Art Biography

The art world is one of the most secretive of global businesses, and the list of its crimes runs long and deep. Today, with prices in the hundreds of millions for individual artworks, and billionaires' collections among the most conspicuous and liquid of their assets, crime is more rampant than ever in this largely unregulated universe. Increased prices and globalization have introduced new levels of fraud and malfeasance into the art world—everything from "artnapping," in which an artwork is held hostage and only returned for a ransom, to forgery and tax fraud.

Bringing together the author’s written reflections and his paintings, drawings, and photographs, Art Is invites us to see the world in prismatic and diverse lights, helping us navigate the fractured, divisive times we live in.

Let the world's funniest sportsman tickle your funny bone with quirky homespun stories and whimsical perspectives on life. Patrick F. McManus gently pokes fun at the oddities of sacred institutions like friendship, marriage, and even hunting and fishing. Soon his crazy theories start making sense, and you know you've crossed the border into McManus country, where life is a little lighter - and much more amusing.

From the creators of the wildly popular 99% Invisible podcast, comes a guidebook to the unnoticed yet essential elements of our cities. Narrated by Roman Mars, with a bonus Q&A and a Full Episode of 99% Invisible. Have you ever wondered what those bright, squiggly graffiti marks on the sidewalk...

C. S. Lewis had one of the great minds of the 20th century. Many know Lewis as an author of fiction and fantasy literature, including the Chronicles of Narnia and the Space Trilogy. Others know him for his books in apologetics, including Mere Christianity and The Problem of Pain. But few know him for his scholarly work as a professor of medieval and Renaissance literature. What shaped the mind of this great thinker?

New York Times Notable Book “A smart, crackling chronicle of fast game, the ’80s art market, [and] the attraction of destruction.”— Village Voice A bold and vivid biography that chronicles the dazzling rise and tragic death of Neo-expressionist artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. In less than a...

From global art superstar Kent Monkman and his long-time collaborator Gisèle Gordon, a transformational work of true stories and imagined history that will remake readers’ understanding of the land called North America. For decades, the singular and provocative paintings by Cree artist Kent...

The #1 New York Times bestselling author returns with this candid, humorous, and captivating memoir chronicling her journey toward reinvention and self-acceptance. When you've come out the other side of the bizarre, twisted world of the Playboy mansion, where do you land? If you're Holly Madison...

*Read by Alan Cumming himself* NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER In his unique and engaging voice, the acclaimed actor of stage and screen shares the emotional story of his complicated relationship with his father and the deeply buried family secrets that shaped his life and career. A beloved star of...

Louis Vuitton a tout juste 14 ans lorsqu’il quitte son Jura natal. À Paris, il trouve à s’employer auprès du layetier-coffretier-emballeur le plus en vue du faubourg Saint-Honoré. D’une plume alerte, Caroline Bongrand retrace l’ascension de ce jeune audacieux, artisan virtuose et visionnaire. Lorsqu’Eugénie de Montijo devient impératrice des Français, elle garde auprès d’elle son emballeur préféré auquel la lie une amitié aussi vraie que durable.

Legendary magician Penn Jillette was approaching his 60th birthday. Topping 330 pounds and saddled with a systolic blood pressure reading over 200, he knew he was at a dangerous crossroads: If he wanted to see his small children grow up, he needed to change. And then came Crazy Ray. A former NASA scientist and an unconventional, passionate innovator, Ray Cronise saved Jillette's life with his wild "potato diet". Outspoken, frank, and bitingly clever, Presto is an incisive, rollicking listen.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Kim Gordon, founding member of Sonic Youth, fashion icon, and role model for a generation of women, now tells her story—a memoir of life as an artist, of music, marriage, motherhood, independence, and as one of the first women of rock and roll, written with the...

A fascinating, cinematic, multigenerational history of the Cuban mob in the US from ""America’s top chronicler of organized crime""* and New York Times bestselling author of Havana Nocturne. By the mid 1980s, the criminal underworld in the United States had become an ethnic polyglot; one of...

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize “The book is a form of meditation, written with headlong urgency, about seeing. . . . There is an ambition about [Dillard's] book that I like. . . . It is the ambition to feel.” — Eudora Welty, New York Times Book Review Pilgrim at Tinker Creek is the story of...

WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER Includes an audiobook-exclusive conversation with video game journalist Geoff Keighley! Read by the author. LESSONS FROM A BOSS-LEVEL DISRUPTOR AND GAMING LEGEND Reggie Fils-Aimé, retired President and Chief Operating Officer of Nintendo of America Inc., shares...

À trente et un ans, Elizabeth Gilbert possède tout ce dont une femme ambitieuse peut rêver : un mari dévoué, une belle maison, une carrière prometteuse. Elle devrait nager dans le bonheur, pourtant elle est rongée par l'angoisse, le doute, l'insatisfaction... S'ensuivent un divorce, une dépression et une liaison désastreuse qui la laissent exsangue et encore plus désemparée. Elle décide de tout plaquer pour partir seule à travers le monde. À elle de se construire la vie qu'elle s'est choisie !

Drawing on the diaries of one woman in 18th-century Maine, this intimate history illuminates the medical practices, household economies, religious rivalries, and sexual mores of the New England frontier. Between 1785 and 1812, a midwife and healer named Martha Ballard kept a diary that recorded her arduous work (in 27 years she attended 816 births) as well as her domestic life in Hallowell, Maine.

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK NATIONAL BESTSELLER A timely, passionate, provocative, blisteringly smart interrogation of how we make and experience art in the age of cancel culture, and of the link between genius and monstrosity. Can we love the work of controversial classic and...

Part autobiography, part philosophical inquiry, part sacred quest—The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck for the spiritual seeker—a hilarious, profound, and enlightening romp around the fertile mind of stand-out stand-up comedian, host of the hugely successful podcast You Made it Weird, and...

Gordy Racette, renowned Canadian professional boxer, kickboxer, and martial arts champion, delves into the hard-won wisdom of his years of competing to be the best, while overcoming challenges that would leave most people out of the game for good. Born with grit and tenacity, Gordy grew up in a small town with only TV and movie heroes inspiring him to reach peak performance. Leaving home at fifteen, he developed a fierce independence, determined to become champion. However, after a severe accident, the doctors said what he wished to achieve was impossible.