Ronald Brownstein

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

1974-The Year Los Angeles Transformed Movies, Music, Television, and Politics





New York Times Bestseller

Editors' Choice --New York Times Book Review



In this exceptional cultural history, Atlantic Senior Editor Ronald Brownstein--"one of America's best political journalists" (The Economist)--tells the kaleidoscopic story of one monumental year that marked the city of Los Angeles' creative peak, a glittering moment when popular culture was ahead of politics in predicting what America would become. 



Los Angeles in 1974 exerted more influence over popular culture than any other city in America. Los Angeles that year, in fact, dominated popular culture more than it ever had before, or would again. Working in film, recording, and television studios around Sunset Boulevard, living in Brentwood and Beverly Hills or amid the flickering lights of the Hollywood Hills, a cluster of transformative talents produced an explosion in popular culture which reflected the demographic, social, and cultural realities of a changing America. At a time when Richard Nixon won two presidential elections with a message of backlash against the social changes unleashed by the sixties, popular culture was ahead of politics in predicting what America would become. The early 1970s in Los Angeles was the time and the place where conservatives definitively lost the battle to control popular culture.

Rock Me on the Water traces the confluence of movies, music, television, and politics in Los Angeles month by month through that transformative, magical year. Ronald Brownstein reveals how 1974 represented a confrontation between a massive younger generation intent on change, and a political order rooted in the status quo. Today, we are again witnessing a generational cultural divide. Brownstein shows how the voices resistant to change may win the political battle for a time, but they cannot hold back the future.

Rock Me on the Water

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Scott Turow

Heavy Hardcover (2 to 4 lbs)

In this explosive legal thriller from New York Times bestselling author Scott Turow, two formidable men collide: a celebrated criminal defense lawyer at the end of his career and his lifelong friend, a renowned doctor accused of murder. At 85 years old, Alejandro "Sandy" Stern, a brilliant defense lawyer with his health failing but spirit intact, is on the brink of retirement. But when his old friend Dr. Kiril Pafko, a former Nobel Prize winner in Medicine, is faced with charges of insider trading, fraud, and murder, his entire life's work is put in jeopardy, and Stern decides to take on one last trial. In a case that will provide the defining coda to both men's accomplished lives, Stern probes beneath the surface of his friend's dazzling veneer as a distinguished cancer researcher. As the trial progresses, Stern will question everything he thought he knew about his friend. Despite Pafko's many failings, is he innocent of the terrible charges laid against him? How far will Stern go to save his friend, and--no matter the trial's outcome--will he ever know the truth? Stern's duty to defend his client and his belief in the power of the judicial system both face a final, terrible test in the courtroom, where the evidence and reality are sometimes worlds apart. Full of the deep insights into the spaces where the fragility of human nature and the justice system collide, Scott Turow's The Last Trial is a masterful legal thriller that unfolds in page-turning suspense--and questions how we measure a life.

The Last Trial

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Frank McCourt

"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse y

Angela's Ashes

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Stephen King

A Novel

A dark and electrifying novel about addiction, fanaticism, and what might exist on the other side of life.

In a small New England town, over half a century ago, a shadow falls over a small boy playing with his toy soldiers. Jamie Morton looks up to see a striking man, the new minister. Charles Jacobs, along with his beautiful wife, will transform the local church. The men and boys are all a bit in love with Mrs. Jacobs; the women and girls feel the same about Reverend Jacobs-including Jamie's mother and beloved sister, Claire. With Jamie, the Reverend shares a deeper bond based on a secret obsession. When tragedy strikes the Jacobs family, this charismatic preacher curses God, mocks all religious belief, and is banished from the shocked town.

Jamie has demons of his own. Wed to his guitar from the age of thirteen, he plays in bands across the country, living the nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock and roll while fleeing from his family's horrific loss. In his mid-thirties-addicted to heroin, stranded, desperate-Jamie meets Charles Jacobs again, with profound consequences for both men. Their bond becomes a pact beyond even the Devil's devising, and Jamie discovers that revival has many meanings.

This rich and disturbing novel spans five decades on its way to the most terrifying conclusion Stephen King has ever written. It's a masterpiece from King, in the great American tradition of Frank Norris, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe.

