In American on Purpose" Craig Ferguson delivers a moving & achingly funny memoir of living the American dream as he journeys from the mean streets of Glasgow Scotland to the entertainment capital of the world. Along the way he stumbled through several attempts to make his mark
- as a punk rock musician a modern dancer a bouncer a construction worker & a st&-up comedian. To numb the pain of failure Ferguson found comfort in drugs & alcohol addictions that eventually led to an aborted suicide attempt. (He forgot to do it when someone offered him a beer.) But his story has a happy ending: in 1993 the washed up Ferguson washed up in the United States
- which from the age of seven he had always seen as a beacon of goodness & possibility. Finally sober Ferguson landed a breakthrough role on the hit sitcom " The Drew Carey Show" a success that eventually led to his current starring role as the host of CBS " The Late Late Show". By far Fergusons greatest triumph was his decision to become a U.S. citizen a milestone he achieved in early 2008 just before his command performance."

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In American Pastoral Philip Roth gives us a novel of unqualified greatness that is an elegy for all the twentieth centurys promises of prosperity civic order & domestic bliss. Roths protagonist is Seymour Swede Levov
- a legendary high school athlete a devoted family man a hard worker the prosperous inheritor of his fathers Newark glove factory
- comes of age in thriving triumphant post-war America. & then one day in 1968 Swedes beautiful American luck deserts him. For Swedes adored daughter Merry has grown from a loving quick-witted girl into a sullen fanatical teenager
- a teenager capable of an outlandishly savage act of political terrorism. & overnight Swede is wrenched out of the longed-for American pastoral & into the indigenous American berserk. Compulsively readable propelled by sorrow rage & a deep compassion for its characters this is Roths masterpiece.


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He has appeared in over a hundred films. Elvis copied his looks. The Beatles put him on the cover of Sgt. Pepper. Tony Curtis is without question a Hollywood legend & part of its Golden Age. In American Prince" he tells the whole story from his hard-knock childhood growing up in the Bronx to his wild days as a Hollywood playboy his destructive drug addiction & his life now as an artist in his eighties. He talks frankly about the people he has known during his long & illustrious career from the studio owners & directors to his famous friends such as Jack Lemmon Cary Grant & James Dean & the women in his life including Janet Leigh & Natalie Wood. Forthright & enthralling & sparing no detail & no ego " American Prince" is the true record of a life lived to the full." ...

Patrick Bateman is twenty-six & works on Wall Street; he is handsome sophisticated charming & intelligent. He is also a psychopath. Taking us to a head-on collision with America's greatest dream -- & its worst nightmare -- American Psycho is a bleak bitter black comedy about a world we all recognize but do not wish to confront. ' American Psycho is a beautifully controlled careful important novel.. . The novelist's function is to keep a running tag on the progress of the culture; & he's done it brilliantly.. .A seminal book' Fay Weldon Washington Post ' The first novel to come along in years that takes on deep & Dostoyevskian themes.. . Ellis is showing older authors where the hands have come to on the clock' Norman Mailer Vanity Fair ' Serious clever & shatteringly effective.. . For its savagely coherent picture of a society lethally addicted to blandness it should be judged by the highest standards' Sunday Times ...

Even before its publication in 1991 American Psycho captured the attention & imagination of readers. Now an acknowledged modern classic & a multimillion-copy bestseller it continues to be one of the most talked-about books of all time. A film based on the novel starring Christian Bale was released in 2000. Patrick Bateman is twenty-six & works on Wall Street; he is handsome sophisticated charming & intelligent. He is also a psychopath. Taking us to a head-on collision with Americas greatest dream -- & its worst nightmare -- American Psycho is a bleak bitter black comedy about a world we all recognize but do not wish to confront. In 2012 Picador celebrated its 40th anniversary. During that time we have published many prize-winning & bestselling authors including Bret Easton Ellis & Cormac Mc Carthy Alice Sebold & Helen Fielding Graham Swift & Alan Hollinghurst. Years later Picador continue to bring readers the very best contemporary fiction non-fiction & poetry from across the globe. Discover more at picador.com/40 ...

