biography

Non-Fiction: The Elusive Purple Gang by Gregory A. Fournier

February 18, 2020 admin 0

Dynamic, well-written, and well-researched, Gregory gives the reader a view of one of the most intriguing periods of our time.” — Fran Briggs One century ago, on January 19, 1920, the United States embarked on what was termed, a “Noble experiment.” The aim was to prohibit the manufacture, transport, sale, and importation of alcoholic beverages within the country’s borders. With a long history of support by anti-saloon leagues and Protestant reformers, national Prohibition was intended […]

Non-Fiction: Unclassified: My Life Before, During, and After the CIA by Richard James Kerr

February 15, 2020 admin 0

Richard James Kerr, a former Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, recounts how he joined the Agency fresh out of college in Unclassified: My Life Before, During, and After the CIA. Working as a GS7 analyst/clerk and rose through the ranks quickly, serving in all four directories: Intelligence, Operations, Administration, and Science/Technology, reaching Director level in both Intelligence and Administration. Kerr was responsible for many highly visible tasks such as providing the President with […]

Biography: Free and Fearless by Phil Moser

January 30, 2020 admin 0

I hope to take the reader on an adventure of a lifetime that will put one’s everyday problems in their proper perspective.” — Philip Moser Brittany Moser was a spirited talented woman that lived life to the fullest. After becoming a flight attendant, she was grounded by a rare and incurable disease. She decided to go on the adventure of a lifetime and asked her best friend, her father Philip, to go with her. That’s […]

Birther News: Columbus Wasn’t Italian

November 22, 2019 admin 0

Newly published research aims to validate Columbus as a blue-blood descendant of Slavic Royalty, not Italian even though, for the longest time, conventional wisdom held that Columbus was a citizen of Genoa. Popular thought has it he was the son of a humble weaving peasant who came to Portugal to challenge, not only the social classes and the political powers of his time, but also the dark abyss of seafaring ignorance. Manuel Rosa’s latest book, […]

Carrie Fisher’s Family Bites Back at Biography

October 27, 2019 admin 0

No matter what else you hear about the upcoming Carrie Fisher biography, Carrie Fisher: A Life on the Edge (Sarah Crichton Books) the family isn’t amused. The book, out November 12, is by Sheila Weller who is the author of several books, most notably 2008’s Girls Like Us (Atria) about rock legends Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon. And while reviewers have thus far been generous, Bryan Lourd, Fisher’s one time boyfriend and the […]

Non-Fiction: Never a Lovely So Real
by Colin Asher

October 9, 2019 J. Kingston Pierce 1

(Editor’s note: This review comes from Ben Terrall, a writer based in San Francisco, California, whose work has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco Bay View, In These Times, CounterPunch, and Noir City. Terrall last wrote for January Magazine about Silicon City: San Francisco in the Long Shadow of the Valley, by Cary McClelland.) Colin Asher’s Never a Lovely So Real: The Life and Work of Nelson Algren (Norton) is both a […]

On Her Birthday: Author Shirley Jackson Remembered As A Witch

December 14, 2018 admin 0

Shirley Jackson, best known as the author of The Lottery, a short story, and the novel The Haunting of Hill House, was born on this day in 1916. According to an article put together by The New Indian Express, “much like her mystery-filled stories, Jackson’s life had an eerie quality to it, too.” If that makes you wonder just how eerie, the article doesn’t disappoint. Filled with facts culled from the 2016 biography Shirley Jackson: […]

Michelle Obama’s Memoir Set For November Release

February 26, 2018 admin 0

Former First Lady Michelle Obama’s memoir will be published in November according to Markus Dohle, CEO of Penguin Random House, the publisher for the Crown imprint and also tweeted by the former first lady. From Deadline Hollywood: “Writing Becoming has been a deeply personal experience,” said Michelle Obama in a statement. “It has allowed me, for the very first time, the space to honestly reflect on the unexpected trajectory of my life. In this book, […]

Best Books of 2017

December 30, 2017 admin 0

At best, writing about books is subjective. My favorite book of the year could very well be the one you liked least. And, certainly, vice-versa. So why do we do it? Because people love lists and collections and personal connections. And so here we are. And why not? [masterslider alias=”ms-159-1-1″]

Jim Parsons Options Memoir for For Film Project

December 15, 2017 admin 0

Jim Parsons (Big Bang Theory) has optioned the rights to the Michael Ausiello memoir Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies. In his heartbreaking, tragicomic memoir, Ausiello told the story of the eleven month span between when his partner, photographer Kit Cowan, got a diagnosis of terminal cancer, and his passing. Interwoven is the story of their meeting, falling in love, and the ups and downs over 14 years. The full story is here.