{"title":"Neal Karlen","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"this-thing-called-life-book-neal-karlen-9781250135247","title":"This Thing Called Life","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA warm and surprisingly real-life biography, featuring never-before-seen photos, of one of rock's greatest talents: Prince.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Neal Karlen was the only journalist Prince granted in-depth press interviews to for over a dozen years, from before \u003ci\u003ePurple Rain\u003c\/i\u003e to when the artist changed his name to an unpronounceable glyph. Karlen interviewed Prince for three \u003ci\u003eRolling Stone\u003c\/i\u003e cover stories, wrote \"3 Chains o' Gold,\" Prince's \"rock video opera,\" as well as the star's last testament, which may be buried with Prince's will underneath Prince's vast and private compound, Paisley Park.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e According to Prince's former fiancée Susannah Melvoin, Karlen was \"the only reporter who made Prince sound like what he really sounded like.\" Karlen quit writing about Prince a quarter-century before the mega-star died, but he never quit Prince, and the two remained friends for the last thirty-one years of the superstar's life.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Well before they met as writer and subject, Prince and Karlen knew each other as two of the gang of kids who biked around Minneapolis's mostly-segregated Northside. (They played basketball at the Dairy Queen next door to Karlen's grandparents, two blocks from the budding musician.) He asserts that Prince can't be understood without first understanding '70s Minneapolis, and that even Prince's best friends knew only 15 percent of him: that was all he was willing and able to give, no matter how much he cared for them.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Going back to Prince Rogers Nelson's roots, especially his contradictory, often tortured, and sometimes violent relationship with his father, \u003ci\u003eThis Thing Called Life\u003c\/i\u003e profoundly changes what we know about Prince, and explains him as no biography has: a superstar who calls in the middle of the night to talk, who loved \u003ci\u003eThe Wire\u003c\/i\u003e and could quote from every episode of \u003ci\u003eThe Office\u003c\/i\u003e, who frequented libraries and jammed spontaneously for local crowds (and fed everyone pancakes afterward), who was lonely but craved being alone. Readers will drive around Minneapolis with Prince in a convertible, talk about movies and music and life, and watch as he tries not to curse, instead dishing a healthy dose of \"mamma jammas.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49621769847057,"sku":"GOR011101593","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49739260494097,"sku":"NGR9781250135247","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49880667226385,"sku":"CIN1250135249G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50300065153297,"sku":"CIN1250135249VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51375776694545,"sku":"GOR013535209","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":51413923692817,"sku":"CIN1250135249A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53266649874705,"sku":"GOR014846213","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1250135249.jpg?v=1751207729"},{"product_id":"slouching-towards-fargo-book-neal-karlen-9780380974849","title":"Slouching towards Fargo","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49642329538833,"sku":"GOR009208221","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50059912839441,"sku":"GOR003394887","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50272759054609,"sku":"CIN0380974843G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50426266747153,"sku":"CIN0380974843VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0380974843.jpg?v=1751324746"},{"product_id":"augie-s-secrets-book-neal-karlen-9780873518895","title":"Augie's Secrets","description":"There's an old Yiddish saying: two people can keep a secret if one of them is dead. But two living people could keep a secret--as long as one of them was Augie.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAugie Ratner, the proprietor of Augie's Theater Lounge \u0026amp; Bar on Hennepin Avenue, was the unofficial mayor of Minneapolis's downtown strip in the 1940s and '50s. In a few blocks between the swanky clubs and restaurants on Eighth Street and the sleazy flophouses and bars of the Gateway District, the city's shakers-and-movers and shake-down artists mingled. Gangsters and celebrities, comedians and politicians, the rich and the famous and the infamous--all of them met at Augie's: Jimmy Hoffa, Henny Youngman, Kid Cann, John Dillinger, Jack Dempsey, Peggy Lee, Groucho Marx, Lenny Bruce, and Gypsy Rose Lee. Augie Ratner knew everyone, and everyone knew and liked Augie, and they told him everything.