My Autographed Non-Fiction Books
Explore my curated collection of autographed non-fiction books, featuring signed editions from renowned authors. A treasure trove for book lovers and collectors alike.
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Guns Germs and Steel
by Jared Diamond
"Fascinating.... Lays a foundation for understanding human history."âBill Gates Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Guns, Germs, and Steel is a brilliant work answering the question of why the peoples of certain continents succeeded in invading other continents and conquering or displacing their peoples. This edition includes a new chapter on Japan and all-new illustrations drawn from the television series. Until around 11,000 BC, all peoples were still Stone Age hunter/gatherers. At that point, a great divide occurred in the rates that human societies evolved. In Eurasia, parts of the Americas, and Africa, farming became the prevailing mode of existence when indigenous wild plants and animals were domesticated by prehistoric planters and herders. As Jared Diamond vividly reveals, the very people who gained a head start in producing food would collide with preliterate cultures, shaping the modern world through conquest, displacement, and genocide.The paths that lead from scattered centers of food to broad bands of settlement had a great deal to do with climate and geography. But how did differences in societies arise? Why weren't native Australians, Americans, or Africans the ones to colonize Europe? Diamond dismantles pernicious racial theories tracing societal differences to biological differences. He assembles convincing evidence linking germs to domestication of animals, germs that Eurasians then spread in epidemic proportions in their voyages of discovery. In its sweep, Guns, Germs and Steel encompasses the rise of agriculture, technology, writing, government, and religion, providing a unifying theory of human history as intriguing as the histories of dinosaurs and glaciers.
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The Third Chimpanzee
by Jared M. Diamond
The Development of an Extraordinary Species We human beings share 98 percent of our genes with chimpanzees. Yet humans are the dominant species on the planet -- having founded civilizations and religions, developed intricate and diverse forms of communication, learned science, built cities, and created breathtaking works of art -- while chimps remain animals concerned primarily with the basic necessities of survival. What is it about that two percent difference in DNA that has created such a divergence between evolutionary cousins? In this fascinating, provocative, passionate, funny, endlessly entertaining work, renowned Pulitzer Prizeâwinning author and scientist Jared Diamond explores how the extraordinary human animal, in a remarkably short time, developed the capacity to rule the world . . . and the means to irrevocably destroy it.
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Enrique's Journey
by Sonia Nazario
Based on the Los Angeles Times series that won two Pulitzer Prizes, this is a timeless story of families torn apart. When Enrique was five, his mother, too poor to feed her children, left Honduras to work in the United States. The move allowed her to send
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My Life
by Bill Clinton
President Bill Clintonâs My Life is the strikingly candid portrait of a global leader who decided early in life to devote his intellectual and political gifts, and his extraordinary capacity for hard work, to serving the public. It shows us the progress of a remarkable American, who, through his own enormous energies and efforts, made the unlikely journey from Hope, Arkansas, to the White Houseâa journey fueled by an impassioned interest in the political process which manifested itself at every stage of his life: in college, working as an intern for Senator William Fulbright; at Oxford, becoming part of the Vietnam War protest movement; at Yale Law School, campaigning on the grassroots level for Democratic candidates; back in Arkansas, running for Congress, attorney general, and governor. We see his career shaped by his resolute determination to improve the life of his fellow citizens, an unfaltering commitment to civil rights, and an exceptional understanding of the practicalities of political life. We come to understand the emotional pressures of his youthâborn after his fatherâs death; caught in the dysfunctional relationship between his feisty, nurturing mother and his abusive stepfather, whom he never ceased to love and whose name he took; drawn to the brilliant, compelling Hillary Rodham, whom he was determined to marry; passionately devoted, from her infancy, to their daughter, Chelsea, and to the entire experience of fatherhood; slowly and painfully beginning to comprehend how his early denial of pain led him at times into damaging patterns of behavior. President Clintonâs book is also the fullest, most concretely detailed, most nuanced account of a presidency ever writtenâencompassing not only the high points and crises but the way the presidency actually works: the day-to-day bombardment of problems, personalities, conflicts, setbacks, achievements. It is a testament to the positive impact on America and on the world of his work and his ideals. It is the gripping account of a president under concerted and unrelenting assault orchestrated by his enemies on the Far Right, and how he survived and prevailed. It is a treasury of moments caught alive, among them: ⢠The ten-year-old boy watching the national political conventions on his familyâs new (and first) television set. ⢠The young candidate looking for votes in the Arkansas hills and the local seer who tells him, âAnybody who would campaign at a beer joint in Joiner at midnight on Saturday night deserves to carry one box. . . . Youâll win here. But itâll be the only damn place you win in this county.â (He was right on both counts.) ⢠The roller-coaster ride of the 1992 campaign. ⢠The extraordinarily frank exchanges with Newt Gingrich and Bob Dole. ⢠The delicate manipulation needed to convince Rabin and Arafat to shake hands for the camera while keeping Arafat from kissing Rabin. ⢠The cost, both public and private, of the scandal that threatened the presidency. Here is the life of a great national and international figure, revealed with all his talents and contradictions, told openly, directly, in his own completely recognizable voice. A unique book by a unique American.
