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| ordeal autobiography: Ordeal Linda Lovelace, 2005-12-27 The infamous biography of the legendary Deep Throat star, in which she reveals a systematic programme of abuse and degradation on the part of Chuck Traynor, her partner and director. Its original publication in 1980 marked the public culmination of a startling volte-face that had the woman credited with making porn acceptable denounce the industry and its practices wholeheartedly, claiming that she had been forced at gunpoint to perform scenes and that she had felt no pleasure in what she was doing. Remains the world's best-known book on porn. |
| ordeal autobiography: ORDEAL OF GILBERT PINFOLD Evelyn Waugh, 2023-06-01 A successful, middle-aged novelist with a case of 'bad nerves,' Gilbert Pinfold embarks on a recuperative trip to Ceylon. Almost as soon as the gangplank lifts, Pinfold hears sounds coming out of the ceiling of his cabin: wild jazz bands, barking dogs, loud revival meetings. He can only infer that somewhere concealed in his room an erratic public-address system is letting him hear everything that goes on aboard ship. And then, instead of just sounds, he hears voices. But they are not just any voices. These voices are talking, in the most frightening intimate way, about him! |
| ordeal autobiography: Staying True Jenny Sanford, 2010-02-05 BONUS: This edition contains a Staying True discussion guide. In this candid and compelling memoir, the first lady of South Carolina reveals the private ordeal behind her very public betrayal—and offers inspiration for anyone struggling to keep faith during life’s most trying times. She’s been a successful investment banker, a mother of four, and the campaign manager for one of American politics’ rising stars—her husband, Mark Sanford of South Carolina, once widely hailed as a possible candidate for president in 2012. Yet to most Americans, Jenny Sanford is best known for the one role she refused to play—that of conventional political spouse standing silently by while her husband went before the media and confessed his infidelity. Instead, she stayed true—to herself, to her faith, and to her highest ideals of parenthood and public service. She chose to let Mark Sanford deal with the embarrassment and political fallout from his own actions while focusing her own efforts privately on raising their children to be men of character, even in the face of the lies their father has told. In Staying True, Jenny Sanford recalls her shock and anguish upon discovering that her husband was having an affair with a woman in Argentina, and the further pain when she learned—just a day ahead of most Americans—that he had not ended the affair when she believed he had. She reveals the source of her determination to be honest and forthright instead of the victim in the tabloid passion play that gripped the nation in June 2009. But her story neither begins nor ends with Mark Sanford’s astounding fall from grace. Writing with uncommon candor from a deep well of spiritual strength, Sanford shares personal stories and life lessons from before and after she stepped into the public realm. She recounts the many stresses—as well as the myriad joys—that she experienced on a daily basis while living in the governmental spotlight. (Just try keeping four young boys out of mischief in the governor’s mansion!) And she describes the many ways that the seductions of power can drive apart even the most committed couples. At every step along her journey, Jenny Sanford has made choices: She gave up her career, moved far from her home state of Illinois, even changed her religious practices. Every choice was a glad concession to harmonious married life and, in some cases, to the support of her husband’s political aspirations. But the one thing she never gave up was her sense of self, her inner moral compass. Her remarkable poise and decency make her a role model for men and women alike. Her story will empower anyone who has fought to maintain independence and integrity—within a marriage or elsewhere in life. |
| ordeal autobiography: Black Odyssey Nathan Irvin Huggins, 2011-01-05 This classic work of scholarship and empathy tells the story of the self-creation of the African-American people. It assesses the full impact of the Middle Passage -- the most traumatizing mass human migration in modern history -- and of North American slavery both on the enslaved and on those who enslaved them. It explores the ways in which a nominally free society perverted its own freedoms and denied the fact that an inhuman institution lies at the heart of the American experience. The authority and eloquence of this work make it essential reading for all who want to understand the American past and present. |
| ordeal autobiography: Ordeal Linda Lovelace, Mike McGrady, 1980 Linda Lovelace became a household name in 1972, when Deep Throat--a film made for only $25.000--became the first pornographic movie ever to cross over to mainstream audiences, to the tune of $600 million and counting. Despite being the face that launched the film's phenomenal success, behind the scenes Linda was suffering unspeakable torture and abuse at the hands of her husband, Chuck Traynor, and she never earned a dollar from the film's huge success. A harrowing tale of the pursuit of happiness and the will to survive amid years of horrific abuse, Ordeal reveals the dark reality behind Deep Throat, and its star's tragic, yet ultimately triumphant, life. |
| ordeal autobiography: The Ordeal of Thomas Hutchinson Bernard Bailyn, 1974 The paradoxical and tragic story of America's most prominent Loyalist - a man caught between king and country. |
