Books with category 馃檵 Biography
Displaying 3 books

The Stranger in the Woods

2017

by Michael Finkel

Many people dream of escaping modern life, but most will never act on it. The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit tells the remarkable true story of Christopher Knight, a man who lived alone in the woods of Maine for 27 years, not out of anger at the world, but simply because he preferred to live on his own.

In 1986, a shy and intelligent twenty-year-old named Christopher Knight left his home in Massachusetts, drove to Maine, and disappeared into the forest. He would not have a conversation with another human being until nearly three decades later, when he was arrested for stealing food. Living in a tent even through brutal winters, he had survived by his wits and courage, developing ingenious ways to store edibles and water, and to avoid freezing to death. He broke into nearby cottages for food, clothing, reading material, and other provisions, taking only what he needed but terrifying a community never able to solve the mysterious burglaries.

Based on extensive interviews with Knight himself, author Michael Finkel provides a vividly detailed account of Knight's secluded life鈥攚hy did he leave? what did he learn?鈥攁s well as the challenges he has faced since returning to the world. It is a gripping story of survival that asks fundamental questions about solitude, community, and what makes a good life, and a deeply moving portrait of a man who was determined to live his own way, and succeeded.

Unbound

2017

by Steph Jagger

A young woman follows winter across five continents on a physical and spiritual journey that tests her body and soul, in this transformative memoir, full of heart and courage, that speaks to the adventurousness in all of us.

Steph Jagger had always been a force of nature. Dissatisfied with the passive, limited roles she saw for women growing up, she emulated the men in her life鈥攃hasing success, climbing the corporate ladder, ticking the boxes, playing by the rules of a masculine ideal. She was accomplished. She was living The Dream. But it wasn't her dream.

Then the universe caught her attention with a sign: Raise Restraining Device. Steph had seen this ski lift sign on countless occasions in the past, but the familiar words suddenly became a personal call to shake off the life she had built in a search for something different, something more.

Steph soon decided to walk away from the success and security she had worked long and hard to obtain. She quit her job, took a second mortgage on her house, sold everything except her ski equipment and her laptop, and bought a bundle of plane tickets. For the next year, she followed winter across North and South America, Asia, Europe, and New Zealand鈥攁nd up and down the mountains of nine countries鈥攐n a mission to ski four million vertical feet in a year.

What hiking was for Cheryl Strayed, skiing became for Steph: a crucible in which to crack open her life and get to the very center of herself. But she would have to break herself down鈥攆irst physically, then emotionally鈥攂efore she could start to rebuild. And it was through this journey that she came to understand how to be a woman, how to love, and how to live authentically.

Electrifying, heartfelt, and full of humor, Unbound is Steph's story鈥攁n odyssey of courage and self-discovery that, like Wild and Eat, Pray, Love, will inspire readers to remove their own restraining devices and pursue the life they are meant to lead.

Un rev贸lver para salir de noche

Un rev贸lver para salir de noche, escrita por Monika Zgustova, es una obra que sigue su exploraci贸n de la figura femenina en el siglo XX. En esta ocasi贸n, la autora se enfoca en V茅ra Nabokov, la esposa de Vladimir Nabokov, quien desempe帽贸 un papel clave en la vida y el 茅xito del renombrado escritor.

V茅ra Nabokov es retratada como una mujer de gran claridad, que eligi贸 dedicar su vida al triunfo de su esposo. Ella fue la primera en leer los manuscritos de Vladimir, encarg谩ndose de transcribirlos y prepararlos para su publicaci贸n. Adem谩s, V茅ra organiz贸 la vida de la familia Nabokov durante su exilio, viviendo primero en Berl铆n, luego en Par铆s y, finalmente, en Estados Unidos. All铆 convenci贸 a Vladimir de cambiar al ingl茅s y centrarse en la novela, hasta que volvieron a Europa y se establecieron en Suiza.

La novela tambi茅n explora las din谩micas de poder en la relaci贸n de los Nabokov, cuestionando si V茅ra era realmente independiente o si su existencia giraba completamente en torno a su marido. La narrativa se sumerge en las complejas interacciones de Nabokov con otras mujeres y el impacto que tuvieron en su vida y obra, a pesar de los esfuerzos de V茅ra por mantener el control.

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