In this remarkable memoir, Athol Fugard, author of The Road to Mecca, A Lesson From Aloes, Master Harold...and the boys, Valley Song and numerous other works for the stage, paints a moving study of his early years in South Africa. Cousins focuses on Fugard's relationship with his two cousins and their impact, which led the author to a lifelong pursuit of a writing career.
Rudolf Nureyev had it all: beauty, genius, charm, passion, and sex appeal. No other dancer of our time has generated the same excitement, for both men and women, on or off the stage. With Nureyev: The Life, Julie Kavanagh shows how his intense drive and passion for dance propelled him from a poor, Tatar-peasant background to the most sophisticated circles of London, Paris, and New York. His dramatic defection to the West in l961 created a Cold War crisis and made him an instant celebrity, but this was just the beginning. Nureyev spent the rest of his life breaking barriers: reinventing male technique, “crashing the gates” of modern dance, iconoclastically updating the most hallowed classics, and making dance history by partnering England’ s prima ballerina assoluta, Margot Fonteyn--a woman twice his age. He danced for almost all the major choreographers--Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Kenneth MacMillan, Jerome Robbins, Maurice Béjart, Roland Petit--his main motive, he claimed, for having left the Kirov. But Nureyev also made it his mission to stage Russia’s full-length masterpieces in the West. His highly personal productions of Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Raymonda, Romeo and Juliet, and La Bayadère are the mainstays of the Paris Opéra Ballet repertory to this day. An inspirational director and teacher, Nureyev was a Diaghilev-like mentor to young protégés across the globe--from Karen Kain and Monica Mason (now directors themselves), to Sylvie Guillem, Elisabeth Platel, Laurent Hilaire and Kenneth Greve. Sex, as much as dance, was a driving force for Nureyev. From his first secret liaison in Russia to his tempestuous relationship with the great Danish dancer Erik Bruhn, we see not only Nureyev’s notorious homosexual history unfold, but also learn of his profound effect on women--whether a Sixties wild child or Jackie Kennedy and Lee Radziwill or the aging Marlene Dietrich. Among the first victims of AIDS, Nureyev was diagnosed HIV positive in 1984 but defied the disease for nearly a decade, dancing, directing the Paris Opéra Ballet, choreographing, and even beginning a new career as a conductor. Still making plans for the future, Nureyev finally succumbed and died in January l993. Drawing on previously undisclosed letters, diaries, home-movie footage, interviews with Nureyev’s inner circle, and her own dance background, Julie Kavanagh gives the most intimate, revealing, and dramatic picture we have ever had of this dazzling, complex figure. NOTE: This edition does not include photos.
James had it all--money, the girl, the life. Everything was perfect until he met a man called Peter, who brought him into a world fi lled with lies and deceit, a mercurial world where nothing is ever as it seems. Set in the city of Sydney and its surrounding suburbs, this story, spanning centuries, will take you on a journey where an individual's sense of what is real and what is not, are tricked as often as a heartbeat. This is the story about the lives of those from the House of Montgomery and the House of Capella, about how the previous war between the two has affected them, and how it has led to the current war between the two mighty giants.
Hundreds of people were waiting as the train drew in from Bombay. Waving garlands, banners and lamps they roared as a smiling, orange-robed figure stepped down. The crowds came from the poorest section of Indian society, but the monk they were greeting hailed from Tooting, London. Terry Pilchick (Nagabodhi) was a witness to this crazy reversal of the guru syndrome and other extraordinary results of a revolution begun by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar thirty years earlier. It was then that Dr Ambedkar-champion of India's 60 million Untouchables'-had led a peaceful revolt. Leaving behind the oppression of the caste system, he and his followers had converted to Buddhism. Jai Bhim is a colorful, humorous yet moving meeting with these new Buddhists and the unique revolution they are building in the city slums and remote villages of modern India. A travel book which can extend the moral as well as the imaginative ... horizons of the reader.-Faith and Freedom
"Great description shakes us. It fills our lungs with the life of its author." Painted Paragraphs, the second in a series of inspirational guides for writers and readers, is author Donald Newlove's witty, insightful, and very personal selection of the best descriptive passages in literature. Beginning with Ernest Hemingway's dinner of oysters and wine in A Moveable Feast, Newlove moves on to give us the contents of Mildred's cupboard in Terry McMillan's Mama, Robert Stone's description of a rat-infested tug dump in Outerbridge Reach, Richard Selzer's brilliant anatomy lesson in his memoir Down from Troy, and John Edgar Wideman's mood painting of a tree by his mother's house in the black section of Pittsburgh in "All Stories Are True." Also included are selections from Tolstoy, Proust, Shakespeare, Anais Nin, lots and lots of gorgeous Whitman, and dozens more. This idiosyncratic collection not only celebrates great authors, it explains how they use strokes of moral force and courage to paint the landscapes of their work.
This carefully crafted ebook: "The Rougon-Macquart Cycle: Complete Collection - ALL 20 Novels In One Volume" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. Les Rougon-Macquart is the collective title given to a cycle of twenty novels by French writer Émile Zola. Subtitled "Natural and social history of a family under the Second Empire", it follows the life of one family during the Second French Empire (1852–1870). In this tremendous work Zola first and foremost examines the impact of social environment on men and women, by varying the social, economic, political and professional milieu in which each novel takes place. It provides us with a close look at everyday life, gives us a deep insight into important social changes and it shows us the true people's history of the Second Empire. Table of Contents: The Fortune of the Rougons (La Fortune des Rougon) The Kill (La Curée) The Belly of Paris (Le Ventre de Paris) The Conquest of Plassans (La Conquête de Plassans) The Sin of Father Mouret (La Faute de l'Abbé Mouret) His Excellency Eugène Rougon (Son Excellence Eugène Rougon) The Drinking Den (L'Assommoir) One Page of Love (Une Page d'amour) Nana Piping Hot (Pot-Bouille) The Ladies' Paradise (Au Bonheur des Dames) The Joy of Life (La Joie de vivre) Germinal The Masterpiece (L'Œuvre) The Earth (La Terre) The Dream (Le Rêve) The Beast in Man (La Bête humaine) Money (L'Argent) The Downfall (La Débâcle) Doctor Pascal (Le Docteur Pascal) Émile Zola (1840-1902), French novelist, critic, and political activist who was the most prominent French novelist of the late 19th century. He was noted for his theories of naturalism, which underlie his monumental 20-novel series Les Rougon-Macquart, and for his intervention in the Dreyfus Affair through his famous open letter, "J'accuse."
Émile Zola's 'The Complete Works of Emile Zola' offers readers a comprehensive collection of the masterpieces of this prominent 19th-century French novelist and critic. Zola's literary style is characterized by his realistic depictions of social issues and naturalist narratives, making his works a cornerstone of French literature. The collection includes famous novels such as 'Nana,' 'Germinal,' and 'Thérèse Raquin,' showcasing Zola's keen observations of human nature and societal constructs. The vivid descriptions and compelling characters immerse readers in the gritty realities of life in 19th-century France, providing valuable insights into the human condition. Zola's works are a reflection of his commitment to portraying the complexities of society with passion and precision, making this collection a must-read for fans of classic literature and social commentary. As a leading figure in the naturalist movement, Zola's works continue to influence modern literature and remain essential reading for those interested in the intersection of art and society.
