Collection: Biography & Memoir

Great journalism relies on a narrative arc to engage and inform the reader. Stories Can Save Us looks at how the best reporters and writers craft narrative literary journalism. Journalist Matt Tullis uses the material he gathered in the more than seventy-five interviews he conducted with the best narrative and literary journalists in the country through his podcast, Gangrey: The Podcast, to show how these professionals conceive and writesuch compelling stories.

Through his podcast, Tullis interviewed Pulitzer Prizewinners, National Magazine Awardwinners, and many authors of books of narrative journalism, including New York Times best-selling authors. He also spoke with reporters of different races and backgrounds, styles and strengths--journalists who have been published in the most prestigious newspapers and magazines--to ask: How do they find story ideas? How do they reach out to potential story subjects? What are their interviewstrategies? How do they conduct other information gathering? How do they come up with their amazing and enticing leads? How do they develop story structure? How does the story change in the revision process? How do they make their stories great and make them into the types of stories that people read and talk about for years?

Through Tullis's conversations with these top-tier journalists, we are offered a window into their methods and practices as well as the motivations behind great journalism and how it speaks to the cultural climate of its time. Tullis's goal was to expand the power and potential of what amazing reporting and narrative writing can do, believing that it can literally change a reader's mood and, possibly, a reader's life.

From the creator of Finding Cooper's Voice comes a powerful memoir about motherhood and unconditional love

Now updated with an afterword from the author

Kate Swenson's oldest son, Cooper, was diagnosed with nonverbal autism when he was three years old. Kate had always dreamed of having the perfect family and wasn't prepared for raising a child with a disability. Over the years, she felt the frustration and exhaustion from having to fight for your child in a world stacked against them. But through hard work, resilience and personal growth, she learned that Cooper wasn't the one who needed to change. She was.

It was this transformation that led Kate to acceptance--and ultimately joy. Because of Cooper, Kate became the person and the mother she was truly meant to be. Now she offers support and connection to others on this path. In Forever Boy, she shares her inspiring journey with honesty and compassion, illuminating the strength and perseverance of mothers.

Discover the hidden stories of tarot and divination--traced through the lives and contributions of Lady Frieda Harris, Marie Anne Lenormand, Pamela Colman Smith, and Rachel Pollack--in this vividly illustrated popular history of the cards.

Tarot's storied history takes us from the highest circles of Italian Renaissance society through to present day card creators. And throughout that time, women have been the primary drivers of both artistic and magical innovation in the form, though they haven't always been given adequate credit for doing so. Now, for the first time, readers can explore the lives and work of some of the women who have brought us the word's most popular divinatory art.

In Women of Tarot celebrated artist and author Cat Willett traces the lives of four women who have pioneered work in tarot and divination. There is Lady Frieda Harris, the nineteenth century British artist and mystic who created the Thoth Tarot with the occultist Aleister Crowley, and Marie Anne Lenormand, the most celebrated fortune teller of eighteenth century France, who brought card reading to the masses. Then readers will meet Pamela Colman Smith, the iconic cross-continental artist whose illustrations adorn the world's most popular tarot deck--the Rider-Waite-Smith Deck--and finally Rachel Pollack, the trans woman responsible for creating scores of decks in her lifetime, as she strove to make tarot an art that was inclusive of all practitioners, especially the LGBTQIA+ community.

Woven throughout is a timeline of the development of tarot, as well as miniature profiles of women from cultures around the world whose work has impacted divination and fortune telling, including Nefertiti, Voodoo Queen of New Orleans Marie Laveau, author Zora Neale Hurston, and contemporary artist Nanse Kawashima.

Experience the extraordinary career of "The Boss" with this richly illustrated package featuring two gatefolds, exclusive pullout poster, 8" × 10" glossy, and a sturdy slipcase.