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMixing careful research with long suppressed family and community stories, Neal Karlen, Augie's great-nephew, tells the real story of the seamy underside of Minneapolis, where Jewish mobsters controlled the liquor trade, invented the point spread in sports betting, and ran national sports gambling operations. Even after Mayor Hubert H. Humphrey supposedly cleaned up the town, organized crime quietly flourished. And Augie was at the center, observing it all.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49864919154961,"sku":"CIN0873518896G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50420786364689,"sku":"CIN0873518896VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0873518896.jpg?v=1751265380"},{"product_id":"augie-s-secrets-book-neal-karlen-9780873519328","title":"Augie's Secrets","description":"There's an old Yiddish saying: two people can keep a secret if one of them is dead. But two living people could keep a secret--as long as one of them was Augie.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAugie Ratner, the proprietor of Augie's Theater Lounge \u0026amp; Bar on Hennepin Avenue, was the unofficial mayor of Minneapolis's downtown strip in the 1940s and '50s. In a few blocks between the swanky clubs and restaurants on Eighth Street and the sleazy flophouses and bars of the Gateway District, the city's shakers-and-movers and shake-down artists mingled. Gangsters and celebrities, comedians and politicians, the rich and the famous and the infamous--all of them met at Augie's: Jimmy Hoffa, Henny Youngman, Kid Cann, John Dillinger, Jack Dempsey, Peggy Lee, Groucho Marx, Lenny Bruce, and Gypsy Rose Lee. Augie Ratner knew everyone, and everyone knew and liked Augie, and they told him everything.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMixing careful research with long suppressed family and community stories, Neal Karlen, Augie's great-nephew, tells the real story of the seamy underside of Minneapolis, where Jewish mobsters controlled the liquor trade, invented the point spread in sports betting, and ran national sports gambling operations. Even after Mayor Hubert H. Humphrey supposedly cleaned up the town, organized crime quietly flourished. And Augie was at the center, observing it all.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49890001781009,"sku":"CIN0873519329G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50296690508049,"sku":"CIN0873519329VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50316414419217,"sku":"CIN0873519329A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51008938836241,"sku":"NIN9780873519328","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0873519329.jpg?v=1751265381"},{"product_id":"shanda-book-neal-karlen-9780743213820","title":"Shanda","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50074821099793,"sku":"CIN0743213823G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0743213823.jpg?v=1750701152"},{"product_id":"babes-in-toyland-book-neal-karlen-9780812920581","title":"Babes in Toyland","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50080116146449,"sku":"GOR003437603","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50913731772689,"sku":"CIN0812920589G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51424442777873,"sku":"CIN0812920589VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/B001IAFBK0.jpg?v=1750746161"},{"product_id":"story-of-yiddish-book-neal-karlen-9780060837112","title":"Story of Yiddish","description":"\u003cp\u003eA delightfully unconventional tale of a people, their place in the world, and the fascinating language that held them together.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYiddish is an unlikely survivor of the ages, much like the Jews themselves. Incorporating antique German dialects and elements from more than a dozen other tongues, the Yiddish language bears the imprint of the many places where European Jews were briefly given shelter. Neal Karlen's unique, brashly entertaining, yet thoroughly researched telling of the language's story reveals that Yiddish is a mirror of Jewish history, thought, and practice--for better and for worse.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50095546007825,"sku":"CIN006083711XA","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50342740984081,"sku":"CIN006083711XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52093530341649,"sku":"CIN006083711XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/006083711X.jpg?v=1751355866"},{"product_id":"babes-in-toyland-book-neal-karlen-9780380726028","title":"Babes in Toyland","description":"\u003cp\u003eDamage Incorporated is the first book about the legendary heavy metal band Metallica that provides a detailed exploration of the group's music and its place within the wider popular music landscape. Written with a broad readership in mind, it offers an interdisciplinary study that incorporates a range of topics which intersect with the band's music and cultural influence. For students of popular culture, mass media, and music, Damage Incorporated will be necessary reading, and sets a new standard for the study and exploration of metal within the field of popular music studies.