Revival

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Michael Connelly

Lincoln Lawyer Mickey Haller is back in the heartstopping new thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly. Defense attorney Mickey Haller is pulled over by police, who find the body of a client in the trunk of his Lincoln. Haller is charged with murder and can't make the exorbitant $5 million bail slapped on him by a vindictive judge. Mickey elects to defend himself and must strategize and build his defense from his jail cell in the Twin Towers Correctional Center in downtown Los Angeles, all the while looking over his shoulder--as an officer of the court he is an instant target. Mickey knows he's been framed. Now, with the help of his trusted team, he has to figure out who has plotted to destroy his life and why. Then he has to go before a judge and jury and prove his innocence. In his highest stakes case yet, Mickey Haller fights for his life and shows why he is "a worthy colleague of Atticus Finch...in the front of the pack in the legal thriller game" (Los Angeles Times).

The Law of Innocence

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Hilary Mantel

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

Wolf Hall

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Laura Hillenbrand

A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The incredible true story of survival and salvation that is the basis for two major motion pictures: 2014’s Unbroken and the upcoming Unbroken: Path to Redemption. On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War. The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown. Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will. In her long-awaited new book, Laura Hillenbrand writes with the same rich and vivid narrative voice she displayed in Seabiscuit. Telling an unforgettable story of a man’s journey into extremity, Unbroken is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit. Praise for Unbroken “Extraordinarily moving . . . a powerfully drawn survival epic.”—The Wall Street Journal “[A] one-in-a-billion story . . . designed to wrench from self-respecting critics all the blurby adjectives we normally try to avoid: It is amazing, unforgettable, gripping, harrowing, chilling, and inspiring.”—New York “Staggering . . . mesmerizing . . . Hillenbrand’s writing is so ferociously cinematic, the events she describes so incredible, you don’t dare take your eyes off the page.”—People “A meticulous, soaring and beautifully written account of an extraordinary life.”—The Washington Post “Ambitious and powerful . . . a startling narrative and an inspirational book.”—The New York Times Book Review “Marvelous . . . Unbroken is wonderful twice over, for the tale it tells and for the way it’s told. . . . It manages maximum velocity with no loss of subtlety.”—Newsweek “Moving and, yes, inspirational . . . [Laura] Hillenbrand’s unforgettable book . . . deserve[s] pride of place alongside the best works of literature that chart the complications and the hard-won triumphs of so-called ordinary Americans and their extraordinary time.”—Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air “Hillenbrand . . . tells [this] story with cool elegance but at a thrilling sprinter’s pace.”—Time “Unbroken is too much book to hope for: a hellride of a story in the grip of the one writer who can handle it.”—Christopher McDougall, author of Born to Run

Unbroken

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Donna Tartt

A Novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)

The Goldfinch

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Edward M. Kennedy

A Memoir

A memoir by the senator and youngest sibling of John F. Kennedy shares his personal perspectives on the tragedies that have shaped his family, his long political career, the major events of today's world, and his recent health battles.

True Compass

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John Heilemann

Mark Halperin

Obama and the Clintons, Mccain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime

From two of the best political reporters in the country comes the gripping inside story of the historic 2008 presidential election.

Game Change

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Leigh Montville

The Life and Times of Babe Ruth

Babe Ruth was baseball’s original superstar, and for more than eighty-five years he has remained the sport’s reigning titan. Now Leigh Montville, whose recent New York Times bestselling biography of Ted Williams garnered glowing reviews, brings his unerring touch to this intimate, revelatory portrait of the Babe. Based on newly discovered documents and interviews—including thousands of pages of Ruth’s personal scrapbooks —THE BIG BAM traces Ruth’s life from his childhood in an orphanage to his brash entrance into professional baseball, from Boston to New York and into the record books as the world’s most explosive slugger. Montville explores every aspect of the man and the myths, giving readers an insider’s perspective on Ruth’s larger-than-life personality and making it clear why his legend looms as large as ever. At a time when baseball is being shaken by controversy and scandal, THE BIG BAM brings back the glory days of baseball and brilliantly illuminates its most legendary—and truly remarkable—hero.

