The New York Times bestselling biography of an American comedy legend After three years of sobriety, Chris Farley's life was at its creative peak until a string of professional disappointments chased him back to drugs and alcohol. He fought hard against them, but it was a fight he would lose in December 1997. Farley's fans immediately drew parallels between his death and that of his idol, John Belushi. Without looking deeper, however, many failed to see that Farley was much more than just another Hollywood drug overdose. In this officially authorized oral history, Farley's friends and family remember his work and life. Along the way, they tell a remarkable story of boundless energy, determination, and laughter that could only keep the demons at bay for so long.

The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts

Literature & Fiction

Farley Jr., Tom

Colby, Tanner

Dramas & Plays

Penguin??Books

An irreverent, yet powerful exploration of race relations by the New York Times-bestselling author of The Chris Farley ShowFrank, funny, and incisive, Some of My Best Friends Are Black offers a profoundly honest portrait of race in America. In a book that is part reportage, part history, part social commentary, Tanner Colby explores why the civil rights movement ultimately produced such little true integration in schools, neighborhoods, offices, and churches—the very places where social change needed to unfold. Weaving together the personal, intimate stories of everyday people—black and white—Colby reveals the strange, sordid history of what was supposed to be the end of Jim Crow, but turned out to be more of the same with no name. He shows us how far we have come in our journey to leave mistrust and anger behind—and how far all of us have left to go.

Some of My Best Friends Are Black: The Strange Story of Integration in America

History

Americas

Penguin Publishing Group

Remember the Time: Protecting Michael Jackson in his final days

Michael Jackson's former bodyguards reveal the amazing truths of the superstar's final 2 years--his life in hiding with his children, the financial crises that forced him into the ill-fated This Is It tour, and the events that led to his shocking death. On the brink of financial ruin and driven from his beloved sanctuary at Neverland , Michael Jackson spent his final years living like a nomad, moving his 3 children from the Middle East to Ireland to Las Vegas to Virginia and finally back to Los Angeles, living in near-total seclusion in a futile attempt to escape a world that wouldn't leave him alone. Starting with Jackson's secret return to the U.S. in 2006, Bill Whitfield and Javon Beard--a veteran security professional and a brash, untested rookie, both single fathers themselves--served as the singer's personal security team. Stationed at his side nearly 24/7, they were the gatekeepers between Michael and the outside world, making them the only 2 men who know what 60 million fans around the world are still desperate to find out: What really happened to the King of Pop?; How Michael and his children stayed under the radar from day to day; the efforts required to give the 3 kids some semblance of a normal life; the simple joys they found to fill their days; the true extent of Michael's financial crises (Whitfield and Beard were often not paid for months); the open warfare with the Jackson family; and the star's increasing paranoia--the truth is far more compelling than anything previously reported. An indispensable piece of pop-culture history, Remember the Time is the heartfelt story of a tragic and troubled family, the devastating cost of fame, and the lengths to which a father will go to protect and provide for his children. Remember the Time dismantles the tabloid myths once and for all and gives Michael Jackson back his humanity.

Remember the Time: Protecting Michael Jackson in his Final Days

Biographies & Memoirs

Whitfield, Bill

Beard, Javon

Arts & Literature

Random House Canada

An incisive and candid look at how America got lost on the way to Dr. King’s Promised Land
Almost fifty years after Martin Luther King, Jr.’s "I Have a Dream" speech, equality is the law of the land, but actual integration is still hard to find. Mammoth battles over forced busing, unfair housing practices, and affirmative action have hardly helped. The bleak fact is that black people and white people in the United States don’t spend much time together—at work, school, church, or anywhere. Tanner Colby, himself a child of a white-flight Southern suburb, set out to discover why.
Some of My Best Friends Are Black chronicles America’s troubling relationship with race through four interrelated stories: the transformation of a once-racist Birmingham school system; a Kansas City neighborhood’s fight against housing discrimination; the curious racial divide of the Madison Avenue ad world; and a Louisiana Catholic parish’s forty-year effort to build an integrated church. Writing with a reporter’s nose and a stylist’s flair, Colby uncovers the deep emotional fault lines set trembling by race and takes an unflinching look at an America still struggling to reach the mountaintop.

Africa

VIKING

On the day he turned thirty, John starred in America’s number-one movie (Animal House), starred in the number-one late-night show (Saturday Night Live) and had recorded the number-one album (Briefcase Full of Blues). All from a guy who was never supposed to make it out from behind the cash register of his family’s Chicago diner. How did this Albanian immigrant’s son capture a nation’s imagination and come to embody all the glory and tragedy of the American dream? It was one high-price, high-speed, short-lived wild ride. BELUSHI is a whirlwind of a book, filled with never-before-seen photos and provocative, intensely personal testimonials by just about every major comedic figure of the last half century. Here is the remarkable and raucous story of a larger-than-life figure who danced out at the precipice of American fame.

Belushi: A Biography

Belushi, Judith Jacklin

Rugged Land

A compellingly candid memoir that details Jackson's life in seclusion, by the bodyguards who were with him in his final days - with a new introduction to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Michael Jackson's death . Hounded by the tabloid media, driven from his self-made sanctuary, Neverland, Michael Jackson spent his final years moving from city to city, living with his three children in virtual seclusion - a futile attempt to escape a world that wouldn't leave him alone. During that time, two men served as the singer's personal security team: Bill Whitfield, a former cop and veteran of the security profession, and Javon Beard, a brash, untested rookie, both single fathers themselves. Stationed at his side nearly 24/7, their job was to see and hear everything that transpired, and to keep everyone else out, making them the only two men who know what 60 million fans around the world still want to know: What really happened to the King of Pop? Driven by a desire to show the world who Michael Jackson truly was, Whitfield and Beard have produced the only definitive, first-person account of Michael Jackson's last years: the extreme measures necessary to protect Jackson and his family, the financial struggles that led their pay to be suspended for weeks at a time, the simple moments of happiness they managed to share in a time of great stress, the special relationship Jackson shared with his fans, and the tragic events that culminated in the singer's ill-fated comeback, This Is It. The truth is far more captivating than anything you've yet heard. An indispensable piece of pop-culture history, Remember the Time is the story of a man struggling to live a normal life under extraordinary circumstances, of a father fighting to protect and provide for his children. Remember the Time is the book that dismantles the tabloid myths once and for all to give Michael Jackson back his humanity.

Remember the Time: Protecting Michael Jackson in His Final Days

Grand Central Publishing

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