspective and never out of focus.”—Los Angeles Review of Books “Unflinchingly honest . . . an engrossing, exciting, revealing and often shocking book.”—de Volkskrant (The Netherlands) “One of the best memoirs you may ever read.”—DNA (India) “Extraordinary . . . Joseph Anton beautifully modulates between . . . moments of accidental hilarity, and the higher purpose Rushdie saw in opposing—at all costs—any curtailment on a writer’s freedom.”—The Boston Globe
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0679643885
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 670
Book Description
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY San Francisco Chronicle • Newsweek/The Daily Beast • The Seattle Times • The Economist • Kansas City Star • BookPage On February 14, 1989, Valentine’s Day, Salman Rushdie was telephoned by a BBC journalist and told that he had been “sentenced to death” by the Ayatollah Khomeini. For the first time he heard the word fatwa. His crime? To have written a novel called The Satanic Verses, which was accused of being “against Islam, the Prophet and the Quran.” So begins the extraordinary story of how a writer was forced underground, moving from house to house, with the constant presence of an armed police protection team. He was asked to choose an alias that the police could call him by. He thought of writers he loved and combinations of their names; then it came to him: Conrad and Chekhov—Joseph Anton. How do a writer and his family live with the threat of murder for more than nine years? How does he go on working? How does he fall in and out of love? How does despair shape his thoughts and actions, how and why does he stumble, how does he learn to fight back? In this remarkable memoir Rushdie tells that story for the first time; the story of one of the crucial battles, in our time, for freedom of speech. He talks about the sometimes grim, sometimes comic realities of living with armed policemen, and of the close bonds he formed with his protectors; of his struggle for support and understanding from governments, intelligence chiefs, publishers, journalists, and fellow writers; and of how he regained his freedom. It is a book of exceptional frankness and honesty, compelling, provocative, moving, and of vital importance. Because what happened to Salman Rushdie was the first act of a drama that is still unfolding somewhere in the world every day. Praise for Joseph Anton “A harrowing, deeply felt and revealing document: an autobiographical mirror of the big, philosophical preoccupations that have animated Mr. Rushdie’s work throughout his career.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times “A splendid book, the finest . . . memoir to cross my desk in many a year.”—Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post “Thoughtful and astute . . . an important book.”—USA Today “Compelling, affecting . . . demonstrates Mr. Rushdie’s ability as a stylist and storytelle. . . . [He] reacted with great bravery and even heroism.”—The Wall Street Journal “Gripping, moving and entertaining . . . nothing like it has ever been written.”—The Independent (UK) “A thriller, an epic, a political essay, a love story, an ode to liberty.”—Le Point (France) “Action-packed . . . in a literary class by itself . . . Like Isherwood, Rushdie’s eye is a camera lens —firmly placed in one perspective and never out of focus.”—Los Angeles Review of Books “Unflinchingly honest . . . an engrossing, exciting, revealing and often shocking book.”—de Volkskrant (The Netherlands) “One of the best memoirs you may ever read.”—DNA (India) “Extraordinary . . . Joseph Anton beautifully modulates between . . . moments of accidental hilarity, and the higher purpose Rushdie saw in opposing—at all costs—any curtailment on a writer’s freedom.”—The Boston Globe