Author: Susan Urbanski
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781973554233
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 158
Book Description
Meet the World's deadliest, undiscovered Assassin and Spy of the 20th Century. Between WW1 to WW2, Bronislaw Urbański was with the Polish Military Cipher Bureau / Intelligence working on copies of the German 'Enigma' machine. It was from here that Bronislaw then joins the Polish Intelligence Section that was attached. In July 1939 Bronislaw meets and reports to 'Polish Military Intelligence', watching for any NAZI activities. Just a few months later, Bronislaw was to be one of the first men in the world to witness 'threats' to Poland, as Nazi Germany is about to invade Poland, and he reports upon it. The NAZIS invade in September 1939, Bronislaw with the British Military Intelligence team, protects them with his Platoon, including British General Carton De Wiart. As they are now trapped near Lwow. Bronislaw even has an 'incredibly rare' group picture taken, with the members of the secret British Intelligence Team 'D' section, including Major Peter Wilkinson. See the most incredible photograph of Bronislaw and his partner after their immediate capture, as taken by NAZI Joseph Goebbels 'Propaganda Team' for Propaganda purposes. As we can now reveal their most amazing adventures of Bronislaw, previously hidden from the public. He becomes a 'Musketeer' and listens to the directions of SOE Krystyna (Christine Granville). He eliminates under orders his own Polish PM and General Wladyslaw Sikorski. Read in great detail, exactly how Bronislaw and partner did it, as they waited for Sikorski to arrive. That his method is indeed validated by WW2 Air Crash Investigator who even produced the documentary 'Sikorski's Last Flight', and through detailed 'technical illustrations' by aeronautical experts that simulate what Bronislaw's sabotage would have done to an aircraft's flight controls of that exact type of plane. This book also includes stunning information, from the son of one of that very Polish Team, sent originally to stop Bronislaw from killing General Wladyslaw Sikorski, in the very first place. Bronislaw, ever vigilant, uses many different names during WW2. NON-FICTION For more information go to book website https: //www.tolivewellistohidewell.com
To Live Well Is to Hide Well
Author: Susan Urbanski
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781973554233
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 158
Book Description
Meet the World's deadliest, undiscovered Assassin and Spy of the 20th Century. Between WW1 to WW2, Bronislaw Urbański was with the Polish Military Cipher Bureau / Intelligence working on copies of the German 'Enigma' machine. It was from here that Bronislaw then joins the Polish Intelligence Section that was attached. In July 1939 Bronislaw meets and reports to 'Polish Military Intelligence', watching for any NAZI activities. Just a few months later, Bronislaw was to be one of the first men in the world to witness 'threats' to Poland, as Nazi Germany is about to invade Poland, and he reports upon it. The NAZIS invade in September 1939, Bronislaw with the British Military Intelligence team, protects them with his Platoon, including British General Carton De Wiart. As they are now trapped near Lwow. Bronislaw even has an 'incredibly rare' group picture taken, with the members of the secret British Intelligence Team 'D' section, including Major Peter Wilkinson. See the most incredible photograph of Bronislaw and his partner after their immediate capture, as taken by NAZI Joseph Goebbels 'Propaganda Team' for Propaganda purposes. As we can now reveal their most amazing adventures of Bronislaw, previously hidden from the public. He becomes a 'Musketeer' and listens to the directions of SOE Krystyna (Christine Granville). He eliminates under orders his own Polish PM and General Wladyslaw Sikorski. Read in great detail, exactly how Bronislaw and partner did it, as they waited for Sikorski to arrive. That his method is indeed validated by WW2 Air Crash Investigator who even produced the documentary 'Sikorski's Last Flight', and through detailed 'technical illustrations' by aeronautical experts that simulate what Bronislaw's sabotage would have done to an aircraft's flight controls of that exact type of plane. This book also includes stunning information, from the son of one of that very Polish Team, sent originally to stop Bronislaw from killing General Wladyslaw Sikorski, in the very first place. Bronislaw, ever vigilant, uses many different names during WW2. NON-FICTION For more information go to book website https: //www.tolivewellistohidewell.com
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781973554233
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 158
