Author: Don Rickles
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439149216
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 226
Book Description
Along with collected letters of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Thomas Jefferson and Wendell Willkie, Rickles' Letters illustrates the power of eloquent correspondence and offers universal wisdom for the ages. For example: RICKLES TO MRS. LINCOLN: "Sorry you had problems at Ford's Theatre last night, but could you get me a couple of aisle tickets for the Saturday matinee?" RICKLES TO ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER: "Lose the cigar. It's hard enough to understand you without it." RICKLES TO CLINT EASTWOOD: "How many guys could do a movie about Iwo Jima from the Japanese point of view? I got nervous; I thought you were going to let them win!" RICKLES TO SANTA CLAUS: "Kiss my jingle bells." RICKLES TO PRESIDENT CARTER: "Forget your hammers and nails and Habitat House and read my book." RICKLES TO QUEEN ELIZABETH: "Is it true your husband has a day job working at a sword factory?" RICKLES TO BENJAMIN FRANKLIN: "Cousin Herbie was doing great selling candles until you came up with the stupid idea of flying a kite." RICKLES TO MAYOR BLOOMBERG: "What do I have to do to get a cab around here?"
Rickles' Book
Author: Don Rickles
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0743293061
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 259
Book Description
An internationally popular comedian describes his youth as a disadvantaged Jewish boy from Queens, the obstacles he overcame in order to achieve success, and his four-decade stage and screen career. Reprint. 50,000 first printing.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0743293061
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 259
Book Description
An internationally popular comedian describes his youth as a disadvantaged Jewish boy from Queens, the obstacles he overcame in order to achieve success, and his four-decade stage and screen career. Reprint. 50,000 first printing.
Don Rickles
Author: Michael Seth Starr
Publisher: Citadel
ISBN: 0806541733
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 369
Book Description
An entertaining, hilarious, biting biography of “Mr. Warmth,” the infamously prickly comic who dominated Hollywood and Las Vegas for decades, making an artform out of heckling his friends, family and especially his audiences - and they couldn’t get enough of it. Having ridden a wave of success that lasted more than sixty years, Don Rickles is best known as the “insult” comic who skewered presidents, royalty, celebrities, and friends and fans alike. But there was more to “Mr. Warmth” than a devilish ear-to-ear grin and lightning-fast put-downs. Rickles was a loving husband, an adoring father who suffered a devastating loss, and a loyal friend to the likes of Bob Newhart and Frank Sinatra. Don was also a young student at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and intended to become a serious actor. But it was in small nightclubs where Rickles found success, steamrolling hecklers, honing his acerbic put-downs, and teaching the world to love being insulted. Don Rickles, The Merchant of Venom traces career from his rise in the 1950s to a late-in-life resurgence thanks to the Toy Story franchise, his role in Scorsese’s Casino, and scores of TV appearances from Carson to Seth Meyers. In the intervening decades, Rickles conquered every medium, including the stage, where the Vegas legend was still performing at the age of eighty-five. In his highly memorable career, he was idolized by a generation of younger comedians including Jerry Seinfeld, Jay Leno, and many others. And all along, Rickles performed in the shadow of a shocking open secret: he was the nicest man in town.
Publisher: Citadel
ISBN: 0806541733
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 369
Book Description
An entertaining, hilarious, biting biography of “Mr. Warmth,” the infamously prickly comic who dominated Hollywood and Las Vegas for decades, making an artform out of heckling his friends, family and especially his audiences - and they couldn’t get enough of it. Having ridden a wave of success that lasted more than sixty years, Don Rickles is best known as the “insult” comic who skewered presidents, royalty, celebrities, and friends and fans alike. But there was more to “Mr. Warmth” than a devilish ear-to-ear grin and lightning-fast put-downs. Rickles was a loving husband, an adoring father who suffered a devastating loss, and a loyal friend to the likes of Bob Newhart and Frank Sinatra. Don was also a young student at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and intended to become a serious actor. But it was in small nightclubs where Rickles found success, steamrolling hecklers, honing his acerbic put-downs, and teaching the world to love being insulted. Don Rickles, The Merchant of Venom traces career from his rise in the 1950s to a late-in-life resurgence thanks to the Toy Story franchise, his role in Scorsese’s Casino, and scores of TV appearances from Carson to Seth Meyers. In the intervening decades, Rickles conquered every medium, including the stage, where the Vegas legend was still performing at the age of eighty-five. In his highly memorable career, he was idolized by a generation of younger comedians including Jerry Seinfeld, Jay Leno, and many others. And all along, Rickles performed in the shadow of a shocking open secret: he was the nicest man in town.
