A captivating and evocative work, Memoirs of a Madman is one of Flaubert's earliest writings, and forms the basis for his highly renowned L'Education Sentimentale. As a young man looks back on the years that have brought him to "madness," he recalls the innocence of his boyhood and his fond belief that he was blessed with a mind of genius. Yet, painfully, wretchedly, he also recounts his all-too-sudden entry into the adult world. For the day he caught sight of a beautiful woman by the sea marked the end of his flamboyant philosophizing, and the beginning of a tragic coming of age.

"He's just a bleeder," they said. "He can't wrestle. All he can do is bleed!" Mad Man Pondo never argued when people called him "just a bleeder." He knows who he is, and he's embraced it. He knows that his high tolerance for pain, his fearless nature, and his talent for bleeding are the reason he's wrestled all around the world, starred in three video games, appeared in a horror film with one of his great heroes, befriended celebrities from the A-list to the D-list, and become a legend to deathmatch wrestling fans everywhere. Now, Mad Man Pondo is telling his story his way. He takes you from his early days as a wrestling fan in Flora, Illinois who accidentally got his butt kicked by Jos LeDuc to his glory days as a headliner for Big Japan. You'll read about in-ring encounters with Junkyard Dog, Terry Funk, and Kevin Sullivan; real life run-ins with David Blaine and Benny Hinn; and unexpected confrontations outside the ring with crazed fans and the Yakuza. You'll learn how his small cable access show Skull Talk led him to become a casting agent for Jerry Springer and how a deathmatch legend gets to rub shoulders with the likes of MC Hammer, Jonny Fairplay, Mick Foley, Eli Roth, and Robert Englund. Pondo shares stories about his most legendary deathmatch encounters and the inspirational story behind his all-women's promotion, Girl Fight. And you'll read his unforgettable speech from the Juggalo March on Washington D.C. at the Lincoln Memorial where Forrest Gump once cried out, "Jenny!!!" With a foreword by Vanilla Ice (yes, THE Vanilla Ice!), dozens of must-see photos, and countless stories from friends, fans, and fellow grapplers, Memoirs of a Mad Man is an all-out extreme autobiography as graphic and over the top as a Four Corners of Pain Deathmatch.

In Letters to a Young Madman, a man of genius, of uncanny writing ability, and of profound empathy for the mentally ill, recounts his “spectacular plunge from competency into official madness.” Paul Gruchow’s account of the mental illness, which eventually claimed his life, explores the double injury inflicted on the mentally ill. First, there is the illness itself, with its often debilitating symptoms. But then there is the more insidious injury made by society, stigmatization: “We no longer believe, as we did 250 years ago, that the mentally ill are animals, but we are not ready to grant that they are fully human, either.” In a voice remarkably clear, eloquent, and calm, Gruchow shows us why he came to regard the mentally ill as “his heroes.”

One of Rolling Stone’s Best Music Books of 2015. “As complete a self-portrait of the intensely private MC that we’re ever likely to get.” —Houston Press From Geto Boys legend and renowned storyteller Scarface, comes a passionate memoir about how hip-hop changed the life of a kid from the south side of Houston, and how he rose to the top—and ushered in a new generation of rap dominance. Scarface is the celebrated rapper whose hits include “On My Block,” “Mind Playing Tricks on Me” and “Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta” (made famous in the cult film Office Space). The former president of Def Jam South, he’s collaborated with everyone from Kanye West, Ice Cube and Nas, and had many solo hits such as “Guess Who’s Back” feat. Jay-Z and “Smile” feat. Tupac. But before that, he was a kid from Houston in love with rock-and-roll, listening to AC/DC and KISS. In Diary of a Madman, Scarface shares how his world changed when he heard Run DMC for the first time; how he dropped out of school in the ninth grade and started selling crack; and how he began rapping as the new form of music made its way out of New York and across the country. It is the account of his rise to the heights of the rap world, as well as his battles with his own demons and depression. Passionately exploring and explaining the roots and influences of rap culture, Diary of a Madman is the story of hip-hop—the music, the business, the streets, and life on the south side Houston, Texas. “A remarkable personal memoir.” —Los Angeles Review of Books

One woman’s haunting sixteen-year account of her youth when she and her family lived closer than anyone to Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber. As a child in Lincoln, Montana, Jamie Gehring and her family shared their land, their home, and their dinner table with a hermit with a penchant for murder. But they had no idea that the odd recluse living in the adjacent cabin was anything more than a disheveled man who brought young Jamie painted rocks as gifts. Ted was simply Ted, and erratic behavior, surprise visits, and chilling events while she was riding horses or helping her dad at his sawmill were dismissed because he was “just the odd hermit.” In fact, he was much more—Ted eluded the FBI for seventeen years while mailing explosives to strangers, earning the infamous title of Unabomber. In Gehring’s investigative quest twenty-five years later to reclaim a piece of her childhood and to answer the questions, why, how, she recalls what were once innocent memories and odd circumstances that become less puzzling in hindsight. The innocence of her youth robbed, Gehring needed to reconcile her lived experience with the evil that hid in plain sight. In this book, through years of research probing Ted’s personal history, his writings, his secret coded crime journals, her own correspondence with him in his Supermax prison cell, plus interviews with others close to Kaczynski, Gehring unearths the complexity, mystery, and tragedy of her childhood with the madman in the woods. And she discovers a shocking revelation—she and her family were in Kaczynski’s crosshairs. A work of intricately braided research, journalism, and personal memories, this book is a chilling response to the question: Do you really know your neighbor? Praise for Madman in the Woods “Combining the observations of a one-time close neighbor with extensive research and empathy for the many lives affected, Jamie Gehring’s book might well be the best attempt yet to understand the strange life and mind of my brother, Theodore J. Kaczynski.” —David Kaczynski,?author of?Every Last Tie: The Story of the Unabomber and His Family “A captivating look at Ted Kaczynski—the Unabomber—from a perspective that no one else on the planet has.?It is insightful, unique, and fascinating!? A must read for all true crime fans and anyone who loves to know the real story behind the story.” —Jim Clemente, retired FBI supervisory special agent/profiler and writer/producer of the Audible Original Series Where the Devil Belongs

The Thoughts of a Mad Man by Anthony Philemon Podno Stafford Anthony Philemon Podno Stafford’s writings are from his pain that was trapped in his heart. As a child, he wondered why no one understood him. Everything he writes is a piece of him and his thoughts. No, he is not a mad man, but he was diagnosed at an early age with mental health issues. His writings give him an outlet to express his real feelings. He hopes that someone will find something in here that relates to a life situation.