American Diaries

Ray Bradbury was one of the best-known writers and creative dreamers of our time. The many honors he received, which included an Emmy and Academy Award nomination for adaptations of his work, culminated in the 2000 National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, a 2004 National Medal of Arts, and a 2007 Pulitzer Prize Special Citation. For many years NASA and the Disney Studio felt the impact of Ray Bradbury’s creativity, and his fiction has found its way into hundreds of anthologies, textbooks, and the National Endowment for the Arts’ Big Read program.

All for the Union is the astonishing and eloquent diary of Elisha Hunt Rhodes, the Union soldier featured in Ken Burns' highly acclaimed PBS television documentary The Civil War. Enlisting as a private in the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry, Rhodes fought in every major campaign waged by the Army of the Potomac, from Bull Run to Appomattox. Here, in his own powerfully moving words, Rhodes reveals why he was willing to die to preserve his beloved Union.

Howard Hughes was a true American original: legendary lover, record-setting aviator, award-winning film producer, talented inventor, ultimate eccentric, and, for much of his lifetime, the richest man in the United States. His desire for privacy was so fierce and his isolation so complete that even now, 25 years after his death, inaccurate stories continue to circulate, and many have been published as fact. Hughes explodes the illusion of his life and exposes the man behind the myth. He was a playboy whose sexual exploits with Hollywood stars were legendary.

Nelson Algren’s two travel writing books describe his journeys through the seamier sides of great American cities and the international social and political landscapes of the mid-1960s. Algren at Sea brings them together in one volume. Notes from a Sea Diary offers one of the most remarkable appraisals of Ernest Hemingway ever written. Who Lost an American? is a whirlwind spin through Paris and Playboy clubs, New York publishing and Dublin pubs, Crete, and Chicago.

In May 1987, Jackie Benton received a heartbreaking phone call from her boyfriend, Sean Hardy, bringing an end to their five-year relationship. He’d fallen for a fellow student at Exeter University. Sean and Jackie would never see each other again. Thirty-three years later, Sean returns to his home town. There, he inadvertently discovers what became of Jackie Benton.

Mita "Sweet Lips" Cruz never had much chance to enjoy her youth because of her drug-addicted mother’s attraction to lowlife men. After she survives a vicious assault at the hands of her stepfather on her 14th birthday, Mita desperately searches for the meaning of unconditional love in the streets of North Philadelphia. When she discovers that she is carrying the child of her rapist, it’s too much for her damaged soul to bear. With an ugly future ahead of her, Mita puts the newborn up for adoption, vowing to seek revenge for the violations against her.

From its beginnings, America has acted out much of its history on the battlefront. Yet for the average American, little is known of the Spanish-American War. The reasons for our entry never seemed compelling - at times, yellow fever seemed more the enemy than did Spanish troops - and the United States was ill prepared for the venture. Nevertheless, this conflict served to unify a country that only 30 years before had been hopelessly divided by civil strife.

In 1968, Cynthia, an American mother, and Suresh, an Indian father, accompanied by their two-year-old son, Ajay, travel to India to present themselves to Suresh’s relatives for the first time. Cynthia faithfully captures in her personal diary all that she experiences and her honest reactions to it.

Our presidents loom so large in history that we often forget they are human. Are You Prepared for the Storm of Love Making? is a collection of handwritten love letters that offers a surprising and intimate portrait of the men who occupied the White House. From George Washington to Barack Obama, these are not the presidents we see in history books.

Michelle knows being the first lady of Mount Zion Baptist Church is an important and much-coveted position, so she always gives thanks for a dutiful husband and a prosperous life. But she also prays for Darvin to spend more time with her, talking about something other than Mount Zion's affairs. Michelle's faith is further put to the test when the seductive vixen Daphne Carlton arrives on the steps of their church, determined to make Michelle's life a living hell so she can get rid of Michelle and assume her role as the first lady.

Something’s always been off with Eva Moss, but in the African-American community, everything is prayed away, including "crazy." What happens when the answer to prayer is therapy and medication? According to Eva’s mother, that’s taboo. All it takes is a little more Jesus, and Eva will be normal. Normal never lasts long. After Eva’s brother, Michael, is killed in a car accident, she is finally admitted to the psych ward for help.

After her mother's tragic death, Shayla is left to navigate her teenage years with little help from her neglectful, playboy father. Used and abused by the adults around her, Shayla makes some risky choices, taking a job as a waitress in one of Harlem's top strip clubs before she's even of legal age. She makes ends meet by running scams on unsuspecting patrons, but her luck soon runs out when she is raped and left for dead one night after work.

Robert E. Lee is remembered by history as a tragic figure, stoic and brave but distant and enigmatic. Using dozens of previously unpublished letters as departure points, Pryor produces a stunning personal account of Lee's military ability, his beliefs, and his time, shedding new light on every aspect of the complex and contradictory general's life story.

Listen to Confederate Girl's Diary with a movie-style soundtrack and amplify your audiobook experience. Sarah Morgan Dawson was a young woman of 20 living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, when she began this diary. The American Civil War was raging. Though at first the conflict seemed far away, it would eventually be brought home to her in very personal terms.

Every day, President Obama reads ten representative letters among the thousands he receives from citizens across the land. The letters come from people of all ages, walks of life, and political points of view. Some are heart­breaking, some angry, some hopeful. Indeed, Obama reads as many letters addressed “Dear Jackass” as “Dear Mr. President.” Eli Saslow, a young and rising star at the Washington Post, became fascinated by the power of these letters and set out to find the stories behind them. Ten Letters is an inspiring and important book about ordi­nary people....

I think my best friend just proposed to me . . . am I tripping? How could he remember, he can't be serious. A pact that we made when we were only teenagers couldn't still ring true . . . could it? I promised my best friend that we would get married if we were both thirty-five and still single. At the time, I was a teenager and believed that I would be married long before that age. But I was wrong. So very wrong. I'll be thirty-five on my next birthday and still single.

This was the American Civil War for many who lived it, overwhelming and ultimately tragic, viewed through the eyes of a courageous youth and an unforgettable young woman.

A stunning collection of fiction, diary entries, screenplays, and scripts by the brilliant African American artist and filmmaker.

Arnold Appleforth claims getting old is all about attitude. And if that's the case, he needs all the attitude he can get, because his journalistic career is on life support, his sex life nonexistent (except for a recent regrettable incident at a well-known chain restaurant), his financial position precarious and his alcohol consumption prodigious. Add to that his abysmal parenting of his three (or is it four?) children and the biohazard status of his flat, and life isn't a bed of roses.

John L. Ransom was taken prisoner in 1863 when his regiment was split into two smaller forces in East Tennessee. He was placed into Andersonville Prison, formerly known as Camp Sumter. Ransom wrote a journal, published in 1881, on his experiences in the camp. Andersonville was the worst of Confederate prison camps, where hundreds of prisoners died daily. Ransom’s diary is important as it provides information on the notorious Andersonville prison camp that may not have been known otherwise.