Touching the World

Touching the World PDF

Author: Paul John Eakin

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 1992-04-15

Total Pages: 259

ISBN-13: 1400820642

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Paul John Eakin's earlier work Fictions in Autobiography is a key text in autobiography studies. In it he proposed that the self that finds expression in autobiography is in fundamental ways a kind of fictive construct, a fiction articulated in a fiction. In this new book Eakin turns his attention to what he sees as the defining assumption of autobiography: that the story of the self does refer to a world of biographical and historical fact. Here he shows that people write autobiography not in some private realm of the autonomous self but rather in strenuous engagement with the pressures that life in culture entails. In so demonstrating, he offers fresh readings of autobiographies by Roland Barthes, Nathalie Sarraute, William Maxwell, Henry James, Ronald Fraser, Richard Rodriguez, Henry Adams, Patricia Hampl, John Updike, James McConkey, and Lillian Hellman. In the introduction Eakin makes a case for reopening the file on reference in autobiography, and in the first chapter he establishes the complexity of the referential aesthetic of the genre, the intricate interplay of fact and fiction in such texts. In subsequent chapters he explores some of the major contexts of reference in autobiography: the biographical, the social and cultural, the historical, and finally, underlying all the rest, the somatic and temporal dimensions of the lived experience of identity. In his discussion of contemporary theories of the self, Eakin draws especially on cultural anthropology and developmental psychology.

The Emperor of All Maladies

The Emperor of All Maladies PDF

Author: Siddhartha Mukherjee

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2011-08-09

Total Pages: 624

ISBN-13: 1439170916

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Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a documentary from Ken Burns on PBS, this New York Times bestseller is “an extraordinary achievement” (The New Yorker)—a magnificent, profoundly humane “biography” of cancer—from its first documented appearances thousands of years ago through the epic battles in the twentieth century to cure, control, and conquer it to a radical new understanding of its essence. Physician, researcher, and award-winning science writer, Siddhartha Mukherjee examines cancer with a cellular biologist’s precision, a historian’s perspective, and a biographer’s passion. The result is an astonishingly lucid and eloquent chronicle of a disease humans have lived with—and perished from—for more than five thousand years. The story of cancer is a story of human ingenuity, resilience, and perseverance, but also of hubris, paternalism, and misperception. Mukherjee recounts centuries of discoveries, setbacks, victories, and deaths, told through the eyes of his predecessors and peers, training their wits against an infinitely resourceful adversary that, just three decades ago, was thought to be easily vanquished in an all-out “war against cancer.” The book reads like a literary thriller with cancer as the protagonist. Riveting, urgent, and surprising, The Emperor of All Maladies provides a fascinating glimpse into the future of cancer treatments. It is an illuminating book that provides hope and clarity to those seeking to demystify cancer.

My Tiny Life

My Tiny Life PDF

Author: Julian Dibbell

Publisher: Julian Dibbell

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 9780805036268

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This novelistic rendering of a true account tells of a celebrated rape case which took place in an electronic "salon", where Internet junkies have created their own interactive fantasy realm.

All that is Solid Melts Into Air

All that is Solid Melts Into Air PDF

Author: Marshall Berman

Publisher: Verso

Published: 1983

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13: 9780860917854

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The experience of modernization -- the dizzying social changes that swept millions of people into the capitalist world -- and modernism in art, literature and architecture are brilliantly integrated in this account.

The Wolf of Wall Street

The Wolf of Wall Street PDF

Author: Jordan Belfort

Publisher: Bantam

Published: 2007-09-25

Total Pages: 530

ISBN-13: 0553904248

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Now a major motion picture directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio By day he made thousands of dollars a minute. By night he spent it as fast as he could. From the binge that sank a 170-foot motor yacht and ran up a $700,000 hotel tab, to the wife and kids waiting at home and the fast-talking, hard-partying young stockbrokers who called him king, here, in Jordan Belfort’s own words, is the story of the ill-fated genius they called the Wolf of Wall Street. In the 1990s, Belfort became one of the most infamous kingpins in American finance: a brilliant, conniving stock-chopper who led his merry mob on a wild ride out of Wall Street and into a massive office on Long Island. It’s an extraordinary story of greed, power, and excess that no one could invent: the tale of an ordinary guy who went from hustling Italian ices to making hundreds of millions—until it all came crashing down. Praise for The Wolf of Wall Street “Raw and frequently hilarious.”—The New York Times “A rollicking tale of [Jordan Belfort’s] rise to riches as head of the infamous boiler room Stratton Oakmont . . . proof that there are indeed second acts in American lives.”—Forbes “A cross between Tom Wolfe’s The Bonfire of the Vanities and Scorsese’s GoodFellas . . . Belfort has the Midas touch.”—The Sunday Times (London) “Entertaining as pulp fiction, real as a federal indictment . . . a hell of a read.”—Kirkus Reviews