He is the deadliest American sniper ever called the devil" by the enemies he hunted & "the legend" by his Navy SEAL brothers... From 1999 to 2009 U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle recorded the most career sniper kills in United States military history. The Pentagon has officially confirmed more than 150 of Kyles kills (the previous American record was 109) but it has declined to verify the astonishing total number for this book. Iraqi insurgents feared Kyle so much they named him al-Shaitan ("the devil") & placed a bounty on his head. Kyle earned legendary status among his fellow SEALs Marines & U.S. Army soldiers whom he protected with deadly accuracy from rooftops & stealth positions. Gripping & unforgettable Kyle's masterful account of his extraordinary battlefield experiences ranks as one of the great war memoirs of all time.A native Texan who learned to shoot on childhood hunting trips with his father Kyle was a champion saddle-bronc rider prior to joining the Navy. After 9/11 he was thrust onto the front lines of the War on Terror & soon found his calling as a world-class sniper who performed best under fire. He recorded a personal-record 2 100-yard kill shot outside Baghdad; in Fallujah Kyle braved heavy fire to rescue a group of Marines trapped on a street; in Ramadi he stared down insurgents with his pistol in close combat. Kyle talks honestly about the pain of war--of twice being shot & experiencing the tragic deaths of two close friends. American Sniper also honors Kyles fellow warriors who raised hell on & off the battlefield. & in moving first-person accounts throughout Kyles wife Taya speaks openly about the strains of war on their marriage & children as well as on Chris. Adrenaline-charged & deeply personal American Sniper is a thrilling eyewitness account of war that only one man could tell." ...

Former U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle tells the story of his legendary career from 1999-2009 during which time he recorded the most confirmed sniper kills (officially a record 155 though the real number is even much higher) in the history of the United States military any branch from 1776 to present. Nicknamed The Legend by his fellow SEALS Kyle's service in Iraq & Afghanistan earned him seven medals for bravery including two Silver Stars. With the pacing of thriller American Sniper" vividly recounts Chief Kyle's experiences at key battles including the March on Baghdad (beginning of Iraq War) Fallujah Ramadi & Sadr City. He was shot in both the helmet & back; he witnessed the death of his two closest friends. After his combat deployments Kyle became the SEAL's chief sniper instructor & he literally wrote the book on being a sniper: the Naval Special Warfare Sniper Doctrine which is the first Navy SEAL sniper manual. Today he is the CEO of an international security & training corporation. " American Sniper" is the story of the accomplishments of a husband & father who went from a Texas rodeo cowboy to his country's most legendary sniper. It describes the challenges of keeping a marriage & family together & how after four deployments Kyle ultimately chose to return to his wife & two children. This is also the story of the men of SEAL Team 3 who fought & died as brothers with Kyle. " American Sniper" provides a rare first-hand glimpse at the elite world of the SEALs & combat snipers who fought in a war where the " Rules of Engagement" only allowed for precise surgical strikes at the heart of a well-trained & well-organized opposition force which had virtually no " Rules of Engagement"." ...

The first few American volunteers flew Spitfires with the RAF during the Battle of Britain. Many more joined their ranks often posing as Canadians eventually forming three Eagle squadrons who earned a fierce fighting reputation. In 1942 the Eagle Squadrons were transferred to the Eighth Air Force & further fighter squadrons were formed which all flew Spitfires. In just two years of service with the USAAF 22 pilots claimed five or more victories flying the Spitfire whilst a further two dozen aces claimed part of their total flying them a testament to their skill & success at the controls of this legendary warbird. Discover the experiences of a variety of American aces in their own words through first-hand accounts interviews & combat reports in a thrilling read that transports the reader from the Battle of Britain to the deserts of North Africa to Fortress Europe itself. ...

1958. America is about to emerge into a bright new age
- an age that will last until the 1000 days of John F Kennedy's presidency.
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A down-to-earth no-nonsense Texas native with a distinctive Texas twang in his voice Whitacre is that rare CEO with great charisma & extraordinary management instincts. Before being pulled out of retirement to run GM by President Obama Ed Whitacre had spent his entire corporate career in the telecom business where he ultimately ended up running AT&T. AMERICAN TURNAROUND is a business memoir of Whitacre's time running both GM & AT&T complete with his management insights & prescriptive takeaways. Written in a straightforward style by his co-author Leslie Cauley (a Pulitzer prize nominee from the Wall Street Journal) the book is also meant to have a strong undercurrent of American patriotism as Whitacre feels that too much has been emphasized in the media that American workers are no longer capable of manufacturing anything of substance anymore. Whitacre's roll up your sleeves & let's get to work" attitude has won the admiration & respect of executives & employees throughout his days at GM & at AT&T." ...