King Of Hearts

Few of the great stories of medicine are as palpably dramatic as the invention of open-heart surgery, yet, until now, no journalist has ever brought all of the thrilling specifics of this triumph to life. This is the story of the surgeon many call the father of open-heart surgery, Dr. C. Walton Lillehei, who, along with colleagues at University Hospital in Minneapolis and a small band of pioneers elsewhere, accomplished what many experts considered to be an impossible feat: He opened the heart, repaired fatal defects, and made the miraculous routine. Acclaimed author G. Wayne Miller draws on archival research and exclusive interviews with Lillehei and legendary pioneers such as Michael DeBakey and Christiaan Barnard, taking readers into the lives of these doctors and their patients as they progress toward their landmark achievement. In the tradition of works by Richard Rhodes and Tracy Kidder, King of Hearts tells the story of an important and gripping piece of forgotten science history.

Winner of the 2018 PEN Translation Prize. “Krall’s newly translated story of love during the Holocaust is a profound and uplifting masterpiece.” —The Guardian In this canonical work of Polish reportage, Hanna Krall crafts a terse and unexpected human lesson out of a Holocaust novel and love story. A raw interplay of history and fiction spanning the Warsaw Ghetto, Auschwitz, and Zionist Israel, this bestselling novel won the English PEN Award and the Found in Translation Award. One of Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of 2017 “The prose never once seems out of the author’s control, displaying precisely the serious artistry required to elevate and illuminate such harrowing material.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Krall’s unique voice . . . dominates this detached, surreal, curiously playful tale of a woman of indefatigable resourcefulness trapped between history and her heart. A quirky but exceptional story of infinite love and life-sustaining commitment.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Hanna Krall brings Izolda R. to life through dry, factual, rhythmic prose—a litany whose cumulative effect powerfully endears her to readers.” —Slavenka Drakulic, author of Café Europa Revisted “A stirring and powerful document that, while marvelously concise, stands at the crossroads of the horrible history of humanity in the twentieth century.” —Eric Alterman, New York Times-bestselling author of Lying in State “A remarkable find . . . The style is bluntly simple, like the affectless telling of a fable. The reader is held at a distance by a tone that is so studiedly neutral as to be almost jaunty, yet because it is relating the most appalling atrocities it becomes the more affecting.” —The Sunday Times

In 1949 a special Valentine’s Day dance in small-town Nebraska teaches thirteen-year-old Addie about real love Kids in Addie’s seventh-grade class are starting to exchange rings and go steady, but Addie hates all that mush. When she grows up, she plans to be a real artist in New York City and never get married. Addie’s best friend is Carla Mae Carter, whose family lives next door. Addie’s worst friend, for as long as she can remember, has been annoying Tanya Smithers, who plans on becoming a ballet dancer. She’s always twirling around or striking a dramatic pose to remind everyone how talented she is. Addie definitely does not have a crush on Billy Wild, even if he is tall and cute and has dark, curly hair and blue eyes. She’s way too busy with her art for such silliness. Anyway, Tanya likes Billy—and they can have each other as far as Addie is concerned. But after Christmas break, the seventh-grade class gets a new teacher, Mr. Davenport, who has movie-star looks and studied art in college and even takes a special interest in Addie’s paintings. Addie starts to notice a strange feeling in her stomach when she’s around the handsome young teacher. Is this what love feels like? Is this what all the other girls have been giggling about? Addie suddenly starts to care about wearing dresses instead of jeans and getting her hairstyle just right. Will Addie get her moment with Mr. Davenport at the Valentine’s Day dance? Or will her true king of hearts be someone in her class—someone she never expected?

In London's financial district, Oliver King is a rising prince. Ambitious, intelligent and educated, Oliver wants to excel. His goal is to surpass the achievements of his peers and those who came before him. He doesn’t care much for love and romance until Alexis walks into his office. Oliver's new executive assistant lights up a room with her quick wit and charm. He’s never met a woman quite like her and can’t resist the banter they share. However, their forbidden love affair is short-lived and outside forces pry them apart. Years later Alexis and Oliver finally find their way back to each other. But can she forgive him for leaving her behind all those years ago? And is he the same man she used to know?