Book Description
Meet the World's deadliest, undiscovered Assassin and Spy of the 20th Century. Between WW1 to WW2, Bronislaw Urbański was with the Polish Military Cipher Bureau / Intelligence working on copies of the German 'Enigma' machine. It was from here that Bronislaw then joins the Polish Intelligence Section that was attached. In July 1939 Bronislaw meets and reports to 'Polish Military Intelligence', watching for any NAZI activities. Just a few months later, Bronislaw was to be one of the first men in the world to witness 'threats' to Poland, as Nazi Germany is about to invade Poland, and he reports upon it. The NAZIS invade in September 1939, Bronislaw with the British Military Intelligence team, protects them with his Platoon, including British General Carton De Wiart. As they are now trapped near Lwow. Bronislaw even has an 'incredibly rare' group picture taken, with the members of the secret British Intelligence Team 'D' section, including Major Peter Wilkinson. See the most incredible photograph of Bronislaw and his partner after their immediate capture, as taken by NAZI Joseph Goebbels 'Propaganda Team' for Propaganda purposes. As we can now reveal their most amazing adventures of Bronislaw, previously hidden from the public. He becomes a 'Musketeer' and listens to the directions of SOE Krystyna (Christine Granville). He eliminates under orders his own Polish PM and General Wladyslaw Sikorski. Read in great detail, exactly how Bronislaw and partner did it, as they waited for Sikorski to arrive. That his method is indeed validated by WW2 Air Crash Investigator who even produced the documentary 'Sikorski's Last Flight', and through detailed 'technical illustrations' by aeronautical experts that simulate what Bronislaw's sabotage would have done to an aircraft's flight controls of that exact type of plane. This book also includes stunning information, from the son of one of that very Polish Team, sent originally to stop Bronislaw from killing General Wladyslaw Sikorski, in the very first place. Bronislaw, ever vigilant, uses many different names during WW2. NON-FICTION For more information go to book website https: //www.tolivewellistohidewell.com
No Reason to Hide
Author: Erwin W. Lutzer
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
ISBN: 073698688X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 306
Book Description
Will You Be Complicit, Complacent, or Courageous? In a culture with an ever-narrowing definition of tolerance, Christians can no longer stay silent about the divide between the Bible’s truth and the world’s lies. From bestselling author Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer, No Reason to Hide examines the toxic roots behind the alarming symptoms of a nation in spiritual freefall—and why your faith must empower you to engage rather than hide. As you read, you’ll be equipped to defend your biblical beliefs with confidence and compassion. You’ll also identify how you can respond to the battleground issues of today, including identity-driven social justice ideologies that seek to divide rather than unite cultural attacks on the definitions of sex and gender that turn language into a war progressive pushes within the church that ultimately desecrate the Bible’s teachings A call for believers to standing firm in today’s oppressive world, No Reason to Hide is a rallying reminder that will ready Christians everywhere to have the courage to proclaim Scripture’s truth to a culture in desperate need of what only God can offer.
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
ISBN: 073698688X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 306
Book Description
Will You Be Complicit, Complacent, or Courageous? In a culture with an ever-narrowing definition of tolerance, Christians can no longer stay silent about the divide between the Bible’s truth and the world’s lies. From bestselling author Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer, No Reason to Hide examines the toxic roots behind the alarming symptoms of a nation in spiritual freefall—and why your faith must empower you to engage rather than hide. As you read, you’ll be equipped to defend your biblical beliefs with confidence and compassion. You’ll also identify how you can respond to the battleground issues of today, including identity-driven social justice ideologies that seek to divide rather than unite cultural attacks on the definitions of sex and gender that turn language into a war progressive pushes within the church that ultimately desecrate the Bible’s teachings A call for believers to standing firm in today’s oppressive world, No Reason to Hide is a rallying reminder that will ready Christians everywhere to have the courage to proclaim Scripture’s truth to a culture in desperate need of what only God can offer.
