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The Road Years: A Memoir, Continued . . .
Par Rick Mercer. 2023
THE INSTANT #1 BESTSELLERRick Mercer is back—again!—with the eagerly awaited sequel to his bestselling memoirAt the end of his memoir…
Talking to Canadians, Rick Mercer was poised to make the biggest leap yet in his extraordinary career. Having overcome a serious lack of promise as a schoolboy and risen through the showbiz ranks—as an aspiring actor, star of a surprisingly successful one-man show about the Meech Lake Accord, co-founder of This Hour Has 22 Minutes, creator and star of the dark-comedy sitcom Made in Canada—he was about to tackle his biggest opportunity yet. The Road Years picks up the story at that exciting point, with the greenlighting of what would become Rick Mercer Report. Plans for the show, of course, included political satire and Rick’s patented rants. But Rick and his partner, Gerald Lunz, were also determined to do something that comedy tends to avoid as too challenging: they would emphasize the positive. Rick would travel from coast to coast to coast in search of everything that’s best about Canada, especially its people. He found a lot to celebrate, naturally, and was rewarded with a huge audience and a run of 15 seasons. The Road Years tells the inside story of that stupendous success. A time when Rick was heading to another town—or military base, sports centre, national park—to try dogsledding, chainsaw carving, and bear tagging; hang from a harness (a lot); ride the “Train of Death;” plus countless other joyous and/or reckless assignments. Added to the mix were encounters with the country’s great. Every living prime minister. Rock and roll royalty from Rush to Randy Bachman. Olympians and Paralympians. A skinny-dipping Bob Rae. And Jann Arden, of course, who gets a chapter to herself. Along the way he even found the time to visit several countries in Africa and co-found and champion the charity Spread the Net, which has gone on to protect the lives of millions. Join the celebration, and revive a wealth of happy memories, with what is Rick Mercer’s funniest, most fascinating book yet.The Duel: Diefenbaker, Pearson and the Making of Modern Canada
Par John Ibbitson. 2023
INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLEROne of Canada’s foremost authors and journalists, offers a gripping account of the contest between John Diefenbaker and…
Lester Pearson, two prime ministers who fought each other relentlessly, but who between them created today’s Canada. John Diefenbaker has been unfairly treated by history. Although he wrestled with personal demons, his governments launched major reforms in public health care, law reform and immigration. On his watch, First Nations on reserve obtained the right to vote and the federal government began to open up the North. He established Canada as a leader in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, and took the first steps in making Canada a leader in the fight against nuclear proliferation. And Diefenbaker’s Bill of Rights laid the groundwork for the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He set in motion many of the achievements credited to his successor, Lester B. Pearson.Pearson, in turn, gave coherence to Diefenbaker’s piecemeal reforms. He also pushed Parliament to adopt a new, and now much-loved, Canadian flag against Diefenbaker’s fierce opposition. Pearson understood that if Canada were to be taken seriously as a nation, it must develop a stronger sense of self. Pearson was superbly prepared for the role of prime minister: decades of experience at External Affairs, respected by leaders from Washington to Delhi to Beijing, the only Canadian to win the Nobel Prize for Peace. Diefenbaker was the better politician, though. If Pearson walked with ease in the halls of power, Diefenbaker connected with the farmers and small-town merchants and others left outside the inner circles. Diefenbaker was one of the great orators of Canadian political life; Pearson spoke with a slight lisp. Diefenbaker was the first to get his name in the papers, as a crusading attorney: Diefenbaker for the Defence, champion of the little man. But he struggled as a politician, losing five elections before making it into the House of Commons, and becoming as estranged from the party elites as he was from the Liberals, until his ascension to the Progressive Conservative leadership in 1956 through a freakish political accident. As a young university professor, Pearson caught the attention of the powerful men who were shaping Canada’s first true department of foreign affairs, rising to prominence as the helpful fixer, the man both sides trusted, the embodiment of a new country that had earned its place through war in the counsels of the great powers: ambassador, undersecretary, minister, peacemaker. Everyone knew he was destined to be prime minister. But in 1957, destiny took a detour.Then they faced each other, Diefenbaker v Pearson, across the House of Commons, leaders of their parties, each determined to wrest and hold power, in a decade-long contest that would shake and shape the country. Here is a tale of two men, children of Victoria, who led Canada into the atomic age: each the product of his past, each more like the other than either would ever admit, fighting each other relentlessly while together forging the Canada we live in today. To understand our times, we must first understand theirs.Chicago’s Modern Mayors: From Harold Washington to Lori Lightfoot
