Ben Lewis

The story of the world’s most expensive painting…

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

Florida

The Secret Lives of the World's Most Expensive Painting

An epic quest exposes hidden truths about Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi, the recently discovered masterpiece that sold for $450 million--and might not be the real thing.
 
In 2017, Leonardo da Vinci's small oil painting the Salvator Mundi was sold at auction. In the words of its discoverer, the image of Christ as savior of the world is "the rarest thing on the planet." Its $450 million sale price also makes it the world's most expensive painting.
 
For two centuries, art dealers had searched in vain for the Holy Grail of art history: a portrait of Christ as the Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci. Many similar paintings of greatly varying quality had been executed by Leonardo's assistants in the early sixteenth century. But where was the original by the master himself? In November 2017, Christie's auction house announced they had it. But did they?
 
The Last Leonardo tells a thrilling tale of a spellbinding icon invested with the power to make or break the reputations of scholars, billionaires, kings, and sheikhs. Ben Lewis takes us to Leonardo's studio in Renaissance Italy; to the court of Charles I and the English Civil War; to Amsterdam, Moscow, and New Orleans; to the galleries, salerooms, and restorer's workshop as the painting slowly, painstakingly emerged from obscurity. The vicissitudes of the highly secretive art market are charted across six centuries. It is a twisting tale of geniuses and oligarchs, double-crossings and disappearances, in which we're never quite certain what to believe. Above all, it is an adventure story about the search for lost treasure, and a quest for the truth.

Praise for The Last Leonardo

"The story of the world's most expensive painting is narrated with great gusto and formidably researched detail in Ben Lewis's book. . . . Lewis's probings of the Salvator's backstory raise questions about its historical status and visibility, and these lead in turn to the fundamental question of whether the painting is really an autograph work by Leonardo."--Charles Nicholl, The Guardian

"As the art historian and critic Ben Lewis shows in his forensically detailed and gripping investigation into the history, discovery and sales of the painting, establishing the truth is like nailing down jelly."-- Michael Prodger, The Sunday Times

The Last Leonardo

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Paul Hendrickson

A fascinating look at the years of 1934-1961 of Ernest Hemingway’s life and the one constant, Pilar, his boat.

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

Everything He Loved in Life, and Lost

National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist

A brilliantly conceived and illuminating reconsideration of a key period in the life of Ernest Hemingway that will forever change the way he is perceived and understood.

Focusing on the years 1934 to 1961--from Hemingway's pinnacle as the reigning monarch of American letters until his suicide--Paul Hendrickson traces the writer's exultations and despair around the one constant in his life during this time: his beloved boat, Pilar.

Drawing on previously unpublished material, including interviews with Hemingway's sons, Hendrickson shows that for all the writer's boorishness, depression and alcoholism, and despite his choleric anger, he was capable of remarkable generosity--to struggling writers, to lost souls, to the dying son of a friend. Hemingway's Boat is both stunningly original and deeply gripping, an invaluable contribution to our understanding of this great American writer, published fifty years after his death.

Hemingway's Boat

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Kara Goucher

Mary Pilon

Inspiring and powerful look at professional running as a career.

Inside the Secret World of Abuse, Doping, and Deception on Nike's Elite Running Team

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

In this unvarnished and affecting memoir, Olympian Kara Goucher reveals her experience of living through and speaking out about one of the biggest scandals in running.

Kara Goucher grew up with Olympic dreams. She excelled at running from a young age and was offered a Nike sponsorship deal when she graduated from college. Then in 2004, she was invited to join a secretive, lavishly funded new team, dubbed the Nike Oregon Project. Coached by distance running legend Alberto Salazar, it seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime.

Kara was soon winning a World Championship medal, going to the Olympics, and standing on the podium at the New York and Boston marathons, just like her coach. But behind the scenes, Salazar was hiding dark secrets. He pushed the limits of anti-doping rules, and created what Kara experienced as a culture of abuse, the extent of which she reveals in her book for the first time. Meanwhile, Nike stood by Alberto for years and proved itself capable of shockingly misogynistic corporate practices.

Told with stunning honesty, The Longest Race is an unforgettable story and a call to action. Kara became a crusader for female athletes and a key witness helping to get Salazar banned from coaching at the Olympic level. Kara's memoir reveals how she broke through the fear of losing everything, bucked powerful forces to take control of her life and career, and reclaimed her love of running.

The Longest Race

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Grant Petersen

A Radically Practical Guide to Riding Your Bike

"No matter what or how you ride, read this book and remind yourself just how enjoyable cycling can and should be."--Eben Weiss, author of The Enlightened Cyclist

 

Just Ride is a revelation. Forget the ultralight, uncomfortable bikes, flashy jerseys, clunky shoes that clip onto tiny pedals, the grinding out of endless miles. Instead, ride like you did when you were a kid--just get on your bike and discover the pure joy of riding it.

 

A reformed racer who's commuted by bike every day since 1980, whose writings and opinions appear in major bicycling and outdoor magazines, and whose company, Rivendell Bicycle Works, makes bikes for riders ready to opt out of a culture overrun by racing, Grant Petersen shares a lifetime of unexpected facts, controversial opinions, expert techniques, and his own maverick philosophy.



In 87 short, two-to-three page chapters, it covers:

 * Riding: Count Days, Not Miles; Corner Like Jackie Robinson; Steer with Your Hips, Shift with Your Legs
 * Suiting Up: The Shoes Ruse; Ponchos--the Ultimate Unracer's Garment
 * Safety: #1 Rule--Be Seen; Helmets Aren't All They're Cracked Up to Be
 * Health and Fitness: Why Riding Is Lousy All-Around Exercise; Saddles Don't Cause Impotence; Drink When You're Thirsty--Not Before



Also includes chapters on Accessories, Upkeep, and Technicalities, and a final chapter titled "Velosophy" that includes the essential, memorable thought: Your Bike Is a Toy--Have Fun with It.



Winner Silver Medal 2013 Independent Publisher Book Awards





 

Shanna Pentico

@shanna477014

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Ben Lewis

The Last Leonardo

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Hemingway's Boat

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The Longest Race

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Just Ride

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Ben Lewis

The Last Leonardo

Paul Hendrickson

Hemingway's Boat

Kara Goucher; Mary Pilon

The Longest Race

Grant Petersen

Just Ride

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