Rocks
Author: Joe Perry
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1476714606
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 432
Book Description
Joe Perry’s New York Times bestselling memoir of life in the rock-and-roll band Aerosmith: “An insightful and harrowing roller coaster ride through the career of one of rock and roll’s greatest guitarists. Strap yourself in” (Slash). Before the platinum records or the Super Bowl half-time show or the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Joe Perry was a boy growing up in small-town Massachusetts. He idolized Jacques Cousteau and built his own diving rig that he used to explore a local lake. He dreamed of becoming a marine biologist. But Perry’s neighbors had teenage sons, and those sons had electric guitars, and the noise he heard when they started playing would change his life. The guitar became his passion, an object of lust, an outlet for his restlessness and his rebellious soul. That passion quickly blossomed into an obsession, and he got a band together. One night after a performance he met a brash young musician named Steven Tyler; before long, Aerosmith was born. What happened over the next forty-five years has become the stuff of legend: the knockdown, drag-out, band-splintering fights; the drugs, the booze, the rehab; the packed arenas and timeless hits; the reconciliations and the comebacks. Rocks is an unusually searching memoir of a life that spans from the top of the world to the bottom of the barrel—several times. It is a study of endurance and brotherhood, with Perry providing remarkable candor about Tyler, as well as new insights into their powerful but troubled relationship. It is an insider’s portrait of the rock and roll family, featuring everyone from Jimmy Page to Alice Cooper, Bette Midler to Chuck Berry, John Belushi to Al Hirschfeld. It takes us behind the scenes at unbelievable moments such as Joe and Steven’s appearance in the movie of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (they act out the murders of Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees). Full of humor, insight, and brutal honesty about life in and out of one of the biggest bands in the world, Rocks is “well-paced, well-plotted…a mini-masterpiece” (The Boston Globe).
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1476714606
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 432
Book Description
Joe Perry’s New York Times bestselling memoir of life in the rock-and-roll band Aerosmith: “An insightful and harrowing roller coaster ride through the career of one of rock and roll’s greatest guitarists. Strap yourself in” (Slash). Before the platinum records or the Super Bowl half-time show or the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Joe Perry was a boy growing up in small-town Massachusetts. He idolized Jacques Cousteau and built his own diving rig that he used to explore a local lake. He dreamed of becoming a marine biologist. But Perry’s neighbors had teenage sons, and those sons had electric guitars, and the noise he heard when they started playing would change his life. The guitar became his passion, an object of lust, an outlet for his restlessness and his rebellious soul. That passion quickly blossomed into an obsession, and he got a band together. One night after a performance he met a brash young musician named Steven Tyler; before long, Aerosmith was born. What happened over the next forty-five years has become the stuff of legend: the knockdown, drag-out, band-splintering fights; the drugs, the booze, the rehab; the packed arenas and timeless hits; the reconciliations and the comebacks. Rocks is an unusually searching memoir of a life that spans from the top of the world to the bottom of the barrel—several times. It is a study of endurance and brotherhood, with Perry providing remarkable candor about Tyler, as well as new insights into their powerful but troubled relationship. It is an insider’s portrait of the rock and roll family, featuring everyone from Jimmy Page to Alice Cooper, Bette Midler to Chuck Berry, John Belushi to Al Hirschfeld. It takes us behind the scenes at unbelievable moments such as Joe and Steven’s appearance in the movie of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (they act out the murders of Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees). Full of humor, insight, and brutal honesty about life in and out of one of the biggest bands in the world, Rocks is “well-paced, well-plotted…a mini-masterpiece” (The Boston Globe).
True You
Author: Janet Jackson
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1416587373
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 274
Book Description
With candor and courage, world class entertainer Janet Jackson shares her painful journey to loving herself. She pulls us behind the velvet rope into her unforgettable career, sharing lessons she has learned and revealing the fitness secrets and lifestyle-changing tips she has adopted from her trainer.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1416587373
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 274
Book Description
With candor and courage, world class entertainer Janet Jackson shares her painful journey to loving herself. She pulls us behind the velvet rope into her unforgettable career, sharing lessons she has learned and revealing the fitness secrets and lifestyle-changing tips she has adopted from her trainer.
