Download or read book The Grand Surprise written by Leo Lerman and published by Knopf. This book was released on 2009-02-19 with total page 730 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A remarkable life and a remarkable voice emerge from the journals, letters, and memoirs of Leo Lerman: writer, critic, editor at Condé Nast, and man about town at the center of New York’s artistic and social circles from the 1940s until his death in 1994. Lerman’s contributions to the world of the arts were large and varied: he wrote on theater, dance, music, art, books, and movies for publications as diverse as Mademoiselle and The New York Times. He was features editor at Vogue and editor in chief of Vanity Fair. He launched careers and trends, exposing the American public to new talents, fashions, and ideas. He was a legendary party host as well, counting Marlene Dietrich, Maria Callas, and Truman Capote among his intimates, and celebrities like Cary Grant, Jackie Onassis, Isak Dinesen, and Margot Fonteyn as part of his larger circle. But his personal accounts and correspondence reveal him also as having an unusually rich and complex private life, mourning the cultivated émigré world of 1930s and 1940s New York City, reflecting on being Jewish and an openly homosexual man, and intimately evoking his two most important lifelong relationships. From a man whose literary icon was Marcel Proust comes an unparalleled social and emotional history. With eloquence, insight, and wit, he filled his journals and letters with acute assessments, gossip, and priceless anecdotes while inimitably recording both our larger cultural history and his own moving private story.

Download or read book The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci Complete written by Leonardo da Vinci and published by Library of Alexandria. This book was released on 2020-09-28 with total page 1118 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A singular fatality has ruled the destiny of nearly all the most famous of Leonardo da Vinci's works. Two of the three most important were never completed, obstacles having arisen during his life-time, which obliged him to leave them unfinished; namely the Sforza Monument and the Wall-painting of the Battle of Anghiari, while the third—the picture of the Last Supper at Milan—has suffered irremediable injury from decay and the repeated restorations to which it was recklessly subjected during the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries. Nevertheless, no other picture of the Renaissance has become so wellknown and popular through copies of every description. Vasari says, and rightly, in his Life of Leonardo, "that he laboured much more by his word than in fact or by deed", and the biographer evidently had in his mind the numerous works in Manuscript which have been preserved to this day. To us, now, it seems almost inexplicable that these valuable and interesting original texts should have remained so long unpublished, and indeed forgotten. It is certain that during the XVIth and XVIIth centuries their exceptional value was highly appreciated. This is proved not merely by the prices which they commanded, but also by the exceptional interest which has been attached to the change of ownership of merely a few pages of Manuscript. That, notwithstanding this eagerness to possess the Manuscripts, their contents remained a mystery, can only be accounted for by the many and great difficulties attending the task of deciphering them. The handwriting is so peculiar that it requires considerable practice to read even a few detached phrases, much more to solve with any certainty the numerous difficulties of alternative readings, and to master the sense as a connected whole. Vasari observes with reference to Leonardos writing: "he wrote backwards, in rude characters, and with the left hand, so that any one who is not practised in reading them, cannot understand them". The aid of a mirror in reading reversed handwriting appears to me available only for a first experimental reading. Speaking from my own experience, the persistent use of it is too fatiguing and inconvenient to be practically advisable, considering the enormous mass of Manuscripts to be deciphered. And as, after all, Leonardo's handwriting runs backwards just as all Oriental character runs backwards—that is to say from right to left—the difficulty of reading direct from the writing is not insuperable. This obvious peculiarity in the writing is not, however, by any means the only obstacle in the way of mastering the text. Leonardo made use of an orthography peculiar to himself; he had a fashion of amalgamating several short words into one long one, or, again, he would quite arbitrarily divide a long word into two separate halves; added to this there is no punctuation whatever to regulate the division and construction of the sentences, nor are there any accents—and the reader may imagine that such difficulties were almost sufficient to make the task seem a desperate one to a beginner. It is therefore not surprising that the good intentions of some of Leonardo s most reverent admirers should have failed.

