Books like This old man by Roger Angell

Ernest Hemingway’s classic follows an old Cuban fisherman and his young companion as they battle a massive marlin, exploring themes of endurance, solitude, and the human struggle against nature.

Alicia Berenson, a celebrated painter, shoots her husband Gabriel and then falls silent, becoming a media sensation. In North London’s Grove secure unit, psychotherapist Theo Faber devotes himself to uncovering why she became the Silent Patient and his own true motives.

Ishmael Beah’s memoir chronicles his harrowing journey from a nine‑year‑old rebel fighter in Sierra Leone’s civil war to a survivor rehabilitated by UNICEF and later a storyteller traveling the United States.

In 2000, an unnamed young woman on New York City's Upper East Side retreats into a yearlong sleep, severing ties with friends, family and a drug‑pushing psychiatrist as medication‑induced blackouts grow more dangerous.

A compelling biography of Susannah Cahalan's battle with encephalitis and the challenges of diagnosis and recovery.

A devoted dog reflects on life, love, and racing while watching his owner, a race car driver, navigate family trials and professional ambition.

Obama's presidential memoir: A personal account of history's making.

John Lennon: Uncovering the Life of the Legendary Rock Star

David Foster Wallace's life and work in biography, capturing the literary genius and struggle of a misunderstood writer gone too soon, as journalist D. T. Max delves into the tormented life of one of America's most innovative and influential authors.

A photographer's epic journey to capture Native American history before it vanished, told by the man who made it happen.

Johnson's presidency begins with the passage of power.

Crude and often nonsensical, these stories of Rochlin's WWII experiences were written as monologues for his one-man show. In his 70s, Rochlin, a former B-24 navigator, took a storytelling workshop with Spalding Gray, and this is the result. Noting that the older I get, the more I remember things that never happened, he tells eight tales of varying credibility and tastelessness. In the title story, Rochlin, nicknamed Rockets, bails out over Yugoslavia, suffering a fractured jaw and broken ribs. Rescued by partisans, he is, without explanation, cheerfully asked to execute three German prisoners. His only comment: It didn't take any courage, you just pulled a trigger.'' His escort for the 400-kilometer stroll back to Italy, the earthy Maruska, following dual bouts of diarrhea, asks, You think I no beautiful? I don't want to die virgin. Why don't you put your hand on my siski?'' Following the first night of fig-fig,'' he complained his hooey was on fire and it started to drip stuff.'' Several of Rochlin's stories involve a glamour boy'' pilot and the colonel he's discovered in bed with, “in that head-to-toe 69 position . . . Hell, I didn't even know guys did stuff like that.” When the pilot is killed, the inebriated, grieving colonel tries to rape Rockets; he fends him off and, with the local priests help, fixes him up with a gay portrait painter. In another, quite detailed piece, he assists in a drunken cesarean section on a 14-year-old girl. The final entry has him having sex with his uncle's wife, who later tells him how much she loves her husband and will never betray him.'' Huh? Perhaps as staged monologues, in Rochlin's voice, these at least have some semblance of believability and sense. Here, they come off as simply careless, pointless, and offensive.

Peter Guralnick chronicles how Sam Phillips founded Sun Records, discovering and recording icons like Howlin' Wolf, Ike Turner, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley, transforming the music industry.

A gripping biography of the political fundraiser behind the Nixon administration, uncovering layers of corruption, friendship, and the mechanics of power in late 1960s America.

Doctor’s Blackwell traces the life of Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman licensed to practice medicine in the United States, and explores the sexism and challenges she confronted in 19th‑century America.