I, Adam Carolla, being of beaten-down mind, declare this to be my Last Will and Testament. I revoke all wills and addendums previously made by me. (You guys never did listen, anyway.)

Article I

I appoint the rest of the world’s unappreciated dads as Personal Representatives to administer this Will. I bequeath to them the right to crack a couple cold ones in the garage after working their asses off all week and ask that they be permitted to watch all the porn they like and not have to change diapers and get dragged to every preschool “graduation” and PTA meeting.

Article II

To my wife, I leave a safe-deposit box, the sole content of which is a note reading “Get a job. I’m dead,” and my best wishes on trying to keep up with the unending demands of our houses, cars, dog, and kids.

Article III

I devise, bequeath, and give my kids this book, Daddy, Stop Talking. Since you guys were the death of me, I leave you these pages of wisdom. But no cash, cars, or property. You’ve got to earn those. On that note, I further demand that the following message be placed on the marker of my grave: “You’re All on Your Own Now. Enjoy.”

18 years old and fresh out of high school, Karl Ove Knausgaard moves to a tiny fisherman’s village far north of the polar circle to work as a school teacher. He has no interest in the job itself — or in any other job for that matter. His intention is to save up enough money to travel while finding the space and time to start his writing career. Initially everything looks fine: He writes his first few short stories, finds himself accepted by the hospitable locals and receives flattering attention from several beautiful local girls.

But then, as the darkness of the long polar nights start to cover the beautiful landscape, Karl Ove’s life also takes a darker turn. The stories he writes tend to repeat themselves, his drinking escalates and causes some disturbing blackouts, his repeated attempts at losing his virginity end in humiliation and shame, and to his own distress he also develops romantic feelings towards one of his 13-year-old students. Along the way, there are flashbacks to his high school years and the roots of his current problems. And then there is the shadow of his father, whose sharply increasing alcohol consumption serves as an ominous backdrop to Karl Ove’s own lifestyle.

The fourth part of a sensational literary cycle that has been hailed as ‘perhaps the most important literary enterprise of our times’ (Guardian)

In this riveting account of one of the most notorious spy cases in Cold War history, Rodney Barker, the author of The Broken Circle and The Hiroshima Maidens, uncovers startling new facts about the head-line-making sex-for-secrets marine spy scandal at the American embassy in Moscow. This is a nonfiction book that reads with all the excitement of an espionage novel.

Although national security issues made the case an instant sensation—at one point government officials were calling it “the most serious espionage case of the century”—the human element gave it an unusual pathos, for it was not just secret documents that were at issue, but love, sex, marine pride, and race It began when a Native American marine sergeant named Clayton Lonetree, who was serving as a marine security guard at the American embassy in Moscow, fell in love with a Russian woman, who then recruited him as a spy for the KGB. Soon the story expanded to involve the CIA, diplomats on both sides of the Iron Curtain, and the United States Navy’s own investigative service, and before it was over a witch hunt would implicate more marines and ruin many reputations and careers.

In the end, charges were dropped against everyone except Lonetree, who after a long and dramatic court-martial was sentenced to thirty years in prison. But so many questions were left unanswered that the scandal would be thought of as one of the great unsolved mysteries of the Cold War.

Not any longer. In the process of researching his book, investigative writer Rodney Barker gained access to all the principal characters in this story. He interviewed key U.S. military and intelligence personnel, many of whom were unhappy with the public records and trial, and spoke out with astonishing candor. He traveled to Russia to track down and interview KGB officers involved in the operation, including the beautiful and enigmatic Violetta Seina, who lured Lonetree into the “honey-trap”—only to fall in love with him. And he succeeded in penetrating the wall of silence that has surrounded Clayton Lonetree since his arrest and reports the sergeant’s innermost thoughts.

A provocative aspect of this story that Barker explores in depth is whether justice was served in Lonetree’s court-martial—or whether he was used as a face-saving scapegoat after a majority security failure, or doomed by conflicts within his defense team, between his military attorney and his civilian lawyer William Kunstler, or victimized by an elaborate and devious KGB attempt to cover the traces of a far more significant spy: Aldrich Ames, the “mole” at the very heart of the CIA.

Above all, this is a book about Clayton Lonetree, one man trapped by his own impulses and his upbringing, in the final spasms of the Cold War, a curiously touching, complex, and ultimately sympathetic figure who did, in fact, sacrifice everything for love.

Đặng Thùy Trâm (b. Huế, Vietnam, November 26, 1943; d. Đức Phổ, Quảng Ngãi Province, Vietnam, June 22, 1970) was a Vietnamese civilian doctor who worked as a battlefield surgeon for North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. She was killed, in disputed circumstances, at the age of 27, by United States forces while travelling on a trail in the Ba To jungle in the Quảng Ngãi Province of south-central Vietnam. Her wartime diaries, which chronicle the last two years of her life, attracted international attention following their publication in 2005.

