The story of the notorious Jewish gangster who ascended from impoverished beginnings to the glittering Las Vegas strip &nbsp;"[A]&nbsp;brisk-reading chronicle of Siegel's life and crimes."--Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal "Fast-paced and absorbing. . . . With a keen eye for the amusing, and humanizing detail, [Shnayerson] enlivens the traditional rise-and-fall narrative."--Jenna Weissman Joselit, New York Times Book Review In a brief life that led to a violent end, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (1906-1947) rose from desperate poverty to ill&#8209;gotten riches, from an early&#8209;twentieth&#8209;century family of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants on the Lower East Side to a kingdom of his own making in Las Vegas. In this captivating portrait, author Michael Shnayerson sets out not to absolve Bugsy Siegel but rather to understand him in all his complexity. Through the 1920s, 1930s, and most of the 1940s, Bugsy Siegel and his longtime partner in crime Meyer Lansky engaged in innumerable acts of violence. As World War II came to an end, Siegel saw the potential for a huge, elegant casino resort in the sands of Las Vegas. Jewish gangsters built nearly all of the Vegas casinos that followed. Then, one by one, they disappeared. Siegel's story laces through a larger, generational story of eastern European Jewish immigrants in the early&#8209; to mid&#8209;twentieth century.

Bugsy Siegel: The Dark Side of the American Dream (Jewish Lives)

Biographies & Memoirs

Shnayerson, Michael

Historical

Yale University Press

Harry Belafonte is not just one of the greatest entertainers of our time; he has led one of the great American lives of the last century. Now, this extraordinary icon tells us the story of that life, giving us its full breadth, letting us share in the struggles, the tragedies, and, most of all, the inspiring triumphs. Belafonte grew up, poverty-ridden, in Harlem and Jamaica. His mother was a complex woman—caring but withdrawn, eternally angry and rarely satisfied. His father was distant and physically abusive. It was not an easy life, but it instilled in young Harry the hard-nosed toughness of the city and the resilient spirit of the Caribbean lifestyle. It also gave him the drive to make good and channel his anger into actions that were positive and life-affirming. His journey led to the U.S. Navy during World War II, where he encountered an onslaught of racism but also fell in love with the woman he eventually married. After the war he moved back to Harlem, where he drifted between odd jobs until he saw his first stage play—and found the life he wanted to lead. Theater opened up a whole new world, one that was artistic and political and made him realize that not only did he have a need to express himself, he had a lot to express. He began as an actor—and has always thought of himself as such—but was quickly spotted in a musical, began a tentative nightclub career, and soon was on a meteoric rise to become one of the world’s most popular singers. Belafonte was never content to simply be an entertainer, however. Even at enormous personal cost, he could not shy away from activism. At first it was a question of personal dignity: breaking down racial barriers that had never been broken before, achieving an enduring popularity with both white and black audiences. Then his activism broadened to a lifelong, passionate involvement at the heart of the civil rights movement and countless other political and social causes. The sections on the rise of the civil rights movement are perhaps the most moving in the book: his close friendship with Martin Luther King, Jr.; his role as a conduit between Dr. King and the Kennedys; his up-close involvement with the demonstrations and awareness of the hatred and potential violence around him; his devastation at Dr. King’s death and his continuing fight for what he believes is right. But My Song is far more than the history of a movement. It is a very personal look at the people in that movement and the world in which Belafonte has long moved. He has befriended many beloved and important figures in both entertainment and politics—Paul Robeson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Sidney Poitier, John F. Kennedy, Marlon Brando, Robert Kennedy, Nelson Mandela, Fidel Castro, Tony Bennett, Bill Clinton—and writes about them with the same exceptional candor with which he reveals himself on every page. This is a book that pulls no punches, and turns both a loving and critical eye on our country’s cultural past. As both an artist and an activist, Belafonte has touched countless lives. With My Song, he has found yet another way to entertain and inspire us. It is an electrifying memoir from a remarkable man.

My Song: A Memoir

Belafonte, Harry

Humor & Entertainment

KNOPF

An eloquently told personal account of an era of enormous cultural and political change, which reveals Harry Belafonte as not only one of America’s greatest entertainers, but also one of our most profoundly influential activists. Harry Belafonte spent his childhood in both Harlem and Jamaica, where the toughness of the city and the resilient spirit of the Caribbean lifestyle instilled in him a tenacity to face the hurdles of life head-on and channel his anger into positive, life-affirming actions. He returned to New York City after serving in the Navy in World War II, and found his calling in the theater, before transitioning into a career as a singer and Hollywood leading man. During the 1960s civil rights movement, Belafonte became close friends with Martin Luther King, Jr., and used his celebrity as a platform for his activism in civil rights and countless other political and social causes. My Song tells the inspiring story of a startlingly original and powerful entertainer who has always engaged fiercely with the issues of his day.

My Song: A Memoir of Art, Race, and Defiance

Literature & Fiction

Dramas & Plays

Vintage

The authors introduce readers to the wide and terrifying world of drug-resistant bacteria that are increasingly hardened against antibiotics and pose a deadly new threat to human life. 50,000 first printing.

The Killers Within: The Deadly Rise of Drug Resistant Bacteria

Science & Math

Plotkin, Mark J.

Biological Sciences

Little,Brown

Tens of thousands of Americans are killed each year by drug-resistant bacteria picked up in medical facilities. This book describes the threat of new and evolving bacteria and how physicians are trying to combat it. The authors (a journalist and an ethnobotanist) describe how bacteria work, how humans are creating "superbugs" through the widespread abuse of antibiotics, and how individuals can protect themselves and their families.