While drag subcultures have gained mainstream media attention in recent years, the main focus has been on female impersonators. Equally lively, however, is the community of drag kings: cis women, trans men, and non-binary people who perform exaggerated masculine personas onstage under such names as Adonis Black, Papi Chulo, and Oliver Clothesoff. King of Hearts shows how drag king performers are thriving in an unlikely location: Southern Bible Belt states like Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina. Based on observations and interviews with sixty Southern drag kings, this study reveals how they are challenging the region’s gender norms while creating a unique community with its own distinctive Southern flair. Reflecting the region’s racial diversity, it profiles not only white drag kings, but also those who are African American, multiracial, and Hispanic. Queer scholar Baker A. Rogers—who has also performed as drag king Macon Love—takes you on an insider’s tour of Southern drag king culture, exploring its history, the communal bonds that unite it, and the controversies that have divided it. King of Hearts offers a groundbreaking look at a subculture that presents a subversion of gender norms while also providing a vital lifeline for non-gender-conforming Southerners.

King mesmerizes readers with fiction deeply rooted in the sixties, exploring in five interconnected narratives, spanning 1960 to 1999, the haunting legacy of the Vietnam War. "Engaging . . . King's gift of storytelling is rich".--"The Los Angles Times Book Review".

Failing out of college wasn't on my dream board.Neither was getting knocked up.Just the same, here I am, ready to start another year at Rake Forge University, pregnant and currently homeless.And it looks like I'm not the only one who's returned.Juan Hernandez, my sister's best friend, saunters through campus with that granite jaw and those raven strands of hair kissing his brow, his whiskey eyes searing everyone to ash.I've avoided him for months, but the second he sees me, the jig is up.The first thing he does is steal my lips in a ravishing kiss.A punishment.The second thing he does is rescue me from sleeping in my car.A lesson.Living with him will never work, not with how brash his words are, how hot his constant stare, or how he touches me.His fingers brand my skin as if he owns me, and on some level, I know he wants to.What he doesn't know is that I belong to another man?and come my twenty-first birthday, I'll return to him whether I want to or not.

The Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller 'Breathtaking' The Times '[The book that] made headlines around the world.' Independent The former Prince of Wales has lived his whole life in the public eye, yet he remains an enigma. He was born to be king, but he aims much higher. A landmark publication, Charles: The Heart of a King reveals Prince Charles in all his complexity: the passionate views that mean he will never be as remote and impartial as his mother; the compulsion to make a difference and the many and startling ways in which the Prince and now King of the United Kingdom and fifteen other realms has already made his mark. The book offers fresh and fascinating insights into the first marriage that did so much to define him and an assessment of his relationship with the woman he calls, with unintended accuracy, his 'dearest wife': Camilla, now Queen Consort. We see Charles as a father and a friend, a serious figure and a joker. Life at court turns out to be full of hidden dangers and unexpected comedy. Now, updated and revised with a new preface and two new chapters - covering details of Harry and Meghan's exit and its implications, the cash-for-honours scandal, Prince Andrew, and more - this significant study reveals a monarchy threatened and a man in sight of happiness yet still driven by anguish and a remarkable belief system, a charitable entrepreneur, activist, agitator and avatar of the Establishment who just as often tilts against it. Based on multiple interviews with his friends and courtiers, palace insiders and critics, and rare access to Charles himself, before his kingship, this biography explores the Prince's philanthropy and his compulsive interventionism, his faith, his significant impact on politics and the philosophy that means when he seeks harmony he sometimes creates controversy. Gripping, at times astonishing, often laugh-out-loud, this is a royal biography unlike any other. 'A must-read ... this important book is nothing short of a manual to our future King's world-view' GQ 'A sustained piece of higher journalism' Independent