Par Betty O'Shaughnessy, Xolela Mangeu, Gregory D Squires, Monroe Anderson, Costas Spirou, Dennis Judd, Kari Lydersen, Daniel Bliss, Marco Rosaire Rossi, Dick Simpson, Clinton Stockwell. 2024
Political profiles of five mayors and their lasting impact on the city Chicago’s transformation into a global city began at…
City Hall. Dick Simpson and Betty O’Shaughnessy edit in-depth analyses of the five mayors that guided the city through this transition beginning with Harold Washington’s 1983 election: Washington, Eugene Sawyer, Richard M. Daley, Rahm Emmanuel, and Lori Lightfoot. Though the respected political science, sociologist, and journalist contributors approach their subjects from distinct perspectives, each essay addresses three essential issues: how and why each mayor won the office; whether the City Council of their time acted as a rubber stamp or independent body; and the ways the unique qualities of each mayor’s administration and accomplishments influenced their legacy. Filled with expert analysis and valuable insights, Chicago’s Modern Mayors illuminates a time of transition and change and considers the politicians who--for better and worse--shaped the Chicago of today.Lord Mason, Barnsley Pitlad to Peer: A Life Illustrated
Par Brian Elliott. 2008
Roy Mason swapped the colliery for Westminster when elected MP for Barnsley in 1953. He went on to become one…
of the leading figures in the Labour Party during the 1960s and 1970s, holding a number of prestigious offices including Defence Secretary from 1974 and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 1976. This photographic biography presents images from Mason's own archive charting his personal and political life from the Yorkshire pits to the House of Lords.The King Years: Historic Moments in the Civil Rights Movement
Par Taylor Branch. 2013
The essential moments of the Civil Rights Movement are set in historical context by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the…
magisterial America in the King Years trilogy—Parting the Waters; Pillar of Fire; and At Canaan&’s Edge.Taylor Branch, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning America in the King Years trilogy, presents selections from his monumental work that recount the essential moments of the Civil Rights Movement. A masterpiece of storytelling on race and democracy, violence and nonviolence, The King Years delivers riveting tales of everyday heroes whose stories inspire us still. Here is the full sweep of an era that transformed America and continues to offer crucial lessons for today&’s world. This vital primer amply fulfills Branch&’s dedication: &“For students of freedom and teachers of history.&”Barack Obama: The Story
Par David Maraniss. 2012
The groundbreaking multigenerational biography, a richly textured account of President Obama and the forces that shaped him and sustain him,…
from Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter, political commentator, and acclaimed biographer David Maraniss. In Barack Obama: The Story, David Maraniss has written a deeply reported generational biography teeming with fresh insights and revealing information, a masterly narrative drawn from hundreds of interviews, including with President Obama in the Oval Office, and a trove of letters, journals, diaries, and other documents. The book unfolds in the small towns of Kansas and the remote villages of western Kenya, following the personal struggles of Obama’s white and black ancestors through the swirl of the twentieth century. It is a roots story on a global scale, a saga of constant movement, frustration and accomplishment, strong women and weak men, hopes lost and deferred, people leaving and being left. Disparate family threads converge in the climactic chapters as Obama reaches adulthood and travels from Honolulu to Los Angeles to New York to Chicago, trying to make sense of his past, establish his own identity, and prepare for his political future. Barack Obama: The Story chronicles as never before the forces that shaped the first black president of the United States and explains why he thinks and acts as he does. Much like the author’s classic study of Bill Clinton, First in His Class, this promises to become a seminal book that will redefine a president.Tales from the Back Row: An Outsider's View from Inside the Fashion Industry
Par Amy Odell. 2016
A keenly observed collection of personal essays about what it’s like to be a young woman working in the fashion…
industry, Amy Odell’s Tales from the Back Row offers “a backstage pass to the intimidating, backbiting industry” (US Weekly).In the “funny, insightful” (Harper’s Bazaar) Tales from the Back Row, Cosmopolitan.com editor Amy Odell takes readers behind the stage of New York’s hottest fashion shows to meet the world’s most influential models, designers, celebrities, editors, and photographers. But first, she has to push her way through the crowds outside and weave her way through the packed venue, from the very back row to the front. And as Amy climbs the ladder (with tips about how you can, too), she introduces an industry powered by larger-than-life characters: she meets the intimidating Anna Wintour and the surprisingly gracious Rachel Zoe, not to mention the hilarious Chelsea Handler, and more. As she describes the allure of Alexander Wang’s ripped tights and Marchesa’s Oscar-worthy dresses, Amy layers in something else: how the fashion industry is an exaggerated mirror of human fallibility—reflecting our desperate desire to belong, to make a mark. In her “light-hearted, cocktail-hour confession from someone who is…sober enough to recognize insanity for what it is” (The Washington Post), Amy is the first to admit that as much as she is embarrassed by the thrill she gets when she receives an invitation to an exclusive after-party, she can’t help but RSVP “yes.” Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of high fashion: “Whether you’re interested in pursuing a career in publishing, public relations, or design, or you’re just fascinated with what really goes on behind-the-scenes without the usual sugarcoating, we’d say this is required reading” (Fashionista.com).The Civil War in London: Voices from the City
Par Robin Rowles. 1710
The Civil War years of the 1640s were amongst the most tumultuous in British history. The conflict between King Charles…
I and Parliament strained and split the social fabric of the British Isles. People of all classes who had previously coexisted peacefully found themselves opposing each other on political, religious, and economic grounds. Society was literally 'by the sword divided'.Much has been written on the subject to date. This book is different. London is its focus, with key players such as the Lord Mayor, the livery companies, the Church, and citizens, viewed through the city's lens and the streets around St Paul's and Cheapside. In looking at seemingly everyday events, unusual questions are raised: for example, where can you find a little known statue of Oliver Cromwell; what happened to the Cheapside Cross; who was Nemehiah Wallington and why was he important?The result of a London walk devised by the author, the books learned yet accessible approach will appeal to anyone interested in a new way of looking at a popular event in history. Bookended by the death of a Tudor queen and the beheading of a Stuart king, its chapters walk us through what happened in-between.Lawyers and Other Reptiles
Par Jess Brallier. 1992
A collection of criminally funny quotations, anecdotes, and jokes about the legal profession, ranging in hostility from gentle teasing to…
fierce loathing. People love to hate lawyers. You can&’t live with them, but you also can&’t live without them. So you may as well laugh at them, as we have for centuries. In Lawyers and Other Reptiles, Jess Brallier compiles some of history&’s most humorous quips, quotations, anecdotes, and jokes about those in the legal profession. Enjoy the wit of such notables as Clarence Darrow, Jay Leno, Groucho Marx, Richard Nixon, Richard Pryor, Will Rogers, Theodore Roosevelt, Carl Sandburg, William Shakespeare, and Mark Twain. This book is certain to entertain any client, relative, or friend of a lawyer—and perhaps garner a nod of recognition from those employed in the illustrious legal community.Cocktail Hour: A Mixer of Quips and Quotations
Par Jess Brallier, Sally Chabert. 1996
A collection of quotes on drinking from more than one hundred of the greatest thinkers (or drinkers) in history, sure…
to entertain, inspire, or enlighten. US President Herbert Hoover called the cocktail hour &“the pause between the errors and trials of the day and the hopes of the night.&” It&’s a period for relaxation, reflection, and, of course, socializing. Some of our greatest minds have observed the cocktail hour, enjoying a good, stiff drink and the stimulation, amusement, and insight it can offer. In Cocktail Hour: A Mixer of Quips and Quotations, Jess Brallier and Sally Chabert mix together quotations from more than one hundred luminaries. Sip the wit and wisdom instilled in these pages from the likes of Tallulah Bankhead, Winston S. Churchill, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fran Lebowitz, Dorothy Parker, George Bernard Shaw, Tom Waits, Tennessee Williams, and Gore Vidal. With this book, you&’ll find the ultimate literary accompaniment for those who enjoy a proper drink, a charming companion, and delightful banter. Bottoms up!If You Give a Man a Cookie: A Parody
Par Laura Joffe Numeroff. 2017
If you give a man a cookie...he's going to want milk to go with it...God forbid he should get it…
himself.If You Give a Man a Cookie is a woman&’s commentary about her helpless man and the chain of events that leads him on a journey from the bed to the bathroom to the couch and back to bed at nightfall.The best of the worst: these cartoons rejected by The New Yorker were deemed too dumb, too weird, or too…
naughty—but not for lack of laughs! Every week, hundreds and hundreds of cartoons pour into The New Yorker. Most are rejected. Doesn&’t matter how big a deal the cartoonist is, either. Roz Chast, David Sipress, Kim Warp, Sam gross, Ed Steed, Emily Flake, Navied Mahdavian, or Mary Lawton—if the work in question is too weird, too naughty, too juvenile, or too dark, it&’s out. Luckily for us, Matthew Diffee has been bravely sifting through the circular file to rescue the best of the worst. Here are 297 cartoons in a revised second edition featuring more than 50 new cartoons—even better, even worse! The cartoon set-ups may be familiar—a couple in bed, a few people stranded on a desert island, a doctor and patient in an examining room—but the joke are anything but, with twists so unexpected, you can&’t help but laugh out loud.101 Silly Easter Jokes for Kids
