The Torch Singer Book Two An Almost Perfect Ending

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The Torch Singer, Book Two

Author : Robert Westbrook
Publisher : Swan's Nest Canada
ISBN 13 : 9781926499024
Total Pages : 298 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (99 download)

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Book Synopsis The Torch Singer, Book Two by : Robert Westbrook

Download or read book The Torch Singer, Book Two written by Robert Westbrook and published by Swan's Nest Canada. This book was released on 2014-09-15 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "An Almost Perfect Ending" is book two in "The Torch Singer" trilogy, Robert Westbrook's epic Hollywood Thriller series. ""'An Almost Perfect Ending' ranks alongside the best Hollywood noir. It takes the reader on a journey which leads relentlessly towards a final, fatal conclusion."" "Daily Mail" "Book Two, An Almost Perfect Ending" opens with sultry heroine Sonya Saint-Amant at the height of her career-a glittering, triumphant appearance at Ciro's, the clubhouse for the stars in 1950s Hollywood where everyone wants to claim her as their friend. But in 1954, popular music is undergoing a revolution in which all but the biggest stars will be cast aside. With her looks and popularity fading, Sonya believes she has come up with the perfect plan to save her career...if only she can maneuver a tricky path through the many dangers that beset her, a vortex of politics, sex, blackmail, and murder... ""Pacy and unstoppable, the second book in the "The Torch Singer" series takes over where the first left off, grabbing your wrist, tugging you along, refusing to let go."" "Evening Standard" ""'The Torch Singer' exposes the fragility of fame. The higher the edifice the greater the risk that some element of deep-set animal emotion or human baseness will bring everything crashing down...and watching it happen is not just compulsive-it's addictive and unmissable."" "Event Magazine" ""Robert Westbrook is a born storyteller and a bit of a magician."" Ally Sheedy Ambition, blackmail, murder..."THE TORCH SINGER" is an unforgettable journey through the shadowlands of fame.

An Almost Perfect Ending

Author : Robert Westbrook
Publisher : Speaking Volumes
ISBN 13 : 1645404714
Total Pages : 301 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (454 download)

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Book Synopsis An Almost Perfect Ending by : Robert Westbrook

Download or read book An Almost Perfect Ending written by Robert Westbrook and published by Speaking Volumes. This book was released on with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Robert Westbrook Author of the Howard Moon Deer Mysteries An Almost Perfect Ending, Book Two, in The Torch Singer trilogy, Robert Westbrook's epic Hollywood Mystery series. "An Almost Perfect Ending ranks alongside the best Hollywood noir. It takes the reader on a journey which leads relentlessly towards a final, fatal conclusion." An Almost Perfect Ending opens with sultry heroine Sonya Saint-Amant at the height of her career—a glittering, triumphant appearance at Ciro’s, the clubhouse for the stars in 1950’s Hollywood where everyone wants to claim her as their friend. But in 1954, popular music is undergoing a revolution in which all but the biggest stars will be cast aside. With her looks and popularity fading, Sonya believes she has come up with the perfect plan to save her career . . . if only she can maneuver a tricky path through the many dangers that beset her, a vortex of politics, sex, blackmail, and murder. . . "Pacy and unstoppable, the second book in the The Torch Singer series takes over where the first left off, grabbing your wrist, tugging you along, refusing to let go." —Evening Standard "The Torch Singer exposes the fragility of fame. The higher the edifice the greater the risk that some element of deep-set animal emotion or human baseness will bring everything crashing down . . . and watching it happen is not just compulsive—it's addictive and unmissable." —Evening Magazine "Robert Westbrook is a born storyteller and a bit of a magician." —Ally Sheedy Ambition, blackmail, murder . . . THE TORCH SINGER is an unforgettable journey through the shadowlands of fame.