| ordeal autobiography: The Final Days Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, 2013-08-27 “An extraordinary work of reportage on the epic political story of our time” (Newsweek)—from Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, Pulitzer Prize-winning coauthors of All the President’s Men. The Final Days is the #1 New York Times bestselling, classic, behind-the-scenes account of Richard Nixon’s dramatic last months as president. Moment by moment, Bernstein and Woodward portray the taut, post-Watergate White House as Nixon, his family, his staff, and many members of Congress strained desperately to prevent his inevitable resignation. This brilliant book reveals the ordeal of Nixon’s fall from office—one of the gravest crises in presidential history. |
| ordeal autobiography: It's Always Something Gilda Radner, 2009-05-19 Fresh from the Second City troupe in Toronto, Gilda Radner created such memorable characters as Emily Litella and Roseanne Roseannadanna as a member of the original cast of Saturday Night Live. The wife of Gene Wilder, Gilda was plagued by persistent health problems and two miscarriages, and was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1986. Brave, funny, and painfully honest, the twentieth-anniversary edition of It's Always Something is the story of Gilda's journey while living with cancer and her determination to continue laughing. Cancer, she said, is about the most unfunny thing in the world. But Gilda's gutsy and unique sense of humor never left her as she describes two years of cancer treatment -- surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation treatment, as well as the high and low points of her own career. Told as only Gilda could tell it, and newly revised to include a resource guide for those living with cancer, It's Always Something is the inspiring story of a courageous, funny woman determined to enjoy life no matter the circumstances. |
| ordeal autobiography: Mistaken Identity Don & Susie Van Ryn, and Newell, Colleen, Whitney Cerak, 2008-09-04 One tragic traffic accident. Five university students killed. One survivor. A shocking case of mistaken identity that thrust two families into a bond of grief and joy beyond imagining. This is the story of two students from Indiana's Taylor University, Lauren Vand Ryn and Whitney Cerak: one buried under the wrong name, one critically injured and in a coma being cared for by the wrong family, and the heart-wrenching discovery five weeks later that they had been mistaken for one another. The Van Ryns and Ceraks now come together, two years later, to recount the amazing drama as it unfolded. Even more, not only do they reveal the inspiring healing journey of survivor Whitney Cerak as she comes to terms with her own identity - now altered by the injuries she suffered - but also the recovery of two traumatized families as they describe the bond of faith that sustains and unites them, as they each came to terms with their bizarre reversal of life lost and life found. |
| ordeal autobiography: Before Honor Eugene B. McDaniel, James Leonard Johnson, 1975 |
| ordeal autobiography: Surviving the Slaughter Marie Beatrice Umutesi, 2004-10-11 I discover my ethnic identity -- Increasing violence -- Descent into Hell -- Survival in the camps at Kivu -- A difficult choice -- Pursued westward -- Hunted by the rebels and the RPF -- The death camp at Tingi-Tingi -- Hunger on the road -- My life for ten dollars -- The end of the ordeal. |
| ordeal autobiography: The Lost Soldier Chris J. Hartley, 2018-08-01 The Lost Soldier offers a perspective on World War II we don’t always get from histories and memoirs. Based on the letters home of Pete Lynn, the diary of his wife, Ruth, and meticulous research in primary and secondary sources, this book recounts the war of a married couple who represent so many married couples, so many soldiers, in World War II. The book tells the story of this couple, starting with their life in North Carolina and recounting how the war increasingly insinuated itself into the fabric of their lives, until Pete Lynn was drafted, after which the war became the essential fact of their life. Author Chris J. Hartley intricately weaves together all threads—soldier and wife, home front and army life, combat, love and loss, individual and army division—into an intimate, engaging narrative that is at once gripping military history and engaging social history. |
| ordeal autobiography: Solitary Albert Woodfox, 2019-03-12 “An uncommonly powerful memoir about four decades in confinement . . . A profound book about friendship [and] solitary confinement in the United States.” —New York Times Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award Solitary is the unforgettable life story of a man who served more than four decades in solitary confinement—in a 6-foot by 9-foot cell, twenty-three hours a day, in Louisiana’s notorious Angola prison—all for a crime he did not commit. That Albert Woodfox survived at all was a feat of extraordinary endurance. That he emerged whole from his odyssey within America’s prison and judicial systems is a triumph of the human spirit. While behind bars in his early twenties, Albert was inspired to join the Black Panther Party because of its social commitment and code of living. He was serving a fifty-year sentence in Angola for armed robbery when, on April 17, 1972, a white guard was killed. Albert and another member of the Panthers were accused of the crime and immediately put in solitary confinement. Without a shred of evidence against them, their trial was a sham of justice. Decades passed before Albert was finally released in February 2016. Sustained by the solidarity of two fellow Panthers, Albert turned his anger into activism and resistance. The Angola 3, as they became known, resolved never to be broken by the corruption that effectively held them for decades as political prisoners. Solitary is a clarion call to reform the inhumanity of solitary confinement in the United States and around the world. |