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Giving
by Bill Clinton
Here, from Bill Clinton, is a call to action. Giving is an inspiring look at how each of us can change the world. First, it reveals the extraordinary and innovative efforts now being made by companies and organizationsâand by individualsâto solve problems and save lives both âdown the street and around the world.â Then it urges us to seek out what each of us, âregardless of income, available time, age, and skills,â can do to help, to give people a chance to live out their dreams. Bill Clinton shares his own experiences and those of other givers, representing a global flood tide of nongovernmental, nonprofit activity. These remarkable stories demonstrate that gifts of time, skills, things, and ideas are as important and effective as contributions of money. From Bill and Melinda Gates to a six-year-old California girl named McKenzie Steiner, who organized and supervised drives to clean up the beach in her community, Clinton introduces us to both well-known and unknown heroes of giving. Among them: Dr. Paul Farmer, who grew up living in the family bus in a trailer park, vowed to devote his life to giving high-quality medical care to the poor and has built innovative public health-care clinics first in Haiti and then in Rwanda; a New York couple, in Africa for a wedding, who visited several schools in Zimbabwe and were appalled by the absence of textbooks and school supplies. They founded their own organization to gather and ship materials to thirty-five schools. After three years, the percentage of seventh-graders who pass reading tests increased from 5 percent to 60 percent;' Oseola McCarty, who after seventy-five years of eking out a living by washing and ironing, gave $150,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi to endow a scholarship fund for African-American students; Andre Agassi, who has created a college preparatory academy in the Las Vegas neighborhood with the cityâs highest percentage of at-risk kids. âTennis was a stepping-stone for me,â says Agassi. âChanging a childâs life is what I always wanted to doâ; Heifer International, which gave twelve goats to a Ugandan village. Within a year, Beatrice Biiraâs mother had earned enough money selling goatâs milk to pay Beatriceâs school fees and eventually to send all her children to schoolâand, as required, to pass on a baby goat to another family, thus multiplying the impact of the gift. Clinton writes about men and women who traded in their corporate careers, and the fulfillment they now experience through giving. He writes about energy-efficient practices, about progressive companies going green, about promoting fair wages and decent working conditions around the world. He shows us how one of the most important ways of giving can be an effort to change, improve, or protect a government policy. He outlines what we as individuals can do, the steps we can take, how much we should consider giving, and why our giving is so important. Bill Clintonâs own actions in his post-presidential years have had an enormous impact on the lives of millions. Through his foundation and his work in the aftermath of the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, he has become an international spokesperson and model for the power of giving. âWe all have the capacity to do great things,â President Clinton says. âMy hope is that the people and stories in this book will lift spirits, touch hearts, and demonstrate that citizen activism and service can be a powerful agent of change in the world.â
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My Passage from India
by Ismail Merchant
Readers are invited to join the renowned filmmaker for a feast of memories and film in a lavish, photo-memoir as rich and vivid as the land he celebrates. Full color.
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James Ivory in Conversation
by James Ivory
A series of interviews in which James Ivory reflects on his career as an independent filmmaker. Ivory has three times received Academy Award nominations for best director & counts 'Remains of the Day, 'A Room With A View' & 'Howard's End' among his credits.
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Palestine
by Jimmy Carter
President Carter, who was able to negotiate peace between Israel and Egypt, has remained deeply involved in Middle East affairs since leaving the White House. He has stayed in touch with the major players from all sides in the conflict and has made numerous trips to the Holy Land, most recently as an observer in the Palestinian elections of 2006. In this book President Carter shares his intimate knowledge of the history of the Middle East and his personal experiences of the principal actors, and he addresses sensitive political issues many British and American officials shy from. PALESTINE is a challenging and provocative book. Pulling no punches, Carter prescribes steps that must be taken for the two states to share the Holy Land without a system of apartheid or the constant fear of terrorism.
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An Inconvenient Truth
by Al Gore
The former vice-president details the factors contributing to the growing climate crisis, describes changes to the environment caused by global warming, and discusses the shift in environmental policy that is needed to avert disaster.
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No God But God
by Reza Aslan
In this compelling--and profoundly hopeful--book, Aslan demonstrates that Islam has much in common with Christianity and Judaism, and bears seeds of egalitarianism and social reform at its core.
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The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason
by Sam Harris
Harris offers a vivid historical tour of mankind's willingness to suspend reason in favor of religious beliefs, even when those beliefs are used to justify harmful behavior and sometimes heinous crimes.
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Letter to a Christian Nation
by Sam Harris
A criticism of Christianity from the secularist point of view.
