The Life Of A Girl Named Merle

The Life of a Girl Named Merle is an autobiography of my life. While I was born and raised in a big city, I am more of a country girl at heart. I had a good childhood, worked most of my life, and married with a family of my own. I had good times, funny times, exciting times, and some sad times, but most of all, a wonderful life. My name is special to me as you will read in my story. You can say it's my name that made me strong. So the point is, a title is just a title, like a book is just a book; but it is the contents, along with its title, that tells the story.

"Are you having trouble deciding whether or not to become a parent? Are you under pressure from family and friends? Unsettled by feelings of guilt or ambivalence? Unsure whether you will regret your decision in later years? The Baby Decision offers a clear path to finding the answers to all of these questions"--Back cover.

The definitive biography of country legend Merle Haggard by the New York Times bestselling biographer of Clint Eastwood, Cary Grant, The Eagles, and more. Merle Haggard was one of the most important country music musicians who ever lived. His astonishing musical career stretched across the second half of the 20th Century and into the first two decades of the next, during which he released an extraordinary 63 albums, 38 that made it on to Billboard's Country Top Ten, 13 that went to #1, and 37 #1 hit singles. With his ample songbook, unique singing voice and brilliant phrasing that illuminated his uncompromising commitment to individual freedom, cut with the monkey of personal despair on his back and a chip the size of Monument Valley on his shoulder, Merle's music and his extraordinary charisma helped change the look, the sound, and the fury of American music. The Hag tells, without compromise, the extraordinary life of Merle Haggard, augmented by deep secondary research, sharp detail and ample anecdotal material that biographer Marc Eliot is known for, and enriched and deepened by over 100 new and far-ranging interviews. It explores the uniquely American life of an angry rebellious boy from the wrong side of the tracks bound for a life of crime and a permanent home in a penitentiary, who found redemption through the music of "the common man." Merle Haggard's story is a great American saga of a man who lifted himself out of poverty, oppression, loss and wanderlust, to catapult himself into the pantheon of American artists admired around the world. Eliot has interviewed more than 100 people who knew Haggard, worked with him, were influenced by him, loved him or hated him. The book celebrates the accomplishments and explore the singer's infamous dark side: the self-created turmoil that expressed itself through drugs, women, booze, and betrayal. The Hag offers a richly anecdotal narrative that will elevate the life and work of Merle Haggard to where both properly belong, in the pantheon of American music and letters. The Hag is the definitive account of this unique American original, and will speak to readers of country music and rock biographies alike.

Humor and laughter play a vital part in our everyday social encounters. In this book, well-known psychologists including Thomas R. Shultz, Mary K. Rathbart, and Goran Nerhardt explore the psychology of humor and laughter, examining the major theoretical perspectives underlying current approaches. This volume draws together the main empirical work done over the course of the twentieth century.

Abby and Mark had lives that were just fine. She was an African American taking a gap year in Australia before embarking on a law career back in the USA. He was on the verge of a big promotion. After March 21 1986 their perception of the future changed forever by the passion aroused in the present. Follow them and some of their funny and varied friends through the next six years in Australia and The USA as tumultuous events unfold around them while they determine their future. Talent and eroticism combine to enhance the strength and optimism with which they approach life and its attendant issues. Along the way we meet a wayward fi lm maker and a family of Polynesian Polygamists. Not to mention attending a couple of very funny weddings. But it is a crisis which leads Abby and Mark to appreciate their true destiny.

Abby and Mark had lives that were just fine. She was an African American taking a gap year in Australia before embarking on a law career back in the USA. He was on the verge of a big promotion. After March 21 1986 their perception of the future changed forever by the passion aroused in the present. Follow them and some of their funny and varied friends through the next six years in Australia and The USA as tumultuous events unfold around them while they determine their future. Talent and eroticism combine to enhance the strength and optimism with which they approach life and its attendant issues. Along the way we meet a wayward fi lm maker and a family of Polynesian Polygamists. Not to mention attending a couple of very funny weddings. But it is a crisis which leads Abby and Mark to appreciate their true destiny.

In this largely autobiographical story, the lively and nonstop dialogue portrays the excitement, humor, and independence of a hard-working steamboat crew on the upper Mississippi.

With the explosion in YA publishing, it’s harder than ever to separate good books from the rest. Booklistmagazine’s editors’ deep and broad knowledge of the landscape offers indispensable guidance, and here they bring together the very best of the best books for young adults published since the start of the 21st century. Drawing on the careful judgment of expert YA librarians, this book Includes a foreword by best-selling YA lit authority Michael Cart, who demonstrates how we have entered a new golden age of books for young adults Collects reviews which showcase the most stimulating contemporary YA titles Features an essay in each section, grouped by genre, presenting an overview and examining relevant trends Indexes selections by author, title, and genre for handy reference The thoughtful professional review coverage for which ALA’s Booklist is known makes this volume an ideal tool for YA readers’ advisory and collection development.

From world leaders to Mafia dons, from Hollywood stars to the literary world's most eccentric writers, the notable and notorious alike have entrusted their life's work to Simon & Schuster's preeminent editor, Michael Korda. In this masterful memoir, Korda reveals the unforgettable cast of characters and outrageous anecdotes behind four decades of blockbuster publishing, bringing us face-to-face with dozens of larger-than-life figures: Richard Nixon, who maintained his "presidential" persona long after his public life was over; Joan Crawford, whose autobiography reflected a life she would have liked to have lived but did not; Joseph Bonanno, the retired Mafia don who'd do anything to keep from being killed by the reviewers. And in a revelatory account that reads as compulsively as fiction, Another Life paints a vivid picture of publishing's glitterati, including Jacqueline Susann, who liberated women's fiction--and terrorized a publishing house, and Tennessee Williams, who nourished his genius on four-course vodka lunches. A veritable Who's Who of stage, screen, and letters, Another Life is the deft interweaving of publishing at it most fascinating--and storytelling at its finest.