It was the 1950s, a time of calm, a time when all things were new and everything seemed possible. A few years before, a noble war had been won, and now life had returned to normal. For one little boy, however, life had become anything but "normal." To all appearances, he and his family lived an almost idyllic life. The father was a respected professor, the mother a witty and elegant lady, someone everyone loved. They were parents to three bright,...

"As a horny little kid, Holly Lorka had no idea why God had put her in the wrong body and made her want to kiss girls. She had questions: Was she a monster? Would she ever be able to grow sideburns? And most importantly, where was her penis? The problem was, it was the 1970s, so there were no answers yet. Here, Lorka tells the story--by turns hilarious and poignant--of her romp through the first fifty years of her life searching for sex, love, acceptance,...

"Psychopaths are manipulative, remorseless. They feel no guilt. What would happen if you thought you might be married to one? Jen Waite loves her husband. Marco is sexy, funny, her best friend--and he makes her feel like the most important person in the world. When they have their first baby, her life feels perfect. But then, just three weeks later, she accidentally reads an e-mail that she was never supposed to see, and it is as if someone has aimed...

A provocative biography of the Roosevelt family draws on family secrets and complex rivalries to argue that the Roosevelts' rise to power was driven by a series of inside competitions that were witnessed firsthand by an increasingly begrudging Eleanor Roosevelt. "Drawing on previously hidden historical documents and interviews with the long-silent 'illegitimate' branch of the family, award-winning author William J. Mann paints an elegant, meticulously...

"The eldest daughter in a large, highly controlled, fundamentalist Christian household who performed as the Willis Clan and presented themselves to the world as extraordinary and happy reveals what happened behind closed doors, in this harrowing story of the manipulation and codependence that defines abusive family relationships--and how she found her voice to break free. "--

A powerful, haunting memoir about one woman's childhood of abuse and her harrowing decision to leave it all behind that redefines our understanding of estrangement and the ability to triumph over adversity. To outsiders, Jessica Berger Gross's childhood--growing up in a "nice" Jewish family in middle class Long Island--seemed as wholesomely American as any other. But behind closed doors, Jessica suffered years of physical and emotional abuse at the...

"Carrie Sheffield grew up fifth of eight children with a violent, mentally ill, street-musician father who believed he was a modern-day Mormon prophet destined to become U.S. president someday. She and her seven siblings were often forced to live as vagabonds, remaining on the move across the country. They frequently subsisted in sheds, tents, and, most notably, motorhomes. They often lived a dysfunctional drifter existence, camping out in their motorhome...