National Network for Equitable Library Service

The "poet laureate of the New York underground scene" chronicles three decades of electrifying artistic expression Once dominated by Beat Generation writers like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, by the 1970s and '80s, New York City's creative scene had given way to a punk rock-era defined by figures like Debbie Harry and Richard Hell.

Personal encounters with one of the most influential and iconic figures of the Beat Generation During the 1970s, William Burroughs, author of Junky and Naked Lunch, lived in a loft on the Bowery in New York City's Lower East Side. Christened "The Bunker," his apartment became a modern-day literary salon with people like Andy Warhol, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Susan Sontag, and fellow beat poet Allen Ginsberg passing through for a drink or a joint and the promise of stimulating conversation with the ingenious and eccentric Burroughs.

Every kid knows that pirates talk funny, swing a big sword, and seek buried treasure-don't they' What do we really know about Blackbeard, Madame Cheng, Sir Francis Drake, and other men and women of pirate history' What drove them to sail the high seas' What were their bad habits, favorite foods, and silly quirks' And did they actually talk like that' A lively style, lots of surprises, and solid research have made the Lives of...'eries of collective biographies popular with both kids and adults.

From the legendary civil rights activist and author of the million-copy selling Warriors Don't Cry comes an ardent and profound childhood memoir of growing up while facing adversity in the Jim Crow South. Long before she was one of the Little Rock Nine, Melba Pattillo Beals was a warrior. Frustrated by the laws that kept African-Americans separate but very much unequal to whites, she had questions.

Most people can name some famous artists and recognize their best-known works. But what's behind all that painting, drawing, and sculpting' What was Leonardo da Vinci's snack of choice while he painted Mona Lisa's mysterious smile' Why did Georgia O'Keeffe find bones so appealing' Who called Diego Rivera "Frog-Face"' And what is it about artists that makes both their work and their lives so fascinating-to themselves, to their curious neighbors, and to all of us' This book presents the humor and the tragedy in twenty artists' lives as no biography has done before.

Shakespeare wrote with a feather quill and ink; Emily Dickinson wrote with a fountain pen; Isaac Bashevis Singer wrote on a Yiddish typewriter. But what did such writers do when they weren't writing' What did Jane Austen eat for breakfast' What could make Mark Twain throw his shirts out the window' Why would Zora Neale Hurston punch a fellow elevator passenger' Lives of the Writers tells all that and more.

It's no secret that Beethoven went deaf, that Mozart had constant money problems, and that Gilbert and Sullivan wrote musicals. But what were these people-and other famous musicians-really like' What did they eat' What did they wear' How did they spend their time' And-possibly most interesting of all-what did their neighbors think' Discover the fascinating and often humorous stories of twenty famous musicians-people of all shapes, sizes, temperaments, and lifestyles, from various countries and historical periods.

Jonathan and Drew Scott, known for their wildly popular HGTV shows including Property Brothers and Brother vs Brother, follow up their New York Times bestseller, Dream Home, with a highly anticipated memoir. It Takes Two: Our Story shares never-before-revealed tales of the brothers' childhood and rise to fame-from starting their first business at 7 years old, their years modeling and acting, to their first house purchase at the impressive young age of eighteen.

Most people know that Gregor Mendel, the Moravian monk who patiently grew his peas in a monastery garden, shaped our understanding of inheritance. But people might not know that Mendel's work was ignored in his own lifetime, even though it contained answers to the most pressing questions raised by Charles Darwin's revolutionary book, ON ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES, published only a few years earlier. Mendel's single chance of recognition failed utterly, and he died a lonely and disappointed man.

"Stunning." -Entertainment Weekly | "Raw and perfect." -Laura Miller, Slate"Heartbreaking yet hopeful." -Samantha Irby, Marie Claire A fierce memoir of a mother's murder, a daughter's coming-of-age in the wake of immense loss, and her mission to know the woman who gave her life. When Sarah Perry was twelve, she saw a partial eclipse of the sun, an event she took as a sign of good fortune for her and her mother, Crystal.