In this riveting biography of Elizabeth Seton critically acclaimed and bestselling author Joan Barthel tells the mesmerizing story of a woman whose life featured wealth and poverty, passion and sorrow, love and loss. Elizabeth was born into a prominent New York City family in 1774. Her father was the chief health officer for the Port of New York and she lived down the block from Alexander Hamilton. She danced at George Washington's sixty-fifth Birthday Ball wearing cream slippers, monogrammed. Catholicism was illegal in New York when she was born; Catholic priests seen in the city were arrested, sometimes hung. When Elizabeth and her wealthy husband Will sailed to Italy in a doomed attempt to cure his tuberculosis, she and her family were quarantined in a damp dungeon. And when Elizabeth later became a Catholic, she was so scorned that people talked of burning down her house. American Saint is the inspiring story of a brave woman who forged the way for the other women who followed and who made a name for herself in a world entirely ruled by men. Elizabeth resisted male clerical control of her religious order, as nuns are doing today, and the publication of her story could not be more timely. Maya Angelou has contributed the foreword.

American Saint: The Life of Elizabeth Seton

Biographies & Memoirs

BARTHEL, Joan

Community & Culture

Thomas Dunne Books

A Death in California

Knott, Blanche

Regional U.S.

St.Martin's Press

"...For devotees of cop tales and mob lore, few situations are as tantalizing as that of the undercover police officer, who struggles to keep from becoming what he is impersonating, ever edgy that his cover will be blown, unable to confide in family or friends. Chris Anastos, of the New York City police, lived that life for nearly five years. He was such a convincing "wiseguy," or mob soldier, that he wound up having Sunday dinner every week at the home of a Long Island capo-and ended up in a love affair with the man's daughter." -- The New York Times

Love or Honor: The Shocking True Story of the Undercover Cop Who Loved a Mafia Princess

True Crime

Avon/Books

Rosemary Clooney made her first public appearance at the age of three, on the stage of the Russell Theater in her tiny hometown of Maysville, Kentucky, singing "When Your Hair Has Turned to Silver," an odd but perhaps prophetic choice for one so young. She has been singing ever since: on local radio; with Tony Pastor's orchestra; in big-box-office Hollywood films; at the Hollywood Bowl, the London Palladium, and Carnegie Hall; on her own television series; and at venues large and small across the country and around the world. The list of Rosemary Clooney's friends and intimates reads like a who's who of show business royalty: Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich, Tony Bennett, Janet Leigh, Humphrey Bogart, and Billie Holiday, to name just a few. She's known enormous professional triumphs and deep personal tragedies. At the age of twenty-five, Rosemary Clooney married the erudite and respected actor José Ferrer, sixteen years her senior and light-years more sophisticated. Trouble started almost immediately when, on her honeymoon, she discovered that he had already been unfaithful. Finally, after having five children while she almost single-handedly supported the entire family and endured Ferrer's numerous, unrepentant infidelities, she filed for divorce. From there her life spiraled downward into depression, addiction to various prescription drugs, and then, in 1968, a breakdown and hospitalization. After years spent fighting her way back to the top, Rosemary Clooney is now married to one of her first and long-lost loves--a true fairy tale with a happy ending. She's been nominated for four Grammys in six years and has had two albums at the top of the Billboard charts. In the words of one of Stephen Sondheim's Follies showgirls, she could well be singing, triumphantly, "I'm still here!"

Girl Singer: An Autobiography

Clooney, Rosemary

Humor & Entertainment

DOUBLEDAY

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Dell

17 year old quirky boy accused of his Mother's murder

A death in Canaan

Dutton

In the sleepy hamlet of Canaan, Connecticut, Barbara Gibbons stood out. She and her eighteen-year-old son, Peter Reilly, lived in a drab one-bedroom house on a desolate stretch of road. An intelligent, lively woman with a wicked sense of humor, Barbara also had dark moods and drank too much. She fought loudly with neighbors and her son, and appeared to have a messy, complicated love life. When Peter came home from the Teen Center one night to discover his mother lying naked on the bedroom floor with her throat slashed, the police made him their prime suspect. After eight hours of interrogation and a polygraph test, Peter confessed. Investigators were convinced they had an open-and-shut case, but the townspeople disagreed. They couldn't believe that the naive teenager was capable of such a gruesome crime, and blamed detectives for taking advantage of the boy's trust. With the help of celebrities including Mike Nichols and William Styron, who contributes an eloquent and persuasive introduction to Joan Barthel's account of the case, the community of Canaan rallied to Peter's defense. A gripping murder mystery and an intimate portrait of the loyalties, resentments, and secrets lurking beneath the placid surface of quiet towns across America, A Death in Canaan is a masterpiece of "first-class journalism"

Death in Canaan

E.P.Dutton

The autobiography of one of America's most celebrated women  offers new revelations about her life, her rags-to-riches rise to  success, and such social issues as race and gender. 750,000 first  printing. Major ad/promo. Lit Guild Main. Tour.

Oprah

Winfrey, Oprah

Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

The autobiography of one of America's most celebrated women offers new revelations about her life, her rags-to-riches rise to success, and such social issues as race and gender. Simultaneous. (Biography)

Oprah (Random House Large Print)

Television

Random House, Large Print

Chronicles the experiences of a New York City cop who went undercover to infiltrate the Mafia and--though married and with a family--fell in love with the capo's daughter

Love or Honor: The True Story of an Undercover Cop Who Fell in Love With a Mafia Boss's Daughter

Politics & Government

William Morrow & Co.

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Books by BARTHEL, Joan