| ordeal autobiography: The Open Cage Daniel Start, 1997 |
| ordeal autobiography: The Ordeal Béatrice Saubin, 1994 Describes a young French woman's experience in a Malaysian prison, how she survived it and how it effected her. |
| ordeal autobiography: Love You Hard Abby Maslin, 2019-03-12 Abby Maslin shares an inspiring story of resilience and commitment in a deeply affecting new memoir. After her husband suffered a traumatic brain injury, the couple worked together as he recovered—and they learned to love again. When Abby Maslin's husband, TC, didn't make it home on August 18, 2012, she knew something was terribly wrong. Her fears were confirmed when she learned that her husband had been beaten by three men and left for dead mere blocks from home, all for his cell phone and debit card. The days and months that followed were a grueling test of faith. As TC recovered from a severe traumatic brain injury that left him unable to speak and walk, Abby faced the challenge of caring for—and loving—a husband who now resembled a stranger. Love You Hard is the raw, unflinchingly honest story of a young love left broken, and the resilience required to mend a life and remake a marriage. Told from the caregiver's perspective, this book is a daring exploration of true love: what it means to love beyond language, beyond abilities, and into the place that reveals who we really are. At the heart of Abby and TC's unique and captivating story are the universal truths that bind us all. This is a tale of living and loving wholeheartedly, learning to heal after profound grief, and choosing joy in the wake of tragedy. |
| ordeal autobiography: Unmasked Michael Aloisi, 2012-10-01 The official Biography of Kane Hodder |
| ordeal autobiography: An Autobiography Elizabeth Butler, 2021-04-26 In An Autobiography, Elizabeth Butler presents an introspective exploration of her life, interweaving personal narratives with broader social commentaries that reflect her experiences during a pivotal time in history. Written in a candid and eloquent style, the work merges elements of memoir and social history, offering readers a vivid portrayal of the challenges and triumphs faced by women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Butler's skillful prose not only chronicles her own journey but also situates her life within the wider context of artistic and feminist movements of her era, underscoring her dual role as both a participant and an observer of the changing landscape around her. Elizabeth Butler, an accomplished painter and historian, was deeply influenced by the cultural and political currents of her time, which heavily informed her autobiography. Born into a family supporting the arts, Butler's unique perspective as a female artist confronting societal expectations played a crucial role in shaping her writing. Her passion for documenting women's contributions to history ultimately fueled her desire to produce this reflective account of her life, highlighting the intersection of art, gender, and identity. This remarkable autobiography is essential reading for those interested in women's history, art criticism, and the evolution of personal narrative forms. Through Butler's insightful reflections, readers are invited to appreciate the complexity of her accomplishments and the societal battles she faced, ultimately making it a compelling addition to the literary canon that resonates with contemporary themes of empowerment and resilience. |
| ordeal autobiography: Dostoevsky (1821-1881) Edward Hallett Carr, 1931 |
| ordeal autobiography: Anything You Say Christopher DiStefano, 2006 |
| ordeal autobiography: Abducted Charlene Lunnon, Lisa Hoodless, 2009-08-06 In 1999, at the tender age of ten, Charlene Lunnon and Lisa Hoodless were snatched as they walked to school. Over the next week, they were held captive, tortured, raped and almost killed. News of the girls' disappearance dominated the headlines, and the entire country held its breath, praying for their safe return as a massive police hunt failed to turn up any clues. But then a miracle happened. The girls were found alive, their abductor was arrested and the case was closed. But there was to be no such closure for Charlene and Lisa. Over the coming years, their friendship was strained to breaking point, as they struggled to reconcile themselves to their painful memories and to each other. Abducted is their astonishing first-hand, insider account of how it feels to be kidnapped, how they survived their horrific ordeal and how they have found the strength to move on and rebuild their lives. |
| ordeal autobiography: Worse Than Slavery David M. Oshinsky, 1997-04-22 In this sensitively told tale of suffering, brutality, and inhumanity, Worse Than Slavery is an epic history of race and punishment in the deepest South from emancipation to the Civil Rights Era—and beyond. Immortalized in blues songs and movies like Cool Hand Luke and The Defiant Ones, Mississippi’s infamous Parchman State Penitentiary was, in the pre-civil rights south, synonymous with cruelty. Now, noted historian David Oshinsky gives us the true story of the notorious prison, drawing on police records, prison documents, folklore, blues songs, and oral history, from the days of cotton-field chain gangs to the 1960s, when Parchman was used to break the wills of civil rights workers who journeyed south on Freedom Rides. |
