Ronald Reagan's first great victory, in the 1966 California governor's race, confounded his critics. Two years earlier, the conservative movement had been pronounced dead. Now political neophyte Reagan trounced incumbent Edmund G. Pat Brown. The lasting legacy of that discordant time in America remains ... more »

Nationally syndicated talk-radio host and noted film critic Michael Medved has taken an extraordinary journey from liberal activist to outspoken conservative. Along the way he has earned millions of admirers--and more than his share of enemies--by advancing controversial, often counterintuitive arguments ... more »

A.: This is the story of a working-class guy from Ohio with little real knowledge of Ambidextrous Presidents, Things Made from Rubber, and hundreds of other categories, but who nonetheless plunges so far into cramming for Jeopardy! that it changes his relationships, bends his worldview, and literally ... more »

Lost fish, writes Howell Raines, chasten us to the knowledge that we are all, in each and every moment, dwindling. Imagine my surprise when I discovered well into my sixth decade that losing fish can prepare us for a blessing as well as for pain. Confronting loss -- of an elusive fish or something larger ... more »

With Sedaris-esque wit and a wonderfully weird way of looking at things, Burroughs chronicles his life on the edge after he left his deeply eccentric foster family. Dry opens in Manhattan, where Augusten has established a life for himself as a high-paid advertising hotshot. But his past haunts him still ... more »

This witty and accessible book addresses a question that has been raised frequently in recent times: Shall the United States abolish the jury system? Judge Dwyer's answer is a firm no, and his reasons are laid out in a clear, convincing and entertaining argument that would gladden the heart of any jurist ... more »

This charming and revealing look into former president George Bush's guiding principles has been culled from his speeches, interviews, and other writings. Heartbeat shows a man of personal bedrock values -- service, duty, honor, and faith -- and paints a poignant portrait not just of the former president ... more »

Who knew that Bernie Mac's earliest stand-up shows were on subway cars and at funeral parties? Who brought Tom Cruise to Top Gun? Who was Peter Gallagher before Sex, Lies and Videotape and The OC? How did one superagent (formerly the mail guy) nab Marlon Brando as his first star client? In a heyday of ... more »

In this memoir, a man whose sage counsel and discretion brought him to the right hand of mayors, governors, and presidents, shares his personal recollections and impressions of leaders and events that shaped the second half of the twentieth century. Here is the compelling story of the impact that a quiet ... more »

This lyrical memoir, telling of a spontaneous cross-country road trip following migrating birds, is one woman's reflections on midlife, her personal relationships, her kaleidoscopic past, and her uncertain future -- her ultimate acknowledgmnent of becoming part of a more fluid, wild, spare, elegant, ... more »

This is the true story of America's first black dynasty. The years after the Civil War represented an astonishing moment of opportunity for African-Americans. The rush to build a racially democratic society from the ruins of slavery is never more evident than in the personal history of Blanche Kelso ... more »

On the night of February 25, 1969, an inexperienced, 25-year-old lieutenant, Bob Kerrey, led a commando raid on an isolated Vietnamese hamlet called Thanh Phong. While witnesses and official records give varying accounts, one thing is certain: around midnight, Kerrey and his men killed at least 13 unarmed ... more »