Biography

Renegade for Justice: Defending the Defenseless in an Outlaw World by Stephen Saltonstall - Book Review

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Renegade for Justice: Defending the Defenseless in an Outlaw World By Stephen Saltonstall, Michael Meltsner (Foreword by) Cover Image
$24.95
ISBN: 9780700633678
Availability: Click Title for IN STORE Location
Published: University Press of Kansas - October 28th, 2022

The word "hero" is applied so often today it has attained the status of a cliche. The author turned away from the green pastures that beckoned to so many young lawyers and followed his conscience rather than the money. This is an unflinching look at a justice system that, for all its pretensions towards fairness, is irrevocably skewed towards the rich and the privileged in America. Mr. Saltonstall defended people who some might call indefensible and he walked side by side with some of the great men of the previous century. He emerges from the pages of this remarkable book as my idea of a genuine hero. This memoir could serve as a template for living a profoundly useful and selfless life. ~ Reviewed by Alden Graves


Chasing Bright Medusas: A Life of Willa Cather by Benjamin Taylor - Book Review

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Chasing Bright Medusas: A Life of Willa Cather By Benjamin Taylor Cover Image
$29.00
ISBN: 9780593298824
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Published: Viking - November 14th, 2023

Willa Cather: "A lasting novel is something you've lived through, not just a story you've read." Taylor's crisp, insightful biography shows how, time and again, Cather's timeless creations give readers an opportunity to achieve that goal. ~ Reviewed by Mike Hare


World Within a Song: Music That Changed My Life and Life That Changed My Music by Jeff Tweedy - Book Review

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World Within a Song: Music That Changed My Life and Life That Changed My Music By Jeff Tweedy Cover Image
$26.00
ISBN: 9780593472521
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Published: Dutton - November 7th, 2023

Using fifty well-known or obscure songs as his launching pad, Tweedy blasts off into musical riffs about his adolescence, society, the music industry, gigs in bars, world tours, and most importantly, the eternal gift of music. Funny and honest from the first note to the last. ~ Reviewed by Mike Hare


Thunderstone: A true story of losing one home and discovering another by Nancy Campbell - Book Review

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Thunderstone: A true story of losing one home and discovering another By Nancy Campbell Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781783966998
Availability: Backordered
Published: Elliott & Thompson - September 12th, 2023

A beautiful memoir about the messiness of life, and how often the support of strangers comes to save us. Campbell finds herself newly out of a relationship, and without a home, but finds community in others living on the edge of society. Affirming, inspiring, and poetic. ~ Reviewed by Becky Doherty


The Many Lives of Mama Love: A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing, and Healing by Lara Love Hardin - Book Review

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The Many Lives of Mama Love: A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing, and Healing By Lara Love Hardin Cover Image
$28.99
ISBN: 9781982197667
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Published: Simon & Schuster - August 1st, 2023

Before the author became a celebrated ghost-writer, author and literary agent, she was a mother, an addict, the “neighbor from hell”, and a convicted felon. In this incredibly moving, heartbreaking and often hilarious memoir, Hardin takes us through how she ended up in jail and became Mama Love to her fellow prisoners,bringing love and healing and support to them, but not quite dealing with her own sense of shame and self-hatred. Once released and navigating life as a felon on probation, she learns to forgive, self-compassion and forgiveness not only for herself but for others. She comes to understand that we are all works-in-progress and many parts of a whole; good, bad and in-between. I devoured this book! ~ Reviewed by Tambra Johnson Reap


An Inconvenient Cop: My Fight to Change Policing in America by Edwin Raymond - Book Review

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An Inconvenient Cop: My Fight to Change Policing in America By Edwin Raymond, Jon Sternfeld Cover Image
$29.00
ISBN: 9780593653166
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Published: Viking - October 17th, 2023

Harsh takedown of the NYPD from one of its own. Raymond exposes the department's fixation on targeting minorities for minor infractions, forcing patrols to shortchange their roles deterring crime. By bravely challenging the institution's deeply hierarchical and bureaucratic culture, he is helping to remodel it into something more just. ~ Reviewed by Mike Hare


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