Par Editors of Ulysses Press. 2024
101 Silly Easter Jokes for Kids is filled with funny knock-knocks, egg-cellent puns, and delightful gut-busters that kids will love…
reading, sharing, and telling.Discover the ultimate laugh-out-loud joke book for kids that's all about celebrating Easter! Inside, kids will find clean, fun jokes like: What is the Easter Bunny's favorite state capital? Albunny, New York! What did the silly kid eat on Easter? Hot cross puns. Why did the Easter Bunny have to fire the assistant duck? Because he kept quacking all the eggs! What do you call a rabbit who works in a bakery? A yeaster bunny! What do you call a chocolate Easter bunny that was out in the sun too long? A runny bunny. . . . .And many more!Subculture Vulture: A Memoir in Six Scenes
Par Moshe Kasher. 2024
A &“hilarious&” (Dax Shepard), &“surprisingly emotional trip&” (The Chainsmokers) through deep American subcultures ranging from Burning Man to Alcoholics Anonymous,…
by the writer and comedian Moshe Kasher &“Part history lesson, part standup set and, often, part love letter . . . Kasher&’s ability to blend humor with homework works almost too well.&”—The New York TimesAfter bottoming out, being institutionalized, and getting sober all by the tender age of fifteen, Moshe Kasher found himself asking: &“What&’s next?&” Over the ensuing decades, he discovered the answer: a lot.There was his time as a boy-king of Alcoholics Anonymous, a kind of pubescent proselytizer for other teens getting and staying sober. He was a rave promoter turned DJ turned sober ecstasy dealer in San Francisco&’s techno warehouse party scene of the 1990s. For fifteen years he worked as a psychedelic security guard at Burning Man, fishing hippies out of hidden chambers they&’d constructed to try to sneak into the event. As a child of deaf parents, Kasher became deeply immersed in deaf culture and sign language interpretation, translating everything from end-of-life care to horny deaf clients&’ attempts to hire sex workers. He reconnects and tries to make peace with his ultra-Hasidic Jewish upbringing after the death of his father before finally settling into the comedy scene where he now makes his living.Each of these scenes gets a gonzo historiographical rundown before Kasher enters the narrative and tells the story of the lives he has spent careening from one to the next. A razor-sharp, gut-wrenchingly funny, and surprisingly moving tour of some of the most wildly distinct subcultures a person can experience, Subculture Vulture deftly weaves together memoir and propulsive cultural history. It&’s a story of finding your people, over and over again, in different settings, and of knowing without a doubt that wherever you are is where you&’re supposed to be.Standing His Ground: The Inside Story of Ron Desantis's Rise and Battle for Freedom
Par Richard Corcoran. 2023
Contrary to what the mainstream media has claimed, Florida under Ron DeSantis has become the home for freedom and individual…
liberty.At the onset of the pandemic, political leaders throughout the country were forced to quickly make significant decisions about how they would govern under extraordinary circumstances. A number of these decisions simply required instinct—they just had to come from the gut. There was little, if any, precedent to examine, and hardly any time for the usual gambits to test potential solutions. One person became a household name and a national hero for having made what proved to be the best decisions over and over: Ron DeSantis, the 46th governor of Florida. However, not surprisingly, his success also begot wrath. A patriot to millions of everyday Americans is often a &“tyrant&” to progressive elites. Other than perhaps former President Donald Trump, DeSantis was and remains the most vilified elected official in media, politics, entertainment, academia, and now the corporate world. Conservatives know full well this means he hit the bullseye. Now that more than two years have passed, the American people are able to clearly see whose decisions struck the proper balance between liberty and safety. There&’s no denying that DeSantis&’s influence soared as the world watched him successfully steer his state step by step through one of the greatest periods of turmoil and uncertainty in modern history. While many other states floundered, Florida didn&’t just survive—it flourished.Why Unicorn Drinks
Par C. W. Moss. 2013
Unicorns are just like us. They have problems, stresses, and like to blow off some steam. Author and illustrator C.…
W. Moss explores the inner psyche of the single-horned in Why Unicorn Drinks.A follow-up to Unicorn Being a Jerk, this volume of 67 four-color illustrations and captions gives readers a glimpse into the sad reality of life as a mythical creature, and reveals what drives Unicorn to the bottle.As fans of Moss' online comic undoubtedly know, Why Unicorn Drinks pours a double-shot of laughter and irreverence. You'll never look at a unicorn the same way again.Congratulations, Who Are You Again?: A Memoir
Par Harrison Scott Key. 2018
“Consistently funny…Congratulations, Who Are You Again? will have readers looking for more from this talented author. — Kirkus Reviews“A keenly…