One of Trâm’s handwritten diaries was captured by U.S. forces in December 1969. Following her death in a gun battle on June 22, 1970, a second diary was taken by Frederic (Fred) Whitehurst, then a 22-year-old U.S. military intelligence specialist. Whitehurst defied an order to burn the diaries, instead following the advice of a South Vietnamese translator who advised him not to destroy them. He kept them for 35 years, with the intention of eventually returning them to Trâm's family, if possible.

Whitehurst's search for Trâm’s family initially proved unsuccessful. In March 2005, he and his brother Robert (also a Vietnam War veteran) brought the diaries to a conference on the Vietnam War at Texas Tech University. There they met photographer Ted Engelmann (also a Vietnam veteran), who offered to look for the family during his trip to Vietnam the next month. With the assistance of Do Xuan Anh, a staff member in the Hanoi Quaker office, Engelmann was able to locate Trâm’s mother, Doan Ngoc Tram, and family.

In July 2005, Trâm’s diaries were published in Vietnamese under the title Nhật ký Đặng Thùy Trâm (Đặng Thùy Trâm’s Diary), quickly becoming a bestseller. In less than a year, the volume sold more than 300,000 copies and comparisons were drawn between Trâm’s writing and that of Anne Frank.

In August 2005, Fred and Robert Whitehurst traveled to Hanoi, Vietnam, to meet Trâm’s family. In early October of the same year, the family traveled to Lubbock, Texas, to view the diaries, which are archived at Texas Tech University's Vietnam Archive, then visited Fred Whitehurst and his family in his home state of North Carolina.

The diaries have been translated into English and the English version was published in September 2007. Published translations into other languages (including Korean) are forthcoming.

In 2009 a film about Tram by Vietnamese director Đặng Nhật Minh, entitled Đừng Đốt (Do Not Burn), was released.

(From Wikipedia.)

ATTENTION

The following document is copyright protected and is the joint property of Madame Doan Ngoc Tram, Frederic Whitehurst, and the Vietnam Archive at Texas Tech University. This electronic version is provided as a public service via the Virtual Vietnam Archive under the “fair use” stipulations of Section 107 of the US Copyright Act of 1976. The attached materials can be used for educational and other noncommercial purposes only. THIS DOCUMENT CAN NOT BE REPUBLISHED OR RETRANSMITTED IN ANY FORMAT, MEDIUM, OR LANGUAGE, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, WITHOUT THE EXPRESSED PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS LISTED ABOVE. These materials may not to be used for resale or commercial purposes without authorization from the above listed copyright holders.

Submit questions or inquiries about this document to the Vietnam Archive — 806-742-9010.

В этой книге собраны лучшие интервью с Дэвидом Боуи, которые он давал на протяжении почти всего своего творческого пути. Каждое из них — это один из этапов его невероятного путешествия через эпохи, образы, альбомы, хиты, каждое — возможность заглянуть через плечо гения поп-музыки. И во всех он невероятно точен и внимателен к собеседникам.

David Suzuki’s autobiography limns a life dedicated to making the world a better place. The book expands on the early years covered in “Metamorphosis” and continues to the present, when, at age 70, Suzuki reflects on his entire life and his hopes for the future.

The book begins with his life-changing experience of racism interned in a World War II concentration camp, and goes on to discuss his teenage years, his college and postgraduate experiences in the U.S., and his career as a geneticist and then as the host of “The Nature of Things.”

With characteristic candor and passion, Suzuki describes how he became a leading environmentalist, writer, and thinker; the establishment of the David Suzuki Foundation; his world travels and meetings with luminaries like Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama; and the abiding role of nature and family in his life. David Suzuki is an intimate and inspiring look at a modern-day visionary.

“Cooper saw more of the war than most junior officers, and he writes about it better than almost anyone…. His stories are vivid, enlightening, full of life—and of pain, sorrow, horror, and triumph.”

—STEPHEN E. AMBROSE

From his Foreword

“In a down-to-earth style, Death Traps tells the compelling story of one man’s assignment to the famous 3rd Armored Division that spearheaded the American advance from Normandy into Germany. Cooper served as an ordnance officer with the forward elements and was responsible for coordinating the recovery and repair of damaged American tanks. This was a dangerous job that often required him to travel alone through enemy territory, and the author recalls his service with pride, downplaying his role in the vast effort that kept the American forces well equipped and supplied…. [Readers] will be left with an indelible impression of the importance of the support troops and how dependent combat forces were on them.”