Living Well at Others' Expense
Author: Stephan Lessenich
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1509525653
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 190
Book Description
At the heart of developed societies lies an insatiable drive for wealth and prosperity. Yet in a world ruled by free-market economics, there are always winners and losers. The benefits enjoyed by the privileged few come at the expense of the many. In this important new book, Stephan Lessenich shows how our wealth and affluence are built overwhelmingly at the expense of those in less-developed countries and regions of the world. His theory of ‘externalization’ demonstrates how the negative consequences of our lifestyles are directly transferred onto the world’s poorest. From the destruction of habitats caused by the massive increase in demand for soy and palm oil to the catastrophic impact of mining, Lessenich shows how the Global South has borne the brunt of our success. Yet, as we see from the mass movements of people across the world, we can no longer ignore the environmental and social toll of our prosperity. Lessenich’s highly original account of the structure and dynamics of global inequality highlights the devastating consequences of the affluent lifestyles of the West and reminds us of our far-reaching political responsibilities in an increasingly interconnected world.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1509525653
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 190
Book Description
At the heart of developed societies lies an insatiable drive for wealth and prosperity. Yet in a world ruled by free-market economics, there are always winners and losers. The benefits enjoyed by the privileged few come at the expense of the many. In this important new book, Stephan Lessenich shows how our wealth and affluence are built overwhelmingly at the expense of those in less-developed countries and regions of the world. His theory of ‘externalization’ demonstrates how the negative consequences of our lifestyles are directly transferred onto the world’s poorest. From the destruction of habitats caused by the massive increase in demand for soy and palm oil to the catastrophic impact of mining, Lessenich shows how the Global South has borne the brunt of our success. Yet, as we see from the mass movements of people across the world, we can no longer ignore the environmental and social toll of our prosperity. Lessenich’s highly original account of the structure and dynamics of global inequality highlights the devastating consequences of the affluent lifestyles of the West and reminds us of our far-reaching political responsibilities in an increasingly interconnected world.
Simply Living Well
Author: Julia Watkins
Publisher: Harvest
ISBN: 0358202183
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 291
Book Description
Easy recipes, DIY projects, and other ideas for living a beautiful and low-waste life, from the expert behind @simply.living.well on Instagram.
Publisher: Harvest
ISBN: 0358202183
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 291
Book Description
Easy recipes, DIY projects, and other ideas for living a beautiful and low-waste life, from the expert behind @simply.living.well on Instagram.
A Better Death
Author: Ranjana Srivastava
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1925750965
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 226
Book Description
A powerful, timely exploration of the art of living and dying on our own terms by one of Australia’s most respected voices Of all the experiences we share, two universal events bookend our lives: we were all born and we will all die. We don't have a choice in how we enter the world but we can have a say in how we leave it. In order to die well, we must be prepared to contemplate our mortality and to broach it with our loved ones, who are often called upon to make important decisions on our behalf. These are some of the most important conversations we can have with each other - to find peace, kindness and gratitude for what has gone before, and acceptance of what is to come. Dr Ranjana Srivastava draws on two decades of experience to share her observations and advice on leading a meaningful life and finding dignity and composure at the end. With an emphasis on advocacy, leaving a legacy and staying true to our deepest convictions, Srivastava tells stories of strength, hope and resilience in the face of grief and offers an optimistic meditation on approaching the end of life. Intelligent, warm and deeply affecting, A Better Death is a passionate exploration of the art of living and dying well. Dr Ranjana Srivastava OAM is a practising oncologist, award-winning writer, broadcaster and Fulbright scholar. See www.ranjanasrivastava.com
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1925750965
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 226
Book Description
A powerful, timely exploration of the art of living and dying on our own terms by one of Australia’s most respected voices Of all the experiences we share, two universal events bookend our lives: we were all born and we will all die. We don't have a choice in how we enter the world but we can have a say in how we leave it. In order to die well, we must be prepared to contemplate our mortality and to broach it with our loved ones, who are often called upon to make important decisions on our behalf. These are some of the most important conversations we can have with each other - to find peace, kindness and gratitude for what has gone before, and acceptance of what is to come. Dr Ranjana Srivastava draws on two decades of experience to share her observations and advice on leading a meaningful life and finding dignity and composure at the end. With an emphasis on advocacy, leaving a legacy and staying true to our deepest convictions, Srivastava tells stories of strength, hope and resilience in the face of grief and offers an optimistic meditation on approaching the end of life. Intelligent, warm and deeply affecting, A Better Death is a passionate exploration of the art of living and dying well. Dr Ranjana Srivastava OAM is a practising oncologist, award-winning writer, broadcaster and Fulbright scholar. See www.ranjanasrivastava.com
Live Well
Author: Sigrid Gjeldaker Lillehaugen
Publisher: Live Well Letters
ISBN: 9780929636306
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 210
Book Description
Primarily letters to her parents in Hallingdal, Norway, written between 1892 and 1923 by Sigrid Gjeldaker Lillehaugen who immigrated to the United States where she joined her husband Tosten in Minnesota, and in 1888 homesteaded in Dakota Territory.