Twenty-time Grammy winner, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, and best-selling author...Bruce Springsteen is, of course, also one of rock's most revered songwriters and performers. In Bruce Springsteen at 75, veteran rock journalist Gillian G. Gaar reveals this rock icon through 75 career releases, performances, and accolades. This exquisite volume features:

• Slipcased hardcover format
• Stunning concert and candid offstage photography
• Images of memorabilia, including gig posters, vinyl record sleeves, ticket stubs, period ads, and more
• Gatefold Bruce Springsteen timeline
• Unpublished 8" × 10" photo
• An exclusive pullout poster

Through seven-and-a-half decades, Gaar covers it all:

• Bruce's childhood in New Jersey and early garage bands, The Castiles and Steel Mill
• All 20 studio albums, including those with the E Street Band and as a solo artist
• A selection of his greatest singles, like the rock standards "Born to Run," "Hungry Heart," and "Born in the U.S.A."
• Relationships with notable bandmates Steven Van Zandt and the late Clarence Clemons
• Legendary gigs, from his early residency at New York's The Bottom Line to his longest ever concert to his more recent Broadway show
• His relationship with wife and bandmate, Patti Scialfa
• Awards like his Rock Hall induction and the Presidential Medal of Freedom
• ...and much more

Beginning with his 1973 debut LP Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and continuing through his latest release and tour, Bruce Springsteen is one of the most beloved performers and musicians in rock 'n' roll history, influencing countless acts for decades.

This book is your unprecedented retrospective of The Boss's career, from teenage Jersey garage rocker to international star and celebrity.

Wangari Maathai, winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize and founder of the Green Belt Movement, grew up in the highlands of Kenya, where fig trees cloaked the hills, fish filled the streams, and the people tended their bountiful gardens. But over many years, as more and more land was cleared, Kenya was transformed. When Wangari returned home from college in America, she found the village gardens dry, the people malnourished, and the trees gone. How could she alone bring back the trees and restore the gardens and the people?

Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature, says: "Wangari Maathai's epic story has never been told better--everyone who reads this book will want to plant a tree!"

With glowing watercolor illustrations and lyrical prose, Claire Nivola tells the remarkable story of one woman's effort to change the fate of her land by teaching many to care for it. An author's note provides further information about Wangari Maathai and the Green Belt Movement. In keeping with the theme of the story, the book is printed on recycled paper.

Mic check! Learn your opposites with Biggie Smalls in the Legends of Hip-Hop board book series.

In this accessible series perfectly crafted for babies (and adult fans), music producer Pen Ken and 3x Emmy Award-nominated animation director Saxton Moore introduce mini emcees to some of hip-hop's biggest and brightest luminaries with fun facts about each rapper, organized by a teachable concept.

In this book, children will meet Biggie and learn all about opposites!

Check out other books in the series, including Legends of Hip-Hop: 2Pac and Legends of Hip-Hop: Queen Latifah.

From the critically acclaimed artist, designer, and author of the bestsellers The Principles of Uncertainty, My Favorite Things, and Women Holding Things comes a moving meditation in words and pictures on remorse, joy, ancestry, and memory.

Maira Kalman's most autobiographical and intimate work to date, Still Life with Remorse is a beautiful, four-color collection combining deeply personal stories and 50 striking full-color paintings in the vein of her and Alex Kalman's acclaimed Women Holding Things.

Tracing her family's story from her grandfather's birth in Belarus and emigration to Tel Aviv--where she was born--Maira considers her unique family history, illuminating the complex relationship between recollection, regret, happiness, and heritage. The vibrant original art accompanying these autobiographical pieces are mostly still lifes and interiors which serve as counterpoints to her powerful words. In addition to vignettes exploring her Israeli and Jewish roots, Kalman includes short stories about other great artists, writers, and composers, including Leo Tolstoy, Franz Kafka, Gustav Mahler, and Robert Schumann.