| ordeal autobiography: A Stolen Life Jaycee Dugard, 2011-07-12 Dugard recounts, in her own words, her story of being kidnapped on June 10, 1991. She was 11 years old. |
| ordeal autobiography: St. Thérèse of Lisieux: Her Last Conversations (Revised Edition) St Therese of Lisieux, 2024-01-01 St. Thérèse of Lisieux (1873–1897) spent the final months of her short life in the infirmary of the Carmel of Lisieux, France. Those who attended her—including three of her older sisters by birth—were living in the company of one of God's saints, one prepared for our times. This volume, St. Thérèse of Lisieux: Her Last Conversations, serves as a sequel to St. Thérèse's autobiography, Story of a Soul. It contains the intimate words of her final conversations with her three sisters during the last months of her life, especially those three critical months in the Carmel infirmary from July to September 1897. Fortunately for us, her words were written down without the awareness that eventually a great multitude of friends of St. Thérèse would hunger for her spiritual teaching. 150 years after this great saint and Doctor of the Church was born into the world, the publication of this revised edition enables us to live in her company and enjoy her holy conversations and counsels. When we read her words with faith, her presence is at our side. She speaks to us directly, sharing her human experience: her joys, her sufferings, her love for God, and especially her trust in him amid her painful ordeal. This revised edition of St. Thérèse of Lisieux: Her Last Conversations reflects the extensive 1992 French critical edition of Derniers Entretiens in two volumes. That very complete and scholarly production has been edited here into its essential elements: + The entire text of St. Thérèse's words collected by the three main witnesses, Mother Agnes (Pauline), Sister Geneviève (Céline), and Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart (Marie); + The testimony of other witnesses when this does not repeat that of the three main witnesses; + Additional words of St. Thérèse as quoted in letters written during her last three months; + Comprehensive indexes of key names, topics, and biblical references. |
| ordeal autobiography: Autobiography Harriet Martineau, 2006-12-21 Harriet Martineau lived an extraordinary literary life. She became a reviewer and journalist in the 1820s when her family’s fortune collapsed; published a best-selling series, Illustrations of Political Economy (1832-34), that made her fame and fortune by the age of thirty; overcame a hearing disability to become a literary lion in London society; toured the United States and wrote two founding texts of sociology based on her experiences; explored north Africa and the Middle East to observe non-European societies; wrote leaders (editorials) on slavery for the London Daily News during the American Civil War; and commented publicly on matters of politics, history, and religion in an era when women supposedly maintained their place in the sphere of domesticity. This edition of her Autobiography reproduces the original 1877 text, which Martineau composed in 1855 and had printed in anticipation of her death. It includes illustrations of the author and her homes; excerpts from the Memorials, added by her editor Maria Chapman; and reviews that praise and critique Martineau's method as an autobiographer and achievement as a Victorian woman of letters. |
| ordeal autobiography: The Ordeal of Elizabeth Marsh Linda Colley, 2009-01-21 In this remarkable reconstruction of an eighteenth-century woman's extraordinary and turbulent life, historian Linda Colley not only tells the story of Elizabeth Marsh, one of the most distinctive travelers of her time, but also opens a window onto a radically transforming world.Marsh was conceived in Jamaica, lived in London, Gibraltar, and Menorca, visited the Cape of Africa and Rio de Janeiro, explored eastern and southern India, and was held captive at the court of the sultan of Morocco. She was involved in land speculation in Florida and in international smuggling, and was caught up in three different slave systems. She was also a part of far larger histories. Marsh's lifetime saw new connections being forged across nations, continents, and oceans by war, empire, trade, navies, slavery, and print, and these developments shaped and distorted her own progress and the lives of those close to her. Colley brilliantly weaves together the personal and the epic in this compelling story of a woman in world history. |
| ordeal autobiography: Untamed: Reese's Book Club Glennon Doyle, 2020-03-10 #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OVER THREE MILLION COPIES SOLD! “Packed with incredible insight about what it means to be a woman today.”—Reese Witherspoon (Reese’s Book Club Pick) In her most revealing and powerful memoir yet, the activist, speaker, bestselling author, and “patron saint of female empowerment” (People) explores the joy and peace we discover when we stop striving to meet others’ expectations and start trusting the voice deep within us. “Untamed will liberate women—emotionally, spiritually, and physically. It is phenomenal.”