David Ritz Knihy

A memoir by Morris Day of The Time centering around his lifelong relationship and association with Prince

The most important and revealing book ever on Elvis Presley - by his wife and daughter Twenty seven years after his death, Elvis Presley remains one of the world's most beloved and iconic figures. There has been an impressive array of bestselling Elvis books over the years, but there has never been a book like this. Now, for the first time, Elvis, the man, husband father and artist, is remembered intimately and honestly by his ex wife Priscilla, daughter Lisa Marie and other close family members. Including deeply personal documents and previously unseen family photographs, this lavishly illustrated book will also feature new interviews with family and friends by celebrated Rolling Stone founder, David Dalton. From personal diary entries to unearthed artefacts, Elvis by the Presleys is set to become a publishing phenomenon and will come closer than any other book in revealing the private dreams and truths of the extraordinary and complex man, who became the king of Rock and Roll.

"Etta tells it like it is. I related to every page. Great book!"--Ray Charles Etta James--brash, sassy, and uncannily gifted--has left a soul-sized footprint on modern music, from blues to R&B to jazz. As the Houston Chronicle puts it, her "expressive voice and exquisite dramatic timing can actually make you tremble." Rage to Survive captures that amazing voice. Etta tells riveting stories of her youth in Los Angeles--from being discovered at age five singing in her church choir (when celebrities like Lana Turner and Orson Welles would sneak in the back to listen to the girl genius) to why she hates encores (her father would drag her out of bed in the middle of the night to sing for his card-playing buddies) to her first hit record and her work with Chuck Berry, Tina Turner, and the great stars of the Golden Age of Soul. She tells of meeting the man she believes is her father--the legendary pool hustler Minnesota Fats--her recovery from the grip of drugs, her childhood dealing with a mother who worked on the streets, and her lifelong trouble with "bad men." To quote Liz Smith in Newsday: "Candid? Brutally honest? You don't know about candor and brutal honesty until you've read Etta's life story in her own rough, unvarnished, and humorously right-on words . . . any major movie studio would do itself a huge favor by turning this book into a sizzling, big-screen saga."

B. B. King has the blues running through his blood. Growing up in the rural poverty of the Mississippi Delta, King first experienced the blues at nine years old, when his mother passed away. The man of the house before the end of his first decade, he used this strife as a source of inspiration and launched one of the most celebrated musical careers in American history. King has led a remarkable life, and this riveting autobiography dramatizes his whirlwind adventures from the Memphis of the forties to the Moscow of the nineties with unflinching candor and sincerity. But most of all, B.B.'s story is the story of the blues—the evolution from country acoustic to urban electric, the birth and explosion of rock 'n' roll—and B.B.'s own long, but ultimately triumphant, struggle for crossover success, during which he remained unwaveringly true to the music of his heart.

Drawing from interviews conducted before Marvin Gaye's death, acclaimed music writer David Ritz has created a full-scale portrait of the brilliant but tormented artist. With a cast of characters that includes Diana Ross, Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson, and Stevie Wonder, this intimate biography is a definitive and enduring look at the man who embodied the very essence of the word soul.

A lighthearted comedy about the way a spiritual teacher tries to empower his followers, but they invest him with all the power. “… brilliant, wise, moving, and funny. Like,  really  funny. … Spiritual writing like this is rare. “ Shozen Jack Haubner, author of  Zen Confidential   Henry “Hank” Wilder, a divorced loner, is unsuccessfully trying to establish a new Zen center when he accidentally cures an ex-girlfriend’s recurring cancer with his touch and discovers—at least this is what people keep telling him—that he has healing powers. Suddenly the empty zendo is overcrowded with Zen students who also want to be touched and healed by Hank. At first he resists, but when he cures a local Mexican boy of a bad limp, his reputation takes off. A TV story on Hank’s healings goes viral. The Latino community shows up, bearing food and icons of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Hank befriends a Catholic priest and falls in love again. When his life gets totally out of hand, he escapes to Mexico on a spiritual odyssey and finds out who he really is.