Journey of a Thousand Miles
Author: Lang Lang
Publisher: Aurum
ISBN: 1781314284
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 256
Book Description
Journey of a Thousand Miles tells the remarkable story of a boy who sacrificed almost everything – family, financial security, childhood and his reputation in China’s insular classical music world – to fulfil his promise as a classical pianist. Lang Lang was born in Shenyang in north-eastern China just after the end of the Cultural Revolution. He began piano lessons at three years old and by age ten had been awarded a place at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. In order to continue his studies he moved thousands of miles from home, living with his exacting father in a cramped, shared apartment, while his mother stayed at home to earn the money to pay his fees. At fifteen he moved to the United States to take up a scholarship at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia; by nineteen he was selling out Carnegie Hall. His tutor and mentor Daniel Barenboim was perhaps the first to describe him as ‘extraordinarily talented’; today his assessment is shared by millions. Now in adulthood, Lang Lang tours relentlessly, delighting sell-out audiences with his trademark flamboyance and showmanship. Journey of a Thousand Miles is a tale of heartbreak, drama and ultimately triumph. His inspiring story demonstrates the courage and self-sacrifice required to achieve artistic greatness.
Publisher: Aurum
ISBN: 1781314284
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 256
Book Description
Journey of a Thousand Miles tells the remarkable story of a boy who sacrificed almost everything – family, financial security, childhood and his reputation in China’s insular classical music world – to fulfil his promise as a classical pianist. Lang Lang was born in Shenyang in north-eastern China just after the end of the Cultural Revolution. He began piano lessons at three years old and by age ten had been awarded a place at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. In order to continue his studies he moved thousands of miles from home, living with his exacting father in a cramped, shared apartment, while his mother stayed at home to earn the money to pay his fees. At fifteen he moved to the United States to take up a scholarship at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia; by nineteen he was selling out Carnegie Hall. His tutor and mentor Daniel Barenboim was perhaps the first to describe him as ‘extraordinarily talented’; today his assessment is shared by millions. Now in adulthood, Lang Lang tours relentlessly, delighting sell-out audiences with his trademark flamboyance and showmanship. Journey of a Thousand Miles is a tale of heartbreak, drama and ultimately triumph. His inspiring story demonstrates the courage and self-sacrifice required to achieve artistic greatness.
Rhythm And The Blues
Author: Jerry Wexler
Publisher: Knopf
ISBN: 0307819000
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 425
Book Description
Atlantic Records partner and producer, Wexler presided over the evolution of the modern music business and made prodigious contributions through to our cultural history. Wexler has worked with the entire range of American genius: Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and others. 75 photographs.
Publisher: Knopf
ISBN: 0307819000
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 425
Book Description
Atlantic Records partner and producer, Wexler presided over the evolution of the modern music business and made prodigious contributions through to our cultural history. Wexler has worked with the entire range of American genius: Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and others. 75 photographs.
Reach! Finding Strength, Spirit and Personal Power
Author: Laila Ali
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780692868539
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 200
Book Description
Combining a gripping personal story with practical advice on such subjects as diet, training, family, romance, and much more, Laila Ali shows readers of all ages and backgrounds how to transform the demons of self-doubt and stagnation into positive, winning energy. Since her professional debut three years ago, Laila Ali has set the world of women's boxing on fire. The daughter of the world's most famous boxer, she has more than come into her won, winning ten straight fights with breathtaking confidence and poise - including a bout with Jacqui Frazier that was the most highly publicized female boxing event ever. But Laila's journey to success was not without struggle. In this revealing book, she describes - with striking humility and a streetwise wisdom beyond her years - how she made many mistakes along the way, but eventually managed to overcome every obstacle that life threw at her. In fifteen straight-talking, hard-hitting "rounds," Laila offers her dynamic formula for physical, emotional, and mental power, and demonstrates how to sidestep feelings of self-pity and defeatism. Some of the life experiences that Laila recounts are ones many young people face, while others are related to her unique circumstances. Born with a proverbial silver spoon in her mouth, she never felt comfortable, as a child, in her parents' mansion - surrounded by maids, celebrity visitors, and hangers-on - and longed for a "normal" existence. As an adolescent, she became increasingly drawn into negative behavior. But after she found herself, at age sixteen, in juvenile hall, Laila realized it was time to make a change in her life. She resolved to become a responsible, financially independent adult, and soon achieved her long-time dream of owning her own manicure business. Ultimately, however, she would find success in another arena: professional boxing. Revised and updated in 2017.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780692868539
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 200
Book Description
Combining a gripping personal story with practical advice on such subjects as diet, training, family, romance, and much more, Laila Ali shows readers of all ages and backgrounds how to transform the demons of self-doubt and stagnation into positive, winning energy. Since her professional debut three years ago, Laila Ali has set the world of women's boxing on fire. The daughter of the world's most famous boxer, she has more than come into her won, winning ten straight fights with breathtaking confidence and poise - including a bout with Jacqui Frazier that was the most highly publicized female boxing event ever. But Laila's journey to success was not without struggle. In this revealing book, she describes - with striking humility and a streetwise wisdom beyond her years - how she made many mistakes along the way, but eventually managed to overcome every obstacle that life threw at her. In fifteen straight-talking, hard-hitting "rounds," Laila offers her dynamic formula for physical, emotional, and mental power, and demonstrates how to sidestep feelings of self-pity and defeatism. Some of the life experiences that Laila recounts are ones many young people face, while others are related to her unique circumstances. Born with a proverbial silver spoon in her mouth, she never felt comfortable, as a child, in her parents' mansion - surrounded by maids, celebrity visitors, and hangers-on - and longed for a "normal" existence. As an adolescent, she became increasingly drawn into negative behavior. But after she found herself, at age sixteen, in juvenile hall, Laila realized it was time to make a change in her life. She resolved to become a responsible, financially independent adult, and soon achieved her long-time dream of owning her own manicure business. Ultimately, however, she would find success in another arena: professional boxing. Revised and updated in 2017.
