Perfect Pitch tells the compelling story of Nicolas Slonimsky. A boy prodigy as a pianist, Slonimsky fled pre-Communist Russia, reaching Paris at the height of another revolution-one in music and the arts. His early association with conductor Serge Koussevitzky brought him into contact with many of the era's greatest talents, including Igor Stravinsky and Serge Prokofiev. Emigrating to Boston in 1925, he embarked on a writing career, authoring key...

A multilayered portrait of this brash, gifted artist, whose restless voice and spirit seem as alive today as ever. A performer who rivaled Sinatra, Bobby Darin rose from dire poverty to become one of the biggest stars of his generation. Dogged by chronic illness, he knew that time was not on his side, and so, in a career full of dizzying twists and turns, he did it all, moving from teen idol to Vegas song-and-dance man, from hipster to folkie and...

Treasury of letters written by African American women to Michelle Obama. "You are me. When I look at you, I see me. I see the young African American woman who, through good family values, strong roots, hard work, and perseverance, has come into her own ... Though your journey may not be easy in the coming days, weeks, months, or years, think of us to ease your burden and pain. Think of those who you inspire. Think of those who you have given hope...

A provocative tale of an unlikely contender and her midlife transformation through boxing. "I peered through the Venetian blinds in our den, with its view of the playground next door, and watched mournfully as the popular girls played softball. I wanted to run fast, hit hard, and wear a cute uniform. These girls seemed to know something about life that I didn't." When Binnie Klein took up boxing in her midfifties, the reaction from friends and acquaintances...

Interviews with eighteen Jewish "hidden children" of France and Belgium, telling the story of their survival during World War II. The history of France's "hidden children" and of the French citizens who saved six out of seven Jewish children and three-fourths of the Jewish adult population from deportation during the Nazi occupation is little known to American readers. In The Hidden Children of France, Danielle Bailly (a hidden child herself whose...

This diverse collection of poems and companion essays by forty nationally and internationally known poets allows readers to experience the creative process through the eyes and voice of each poet. No matter how often we are told that revision is an essential component of poetic composition, it can be difficult to resist the temptation to think of the poem as having sprung spontaneously, Athena-like, from the writer's head. By exposing readers to the...

A brutal and unflinchingly honest portrayal of the effects of concentration camp life on the human psyche. Brutally and unflinchingly honest in its depiction of the effects of concentration camp life on the human psyche, Mieczysław Lurczyński's The Old Guard is one of the earliest works of Holocaust literature and one of the few works written by a non-Jew who was also a survivor of the camps. Begun during his imprisonment on fragments and scraps...

A cookbook for-and by-fans of the rock band Phish. Like the band they follow from city to city, Phish fans have their own history of creativity, which in turn follows them wherever they go-even into the kitchen. Edited by Taraleigh Weathers (Healthy Hippie Magazine) and Pete Mason (Phanart: The Art of the Fans of Phish), PhanFood bring together many of the recipes that Phish fans have made and shared over the years. Included are appetizers, salads,...

An intimate group portrait of contemporary Hudson Valley writers. "When you truly fall in love, whether with a person or a place, you make everything else fit around it. The last eight years of my life have been a love affair with this place." - Gwendolyn Bounds, author of The Little Chapel By the River For centuries, writers have drawn inspiration from the Hudson River and its surroundings. John Burroughs, James Fenimore Cooper, Washington Irving,...

A former state legislator and a political scientist team up to show how New York's legislature was once the nation's model professional legislature, and how it might recover from its present dysfunction. "Laws are like sausages," Otto von Bismarck is said to have remarked. "It is better not to see them being made." Even among sausage factories, New York State's legislature is notoriously dysfunctional, but as Tales from the Sausage Factory reminds...