Weird Biography

The very strange but nevertheless true story of the dark underbelly of a 1960s hippie utopia. Laurel Canyon in the 1960s and early 1970s was a magical place where a dizzying array of musical artists congregated to create much of the music that provided the soundtrack to those turbulent times. But there was a dark side to that scene as well. Many didn't make it out alive, and many of those deaths remain shrouded in mystery to this day.

Break free from the norm to lead a radically abnormal (and endlessly more fulfilling) life. In our over busy, unprincipled, oversexed world; lust, debt, guilt, and shame are far more common than a healthy relationship to time, money, and relationships. Simply put, normal isn't working. In WEIRD...

A veteran music journalist explores how four legendary rock bands—KISS, Cheap Trick, Aerosmith, and Starz—laid the foundation for two diametrically opposed subgenres: hair metal in the '80s and grunge in the '90s. It was the age when heavy-footed, humorless dinosaurs roamed the hard-rock...

Music Professor Lily Hirsch dives deeper into the world of the iconic man who has made a career out of making us laugh. Hirsch weaves together her interviews with the prince of parody himself and reveals the deeper meaning of Yankovic’s jests, addressing such topics as bullying, celebrity, and racial and gender stereotypes.

In accessible language and with periodic references to Star Trek, motorcycle daredevils, and near-classic movies of the '80s, developmental molecular biologist John Medina explores the neurological and evolutionary factors that drive teenage behavior and can affect both achievement and engagement. Then he proposes a research-supported counterattack: a bold redesign of educational practices and learning environments to deliberately develop teens' cognitive capacity to manage their emotions, plan, prioritize, and focus.

Foreword read by Melissa McCarthy and featuring the voices of Stephen, Margaret, and Flynn Falcone. A funny and intimate look at fatherhood from the actor and writer/director of The Boss and Tammy that combines stories about his own larger-than-life dad and how his experiences raising two...

Briarcliff Mansion and the land it occupies are owned by Emory University, which refers to it as its "Briarcliff Campus." Fortune and Folly, in part, illuminates the largely lost story of how the mansion, and the entire surrounding neighborhood, got its name. But in order to understand the mansion, we have to understand the man who built it. Briarcliff Mansion once belonged to a man named Asa Candler, Jr.—also known as Buddie. The second son and namesake of Coca-Cola founder Asa Griggs Candler, Buddie was a wealthy real estate developer of great successes and greater failures.

An honest, sharp-witted, practical guide to help you get and keep the job you want from an outsider whose been there and done it, a woman who went from being a broke, divorced, college dropout to running some of the biggest websites in the world. Jennifer Romolini started her career as an...

Birth control. Body hair removal cream. Boobs. It’s all weird, but also pretty normal. Navigating racial identity, gender roles, workplace dynamics, and beauty standards, Mia Mercado's hilarious essay collection explores the contradictions of being a millennial woman, which usually means being...

True stories about Alzheimer’s, escorting, sugar daddies, bad men, worse dates, selling plasma, gynecology students poking around, a geriatric sex dungeon, weird clowns, and the strange shit we do to survive. Dark, sharp, and uncomfortably funny.

In 1968 young girls went missing in California and New York, massive searches started and soon bodies became to turn up! This is the story of Rodney Alcala, the charming, good looking photographer that was in NYU studying under Roman Polanski, and even once had won on the popular TV game show Dating Game, but now he is wanted for rape, torture, and murder of several young girls! He would make the girls suffer until they passed out, rape them, and when they came to, he would beat them again before killing them! Alan R. Warren takes you through each step of the story in shocking detail.

Read all about how a young boy from California who listened to polka music and played the accordion became a comedian, parody songwriter, and Grammy winner in this biography for young readers about “Weird Al” Yankovic! When Alfred Yankovic was seven years old, a salesman knocked on the door...

If the saints have never made you laugh or drop your jaw, they will in this book. Best-selling author Shaun McAfee (Reform Yourself!, Filling Our Father’s House) and guest writers illustrate how the saints were not just stone-faced old men. Some of them had quirky habits and outrageous personalities and did breathtaking deeds...but they all had epic faith.

When Peter Flom was five years old, his parents were told that he had "minimal brain dysfunction" and would never go to college. Peter skipped twelfth grade, did college in three years, and got his BA at twenty. He now has a Ph.D. He also has a new diagnosis: Twice Exceptional (2E). He has nonverbal learning disabilities but is also gifted. In Twice as Weird: A Memoir about Twice Exceptionality, he tells what it was like to grow up with a diagnosis that didn't exist yet, and to discover what he was.

For news junkies and fans of the bizarre-but-true, here is an outrageous collection of all-real, all-weird news stories culled from the nation's mainstream newspapers!...

Dive deep into the electrifying underbelly of crime, where audacity and genius dance in the dim light of clandestine corners. From the ruthless prison gangs' silent codes to the digital prowlers of the virtual realm; from the dazzling heists orchestrated by masterminds to the informants who dare to betray—this is not just a tale of crime, but a journey through the very soul of humanity.

A collection of celebrated columns from The Rumpus with new material and never-before-told tales, OG Dad finds Jerry Stahl fighting a terminal disease - not to mention mortality, sleeplessness, and the soul-crushing weirdness of preschool drop-offs with parents half his age. Square is the last frontier.

How the Washington sausage really gets made: a brutally honest, outrageous memoir by former GOP congressman Trey Radel. "Radel, the former congressman busted on cocaine charges, has published a memoir that delves into the forgotten concept of shame." - Huffington Post "DEMOCRAZY is the most...

In a world where whispers become roars and rumors turn into accepted reality, Dexter Maxx delves deep into the labyrinth of modern myths, guiding listeners through a mesmerizing journey of the most tantalizing conspiracy theories of our age. From dark corners of the internet to the corridors of power, Conspiracies is a gripping exploration of humanity's age-old quest for answers in an increasingly complex world.

Whenever Ted commutes, he observes the strange and wonderful behaviors of his fellow passengers and records them for your listening pleasure. Recorded in real time over six years, allowing you to follow stories in chronological order, and occasionally link them to world events.