Written by: Joe Longo Saturday, December 01, 2007
Biographies and autobiographies can inform, inspire and entertain readers about well known and little known people. Oscar Wilde warned that "Biography lends to death a new terror." Biographies can infuriate readers who see things left out, glossed over, exaggerated and misrepresented. Nevertheless biographies have always been heavily borrowed at the public library.
Here are a few recent arrivals.
A must read for hockey fans is "Walking with legends : the real stories of Hockey Night in Canada" by Ralph Mellanby, Canadian television producer and director, with Mike Brophy and a foreword by Don Cherry.
"The year of living biblically" by A. J. Jacobs is one man's humble quest to follow the bible as literally as possible.
"Duty : the life of a cop" by former Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino tries to set his police record straight.
I'm sure that the following two new biographies are unrelated except for many memorable scrapes with opponents. "My years as prime minister" by Jean Chrétien and "Hitman : my real life in the cartoon world of wrestling" by Bret Hart.
"Celebrity detox (the fame game)" by Rosie O'Donnell is a funny, heartbreaking, and brutally honest account of the pain, regret, and euphoria involved in withdrawing from celebrity life.
"A promise of hope " by Autumn Stringam is the true story of a woman afflicted with bipolar disorder and the miraculous treatment that cured her.
"Quiet strength : a memoir" by Tony Dungy, coach of the 2007 Super Bowl Champions Indianapolis Colts is the bestselling biography of an inspirational leader.
"Escape" by Carolyn Jessop tells the harrowing story of the how the author flees her life within the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, choosing freedom from polygamy over fear.
"Benoit : wrestling with the horror that destroyed a family and crippled a sport" by Steven Johnson centers on the recent suicide of a successful Canadian wrestler.
Celebrity Jenny McCarthy's "Louder than words" is a mother's journey in healing her child's autism.
"Conquering the impossible : my 12,000-mile journey around the Arctic circle" by Mike Horn is his grueling twenty-seven-month expedition by foot, ski, mountain bike, kayak, catamaran, and monohull sailboat through extreme conditions that nearly cost him his life.
Borrow other new biographies about :
0 comment(s) so far...