The Killers Within: The Deadly Rise Of Drug-Resistant Bacteria

Back Bay Books

One of America's most dramatic environmental battles is unfolding in southern West Virginia. Coal companies are blasting the mountains, decapitating them for coal. The forested ridge tops and valley streams of Appalachia―one of the country's natural treasures―are being destroyed, along with towns and communities. An entire culture is disappearing, and to this day, most Americans have no idea it's happening.
Michael Shnayerson first traveled to the coal fields four years ago, on assignment for Vanity Fair. There he met an inspiring young lawyer named Joe Lovett, who was fighting mountaintop removal in court with a series of brilliant and daring lawsuits. He also met Judy Bonds, whose grassroots group, the Coal River Mountain Watch, was speaking out in a region where talking truth to power was both brave and dangerous. The two had joined forces to take on Massey Energy, the largest and most aggressive of the coal companies, and its swaggering, notorious chairman, Don Blankenship.
Coal River is Shnayerson's account of this dramatic struggle. From courtroom to boardroom, forest clearing to factory floor, Shnayerson gives us a novelistic and compelling portrait of the people who risked their reputations and livelihoods in the fight against King Coal.

Coal River

Business & Money

Economics

Farrar. Straus and Giroux

“I know where I’m going. I’m still myself. I just can’t remember things as well as I once did. So on short trips, I work hard not to be confused. I’ll say to myself, What are we going to do? How long are we staying? It’s like I’m talking to my other self—the self I used to be. She tells me, This is what we need to buy—not that. I’m conscious of that other self guiding me now.” Restaurateur, magazine publisher, celebrity chef, and nationally known lifestyle maven, B. Smith is struggling at 66 with a tag she never expected to add to that string: Alzheimer's patient. She’s not alone. Every 67 seconds someone newly develops it, and millions of lives are affected by its aftershocks. B. and her husband, Dan, working with Vanity Fair contributing editor Michael Shnayerson, unstintingly share their unfolding story. Crafted in short chapters that interweave their narrative with practical and helpful advice, readers learn about dealing with Alzheimer's day-to-day challenges: the family realities and tensions, ways of coping, coming research that may tip the scale, as well as lessons learned along the way. At its heart, Before I Forget is a love story: illuminating a love of family, life, and hope.

Before I Forget: Love, Hope, Help, and Acceptance in Our Fight Against Alzheimer's

Gasby, Dan

Smith.B.

Professionals & Academics

Harmony

“A powerful portrait of Alzheimer’s…marked by strong emotions and often bleak honesty.” —The Washington Post “The vulnerability, courage, and honesty in Before I Forget are heart-opening. Fear can be paralyzing…yet B. and Dan beautifully demonstrate that there is a different way to approach this stealthy invader. Alzheimer’s needs to come out of the shadows, and this book is an important step.” —Maria ShriverRestaurateur, magazine publisher, celebrity chef, and nationally known lifestyle maven, B. Smith is struggling at 66 with a tag she never expected to add to that string: Alzheimer's patient. She’s not alone. Every 67 seconds someone newly develops it, and millions of lives are affected by its aftershocks. B. and her husband, Dan, working with Vanity Fair contributing editor Michael Shnayerson, unstintingly share their unfolding story. Crafted in short chapters that interweave their narrative with practical and helpful advice, readers learn about dealing with Alzheimer's day-to-day challenges: the family realities and tensions, ways of coping, coming research that may tip the scale, as well as lessons learned along the way. At its heart, Before I Forget is a love story: illuminating a love of family, life, and hope.

Community & Culture

It wasn't too long ago that modern antibiotics seemed to have conquered bacteria. Threatening bacteria, doctors proclaimed, were on their way out.Not exactly. In THE KILLERS WITHIN, Michael Shnayerson and Mark Plotkin reveal the terrifying truth: that bacteria have evolved, have outwitted doctors, and are now on the ascendancy. Quietly, a medical crisis has been brewing, as laboratories and doctors frantically race to develop new drugs and new means to combat bacteria that, via aggressive evolution, have zigged when medicine zagged. Bacteria that disintegrate your skin; bacteria that clog your lungs; bacteria that result in golf-ball-size abscesses-all these and more make appearances in THE KILLERS WITHIN.We meet the scientists desperately racing to stay one step ahead. We learn the creepy science of how bacteria work, and why they may be winning. And we see how, ironically, we've created the problem by misusing antibiotics. A book that will be compared to Laurie Garrett's bestselling "The Coming Plague," THE KILLERS WITHIN is a horror story that just happens to be true.

Killers Within: The Deadly Rise Of Drug-resistant Bacteria

Medical Books

Medicine

Demco Media

Unprecedented secrecy surrounded the early development of General Motors's Impact. Shnayerson watched the story unfold from a position of access never granted a reporter before--literally from the inside of the pace-setting GM Impact program. This is the first book to penetrate the silence surrounding GM's risky and successful decision to become the world's first mass producer of the electric car.

The Car That Could: The Inside Story of GM's Revolutionary Electric Vehicle

Random House]

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Shnayerson, Michael. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Shnayerson, Michael

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Shnayerson, Michael. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Bugsy Siegel: The Dark Side of the American Dream (Jewish Lives)

My Song: A Memoir

My Song: A Memoir of Art, Race, and Defiance

The Killers Within: The Deadly Rise of Drug Resistant Bacteria

The Killers Within: The Deadly Rise Of Drug-Resistant Bacteria

Coal River

Before I Forget: Love, Hope, Help, and Acceptance in Our Fight Against Alzheimer's

Before I Forget: Love, Hope, Help, and Acceptance in Our Fight Against Alzheimer's

Killers Within: The Deadly Rise Of Drug-resistant Bacteria

The Car That Could: The Inside Story of GM's Revolutionary Electric Vehicle