Biographies and Memoirs
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Do the accounts of extraordinary peoples' lives inspire your own life? Can the fortitude of individuals drive how you live your own life? Our authors in the Biographies and Memoirs genre bring you the stories of people who have survived and grown through the most difficult of situations. Their stories will move you to tears, to action, and to new levels in your own life. They will always do this for you on eBookHounds for free or for a discount.
Definition of the "Biographies and Memoirs Genre": Ebooks in both the Biographies and Memoirs genres focus on the life experiences of a single person. Biographies are generally broader in the subject matters of a person's life experiences, while memoirs are more honed into the memories of that person. However, there is very little difference between the two categories, which is why they are combined in a single genre. Ebooks in the Biographies and Memoirs genre also typically have a significant element of inspiration, as the stories which drove the writing of these ebooks are tremendously moving.
Examples of bestselling ebooks in the Biographies and Memoirs genre are Cheryl Strayed (Wild), Chris Kyle (American Sniper), Laura Hillenbrand (Unbroken), and Donna Mabry (Maude).
What would you say if I told you there are disturbing things the US Government hasn’t told you about the Vietnam War and doesn’t want you to know? Things such as all the rainbow-colored pesticides and the disabling effect they had on US service personnel.
Silent Spring – Deadly Autumn of the Vietnam War, is an account of war – a tale of anger and determination – a chronicle written in sorrow and hope. It’s the story of countless veterans who served in Vietnam and could even be your story.
While the book is categorized as a memoir, it’s also an investigational voyage into all the issues the U.S. government hasn’t told you and doesn’t want you to know about the Vietnam War. The work isn’t just another rehashing of the war or Agent Orange. Rather it’s a “silver bullet” which cuts through to the heart of the circumstances and chemical used in Vietnam—enduring toxic herbicides and insecticides—which in some cases are still being used to this very day all over the globe, even right here in America. Now I’m sure many of you will find that fact hard to believe. Nevertheless, it’s true.
So, forget everything you’ve heard from the government and what you think you know about the Vietnam War because you will be absolutely stunned by what the US government had willingly dumped on Vietnam—their allies—and even their own troops.
What happened in Vietnam … didn’t stay in Vietnam. It came home with us!
Free History BONUS Inside!
Four captivating manuscripts in one book:
Here are just some of the topics covered in part 1 of this book:
Here are just some of the topics covered in part 2 of this book:
Here are just some of the topics covered in part 3 of this book:
Here are just some of the topics covered in part 4 of this book:
So if you want to learn more about the history of East Asia, scroll up and click the "add to cart" button!
2020 Discovery Awards Winner - Politics/Current Events
“A well-written memoir chronicling the intriguing life and influences of a post-war Jewish child who becomes an American lawyer and activist.” –Sublime Book Review
Becoming American is the inspiring story of the author’s transformation from a child of Holocaust survivors in post-war Europe to an American lawyer, academic, and activist associated with such famed political leaders as Robert Kennedy, George McGovern, Jerry Brown, and Tom Hayden. Searching for his great-grandparents’ graves in a hidden cemetery outside Prague makes him recall his experiences of becoming American: listening to Army Counterintelligence agents gathered at his home in Austria; a tense encounter with Russian soldiers; seeing Jim Crow racism in the South during his first visit to the United States; becoming an American citizen in his teens; having his citizenship challenged by border guards; fearing for his new country upon witnessing the Watts riots; exhilaration at rising to leadership positions in organizations shaping government policies; and advancing the American dream as a real estate lawyer, helping develop entire new communities.
Free History BONUS Inside!
Victorian Great Britain was the most technologically and economically developed country in the world at the time. As such, it had the power to protect its interests. With the discovery of new trade routes in the East, and with the foundation of the East India Company, Britain became addicted to the luxurious and exotic items from China. Silk, porcelain, and tea were in high demand among the rich. Britain was so economically strong at the time that even the middle and lower classes could afford to enjoy high-quality items imported from China, especially tea.
Britain imported everything its society desired, but it was costly. The main problem was that China only accepted payments in silver, creating a huge imbalance in trade. To avoid losing money on imported goods, Britain had to sell something back to China. However, this Eastern empire liked to boast that it was self-sufficient. The Chinese didn’t need to import anything, as their industry was developed enough to supply the whole country with what it needed. Britain had to come up with something the Chinese needed, and in desperation, the decision was made for Britain to sell opium.
