Nellie Campobello, a prominent Mexican writer and "novelist of the Revolution," played an important role in Mexico's cultural renaissance in the 1920s... and early 1930s, along with such writers as Rafael Muñoz and Gregorio López y Fuentes and artists Diego Rivera, Orozco, and others. Her two novellas, Cartucho (first published in 1931) and My Mother's Hands (first published as Las manos de Mamá in 1938), are autobiographical evocations of a childhood spent amidst the violence and turmoil of the Revolution in Mexico. Campobello's memories of the Revolution in the north of Mexico, where Pancho Villa was a popular hero and a personal friend of her family, show not only the stark realism of Cartucho but also the tender lyricism of My Mother's Hands. They are noteworthy, too, as a first-person account of the female experience in the early years of the Mexican Revolution and unique in their presentation of events from a child's perspective.

Marginado por villista, por ser de una mujer, por salirse del canon, Cartucho, Relatos de la lucha en el Norte de Mexico es uno de los grandes textos de... la literatura mexicana. Como senala Jorge Aguilar Mora en su prologo a este libro, Catucho esta en todos los vertices criticos de nuestro discurso historico-literario: es quizas el libro mas extraordinario, donde se funden la singularidad autobiografica, el anonimato popular, la relacion historica, la transparencia literaria, la cronica familiar. Como ningun otro escritor de la revolucion, Campobello se aproximo al acontecimiento pasajero, instantaneo, aparentemente in-significante, pero profundamente revelador. Ella no describio las batallas, ni las posiciones politicas; no rescato los testimonios extensos de los guerreros. Ella fue a su memoria para perpetuar los instantes mas olvidables para otros y mas intensos para quienes los vivieron. Ella escribio de lo sucedido en una tarde tranquila, borrada en la historia de la Revolucion ; escribio de los momentos literalmente originales de la historia y de personajes unicos como Pablo Lopez, como Catarino Acosta, como Jose Diaz, como Pancho Villa, un hombre que nacio en 1910 , ya que antes nunca existio . Nellie Campobello escribio la cronica de lo que casi nadie queria, ni ha querido escribir: del periodo entre 1916 y 1920 en el estado de Chihuahua, que los historiadores coinciden en llamar la etapa mas cruel que vivio Chihuahua durante la revolucion y uno de los periodos mas oscuros de toda su historia. El hallazgo iluminador de Campobello fue hundir la historia la macrohistoria en las minucias, en los rincones, en la anonimia, en los sobreentendidos, en los recintos mas diminutos de la voluntad de los hacedores de esa historia. No hay detalle aqui que no tenga un sentido totalizador, no hay instante que no sea la grieta finisima por donde entra la eternidad. Este volumen contiene tambien, una cronologia de la vida de la autora, que recoge los ultimos datos disponibles, y una bibliografia actualizada.

In this colorful, eye-opening memoir, Jayanti Tamm offers an unforgettable glimpse into the hidden world of growing up “cult” in mainstream America.... Through Jayanti’s fascinating story–the first book to chronicle Sri Chinmoy–she unmasks a leader who convinces thousands of disciples to follow him, scores of nations to dedicate monuments to him, and throngs of celebrities (Sting, Pope John Paul II, Nelson Mandela) to extol him.When the short, bald man in flowing robes prophesizes Jayanti to be the “Chosen One,” her life is forever entwined with the charismatic guru Sri Chinmoy, who declares himself a living god. A god who performs sit-ups and push-ups in front of thousands as holy ritual, protects himself with a platoon of bodyguards, and bans books, TV, and sex. Jayanti’s unusual and increasingly bizarre childhood is spent shuttling between the ashram in Queens, New York, and her family’s outpost as “Connecticut missionaries.” On the path to enlightenment decreed by Guru, Jayanti scrubs animal cages in his illegal basement zoo, cheerleads as he weight lifts an elephant in her front yard, and trails him around the world as he pursues celebrities such as Princess Diana and Mother Teresa. But, when her need for enlightenment is derailed by her need for boys, Jayanti risks losing everything that she has ever known, including the person that she was ordained to be. With tenderness, insight, and humor, Jayanti explores the triumphs and trauma of an insider who longs to be an outsider, her hard-won decision to finally break free, and the unique challenges she confronts as she builds a new life.

This classic work is filled with non-technical advice for aspiring singers from two of the greatest voices to ever take the stage: the tenor Caruso and... the coloratura soprano Tetrazzini. The two Italian legends discuss the care and training of the voice, tone emission and attack, voice faults, more.

This collection of poems assembled by award-winning writer Marilyn Nelson provides young readers with a compelling, lyrical account of the life of... revered African-American botanist and inventor George Washington Carver. Born in 1864 and raised by white slave owners, Carver left home in search of an education and eventually earned a master’s degree in agriculture. In 1896, he was invited by Booker T. Washington to head the agricultural department at the all-black-staffed Tuskegee Institute. There he conducted innovative research to find uses for crops such as cowpeas, sweet potatoes, and peanuts, while seeking solutions to the plight of landless black farmers. Through 44 poems, told from the point of view of Carver and the people who knew him, Nelson celebrates his character and accomplishments. She includes prose summaries of events and archival photographs.

Marc Augé was eleven or twelve years old when he first saw Casablanca. Made in 1942 but not released in France until 1947, the film had a profound... effect on him. Like cinephiles everywhere, Augé was instantly drawn to Rick Blaine's mysterious past, his friendship with Sam and Captain Renault, and Ilsa's stirring, seductive beauty. The film-with its recurring scenes of waiting, menace, and flight-occupies a significant place in Augé's own memory of his uprooted childhood and the wartime exploits of his family.Marc Augé's elegant and thoughtful essay on film and the nature of both personal and collective memory contends that some of our most haunting memories are deeply embedded in the cinema. His own recollections of the hurried, often chaotic embarkations of his childhood, he writes, are become intertwined with scenes from Casablanca that have become bigger in his memory through repeated viewings in the movie houses of Paris's Latin Quarter.Seamlessly weaving together film criticism and memoir, Casablanca moves between Augé's insights into the filmgoing experience and his reflections on his own life, the collective trauma of France's wartime history, and how such events as the fall of Paris, the exodus of refugees, and the Occupation-all depicted in the film-were lived and are remembered.

Released in December 1942, Casablanca is the classic of all classic films, the enduring triumph of Hollywood's golden age. This volume contains the... complete screenplay as well as a behind-the-scenes look at how the Oscar-winning movie was made, by one of its writers, Howard Koch. Charles Champlin, Roger Ebert, Umberto Eco, and others contribute incisive analyses of the movie's timeless appeal, and twenty-five beautifully reproduced stills capture the dramatically charged scenes of this true American classic.