Ray Charles (1930-2004) led one of the most extraordinary lives of any popular musician. In Brother Ray, he tells his story in an inimitable and unsparing voice, from the chronicle of his musical development to his heroin addiction to his tangled romantic life. Overcoming poverty, blindness, the loss of his parents, and the pervasive racism of the era, Ray Charles was acclaimed worldwide as a genius by the age of thirty-two. By combining the influences of gospel, jazz, blues, and country music, he invented, almost single-handedly, what became known as soul. And throughout a career spanning more than a half century, Ray Charles remained in complete control of his life and his music, allowing nobody to tell him what he could and couldn't do.As the Chicago Sun-Times put it, Brother Ray is "candid, explicit, sometimes embarrassing, often hilarious, always warm, touching and deeply human-just like his music."

Born in China to parents whose musical careers were interrupted by the Cultural Revolution, Lang Lang has emerged as one of the greatest pianists of our time. Yet despite his fame, few in the West know of the heart-wrenching journey from his early childhood as a prodigy in an industrial city in northern China to his difficult years in Beijing to his success today. This autobiography documents the remarkable, dramatic story of a family who sacrificed almost everything--his parents' marriage, financial security, Lang Lang's childhood, and their reputation in China's insular classical music world--for the belief in a young boy's talent. And it reveals the devastating and intense relationship between a boy and his father, who was willing to go to any length to make his son a star. An engaging, informative cultural commentator who bridges East and West, Lang Lang's book opens a door to China.--From publisher description.

Traces the fabled career of the legendary singer over a thirty-year period, from his beginnings with the Miracles and his songwriting and production work as well as his often difficult personal life

Let Love Rule is a work of deep reflection. Lenny Kravitz looks back at his life with candor, self-scrutiny, and humour. 'My life is all about opposites,' he writes. 'Black and white. Jewish and Christian. The Jackson 5 and Led Zeppelin. I accepted my Gemini soul. I owned it. I adored it. Yins and yangs mingled in various parts of my heart and mind, giving me balance and fueling my curiosity and comfort.' Let Love Rule covers a vast canvas stretching from Manhattan's Upper East Side, Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant, Los Angeles's Baldwin Hills, Beverly Hills, and finally to France, England and Germany. It's the story of a wildly creative kid who, despite tough struggles at school and extreme tension at home, finds salvation in music. We see him grow as a musician and ultimately a master songwriter, producer, and performer. We also see Lenny's spiritual growth-and the powerful way in which spirit informs his music. The cast of characters surrounding Lenny is extraordinary: his father, Sy, a high-powered news executive; his mother, Roxie Roker, a television star; and Lisa Bonet, the young actress who becomes his muse. The central character, of course, is Lenny, who, despite his great aspirational energy, turns down record deal after record deal until he finds his true voice.The creation of that voice, the same voice that is able to declare 'Let Love Rule' to an international audience, is the very heart of this story.

I'm just Janet. I have strengths, weaknesses, fears, happiness, sadness. I experience joy and I experience pain. I'm highly emotional. I'm very vulnerable. And, as anyone who knows me will testify, I'm extremely sensitive. I have lifelong patterns of behaviour that have caused me difficulty - patterns tough to break. Like everyone, I have talents, but with those talents have come challenges. This book is about meeting the challenges that face all of us. For more than three decades, I've struggled with yo-yo dieting. Some of my battles with weight have been very public. But most of it has been internal. Even at my thinnest, when my body was being praised, I wasn't happy with what I saw or how I felt about myself. Infused with stories from fans and friends, Janet offers a candid look into the causes and circumstances behind some of her well-documented weight issues. Far more than a celebrity fitness manifesto, this book is a searingly honest account of the most tumultuous times of her life - from being taunted as a young girl to her internal battles with her beauty and femininity and her desire to fit in. It has taken Janet most of her adult life to come to terms with who she is. True You illuminates the path Janet took in learning how to love herself and finally break free of the attitudes that brought her down.