When diplomatic efforts to introduce opium to the Chinese market failed, the British Parliament approved an alternative: war. There were two wars, one from 1839 to 1842 and another from 1856 to 1860. They are collectively known as the Opium Wars. The British, who were joined by French and supported by the Americans and Russians, clashed with Imperial China, which was ruled by the Qing dynasty. These conflicts are largely forgotten in the Western world, perhaps out of a sense of collective shame. But in China, the Opium Wars are still symbols of national humiliation at the hands of the Western powers.
In The Opium Wars: A Captivating Guide to the First and Second Opium War and Their Impact on the History of the United Kingdom and China, you will discover topics such as
So if you want to learn more about the Opium Wars, scroll up and click the "add to cart" button!
A masterful history of a long underappreciated institution, How the Post Office Created America examines the surprising role of the postal service in our nation’s political, social, economic, and physical development.
The founders established the post office before they had even signed the Declaration of Independence, and for a very long time, it was the U.S. government’s largest and most important endeavor—indeed, it was the government for most citizens. This was no conventional mail network but the central nervous system of the new body politic, designed to bind thirteen quarrelsome colonies into the United States by delivering news about public affairs to every citizen—a radical idea that appalled Europe’s great powers. America’s uniquely democratic post powerfully shaped its lively, argumentative culture of uncensored ideas and opinions and made it the world’s information and communications superpower with astonishing speed.
Winifred Gallagher presents the history of the post office as America’s own story, told from a fresh perspective over more than two centuries. The mandate to deliver the mail—then “the media”—imposed the federal footprint on vast, often contested parts of the continent and transformed a wilderness into a social landscape of post roads and villages centered on post offices. The post was the catalyst of the nation’s transportation grid, from the stagecoach lines to the airlines, and the lifeline of the great migration from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It enabled America to shift from an agrarian to an industrial economy and to develop the publishing industry, the consumer culture, and the political party system. Still one of the country’s two major civilian employers, the post was the first to hire women, African Americans, and other minorities for positions in public life.
Starved by two world wars and the Great Depression, confronted with the country’s increasingly anti-institutional mind-set, and struggling with its doubled mail volume, the post stumbled badly in the turbulent 1960s. Distracted by the ensuing modernization of its traditional services, however, it failed to transition from paper mail to email, which prescient observers saw as its logical next step. Now the post office is at a crossroads. Before deciding its future, Americans should understand what this grand yet overlooked institution has accomplished since 1775 and consider what it should and could contribute in the twenty-first century.
Gallagher argues that now, more than ever before, the imperiled post office deserves this effort, because just as the founders anticipated, it created forward-looking, communication-oriented, idea-driven America.
Two captivating manuscripts in one book:
The continent of Africa is home to fifty-four countries that together harbor over three thousand cultures, each with their own ways of life and each with their own stories. Some of these stories have their origins in the folk beliefs of people native to their particular region, while others were imported from or influenced by cultures from elsewhere who settled in Africa.
A great number of African folktales have been transmitted orally from person to person down through the ages, but since the nineteenth century, many stories have been written down and transmitted to audiences beyond the boundaries of the cultures that created them. One important—and tragic—conduit for the transmission of these stories beyond African shores was the European slave trade. Captured Africans who were brought to the Americas and the Caribbean fought to keep alive what they could of their home cultures, and this included their folktale traditions.
African folktales come in many different types. Some are myths explaining the origins of things, while others are tales of heroes with supernatural abilities. Animal stories are many and varied, and they usually involve some kind of trickster who uses his wiles to get out of sticky situations and sometimes into them. There are also cautionary tales explaining why it is important to behave well and treat others with respect, while other stories have a style and shape similar to that of a fairy tale.
Some of the topics covered in manuscript 1 of this book include:
Some of the topics covered in manuscript 2 of this book include:
So if you want to learn about African Mythology and Egyptian Gods, scroll up and click the "add to cart" button!
Free History BONUS Inside!
An undoubtedly interesting, exciting, and dramatic chapter of Russian history was ruled over by the Romanov dynasty. This powerful ruling family came to power shortly after the frightening rule of a legendary figure in Russian history: Ivan the Terrible. After murdering his own son and unborn grandson, Ivan died without an heir, resulting in the formation of a new dynasty. This was the Romanov family.