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Boy Wonder
by Burt Ward
As Robin, the Boy Wonder in the popular "Batman" television series -- still seen in every television U.S. and abroad -- Burt Ward has become a durable cult figure recognized the world over. In his describes how a 21-year-old former part-time real estate agent coped with the overnight transition to world-wide recognizable male sex symbol.
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Point to Point Navigation
by Gore Vidal
In the brilliant sequel to his acclaimed, bestselling memoir, "Palimpsest," the celebrated novelist, essayist, and critic ranges freely over his remarkable life with the signature wit and literary elegance that is uniquely his.
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I Could Have Sung All Night
by Marni Nixon
The most celebrated "voice" in Hollywood speaks for herself! Everyone knows Marni Nixon...even if they think they donât. One of the best-known and best-loved singing voices in the world, Nixon dubbed songs for Natalie Wood inWest Side Story, Audrey Hepburn inMy Fair Lady, and Deborah Kerr inThe King and I. She was the voice of Hollywoodâs leading ladies, arriving in filmland after a debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at 17 and continuing her career with Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Charles Ives, Stephen Sondheim, Rogers and Hammerstein, and many others. Her inspiring autobiography reveals Nixon as a singer, an actress, and a woman fighting for artistic recognition. Today, a survivor of breast cancer, she works on Broadway and televisionâsLaw & Order SVU, tours with her own stage show, and teaches master classes in voice.I Could Have Sung All Nightreveals the woman behind the screen in a frank, funny biography that is as remarkable as the woman whose story it tells. ⢠Beloved show-biz icon Nixon dubbed the singing of Natalie Wood inWest Side Story, Deborah Karr inThe King and I, and Audrey Hepburn inMy Fair Ladyâshe now tells her story for the first time ⢠Entertaining behind-the-scenes celebrity stories from six decades of performing ⢠Nostalgia appeal, plus insider's account of the music and film worlds of the 20th century ⢠Breast cancer survivor Nixon is an inspiration to millions of women
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Loitering With Intent
by Peter O'Toole
In the first volume of his acclaimed memoirs, the actor narrates his childhood as the son of a bookmaker in a bleak industrial slum in England during World War II and his stints as a journalist and a sailor. Reprint. NYT.
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Bait and Switch
by Barbara Ehrenreich
The New York Times bestselling investigation into white-collar unemployment from "our premier reporter of the underside of capitalism"--The New York Times Book Review Americans' working lives are growing more precarious every day. Corporations slash employees by the thousands, and the benefits and pensions once guaranteed by "middle-class" jobs are a thing of the past. In Bait and Switch, Barbara Ehrenreich goes back undercover to explore another hidden realm of the economy: the shadowy world of the white-collar unemployed. Armed with the plausible rĂŠsumĂŠ of a professional "in transition," she attempts to land a "middle-class" job. She submits to career coaching, personality testing, and EST-like boot camps, and attends job fairs, networking events, and evangelical job-search ministries. She is proselytized, scammed, lectured, and--again and again--rejected. Bait and Switch highlights the people who have done everything right--gotten college degrees, developed marketable skills, and built up impressive rĂŠsumĂŠs--yet have become repeatedly vulnerable to financial disaster. There are few social supports for these newly disposable workers, Ehrenreich discovers, and little security even for those who have jobs. Worst of all, there is no honest reckoning with the inevitable consequences of the harsh new economy; rather, the jobless are persuaded that they have only themselves to blame. Alternately hilarious and tragic, Bait and Switch, like the classic Nickel and Dimed, is a searing exposĂŠ of the cruel new reality in which we all now live.
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A Year in Van Nuys
by Sandra Tsing Loh
Shares the anti-Hollywood life of Sandra Tsing Loh, self-described neurotic and public radio commentator.
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Mean Genes
by Terry Burnham
Explains the genetic role behind "modern" problems such as thrill-seeking, infidelity, eating disorders, and addiction.
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Avoiding Prison and Other Noble Vacation Goals
by Wendy Dale
From salsa dancing in a rum-induced haze and struggling to exercise in Colombia (âthe guerillas were using the track again todayâ), to crossing international borders unconventionally and dodging bombs in Lebanon (âthe good news was that they were âsmall bombsââ), Wendy somehow manages to find herself in the midst of hysterical, adventurous, and often illegal situations. Case in pointâevery time she heads to Costa Rica, she is forced to visit another prison. Although a jail may not be everyoneâs idea of a place to ?nd a date, Wendy soon falls in love with a man, a country, and its people and risks everything she has to clear his name. Avoiding Prison and Other Noble Vacation Goals is a bumpy and hilarious ride in which Wendy discovers that a successful vacationâmuch like that elusive thing, happinessâcan be found in some of the most unlikely places imaginable.
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Dumbth
by Steve Allen
Steve Allen's humorous and provocative examination of the increasing American tendency toward muddle-headedness and ineptitude.