Download or read book The Last Present A Wish Novel written by Wendy Mass and published by Scholastic Inc.. This book was released on 2013-09-24 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Don't miss the latest entry in the incredible Willow Falls series by Wendy Mass!Amanda and Leo have a history with birthdays. Now their friend's little sister, Grace, has fallen into a strange frozen state on her birthday, and Amanda and Leo must travel in time in order to fix whatever's wrong. As they journey back to each of Grace's birthdays, they start seeing all sorts of patterns . . . which raise all sorts of questions.Amanda and Leo are going to have to unravel the threads of the past and present - and travel much further than they ever imagined - if they're going to save Grace. Luckily, a little birthday magic always helps in the charming and funny Willow Falls series by Wendy Mass, where everything is possible and there are no coincidences.

Download or read book Tocqueville s Discovery of America written by Leo Damrosch and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2010-04-07 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alexis de Tocqueville is more quoted than read; commentators across the political spectrum invoke him as an oracle who defined America and its democracy for all times. But in fact his masterpiece, Democracy in America, was the product of a young man's open-minded experience of America at a time of rapid change. In Tocqueville's Discovery of America, the prizewinning biographer Leo Damrosch retraces Tocqueville's nine-month journey through the young nation in 1831–1832, illuminating how his enduring ideas were born of imaginative interchange with America and Americans, and painting a vivid picture of Jacksonian America. Damrosch shows that Tocqueville found much to admire in the dynamism of American society and in its egalitarian ideals. But he was offended by the ethos of grasping materialism and was convinced that the institution of slavery was bound to give rise to a tragic civil war. Drawing on documents and letters that have never before appeared in English, as well as on a wide range of scholarship, Tocqueville's Discovery of America brings the man, his ideas, and his world to startling life.

Download or read book Large Wire Journal Be Strong J written by Christian Art Publishers and published by Christian Art Gifts Incorporated. This book was released on 2021-01-22 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Take some time to deconstruct your day when you journal your thoughts in the Strong Large Wirebound Journal. The striking lion's face on the cover will encourage you to find strength and comfort in the promises God makes in the Bible, specifically that if you put your faith in him, he will never leave you. The front cover of the journal is split into two panels. A black panel holds the sentiment. STRONG. A gray panel depicts the striking right side of a lion's face and the Scripture reference that inspired the design. Joshua 1:9. A presentation page in the front of the journal allows you to address this journal to someone special as a gift of encouragement or to mark a special occasion. The durable hardcover protects the journal's pages and prevents any bending or damage to the item. It also provides a sturdy surface for note-taking. A gold-toned wire binds the covers together. 192 lined pages are included for journaling or note-taking, each featuring a Scripture verse that can be used as a journal prompt. The Strong Large Wirebound Journal is an unforgettable gift to encourage a young man taking on the challenges of college or a new career. Pair it with a mug or pen for a memorable gift. Black and gray design with lion's face, Hardcover, Wirebound, Full-color cover, 192 lined pages with Scripture, Size 8.4" x 6.4" x 1" (213 x 163 x 25mm)

Download or read book HarperCollins Treasury of Picture Book Classics written by Various and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2002-10-15 with total page 461 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From early, beloved classics such as Goodnight Moon and Harold and the Purple Crayon to such recent treasures as If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and Pete's a Pizza, this collection assembles twelve of the greatest picture books ever published. Parents can share the joy of introducing young children to many timeless favorites that have already enchanted millions of readers. This volume offers a wonder-filled opportunity for preschoolers and families to own and share "the best of the best." All royalties for HarperCollins Treasury of Picture Book Classics: A Child's First Collection will be donated to First Book, a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their own new books. The primary goal of First Book is to work with existing literacy programs to distribute new books to children who, for economic reasons, have little or no access to books. In this way, First Book effectively leverages the heroic efforts of local tutoring, mentoring, and family literacy organizations as they work to reach children who need help the most. First Book distributes millions of books to hundreds of thousands of children nationwide each year. For more information on First Book, please visit www.firstbook.org.