The Big Bam

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Joyce Carol Oates

Heavy Paperback (2 to 4 lbs)

An Oprah Book Club® selection A New York Times Notable Book The Mulvaneys are blessed by all that makes life sweet. But something happens on Valentine’s Day, 1976—an incident that is hushed up in the town and never spoken of in the Mulvaney home—that rends the fabric of their family life...with tragic consequences. Years later, the youngest son attempts to piece together the fragments of the Mulvaneys’ former glory, seeking to uncover and understand the secret violation that brought about the family’s tragic downfall. Profoundly cathartic, this extraordinary novel unfolds as if Oates, in plumbing the darkness of the human spirit, has come upon a source of light at its core. Moving away from the dark tone of her more recent masterpieces, Joyce Carol Oates turns the tale of a family struggling to cope with its fall from grace into a deeply moving and unforgettable account of the vigor of hope and the power of love to prevail over suffering. “It’s the novel closest to my heart....I’m deeply moved that Oprah Winfrey has selected this novel for Oprah’s Book Club, a family novel presented to Oprah’s vast American family.”—Joyce Carol Oates

We Were the Mulvaneys

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Joe Klein

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton

Explores the effects of the Clinton presidency on the American military, economy, and people, and discusses the inner workings of the Clinton White House.

The Natural

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Rudolph W. Giuliani

Ken Kurson

A Collection of Favorite Quotations

The former mayor of New York City describes the management, decision-making, and leadership skills that made him a success as a prosecutor and as mayor of New York City.

Leadership Through the Ages

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David Gergen

The Essence of Leadership: Nixon to Clinton

Fresh from the political wars, where he served as a White House adviser to Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton, a campaign aide to Bush, and a close-up reporter of Carter, David Gergen assesses the key leadership lessons they offer for coming presidents. None possessed sufficient qualities to achieve the greatness historians reserve for Washington, Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt. A great leader must have seven core elements: personal character that inspires trust, a moral vision for the nation's future, the political skills of both a lion and a fox, a capacity to mobilize followers through the modern media, an ability to recover from defeat and face future crises, an ability to attract and listen to wise advisers, and a capacity to bequeath a workable legacy.

Gergen has watched these chief executives deal with decision making, with conflicting advice, with their private lives, the task of defining and conveying their goals, and their success or failure at capturing the public's imagination. Henominates a team of all-stars from the past nine presidencies.

From this smart and savvy book emerge lessons of leadership that stretch far be

Eyewitness to Power

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Thomas L. Friedman

Oliver Wyman

A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century

Offers a concise history of globalization, discussing a wide range of topics, from the September 11 terrorist attacks to the growth of the middle class in both China and India.

The World Is Flat

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Daniel Silva

The target is royal The game is revenge Gabriel Allon returns in the summer's hottest thriller, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Daniel Silva. Stretched topless upon the foredeck, drink in hand, her flawless skin baking in the sun, was the most famous woman in the world. And one deck below, preparing an appetizer of tuna tartare, cucumber, and pineapple, was the man who was going to kill her. . . . She is an iconic member of the British Royal Family, beloved for her beauty and charitable works, resented by her former husband and his mother, the Queen of England. But when a bomb explodes aboard her holiday yacht, British intelligence turns to one man to track down her killer: legendary spy and assassin Gabriel Allon. Gabriel's target is Eamon Quinn, a master bomb maker and mercenary of death who sells his services to the highest bidder. Quinn is an elusive man of the shadows—"a whisper in a half-lit chapel, a loose thread at the hem of a discarded garment"—but fortunately Gabriel does not pursue him alone. At his side is Christopher Keller, a British commando turned professional assassin who knows Quinn's murderous handiwork all too well. The English Spy moves at light speed from the glamorous island of Saint Barthélemy to the mean streets of West Belfast to a cottage atop the cliffs of Cornwall that Gabriel holds dear. And though he does not realize it, he is stalking an old enemy—a cabal of evil that wants nothing more than to see him dead. Gabriel will find it necessary to oblige them, for when a man is out for vengeance, death has its distinct advantages. Filled with breathtaking twists, The English Spy will hold readers spellbound from its riveting opening passages to its heart-stopping conclusion. It is a timely reminder that there are some men in the world who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. And it proves once again why Daniel Silva is regarded as his generation's finest writer of international thrillers.