The Torch Singer, Book Two: An Almost Perfect Ending

Author : Robert Westbrook
Publisher : Swan's Nest Canada
ISBN 13 : 1926499034
Total Pages : 232 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (264 download)

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Book Synopsis The Torch Singer, Book Two: An Almost Perfect Ending by : Robert Westbrook

Download or read book The Torch Singer, Book Two: An Almost Perfect Ending written by Robert Westbrook and published by Swan's Nest Canada. This book was released on 2014-09-14 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Book Two in Robert Westbrook's epic "Hollywood Noir" Torch Singer Thriller series. “An Almost Perfect Ending ranks alongside the best Hollywood noir. It takes the reader on a journey which leads relentlessly towards a final, fatal conclusion.” Daily Mail Book Two, An Almost Perfect Ending opens with sultry heroine Sonya Saint-Amant at the height of her career—a glittering, triumphant appearance at Ciro’s, the clubhouse for the stars in 1950s Hollywood where everyone wants to claim her as their friend. But in 1954, popular music is undergoing a revolution in which all but the biggest stars will be cast aside. With her looks and popularity fading, Sonya believes she has come up with the perfect plan to save her career . . . if only she can maneuver a tricky path through the many dangers that beset her, a vortex of politics, sex, blackmail, and murder . . . “Pacy and unstoppable, the second book in the The Torch Singer series takes over where the first left off, grabbing your wrist, tugging you along, refusing to let go.” Evening Standard “The Torch Singer exposes the fragility of fame. The higher the edifice the greater the risk that some element of deep-set animal emotion or human baseness will bring everything crashing down . . . and watching it happen is not just compulsive—it’s addictive and unmissable.” Event Magazine “Robert Westbrook is a born storyteller and a bit of a magician.” Ally Sheedy Ambition, blackmail, murder . . . THE TORCH SINGER is an unforgettable journey through the shadowlands of fame.

The Torch Singer, Book One: An Overnight Sensation

Author : Robert Westbrook
Publisher : Swan's Nest Canada
ISBN 13 : 1926499018
Total Pages : 295 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (264 download)

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Book Synopsis The Torch Singer, Book One: An Overnight Sensation by : Robert Westbrook

Download or read book The Torch Singer, Book One: An Overnight Sensation written by Robert Westbrook and published by Swan's Nest Canada. This book was released on with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Robert Westbrook’s novel strips the gilt off the Hollywood Golden Age to reveal the seamier underside. The Torch Singer begins with an ending, a scene of murder and mayhem on St. Valentine’s Night in 1956 Beverly Hills and unravels the many and various threads of the lives and careers that took them there.” Time Out The Torch Singer is a sweeping historical saga that takes the reader from the horrors of Nazi-occupied Poland to the glittery excesses of Hollywood in the 1940’s and 50’s: the rise and fall of Sonya Saint-Amant, a singer who schemes her way to fame and glory breaking all the rules. Book One, An Overnight Sensation, charts the rise of Sonya from the age of 17 in 1940, a girl dreaming of being an understudy at the Krakow Opera when Nazis raid the theater. After witnessing the summary execution of her mother by German soldiers she escapes Poland and makes her way to London. Using guile and beauty, she finds passage to America in 1943 on the Mauretania, a dangerous North Atlantic crossing on a troop ship full of men. As the ship steams north into Arctic waters evading enemy submarines, Sonya almost wins at a high-stakes game of love . . . only to arrive in New York alone and desperate but determined to become a star. “A masterpiece of storytelling. A book of constant intrigue which from the outset creates that delicious paradox of it being immediately clear that nothing is ever quite as it seems.” Daily Mail “Robert Westbrook is a born storyteller and a bit of a magician.” Ally Sheedy The Torch Singer is an unforgettable journey through the shadowlands of fame.

An Almost Perfect Ending

Author : Robert Westbrook
Publisher : Speaking Volumes
ISBN 13 : 9781645404729
Total Pages : 418 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (47 download)

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Book Synopsis An Almost Perfect Ending by : Robert Westbrook