—Library Journal

“[DEATH TRAPS] FILLS A CRITICAL GAP IN WW2 LITERATURE…. IT’S A TRULY UNIQUE AND VALUABLE WORK.”

—G.I. Journal

Справочное издание, посвященное творчеству легендарной британской хэви-группы DEEP PURPLE. В первый том вошли: обзорная статья и тексты песен с переводом за период с 1968 по 1973 гг. Предназначена для широкого круга поклонников современной рок-музыки.

DŽEKS LONDONS-ĪSS DZĪVES APRAKSTS

«Depeche Mode» — одна из самых культовых в мире групп. Книга рассказывает о начале ее создания, о нелегком пути к ошеломляющей славе четырех бэзилдонских подростков, о мировом признании, о любви, таланте и еще о многих очень важных вещах.

Corinne Hofmann, 1960 als Tochter einer französischen Mutter und eines deutschen Vaters im Schweizer Kanton Thurgau geboren, gelang mit ihrem Lebensbericht „Die weiße Massai“ über ihre Zeit in Kenia ein internationaler Bestseller, der bereits in 19 Sprachen übersetzt wurde. 2003 erschien ihr zweites Buch „Zurück aus Afrika“, in dem sie von ihrem Neuanfang in der Schweiz erzählt.

Seit einigen Jahren lebt sie mit ihrer Tochter am Luganer See.

Lorsque Frida annonce son intention d'épouser Diego Rivera, son père a ce commentaire acide : « ce seront les noces d'un éléphant et d'une colombe ». Tout le monde reçoit avec scepticisme la nouvelle du mariage de cette fille turbulente mais de santé fragile avec le « génie » des muralistes mexicains, qui a le double de son âge, le triple de son poids, une réputation d'« ogre » et de séducteur, ce communiste athée qui ose peindre à la gloire des Indiens des fresques où il incite les ouvriers à prendre machettes et fusils pour jeter à bas la trinité démoniaque du Mexique — le prêtre, le bourgeois, l'homme de loi.

Diego et Frida raconte l'histoire d'un couple hors du commun. Histoire de leur rencontre, le passé chargé de Diego et l'expérience de la douleur et de la solitude pour Frida. Leur foi dans la révolution, leur rencontre avec Trotski et Breton, l'aventure américaine et la surprenante fascination exercée par Henry Ford. Leur rôle enfin dans le renouvellement du monde de l'art.

Étrange histoire d'amour, qui se construit et s'exprime par la peinture, tandis que Diego et Frida poursuivent une œuvre à la fois dissemblable et complémentaire. L'art et la révolution sont les seuls points communs de ces deux êtres qui ont exploré toutes les formes de la déraison. Frida est, pour Diego, cette femme douée de magie entrevue chez sa nourrice indienne et, pour Frida, Diego est l'enfant tout-puissant que son ventre n'a pas pu porter. Ils forment donc un couple indestructible, mythique, aussi parfait et contradictoire que la dualité mexicaine originelle, Ometecuhtli et Omecihuatl.

“Death is a funny thing. It brings out the best and worst in people. It casts light on the truth and makes life blindingly clear.”

Her visions have helped solve crimes; her instincts have helped find missing people; she can predict future events and sense your thoughts.

These are some of the extraordinary gifts that define the remarkable Allison DuBois, the real-life medium, wife, and mother whose life is the inspiration for the hit NBC television series Medium.

From the former secretary of defense, a strikingly candid, vivid account of serving Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

When Robert M. Gates received a call from the White House, he thought he’d long left Washington politics behind: After working for six presidents in both the CIA and the National Security Council, he was happily serving as president of Texas A&M University. But when he was asked to help a nation mired in two wars and to aid the troops doing the fighting, he answered what he felt was the call of duty.

Cory Taylor is one of Australia’s celebrated novelists, the author of the brilliant Me and Mr Booker (winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize, Pacific region), and My Beautiful Enemy (shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award).

At the age of sixty, she is dying of melanoma-related brain cancer. Her illness is no longer treatable. As she tells us in her remarkable last book, Dying: A Memoir, she now weighs less than her neighbour’s retriever.

Written in the space of a few weeks, in a tremendous creative surge, this powerful and beautifully written book is a clear-eyed account of what dying has taught Cory: she describes the tangle of her feelings, she reflects on her life, and she remembers the lives and deaths of her parents. She tells us why she would like to be able to choose the circumstances of her own death.

Dying: A Memoir is a breathtaking book about vulnerability and strength, courage and humility, anger and acceptance. It is a deeply affecting meditation on dying, but it is also a funny and wise tribute to life.