The frontman of one of the greatest bands of all time tells the story of his rise from nothing to rock 'n' roll megastar, and his wild journey as the voice of The Who. “It’s taken me three years to unpack the events of my life, to remember who did what when and why, to separate the myths from the reality, to unravel what really happened at the Holiday Inn on Keith Moon’s 21st birthday,” says Roger Daltrey, the powerhouse vocalist of The Who. The result of this introspection is a remarkable memoir, instantly captivating, funny and frank, chock-full of well-earned wisdom and one-of-a-kind anecdotes from a raucous life that spans a tumultuous time of change in Britain and America. Born during the air bombing of London in 1944, Daltrey fought his way (literally) through school and poverty and began to assemble the band that would become The Who while working at a sheet metal factory in 1961. In Daltrey’s voice, the familiar stories—how they got into smashing up their kit, the infighting, Keith Moon’s antics—take on a new, intimate life. Also here is the creative journey through the unforgettable hits including My Generation, Substitute, Pinball Wizard, and the great albums, Who’s Next, Tommy, and Quadrophenia. Amidst all the music and mayhem, the drugs, the premature deaths, the ruined hotel rooms, Roger is our perfect narrator, remaining sober (relatively) and observant and determined to make The Who bigger and bigger. Not only his personal story, this is the definitive biography of The Who.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this powerful new collection of oil paintings and stories, President George W. Bush spotlights the inspiring journeys of America’s immigrants and the contributions they make to the life and prosperity of our nation. The issue of immigration stirs intense emotions today, as it has throughout much of American history. But what gets lost in the debates about policy are the stories of immigrants themselves, the people who are drawn to America by its promise of economic opportunity and political and religious freedom—and who strengthen our nation in countless ways. In the tradition of Portraits of Courage, President Bush’s #1 New York Times bestseller, Out of Many, One brings together forty-three full-color portraits of men and women who have immigrated to the United States, alongside stirring stories of the unique ways all of them are pursuing the American Dream. Featuring men and women from thirty-five countries and nearly every region of the world, Out of Many, One shows how hard work, strong values, dreams, and determination know no borders or boundaries and how immigrants embody values that are often viewed as distinctly American: optimism and gratitude, a willingness to strive and to risk, a deep sense of patriotism, and a spirit of self-reliance that runs deep in our immigrant heritage. In these pages, we meet a North Korean refugee fighting for human rights, a Dallas-based CEO who crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico at age seventeen, and a NASA engineer who as a girl in Nigeria dreamed of coming to America, along with notable figures from business, the military, sports, and entertainment. President Bush captures their faces and stories in striking detail, bringing depth to our understanding of who immigrants are, the challenges they face on their paths to citizenship, and the lessons they can teach us about our country’s character. As the stories unfold in this vibrant book, readers will gain a better appreciation for the humanity behind one of our most pressing policy issues and the countless ways in which America, through its tradition of welcoming newcomers, has been strengthened by those who have come here in search of a better life.

First published in 1982, this penetrating, immensely readable biography of the brilliant poet, translator, and art critic, F. W. J. Hemmings gives us a fascinating new perspective on Baudelaire's extraordinary, complex personality, his artistic achievements, and his tormented life. Hemmings, the noted biographer of Zola and Alexandre Dumas, has drawn on a great volume of material for this work, much of which came to light as late at the 70s. He shows how Baudelaire's unhappy childhood and the mixture of strong affection and bitter resentment in his feelings for his mother provide the key to his contradictory and self-destructive behavior, particularly in his neurotic relationships with women. Burdened with a sense of guilt and acutely conscious of his shortcomings, Baudelaire was constantly at odds with himself, with those around him, and with the optimistic, materialistic society of his day, which he hated. From the poverty, disease, and despair that plagued him sprang Les Fleurs du Mal, the poetry by which he was to achieve immortality. The struggle to create and publish these poems-which were immediately condemned as pornographic-is vividly described. But Baudelaire was also an art critic whose aesthetic insights are still discussed today, and his book on drug addiction, Les Paradis Artificiels, remains relevant to our time. He introduced Edgar Allan Poe, a writer with whom he strongly identified, to the European public, and he was one of the first Wagnerians in France. Baudelaire the Damned is an important re-examination of all these varied aspects of Baudelaire's life and work, as well as an engrossing portrait of one of the geniuses of world literature.

Coming just after his masterpieces Journey to the End of the Night and Death on the Installment Plan, Mea Culpa is Céline's scathing denunciation of Soviet communism, written after a personal visit to that "worker's paradise" in the 1930s. In his inimitable, blistering style, Céline strips bare not only the communist experiment but also all other modern systems, showing them for what they are: illusions destined to fail because they are based on false ideas about the nature of Man. At a time when many other writers and intellectuals were fawning over the Soviet Union and the ideas of Marx and Lenin, Céline was quick to see them for what they really were, and Mea Culpa now stands as a prescient and accurate statement about the true nature of communism in the modern world. Also included in this volume is The Life and Work of Semmelweis, Céline's first book. This meditation on the heroic and tragic physician who pioneered antisepsis in medicine gives us a key to understanding Céline's vision of life and all of his subsequent work. Written in a more conventional style than his later books, Céline's genius for trenchant observation is nonetheless fully apparent.

“I want every player in the National Football League to want to play for the Jets, and I want every coach in the league to want to coach for the Jets, and we’re well on our way.” —Rex Ryan Since Rex Ryan was made head coach of the New York Jets in 2009, his infectious energy and love of the game have made him one of the best-known coaches in the NFL. Play Like You Mean It invites readers behind the scenes of the NFL from Rex’s days coaching the Baltimore Ravens and Arizona Cardinals, to his acceptance of the head coach position for the Jets, to mentoring Mark Sanchez as he transformed from a young USC grad to a seasoned QB, to all the thrilling, controversial ups and downs of the Jets’ 2010 season. With his characteristic frankness and exuberance, Rex reveals his philosophy of life, both on the field and off, and shares colorful stories of growing up with twin brother Rob (now the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive coordinator), and their father, legendary NFL coach Buddy Ryan.

A priced and annotated annual record of international book auctions.