Download or read book An Almost Perfect Ending written by Robert Westbrook and published by Speaking Volumes. This book was released on 2021-05-28 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Author of the Howard Moon Deer Mysteries An Almost Perfect Ending, Book Two, in The Torch Singer trilogy, Robert Westbrook's epic Hollywood Mystery series. "An Almost Perfect Ending ranks alongside the best Hollywood noir. It takes the reader on a journey which leads relentlessly towards a final, fatal conclusion." An Almost Perfect Ending opens with sultry heroine Sonya Saint-Amant at the height of her career-a glittering, triumphant appearance at Ciro's, the clubhouse for the stars in 1950's Hollywood where everyone wants to claim her as their friend. But in 1954, popular music is undergoing a revolution in which all but the biggest stars will be cast aside. With her looks and popularity fading, Sonya believes she has come up with the perfect plan to save her career . . . if only she can maneuver a tricky path through the many dangers that beset her, a vortex of politics, sex, blackmail, and murder. . . "Pacy and unstoppable, the second book in the The Torch Singer series takes over where the first left off, grabbing your wrist, tugging you along, refusing to let go." -Evening Standard "The Torch Singer exposes the fragility of fame. The higher the edifice the greater the risk that some element of deep-set animal emotion or human baseness will bring everything crashing down . . . and watching it happen is not just compulsive-it's addictive and unmissable." -Evening Magazine "Robert Westbrook is a born storyteller and a bit of a magician." -Ally Sheedy Ambition, blackmail, murder . . . THE TORCH SINGER is an unforgettable journey through the shadowlands of fame.

Back to Black

Author : Donald Brackett
Publisher : Hal Leonard Corporation
ISBN 13 : 1617136794
Total Pages : 246 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (171 download)

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Book Synopsis Back to Black by : Donald Brackett

Download or read book Back to Black written by Donald Brackett and published by Hal Leonard Corporation. This book was released on 2016-11-01 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: (Book). Be a fly on the wall of sound: get the inside history and behind-the-scenes events in the making of a masterpiece. In this refreshing book which focuses solely on Amy Winehouse's musical artistry, stylistic influences, and creative collaborations with great producers and musicians, instead of her personal problems Donald Brackett explores pertinent questions about the importance of pop music in contemporary culture. In this incisive and fascinating study of Amy Winehouse's second, and last, album (released in 2006), Back to Black , he opens the door not only to the full experience of this great record but also explores the seductive sonic hook that pop artists always strive for and unearths what makes the record unique, influential, and unforgettable. He reveals the creative steps in its inception and production, the technical virtuosity that makes it special, and why it deserves to be considered a pop classic. In an album that continually strips down the branches of popular music to draw from its muscular trunk, Amy Winehouse (with significant help from producers Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi) used the deep longing of '60s girl-group pop, such as the Ronettes, to fuel the torch sound she perfected in her debut. Brackett fully considers Winehouse's legacy ten years after her multi-Grammy winning album exploring the origins of a global cultural phenomenon by examining her roots as a storyteller; studying her swift arrival as a demonic pop diva; the crucially important creative role played by her gifted producers in the studio; the historical musical influences on her style; the soul magic of her superb backup band, the Dap-Kings; her live performance style onstage; and her magnetic public image as a video star. Back to Black is also explored song by song in an appreciation of its status as a true pop-art artifact. In the end, it's the songs that make up Back to Black which go far beyond our potentially prurient fascination with the unique singer's early demise five years ago and instead bring vibrantly to life the surprising pop majesty she personified.

Daring to Hope

Author : Katie Davis Majors
Publisher : Multnomah
ISBN 13 : 0735290601
Total Pages : 242 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (352 download)

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Book Synopsis Daring to Hope by : Katie Davis Majors

Download or read book Daring to Hope written by Katie Davis Majors and published by Multnomah. This book was released on 2018-10-09 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New York Times bestseller How do you hold on to hope when you don’t get the ending you asked for? When Katie Davis Majors moved to Uganda, accidentally founded a booming organization, and later became the mother of thirteen girls through the miracle of adoption, she determined to weave her life together with the people she desired to serve. But joy often gave way to sorrow as she invested her heart fully in walking alongside people in the grip of poverty, addiction, desperation, and disease. After unexpected tragedy shook her family, for the first time Katie began to wonder, Is God really good? Does He really love us? When she turned to Him with her questions, God spoke truth to her heart and drew her even deeper into relationship with Him. Daring to Hope is an invitation to cling to the God of the impossible—the God who whispers His love to us in the quiet, in the mundane, when our prayers are not answered the way we want or the miracle doesn’t come. It’s about a mother discovering the extraordinary strength it takes to be ordinary. It’s about choosing faith no matter the circumstance and about encountering God’s goodness in the least expected places. Though your heartaches and dreams may take a different shape, you will find your own questions echoed in these pages. You’ll be reminded of the gifts of joy in the midst of sorrow. And you’ll hear God’s whisper: Hold on to hope. I will meet you here.

