Sam Macdonald
Sam Macdonald was a fat, broke failure. His social life consisted of sitting on a bar-stool all night. His apartment, he noted, was the “brownest” place he had ever lived. Mustering the reserves of a truly desperate man, he decided to go on a starvation diet to loose …
Victoria Gotti
Victoria Gotti, daughter of mafia boss John Gotti, writes a surprisingly articulate and interesting tell-all about her life in relation to the mafia. She chronicles her father’s early life and his various successes and failures. Some of Gotti’s claims of innocence for her father and brother should be …
Carroll Spinney
Spinney is probably the most famous man no-one has ever heard of. He’s been on the cover of Time, traveled the world and performed with the likes of Bob Hope and the Rockettes, conducted orchestras, appeared as a guest on every late-night talk show and has been …
Osa Johnson
Osa and Martin Johnson were once household names. In the 1920s and 30s they brought the wilds of Africa, Micronesia and Borneo to the big screen in little towns. Both were originally from small towns in Kansas. While Martin dreamed of seeing the world and photographing it, Osa …
Hank Stuever
Hank Stuever ventures into the heart of…lightness? Researching his book on Christmas he spends three holiday seasons in Frisco Texas, the home of glitter, country, Jay-szus, more glitter, mega-churches and mega-malls. Stuever follows Tammie, a professional Christmas decorator, trolls the malls daily, befriends a single mom and her …
Matt Latimer
Matt Latimer is one of those fortunates who has a dream, a plan and the ability to reach his goals. Not so fortunately, once he obtained his dream job, he found his dream was not all he had hoped. A political junkie and the only conservative in a …
William Lobdell
Lobdell’s journey from non-belief, to fervent Christianity and back again is a surprisingly rational one. With his life falling apart on all fronts, a young Lobdell’s friend and mentor suggests he give Christianity a try. Following a conversion at a retreat, Lobdell reorders his life and soon finds …
Erik Larson
Thunderstruck, by the author of The Devil in the White City, is another action- and fact-filled non-fiction book. Weaving together the stories of Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of the wireless, and the infamous murderer Dr. Crippen, Larson makes two disparate stories overlap and interweave into one. Based …
Reverend Jen
Not a book for this with rigid morals or no sense of humor, Reverend Jen covers her year as a sex writer for Nerve magazine. While most of her experiments are scary/gross/dangerous they also have a tinge of quirky dorkiness that makes her lovable… in a deranged sort …
Edmund Andrews
New York Times financial reporter Edmund Andrews covers the sad and confusing story of an average American who was taken in by the mortgage industry and s in danger of losing his home – himself. Despite his close and continual study of the American Economy, Andrews found himself …
Traudl Junge – Ed. Melissa Muller
Like the accounts written by Hitler’s best friend August “Gustl” Kubizek, Until the Final Hour shows the weirdly human side of Hitler. There is something so very disconcerting about the idea of a madman having friends, normal conversations, afternoon tea and all the …
Jeanette Fulda
I have long been a fan of the blog pastaqueen.com and loved every minute of Fulda’s book. Topping out at nearly 400 lbs, Jeannette decided to loose over half her body weight. However, instead of the usual attempts – weight loss surgery, liquid diet, WeightWatchers/Atkins/Grapefruit Diet – she …
Claire Lewis
This collection of teeth-grittingly awful stories make me so grateful I never became a wedding photographer. Jam-packed with horrendous Bridezillas, venomous mother-of-the-brides, gad-awful ministers and other fiascos Exposed will make even the most painful wedding seem a painful pleasure cruise in comparison. There are a few stories of …
Ellen Forney
Sweet! Forney illustrates “How to be a Fabulous Fag Hag” with Margaret Cho, “How to Twirl Your Tassels in Opposite Directions” with Teresa Dulse, Forney’s almost-kinda date with Camille Paglia and her friend’s incredibly embarrassing meeting with Tom Waits. Heckuva good collection.…
Maria Dahvana Headley
I’m not sure what made me pick this book up. Like the musical Avenue Q, it is on the surface remarkably funny – chock full of those embarrassing/funny stories that happen to frequently. However, once you look through the veneer of humor Headley’s story is both sad …
Laurie Notaro
Yeah! Another Laurie Notaro book! If you haven’t read Notaro’s collections of short essays or her novel There’s a (Slight) Chance I Might Be Going to Hell get a copy in preparation of the long dark winter. No matter how embarrassing or awful the situation, Notaro makes the …