—Elizabeth Gilbert, author of City of Girls and Eat Pray Love A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Oprah Daily, The Washington Post, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Bloomberg, Parade This is how you find yourself. There is a voice of longing inside each woman. We strive so mightily to be good: good partners, daughters, mothers, employees, and friends. We hope all this striving will make us feel alive. Instead, it leaves us feeling weary, stuck, overwhelmed, and underwhelmed. We look at our lives and wonder: Wasn’t it all supposed to be more beautiful than this? We quickly silence that question, telling ourselves to be grateful, hiding our discontent—even from ourselves. For many years, Glennon Doyle denied her own discontent. Then, while speaking at a conference, she looked at a woman across the room and fell instantly in love. Three words flooded her mind: There She Is. At first, Glennon assumed these words came to her from on high. But she soon realized they had come to her from within. This was her own voice—the one she had buried beneath decades of numbing addictions, cultural conditioning, and institutional allegiances. This was the voice of the girl she had been before the world told her who to be. Glennon decided to quit abandoning herself and to instead abandon the world’s expectations of her. She quit being good so she could be free. She quit pleasing and started living. Soulful and uproarious, forceful and tender, Untamed is both an intimate memoir and a galvanizing wake-up call. It is the story of how one woman learned that a responsible mother is not one who slowly dies for her children, but one who shows them how to fully live. It is the story of navigating divorce, forming a new blended family, and discovering that the brokenness or wholeness of a family depends not on its structure but on each member’s ability to bring her full self to the table. And it is the story of how each of us can begin to trust ourselves enough to set boundaries, make peace with our bodies, honor our anger and heartbreak, and unleash our truest, wildest instincts so that we become women who can finally look at ourselves and say: There She Is. Untamed shows us how to be brave. As Glennon insists: The braver we are, the luckier we get. |
| ordeal autobiography: Know My Name Chanel Miller, 2020-08-18 A NEW YORK TIMES READERS’ CHOICE BEST BOOK OF THE CENTURY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR in PEOPLE | NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW | WASHINGTON POST | NPR | PARADE | TIME |GLAMOUR | CHICAGO TRIBUNE | MARIE CLAIRE | ELLE | FORTUNE Know My Name is a gut-punch, and in the end, somehow, also blessedly hopeful. —Washington Post Universally acclaimed, rapturously reviewed, and an instant New York Times bestseller, Chanel Miller's breathtaking memoir gives readers the privilege of knowing her not just as Emily Doe, but as Chanel Miller the writer, the artist, the survivor, the fighter. (The Wrap). Her story of trauma and transcendence illuminates a culture biased to protect perpetrators, indicting a criminal justice system designed to fail the most vulnerable, and, ultimately, shining with the courage required to move through suffering and live a full and beautiful life. Know My Name will forever transform the way we think about sexual assault, challenging our beliefs about what is acceptable and speaking truth to the tumultuous reality of healing. Entwining pain, resilience, and humor, this memoir will stand as a modern classic. |
| ordeal autobiography: Lost Prophet John D'Emilio, 2003 A biographical tour de force on one of the 20th century's bravest civil rights champions. Critically heralded American historian D'Emilio brings Bayard Rustin out of the shadows of the past to tell the story of a man who was a victim of homophobic prejudice. |
| ordeal autobiography: The Uncaged Sky Kylie Moore-Gilbert, 2022-03-30 Shortlisted for The Age Book of the Year for Non Fiction Shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Non-fiction 2023 ‘The sky above our heads was uncaged and unlike us, free.’ The extraordinary true story of Kylie Moore-Gilbert’s fight to survive 804 days imprisoned in Iran. On September 12, 2018 British-Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert was arrested at Tehran Airport by Iran’s feared Islamic Revolutionary Guards. Convicted of espionage in a shadowy trial presided over by Iran’s most notorious judge, Dr Moore-Gilbert was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Incarcerated in Tehran’s Evin and Qarchak prisons for 804 days, this is the full and gripping account of her harrowing ordeal. Held in a filthy solitary confinement cell for months, and subjected to relentless interrogation, Kylie was pushed to the limits of her endurance by extreme physical and psychological deprivation. Kylie’s only lifeline was the covert friendships she made with other prisoners inside the Revolutionary Guards’ maximum-security compound where she had been ‘disappeared’, communicating in great danger through the air vents between cells, and by hiding secret letters in hava khori, the narrow outdoor balcony where she was led, blindfolded, for a solitary hour each day. Cut off from the outside world, Kylie realised she alone had the power to change the dynamics of her incarceration. To survive, she began to fight back, adopting a strategy of resistance with her captors. Multiple hunger strikes, letters smuggled to the media, co-ordinated protests with other prisoners and a daring escape attempt led to her transfer to the isolated desert prison, Qarchak, to live among convicted criminals. On November 25, 2020, after more than two years of struggle, Kylie was finally released in a high stakes three-nation prisoner swap deal orchestrated by the Australian government, laying bare the complex game of global politics in which she had become a valuable pawn. Written with extraordinary insight and vivid immediacy, The Uncaged Sky is Kylie Moore-Gilbert’s remarkable story of courage and resilience, and a powerful meditation on hope, solidarity and what it means to be free. 