Through these narratives, Kalman uses her signature wit and tenderness to reveal how family history plays an influential role in all of our work, lives, and perspectives. A feat of visual storytelling and vulnerability, Still Life with Remorse explores the profound hidden in the quotidian, and illuminates the powerful universal truths in our most personal family stories.

The story of the visionary young widow who built a champagne empire, showed the world how to live with style, and emerged a legend

Veuve Clicquot champagne epitomizes glamour, style, and luxury. But who was this young widow--the Veuve Clicquot--whose champagne sparkled at the courts of France, Britain, and Russia, and how did she rise to celebrity and fortune?

In "The Widow Clicquot," Tilar J. Mazzeo brings to life--for the first time--the fascinating woman behind the iconic yellow label: Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin. A young witness to the dramatic events of the French Revolution and a new widow during the chaotic years of the Napoleonic Wars, Barbe-Nicole defied convention by assuming--after her husband's death--the reins of the fledgling wine business they had nurtured. Steering the company through dizzying political and financial reversals, she became one of the world's first great businesswomen and one of the richest women of her time.

Although the Widow Clicquot is still a legend in her native France, her story has never been told in all its richness--until now. Painstakingly researched and elegantly written, "The Widow Clicquot" provides a glimpse into the life of a woman who arranged clandestine and perilous champagne deliveries to Russia one day and entertained Napoleon and Josephine Bonaparte on another. She was a daring and determined entrepreneur, a bold risk taker, and an audacious and intelligent woman who took control of her own destiny when fate left her on the brink of financial ruin. Her legacy lives on today, not simply through the famous product that still bears her name, but now through Mazzeo's finely crafted book. As much a fascinating journey through the process of making this temperamental wine as a biography of a uniquely tempered woman, "The Widow Clicquot" is utterly intoxicating.

Tuned In is an inspiring story of one man's relentless pursuit of a dream, and a revealing testimony to the power of music in all our lives.
The unique confluence of Jim Wilson's two careers - piano technician/confidant to the stars and a globally successful recording artist - has led to extraordinary experiences with some of the world's most exalted music legends: singing Beatle songs with Paul McCartney, limo rides with Elton John, road trips with Carole King, and horseback riding with Dan Fogelberg. But beyond this everyman's unique telling of intimate celebrity tales, Tuned In is an inspiring story of one man's relentless pursuit of a dream, and a revealing testimony to the power of music in all our lives.
Emerging from a troubled childhood in a broken West Texas home, a young man moves to Los Angeles to pursue fame and fortune as a singer-songwriter. He soon strays from his mission when his piano tuning sideline blossoms into a career as piano technician to the entertainment industry's biggest names. His help in the development of the world's first MIDI-adapter for acoustic piano leads to him sharing adventures, sessions, meals, and laughs with dozens of his childhood heroes. His front row seat provides him with a rare and fascinating view into their creative processes.
But when his world is shattered by his dearest friend's sudden and untimely death, he is forced to question the true meaning of success. He returns to his heart's purpose, takes a leap into the unknown, and sets out on a solo career, recording and performing his signature style of piano-featured instrumentals. Along the way he battles countless obstacles, including crippling panic attacks.
After four Billboard Top-20 albums, two PBS specials, and over 75 million worldwide streams of his compositions, Jim reflects on his life in music. He offers us a candid, humorous, insider's account of the raucous LA scene and shares engaging tales of his time spent with music legends.
Tuned In is an inspiring story of one man's relentless pursuit of a dream, and a revealing testimony to the power of music in all our lives.

"With honesty, self-awareness, and plenty of humor, Joshua Gonzales delivers a life-affirming memoir about seeing the beauty in painful experiences, standing strong against adversity, and staying positive no matter what life may throw our way."

- Daniel Aleman, author of INDIVISIBLE

"Keep Sweet is filled with uplifting, thoughtful, and easily digestible bits of good advice. Joshua Gonzales shares how he jump-started his own life with kindness, positivity, and a blazing streak of gay. YA readers will be eager to get their lives started after reading this enthusiastic road map."

