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Actors & Entertainers Arts & Literature Biographies & Memoirs Books

Stronger Together: How Fame, Failure and Faith Transformed Our Lives



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(as of Apr 25, 2024 23:24:18 UTC – Details)


America’s Got Talent host and comic personality Terry Crews and his wife, singer Rebecca King Crews, share the staggering ups and downs of their relationship and how they weathered the myriad crises that have rocked their marriage. 

In a unique narrative, Stronger Together begins on the day everything fell apart. In their own voices, Terry and Rebecca recount D-Day, as they call it – the moment that Terry admitted his unfaithfulness and addiction to porn, and Rebecca told him not to come home. Charting a course back to their earliest days, each one shares more about their difficult childhoods. Growing up in Flint with a devout mother and abusive father, Terry became fascinated by superheroes, landed a career in the NFL, then in Hollywood, while hiding an addiction to porn that fueled a toxic masculinity that led to that awful day. Rebecca, whose father died when she was a child, recounts being the only biracial child in Gary, Indiana, her passion for singing, her early pregnancy, her devotion to God, and her blind faith in Terry despite the challenges of being an NFL wife, her passion for motherhood, and the emotional pain when Terry’s hidden addiction was exposed. 

As they share their journey, the mistakes they made, the moments that shifted their worlds, and ultimately, what put them back together, they provide hope, reflection and comfort. In this audiobook, you will also hear the kindness in their voices, and what it sounds like to have a partner who truly listens, respects and loves. The book includes a final coda about the year 2020 when the couple endured Rebecca’s breast cancer diagnosis and controversy around Terry’s social media comments. 

Honest, intimate and filled with hope, Terry and Rebecca make you feel if they can survive it, you and your partner can, too.

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Arts & Literature Biographies & Memoirs Books Composers & Musicians

I Am Mine: Words + Music | Vol. 24



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(as of Apr 25, 2024 00:00:17 UTC – Details)


In the summer of 1990, Eddie Vedder left the surf and sun in San Diego to join a group of friends working to put a new band together in the Seattle underground. Within months, they were anything but underground; they’d found their lead singer, and Vedder went on to lead Pearl Jam on a global takeover of ‘90s culture. In this latest edition of Audible’s Words + Music series, Vedder dives deep, reflecting on a life at the intersection of art, sensitivity, and masculinity.

One of the best-selling artists of all time, Vedder is characteristically honest about the challenges of remaining authentic in the face of staggering success. He delivers a raw, emotional story on the perils and joys of fame and friendship, passing on the option of dishing out tales of rock and roll hijinks. Now you can hear his take on the power of accountability and what it takes to keep the creative flame burning as a father. 

Vedder’s highly anticipated new album Earthling will be available on February 11 via Seattle Surf/Republic Records.

Categories
Actors & Entertainers Arts & Literature Biographies & Memoirs Books

Control Freak: My Epic Adventure Making Video Games



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(as of Apr 06, 2024 16:52:39 UTC – Details)


The designer of Unreal and Gears of War offers an eye-opening personal account of the video-game industry as it grew from niche hobby to hundred-billion-dollar enterprise.

Video games are dominating the planet. In 2020, they brought in $180 billion dollars globally—nearly $34 billion in the United States alone. So who are the brilliant designers who create these stunning virtual worlds? Cliff Bleszinski—or CliffyB as he is known to gamers—is one of the few who’ve reached mythical, rock-star status. In Control Freak, he gives an unvarnished, all-access tour of the business.

Toiling away in his bedroom, Bleszinski created and shipped his first game before graduating high school and at just 17 joined a fledgling company called Epic Games. He describes the grueling hours, obscene amounts of Mountain Dew, and obsessive focus necessary to achieve his singular creative visions. He details Epic’s rise to industry leader, thanks largely to his work on best-selling franchises Unreal and Gears of War (and, later, his input on a little game called Fortnite), as well as his own awkward ascent from shy, acne-riddled introvert to sports-car-driving celebrity rubbing shoulders with Bill Gates. As he writes, “No one is weirder than a nerd with money.” While the book is laced with such self-deprecating humor, Bleszinski also bluntly addresses the challenges that have long-faced the gaming community, including sexism and a lack of representation among both designers and the characters they create.

Control Freak is a hilarious, thoughtful, and inspiring memoir. Even if you don’t play games, you’ll walk away from this book recognizing them as a true art form and appreciating the genius of their creators.