Publisher: Live Well Letters
ISBN: 9780929636306
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 210
Book Description
Primarily letters to her parents in Hallingdal, Norway, written between 1892 and 1923 by Sigrid Gjeldaker Lillehaugen who immigrated to the United States where she joined her husband Tosten in Minnesota, and in 1888 homesteaded in Dakota Territory.
Sabotage!
Author: Chris Wroblewski
Publisher: Grub Street Publishing
ISBN: 1911714600
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 257
Book Description
On the night of 4 July 1943, transport aircraft Liberator AL523 took off from Gibraltar’s North Front tarmac and within moments crashed into the sea with only one survivor, the pilot. The commander-in-chief of the Polish army and prime minister of the Polish government-in-exile, General W?adys?aw Sikorski, was dead. Rumours as to the cause of the crash abounded. Was it pilot error? Was it, as officially classified, merely an accident, or was it, as the authors conclude in this riveting and meticulous study, an act of sabotage? In this extensive piece of research, Chris Wroblewski and Garth Barnard examine numerous primary sources, including the complete court of inquiry transcripts, produce detailed analysis of aircraft components and systems and unearth many little-known eyewitness accounts to give this investigation a compelling conclusion. Within the book the authors also dispel several conspiracy theories that have emerged since this catastrophe; particularly that this event was a disastrous assassination attempt with blame on the British, Soviets and Nazis. This is an exhaustive piece of investigative journalism that puts the record straight once and for all.
Publisher: Grub Street Publishing
ISBN: 1911714600
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 257
Book Description
On the night of 4 July 1943, transport aircraft Liberator AL523 took off from Gibraltar’s North Front tarmac and within moments crashed into the sea with only one survivor, the pilot. The commander-in-chief of the Polish army and prime minister of the Polish government-in-exile, General W?adys?aw Sikorski, was dead. Rumours as to the cause of the crash abounded. Was it pilot error? Was it, as officially classified, merely an accident, or was it, as the authors conclude in this riveting and meticulous study, an act of sabotage? In this extensive piece of research, Chris Wroblewski and Garth Barnard examine numerous primary sources, including the complete court of inquiry transcripts, produce detailed analysis of aircraft components and systems and unearth many little-known eyewitness accounts to give this investigation a compelling conclusion. Within the book the authors also dispel several conspiracy theories that have emerged since this catastrophe; particularly that this event was a disastrous assassination attempt with blame on the British, Soviets and Nazis. This is an exhaustive piece of investigative journalism that puts the record straight once and for all.