- Richie Jackson, author of Gay Like Me: A Father Writes to His Son

"In his memoir Keep Sweet, Joshua has created a charming booster shot to the soul for young adults everywhere. He exudes an irrepressible optimism as he recounts tales of his life transition from an awkward Texas teen in a large Latine family to an out and proud, married gay actor working in New York City. But he also delivers the important messages of diversity, love, and inclusion that the world sorely needs right now. This book is a must-read for all queerlings and those that love them!"

- Britt East, author of A Gay Man's Guide to Life

Keep Sweet: My Homemade Recipe for a Fulfilling Gay Life tells how a Mexican-American kid, raised in the small town of Huntsville, Texas, kept believing in his innate fabulousness, and how that led him to finding a secret same-sex romance while attending a private Baptist university, then to being thrust into working with his Broadway idols minutes after stepping foot into New York City. Joshua Gonzales rolls out his own inspiring life story, peppered with wit, enthusiasm, and wry, tough-love advice.

This is no Misery Memoir. Through tough lessons learned, Joshua shows that, with your own foresight and self-determination, you can skirt the path of potential misery, while keeping your humor and optimism intact. And may we all help the next generation of queer youth grow into the out, proud, empathetic, kind, and powerful adults they were born to be.

Based in New York City, Joshua Gonzales is a Mexican-American performer and content creator best known for Guest Star and Co-Star roles on ABC, Lifetime, CNN, and theatre credits Off-Broadway, on National Tours, and on regional stages across America. For six years, Joshua served as a company member and communications associate for Third Rail Projects, the premier immersive theatre company based in New York City. Joshua holds a bachelor of fine arts degree in theatre performance.

When not working, Joshua loves spending time with his husband making espresso martinis or hunting down the latest new pastry treat in the city. You can often find Joshua in the gym, blasting Mariah Carey through his earbuds.

How do you find yourself when you've been given the wrong directions?

Jason is a backwoods boy with problems. Being gay in Alabama is hard enough, but God hates him and one of his classmates wants him dead. He dreams of escaping to California, but life sends him on an unexpected detour to Alaska first.

This witty, unflinchingly candid memoir steps into his uncomfortable shoes as he grows up and tries to find himself in the sinful world of sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll, and love. He travels from Alabama to Alaska to California and back, before realizing he might've been looking for the wrong person.

A Normal Person Doing Normal Things is ultimately a hilarious exploration of identity, freedom, and what it means to be a human.

The life story of an aristocratic Scottish trans man and the secret 1968 legal case that provides "a fascinating look into the changing landscape of trans rights" (Library Journal) throughout history.

Ewan Forbes was born to a wealthy, landowning family, holders of a baronetcy, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in 1912. Assigned female at birth, his true identity was nevertheless clear even in childhood--and so, with the support of his mother, he was taken to European specialists and eventually treated with early preparations of synthetic testosterone. Raised as a boy at home but socially obliged to present himself as a girl in public until his official coming out to the Queen, Ewan grew up, became a doctor, and got married. (This required him to correct the sex on his birth certificate, which was possible at that time without much fuss.) For decades, he lived a quiet life as a husband, doctor, and a pillar of the local community.

But in 1965, Ewan's older brother died unexpectedly--leaving Ewan, the next oldest man in the family, to inherit the baronetcy. When his cousin John--spurred on by Ewan's sister--contested the inheritance he was forced to defend his male status in Scotland's supreme civil court, where he prevailed.

This hugely important case would have changed the lives of trans people across the world--had it not been hidden. The hearing was conducted privately, the media were gagged, and those involved were sworn to secrecy. The case remained unknown until 1996 and is at last described here, along with the life of Ewan Forbes, for the first time. Enlightening and galvanizing, The Hidden Case of Ewan Forbes is a "remarkable...vital historical reference" (Booklist) for transgender history and the ongoing struggle for trans rights.