The Romanovs included some of the most famous names in all of history, from Peter the Great, who expanded its borders, to the mighty Empress Catherine the Great, a powerful female ruler in a time of rife male supremacy and who is still a symbol of feminine power to this day. The Romanovs ruled from the end of the Middle Ages to the dawn of a modern era that forcefully rejected the last Romanovs from a nation that no longer tolerated a monarchy. And every last one of these mighty monarchs had quirks and idiosyncrasies, likes and dislikes, pasts that were often troubled, and complicated family lives.
Every one of them was a person, complex, intricate, flawed, and fascinating. Their stories range from the beautiful to the tragic to the bizarre. And in this book, they all are laid out for you to enjoy.
In The Romanovs: A Captivating Guide to the Last Imperial Dynasty to Rule Russia and the Impact the Romanov Family Had on Russian History, you will discover topics such as
So if you want to learn more about the Romanovs, scroll up and click the "add to cart" button!
It is tempting to see ancient Egyptian religion as something relatively static, with a single pantheon whose nature and activities did not change throughout the three-thousand-year span of the Dynastic Period. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Throughout Egyptian history, we see that gods who had once been favored were set aside or had their roles altered in order to make way for gods whose cults became more popular, while political changes, such as the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great, ushered in cultural and religious exchanges that both affected native Egyptian religious practices and also had an impact on the religious beliefs of Greece and Rome.
Because the Egyptian pantheon is vast, even if one leaves out the syncretized deities, it is not possible for this volume to present a comprehensive overview of ancient Egyptian religion and myth. Instead, only a select number of deities and concepts are discussed here. Some of these are more well-known deities, while others might not be as familiar to modern readers. However, this book still offers a fascinating glimpse into ancient Egyptian religion and culture and the richness that was life in ancient Egypt.
Within this book, you'll find the following the Egyptian gods and topics covered:
So if you want to learn about Egyptian gods, scroll up and click the "add to cart" button!
HERE IS HOW YOU SAVE TIME AND MONEY SCREENING THE BEST STOCKS IN THE MARKET…
Are you looking for a proven way to max out your stock portfolio?
Do you feel tired of all those useless research tools and strategies?
Would you like to have the perfect all-in-one stock screening guide you could constantly use to find the most profitable stocks in the market?
I guess that I have something to share with you, so keep reading…
Throughout my entire 10+ years career in the stock market investing business, I have faced a lot of setbacks and challenges.
I remember spending hours, I mean from 6 to 8 hours looking for that perfect company and stock, but more often than not, it still failed to meet the requirements of my investment criteria. Then I would repeat the same process again, and again and again…
And trust me, it wasn't that pleasurable at all.
Sitting in front of the computer screen for 7 hours was considered a very normal thing. But that "Normal" was killing my motivation every single day. And that’s just not me!
I started to question myself. Why am I doing this? Maybe it's not worth it?
At the end of the day, we all want to make money, Don't we? And the amount that I was making for sure didn't satisfy me.
And If not for my persistence, I don't know if I would be speaking with you today and sharing my discovery.
Yes, I discovered a way to dramatically expand my stock portfolio and enrich my life!
And here it is…
Stock Screeners – powerful FREE tools that will cut your most profitable stock research time as much as 3, 4, even 5 times your current research!
Inside this book, You will learn how to find and use The Most Valuable Stock Screening Tools in the market. I will share the methods and strategies of top investors and traders who are benefiting tremendously from them and how you can do that as well.
Here is just a fraction of what's inside:
And keep in mind that you don't have to be a stock market expert to use this investment guide efficiently. It will take you from where you are right now and lead you through every single step.
So don't wait, scroll up, click on "Buy Now" and get one Big Step Closer to Financial Freedom and Living Your Dreams!
Our existence is fragile. I learned that in many intricate ways, so I do not take today for granted. I do not know what tomorrow will bring. I do not even know if tomorrow will come.
On the eve of Thanksgiving 2016, I received the diagnosis of stage 4 lung cancer. Next to dying, I fear the spread of cancer to my brain and losing my ability to think, speak, or write. This loss would be devastating to me.
The fragility of our life made me want to be authentic. Therefore, I am writing this memoir to be authentic—we become our true selves when we author who we are.
