WOWIO New Releases - Biographies & Memoirs

Never Tell Me Never

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:38:39 CST

Janine Shepherd

On an afternoon bike ride in the Blue Mountains, Janine Shepherd's life was altered irrevocably. When the champion cross country skier in training for the Winter Olympics was hit by a truck, doctors warned her parents that she was not expected to survive her ordeal. The bleeding alone was enough to kill her. Even if by some small chance she recovered, she would never walk again. Coming to terms with her shattered Olympic dreams, refusing to believe what expert medical staff were telling her...

A Season of Loss, A Lifetime of Forgiveness

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 14:54:43 CST

John Manasso

Dan Snyder narrowly escaped being cut from his junior hockey team for two years in a row. That's hardly the stuff that NHL careers are made of. But Snyder earned his spot on the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers roster through sheer force of will and strength of character, even though scouts thought the odds were against him.

Those who knew Snyder describe him as the kind of person others naturally gravitated towards. One of those people was Dany Heatley, college star, All-Star, and marked one of the...

Randy Newman's American Dreams

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 14:43:28 CST

Kevin Courrier

Among his peers, Randy Newman is considered one of the most respected singer-songwriters in contemporary American music. For over 40 years, he has composed a variety of hits for artists as diverse as Judy Collins, Three Dog Night, and Tom Jones. In 1997, Newman caused controversy with the chart-topping "Short People," wrote the stage musical Faust, and became a successful composer for such acclaimed films as The Natural, Avalon, Toy Story, and Monsters Inc. Yet, despite his vast body of work...

Nero: The End of a Dynasty

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:51:06 CST

Miriam T. Griffin

Acclaimed as a classic portrait, Griffin's work is widely considered to be the definitive biography of this notorious emperor.

Nero's personality and crimes have always intrigued historians, novelists and general readers. The first Princeps tol be declared a Public Enemy by the Roman Senate, Nero became one of the canonical tyrants along with Caligula and Domitian, and bears the dubious honor of having essentially brought about the end of the Augustan dynasty.

Griffin observes the emperor...

Nero

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:51:08 CST

David Shotter

Shotter presents an introductory account of the achievements and reputation of one of the most infamous figures in Roman history. Maps, a time-chart, appendices and a glossary are included to aid further study.

Public Opinion, the First Ladyship and Hillary Rodham Clinton

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:51:45 CST

Barbara Burrell

This second edition presents Clinton's self-repositioning during the 1996 election, her official role during the second term, her role during the impeachment proceedings, and the beginnings of an independent political career.

B.F. Skinner: Consensus and Controversy

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:48:15 CST

Sohan Modgil and Celia Modgil (Eds.)

Contributors evaluate important elements of Skinner's work: radical behaviorism; political, social and moral implications; philosophy of science and psychology; the explanatory power of Skinnerian principles; Skinner's position against theory and against mentalism; the 'Vitrus Dormitivia' argument; rule-governed behavior; perception/cognition; and naturalistic ethics.

The Nostrildamus Document: An Insider's Street Secrets of Drugs, Violence and Conspiracy in America's New South

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 23:13:01 CST

Courtney Cascadian

"A hustler recounts a life filled with drugs, sex, violence and some occasional love for the Man Upstairs"
- Kirkus Discoveries

His father was a wealthy numbers banker; his mother a very successful, but law-abiding, businesswoman. Nesta Ali's life was one of hell-raising and paradoxical privilege.

With no shortage of talent and ambition, Ali sets out on a star-career in journalism. But there's a problem: His rise to the top of the drug game is happening even faster. Never a man to...

Hughes: The Private Diaries, Memos and Letters

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 22:54:21 CST

Richard Hack

Howard Hughes was a true American original: legendary lover, record-setting aviator, award-winning film producer, talented inventor, ultimate eccentric, and, for much of his lifetime, the richest man in the United States. His desire for privacy was so fierce and his isolation so complete that even now, twenty-five years after his death, inaccurate stories continue to circulate, and many have been published as fact.

Hughes explodes the illusion of his life and exposes the man behind the myth...

The Cat Who Killed Lilian Jackson Braun

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 22:16:53 CST

Robert Kaplow

America's most beloved writer, Lilian Jackson Braun, author of twenty-four Cat Who... mysteries is now the subject of a mystery herself. In this spoof by one of her most ardent admirers, her beheaded body has been discovered in the men's room of a gay bar in Lower Manhattan. The police are baffled, and so it is up to Braun's eccentric writer friend, James Q. (Qafka), and his Siamese cats Ying-Ton and Poon-Tang to solve the ghastly mystery. Q.'s quest leads him on a hilarious, ribald chase...

The Courage to Survive

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 20:42:47 CST

Dennis J. Kucinich

The power of courage and the magic of faith suffuse the childhood memoir of Presidential candidate Dennis J. Kucinich, making this not only a compelling and inspirational autobiography but a must-read for all voters. Dennis takes readers on a journey through nineteen-fifties and sixties working-class Cleveland that is anything but sentimental. Surviving eviction to eviction, Dennis' hard-working, hard-living parents struggled to raise their children on a truck driver's wages. They did their...

The Death of Manolete

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 20:32:54 CST

Barnaby Conrad

On Thursday, August 28, 1947, in the bull ring at the Spanish town of Linares, a thirty-year-old millionaire called Manolete (Manuel Laureano Rodriguez) and a Miura bull named Islero killed each other. Conrad recounts Manolete's extraordinary life in The Death of Manolete, for the first time in English. He shows the breeding that made the Spanish boy, the tempering that made the young torero, the sacrifice that made the man, the girl who brought him love, the acclaim that brought him incredible...