Download or read book The Giant Of The North written by Robert Michael Ballantyne and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2023-07 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Giant of the North" by R.M. Ballantyne is an enthralling adventure that takes readers on an exhilarating journey to the frozen landscapes of the Arctic. Brace yourself for a captivating tale of survival, exploration, and the unyielding spirit of a courageous protagonist. Set against the backdrop of the Klondike Gold Rush, the story follows the exploits of Vane, a young explorer determined to conquer the icy wilderness. As he embarks on a treacherous quest for gold, readers are transported to a world of breathtaking beauty, harsh conditions, and thrilling encounters with nature's fury. From perilous dog sled journeys to encounters with polar bears and fierce blizzards, Van Zyle faces numerous challenges that test his resourcefulness and resilience. Along the way, he forms unlikely alliances, discovers hidden dangers, and unravels the secrets of the Arctic. R.M. Ballantyne's vivid descriptions and meticulous attention to detail bring the Arctic landscape to life, immersing readers in the awe-inspiring beauty and unforgiving harshness of the region. The narrative is filled with heart-pounding moments, dramatic twists, and the triumph of the human spirit in the face of adversity. "The Giant of the North" not only offers a thrilling adventure but also explores themes of determination, bravery, and the pursuit of dreams. As readers follow Vane's quest, they are inspired by his unwavering courage and his unwavering belief in the potential of the uncharted wilderness.

Download or read book Keeper and Kid written by Edward Hardy and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2008-01-08 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Keeper and Kid is a marvel. I dare you. Open this book and try to put it down." ---Ann Hood, author of The Knitting Room Eight years ago, James Keeper fell in love with his upstairs neighbor in Boston, a sassy pastry chef with gray eyes and a fierce attitude. They got married, found a dog, and shopped for cilantro. But conflicting schedules and a real estate deal gone bad took its toll on the twenty-somethings in love. One divorce later, the hand-me-down chairs were separated, the potato masher custody settled, and Keeper moved to Providence to work with his best friend selling antiques at a quirky shop called Love and Death. A new job, a new love, and a new life now in place, Keeper is in a comfortable situation. Business is steady, Leah (the new love) is intriguing and passionate, and Keeper's friends always turn up for Sunday evening Card Night. But one phone call from his former mother-in-law changes everything. And so days later, Keeper comes away with a son he never knew he had, and life all of a sudden takes on a new meaning. Leo, the precocious three-year-old who sports Keeper's square chin, is more than a handful---he eats only round foods, refuses to bathe, thinks he's a bear, and refers to Leah as "that man." For a guy who never thought he'd be a parent, Keeper is thrown headfirst into fatherhood---and has no idea what to do. As Keeper and Leo adjust to the shock of each other and their suddenly very different lives, Keeper begins to let the people in his life in, in turns strange and heartwarming, funny and painful. But some, like Leah, aren't so eager for change. In this humorous and poignant novel, Edward Hardy explores the depths of modern love, parenthood, and compromise. Keeper and Kid is the story of how a normal guy receives an unexpected gift and in turn must learn to ask more of others and himself. A coming-of-age story for the guy who thought he had already grown up, Keeper and Kid is a sharp and witty account of what we do for love. Advance Praise for Keeper and Kid "A fine, fetching novel with a good heart. Keeper is nimble and affecting, a tribute to the author's endless comic inventiveness."---Stewart O'Nan, author of The Good Wife "At once immensely engaging and about the things that matter most: how we love, how we move on, how the past moves with us. Lovely, wise, and surprising."---Elizabeth Graver, author of The Honey Thief "Ed Hardy's voice in Keeper and Kid grabs you and won't let you go until the very last page. Full of local color, bittersweet characters, and a story we can all relate to---the day your past arrives on the doorstep of your present life."---Ann Hood, author of The Knitting Room

