Friday, January 17, 2014

New Biographies


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
An Astronaut’s Guide To Life On Earth by Chris Hadfield
Hadfield takes readers into his years of training and space exploration to show how to make the impossible possible. He developed an unconventional philosophy at NASA: Prepare for the worst-- and enjoy every moment of it. By thinking like an astronaut, you can change the way you view life on Earth-- especially your own. –Summary.
 
Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
“In 1967, after a session with a psychiatrist she'd never seen before, eighteen-year-old Susanna Kaysen was put in a taxi and sent to McLean Hospital. She spent most of the next two years on the ward for teenage girls in a psychiatric hospital as renowned for its famous clientele--Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell, James Taylor, and Ray Charles--as for its progressive methods of treating those who could afford its sanctuary. Kaysen's memoir encompasses horror and razor-edged perception while providing vivid portraits of her fellow patients and their keepers. It is a brilliant evocation of a "parallel universe" set within the kaleidoscopically shifting landscape of the late sixties. Girl, Interrupted is a clear-sighted, unflinching document that gives lasting and specific dimension to our definitions of sane and insane, mental illness and recovery.” –Back cover.
 
In Search of R. B. Bennett by P. B. Waite
This biography of R.B. Bennett explores the statesmanship, ideas, and temperament of Canada's eleventh prime minister, presenting an enigmatic portrait of a difficult and fascinating man.
 
Love, Hope, Optimism by James Turk and Charis Wahl
“In this book, co-editors James L. Turk and Charis Wahl have gathered stories and anecdotes about Jack Layton from a wide range of people who knew him at different stages during his life and career. These contributions offer an engaging and informal biographical portrait of Jack as a young man in Hudson, Quebec, as a lecturer at Ryerson University, as a Toronto city councillor, and as the leader of the NDP.” –Back cover.
 
Marjorie Too Afraid To Cry: A Home Child Experience by Patricia Skidmore
In 1937, 10-year-old Marjorie Arnison was shipped from Britain to Prince of Wales Fairbridge Farm School near Victoria, British Columbia. For years she wouldn't talk about her past. It wasn't until daughter Patricia explored archival records and shared them with her mother that a home-child saga emerged. –Summary.
 
My Story by Elizabeth Smart
Ten years after her abduction from her Salt Lake City bedroom, Elizabeth Smart's powerful memoir reveals how she survived and the secret to forging a new life in the wake of a brutal crime. –Summary.
 
Nation Builders: Barnardo Children in Canada by Gail Corbett
"This book unmasks one of the greatest human interest stories in Canadian history: the emigration of tens of thousands of children from Britain, from the late 1800s to the early 1900s, to become home children in Canada. Through first-hand accounts and archived materials, Corbett sensitively and accurately records the pilgrimage of the children who, against great odds, proved that Canada was the Promised Land. Today Barnardo Children and their descendants are legion, and they are counted among Canada's greatest nation builders.” –Publisher.    
 
Props On Her Sleeve by Mary Buch
"A first-hand account of the experiences of a young Canadian airwoman who served both in Canada and on overseas duty, this series of 150 letters brings home the day-to-day immediacy of life in uniform during the Second World War.  Moments of hilarity interspersed with impatience and frustration are recorded verbatim, along with an underlying sense of urgency about winning a war." –Publisher.
 
Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis by Robert Kennedy
During the thirteen days in October 1962 when the United States confronted the Soviet Union over its installation of missiles in Cuba, few people shared the behind-the-scenes story as it is told here by the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy. In a clear and simple record, he describes the personalities involved in the crisis, with particular attention to the actions and attitudes of his brother, President John F. Kennedy. He describes the daily, even hourly, exchanges between Russian representatives and American.