Unended Quest: An Intellectual Autobiography

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:53:58 CST

Karl Popper

A brilliant account of the life of one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century. Popper also explains some of the central ideas in his work, making this ideal reading for anyone coming to his life and work for the first time.

James I

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:50:26 CST

Christopher Durston

Was James I the wisest fool in Christendom? Or was he a disastrous king who brought civil war to his country?

James I has traditionally been portrayed as a foolish and unpleasant man. The last two decades, however, have seen a rehabilitation by historians who appreciate his pursuit of sensible policies and his success in foreign policy and religion. In this work, the author looks at James' personality and political ability, the court, finance, parliament, and the legacies of Elizabeth I. The...

The Hand of Cicero

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:49:57 CST

Shane Butler

Charting a course through Cicero's celebrated career, Shane Butler presents the fascinating theory that the success of Rome's greatest orator depended as much on writing as speaking; he also argues against the conventional wisdom that Rome was an oral society, in which writing served only practical, secondary purposes.

Bentham

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:48:26 CST

James Steintrager (Ed)

Challenging the accepted interpretations of Bentham's political thought and in particular the landmark criticism by John Stuart Mill and Elie Halevy, the author consulted the extensive manuscript collections left by Bentham to the University of London and the British museum in the preparation of this volume.

Aristotle

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:47:56 CST

David Ross

Aristotle, originally published in 1923, is now re-issued with a new introduction by John L. Ackrill, which reviews developments in Aristotelian studies since Sir David Ross originally wrote his classic study. This book has long been considered one of the foremost works on Aristotle's life, work, and philosophy.

Being Young

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 12:11:13 CST

Astrid Young

Rocker Neil Young is known as one of Canada's great artists, his influence extending far beyond our borders. Being Young looks at a lifetime of love humour, disappointment, and proud moments, picking up where Scott Young's book Neil and Me left off in 1984. The book is a testament to a Woodstock-generation rocker whose independence and determination have seen him through his life as a prolific musician who is still producing to this day. Being Young by Neil Young's sister, Astrid Young, offers...

Secrets of the Royal Family

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 10:52:17 CST

Cyrus Shahrad

Throughout the ages, the iconic status of the British royal family has crossed continents and divided opinion. Love it or loathe it, the British monarchy -- especially its current incarnation, the Windsors -- has never ceased to excite interest.

Secrets of the Royal Family looks at history and tradition, as well as behind the headlines, to expose the inner workings of one of the word's most famous and powerful families.

Absolute Power: The Real Lives of Europe's Most Infamous Rulers

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 10:34:51 CST

C.S. Denton

In our time, when monarchies seem little more than tourist curiosities and democracy is taken for granted, it is easy to forget just how much power pre-democratic rulers once wielded. The rulers and holders of political power in this book were all possessed of vast -- in many cases, absolute -- power: power which was often exercised arbitrarily and unjustly.

What unites the figures in this book is that they all, in one way or another, failed to live up to the extravagantly high hope invested...

The Original Million Dollar Mermaid

Sat, 15 Sep 2007 12:57:40 CST

Emily Gibson with Barbara Firth

In the early twentieth century, a young Australian woman became one of the highest paid and most adored Hollywood and vaudeville stars of the day. Her name was Annette Kellerman.

Born into a musical family in suburban Sydney in 1886, Annette's first love was performing. Yet when she took up swimming to overcome a childhood illness, she quickly found herself breaking records and beating the boys -- and loving it.

When the Depression hit, Annette and her father headed for England to seek...

Einstein in His Own Words

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 21:31:42 CST

Anne Rooney

"Why is it that nobody understands me, yet everybody loves me?"
- Albert Einstein

Few people are unfamiliar with Einstein's renowned equation E=mc^2. As the above quote implies, however, fewer still understand the revolutionary nature and significance of this equation, and of Einstein's many other contributions to science.

The beautifully illustrated Einstein In His Own Words explains Einstein's works and their implications for our world. It includes excerpts from the groundbreaking...

Leonardo Da Vinci in His Own Words

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 21:08:13 CST

William Wray

We are all familiar with Leonardo da Vinci's great works of art -- the Mona Lisa, Vitruvian Man, The Madonna of the Rocks, to name just a few. These have achieved iconic status. Leonardo's drawings are less well known, largely because they represent such a rich legacy, both in terms of number and subject matter.

Despite the huge output and incomparable quality of his artworks, the man himself remains elusive unless we look more closely at the thinking that informed his art.

This book is...

Letters from St. Petersburg

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 13:56:22 CST

Victoria Hammond

With its shimmering palaces and decaying mansions, enchanted forests and basements crammed full of Soviet art, St Petersburg is a city of ghosts and illusions where past and present, and reality and fiction are inextricably fused.

In this city blasted by history it is not the grand events but the intimate details that Victoria Hammond is drawn to: a walk through Dostoevsky's streets on a white night; the friendship between a mafia boss and a Siberian tiger; a swim in the warmth of a moonlit...

Big World: A Girl's Own Adventure

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 13:15:20 CST

Claire Brownsworth

Claire Brownsworth is addicted to the adrenaline rush of extreme sports. And she's not a woman to let fear -- or commonsense -- stand in the way of an opportunity just because it's life threatening, borderline insane or downright impossible. That's why she's raced full-tilt down three vertical kilometres of the most dangerous road on the planet, jumped off a cliff strapped only to a flimsy piece of fabric, or accidentally set a rock-climbing world record.

It's a big world out there, and...