Download or read book The Nest written by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2016-03-22 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A warm, funny and acutely perceptive debut novel about four adult siblings and the fate of the shared inheritance that has shaped their choices and their lives. Every family has its problems. But even among the most troubled, the Plumb family stands out as spectacularly dysfunctional. Years of simmering tensions finally reach a breaking point on an unseasonably cold afternoon in New York City as Melody, Beatrice, and Jack Plumb gather to confront their charismatic and reckless older brother, Leo, freshly released from rehab. Months earlier, an inebriated Leo got behind the wheel of a car with a nineteen-year-old waitress as his passenger. The ensuing accident has endangered the Plumbs' joint trust fund, “The Nest,” which they are months away from finally receiving. Meant by their deceased father to be a modest mid-life supplement, the Plumb siblings have watched The Nest’s value soar along with the stock market and have been counting on the money to solve a number of self-inflicted problems. Melody, a wife and mother in an upscale suburb, has an unwieldy mortgage and looming college tuition for her twin teenage daughters. Jack, an antiques dealer, has secretly borrowed against the beach cottage he shares with his husband, Walker, to keep his store open. And Bea, a once-promising short-story writer, just can’t seem to finish her overdue novel. Can Leo rescue his siblings and, by extension, the people they love? Or will everyone need to reimagine the futures they’ve envisioned? Brought together as never before, Leo, Melody, Jack, and Beatrice must grapple with old resentments, present-day truths, and the significant emotional and financial toll of the accident, as well as finally acknowledge the choices they have made in their own lives. This is a story about the power of family, the possibilities of friendship, the ways we depend upon one another and the ways we let one another down. In this tender, entertaining, and deftly written debut, Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney brings a remarkable cast of characters to life to illuminate what money does to relationships, what happens to our ambitions over the course of time, and the fraught yet unbreakable ties we share with those we love.

Download or read book Discover the Stars written by Richard Berry and published by Crown. This book was released on 1987-12-13 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An accessible, informative guide to identifying constellations and other incredible features of the sky, whether you’re hiking, camping, or stargazing from your backyard. Discover the Stars leads you on a tour of all the stars and constellations visible with the naked eye and introduces you to deep-sky objects that can be seen with binoculars or a simple telescope. The tour is conducted by the editor of Astronomy magazine, Richard Berry, whose two-color, computer-plotted sky maps and clear instructions make stargazing fun and productive from your first night out. The heart of Discover the Stars is two sections of big, beautiful sky maps and charts. The first section features twelve maps that show the entire sky overhead as it appears during each month of the year. These outline all the constellations visible anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere, and the accompanying text reveals the rich ancient mythology that surrounds the star groups. The second section is made up of twenty-three star charts that depict smaller regions of the sky in great detail. These charts give the names of key stars and lead you to fascinating features such as stars with unusual colors, double stars, variable stars, nebulae, and galaxies. Separate chapters cover basics, such as how the stars move through the sky, how to find your way around the moon and the planets, making an astronomer's flashlight, and choosing and using a telescope—all in terms that are easy to grasp and remember. Discover the Stars is the perfect introduction to the heavens, simple enough to be useful if you're just starting out but packed with enough information to keep you learning and enjoying the stars for years to come.

Download or read book Letters to Leo written by Amy Hest and published by Candlewick Press. This book was released on 2012-03-27 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a series of letters to her new dog, fourth-grader Annie Rossi relates her daily exploits and remembers her mother.

Download or read book The Wolf written by Leo Carew and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Violence and death come to the land under the Northern Sky when two fierce races break their age-old fragile peace and start an all-out war in this thrilling and savagely visceral epic fantasy. Beyond the Black River, among the forests and mountains of the north, lives an ancient race of people. Their lives are measured in centuries, not decades; they revel in wilderness and resilience, and they scorn wealth and comfort. By contrast, those in the south live in the moment, their lives more fleeting. They crave wealth and power; their ambition is limitless, and their cunning unmatched. When the armies of the south flood across the Black river, the fragile peace between the two races is shattered. On a lightning-struck battlefield, the two sides will fight - for their people, for their land, for their very survival. Under the Northern SkyThe Wolf.

Download or read book Mattock written by James Stevens and published by . This book was released on 1927 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A bigoted and xenophobic midwesterner in the A.E.F. during World War I." Cf. Hanna, A. Mirror for the nation.