'immensely readable' – The Sydney Morning Herald 'reads like an espionage thriller' – The Australian 'stunning' – Osher Günsberg 'brilliant’ – Mia Freedman 'utterly engrossing' – Australian Book Review ‘Kylie Moore-Gilbert is one pretty remarkable woman’ – Sarah Abo ‘There are no heroes and villains in The Uncaged Sky … only human beings. The depth of Moore-Gilbert’s empathy for the human condition is extraordinary … [She] sees deeply into the complexity of the human tragedy, and she writes of it with the compelling clarity of genius.’ – Alex Miller, author of A Brief Affair ‘Moments in her memoir The Uncaged Sky will leave readers breathless. The sheer terror, uncertainty and gnawing dread of a brutal regime closing in all around ... Powerfully and artfully written, the book has moments of joy shining through: the loving friendships made inside prison; the exhilaration of “escaping” to that uncaged sky, standing on the prison roof; and the strength Moore-Gilbert found to defy her captors amid the ceaseless cruelty of her incarceration.’ – Ben Doherty, The Guardian ‘The Uncaged Sky is a brilliant and powerful book.’ – Ann Cunningham, Booktopia ‘a remarkable story of courage’ – The Canberra Times |
| ordeal autobiography: Dear World Bana Alabed, 2017-10-03 “A story of love and courage amid brutality and terror, this is the testimony of a child who has endured the unthinkable.” —J.K. Rowling “I’m very afraid I will die tonight.” —Bana Alabed, Twitter, October 2, 2016 “Stop killing us.” —Bana Alabed, Twitter, October 6, 2016 “I just want to live without fear.” —Bana Alabed, Twitter, October 12, 2016 When seven-year-old Bana Alabed took to Twitter to describe the horrors she and her family were experiencing in war-torn Syria, her heartrending messages touched the world and gave a voice to millions of innocent children. Bana’s happy childhood was abruptly upended by civil war when she was only three years old. Over the next four years, she knew nothing but bombing, destruction, and fear. Her harrowing ordeal culminated in a brutal siege where she, her parents, and two younger brothers were trapped in Aleppo, with little access to food, water, medicine, or other necessities. Facing death as bombs relentlessly fell around them—one of which completely destroyed their home—Bana and her family embarked on a perilous escape to Turkey. In Bana’s own words, and featuring short, affecting chapters by her mother, Fatemah, Dear World is not just a gripping account of a family endangered by war; it offers a uniquely intimate, child’s perspective on one of the biggest humanitarian crises in history. Bana has lost her best friend, her school, her home, and her homeland. But she has not lost her hope—for herself and for other children around the world who are victims and refugees of war and deserve better lives. Dear World is a powerful reminder of the resilience of the human spirit, the unconquerable courage of a child, and the abiding power of hope. It is a story that will leave you changed. |
| ordeal autobiography: Killing Willis Todd Bridges, 2010-04-03 The former child star—best known as Willis Jackson on Diff’rent Strokes—shares the shocking but inspirational details of his struggles with addiction, brushes with the law, and fierce fight to carve a path through the darkness and find his true identity. For Todd Bridges early stardom was no protection from painful childhood events that paved the road to his own personal hell. One of the first African-American child actors on shows like Little House on the Prairie, The Waltons, and Roots, Bridges burst to the national forefront on the hit sitcom Diff’rent Strokes as the subject of the popular catchphrase, What’chu Talkin About Willis? When the show ended, Bridges was overwhelmed by the off-camera traumas he had faced. Turning to drugs as an escape, he soon lost control. Now, for the first time, Bridges opens up about his life before and after Diff’rent Strokes: the incredible reversals of fortune brought on by fame and the precipitous—and very public—descent that followed; the persecution from police; the drug addiction that nearly consumed him; the criminal charges that almost earned him a life sentence; and his successful legal defense led by Johnnie Cochran. Through it all, Bridges never relented in his quest to fight his way back from the abyss, establish his own identity—separate from Willis Jackson—and offer his ordeal as a positive example for those struggling to overcome similar challenges. His triumphant story of recovery and redemption is recounted here as well. Todd Bridges has lived a life of remarkable twists and turns—from the greatest heights to the lowest lows imaginable. In this shocking but ultimately hopeful memoir, he proves that what he was really talking about was survival. |
| ordeal autobiography: Life After Life Paddy Armstrong, Mary-Elaine Tynan, 2017-03-10 Paddy Armstrong was one of four people falsely convicted of The Guildford Bombing in 1975. He spent fifteen years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Today, as a husband and father, life is wonderfully ordinary, but the memory of his ordeal lives on. Here, for the first time and with unflinching candour, he lays bare the experiences of those years and their aftermath. Life after Life is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of forgiveness. It reminds us of the privilege of freedom, and how the balm of love, family and everyday life can restore us and mend the scars of even the most savage injustice. 'This book captures the sweet soul of Paddy. Beautifully written. For lovers of freedom everywhere.' Jim Sheridan |