An Overnight Sensation

Author : Robert Westbrook
Publisher : Speaking Volumes
ISBN 13 : 9781645401285
Total Pages : 460 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (12 download)

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Book Synopsis An Overnight Sensation by : Robert Westbrook

Download or read book An Overnight Sensation written by Robert Westbrook and published by Speaking Volumes. This book was released on 2020-06-12 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Robert Westbrook - Author of the Howard Moon Deer Mysteries "A brilliant, engaging and wholly unpredictable story of courage, survival and self-reinvention . . . I was completely taken by it . . .Interesting, complicated and wholly engaging characters. [Westbrook] is obviously a born storyteller and a bit of a magician."-Ally Sheedy TORCH SINGER is an epic drama of Hollywood in its Golden Age: the rise and fall of Sonya Saint-Amant, a singer who schemes her way to fame and riches, breaking all the rules. An Overnight Sensation, Book One, starts in 1956 with a scandalous love nest murder, then rewinds to Sonya at the age of 17 in 1940, a dreamy girl in the Royal Box of the Krakow Opera. When Sonya's mother is hanged by the Nazis, she must grow up quickly. Using her wits and beauty, Sonya escapes Poland with the help of partisan fighters and makes her way to London during the Blitz. In 1943, she finagles a passage to America on the Mauretania, a dangerous North Atlantic crossing on a troop ship full of men. As the ship steams north into Arctic waters evading enemy submarines, Sonya almost wins at a high-stakes game of love . . . only to arrive in New York alone and desperate, determined to outwit fortune and become a star. An Overnight Sensation is a dark comedy of manners: a tale of murder, blackmail, fortune-hunters and dreamers, and the price paid for living large.

The Prophets

Author : Robert Jones, Jr.
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0593085701
Total Pages : 400 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (93 download)

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Book Synopsis The Prophets by : Robert Jones, Jr.

Download or read book The Prophets written by Robert Jones, Jr. and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2021-01-05 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Best Book of the Year NPR • The Washington Post • Boston Globe • TIME • USA Today • Entertainment Weekly • Real Simple • Parade • Buzzfeed • Electric Literature • LitHub • BookRiot • PopSugar • Goop • Library Journal • BookBub • KCRW • Finalist for the National Book Award • One of the New York Times Notable Books of the Year • One of the New York Times Best Historical Fiction of the Year • Instant New York Times Bestseller A singular and stunning debut novel about the forbidden union between two enslaved young men on a Deep South plantation, the refuge they find in each other, and a betrayal that threatens their existence. Isaiah was Samuel's and Samuel was Isaiah's. That was the way it was since the beginning, and the way it was to be until the end. In the barn they tended to the animals, but also to each other, transforming the hollowed-out shed into a place of human refuge, a source of intimacy and hope in a world ruled by vicious masters. But when an older man—a fellow slave—seeks to gain favor by preaching the master's gospel on the plantation, the enslaved begin to turn on their own. Isaiah and Samuel's love, which was once so simple, is seen as sinful and a clear danger to the plantation's harmony. With a lyricism reminiscent of Toni Morrison, Robert Jones, Jr., fiercely summons the voices of slaver and enslaved alike, from Isaiah and Samuel to the calculating slave master to the long line of women that surround them, women who have carried the soul of the plantation on their shoulders. As tensions build and the weight of centuries—of ancestors and future generations to come—culminates in a climactic reckoning, The Prophets fearlessly reveals the pain and suffering of inheritance, but is also shot through with hope, beauty, and truth, portraying the enormous, heroic power of love.

