Palmerston

Tom Mitchelson (Author)

Don't Ask Me about My Dad: An Inspiring True Story of a Scared Little Boy with a Dark Secret

Growing up with him was like being in my own war zone, living in perpetual fear of when the bombs would fall. I was terrified of becoming him, and in moments I could feel I might. He still lives within me grimly like some battered demon spright. And I'm fearful of his shadow. The rage, and his blood. There are some moments when he arrives and I want to tear up the whole world with my bare hands, and all I really want is love. I want him away now. Please. Just go. While growing up in Essex, Tom Mitchelson and his identical triplet sisters routinely witnessed unspeakable acts of violence and abuse at the hands of their dad. They would watch in horror as he dragged their mum around the house, but they never dared breathe a word. Tom knew his dad was a monster, but it seemed he had nowhere to turn until a kindly teacher sought his company... Don't Ask Me About My Dad is an inspirational story of how one isolated young boy overcame the odds and finally found his voice.

Magdalena J. Zaborowska (Author)

James Baldwin: The Life Album

1,An intimate portrait of James Baldwin, offering a new understanding of his life and works as seen through his close relationships and private life "Baldwin authority Zaborowska's gracefully impassioned biography. . . . A creatively conceived appreciation for a decorated life and its far-flung influences on race, queer culture, and art."--Kirkus Reviews James Baldwin (1924-1987) was a pivotal figure of the twentieth century, an influential author, intellectual, and activist who led a celebrated public life--and whose words and image and persona remain current in our culture. Baldwin's many incarnations--"son of Harlem," "Black icon," "great twentieth-century writer," "race man," "prophet," "witness"--have reemerged in the digital age as Baldwin's work becomes a touchstone for a new generation. It is the private, vulnerable, and messier Baldwin--the man behind the prophet and the online meme--who is the focus of this book. Magdalena J. Zaborowska draws on Baldwin's archives and material legacy--from his unpublished papers to his books to his house in France--to offer a fresh look at the writer's understated and obscured private life. Taking a cue from Baldwin's own love of the ...

Hadfield, Chris

An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me about Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything

7,Travel to space and back with astronaut Chris Hadfield's "enthralling" bestseller as your eye-opening guide (Slate). Colonel Chris Hadfield has spent decades training as an astronaut and has logged nearly 4000 hours in space. During this time he has broken into a Space Station with a Swiss army knife, disposed of a live snake while piloting a plane, and been temporarily blinded while clinging to the exterior of an orbiting spacecraft. The secret to Col. Hadfield's success-and survival-is an unconventional philosophy he learned at NASA: prepare for the worst- and enjoy every moment of it. In An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, Col. Hadfield takes readers deep into his years of training and space exploration to show how to make the impossible possible. Through eye-opening, entertaining stories filled with the adrenaline of launch, the mesmerizing wonder of spacewalks, and the measured, calm responses mandated by crises, he explains how conventional wisdom can get in the way of achievement -- and happiness. His own extraordinary education in space has taught him some counterintuitive lessons: don't visualize success, do care what others think, and always sweat the small stuff. ...