Download or read book More Light written by Jonathan Strong and published by Quale Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fiction. LGBT Studies. MORE LIGHT is a musical fantasia, in major and minor keys, of the generations at a crossroads and how the stories within our stories weave about us as we grow and change and remember. Iva Sturtevant, a soprano of some repute in provincial European opera houses, has returned to her childhood home to tend her ailing parents. Iva's brother, Leo Sturtevant, who has never left Josephine, Illinois, has recently been dismissed from his social service job, suspected of inappropriate behavior. Now, awaiting the inevitable disappearance of the oldest generation, Iva entertains Leo with tales from her obscure romantic operas, and Leo entices his big sister to read an old 1960s paperback about the world's last heterosexual, a novel dear to him for its mirror image of his own plight in a tiny rural town. This old novel even inspires Leo to write something himself, in secret, a mystery story about twin boys, one of them accused of a violent crime.

Download or read book War Depression War written by Gerard Charles Wilson and published by Gerard Charles Wilson Publisher. This book was released on 2021-06-12 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The history of a nation through the lives of ordinary Australians whose beginnings were in a penal colony. In 1901, the author’s great-grandparents, James Patrick and Mary Jane Wilson, moved from rural Tallawang near Gulgong to the fledgling suburb of Chatswood on Sydney’s North Shore. Accompanying them were Bert (the author’s grandfather), Bert’s sister Elizabeth and his younger brother Leo. Older brother Percy followed later. Bert, Percy and older brother Tom began a business, building houses from Chatswood through to Hornsby on Sydney’s northern border. The breakout of the First World War saw dramatic changes. Rowland Wilson, Bert’s nephew, enlisted only to be engaged shortly after his arrival in France in one of the bloodiest battles of the War – the battle over Pozieres. His remains are mingled with the mud and dirt of Pozieres’ farmlands. Leo, Rowland’s uncle, followed a year later. The author gives an account of their terrible experiences. On the author’s mother’s side, it was his grandfather Steele’s brother, Percy Steele, who endured the same frightening ordeal, carrying a lifelong war wound. Australians were hardly over the War when the Depression struck, causing many builders to lose their businesses. The Wilsons hung on by the skin of their teeth, improvising as best they could, while the Steeles, always with work with the New South Wales Railways in clerical positions, did much better. The author provides an engaging account of his parents’ upbringing before they met at Chatswood in 1938. They were from very different backgrounds. The class difference would cause them heartache. The Second World War intervened. His father was a leading sick berth attendant on HMAS SYDNEY during the great cruiser battles in the Mediterranean. It was a deadly period, but the SYDNEY survived and returned to Australia where his parents were married in 1941. Tension was never far away between his father and his mother’s parents. Among all these happenings were much drama and excitement. The book ends with the author’s father building their first house at Lane Cove, a suburb adjacent to Chatswood. Book 3, ME AND PETE, covering the author’s early childhood, was released in 2020.

Download or read book Escape to Midas written by Andrew Stickland and published by Eye Books (US&CA). This book was released on 2023-08-17 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Last year Leo Fischer and Skater Monroe were normal kids living normal lives, worrying about school, dealing with family issues, planning their futures... This year they're hiding out on Mars, hunted by a psychopathic megalomaniac - who happens to be the most powerful individual in the Solar System. He claims the two of them are interplanetary terrorists and is demanding their heads on a plate. In the thrilling second installment of the Mars Alone Trilogy, Leo and Skater, together with an artificial intelligence called Taffy whose mind contains the knowledge of an ancient alien civilization, must face the consequences of fighting an enemy who has been lying to the entire human race and will stop at nothing to protect his secrets.

Download or read book Kelsey the Spy written by Linda Joy Singleton and published by Albert Whitman & Company. This book was released on 2016-04-01 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kelsey can't resist collecting secrets in her spy notebook just like her hero, Harriet the Spy. When she learns Leo has been hiding something from the group, she writes his secret in her notebook as well. But when the notebook goes missing, everything she’s collected about classmates, friends, and family could be revealed to the world! After receiving a ransom note, Kelsey tries to solve the mystery on her own. But she soon realizes she needs help from everyone in the CCSC to rescue the notebook, help a homesick 130-year-old Aldabra tortoise, and unmask a thief.