A Sky Beyond the Storm

Author : Sabaa Tahir
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0448494558
Total Pages : 504 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (484 download)

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Book Synopsis A Sky Beyond the Storm by : Sabaa Tahir

Download or read book A Sky Beyond the Storm written by Sabaa Tahir and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-12-01 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Prepare for the jaw-dropping finale of Sabaa Tahir's beloved New York Times bestselling An Ember in the Ashes fantasy series, and discover: Who will survive the storm? Picking up just a few months after A Reaper at the Gates left off... The long-imprisoned jinn are on the attack, wreaking bloody havoc in villages and cities alike. But for the Nightbringer, vengeance on his human foes is just the beginning. By his side, Commandant Keris Veturia declares herself Empress, and calls for the heads of any and all who defy her rule. At the top of the list? The Blood Shrike and her remaining family. Laia of Serra, now allied with the Blood Shrike, struggles to recover from the loss of the two people most important to her. Determined to stop the approaching apocalypse, she throws herself into the destruction of the Nightbringer. In the process, she awakens an ancient power that could lead her to victory—or to an unimaginable doom. And deep in the Waiting Place, the Soul Catcher seeks only to forget the life—and love—he left behind. Yet doing so means ignoring the trail of murder left by the Nightbringer and his jinn. To uphold his oath and protect the human world from the supernatural, the Soul Catcher must look beyond the borders of his own land. He must take on a mission that could save—or destroy—all that he knows.

Nothing to See Here

Author : Kevin Wilson
Publisher : HarperCollins
ISBN 13 : 0062913484
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (629 download)

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Book Synopsis Nothing to See Here by : Kevin Wilson

Download or read book Nothing to See Here written by Kevin Wilson and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2019-10-29 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times Bestseller • A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick! Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, People, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, TIME, The A.V. Club, Buzzfeed, and PopSugar “I can’t believe how good this book is.... It’s wholly original. It’s also perfect.... Wilson writes with such a light touch.... The brilliance of the novel [is] that it distracts you with these weirdo characters and mesmerizing and funny sentences and then hits you in a way you didn’t see coming. You’re laughing so hard you don’t even realize that you’ve suddenly caught fire.” —Taffy Brodesser-Akner, author of Fleishman is in Trouble, New York Times Book Review From the New York Times bestselling author of The Family Fang, a moving and uproarious novel about a woman who finds meaning in her life when she begins caring for two children with a remarkable ability. Lillian and Madison were unlikely roommates and yet inseparable friends at their elite boarding school. But then Lillian had to leave the school unexpectedly in the wake of a scandal and they’ve barely spoken since. Until now, when Lillian gets a letter from Madison pleading for her help. Madison’s twin stepkids are moving in with her family and she wants Lillian to be their caretaker. However, there’s a catch: the twins spontaneously combust when they get agitated, flames igniting from their skin in a startling but beautiful way. Lillian is convinced Madison is pulling her leg, but it’s the truth. Thinking of her dead-end life at home, the life that has consistently disappointed her, Lillian figures she has nothing to lose. Over the course of one humid, demanding summer, Lillian and the twins learn to trust each other—and stay cool—while also staying out of the way of Madison’s buttoned-up politician husband. Surprised by her own ingenuity yet unused to the intense feelings of protectiveness she feels for them, Lillian ultimately begins to accept that she needs these strange children as much as they need her—urgently and fiercely. Couldn’t this be the start of the amazing life she’d always hoped for? With white-hot wit and a big, tender heart, Kevin Wilson has written his best book yet—a most unusual story of parental love.

Farewell, My Lovely

Author : Raymond Chandler
Publisher : Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
ISBN 13 : 1400030161
Total Pages : 300 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Farewell, My Lovely by : Raymond Chandler

Download or read book Farewell, My Lovely written by Raymond Chandler and published by Vintage Crime/Black Lizard. This book was released on 2002-06-11 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The renowned novel from crime fiction master Raymond Chandler, with the "quintessential urban private eye" (Los Angeles Times), Philip Marlowe • Featuring the iconic character that inspired the film Marlowe, starring Liam Neeson. Philip Marlowe's about to give up on a completely routine case when he finds himself in the wrong place at the right time to get caught up in a murder that leads to a ring of jewel thieves, another murder, a fortune-teller, a couple more murders, and more corruption than your average graveyard.