City of the Beasts

City of the Beasts PDF

Author: Isabel Allende

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2021-01-05

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13: 0063062917

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A search for the Beast, a Yeti-like creature within the heart of the Amazon, becomes a quest for self-discovery in this young adult coming-of-age story filled with international adventure, rich mythology, and magical realism from globally celebrated novelist Isabel Allende. Fifteen-year-old Alexander Cold has the chance to take the trip of a lifetime. Parting from his family and ill mother, Alexander joins his fearless grandmother, a magazine reporter for International Geographic, on an expedition to the dangerous, remote world of the Amazon. Their mission, along with the others on their team—including a celebrated anthropologist, a local guide and his young daughter Nadia, and a doctor—is to document the legendary Yeti of the Amazon known as the Beast. Under the dense canopy of the jungle, Alexander is amazed to discover much more than he could have imagined about the hidden worlds of the rain forest. Drawing on the strength of the jaguar, the totemic animal Alexander finds within himself, and the eagle, Nadia's spirit guide, both young people are led by the invisible People of the Mist on a thrilling and unforgettable journey to the ultimate discovery.

Mother of Peace

Mother of Peace PDF

Author: Hak Ja Han Moon

Publisher:

Published: 2020-06-24

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 9780960103126

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Discover the untold story of Hak Ja Han Moon, the North Korean village girl who is now known to millions as the Mother of Peace. Her heart-wrenching story reveals details of a war-torn childhood and trials of faith as she and her late husband, Rev. Sun Myung Moon, built a vast and still-growing international movement capable of fulfilling God's will for peace in the 21st century. A major milestone of her life, described in never-told-before detail, was her marriage in 1960, at age 17, to the charismatic Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon. For the next 52 years, she joined him in the daunting task of building a global interfaith movement to fulfill God's will for peace in the 21st century. Mother Moon's journey as a religious woman leader is breathtaking: Born in Japanese-occupied Korea in 1943, she spent her early life in nature so she could commune with God. War forced her to flee south with her mother and grandmother; they crossed the Han River Bridge minutes before it was blown up. Later, she walked and worked side-by-side with Father Moon, one of history's most energetic and visionary men. They visited every corner of the earth and, despite relentless persecution, met with world leaders, including Mikhail Gorbachev and Kim Il Sung, to bring God's message for them. During this time, she bore 14 children and buried four. She stood with Father Moon for hours as they officiated at Marriage Blessing Ceremonies for hundreds of thousands of couples. Together, they launched hundreds of organizations and businesses to serve youth, family and peacemaking. Since Father Moon's passing in 2012, Mother Moon has shouldered the leadership of their still-growing movement. She has led "Peace Starts With Me" rallies in six continents and plans to bring Blessing Ceremonies to all people. "As I complete this book, one person I dearly miss at this moment is my beloved husband, Father Sun Myung Moon. We spent our lives together to convey and accomplish God's will ... If he were here to witness the publication of this book, his face would shine with a joy greater than that of anyone else. The sparkle in his eyes is dancing in my heart today. I hope that this book will reveal a taste of our life spent together for God's will." - Hak Ja Han Moon

High Tide in Tucson

High Tide in Tucson PDF

Author: Barbara Kingsolver

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2009-03-17

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13: 0061863580

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"Clever. . . magical. . . beautifully crafted. Kingsolver spins you around the philosophic world a dozen times." — Milwaukee Sentinel "There is no one quite like Barbara Kingsolver in contemporary literature," raves the Washington Post Book World, and it is right. Kingsolver's critically acclaimed writings always entertain and touch her legions of loyal fans. In High Tide in Tucson, she returns to her familiar themes of family, community, the common good, and the natural world. The title essay considers Buster, a hermit crab that accidentally stows away on Kingsolver's return trip from the Bahamas to her desert home, and turns out to have manic-depressive tendencies. Buster is running around for all he's worth—one can only presume it's high tide in Tucson. Kingsolver brings a moral vision and refreshing sense of humor to subjects ranging from modern motherhood to the history of private property to the suspended citizenship of human beings in the Animal Kingdom. Beautifully packaged, with original illustrations by illustrator Paul Mirocha, these wise lessons on the urgent business of being alive make it a perfect gift for Kingsolver's many fans.