Art Professional

How did a boy from small-town New York become the world’s most successful writer? How does he do it? He has always wanted to write the kind of novel that would be read and reread so many times that the binding breaks and the book literally falls apart. As he says, “I’m still working on that one.”

In the summer of '61, Homer "Sonny" Hickam, a year of college behind him, is dreaming of sandy beaches and rocket ships. But before Sonny can reach the seaside fixer-upper where his mother is spending the summer, a telephone call sends him back to the place he thought he had escaped, the gritty coal-mining town of Coalwood, West Virginia. There, Sonny's father, the mine's superintendent, has been accused of negligence in a man's death.

Playwright, author, and activist Eve Ensler has devoted her life to the female body - how to talk about it, how to protect and value it. Yet she spent much of her life disassociated from her own body - a disconnection brought on by her father’s sexual abuse and her mother’s remoteness. “Because I did not, could not inhabit my body or the Earth,” she writes, “I could not feel or know their pain.” But Ensler is shocked out of her distance.

Leonardo da Vinci has long been celebrated for his consummate genius. He was the painter who gave us the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, and the inventor who anticipated the advent of airplanes, hot air balloons, and other technological marvels. But what was the connection between Leonardo the painter and Leonardo the scientist?

Versace. The very name conjures up images of outrageous glamour and bold sexuality, opulence and daring. All of course true, but only half the story. Versace is also the legacy of a great creative genius from a poor, backward part of southern Italy who transformed the fashion world through his intuitive understanding of both women and how a changing culture influenced the way they wanted to dress. House of Versace shows how Gianni Versace, with his flamboyant sister Donatella at his side, combined his virtuosic talent and extraordinary ambition to help create celebrity culture.

Mention the name "Betsey Johnson" and almost every woman from the age of 15 to 75 can rapturously recall a favorite dress or outfit. They may also know her as a renegade single mom who palled around with Edie Sedgwick, Twiggy, and The Velvet Underground, or even as a celebrity contestant on Dancing with the Stars. Betsey will take the listener behind the tutu and delve deeply into what it took to go from a white picket fence childhood in Connecticut to becoming an internationally known force in a tough, competitive business.

In Lord of Publishing, his memoir of life and work (and tennis), Lord reveals that he is also a consummate storyteller. Witty and wise, he brings to life what was arguably the greatest era of book publishing, and gives a brilliant insider’s scoop on the key figures of the book business - as well as some of the most remarkable books and authors of our time.

Almost everything you know about Mickey Mouse is wrong: He wasn’t Disney’s first star; Steamboat Willie wasn’t his first movie; Mickey wasn’t a nice guy - and Walt Disney didn’t invent him. In 1928, two very different best friends invented Mickey Mouse. And the success tore them apart. Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks’ friendship is a story of betrayal, love, war, money, power, tragedy, intrigue, humor, despair, and hope. You’ll love them both - when you don’t want to drop anvils on their heads.

With $1,500 and no business experience, Mel and Patricia Ziegler turned a wild idea into a company that would become the international retail colossus Banana Republic. Reimagining military surplus as safari and expedition wear, the former journalist and artist created a world that captured the zeitgeist for a generation and spoke to the creativity, adventure, and independence in everyone.

William Randolph Hearst, known to his staff as the "Chief", was a brilliant business strategist and a man of prodigious appetites. By the 1930s, he controlled the largest publishing empire in the United States, including 28 newspapers, the Cosmopolitan Picture Studio, radio stations, and 13 magazines. He quickly learned how to use this media stronghold to achieve unprecedented political power. In The Chief, David Nasaw presents an intimate portrait of the man famously characterized in the classic film Citizen Kane.

Most home studio engineers don't have a process to follow as they mix. As a result, they find themselves feeling unsure of where to begin, how to process individual tracks, make them all work together, and know exactly when their work is finished. Working like this can be frustrating since it often is time consuming and results in weak, lifeless mixes. That's where this book comes in handy.

If you're lucky, somewhere in your past is that one person who changed your life forever. The one who pushed you to dream bigger and to reach higher, and who set you straight on what matters in life. Perhaps it was a coach, or a professor, or a family friend. For Joanne Lipman and Melanie Kupchynsky, that person was a public-school music teacher, Jerry Kupchynsky, known as Mr. K - a Ukrainian-born taskmaster who yelled and stomped and screamed, and who drove his students harder than anyone had ever driven them.

Everyone knows Steve Madden's name and his shoes, but few are familiar with his story. Over the past 30 years, Steve Madden has taken his eponymous shoe company from the fledgling start-up he founded with a mere $1,100 to a global, multibillion-dollar brand. But Madden's mistakes, from his battle with addiction to the financial shortcuts that landed him in prison, are as important to his story as his most iconic shoes. In this raw, intimate, and ultimately inspiring book, Madden holds nothing back as he shares what it took to get here and the lessons he's learned along the way.

The contemporary art market is an international juggernaut, throwing off multimillion-dollar deals as wealthy buyers move from fair to fair, auction to auction, party to glittering party. But none of it would happen without the dealers - the tastemakers who back emerging artists and steer them to success, often to see them picked off by a rival. Dealers operate within a private world of handshake agreements, negotiating for the highest commissions. Michael Shnayerson, a longtime contributing editor to Vanity Fair, writes the first-ever definitive history of their activities.

Most musicians dream of making professional-sounding music. But in order to create great music, they need to understand the steps and tools involved. With proper skill development, creativity, and knowledge, anyone can reach that professional level. This audiobook will show you how, whether you want to build a studio, work in one, start a label, or to make better music. Inside, you will find up-to-date, practical, and well-explained techniques in a professional guide for 2024 and beyond.

Have you ever thought about narrating audiobooks? When Steve retired from acting, he thought that might be an interesting thing to do. Only problem was…he had no idea how to do it. He decided to look into it. With the help of people who knew a lot more about it than he did, he learned how. He has now done 127 audiobooks and has a growing queue of future work. It’s been a fun, diverse, interesting time. In this book, he shares that journey as well as much of the info he’s picked up along the way about how to do it. See what the inside of the audiobook world looks like.

Das unglaubliche Leben des amerikanischen Psychiaters und Schriftstellers Irvin D. Yalom, Autor von "Und Nietzsche Weinte" und "Das Spinoza-Problem", erzählt von ihm selbst! "Und Nietzsche Weinte", "Das Spinoza-Problem", "Die Rote Couch", "Der Panama-Hut", "Der Schopenhauer-Kur". Bestimmt kennen Sie diese Bestseller. Aber was steht hinter diesen Werken? Wie ist Irvin Yalom auf die Ideen zu diesen Büchern gekommen? Und wie ist er überhaupt zu einem Schriftsteller geworden?

This booklet will be your guide to finding the perfect wedding DJ and ensuring your special day is a success. By listening to this booklet, you will have the confidence to make the right choice and know all the dirty little secrets from the wedding DJs that they won't tell you. With this information, you will be able to save time, money, and stress by avoiding any red flags when speaking to DJs.

Barry Avrich - a self-made, Montreal-born film producer-director, flamboyant advertising executive, and legendary biographer and connector of moguls and stars. For over three decades, he has relentlessly produced films on some of the most notorious show-business titans and also found the time to market and promote feature films, concerts, and the biggest shows on Broadway.

Do you want to make better music? How about achieving a professional sound? Or even being able to work in professional studios? Most musicians dream of making professional sounding music. But in order to create great music, they need to understand the steps and tools involved. With proper skill development, creativity, and knowledge, anyone can reach that professional level. This audiobook will show you how, whether you want to build a studio, work in one, start a label, or just make better music.