The English Spy

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The Other Woman

“One of fiction’s greatest spies,” (Kirkus), Gabriel Allon returns for his seventeenth adventure in the new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Daniel Silva. The Black Widow, the last book in the series, was a prescient and timely thriller — called “a sobering, insightful, and multifaceted look at the overwhelming complexities of the seemingly interminable war in the Middle East” (Booklist, starred review). It drew rave reviews from critics and readers. It also introduced a compelling new female spy, destined to make a return in the series. Fans and new readers alike will be drawn in once again by this masterful storyteller at the height of his writerly powers — “Silva is a true genius with his portrait of the Israeli assassin-art restorer facing new, real world complexities” (Politico).

House of Spies

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#1 New York Times bestselling author Daniel Silva delivers another stunning thriller in his latest action-packed tale of high stakes international intrigue featuring the inimitable Gabriel Allon. From its shocking opening in Paris, The Black Widow reveals itself as Silva’s most timely and powerful novel yet. Master novelist Daniel Silva has thrilled, entertained and educated readers with eighteen thoughtful and gripping spy novels featuring a diverse cast of compelling characters and ingenious plots that have taken them around the globe and back—from the United States to Europe, Russia to the Middle East. His brilliant hero, Gabriel Allon—art restorer, assassin, spy—has joined the pantheon of great fictional secret agents, including George Smiley, Jack Ryan, Jason Bourne, and Simon Templar. Following the success of his smash hit The English Spy, The Black Widow showcases Silva’s consummate skill and brilliant imagination, and is sure to be a must read for both his multitudes of fans and growing legions of converts.

The Black Widow

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A fallen spy A missing masterpiece A daring mission The Heist Legendary spy and art restorer Gabriel Allon is in Venice repairing an altarpiece by Veronese when he receives an urgent summons from the Italian police. The eccentric London art dealer Julian Isherwood has stumbled upon a chilling murder scene in Lake Como, and is being held as a suspect. To save his friend, Gabriel must track down the real killers and then perform one simple task: find the most famous missing painting in the world. Sometimes the best way to find a stolen masterpiece is to steal another one. . . . The dead man is a fallen British spy with a secret: he has been trafficking in stolen artworks and selling them to a mysterious collector. Among those paintings is the world's most iconic missing masterpiece: Caravaggio's glorious Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence. Gabriel embarks on a daring gambit to recover the Caravaggio and learn the identity of the collector. His search will take him on an exhilarating hunt—from the shimmering boulevards of Paris and London to the gritty criminal underworlds of Marseilles and Corsica, and finally to a small private bank in Austria where a dangerous man stands guard over the ill-gotten wealth of a brutal dictator. At his side is a brave young woman who survived one of the worst massacres of the twentieth century. Now, with Gabriel's help, she will be given a chance to strike a blow against a dynasty that destroyed her family. Elegant, sophisticated, and entertaining, The Heist is a must-read thriller—a page-turning tale of intrigue that demonstrates once again why Daniel Silva is called a "world-class practitioner of spy fiction" (Washington Post).

The Heist

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When a body is found beneath Michelangelo's dome, Gabriel Allon is summoned to secretly investigate the death that has been ruled a suicide--a case that brings about an unthinkable act of sabotage.

Browse by categories

Ronald Brownstein

Rock Me on the Water

Scott Turow

The Last Trial

Frank McCourt

Angela's Ashes

Stephen King

Revival

Michael Connelly

The Law of Innocence

Hilary Mantel

Wolf Hall

Laura Hillenbrand

Unbroken

Donna Tartt

The Goldfinch

Edward M. Kennedy

True Compass

John Heilemann; Mark Halperin

Game Change

Leigh Montville

The Big Bam

Joyce Carol Oates

We Were the Mulvaneys

Joe Klein

The Natural

Rudolph W. Giuliani; Ken Kurson

Leadership Through the Ages

David Gergen

Eyewitness to Power

Thomas L. Friedman; Oliver Wyman

The World Is Flat

Daniel Silva

The English Spy

Daniel Silva

The Other Woman

Daniel Silva

House of Spies

Daniel Silva

The Black Widow

Daniel Silva

The Heist

Daniel Silva

The Fallen Angel

Daniel Silva

The English Girl

Daniel Silva

The Rembrandt Affair

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