Hardcover Nonfiction

by Al Franken · Dutton

The #1 New York Times bestseller by Senator Al Franken, author of Giant of the Senate Senator Al Franken’s landmark bestseller, Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them): A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, was praised as a “bitterly funny assault” (The New York Times) that rang “with the moral clarity of an angel’s trumpet” (The Associated Press). Now, this master of political humor strikes again with a powerful and provocative message for all of us. In these pages, Senator Franken reveals the alarming story of how: • Bush (barely) beat Kerry with his campaign of “fear, smear, and queers,” and then claimed a nonexistent mandate. • “Casino Jack” Abramoff, the Republicans’ nearest and dearest friend, made millions of dollars off of the unspeakable misery of the poor and the powerless. And, also, Native Americans. • The administration successfully implemented its strategy to destroy America’s credibility and goodwill around the world. Complete with new material for this paperback edition, The Truth (with jokes) is more than just entertaining, intelligent, and insightful. It is at once prescient in its analysis of right-wing mendacity and incompetence, and inspiring in its vision of a better tomorrow for all Americans (except Jack Abramoff).

by Joan Didion · Knopf

by Doris Kearns Goodwin · Simon & Schuster

Presents an overview of the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, explaining the genius of his political savvy, and describes the context in which he assigned a cadre of his fiercest rivals as his closest cabinet advisors.

by Thomas L. Friedman · Farrar, Straus & Giroux

by Michael Jordan, edited by Mark Vancil · Atria

Michael Jordan is the rare global icon whose celebrity extends beyond his original stage and onto multiple platforms. His relentless determination produced six NBA Championships and some of the most spectacular performances in sports history, while his enduring grace and unique sense of style made him equally famous in the worlds of fashion, business and marketing. In Driven from Within, Michael makes it clear that the basis for his phenomenal success came from the inside out, thanks in part to those who guided him along the way. His skill, work ethic, philosophy, personal style, competitiveness and presence have flowed from the basketball court into every facet of his life. Nearly three years removed from his last turn as an athlete, Michael's twentieth Air Jordan shoe has helped push Nike's Brand Jordan division to almost $500 million in sales. "Nothing of value comes without being earned. That's why great leaders are those who lead by example first. You can't demand respect because of a title or a position and expect people to follow. That might work for a little while, but in the long run people respond to what they see." This is a book about the power of collaboration and teamwork, the awe-inspiring energy generated when people combine their creativity and passion and a fearless desire to lead. Whether waking at 6 a.m. to work on fundamentals as a high school junior, or spending hours with legendary designer Tinker Hatfield on the intricacies of state-of-the-art shoe design, Michael Jordan has never wavered in his desire to be the best. "It all started with an appetite to prove. Whether it was competing with my siblings or trying to get attention from my parents, I wanted to show what I could do, what I was capable of accomplishing. I wanted results, and I was driven to find out the best way to get them." Everyone knows the results. In Driven from Within, Michael Jordan and those in his inner circle reveal the philosophy that makes it all happen.

by John Berendt · Penguin

by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner · Morrow

The New York Times best-selling Freakonomics was a worldwide sensation, selling over four million copies in thirty-five languages and changing the way we look at the world. Now, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner return with SuperFreakonomics, and fans and newcomers alike will find that the freakquel is even bolder, funnier, and more surprising than the first. Four years in the making, SuperFreakonomics asks not only the tough questions, but the unexpected ones: What's more dangerous, driving drunk or walking drunk? Why is chemotherapy prescribed so often if it's so ineffective? Can a sex change boost your salary? SuperFreakonomics challenges the way we think all over again, exploring the hidden side of everything with such questions as: How is a street prostitute like a department-store Santa? Why are doctors so bad at washing their hands? How much good do car seats do? What's the best way to catch a terrorist? Did TV cause a rise in crime? What do hurricanes, heart attacks, and highway deaths have in common? Are people hard-wired for altruism or selfishness? Can eating kangaroo save the planet? Which adds more value: a pimp or a Realtor? Levitt and Dubner mix smart thinking and great storytelling like no one else, whether investigating a solution to global warming or explaining why the price of oral sex has fallen so drastically. By examining how people respond to incentives, they show the world for what it really is – good, bad, ugly, and, in the final analysis, super freaky. Freakonomics has been imitated many times over – but only now, with SuperFreakonomics, has it met its match.