Howling at the Moon
Author: Walter Yetnikoff
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 076791810X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 292
Book Description
Show biz memoir at its name-dropping, bridge-burning, profane best: the music industry’s most outspoken, outrageous, and phenomenally successful executive delivers a rollicking memoir of pop music’s heyday. During the 1970s and '80s the music business was dominated by a few major labels and artists such as Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Barbra Streisand and James Taylor. They were all under contract to CBS Records, making it the most successful label of the era. And, as the company’s president, Walter Yetnikoff was the ruling monarch. He was also the most flamboyant, volatile and controversial personality to emerge from an industry and era defined by sex, drugs and debauchery. Having risen from working-class Brooklyn and the legal department of CBS, Yetnikoff, who freely admitted to being tone deaf, was an unlikely label head. But he had an uncanny knack for fostering talent and intimidating rivals with his appalling behavior—usually fueled by an explosive combination of cocaine and alcohol. His tantrums, appetite for mind-altering substances and sexual exploits were legendary. In Japan to meet the Sony executives who acquired CBS during his tenure, Walter was assigned a minder who confined him to a hotel room. True to form, Walter raided the minibar, got blasted and, seeing no other means of escape, opened a hotel window and vented his rage by literally howling at the moon. In Howling at the Moon, Yetnikoff traces his journey as he climbed the corporate mountain, danced on its summit and crashed and burned. We see how Walter became the father-confessor to Michael Jackson as the King of Pop reconstructed his face and agonized over his image while constructing Thriller (and how, after it won seven Grammies, Jackson made the preposterous demand that Walter take producer Quincy Jones’s name off the album); we see Walter, in maniacal pursuit of a contract, chase the Rolling Stones around the world and nearly come to blows with Mick Jagger in the process; we get the tale of how Walter and Marvin Gaye—fresh from the success of “Sexual Healing”—share the same woman, and of how Walter bonds with Bob Dylan because of their mutual Jewishness. At the same time we witness Yetnikoff’s clashes with Barry Diller, David Geffen, Tommy Mottola, Allen Grubman and a host of others. Seemingly, the more Yetnikoff feeds his cravings for power, sex, liquor and cocaine, the more profitable CBS becomes—from $485 million to well over $2 billion—until he finally succumbs, ironically, not to substances, but to a corporate coup. Reflecting on the sinister cycle that left his career in tatters and CBS flush with cash, Yetnikoff emerges with a hunger for redemption and a new reverence for his working-class Brooklyn roots. Ruthlessly candid, uproariously hilarious and compulsively readable, Howling at the Moon is a blistering You’ll Never Eat Lunch in this Town Again of the music industry.