Acetylene Torch Songs

Author : Sue William Silverman
Publisher : U of Nebraska Press
ISBN 13 : 1496238117
Total Pages : 265 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (962 download)

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Book Synopsis Acetylene Torch Songs by : Sue William Silverman

Download or read book Acetylene Torch Songs written by Sue William Silverman and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2024 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At times writers—from the unpublished to jaded lifers—need a fire lit under them to pursue the complex work of self-exploration. Acetylene Torch Songs provides that spark for memoirists and essayists seeking mentor-based instruction and inspiration. Drawing on twenty-five years of teaching and mentoring writers, Sue William Silverman stresses practice over theory. She encourages craftiness as well as craft and urges writers to embark on emotional quests in pursuit of their art. Acetylene Torch Songs uniquely illustrates how the writer’s imaginative spirit comes alive on the page through metaphor, literary masks, sensory memories, voice, obsessions, and more. This holistic approach to writing emphasizes how the creative process brings together the heart, mind, and senses to illuminate the human condition through language. Featuring a personal essay in each chapter, Silverman uses her own work to model a specific concept or approach, demonstrating how obsessions, secrets, and memories can burn on the page. Through guided prompts, worksheets, checklists, publishing advice, personal essays, and strategies, Silverman encourages writers to find the confidence and courage to write stories that reach beyond the page through their intimacy, social engagement, and honesty.

Wave

Author : Sonali Deraniyagala
Publisher : McClelland & Stewart
ISBN 13 : 0771025386
Total Pages : 146 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (71 download)

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Book Synopsis Wave by : Sonali Deraniyagala

Download or read book Wave written by Sonali Deraniyagala and published by McClelland & Stewart. This book was released on 2013-03-05 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A brave, intimate, beautifully crafted memoir by a survivor of the tsunami that struck the Sri Lankan coast in 2004 and took her entire family. On December 26, Boxing Day, Sonali Deraniyagala, her English husband, her parents, her two young sons, and a close friend were ending Christmas vacation at the seaside resort of Yala on the south coast of Sri Lanka when a wave suddenly overtook them. She was only to learn later that this was a tsunami that devastated coastlines through Southeast Asia. When the water began to encroach closer to their hotel, they began to run, but in an instant, water engulfed them, Sonali was separated from her family, and all was lost. Sonali Deraniyagala has written an extraordinarily honest, utterly engrossing account of the surreal tragedy of a devastating event that all at once ended her life as she knew it and her journey since in search of understanding and redemption. It is also a remarkable portrait of a young family's life and what came before, with all the small moments and larger dreams that suddenly and irrevocably ended.

Intimate Lies

Author : Robert Westbrook
Publisher : Speaking Volumes
ISBN 13 : 1628158832
Total Pages : 528 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (281 download)

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Book Synopsis Intimate Lies by : Robert Westbrook

Download or read book Intimate Lies written by Robert Westbrook and published by Speaking Volumes. This book was released on 1995 with total page 528 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Intimate Lies Her Son's Story F. Scott Fitzgerald, the brilliant author of The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night, was a man haunted by failure to live up to his own early successes. In 1937, desperate for money, nearly broken in spirit, he headed west for work as a Hollywood screenwriter and one last shot at staying sober There, living in Hollywood's legendary hotel, The Garden of Allah, Fitzgerald met the beautiful young gossip columnist Sheilah Graham, whose elaborate pose as a British aristocrat masked the true identity that haunted her all her life. Before her death in 1988, Graham bequeathed a Pandoras box of papers, diaries, notes, and correspondence to her son, acclaimed novelist Robert Westbrook with explicit instructions to write the full story of her life with Fitzgerald, which she herself could not tell. The result is Intimate Lies—the dramatic tale of an unusual love affair the turbulent romance between a great author at the end of his life and a false young woman escaping her past, set against the glittering ferment of 1930s Hollywood. "I was prepared to suffer any ordeal rather than reveal the truth about myself," Sheilah Graham wrote in 1958. Running from a childhood in the squalor of London's East End, desperate to hide her lack of education, Graham reinvented herself out of sheer imagination, spinning a web of daydreams and lies to those around her. But she was unable to conceal her true identity from Fitzgerald for long; he was fascinated by her mysterious past and quickly uncovered her secrets. Despite pressures of money and dwindling time, Fitzgerald set out to play Pygmalion, creating for Sheilah a fanciful "College of One.” Later he made her the heroine of his final novel, The Last Tycoon. Sheilah, in turn, instinctively understood Fitzgerald’s demons and cared for him with a survivor's strength as he alternated between wildly spectacular drunken episodes and quiet, doomed gallantry. Together they sought refuge in Hollywood, among such friends as Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley John O'Hara, and Ogden Nash. With Intimate Lies, Robert Westbrook brings a personal perspective and a sure writer's hand to this mesmerizing memoir, an unforgettable love story of unrelenting power and interest. Praise for Intimate Lies “The mood should be two people—free— He has an overwhelming urge toward the girl who promises to give life back to him . . . she is the heart of hope and freshness.”—F. Scott Fitzgerald, notes for The Last Tycoon “I was prepared to suffer any ordeal rather than reveal the truth about myself I thought, he has chosen me, I want him to be proud of the woman he has chosen. He must never feel that his girl is in reality a grubby little waif who has gotten to him by a series of deceptions.”—Sheilah Graham, writing in 1958