A powerful chronicle of the sixteen weeks leading up to King of Pop Michael Jackson's death Michael Jackson's final months were like the rest of his short and legendary life: filled with deep lows and soaring highs, a constant hunt for privacy, and the pressure and fame that made him socially fragile and almost--ultimately--unable to live. With the insight and compassion that he brought to his bestselling telling of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s final year, Tavis Smiley provides a glimpse into the superstar's life in this emotional, honest, yet celebratory book. Readers will witness Jackson's campaign to recharge his career--hiring and firing managers and advisors, turning to and away from family members, fighting depression and drug dependency--while his one goal remained: to mount the most spectacular series of shows the world had ever seen. BEFORE YOU JUDGE ME is a humanizing look at Jackson's last days.

Facing challenges related to his lifelong stutter, eighth grader Jayson Linden strives to create a more inclusive environment at school after witnessing injustices, particularly affecting his best friend, Gloria. As he takes a stand by running against the popular Mack for student-body president, Jayson confronts his fears of public speaking. The story intertwines themes of friendship, resilience, and the quest for equality, showcasing Jayson's journey to empower himself and others in the face of adversity.

Szczere wspomnienia mistrza NBA i członka koszykarskiej Galerii Sław. Był jednym z najbardziej dominujących graczy, jakich widział świat koszykówki. I jednym z najbardziej wygadanych. W ciągu 21-letniej kariery podniósł trash- talk do rangi sztuki i nigdy nie stronił od dzielenia się przemyśleniami na kontrowersyjne tematy. W tej książce Kevin Garnett z taką samą szczerością spogląda na swoje życie i karierę. Przeciwności, jakie napotkał, dorastając w Karolinie Południowej. Pominięcie college'u i wejście do draftu bezpośrednio ze szkoły średniej. Mecze przeciwko Michaelowi Jordanowi, Kobemu Bryantowi, LeBronowi Jamesowi i innym legendom NBA, wzloty i upadki, mistrzostwo z Boston Celtics. A pomiędzy tym wszystkim sława, rodzina, muzyka, wiara czy rasizm. Jeśli uważasz, że Kevin Garnett zachwycał na parkiecie, poczekaj, aż przeczytasz, co ma do powiedzenia na kartkach tej książki.

"Elvis by the Presleys"ist ein faszinierendes Kleinod: Der mit zahlreichen privaten Fotos sowie Abbildungen persönlicher Erinnerungsstücke illustrierte Band lässt Graceland zu neuem Leben erwachen. Er gibt einen tiefen Einblick in das Leben dieses außergewöhnlichen Menschen, vor allem dann, wenn Elvis selbst seine Gefühle und Gedanken offenbart.§Graceland war der pulsierende Familiensitz: Die Küche war das Zentrum, im Garten wurde je nach Jahreszeit Football gespielt, gerodelt oder er wurde durch umhersausende Elektro-Caddies unsicher gemacht. Graceland lebte durch Elvis, und für ihn war es der einzige Ort auf der Welt, wo sich frei und glücklich fühlte.§Seine ehemalige Frau Priscilla Presley, ihre gemeinsame Tochter Lisa Marie, seine Cousine Patsy Presley Geranen, Priscillas Eltern und weitere Familienangehörige berichten einfühlsam und freimütig über den Menschen Elvis und würdigen zugleich einen der größten Entertainer.§Darüber hinaus ist es die Lebensgeschichte eines hoch begabten, doch häufig enttäuschten Künstlers. Es ist die unter die Haut gehende Story einer Liebe, der auch Trennung und Scheidung nichts von ihrer Intensität nahm. Erzählt wird sie, wie sie nur die Familie erzählen kann: mit Wärme und rückhaltloser Offenheit. Und sie lässt uns die Kraft seines musikalischen Vermächtnisses begreifen, das uns bis heute in den Bann zieht.