Rick James is a pop-culture icon, unforgettable for his outrageous style, drug and legal problems who passed away in 2004 after being blessed with new cool in an infamous sketch by comedian Dave Chapelle.

Best known for his 1980s hit songs “Super Freak,” “Give it to Me Baby,” and “Mary Jane,” the late singer and funk music pioneer Rick James collaborated with acclaimed music biographer David Ritz in this posthumously published, no-holds-barred memoir of a rock star’s life and soul. He was the nephew of Temptations singer Melvin Franklin; a boy who watched and listened, mesmerized from underneath cocktail tables at the shows of Etta James and Miles Davis. He was a vagrant hippie who wandered to Toronto, where he ended up playing with Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, and he became a household name in the 1980s with his hit song “Super Freak.” Later in life, he was a bad boy who got caught up in drug smuggling and ended up in prison. But since his passing in August 2004, Rick James has remained a legendary icon whose name is nearly synonymous with funk music—and who popularized the genre, creating a lasting influence on pop artists from Prince to Jay-Z to Snoop Dogg, among countless others. In Glow, Rick James and acclaimed music biographer David Ritz collaborated to write a no-holds-barred memoir about the boy and the man who became a music superstar in America’s disco age. It tells of James’s upbringing and how his mother introduced him to musical geniuses of the time. And it reveals details on many universally revered artists, from Marvin Gaye and Prince to Nash, Teena Marie, and Berry Gordy. James himself said, “My journey has taken me through hell and back. It’s all in my music—the parties, the pain, the oversized ego, the insane obsessions.” But despite his bad boy behavior, James was a tremendous talent and a unique, unforgettable human being. His “glow” was an overriding quality that one of his mentors saw in him—and one that will stay with this legendary figure who left an indelible mark on American popular music.

Rick James played with Neil Young, self-produced his first album (later picked up by Motown), crossed rock and funk to come up with one of the best-selling albums of the 1980s, became one of the biggest pop stars of the era, turned a young white woman named Teena Marie into an R&B superstar, displayed an outrageously sex- and drug-filled lifestyle, was tried and found guilty of assaulting and imprisoning a young woman, went on to record new music that was compared to the Beatles' White Album, and ended his life as a punch line for Dave Chappelle. James attempted to tell his own story—in two different books—but left out many incidents that reflected badly on his character. Now, based on court records, newspaper archives, and extensive interviews with dozens of family members, band members, friends, and lovers, here is the definitive biography of Motown's most controversial superstar.

Life never seemed so good. Well, at least that’s how you’ll feel after completing Confessions of a Bipolar Firefighter. Strap in. From the mountainous highs to the bottomless lows, this adventurous autobiography travels through the mind and experiences of a tremendously controversial, besieged, introspective and tormented man named James L. Nutt. It begins through the eyes of a child who endures extreme physical, sexual and emotional abuse and then transitions into his impoverished and naturally destructive teenager years accented by his proclivity for violence. After a tumultuous young adulthood, he grows into a working class firefighter who daringly climbs the ranks to chief. Normalcy appears to be attained as James and his newfound family gain a strong relationship with God. But the ebbs quickly return as James discovers his church pastor has embezzled thousands of dollars from offerings, and his wife passes from skin cancer leaving him to raise four children on his own. All the while, he continues to wage battles against his own bipolar disorder along with the vices of alcohol, drug abuse, sex and violence. Everything culminates to a fight with his own demons as a God-fearing man with an agenda to avenge those who have betrayed him. His mental illness exacerbates and his relationship with the Lord wavers as he struggles with completing his own vengeance versus allowing God to take the lead. Whether you believe him to be crazy or sane, right or wrong, you will certainly remain on the edge of your seat as you take a ride with this truly original character who provides insight into his real-life tale for the ages.

Cramer takes readers on a no-holds-barred tour of life on Wall Street--revealing how the game is played, who breaks the rules, and who gets hurt.

This audacious and illuminating memoir by Richard Baum, a senior China scholar and sometime policy advisor, reflects on forty years of learning about and interacting with the People’s Republic of China, from the height of Maoism during the author’s UC Berkeley student days in the volatile 1960s through globalization. Anecdotes from Baum’s professional life illustrate the alternately peculiar, frustrating, fascinating, and risky activity of China watching — the process by which outsiders gather and decipher official and unofficial information to figure out what’s really going on behind China’s veil of political secrecy and propaganda. Baum writes entertainingly, telling his narrative with witty stories about people, places, and eras. China Watcher will appeal to scholars and followers of international events who lived through the era of profound political and academic change described in the book, as well as to younger, post-Mao generations, who will enjoy its descriptions of the personalities and political forces that shaped the modern field of China studies.

Published anonymously in 1824, this gothic mystery novel was written by Scottish author James Hogg. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner was published as if it were the presentation of a century-old document. The unnamed editor offers the reader a long introduction before presenting the document written by the sinner himself.