The first full biography of one of rock 'n' roll's greatest pioneers and legendary wild men. Born James Newell Osterberg Jr., Iggy Pop transcended life in Ypsilanti, Michigan, to become a member of the punk band the Stooges, thereby earning the nickname "the Godfather of Punk." He is one of the most riveting and reckless performers in music history, with a commitment to his art that is perilously total. But his personal life was often a shambles, as he struggled with drug addiction, mental illness, and the ever-problematic question of commercial success in the music world. That he is even alive today, let alone performing with undiminished energy, is a wonder. The musical genres of punk, glam, and New Wave were all anticipated and profoundly influenced by his work. Iggy Pop: Open Up and Bleed is a truly definitive work-not just about Iggy Pop's life and music but also about the death of the hippie dream, the influence of drugs on human creativity, the nature of comradeship, and the depredations of fame.
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Benazir Bhutto is the daughter of Pakistan's former President Bhutto, who was executed by General Zia in 1979. At his death, she inherited the leadership of the Pakistan People's Party, the largest and most powerful mass-based group in the country. In 1981 she was herself imprisoned, and spent three months in solitary confinement. After her release, she came to England to spend four months in exile. In 1985 she returned to Pakistan to bury her younger brother, Shahnawaz, who had died in mysterious circumstances in the south of France. A few months later she was back once more in her country. Hundreds of thousands of supporters thronged the streets to greet her in mass rallies as she called for the overthrow of General Zia's regime, and again she was imprisoned and then released. Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan's first woman Prime Minister, tells the story of those years and explains why she has turned her back on personal tragedy, and has donned her father's mantle with an iron determination.
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Gore Vidal's talents as a raconteur are in evidence throughout this
captivating and insightful memoir. Point to Point Navigation picks up
where his 1995 Palimpsest left off. Apparently, the pace of Vidal's
life has not slackened since the mid-'60s, nor has he lost his sharp
tongue and keen wit. His observations capture his famous associates at
their best and their worst; the book's celebrity roster includes
Tennessee Williams, the Kennedys, Orson Welles, Johnny Carson, Greta
Garbo, Federico Fellini, Francis Ford Coppola, Elia Kazan, and Rudolph
Nureyev. Point by Point Navigation is a feast for gossips, but this
memoir also embodies Vidal's heartfelt thoughts about his deepest
convictions and loves. A major statement by a brilliant gadfly.
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How did Einstein's mind work? What made him a genius? Isaacson's biography shows how his scientific imagination sprang from the rebellious nature of his personality. His fascinating story is a testament to the connection between creativity and freedom. Based on the newly released personal letters of Albert Einstein, Walter Isaacson explores how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk -- a struggling father in a difficult marriage who couldn't get a teaching job or a doctorate -- became the mind reader of the creator of the cosmos, the locksmith of the mysteries of the atom and the universe. His success came from questioning conventional wisdom and marveling at mysteries that struck others as mundane. This led him to embrace a morality and politics based on respect for free minds, free spirits, and free individuals.
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