Thirty Rooms to Hide in
Author: Luke Sullivan
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 081667955X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 319
Book Description
Author Luke Longstreet Sullivan has a simple way of describing his new memoir: “It's like The Shining . . . only funnier.” And as this astonishing account reveals, the comment is accurate. Thirty Rooms to Hide In tells the story of Sullivan's father and his descent from being one of the world's top orthopedic surgeons at the Mayo Clinic to a man who is increasingly abusive, alcoholic, and insane, ultimately dying alone on the floor of a Georgia motel. For his wife and six sons, the years prior to his death were years of turmoil, anger, and family dysfunction; but somehow, they were also a time of real happiness for Sullivan and his five brothers, full of dark humor and much laughter. Through the 1950s and 1960s, the six brothers had a wildly fun and thoroughly dysfunctional childhood living in a forbidding thirty-room mansion, known as the Millstone, on the outskirts of Rochester, Minnesota. The many rooms of the immense home, as well as their mother's loving protection, allowed the Sullivan brothers to grow up as normal, mischievous boys. Against a backdrop of the times—the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, fallout shelters, JFK's assassination, and the Beatles—the cracks in their home life and their father's psyche continue to widen. When their mother decides to leave the Millstone and move the family across town, the Sullivan boys are able to find solace in each other and in rock 'n' roll. As Thirty Rooms to Hide In follows the story of the Sullivan family—at times grim, at others poignant—there is a wonderful, dark humor that lifts the narrative. Tragic, funny, and powerfully evocative of the 1950s and 1960s, Thirty Rooms to Hide In is a tale of public success and private dysfunction, personal and familial resilience, and the strange power of humor to give refuge when it is needed most, even if it can't always provide the answers.
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 081667955X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 319
Book Description
Author Luke Longstreet Sullivan has a simple way of describing his new memoir: “It's like The Shining . . . only funnier.” And as this astonishing account reveals, the comment is accurate. Thirty Rooms to Hide In tells the story of Sullivan's father and his descent from being one of the world's top orthopedic surgeons at the Mayo Clinic to a man who is increasingly abusive, alcoholic, and insane, ultimately dying alone on the floor of a Georgia motel. For his wife and six sons, the years prior to his death were years of turmoil, anger, and family dysfunction; but somehow, they were also a time of real happiness for Sullivan and his five brothers, full of dark humor and much laughter. Through the 1950s and 1960s, the six brothers had a wildly fun and thoroughly dysfunctional childhood living in a forbidding thirty-room mansion, known as the Millstone, on the outskirts of Rochester, Minnesota. The many rooms of the immense home, as well as their mother's loving protection, allowed the Sullivan brothers to grow up as normal, mischievous boys. Against a backdrop of the times—the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, fallout shelters, JFK's assassination, and the Beatles—the cracks in their home life and their father's psyche continue to widen. When their mother decides to leave the Millstone and move the family across town, the Sullivan boys are able to find solace in each other and in rock 'n' roll. As Thirty Rooms to Hide In follows the story of the Sullivan family—at times grim, at others poignant—there is a wonderful, dark humor that lifts the narrative. Tragic, funny, and powerfully evocative of the 1950s and 1960s, Thirty Rooms to Hide In is a tale of public success and private dysfunction, personal and familial resilience, and the strange power of humor to give refuge when it is needed most, even if it can't always provide the answers.
The Midnight Library: A GMA Book Club Pick
Author: Matt Haig
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0525559493
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 305
Book Description
The #1 New York Times bestselling WORLDWIDE phenomenon Winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction | A Good Morning America Book Club Pick | Independent (London) Ten Best Books of the Year "A feel-good book guaranteed to lift your spirits."—The Washington Post The dazzling reader-favorite about the choices that go into a life well lived, from the acclaimed author of How To Stop Time and The Comfort Book. Don’t miss Matt Haig’s latest instant New York Times besteller, The Life Impossible, available now Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better? In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig's enchanting blockbuster novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0525559493
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 305
Book Description
The #1 New York Times bestselling WORLDWIDE phenomenon Winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction | A Good Morning America Book Club Pick | Independent (London) Ten Best Books of the Year "A feel-good book guaranteed to lift your spirits."—The Washington Post The dazzling reader-favorite about the choices that go into a life well lived, from the acclaimed author of How To Stop Time and The Comfort Book. Don’t miss Matt Haig’s latest instant New York Times besteller, The Life Impossible, available now Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better? In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig's enchanting blockbuster novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.