I am afraid of being forgotten. Death does frighten me. But more than dying, I am scared of having no one remember me or, even worse, of being recognized differently from who I was. At the same time, I have never thought that I was entitled to ask others not to forget me. But, not to be forgotten is precisely what I yearn for.
While I am writing for the other, I am simultaneously writing for myself. I am one of the readers and will test the subject as it gets written. My criteria are stricter. I want to say, “This is my narrative.”
I need to be able to say, “This is my narrative.”
An inspirational real life cancer memoir of a family's journey and the impossible miracle that led to their son's becoming a childhood cancer survivor. This is a thriller about a family’s battle to save their toddler son from a “zero chance of survival” diagnosis. With the world’s best doctors and the advocacy of his parents, Louis Unger would fight a 5-year battle for his young life. His grit and incredible attitude led to a breakthrough that would change how cancer is treated today. This is not a medical journal or a how-to guide. It is a true page-turner that gives you a front row seat to a miraculous story of courage, inspiration and determination. All proceeds from this book will go to the Carrot Seed Foundation where they will be used to fund Neuroblastoma clinical trials and support the children and families who are stricken by this disease.
Many of us have one--a place where we store mementos that remind us of an earlier period in our lives--either happy or sad. Those ties to our past are commonly found in a similar place, hidden in a shoebox buried at the back of a closet shelf. It's called The Shoebox Effect--where you "forget", intentionally or unintentionally, about the contents of the box and what they represent. Marcie Keithley's shoebox contained a secret, one she kept for decades, one released when her shoebox was unexpectedly revealed in a moment of grief. A flood of memories and emotions were unleashed when the lid was knocked off. No longer able to deny what she had sequestered away in her closet and in her spirit, the revelation created challenges for Marcie, but it also did something positively unexpected. Releasing the truth began a cascade that resulted in a freedom Marcie did not know was possible. The dramatic story of this long-kept secret, which has been reported globally on major networks and in newspapers across America, will intrigue and enthrall you. But Marcie Keithley doesn't just make her story all about her. Now known as The Shoebox Sherpa, she helps people unpack their own shoeboxes, and teaches us how to face our truths, heal our pasts, and find the freedom we deeply desire. Be prepared to consider Marcie's question to all of us, "What's in your shoebox?"
This moving debut novel by Gregory Erich Phillips won the Grand Prize for best book of the year in the Chanticleer Reviews International writing Competition.
Pre WWI, Elsa came to America with her eyes wide open, realizing it was up to her to make a life
for herself. Surviving a sweatshop in lower Manhattan, a chance job with a Long Island elite
family opens up her world. Invited in, up to a point, she unwittingly, albeit precariously, crosses
the social divide with her now open heart which puts all she worked for in jeopardy.
What a truly wonderful story! I’ve read it three times, and with each
reading I find myself caring about the fabulous characters and their
lives even more.”
— P. J. Alderman, New York Times Bestselling Author
“From the riveting opening . . . until its gripping conclusion, this enthralling
novel vividly portrays the desperate times of German immigrants
landing at Ellis Island in 1905. A timely read . . . it illuminates the issues
that we are experiencing a century later. . .Phillips reminds us that love,
light, and perseverance can help us find a way to overcome almost any
obstacle.”
— Chanticleer Reviews
Stroke by stroke, color by color, the past comes alive as a young woman in Lombardy, Italy trains to paint with the masters.
Will her ambition be too much for them? Or will she secure her place in the world of Renaissance art, despite them?
As Sofonisba struggles to make her name, the Spanish empire invades Italy.
With Michelangelo as her mentor and her father as her champion, Sofonisba dreams of painting the Spanish King.
In this novel of Royal intrigue and artistic toil, we see the soul of the painter come alive. We watch as Sofonisba struggles to realize her dreams against the backdrop of patriarchal Europe. When Royal tragedy unfolds, we learn the true strength of our heroine.
Romance, hardship, bankruptcy, and a legacy of hundreds of paintings that still influence today's artists. An authentic story of what it was like to be a woman of ambition in the Renaissance.
History comes dramatically alive as we journey through the Renaissance with Sofonisba Anguissola.
This is her story.
By 1862 the Union had blockaded all Confederate ports. Just across the Rio Grande from Brownsville, Texas, Matamoros was the only harbor where the South could ship its cotton to Europe, and smuggle in arms for the rebellion. So it was a haven for Yankee and Rebel spies and diplomats, gunrunners and cotton smugglers, runaway slaves, bandits, Texas Rangers, and rogues of every stripe.