by Jerry Lewis and James Kaplan · Doubleday

They were the unlikeliest of pairs--a handsome Italian crooner and a skinny Jewish monkey. The moment they got together, something clicked--and audiences saw it at once. Before long, they were as big as Elvis would be after them, grabbing an unprecedented hold over radio, television, movies, stage shows, and nightclubs. Martin and Lewis were a national craze, an American institution--and then, ten years from the day when the two men joined forces, it all ended. The two wouldn't speak again for twenty years. While both went on to forge triumphant individual careers, their parting left a hole in the national psyche, as well as in each man's heart. In a memoir by turns moving, tragic, and hilarious, Lewis recounts a fifty-year friendship, and makes a case for Dean Martin as one of the great--and most underrated--comic talents of our era.--From publisher description.

by Louis J. Freeh with Howard Means · St. Martin’s Press

A spectacular New York Times and Washington Post bestseller, My FBI is the definitive account of American law enforcement during the Clinton years and in the run-up to September 11. Louis Freeh is clear eyed, frank, the ultimate realist, and he offers resolute vision for the struggles ahead. Bill Clinton called Freeh a "law enforcement legend" when he nominated him as the Federal Bureau of Investigation Director. The good feelings would not last. Going toe-to-toe with his boss during the scandal-plagued '90s, Freeh fought hard to defend his agency from political interference and to protect America from the growing threat of international terrorism. When Clinton later called that appointment the worst one he had made as president, Freeh considered it "a badge of honor." This is Freeh's entire story, from his Catholic upbringing in New Jersey to law school, the FBI training academy, his career as a US District attorney and as a federal judge, and finally his eight years as the nation's top cop. This is the definitive account of American law enforcement in the run-up to September 11. Freeh is clear-eyed, frank, the ultimate realist, and he offers resolute vision for the struggles ahead. "[Freeh] comes off as the real deal, an honorable, hard-working man, a devoted public servant and father, a gifted lawyer and onetime federal prosecutor."--- The New York Times

by David McCullough · Simon & Schuster

America's most acclaimed historian presents the intricate story of the year of the birth of the United States of America. 1776 tells two gripping stories: how a group of squabbling, disparate colonies became the United States, and how the British Empire tried to stop them. This book destroys many popular myths about the wars of independence and reveals in fact how many Americans wished to remain British, and how many British had profound doubts about a military solution to the revolt. It shows that many of those fighting knew those on the other side well, and as the great decisions and battles of 1776 unfolded and attitudes hardened, the truly fratricidal nature of the conflict became clear. A must read. This exhilarating book is one of the great peices of historical narrative.

by Malcolm Gladwell · Little, Brown

Kennen Sie die kurzen Momente, in denen wir blitzartige Entscheidungen treffen - Momente, in denen wir denken, ohne zu denken?

by James Frey · Riverhead

by Kurt Vonnegut · Seven Stories

by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday · Knopf

The most authoritative life of Mao ever written, by the bestselling author of Wild Swans, Jung Chang and her husband, historian Jon Halliday. Based on a decade of research, and on interviews with many of Mao's close circle in China who have never talked before, and with virtually everyone outside China who had significant dealings with him, this is the most authoritative life of Mao ever written. It is full of startling revelations, exploding the myth of the Long March, and showing a completely unknown Mao: he was not driven by idealism or ideology; his intimate and intricate relationship with Stalin went back to the 1920s, ultimately bringing him to power; he welcomed Japanese occupation of much of China; and he schemed, poisoned and blackmailed to get his way. After Mao conquered China in 1949, his secret goal was to dominate the world. In chasing this dream he caused the deaths of 38 million people in the greatest famine in history. In all, well over 70 million Chinese perished under Mao's rule, in peacetime. Combining meticulous history with the story-telling style of Wild Swans, this biography makes immediate Mao's roller-coaster life, as he intrigued and fought every step of the way to force through his unpopular decisions. Mao's character and the enormity of his behaviour towards his wives, mistresses and children are unveiled for the first time. This is an entirely fresh look at Mao in both content and approach. It will astonish historians and the general reader alike. ‘This a bombshell of a book’, Chris Patten, The Times ‘The first great political biography of the twenty-first century’ Spectator

by John Grogan · Morrow

The story of a family in the making and the wondrously neurotic dog who taught them what really matters in life. Is it possible for humans to discover the key to happiness through a bigger-than-life, bad-boy dog? Just ask the Grogans.--From publisher description.