From a multiple-award-winning cartoonist, Noah Van Sciver, comes Maple Terrace, a new autobiographical graphic novel. Based on the author's childhood, Maple Terrace unfolds a tale of big money comic-collecting craze of the early 90s as seen from the ground floor. In a time when superheroes were oversized, adorned with massive guns, and countless pouches, comic books were currency! Young investors struggled to collect every cover gimmick under the sun--embossed-metallic ink-holographic foil--hoping they someday would pay for their college education. Brutally hilarious, Maple Terrace shines a light on the strange intersection between poverty and speculative comic book craze of the 90s.

The untold story of the world's most famous X-rated star, who rose to fame as the face of Ivory Snow and the star of Behind the Green Door but struggled to find her true self in a world of sex, scandal, and shattered dreams.

Marilyn Chambers was the embodiment of the free-spirited Seventies, the world's most famous X-rated star, and an unappreciated talent whose work in adult films hindered her dreams of becoming a serious actress. Raised in an affluent Connecticut suburb, Marilyn catapulted to fame when it was learned that not only had she starred in the groundbreaking X-rated film, Behind the Green Door but was also the model on the box of Ivory Snow laundry detergent (product tagline: "99 44/100% Pure.")

Marilyn was the first woman known primarily for her work in adult films to cross over to mainstream entertainment. She sustained a versatile three-decade career in entertainment, including roles in dramatic plays, a Broadway musical revue, her own television show, and the lead role in David Cronenberg's film Rabid. But her success in adult films also proved to be her undoing. Marred by a violent relationship with her abusive husband-manager, Chuck Traynor, she developed the persona of a twenty-four-hour-a-day sex star. In the process, she lost her sense of self and spent much of her life searching for her true identity. With recollections from family and friends, many of whom have never spoken publicly, along with Marilyn's own words, and never-before-published photos, Jared Stearns vividly captures the revolutionary career of one of the twentieth century's most misunderstood icons.

Searching reflections on the crisis in Israel and Gaza by a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian of the Holocaust

Diary of a Crisis explores the past tumultuous and traumatic year in Israel-Palestine. The eminent historian Saul Friedländer began a diary of Israeli politics in January 2023 as the country was convulsed by protests against Netanyahu's attempt to overhaul the judiciary.

Hundreds of thousands took to the streets to demonstrate against this threat to democracy. But the protests said nothing about the Palestinian question-the elephant in the room, according to Friedländer, who resumed his diary on the eve of Hamas's October 7 assault on southern Israel. Israel was facing one of the worst crises in its history, he observes, under the worst possible internal conditions.

Diary of a Crisis weaves together profound reflections on the history of the country in the life of which Friedlander was an active participant. He memorably describes how Prime Minister Golda Meir once flatly declared to him, "there is no Palestinian people." For Friedländer, on the other hand, the fight for democracy is inseparable from equality of treatment for Arab and Jewish citizens and an end to Israeli domination over Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. Despite the continuing bloodshed, Friedländer argues that a two-state solution remains only the long-term answer to this most intractable of conflicts.

"A bicycle is a machine that you power yourself. You decide where you want to go," writes cartoonist Powerpaola, as the guiding principle of this graphic memoir. All My Bicycles is a story that never really begins, existing all at once in Paola's memory. The book illustrates Powerpaola's relationships through her many bicycles: in fragments, it takes her back to her great loves and losses, friendships, and disappointments.

In remembering a bicycle, a manhole, an alligator, or a necklace, Powerpaola reflects upon these items in her consciousness without finding a concrete solution. Paola's memories arrive abruptly and leave just as fast, creating a pathway through herself she can only find in moving forward. All My Bicycles is a glimpse into how exploring these fleeting tangible moments -- of physical objects, of traveling and seeing a new city, of even the end of a relationship -- is an exploration of self.