But Matamoros was also full of French Foreign Legionnaires—because that same year, Napoleon III had invaded Mexico, to install Archduke Maximilian of Austria as Emperor.
Set against the backdrop of two wars, this is the story of Clay—an expatriate Southern gentleman running a gambling hall—and Allie, his ex-con artist partner, bringing her cotton train to market—in a star- crossed affair that may or may not survive their conflicted allegiances amidst the tides of battle.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
In this follow-up to her critically acclaimed memoir, Home, Julie Andrews shares reflections on her astonishing career, including such classics as Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, and Victor/Victoria.
In Home, the number one New York Times international bestseller, Julie Andrews recounted her difficult childhood and her emergence as an acclaimed singer and performer on the stage.
With this second memoir, Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years, Andrews picks up the story with her arrival in Hollywood and her phenomenal rise to fame in her earliest films--Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. Andrews describes her years in the film industry -- from the incredible highs to the challenging lows. Not only does she discuss her work in now-classic films and her collaborations with giants of cinema and television, she also unveils her personal story of adjusting to a new and often daunting world, dealing with the demands of unimaginable success, being a new mother, the end of her first marriage, embracing two stepchildren, adopting two more children, and falling in love with the brilliant and mercurial Blake Edwards. The pair worked together in numerous films, including Victor/Victoria, the gender-bending comedy that garnered multiple Oscar nominations.
Cowritten with her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, and told with Andrews's trademark charm and candor, Home Work takes us on a rare and intimate journey into an extraordinary life that is funny, heartrending, and inspiring.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An unprecedented look into the personal and creative life of the visionary auteur David Lynch, through his own words and those of his closest colleagues, friends, and family
“Insightful . . . an impressively industrious and comprehensive account of Lynch’s career.”—The New York Times Book Review
In this unique hybrid of biography and memoir, David Lynch opens up for the first time about a life lived in pursuit of his singular vision, and the many heartaches and struggles he’s faced to bring his unorthodox projects to fruition. Lynch’s lyrical, intimate, and unfiltered personal reflections riff off biographical sections written by close collaborator Kristine McKenna and based on more than one hundred new interviews with surprisingly candid ex-wives, family members, actors, agents, musicians, and colleagues in various fields who all have their own takes on what happened.
Room to Dream is a landmark book that offers a onetime all-access pass into the life and mind of one of our most enigmatic and utterly original living artists.
With insights into . . .
Eraserhead
The Elephant Man
Dune
Blue Velvet
Wild at Heart
Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
Lost Highway
The Straight Story
Mulholland Drive
INLAND EMPIRE
Twin Peaks: The Return
Praise for Room to Dream
“A memorable portrait of one of cinema’s great auteurs . . . provides a remarkable insight into [David] Lynch’s intense commitment to the ‘art life.’ ”—The Guardian
“This is the best book by and about a movie director since Elia Kazan’s A Life (1988) and Michael Powell’s A Life in Movies (1986). But Room to Dream is more enchanting or appealing than those classics. . . . What makes this book endearing is its chatty, calm account of how genius in America can be a matter-of-fact defiance of reality that won’t alarm your dog or save mankind. It’s the only way to dream in so disturbed a country.”—San Francisco Chronicle
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A meditation on sense-making when there’s no sense to be made, on letting go when we can’t hold on, and on being unafraid even when we’re terrified.”—Lucy Kalanithi
“Belongs on the shelf alongside other terrific books about this difficult subject, like Paul Kalanithi’s When Breath Becomes Air and Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal.”—Bill Gates
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY REAL SIMPLE
Kate Bowler is a professor at Duke Divinity School with a modest Christian upbringing, but she specializes in the study of the prosperity gospel, a creed that sees fortune as a blessing from God and misfortune as a mark of God’s disapproval. At thirty-five, everything in her life seems to point toward “blessing.” She is thriving in her job, married to her high school sweetheart, and loves life with her newborn son.
Then she is diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer.
The prospect of her own mortality forces Kate to realize that she has been tacitly subscribing to the prosperity gospel, living with the conviction that she can control the shape of her life with “a surge of determination.” Even as this type of Christianity celebrates the American can-do spirit, it implies that if you “can’t do” and succumb to illness or misfortune, you are a failure. Kate is very sick, and no amount of positive thinking will shrink her tumors. What does it mean to die, she wonders, in a society that insists everything happens for a reason? Kate is stripped of this certainty only to discover that without it, life is hard but beautiful in a way it never has been before.