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 076791810X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 292
Book Description
Show biz memoir at its name-dropping, bridge-burning, profane best: the music industry’s most outspoken, outrageous, and phenomenally successful executive delivers a rollicking memoir of pop music’s heyday. During the 1970s and '80s the music business was dominated by a few major labels and artists such as Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Barbra Streisand and James Taylor. They were all under contract to CBS Records, making it the most successful label of the era. And, as the company’s president, Walter Yetnikoff was the ruling monarch. He was also the most flamboyant, volatile and controversial personality to emerge from an industry and era defined by sex, drugs and debauchery. Having risen from working-class Brooklyn and the legal department of CBS, Yetnikoff, who freely admitted to being tone deaf, was an unlikely label head. But he had an uncanny knack for fostering talent and intimidating rivals with his appalling behavior—usually fueled by an explosive combination of cocaine and alcohol. His tantrums, appetite for mind-altering substances and sexual exploits were legendary. In Japan to meet the Sony executives who acquired CBS during his tenure, Walter was assigned a minder who confined him to a hotel room. True to form, Walter raided the minibar, got blasted and, seeing no other means of escape, opened a hotel window and vented his rage by literally howling at the moon. In Howling at the Moon, Yetnikoff traces his journey as he climbed the corporate mountain, danced on its summit and crashed and burned. We see how Walter became the father-confessor to Michael Jackson as the King of Pop reconstructed his face and agonized over his image while constructing Thriller (and how, after it won seven Grammies, Jackson made the preposterous demand that Walter take producer Quincy Jones’s name off the album); we see Walter, in maniacal pursuit of a contract, chase the Rolling Stones around the world and nearly come to blows with Mick Jagger in the process; we get the tale of how Walter and Marvin Gaye—fresh from the success of “Sexual Healing”—share the same woman, and of how Walter bonds with Bob Dylan because of their mutual Jewishness. At the same time we witness Yetnikoff’s clashes with Barry Diller, David Geffen, Tommy Mottola, Allen Grubman and a host of others. Seemingly, the more Yetnikoff feeds his cravings for power, sex, liquor and cocaine, the more profitable CBS becomes—from $485 million to well over $2 billion—until he finally succumbs, ironically, not to substances, but to a corporate coup. Reflecting on the sinister cycle that left his career in tatters and CBS flush with cash, Yetnikoff emerges with a hunger for redemption and a new reverence for his working-class Brooklyn roots. Ruthlessly candid, uproariously hilarious and compulsively readable, Howling at the Moon is a blistering You’ll Never Eat Lunch in this Town Again of the music industry.
Love Brought Me Back
Author: Natalie Cole
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451606079
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 178
Book Description
IN THIS LUMINOUS MEMOIR, LEGENDARY SINGER AND ACTRESS NATALIE COLE TELLS A REMARKABLE STORY OF LIFE-THREATENING ILLNESS AND RECOVERY, AND THE STORY OF A DEATH THAT BROUGHT NEW LIFE. In 2009 Natalie Cole was on dialysis, her kidneys failing. Without a kidney transplant, her future was uncertain. Throughout Natalie’s illness one of her biggest supporters was her beloved sister Cooke. But then Cooke herself became ill, with cancer. Astonishingly, as Cooke lay dying in a hospital, Natalie received a call that a kidney was available, but the surgery had to be performed immediately. Natalie couldn’t leave her sister’s side—but neither could she refuse the kidney that would save her own life. This is a story of sisters, Natalie and Cooke, but also of the sisters who made the transplant possible, Patty and Jessica. It was Jessica’s death that gave new life to Natalie, even as Natalie experienced the devastating loss of Cooke. Patty, too, suffered her own terrible loss, but when she met Natalie, she found that her sister’s spirit still lived. Through the gift of life, Natalie and Patty became sisters in spirit. Love Brought Me Back is a story of loss and recovery, sorrow and joy, success and despair—and, finally, success again. It will touch you as few memoirs ever have.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451606079
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 178
Book Description
IN THIS LUMINOUS MEMOIR, LEGENDARY SINGER AND ACTRESS NATALIE COLE TELLS A REMARKABLE STORY OF LIFE-THREATENING ILLNESS AND RECOVERY, AND THE STORY OF A DEATH THAT BROUGHT NEW LIFE. In 2009 Natalie Cole was on dialysis, her kidneys failing. Without a kidney transplant, her future was uncertain. Throughout Natalie’s illness one of her biggest supporters was her beloved sister Cooke. But then Cooke herself became ill, with cancer. Astonishingly, as Cooke lay dying in a hospital, Natalie received a call that a kidney was available, but the surgery had to be performed immediately. Natalie couldn’t leave her sister’s side—but neither could she refuse the kidney that would save her own life. This is a story of sisters, Natalie and Cooke, but also of the sisters who made the transplant possible, Patty and Jessica. It was Jessica’s death that gave new life to Natalie, even as Natalie experienced the devastating loss of Cooke. Patty, too, suffered her own terrible loss, but when she met Natalie, she found that her sister’s spirit still lived. Through the gift of life, Natalie and Patty became sisters in spirit. Love Brought Me Back is a story of loss and recovery, sorrow and joy, success and despair—and, finally, success again. It will touch you as few memoirs ever have.