The Gymnast might have been an “everyman” memoir: Patrick grew up hard and fast in the New York of the 1950s and ’60s. He found a sport and then a career he was passionate about. Found love, raised a family.Except The Gymnast isn’t any old coming-of-age tale. Patrick contracted polio, and one of his legs atrophied because of it. He became the boy with the “repulsive leg,” as he called it, and for a long time, he didn’t believe he’d have a normal life.With ...

"One of the more readable, insightful and entertaining celebrity autobiographies in recent memory—a tragicomedy that could be turned into its own movie." — Chicago Sun-TimesThere is—and could only ever be—one Billy Bob Thornton: actor, musician, Academy Award-winning screenwriter, and accidental Hollywood badass. In The Billy Bob Tapes, he leads us into his Cave Full of Ghosts, spinning colorful tales of his modest (to say the least) Southern upbri...

"All the heavy hitters...came out for USA Noir...an important anthology of stories shrewdly culled by Johnny Temple."--New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)One of Zoom Street Magazine's Favorite Books of 2014Indie Books Roundup #1 Pick, Barnes & Noble Book BlogIncluded in Zoom Street Magazine's Summer Reading (Mysteries/Noir) RoundupOne of "1...

" Funny, elegiac . . . a remarkably sunny coming-of-age story about growing up in a Midwest world." —NPROne of the Best Books of the Year—Amazon, Golf Digest , Minnesota Public RadioThis is a story of the 1970s. Of a road trip in a wood-paneled station wagon, with the kids in the way-back, singing along to the Steve Miller Band. Of brothers waking up early on Saturday mornings for five consecutive...

An "irresistible" collection of short fiction by an author who "has been likened to everyone from J. D. Salinger to Woody Allen" ( The New York Times Book Review).Hailed by Newsweek as "a bona fide literary event," The Collected Short Fiction of Bruce Jay Friedman brings together dozens of the New York Times–bestselling author's greatest stories, which originally appeared in Esquire, The New Yorker, and other ma...

In the 1970s and '80s, before he earned national acclaim for his award-winning novels, Pete Dexter was a newspaper columnist. Every week, in a few hundred words, Dexter cut directly to the heart of the American character at a time of national turmoil and crucial change. With haunting urgency, his columns laid bare the violence, hypocrisy, and desperation he saw on the streets of Philadelphia and in the places he visited across the country. But he reveled, too, in the lighter side of his ow...

PRAISE FOR LEWIS GRIZZARD“So this is what’s happened to the South since William Faulkner left! Lewis Grizzard, a great American, gives us the best collection of stories about a mother’s love, old folks, railroad trains, going home, and the No-Name Bar in Willacoochee, Georgia.”- The Chicago Sun-Times“If you’ve ever owned a truck, a good dog, or had to kiss a good woman good-bye, you need to be reading Lewis Grizzard.”- United Press International“Funny ...

Pittsburgh Noir roars forth, exploring the hidden underworld of what has often been called "the most livable city in America.""Despite Pittsburgh being labeled the country's most livable city, the fictional citizens populating the 14 high quality stories in Akashic's noir anthology centered on the Steel City have the same dreams, frustrations, passions, and vices as anyone else." — Publishers Weekly"Perfect for adventurous book groups and f...

A collection of short stories about a long-gone Brooklyn from the legendary New York author of Forever ."Hamill, a master raconteur, mines his own roots in this enchanting new anthology." — New York Times"A veteran columnist at his best. . . . If you like O. Henry, you'll appreciate Hamill." — USA TodayPete Hamill's colle...

*A Michigan Notable Book of 2022***"Honest, authentic, heartbreaking and healing. I devoured it in one day."—Jenny Lawson, #1 New York Times bestselling authorWade Rouse, bestselling author under the pen name Viola Shipman, finds solace with his dying father through their shared love of baseball in this poignant, illuminating memoir of family and forgiveness.**Before his success in public relations, his loving marriage and his storied writi...

In his raw and unflinching memoir, Michael Cole, co-star of ABC's iconic show, THE MOD SQUAD writes about his role as Pete Cochran in the groundbreaking program that dealt with issues never before seen on television - racism, drug abuse, child abuse, the Vietnam War.Michael gives an often humorous and always brutally honest account of his life, his career, his meteoric highs and suicidal lows. For the first time, he reveals what it was like to be famous, idolized by millions, and r...

The stories in this collection range in tone from zaniness to pathos. It's hard to choose a favorite…Highly recommended."— Library JournalFrom "Reports Concerning the Death of the Seattle Albatross Are Somewhat Exaggerated," about a mascot from outer space, to "K-Mart," about boyhood, baseball, and betrayals, this collection of short fiction comes from the award-winning author of Shoeless Joe—basis for the movie Field of Dreams and one of...