“Poignant . . . deeply personal . . . an indelible history of the largely forgotten Jews of Egypt . . . ” -Miami Herald In vivid and graceful prose, Lucette Lagnado re-creates the majesty and cosmopolitan glamour of Cairo in the years before Gamal Abdel Nasser's rise to power. With Nasser's nationalization of Egyptian industry, her father, Leon, a boulevardier who conducted business in his white sharkskin suit, loses everything, and...

"The remarkable and inspiring story of a Columbia undergrad from a poor Jewish family who, after losing his eyesight to disease during his junior year, finds the power to break through the darkness and fulfill his vision for a life of great professional success and distinguished public service. It’s a bitterly cold February in 1961, and Sandy Greenberg lies in a hospital bed in Detroit, newly blind. A junior at Columbia University from a Jewish...

A winter storm warning blanketed the local news stations before the blizzard itself. This blustery Saturday was going to be sweatpants, banana bread, and a Golden Girls binge for Renata Todd. But at her farmhouse door, already flocked with fresh snow, comes an unexpected knock: Albin Lawrence, an old man who grew up in the house in the 40s and 50s. Renata's caution yields to common sense as she welcomes him in for a tour. What danger could a shaky...

Former prime minister John Major takes a remarkable journey into his own unconventional family past to tell the richly colourful story of the British music hall Music hall was one of the glories of Victorian England. Sentimental, vulgar, class-conscious, but always patriotic and on the side of the underdog, it held a mirror to the audiences' hopes and fears, and sometimes the general absurdity of life. Vast, smoke-filled auditoriums were packed night...

We aspire to live in a country where old men are celebrated as vital elders but not demeaned if they become ill and dependent. We aspire to maintain health as well as maintain dignity and fulfillment in frailty. Old Man Country helps listeners see and imagine these possibilities for themselves. The book follows the journey of a writer in search of wisdom, as he encounters twelve distinguished American men over eighty-including Paul Volcker, the former...

The Old Man and the Tee presents one man's hilarious and heartwarming quest to drop 10 strokes from his golf game in a year, using the top teachers, pros, and equipment money can buy. As a kid caddying for his father on the sunburned links of West Texas, Turk Pipkin had dreamed of great achievements in golf. Unfortunately, life got in the way. A lack of talent didn't help much either. It was not until his father passed away that Turk realized he'd...

It's a bitterly cold February in 1961, and Sandy Greenberg lies in a hospital bed in Detroit, newly blind. A junior at Columbia University from a Jewish family that struggled to stay above the poverty line, Sandy had just started to see the world open up to him. Now, instead of his plans for a bright future-Harvard Law and politics-Sandy faces a new reality, one defined by a cane or companion dog, menial work, and a cautious path through life. But...

Compiles the best literary essays of the year 2013 which were originally published in American periodicals.