A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers

Author : Will Friedwald
Publisher : Pantheon
ISBN 13 : 0307379892
Total Pages : 832 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (73 download)

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Book Synopsis A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers by : Will Friedwald

Download or read book A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers written by Will Friedwald and published by Pantheon. This book was released on 2010-11-02 with total page 832 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Will Friedwald’s illuminating, opinionated essays—provocative, funny, and personal—on the lives and careers of more than three hundred singers anatomize the work of the most important jazz and popular performers of the twentieth century. From giants like Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, and Judy Garland to lesser-known artists like Jeri Southern and Joe Mooney, they have created a body of work that continues to please and inspire. Here is the most extensive biographical and critical survey of these singers ever written, as well as an essential guide to the Great American Songbook and those who shaped the way it has been sung. The music crosses from jazz to pop and back again, from the songs of Irving Berlin and W. C. Handy through Stephen Sondheim and beyond, bringing together straightforward jazz and pop singers (Billie Holiday, Perry Como); hybrid artists who moved among genres and combined them (Peggy Lee, Mel Tormé); the leading men and women of Broadway and Hollywood (Ethel Merman, Al Jolson); yesterday’s vaudeville and radio stars (Sophie Tucker, Eddie Cantor); and today’s cabaret artists and hit-makers (Diana Krall, Michael Bublé). Friedwald has also written extended pieces on the most representative artists of five significant genres that lie outside the songbook: Bessie Smith (blues), Mahalia Jackson (gospel), Hank Williams (country and western), Elvis Presley (rock ’n’ roll), and Bob Dylan (folk-rock). Friedwald reconsiders the personal stories and professional successes and failures of all these artists, their songs, and their performances, appraising both the singers and their music by balancing his opinions with those of fellow musicians, listeners, and critics. This magisterial reference book—ten years in the making—will delight and inform anyone with a passion for the iconic music of America, which continues to resonate throughout our popular culture.

Ghost Dancer

Author : Robert Westbrook
Publisher : Speaking Volumes
ISBN 13 : 1628157267
Total Pages : 316 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (281 download)

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Book Synopsis Ghost Dancer by : Robert Westbrook

Download or read book Ghost Dancer written by Robert Westbrook and published by Speaking Volumes. This book was released on 1998 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Native American working on his Ph.D. A cop blinded in the line of duty. A chic resort's only hope to stop a killer cold in his tracks. GHOST DANCER A Howard Moon Deer Mystery Once a land of Pueblo dwellers, the town of San Geronimo Peak, New Mexico, is prime ski country. P.I. Howard Moon Deer and ex-cop Jack Wilder are headed there to meet their first client—a former U.S. senator and the ski slope's owner. Instead, they find his body—and a murder case to solve. Overrun with pleasure seekers, plunderers, and fanatics, San Geronimo has no shortage of suspects. But investigating the senator's two very different daughters, his political enemies, and his complex business dealings leads only to false clues. Then the senator's granddaughter is kidnapped—and the new detectives are plunged into a dangerous race for a little girl's life...and for their own. "Terrific…I couldn’t put it down."—Margaret Truman, author of Murder at the Watergate "A clever, sexy, modern mystery. Imagine Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin in contemporary New Mexico. I look forward to more adventures for this engaging team." —Tom Savage, author of The Inheritance