Showing results by publisher "Phoenix Books" in Biographies & Memoirs

Long before Shark Tank, there was Ron Popeil, the man who demonstrated products on the small screen with enthusiasm and a mega-watt smile. For five decades, the late-night, rapid-fire pitchman was a television staple, and virtually every corner of America knew who he was and bought in the millions the "indispensable" products he hawked. Here is the rags-to-riches story of Popeil, the man who sliced, diced, and julienned his way into our hearts and wallets— packed with hands-on, nuts-and-bolts guidance on how anyone with a product idea can make big money.

One of America's most beloved social commentators—Pulitzer Prize-winning and bestselling author Russell Baker—followed up his bestselling memoir, The Good Times, with this collection of his best New York Times columns, dating back to 1962. There' s a Country in My Cellar covers Baker's usual wide range of topics, told in a wonderfully funny style, and many of which are profoundly serious beneath the banter.

The definitive biography of the world's most renowned monarch and richest woman, and of her controversial husband, H.R.H. Prince Philip.

For Forgotten Heroes, thirty-five prominent historians chose their favorite stories of unsung American figures. From Johnny Appleseed and John Quincy Adams to abolitionist Sojourner Truth and Margaret Anderson, the publisher of James Joyce's Ulysses, these profiles remind us that history depends upon the great deeds of women and men, whether famous or humble. Designed for delight, instruction, and inspiration, this collection includes nearly as many women as men, and nearly as many people before 1900 as after— little-known or forgotten heroes who deserve to be remembered.

She is the most popular novelist in history, yet the drama and torment of Agatha Christie's private life remains a mystery even to her most ardent fans. She made no secret of her disdain for the press and for those who wished to intrude on her private life. Nonetheless, in this immensely readable and intimate biography, best-selling author Richard Hack reveals the romance, scandal, and betrayal that drove one of the 20th century's most celebrated literary figures.

For much of his adult life, Bruce McNall has been a player. He started in the ancient coin business and then branched out into horse racing, movies (The Fabulous Baker Boys), and major league sports as owner of the L.A. Kings hockey team. McNall became the toast of Los Angeles, attending glamorous parties and living the life of a celebrity. Eventually, however, Bruce had to borrow huge amounts of money, and ultimately his empire collapsed amid charges of fraud and deception. For admittedly bilking banks out of more than $200 million, McNall spent more than four years in prison.

John H. Johnson, the remarkable entrepreneur who founded the Ebony publishing empire, tells the story of his success. The wealthiest African-American in the US today, Johnson shares his rags to riches saga, from the many obstacles that confronted him to his ultimate triumph.

In 1992, a novel by university professor Robert James Waller was published to less than glowing reviews. Despite the critical reception, The Bridges of Madison County became a publishing phenomenon, spending two years on the New York Times bestseller list and selling more than 50 million copies. Decades before, Waller had met 18-year-old Jana St. James at an Indiana University coffeehouse.

There is a theater superstition that if the emptied house is ever left completely dark, a ghost will take up residence. To prevent this, a single "ghost light" is left burning at center stage after the audience and all of the actors and musicians have left. In this eloquent and moving memoir, celebrated New York Times drama critic and columnist Frank Rich reveals how theater became a beacon of security for him as a child. As he struggled with his parent's divorce, Rich found his way in a tumultuous world, transformed by the magic of Broadway.

By the age of 20, Anicka Bakes was earning her living as a model in the fashion capitals of the world - Paris, Milan, Tokyo, and New York. Beautiful, wealthy, but still innocent in the ways of the heart, she met a sensitive and talented athlete on the rise named Dennis Rodman. The two fell in love. In seven tumultuous years, their daughter Alexis was born, Anicka suffered from a tragic car accident ending her modeling career, Dennis and Anicka married, and the two engaged in many vicious private and some very public fights.

Bad Dogs Have More Fun is an unforgettable collection of more that 75 newspaper columns by John Grogan, the number-one New York Times best-selling author of Marley & Me. Combining humor, wit, poignancy and affection, these columns provide insight into the intriguing and wonderful world we live in.

While TV is prevalent in most of our lives, few of us have much knowledge of its behind-the-scenes operations. In this riveting expose, veteran writer and producer Ian Gurvitz illuminates a side of the business few people get to see. Drawing on notes from his personal journal, Gurvitz details two years in the dizzying ups-and-downs life of a Hollywood television writer— the pitch meetings, the table readings, the rewrites, the studios, the networks, and the executives who make all the decisions.

Financier Ronald O. Perelman is one of the richest men in America, building a personal business empire worth billions. Linked to society's most dazzling beauties, Perelman owns palatial estates in Palm Beach, East Hampton, Manhattan, Sun Valley, and Bel Air, plus an impressive art collection, a fleet of automobiles, and two G-4 jets. This first biography of the brilliant entrepreneur recounts the story behind Perelman's spectacular financial success and lavish lifestyle.

Accomplished poet and writer Jerome Washington offers an unforgettable glimpse of prison life. You'll meet Cleanhead: thief, con artist, and disciple of Dale Carnegie; Shing-a-Ling, a pimp on a mission to become literate; Sugar-Ditch Pearl and his lover Rex, who are spending their honeymoon in the exercise yard lifting weights; and Juanito, caught in a laughing jag while being bludgeoned to death by the guards. Iron House is a portrait of a culture where brutality is the norm and moments of kindness are few and treasured.

"Plato sucks because the ideal world pales in comparison with the mysterious complexity of the real one." So writes Andrei Codrescu in this kaleidoscope of riffs and rants about the passions and nightmares of a poet at millennium's end. What does the collapse of communism and rise of nationalism in Eastern Europe look like from the perspective of this reporter who experienced it firsthand? How does a ceramicist and child of photographers view the origin myths of pottery and photography?

In the early of investigating the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Lyle Goldman, L.A.P.D. Homicide Detective Mark Fuhrman uncovered evidence destined to become the cornerstone of the prosecution's case in the trial of O.J. Simpson. But as the elaborate legal epic unfolded, Fuhrman himself-his character and professional conduct - far overshadowed the impact of his evidence.

Funny men don't necessarily have funny childhoods. Art Buchwald had to find his humor the hard way. In this poignant memoir, Buchwald writes with intimacy and candor about his early years—of a life constantly on the move and in the company of strangers. Shortly after he was born, he and his mother were separated. He tells of a childhood that took him from a Seventh-Day Adventist shelter to New York's Hebrew Orphan Asylum to a series of foster homes—all before the age of fifteen.

Here, in their own words, are seven children who confronted life-threatening illnesses such as cancer, sickle cell anemia, disability, and AIDS. Ranging in age from 7 to 17, these children from different backgrounds and with different personalities, share uncommon courage, a vibrant spirit, and piercing candor and eloquence about how to seize life, to glorify it, and be grateful for its gifts. Through poems written at Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Gang Camp and conversations with loved ones, they reveal their attitudes towards life, illness, remission, religion, family, and friends.

At age 40, people are basically at the halfway mark in their lives, one that often induces a so-called "mid-life crisis." In Lessons at the Halfway Point, Michael Levine takes a thought-provoking look at this milestone birthday. With wit and humor, Levine examines one man's courageous journey to understand life from the perspective of reaching this halfway mile marker.

Join Rick Reynolds as he guides you through the foibles, fumbles and pratfalls of his own life beginning with his bizarre childhood. From the drowning of his father at a family picnic, to a bank-robbing stepfather, to his mother's 3 marriages and innumerable affairs, Reynolds portrays a striking picture of the lengths people will go for love and the human connection.