Selvbiografier

The first-ever biography of the legendary comic and the most improbable rise to fame in the history of American comedy. Getting there wasn’t always a laughing matter.Rodney Dangerfield’s fidgety delivery, self-deprecating humor, and catchphrase “I don’t get no respect” made him a comedy icon in nightclubs, on television, and in movies. But Rodney’s long road to stardom was as rocky as his real life. Born Jacob Cohen in 1921 to a coldhearted mother and absentee father, anxiety-prone Jacob found escape from reality by writing and performing jokes. It led to ten years going nowhere in the “toilets” of the club circuit. What followed was marriage, fatherhood, selling aluminum siding, and depression, self-doubt, and debt. That’s when he decided to give comedy one last shot . . .Back in the clubs and thanks to a fortuitous prime-time set on The Ed Sullivan Show, at the age of 45, the newly christened Rodney Dangerfield was an “overnight” success. It was the greatest second act in the history of show business.Rodney mined his insecurities, personal and professional setbacks, and dismal childhood into comedy gold on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Dean Martin Show, The Joey Bishop Show, The Merv Griffin, and The Mike Douglas Show. A generation of new fans discovered him in a string of hit comedies, including Caddyshack, Easy Money, Back to School—he even popped up in Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers. And behind that iconic comedy persona was a caring, compassionate man who took in a hard-luck friend for the rest of his life; a dedicated father who almost single-handedly raised two children; and a selfless and supportive mentor to such up-and-comers as Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Carrey, and George Carlin. Nobody didn’t love him.An honest, moving, and funny portrait of the real Rodney Dangerfield, Nothin’ Comes Easy gives the legend, the man, the father, and the friend all the respect he deserves.

"From underground soldiers to intrepid spies, Women of War unearths the hidden history of the brave women who risked their lives to overthrow the Nazi occupation and liberate Italy. Using primary sources and brand new scholarship, historian Suzanne Cope illuminates the roles played by women while Italians struggled under dual foes: Nazi invaders and Italian fascist loyalists. Cope's research and storytelling introduces four brave and resourceful women who risked everything to overthrow the Nazi occupation and pry their future from the fascist grasp. We meet Carla Capponi in Rome, where she made bombs in an underground bunker then ferried them to their deadly destination wearing lipstick and a trenchcoat; and Bianca Guidetti Serra who rode her bicycle up switchbacks in the Alps, dodging bullets while delivering bags of clandestine newspapers and munitions to the anti-fascist armies hidden in the mountains. In Florence, the young future author of Italy's new constitution, Teresa Mattei, carried secret messages and hid bombs; while Anita Malavasi led troops across the Apennine Mountains. Women of War brings their experiences as underground resistance fighters, partisan combatants, spies, and saboteurs to life. Essential and original, Women of War offers not only a reexamination of the elision of women from vital WWII history but also a valuable perspective on the ongoing fight for gender equality and social justice. After all, these were the women who launched a feminist movement as they fought for the future of their country, and what that could mean for its women, all while under Nazi and fascist fire"--

A pioneering collector of Cubist art, the English art historian and critic Douglas Cooper was one of the most important—and controversial—figures in the international art world of the 20th century   Born into a wealthy family whose money was made in the 19th century in Australia, Cooper (1911- 1984) built up much of his collection of works by Picasso, Braque, Gris and Léger in the 1930s. He also trained himself to become a respected art historian, his reputation as a scholar resting largely on his catalogue of the Courtauld Collection (1954) and his catalogue raisonné of Juan Gris (1977). He also curated exhibitions of Gauguin, Braque and two major displays of Cubism. The second of these, The Essential Cubism, held at the Tate Gallery in 1983, was one of the most remarkable accumulations of Cubist painting, sculpture and drawings ever assembled.   Based on extensive research and packed with new material and fresh interpretations, IRASCIBLE! focuses attention on Cooper’s colourful life and significant accomplishments: his financing and directorship of the Mayor Gallery in London as a very young man in the 1930s, when he became close to artists such as Francis Bacon, Paul Nash, Henry Moore, Paul Klee, Joan Miró, and Max Ernst; his wartime experiences as an ambulance driver in support of the collapsing French army in 1940; his job as a senior Monuments Man in charge of tracking down Nazi-looted art in Switzerland; his move to Provence in the early 1950s, taking his collection with him; and his legendary clashes with leading figures and institutions in the British art world. This book is the definitive account of Cooper’s collecting, art dealing, writing and curating.

Liftingthe Darknesscelebrates 30 years on the road with Tough Talk as former powerlifters andbodybuilders Arthur White and Ian McDowall relate their remarkable experiencesof sharing the love of Jesus in prisons, schools and churches.

A smart, funny, anarchic and gripping memoir from Mark Hoppus, the vocalist, bassist, and founding member of pop-punk band blink-182.

Andrew Hammond offers a significant, innovative reappraisal of the role of Late Ottoman Turkish scholars in shaping modern Islamic thought. Focusing on three key figures, Hammond demonstrates their lasting impact on Turkish and Arab Islamist ideology, which has been neglected by previous histories.

A “raw, vulnerable, and utterly hilarious” (Harper’s Bazaar) memoir about one woman’s experience living with a deformity, and her quest to find freedom and joy in her body “Sosenko’s experience with body shame and judgment, from herself and others, is universal. She shows us her journey from self-hatred to joy so that we may follow her lead.”—Jo Piazza, bestselling author of The Sicilian Inheritance, podcast creator, and award-winning journalistCarla Sosenko was born with Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome, a rare vascular disorder that resulted in legs of different sizes, a mass of flesh on her back, a hunched posture, and other idiosyncrasies big and small. She spent years trying to hide under layers of clothing, and then experimented with the opposite: wearing tiny dresses and short shorts, daring people to stare so she could make them regret it. No matter what she did, she was worried that she didn’t measure up.In this candid and funny memoir, Sosenko shares what existing in an unconventional body has meant for her self-image, mental health, relationships, and ambitions. She writes of having liposuction when she was eight years old, and an adulthood spent obsessively gaming Weight Watchers points. She wrestles with the rise of Ozempic after working hard to reject diet culture. She tries to parse whether it is in spite of or because of her physical differences that she is a social butterfly who chose a high-profile career in media. Most of all, Sosenko explores the ways in which she’s felt alone and without community: not disabled but different; the recipient of pretty privilege but also fatphobia; too much, but still never enough. We follow along as she learns to claim her body—and mind and spirit and life—for exactly what they are: her own.A clarion call for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider or believed they should take up less space, I'll Look So Hot in a Coffin offers hope, recognition, and a new way to see ourselves—by celebrating what sets us apart.