| ordeal autobiography: Blindfold Theo Padnos, 2021-02-16 An award-winning journalist’s extraordinary account of being kidnapped and tortured in Syria by al Qaeda for two years—a revelatory memoir about war, human nature, and endurance that’s “the best of the genre, profound, poetic, and sorrowful” (The Atlantic). In 2012, American journalist Theo Padnos, fluent in Arabic, Russian, German, and French, traveled to a Turkish border town to write and report on the Syrian civil war. One afternoon in October, while walking through an olive grove, he met three young Syrians—who turned out to be al Qaeda operatives—and they captured him and kept him prisoner for nearly two years. On his first day, in the first of many prisons, Padnos was given a blindfold—a grime-stained scrap of fabric—that was his only possession throughout his horrific ordeal. Now, Padnos recounts his time in captivity in Syria, where he was frequently tortured at the hands of the al Qaeda affiliate, Jebhat al Nusra. We learn not only about Padnos’s harrowing experience, but we also get a firsthand account of life in a Syrian village, the nature of Islamic prisons, how captors interrogate someone suspected of being CIA, the ways that Islamic fighters shift identities and drift back and forth through the veil of Western civilization, and much more. No other journalist has lived among terrorists for as long as Theo has—and survived. As a resident of thirteen separate prisons in every part of rebel-occupied Syria, Theo witnessed a society adrift amid a steady stream of bombings, executions, torture, prayer, fasting, and exhibitions, all staged by the terrorists. Living within this tide of violence changed not only his personal identity but also profoundly altered his understanding of how to live. Offering fascinating, unprecedented insight into the state of Syria today, Blindfold is “a triumph of the human spirit” (The New York Times Book Review)—combining the emotional power of a captive’s memoir with a journalist’s account of a culture and a nation in conflict that is as urgent and important as ever. |
| ordeal autobiography: Just as I Am Cicely Tyson, 2021-01-26 “In her long and extraordinary career, Cicely Tyson has not only succeeded as an actor, she has shaped the course of history.” –President Barack Obama, 2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony “Just as I Am is my truth. It is me, plain and unvarnished, with the glitter and garland set aside. In these pages, I am indeed Cicely, the actress who has been blessed to grace the stage and screen for six decades. Yet I am also the church girl who once rarely spoke a word. I am the teenager who sought solace in the verses of the old hymn for which this book is named. I am a daughter and a mother, a sister and a friend. I am an observer of human nature and the dreamer of audacious dreams. I am a woman who has hurt as immeasurably as I have loved, a child of God divinely guided by his hand. And here in my ninth decade, I am a woman who, at long last, has something meaningful to say.” –Cicely Tyson |
| ordeal autobiography: Shipwrecked Dennis Hale, 2010 |
| ordeal autobiography: Hillbilly Elegy J D Vance, 2024-10 Hillbilly Elegy recounts J.D. Vance's powerful origin story... From a former marine and Yale Law School graduate now serving as a U.S. Senator from Ohio and the Republican Vice Presidential candidate for the 2024 election, an incisive account of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town that offers a broader, probing look at the struggles of America's white working class. THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER You will not read a more important book about America this year.--The Economist A riveting book.--The Wall Street Journal Essential reading.--David Brooks, New York Times Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis--that of white working-class Americans. The disintegration of this group, a process that has been slowly occurring now for more than forty years, has been reported with growing frequency and alarm, but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck. The Vance family story begins hopefully in postwar America. J. D.'s grandparents were dirt poor and in love, and moved north from Kentucky's Appalachia region to Ohio in the hopes of escaping the dreadful poverty around them. They raised a middle-class family, and eventually one of their grandchildren would graduate from Yale Law School, a conventional marker of success in achieving generational upward mobility. But as the family saga of Hillbilly Elegy plays out, we learn that J.D.'s grandparents, aunt, uncle, and, most of all, his mother struggled profoundly with the demands of their new middle-class life, never fully escaping the legacy of abuse, alcoholism, poverty, and trauma so characteristic of their part of America. With piercing honesty, Vance shows how he himself still carries around the demons of his chaotic family history. A deeply moving memoir, with its share of humor and vividly colorful figures, Hillbilly Elegy is the story of how upward mobility really feels. And it is an urgent and troubling meditation on the loss of the American dream for a large segment of this country. |