Frank and funny, dark and wise, Kate Bowler pulls the reader deeply into her life in an account she populates affectionately with a colorful, often hilarious retinue of friends, mega-church preachers, relatives, and doctors. Everything Happens for a Reason tells her story, offering up her irreverent, hard-won observations on dying and the ways it has taught her to live.
Praise for Everything Happens for a Reason
“I fell hard and fast for Kate Bowler. Her writing is naked, elegant, and gripping—she’s like a Christian Joan Didion. I left Kate’s story feeling more present, more grateful, and a hell of a lot less alone. And what else is art for?”—Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Love Warrior and president of Together Rising
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Chosen as a BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR by NPR, the New York Public Library, the Seattle Times, the Washington Independent Review of Books, BookBrowse, the Spectator, and the Times of London
“Excellent…This book is as riveting as any thriller, and as hard to put down.” -- The New York Times Book Review
"A compelling biography of a masterful spy, and a reminder of what can be done with a few brave people -- and a little resistance." - NPR
The perfect holiday gift for the World War II history buff, a never-before-told story of Virginia Hall, the American spy who changed the course of World War II, from the author of Clementine
In 1942, the Gestapo sent out an urgent transmission: "She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies. We must find and destroy her."
The target in their sights was Virginia Hall, a Baltimore socialite who talked her way into Special Operations Executive, the spy organization dubbed Winston Churchill's "Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare." She became the first Allied woman deployed behind enemy lines and--despite her prosthetic leg--helped to light the flame of the French Resistance, revolutionizing secret warfare as we know it.
Virginia established vast spy networks throughout France, called weapons and explosives down from the skies, and became a linchpin for the Resistance. Even as her face covered wanted posters and a bounty was placed on her head, Virginia refused order after order to evacuate. She finally escaped through a death-defying hike over the Pyrenees into Spain, her cover blown. But she plunged back in, adamant that she had more lives to save, and led a victorious guerilla campaign, liberating swathes of France from the Nazis after D-Day.
Based on new and extensive research, Sonia Purnell has for the first time uncovered the full secret life of Virginia Hall--an astounding and inspiring story of heroism, spycraft, resistance, and personal triumph over shocking adversity. A Woman of No Importance is the breathtaking story of how one woman's fierce persistence helped win the war.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The brilliant coming-of-age-and-into-superstardom story of one of the greatest artists of all time, in his own words—featuring never-before-seen photos, original scrapbooks and lyric sheets, and the exquisite memoir he began writing before his tragic death
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST MUSIC BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST AND THE GUARDIAN
Prince was a musical genius, one of the most beloved, accomplished, and acclaimed musicians of our time. He was a startlingly original visionary with an imagination deep enough to whip up whole worlds, from the sexy, gritty funk paradise of “Uptown” to the mythical landscape of Purple Rain to the psychedelia of “Paisley Park.” But his most ambitious creative act was turning Prince Rogers Nelson, born in Minnesota, into Prince, one of the greatest pop stars of any era.
The Beautiful Ones is the story of how Prince became Prince—a first-person account of a kid absorbing the world around him and then creating a persona, an artistic vision, and a life, before the hits and fame that would come to define him. The book is told in four parts. The first is the memoir Prince was writing before his tragic death, pages that bring us into his childhood world through his own lyrical prose. The second part takes us through Prince’s early years as a musician, before his first album was released, via an evocative scrapbook of writing and photos. The third section shows us Prince’s evolution through candid images that go up to the cusp of his greatest achievement, which we see in the book’s fourth section: his original handwritten treatment for Purple Rain—the final stage in Prince’s self-creation, where he retells the autobiography of the first three parts as a heroic journey.
The book is framed by editor Dan Piepenbring’s riveting and moving introduction about his profound collaboration with Prince in his final months—a time when Prince was thinking deeply about how to reveal more of himself and his ideas to the world, while retaining the mystery and mystique he’d so carefully cultivated—and annotations that provide context to the book’s images.
This work is not just a tribute to an icon, but an original and energizing literary work in its own right, full of Prince’s ideas and vision, his voice and image—his undying gift to the world.
