Tremendous

Wilbur is sure he’s a loser: he spends his life being bullied, his best friend is 85 years old, and his only talent is playing the triangle in the school band. But things start to look up when he gets the chance to be part of the French exchange. Wilbur’s billet Charlie arrives to spend the week with him and his two moms . . . and it turns out that Charlie is a girl. An amazing, sophisticated, French girl who Wilbur instantly falls in love with. Keen to win her heart, Wilbur agrees to a total life makeover before he sees Charlie again on the return trip to Paris. But the course of true amour never did run smooth . . .

New York Times Bestseller Outsider. Misfit. Criminal. Convict. . . . Movie star. Family man. Comedy legend. Joey Diaz has been called every name in the book (and then some). Now, for the first time, he shares the story of his unlikely rise to fame in his own words—with no punches pulled. Today, he stars in hit films, headlines sold-out tours, hosts the popular Uncle Joey’s Joint podcast, and is a devoted father—but his life wasn’t always so picture-perfect. Joey “Coco” Diaz credits his success to his “immigrant mentality,” the work ethic his mother modeled for him and on which countless others have depended to survive the harsh landscape of being an outsider. Diaz wasn’t always a star, but he was always a comedian—it just took him a while to figure it out. To be fair, he was pretty busy while he was young: helping his tough-as-nails mother in her bar, holding a gun for the first time at the age of six, and later dealing drugs and serving time. Tremendous is the story of Diaz’s life, from grueling childhood and misspent youth to finding his true calling in comedy. Immigrants, fans of celebrity tales, and comedy enthusiasts alike will be enthralled by this incredibly true, foul-mouthed, and funny memoir. It’s not a story for the faint of heart, or for prudes who’ve never spent a week sleeping in a piece of playground equipment. From finding his mom’s body to high stakes crime, addiction and depression, there are plenty of dark episodes in this saga. Diaz shares it all with brutal honesty and humor, in the same inimitable voice he’d use talking to you from the stage or in a bar. He also shares the story of his improbable rise to the top and the bumpy road that led him there. An inspiration to misfits everywhere, Tremendous is storytelling at its finest—and a reminder that the direst of circumstances can change in unimaginable, unpredictable ways.

Get the Summary of Joey Coco Diaz's Tremendous in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. "Tremendous" chronicles the tumultuous life of Joey Coco Diaz, from his troubled youth in New Jersey to his rise as a stand-up comedian. Orphaned at sixteen, Diaz's early life was steeped in drug abuse, crime, and violence, influenced by his Cuban immigrant mother's illegal gambling operations and his stepfather's criminal background. Despite these challenges, Diaz found solace in karate, humor, and the lessons learned from the harsh streets of New York. His criminal activities escalated into adulthood, leading to a jewelry heist, drug dealing, and eventually arrest and imprisonment. In prison, Diaz discovered his comedic talent, which became his career focus upon release. His journey through addiction, health scares, and personal losses was marked by resilience and transformation. Diaz's life took a positive turn with sobriety, marriage, fatherhood, and success in comedy, culminating in a sense of tremendous pride and accomplishment.

Tiny Taffy loves to make plants grow. One day she decides to plant her favorite fruit, the Early Girl tomato, in time for show-and-tell. Only to get picked on by some of the girls in her class. She’s surprised to discover that she has grown a magical tomato. Then she has another great idea: she enters the tremendous tomato into the science fair. Sure enough, Tiny Taffy’s Tremendous Tomato wins first prize!

This delightful and informative book takes complex material about trees and pares it down to the basic facts that children can understand and enjoy. Full color.

Once upon a time there was a war . . . and a young American who thought of himself as the Quiet American and the Ugly American, and who wished to be neither, who wanted instead to be the Wise American, or the Good American, but who eventually came to witness himself as the Real American and finally as simply the Fucking American. That's me. This is the story of Skip Sands—spy-in-training, engaged in Psychological Operations against the Vietcong—and the disasters that befall him thanks to his famous uncle, a war hero known in intelligence circles simply as the Colonel. This is also the story of the Houston brothers, Bill and James, young men who drift out of the Arizona desert into a war in which the line between disinformation and delusion has blurred away. In its vision of human folly, and its gritty, sympathetic portraits of men and women desperate for an end to their loneliness, whether in sex or death or by the grace of God, this is a story like nothing in our literature. Tree of Smoke is Denis Johnson's first full-length novel in nine years, and his most gripping, beautiful, and powerful work to date. Tree of Smoke is the 2007 National Book Award Winner for Fiction.