“Oh, screw it, lets do it.” Thats the philosophy that has allowed Richard Branson, in slightly more than twenty-five years, to spawn so many successful ventures. From the airline business (Virgin Atlantic Airways), to music (Virgin Records and V2), to cola (Virgin Cola), to retail (Virgin Megastores), and nearly a hundred others, ranging from financial […]
Legendary auto executive Lee Iacocca has a question for every American: Where have all the leaders gone? The most widely recognized business executive of all time asks the toughquestions that Americas leaders must address: ? What is each of us giving back to our country? ? Do we truly love democracy? ? Are we too […]
This “bold . . . extraordinary . . . blockbuster . . .” (Newsweek) begins with a birth in 1750, in an African village; it ends seven generations later at the Arkansas funeral of a black professor whose children are a teacher, a Navy architect, an assistant director of the U.S. Information Agency, and an […]
“Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood,” writes Frank McCourt in Angelas Ashes. “Worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood.” Welcome, then, to the pinnacle of the miserable Irish Catholic childhood. Born in Brooklyn in 1930 to recent Irish immigrants Malachy and Angela McCourt, Frank grew up in Limerick after […]
In 1913, a young, unschooled Indian clerk wrote a letter to G.H. Hardy, begging the pre-eminent English mathematicians opinion on several ideas he had about numbers. Realizing the letters were the work of a genius, Hardy arranged for Srinivasa Ramanujan to come to England. Thus began one of the most improbable and productive collaborations ever […]
Small wonder that, at nine years old, Monica Holloway develops a fascination with the local funeral home. With a father who drives his Ford pickup with a Kodak movie camera sitting shotgun just in case he sees an accident, and whose home movies feature more footage of disasters than of his children, Monica is primed […]
In 1866, tragedy strikes at the exclusive Windfield School. A young student drowns in a mysterious accident involving a small circle of boys. The drowning and its aftermath initiates a spiraling circle of treachery that will span three decades and entwine many loves… From the exclusive mens club and brothels that cater to every dark […]
Ellis, the American. Jean-Pierre, the Frenchman. They were two men on opposite sides of the cold war, with a woman torn between them. Together, they formed a triangle of passion and deception, racing from terrorist bombs in Paris to the violence and intrigue of Afghanistan – to the moment of truth and deadly decision for […]
The perfect gift for any dog lover, The Greatest Dog Stories Ever Told is a compulsively readable collection of 36 of the most moving and illuminating stories ever penned on the subject of our canine companions. The remarkable range of contributors includes the likes of P.G. Wodehouse, Ray Bradbury, Thomas Mann, M.F.K. Fisher, and Mark […]