I Know This Much Is True
Author: Wally Lamb
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780060391621
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 884
Book Description
With his stunning debut novel, She's Come Undone, Wally Lamb won the adulation of critics and readers with his mesmerizing tale of one woman's painful yet triumphant journey of self-discovery. Now, this brilliantly talented writer returns with I Know This Much Is True, a heartbreaking and poignant multigenerational saga of the reproductive bonds of destruction and the powerful force of forgiveness. A masterpiece that breathtakingly tells a story of alienation and connection, power and abuse, devastation and renewal--this novel is a contemporary retelling of an ancient Hindu myth. A proud king must confront his demons to achieve salvation. Change yourself, the myth instructs, and you will inhabit a renovated world. When you're the same brother of a schizophrenic identical twin, the tricky thing about saving yourself is the blood it leaves on your bands--the little inconvenience of the look-alike corpse at your feet. And if you're into both survival of the fittest and being your brother's keeper--if you've promised your dying mother--then say so long to sleep and hello to the middle of the night. Grab a book or a beer. Get used to Letterman's gap-toothed smile of the absurd, or the view of the bedroom ceiling, or the influence of random selection. Take it from a godless insomniac. Take it from the uncrazy twin--the guy who beat the biochemical rap. Dominick Birdsey's entire life has been compromised and constricted by anger and fear, by the paranoid schizophrenic twin brother he both deeply loves and resents, and by the past they shared with their adoptive father, Ray, a spit-and-polish ex-Navy man (the five-foot-six-inch sleeping giant who snoozed upstairs weekdays in the spare room and built submarines at night), and their long-suffering mother, Concettina, a timid woman with a harelip that made her shy and self-conscious: She holds a loose fist to her face to cover her defective mouth--her perpetual apology to the world for a birth defect over which she'd had no control. Born in the waning moments of 1949 and the opening minutes of 1950, the twins are physical mirror images who grow into separate yet connected entities: the seemingly strong and protective yet fearful Dominick, his mother's watchful "monkey"; and the seemingly weak and sweet yet noble Thomas, his mother's gentle "bunny." From childhood, Dominick fights for both separation and wholeness--and ultimately self-protection--in a house of fear dominated by Ray, a bully who abuses his power over these stepsons whose biological father is a mystery. I was still afraid of his anger but saw how he punished weakness--pounced on it. Out of self-preservation I hid my fear, Dominick confesses. As for Thomas, he just never knew how to play defense. He just didn't get it. But Dominick's talent for survival comes at an enormous cost, including the breakup of his marriage to the warm, beautiful Dessa, whom he still loves. And it will be put to the ultimate test when Thomas, a Bible-spouting zealot, commits an unthinkable act that threatens the tenuous balance of both his and Dominick's lives. To save himself, Dominick must confront not only the pain of his past but the dark secrets he has locked deep within himself, and the sins of his ancestors--a quest that will lead him beyond the confines of his blue-collar New England town to the volcanic foothills of Sicily 's Mount Etna, where his ambitious and vengefully proud grandfather and a namesake Domenico Tempesta, the sostegno del famiglia, was born. Each of the stories Ma told us about Papa reinforced the message that he was the boss, that he ruled the roost, that what he said went. Searching for answers, Dominick turns to the whispers of the dead, to the pages of his grandfather's handwritten memoir, The History of Domenico Onofrio Tempesta, a Great Man from Humble Beginnings. Rendered with touches of magic realism, Domenico's fablelike tale--in which monkeys enchant and religious statues weep--becomes the old man's confession--an unwitting legacy of contrition that reveals the truth's of Domenico's life, Dominick learns that power, wrongly used, defeats the oppressor as well as the oppressed, and now, picking through the humble shards of his deconstructed life, he will search for the courage and love to forgive, to expiate his and his ancestors' transgressions, and finally to rebuild himself beyond the haunted shadow of his twin. Set against the vivid panoply of twentieth-century America and filled with richly drawn, memorable characters, this deeply moving and thoroughly satisfying novel brings to light humanity's deepest needs and fears, our aloneness, our desire for love and acceptance, our struggle to survive at all costs. Joyous, mystical, and exquisitely written, I Know This Much Is True is an extraordinary reading experience that will leave no reader untouched.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780060391621