| ordeal autobiography: The Phenomenology of Autobiography Arnaud Schmitt, 2017-05-08 Taking a fresh look at the state of autobiography as a genre, The Phenomenology of Autobiography: Making it Real takes a deep dive into the experience of the reader. Dr. Schmitt argues that current trends in the field of life writing have taken the focus away from the text and the initial purpose of autobiography as a means for the author to communicate with a reader and narrate an experience. The study puts autobiography back into a communicational context, and putting forth the notion that one of the reasons why life writing can so often be aesthetically unsatisfactory, or difficult to distinguish from novels, is because it should not be considered as a literary genre, but as a modality with radically different rules and means of evaluation. In other words, not only is autobiography radically different from fiction due to its referentiality, but, first and foremost, it should be read differently. |
| ordeal autobiography: Inside Linda Lovelace Linda Lovelace, 1973 |
| ordeal autobiography: Journeys East Harry Oldmeadow, 2004-04-28 Journeys East tells the story of the twentieth century's encounters between East and West by exploring the lives of many of the most fascinating scientists, intellectuals, artists, and spiritual seekers of our time. |
ORDEAL | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
ORDEAL definition: 1. a very unpleasant and painful or difficult experience: 2. in the past, a way of trying to find…. Learn more.
ORDEAL Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
The meaning of ORDEAL is a primitive means used to determine guilt or innocence by submitting the accused to dangerous or painful tests believed to be under supernatural control. How to …
Ordeal - definition of ordeal by The Free Dictionary
1. any extremely severe or trying test, experience, or trial. 2. a former method of trial used to determine guilt or innocence by subjecting the accused person to serious physical danger, the …
ORDEAL definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary
An ordeal is an extremely unpleasant and difficult experience. The attack was a terrifying ordeal for both victims.
ordeal noun - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes ...
Definition of ordeal noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. a difficult or unpleasant experience. They had survived a terrifying ordeal. The interview was less of an ordeal than …
ordeal - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Feb 21, 2025 · ordeal (plural ordeals) A painful or trying experience. “And do you realize that in a few shakes I've got to show up at dinner and have Mrs Cream being very, very kind to me? It …
Ordeal - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms - Vocabulary.com
An ordeal is something difficult or painful to go through. Something kind of hard like taking a test can be an ordeal, but often an ordeal is a serious and long-lasting event, like an illness or …
ordeal, n. meanings, etymology and more - Oxford English …
What does the noun ordeal mean? There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun ordeal. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence. How common is …
295 Synonyms & Antonyms for ORDEAL - Thesaurus.com
Find 295 different ways to say ORDEAL, along with antonyms, related words, and example sentences at Thesaurus.com.
Ordeal Definition & Meaning - YourDictionary
Ordeal definition: A difficult or painful experience, especially one that severely tests character or endurance.
ORDEAL | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
ORDEAL definition: 1. a very unpleasant and painful or difficult experience: 2. in the past, a way of trying to find…. Learn more.
ORDEAL Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
The meaning of ORDEAL is a primitive means used to determine guilt or innocence by submitting the accused to dangerous or painful tests believed to be under supernatural control. How to …
Ordeal - definition of ordeal by The Free Dictionary
1. any extremely severe or trying test, experience, or trial. 2. a former method of trial used to determine guilt or innocence by subjecting the accused person to serious physical danger, the …
ORDEAL definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary
An ordeal is an extremely unpleasant and difficult experience. The attack was a terrifying ordeal for both victims.
ordeal noun - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes ...
Definition of ordeal noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. a difficult or unpleasant experience. They had survived a terrifying ordeal. The interview was less of an ordeal than …
ordeal - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Feb 21, 2025 · ordeal (plural ordeals) A painful or trying experience. “And do you realize that in a few shakes I've got to show up at dinner and have Mrs Cream being very, very kind to me? It …
Ordeal - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms - Vocabulary.com
An ordeal is something difficult or painful to go through. Something kind of hard like taking a test can be an ordeal, but often an ordeal is a serious and long-lasting event, like an illness or …
ordeal, n. meanings, etymology and more - Oxford English …
What does the noun ordeal mean? There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun ordeal. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence. How common is …
295 Synonyms & Antonyms for ORDEAL - Thesaurus.com
Find 295 different ways to say ORDEAL, along with antonyms, related words, and example sentences at Thesaurus.com.
Ordeal Definition & Meaning - YourDictionary
Ordeal definition: A difficult or painful experience, especially one that severely tests character or endurance.
