Riley B. King grew up amidst the cotton farms of Mississippi, picking in the fields. At age 21 he wrecked a tractor and took it as a sign that a brighter future awaited him as a musician in Memphis. The rest is history. Recounting his days as a disk jockey and pioneering bluesman on the rhythm and blues circuit, B. B. dramatizes his whirlwind adventures, from the Memphis of the forties to the Moscow of the nineties, in a voice that is both raw and real. A deeply sensuous and sensitive soul, he discloses his complex relationship to women and sexuality, and chronicles his first-hand experience with racism, the Civil Rights movement, and the shifting politics of show business.
Setting / LocationGlobal
Story EraContemporary / Future
Protagonist / CoreBlues all around me Lead Character
"You may know that Carly Rae Jepsen rose to instant fame after Justin Bieber tweeted about his love for "Call Me Maybe." But did you know that she: had starring roles in Annie, Grease, and The Wiz as a teen? could sing perfectly on key when she was only three years old? writes down song lyrics everywhere she goes, using napkins, receipts, and any other paper she can find? Want to know more about the life of this awesome celeb? Read on to learn all about Carly Rae's family, childhood nickname, love for shoes, philosophy on boys, future plans, and more!"--Back cover.
A memoir by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, tells of his family life, the years of the Nazi oppression and of the war, his extraordinary academic path, and his participation in the Second Vatican Council.
"In 1962, at the age of eleven, Carlos Eire was one of 14,000 children airlifted out of Cuba, his parents left behind. His life until then is the subject of Waiting for Snow in Havana, a wry, heartbreaking, intoxicatingly beautiful memoir of growing up in a privileged Havana household - and of being exiled from his own childhood by the Cuban revolution.". "That childhood, until his world changes, is as joyous and troubled as any other - but with exotic differences. Lizards roam the house and grounds. Fights aren't waged with snowballs but with breadfruit. The rich are outlandishly rich, like the eight-year-old son of a sugar baron who has a real miniature race car, or the neighbor with a private animal garden, complete with tiger. All this is bathed in sunlight and shades of turquoise and tangerine: the island of Cuba, says one of the stern monks at Carlos's school, might have been the original Paradise - and it is tempting to believe.". "His father is a municipal judge and an obsessive collector of art and antiques, convinced that in a past life he was Louis XVI and that his wife was Marie Antoinette. His mother looks to the future; conceived on a transatlantic liner bound for Cuba from Spain, she wants her children to be modern, which means embracing all things American. His older brother electrocutes lizards. Surrounded by eccentrics, in a home crammed with portraits of Jesus that speak to him in dreams and nightmares, Carlos searches for secret proofs of the existence of God.". "Then, in January 1959, President Batista is suddenly gone, a cigar-smoking guerrilla named Castro has taken his place, and Christmas is canceled. The echo of firing squads is everywhere. At the Aquarium of the Revolution, sharks multiply in a swimming pool. And one by one, the author's schoolmates begin to disappear - spirited away to the United States. Carlos will end up there himself, alone, never to see his father again."--BOOK JACKET.
From Paul Shaffer, lifelong music junkie, hipster, and longtime leader of David Letterman's band, comes a candid, endearing, hilarious, and star-studded memoir of a life in-and love of-show business.How does a kid go from a remote Canadian town at the tip of Lake Superior to the bright lights of Broadway and a gig leading the band on Letterman? This book is Paul Shaffer's answer to that question. From playing seedy strip joints in Toronto, to his first legitimate job out of college-which found him working with future stars (and friends) Gilda Radner, Martin Short, and Eugene Levy-to being first musical director of the nascent Saturday Night Live and helping to form the Blues Brothers, to being onstage every night with Dave and playing with the greatest musicians of our time, Shaffer has lived the ultimate showbiz life. Now, in this hilarious, entertaining, and candid memoir-in which he dishes on everyone from John Belushi and Jerry Lewis to Mel Gibson and Britney Spears-Paul gives us the full behind-the-scenes story of his life, from banging out pop tunes on the piano at the age of twelve to leading the band every night at the Sullivan Theater.From the Hardcover edition.
Blues all around me by B.B. King with David Ritz | Literally Just Books