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 884
Book Description
With his stunning debut novel, She's Come Undone, Wally Lamb won the adulation of critics and readers with his mesmerizing tale of one woman's painful yet triumphant journey of self-discovery. Now, this brilliantly talented writer returns with I Know This Much Is True, a heartbreaking and poignant multigenerational saga of the reproductive bonds of destruction and the powerful force of forgiveness. A masterpiece that breathtakingly tells a story of alienation and connection, power and abuse, devastation and renewal--this novel is a contemporary retelling of an ancient Hindu myth. A proud king must confront his demons to achieve salvation. Change yourself, the myth instructs, and you will inhabit a renovated world. When you're the same brother of a schizophrenic identical twin, the tricky thing about saving yourself is the blood it leaves on your bands--the little inconvenience of the look-alike corpse at your feet. And if you're into both survival of the fittest and being your brother's keeper--if you've promised your dying mother--then say so long to sleep and hello to the middle of the night. Grab a book or a beer. Get used to Letterman's gap-toothed smile of the absurd, or the view of the bedroom ceiling, or the influence of random selection. Take it from a godless insomniac. Take it from the uncrazy twin--the guy who beat the biochemical rap. Dominick Birdsey's entire life has been compromised and constricted by anger and fear, by the paranoid schizophrenic twin brother he both deeply loves and resents, and by the past they shared with their adoptive father, Ray, a spit-and-polish ex-Navy man (the five-foot-six-inch sleeping giant who snoozed upstairs weekdays in the spare room and built submarines at night), and their long-suffering mother, Concettina, a timid woman with a harelip that made her shy and self-conscious: She holds a loose fist to her face to cover her defective mouth--her perpetual apology to the world for a birth defect over which she'd had no control. Born in the waning moments of 1949 and the opening minutes of 1950, the twins are physical mirror images who grow into separate yet connected entities: the seemingly strong and protective yet fearful Dominick, his mother's watchful "monkey"; and the seemingly weak and sweet yet noble Thomas, his mother's gentle "bunny." From childhood, Dominick fights for both separation and wholeness--and ultimately self-protection--in a house of fear dominated by Ray, a bully who abuses his power over these stepsons whose biological father is a mystery. I was still afraid of his anger but saw how he punished weakness--pounced on it. Out of self-preservation I hid my fear, Dominick confesses. As for Thomas, he just never knew how to play defense. He just didn't get it. But Dominick's talent for survival comes at an enormous cost, including the breakup of his marriage to the warm, beautiful Dessa, whom he still loves. And it will be put to the ultimate test when Thomas, a Bible-spouting zealot, commits an unthinkable act that threatens the tenuous balance of both his and Dominick's lives. To save himself, Dominick must confront not only the pain of his past but the dark secrets he has locked deep within himself, and the sins of his ancestors--a quest that will lead him beyond the confines of his blue-collar New England town to the volcanic foothills of Sicily 's Mount Etna, where his ambitious and vengefully proud grandfather and a namesake Domenico Tempesta, the sostegno del famiglia, was born. Each of the stories Ma told us about Papa reinforced the message that he was the boss, that he ruled the roost, that what he said went. Searching for answers, Dominick turns to the whispers of the dead, to the pages of his grandfather's handwritten memoir, The History of Domenico Onofrio Tempesta, a Great Man from Humble Beginnings. Rendered with touches of magic realism, Domenico's fablelike tale--in which monkeys enchant and religious statues weep--becomes the old man's confession--an unwitting legacy of contrition that reveals the truth's of Domenico's life, Dominick learns that power, wrongly used, defeats the oppressor as well as the oppressed, and now, picking through the humble shards of his deconstructed life, he will search for the courage and love to forgive, to expiate his and his ancestors' transgressions, and finally to rebuild himself beyond the haunted shadow of his twin. Set against the vivid panoply of twentieth-century America and filled with richly drawn, memorable characters, this deeply moving and thoroughly satisfying novel brings to light humanity's deepest needs and fears, our aloneness, our desire for love and acceptance, our struggle to survive at all costs. Joyous, mystical, and exquisitely written, I Know This Much Is True is an extraordinary reading experience that will leave no reader untouched.