The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto

The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto
Author: Mitch Albom
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 427
Release: 2015-11-10
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0062294423
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From the beloved author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven comes his most critically acclaimed novel yet—a stunningly original tale of love: love between a man and a woman, between an artist and his mentor, and between a musician and his God-given talent. Narrated by the voice of Music itself, the story follows Frankie Presto, a war orphan born in a burning church, through his extraordinary journey around the world. Raised by a blind guitar teacher in Spain and gifted with a talent to change people’s lives—using six mysterious blue strings—Frankie navigates the musical landscape of the twentieth century, from the 1950s jazz scene to the Grand Ole Opry to Elvis mania and Woodstock, all the while searching for his childhood love. As he becomes a famous star, he loses his way, until tragedy steals his ability to play the guitar that had so defined him. Overwhelmed by his loss, Frankie disappears for decades, reemerging late in life for one spectacular yet mystifying farewell. Part love story, part magical mystery, The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto is Mitch Albom at his finest, a Forrest Gump-like epic about one man’s journey to discover what truly matters and the power of talent to change our lives.

Frankie Sionil José

Frankie Sionil José
Author: Edwin Thumboo
Publisher: Cavendish Square Publishing
Total Pages: 302
Release: 2005
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN:
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Frankie Sionil José of the Philippines is among Asia's leading fictionist. In a career spanning more than half a century that included editing Solidarity, which promotes writing in and about Southeast Asia, he has produced a remarkable body of fiction. Apart from winning various prizes, he was a Ramon Magsaysay awardee (1980) and a National Artist for Literature (2001). This tribute, in commemoration of José's 80th birthday, brings together reminiscences, poems, a substantial number of essays, all published for the first time. The comprehensive bibliography is indispensable to all who wish to study his work. By leading scholars of Filipino literature, the essays examine such themes as nation, history and society in José's works, and his use of English, of myth, through an examination of single or groups of texts of which the quintet that form the Rosales Saga is the most notable. They provide a challenging explication and assessment that, together with the other contributions, make the volume an authoritative, stimulating introduction to José, and to Filipino and Asian literature in English(es). It should be in all major libraries.

Gitty and Kvetch

Gitty and Kvetch
Author: Caroline Kusin Pritchard
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 48
Release: 2021-09-14
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1534478272
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In this hilariously sweet story about an opposites-attract friendship, chock-full of Yiddish humor, a girl and her best bird friend’s perfect day turns into a perfect opportunity to see things differently. Gitty and her feathered-friend Kvetch couldn’t be more different: Gitty always sees the bright side of life, while her curmudgeonly friend Kvetch is always complaining and, well, kvetching about the trouble they get into. One perfect day, Gitty ropes Kvetch into shlepping off on a new adventure to their perfect purple treehouse. Even when Kvetch sees signs of impending doom everywhere, Gitty finds silver linings and holds onto her super special surprise reason for completing their mission. But when her perfect plan goes awry, oy vey, suddenly it’s Gitty who’s down in the dumps. Can Kvetch come out of his funk to lift Gitty’s spirits back up?

Branch Rickey

Branch Rickey
Author:
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 730
Release: 2009-01-01
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 9780803224537
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He was not much of a player and not much more of a manager, but by the time Branch Rickey (1881?1965) finished with baseball, he had revolutionized the sport?not just once but three times. In this definitive biography of Rickey?the man sportswriters dubbed ?The Brain,? ?The Mahatma,? and, on occasion, ?El Cheapo??Lee Lowenfish tells the full, colorful story of a life that forever changed the face of America?s game. From 1917 to 1942, Rickey was the mastermind behind the Saint Louis Cardinals who enabled small-market clubs to compete with the rich and powerful by creating the farm system . Under his direction in the 1940s, the Brooklyn Dodgers became the first true ?America?s team.? By signing Jackie Robinson and other black players, he single-handedly thrust baseball into the forefront of the civil rights movement. Lowenfish evokes the peculiarly American complex of God, family, and baseball that informed Rickey?s actions and his accomplishments. His book offers an intriguing, richly detailed portrait of a man whose life is itself a crucial chapter in the history of American business, sport, and society.

A Man Called Destruction

A Man Called Destruction
Author: Holly George-Warren
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2014-03-20
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0698151429
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The first biography of the artist who “essentially invented indie and alternative rock” (Spin) A brilliant and influential songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist, the charismatic Alex Chilton was more than a rock star—he was a true cult icon. Awardwinning music writer Holly George-Warren’s A Man Called Destruction is the first biography of this enigmatic artist, who died in 2010. Covering Chilton’s life from his early work with the charttopping Box Tops and the seminal power-pop band Big Star to his experiments with punk and roots music and his sprawling solo career, A Man Called Destruction is the story of a musical icon and a richly detailed chronicle of pop music’s evolution, from the mid-1960s through today’s indie rock.

The Trap

The Trap
Author: John Smelcer
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
Total Pages: 112
Release: 2014-05-27
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1466872160
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A gripping wilderness adventure and survival story It was getting colder. Johnny pulled the fur-lined hood of his parka over his head and walked towards his own cabin with the sound of snow crunching beneath his boots. "He should be back tomorrow," he thought, as a star raced across the sky just below the North Star. "He should be back tomorrow for sure." Seventeen-year-old Johnny Least-Weasel knows that his grandfather Albert is a stubborn old man and won't stop checking his own traplines even though other men his age stopped doing so years ago. But Albert Least-Weasel has been running traplines in the Alaskan wilderness alone for the past sixty years. Nothing has ever gone wrong on the trail he knows so well. When Albert doesn't come back from checking his traps, with the temperature steadily plummeting, Johnny must decide quickly whether to trust his grandfather or his own instincts. Written in alternating chapters that relate the parallel stories of Johnny and his grandfather, John Smelcer's The Trap poignantly addresses the hardships of life in the far north, suggesting that the most dangerous traps need not be made of steel.

Speculum Mortis

Speculum Mortis
Author: Daniela Rywiková
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 263
Release: 2020-06-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 1498586562
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This study analyzes late medieval paintings of personified death in Bohemia, arguing that Bohemian iconography was distinct from the body of macabre painting found in other Central European regions during the same period. The author focuses on a variety of images from late medieval Bohemia, examining how they express the imagination, devotion, and anxieties surrounding death in the Middle Ages.