Stranger than fiction- fascinating true stories

 

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Abbott, Karen - Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul
(306.74 Abb) At the dawn of the 20th century, there was no more famous-or notorious-brothel in America than the Everleigh Club in Chicago. Run by two sisters with a talent for self-invention, the club set new standards for opulence as well as harlots' rights. The 1911 publication of The Social Evil in Chicago, a report by the 30-member Chicago Vice Commission that provided a devastating account of the city's trade in prostitution and its widespread social effect, ended the sisters’ reign.

Behr, Hans-Georg - Almost a Childhood: Growing Up Among the Nazis
(921 Behr Beh) Behr's memoir recounts his childhood as the son of zealous Nazis in Austria during World War II. His harrowing childhood included interactions with “Uncle Josef” (Goebbels) and “Uncle Adolf,” (Hitler). In this book Behr captures daily life in Hitler’s Germany through the frank perspective of a child.

Conley, Dalton - Honky
(305.23 Co) As the child of bohemian, white parents Conley grew up in an otherwise black and Hispanic housing project on New York's Lower East Side in the 1970s. Despite the family's lack of funds they were able to transfer the author to a better school, where he began to feel some snobbery toward kids in his own neighborhood. This memoir examines race and class in America from a unique perspective.

Denfeld, Rene - All God's Children: Inside the Dark and Violent World of Street Families
(364.1066 Den) Denfeld brings to light the elaborate structure and culture of the "families" created by runaway teenagers living on the U.S. streets. This intimate portrait of the fantasy-fueled, violent subculture—populated almost exclusively by teens from white, middle-class homes—is gory and shocking. He spares no details in describing cold characters, cultish rituals and murders, often from the perspective of those involved.

DeRamus, Betty - Forbidden Fruit: Love Stories from the Underground Railroad
(973.7115 De) DeRamus tells a number of uplifting and sometimes heartbreaking stories of love during the U.S.'s slavery years. Employing newspaper articles, unpublished memoirs and reminiscences, oral histories, slave narratives, census data and other sources, not to mention a dramatic, novelistic narrative voice, DeRamus profiles couples - slave and free, black and white - who risked everything to be together.

Gonzales, Laurence - Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why: True Stories of Miraculous Endurance and Sudden Death
(613.69 Gol) What makes one person a victim and another a survivor? Gonzales looks at a number of tragedies and discovers why some people survive and others don’t. The most skilled or physically fit are not necessarily the survivors, but rather those with particular psychological make ups. A fascinating look at some horrifying catastrophes.

O'Faolain, Nuala - The Story of Chicago May
(921 Dui) In 1890, 19-year-old May Duignan stole her family’s savings, left her hardscrabble Irish town and set off to create a new life in America. This biography examines the young woman's trans-formation into the notorious thief and prostitute Chicago May. May moves through the desperate and tough Chicago red light district to the Tenderloin of New York, and then to London, Paris and various prisons.

Salant, James - Leaving Dirty Jersey: A Crystal Meth Memoir
(362.299 Sal) This disturbing memoir sees upper middle-class New Jersey 18-year-old Salant placed in a California drug recovery center by his parents, where he attempts kicking heroin some 3,000 miles from home. Soon Salant leaves the rehab and embarks on a chaotic, crime-riddled year addicted to crystal meth.

Sonnenberg, Susanna - Her Last Death
(362.293 Son) This memoir recounts Sonnenberg's childhood with her beautiful, self-centered and crazy mother, who lies continually, does drugs and manipulates men. Add in the author’s cold and distant father and abundant family money and you have the story of a young girl who grows up in a world of privilege, abuse and dysfunction. Ultimately the story leads to the author’s redemption.

Urrea, Luis - By the Lake of Sleeping Children
(306.09722 Urr) These essays were written during Urrea's years helping California missionaries deliver food and medicine to orphanages and inhabitants of a moldering garbage dump near Tijuana. This novelistic collection is variously funny, sad and startling. In 10 stark, riveting essays, Urrea portrays the fascinating lives of resourceful Mexicans who live on the border.

Wallace, Danny - Yes Man
(921 Wal) Wallace’s hilarious recount of the year he spent saying “Yes!” to everything. His positive attitude led him to everything from dinner with his former girlfriend and her current flame to promotions at work to winning $48,000. Unbelievable, but true!

Weisenburger, Steven - Modern Medea: A Family Story of Slavery and Child-Murder from the Old South
(921 Garner/Wei) Toni Morrison's Beloved was based on this real incident in 1856 when 22-year-old Margaret Garner, a runaway slave who, when recapture was imminent, cut her daughter's throat with a butcher's knife. This led to a raging debate between pro and anti slavery factions; the abolitionists stating this proved the evils of slavery were so great a mother would kill her child to spare her and the proponents of slavery stating this proved blacks were subhuman and needed the guidance of a master.

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