observed account of the publishing process…Hilarious and illuminating.” — Booklist“In his second act, he takes you through his process of realizing that dream with charm and wit, offering entertainment and practical insight for anyone with a seemingly pie-in-the-sky wish list.” — Good HousekeepingThe Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir
Par John Bolton. 2020
As President Trump&’s National Security Advisor, John Bolton spent many of his 453 days in the room where it happened,…
and the facts speak for themselves. The result is a White House memoir that is the most comprehensive and substantial account of the Trump Administration, and one of the few to date by a top-level official. With almost daily access to the President, John Bolton has produced a precise rendering of his days in and around the Oval Office. What Bolton saw astonished him: a President for whom getting reelected was the only thing that mattered, even if it meant endangering or weakening the nation. &“I am hard-pressed to identify any significant Trump decision during my tenure that wasn&’t driven by reelection calculations,&” he writes. In fact, he argues that the House committed impeachment malpractice by keeping its prosecution focused narrowly on Ukraine when Trump&’s Ukraine-like transgressions existed across the full range of his foreign policy—and Bolton documents exactly what those were, and attempts by him and others in the Administration to raise alarms about them. He shows a President addicted to chaos, who embraced our enemies and spurned our friends, and was deeply suspicious of his own government. In Bolton&’s telling, all this helped put Trump on the bizarre road to impeachment. &“The differences between this presidency and previous ones I had served were stunning,&” writes Bolton, who worked for Reagan, Bush 41, and Bush 43. He discovered a President who thought foreign policy is like closing a real estate deal—about personal relationships, made-for-TV showmanship, and advancing his own interests. As a result, the US lost an opportunity to confront its deepening threats, and in cases like China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea ended up in a more vulnerable place. Bolton&’s account starts with his long march to the West Wing as Trump and others woo him for the National Security job. The minute he lands, he has to deal with Syria&’s chemical attack on the city of Douma, and the crises after that never stop. As he writes in the opening pages, &“If you don&’t like turmoil, uncertainty, and risk—all the while being constantly overwhelmed with information, decisions to be made, and sheer amount of work—and enlivened by international and domestic personality and ego conflicts beyond description, try something else.&” The turmoil, conflicts, and egos are all there—from the upheaval in Venezuela, to the erratic and manipulative moves of North Korea&’s Kim Jong Un, to the showdowns at the G7 summits, the calculated warmongering by Iran, the crazy plan to bring the Taliban to Camp David, and the placating of an authoritarian China that ultimately exposed the world to its lethal lies. But this seasoned public servant also has a great eye for the Washington inside game, and his story is full of wit and wry humor about how he saw it played.Do spiders sleep? Why are barns red? Why is there a crescent moon on outhouse doors? Are zebras white with…
black stripes or black with white stripes?As the Xerox Corporation's official webmaster, Bill McLain often fielded as many as 1,000 questions a day on just about everything under the sun -- and beyond. The wildest, funniest, and even most astute are collected here (along with their answers) in McLain's second volume that's as fascinating and enlightening as his first, Do Fish Drink Water? A "veritable Internet legend known for having all the answers" (San Francisco Chronicle), McLain explains what keeps squirrels from toppling off telephone wires; why the skin on your fingers and toes shrivels up in the water; how seedless watermelons are created; and more. Whether it's animal, vegetable, mineral, or something completely different, the answer is bound to be as interesting as the question itself, and certain to satisfy the trivia hound in everyone.Daughter of Destiny: An Autobiography
Par Benazir Bhutto. 1953
Daughter of Destiny, the autobiography of Benazir Bhutto, is a historical document of uncommon passion and courage, the dramatic story…
of a brilliant, beautiful woman whose life was, up to her tragic assassination in 2007, inexorably tied to her nation's tumultuous history. Bhutto writes of growing up in a family of legendary wealth and near-mythic status, a family whose rich heritage survives in tales still passed from generation to generation. She describes her journey from this protected world onto the volatile stage of international politics through her education at Radcliffe and Oxford, the sudden coup that plunged her family into a prolonged nightmare of threats and torture, her father's assassination by General Zia ul-Haq in 1979, and her grueling experience as a political prisoner in solitary confinement. With candor and courage, Benazir Bhutto recounts her triumphant political rise from her return to Pakistan from exile in 1986 through the extraordinary events of 1988: the mysterious death of Zia; her party's long struggle to ensure free elections; and finally, the stunning mandate that propelled her overnight into the ranks of the world's most powerful, influential leaders.