The only biography of Johnny "Guitar" Watson (1935-1996) paints an intriguing portrait of the American blues funk composer. His fans appreciate his historical role in black American music. Rappers honored him with samples. In this book tens of musicians reveal the life story of the struggling guitarist who became eternal with Gangster Of Love and A Real Mother For Ya. Besides hundreds of others, the love bandit had three First Ladies he lived with for years. They tell their untold love stories and explain how they stimulated his music as Muse, and how they financed his music business as Maecenas, helping him to produce gold albums by working as prostitute, thief or booster. His musicians reveal: how did he compose his incredible oeuvre? This book includes: The first complete Discography with 284 songs, Hundreds of songs composed or produced by Watson for others, songs he features on, his songs covered or sampled by others, Index with hundreds of related artists, Extended stories of Frank Zappa on John Watson and Watson on Zappa, 660 References, 300 Illustrations, of which 4 in full color. EXTENDED EDITION (First Edition April 2009), corrected by music author Fred Rothwell (UK), with 50% more pages and 150% more Illustrations.

He's the Ann Landers of anomie, the antidote for sniveling sensitivity, a caustic balm for our broken hearts--he's "The Gangster of Love." This collection of his columns features questions from anxious readers--with the Gangster's more or less helpful replies--which are loaded with quirky counsel on sticky problems and endless anecdotes.

Love. Violence. Destiny. These powerful themes ricochet through Lorenzo Carcaterra’s new novel like bullets from a machine gun. In Gangster, he surpasses even his bestselling Sleepers to create a brutal and brilliant American saga of murder, forgiveness, and redemption. Born in the midst of tragedy and violence and raised in the shadow of a shocking secret, young Angelo Vestieri chooses to flee both his past and his father to seek a second family—the criminals who preside over early 20th century New York. In his bloody rise from soldier to mob boss, he encounters ever more barbaric betrayals—in friendship, in his brutal business, in love—yet simultaneously comes to understand the meaning of loyalty, the virtue of relationships, and gains a perspective on the lonely, if powerful, life he has chosen. As the years pass, as enemies are made and defeated, as wars are fought and won, the old don meets an abandoned boy who needs a parent as much as protection. By taking Gabe under his wing and teaching him everything he knows, Angelo Vestieri will learn, in the winter of his life, which is greater: his love for the boy he cherishes, or his need to be a gangster and to live by the savage rules he helped create. A sweeping panoramic with riveting characters, a unique understanding of the underworld philosophy, and a relentless pace, Gangster travels through the time of godfathers and goodfellas to our own world of suburban Sopranos. But this is more than just an authentic chronicle of crime. Setting a new standard for this acclaimed author, Gangster is a compassionate portrait of one man's fight against his fate—and an unforgettable epic of a family, a city, a century.

The highly acclaimed novel that reveals the life of a Vietnamese family in America through the knowing eyes of a child finding her place and voice in a new country. “A brilliant evocation of human sorrow and desire.... Heartbreaking and exhilarating.” —The New York Times Book Review In 1978 six refugees—a girl, her father, and four “uncles”—are pulled from the sea to begin a new life in San Diego. In the child’s imagination, the world is transmuted into an unearthly realm: she sees everything intensely, hears the distress calls of inanimate objects, and waits for her mother to join her. But life loses none of its strangeness when the family is reunited. As the girl grows, her matter-of-fact innocence eddies increasingly around opaque and ghostly traumas: the cataclysm that engulfed her homeland, the memory of a brother who drowned and, most inescapable, her father’s hopeless rage.

"Alternating between the Philippines and the United States, namely New York and Los Angeles, The Gangster of Love is the story of Rocky Rivera, who plays in a dissolute rock band with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Elvis Chang; Rocky's spirited and deeply traditional mother, Milagros; her troubled and bedeviled brother, Voltaire; her wonderfully eccentric uncle, Marlon; and her best friend, the wildly unpredictable, enigmatic Keiko. These, along with other characters real and imagined, form a family story spanning generations and cultures. Together they grow to and through adulthood, acquiring spouses, lovers, companions, children, and in-laws; making a place for themselves in the world; shattering myths, icons, and expectations; struggling to find that point where alienation and assimilation, identity and dignity, coincide."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

1881—Special Agent Gillian Hamilton, magic caster for the Federal Bureau of Magic and Steam, has recovered from injuries obtained while in Shallow Grave, Arizona. Now back in New York City, Gillian makes an arrest on New Year’s Eve that leads to information on a gangster, known only as Tick Tock, who’s perfected utilizing elemental magic ammunition. This report complicates Gillian’s holiday plans, specifically those with infamous outlaw, Gunner the Deadly, who promised they’d ring in 1882 together. The two men stand on the cusp of a romance that needs to be explored intimately and privately. But when Gillian’s residence is broken into by a magical mechanical man who tries to murder him on behalf of Tick Tock, he and Gunner must immediately investigate the city’s ruthless street gangs before the illegal magic becomes a threat that cannot be contained. This might be their most wild adventure yet, but criminal undergrounds can’t compare to the dangers of the heart. Gillian must balance his career in law enforcement with his love for a vigilante, or lose both entirely. The novel-length follow-up to The Engineer, in the exciting new steampunk series, Magic & Steam. Also available as an audiobook! Magic & Steam series reading order: #1 The Engineer #2 The Gangster #3 The Doctor Keywords: gay romance, steamy, opposites attract, law enforcement, vigilante, gilded age, big city, mad scientist, cogs, magic, mm romance, urban, gangsters, partners-in-crime

I hungered to be seen. There were three things I knew about Capo Macchiavello: He was gorgeous. He was reclusive.He was considered one of New York's most savage animals. And he wanted me as his wife. A simple arrangement - you do for me, I do for you. Nothing owed, no expectations. Except for one: never leave. Life was never that simple, though. By the age of twenty-one, I was parentless, jobless, and homeless, and I had come to learn the hard way that nothing was ever free. Even kindness comes with strings.Capo might've been the only man to ever see me, but I had made a vow to myself: I would never owe anyone anything. Most of all, the man I called boss. I killed to stay hidden. Mariposa Flores thought she owed nothing to no one, but she owed everything...to me, the ghost the world had once called The Machiavellian Prince of New York. Machiavellian is the first of three books set in the savage world of the Gangsters of New York series.