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50175903498513,"sku":"CIN0380726025A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53270449324305,"sku":"GOR014849850","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0380726025.jpg?v=1751292675"},{"product_id":"story-of-yiddish-book-neal-karlen-9780060837129","title":"The Story of Yiddish","description":"Scholars usually date Yiddish from the 11th century, when modern linguists believed the language began as a German dialect spoken by newly arrived Jewish immigrants from France and Northern Italy living along the Rhine. Over time, it became an actual language incorporating elements of Hebrew, Aramaic, and the Slavic and Romance languages. As the story proceeds through the centuries, Karlen highlights the intertwining fates of Judaism and Yiddish. The language would reach literary heights in the 19th century and 20th centuries.Yet in the middle of the 20th century, while the language and culture was at its zenith, Yiddish faced two of its gravest enemies - the genocidal Nazis and the early, proud Zionists who founded Israel in the wake of the Holocaust and decided that with a new Jewish homeland, there would also have to new kind of Jew, speaking a different kind of language. It wasn't until roughly a decade ago that a new generation has begun to work zealously to recapture Yiddish before it disappears.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50203113324817,"sku":"CIN0060837128G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50848807485713,"sku":"CIN0060837128VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":50998854877457,"sku":"NIN9780060837129","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":51328429490449,"sku":"CIN0060837128A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52493239845137,"sku":"NLS9780060837129","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0060837128.jpg?v=1751355867"},{"product_id":"shanda-book-neal-karlen-9780743266314","title":"Shanda","description":"\u003cb\u003eEarly in his memoir, Neal Karlen confesses, I love Judaism.\u003c\/b\u003e It's Jews I can't stand. \u003cbr\u003e What he means is that he hates the parochialism, the whole \u003ci\u003eSeinfeld\u003c\/i\u003e of the Jews he knows from New York to Los Angeles, and he can't stand the thought of being identified as one of \u003ci\u003ethem.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Frustrated and embarrassed, Karlen stops looking for the Jewish enclave that fits him, and he simply rejects Judaism. And then one day, he goes too far: he marries a WASP. The marriage is doomed. \u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eShanda\u003c\/i\u003e -- the Yiddish word for shame -- is the story of Karlen's journey back to his Jewish roots, his faith, and his own self. His guide is an unlikely one: Rabbi Manis Friedman, the renowned Hasidic scholar. With Rabbi Friedman's tutelage and friendship, Karlen rekindles his Jewish spirit and begins to ask the questions that so many modern, assimilated Jews grapple with: How do we bring meaning to our Jewish practice? Where is the line between Jewish and \u003ci\u003etoo\u003c\/i\u003e Jewish? Can you believe in Judaism even if you don't believe in God? As Karlen is led up the mountain to find these answers, \u003ci\u003eShanda\u003c\/i\u003e offers a stunning and illuminating view from the top.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50229733261585,"sku":"CIN0743266315VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50363042824465,"sku":"CIN0743266315G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0743266315.jpg?v=1751328518"},{"product_id":"slouching-toward-fargo-book-neal-karlen-9780873519519","title":"Slouching Toward Fargo","description":"In his classic account of two years with the most audacious bush league ballclub ever to plumb the bottom of the pro sports barrel, Neal Karlen presents a dizzying collection of characters: co-owners comedian Bill Murray and sports impresario Mike Veeck; baseball's formerly winningest pitcher Jack Morris; outfielder Darryl Strawberry, on his way back to the majors; the back-rubbing Sister Rosalind; baseball's first woman player Ila Borders; frantic fans, a ball-carrying pig, a blind sportscaster, and a host of others. They all prove the credo of the Saints: Fun is Good.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Hilarious, insightful, touching, informative, Neal Karlen's baseball account delivers a world of vivid characters and ironic redemptions. Karlen is simply one of the best, most sophisticated, and literate practitioners of journalism we have. He goes out and gets the full story, while turning himself into a wonderfully self-mocking, truthful, and likable narrator. I loved every page of this book. --Phillip Lopate, author, essayist, and film critic\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Two things make it great: characters and story line. The tale is rendered in hilarious fashion, mixing plenty of baseball with plenty of laughs. --Rocky Mountain News\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A fun-is-good book . . .  with] enough oddballs to make Alice's Adventures in Wonderland seem like a straightforward account of a schoolgirl's visit to a theme park. --Sports Illustrated\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The funkiest team in baseball. --The New York Times","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51009153827089,"sku":"NIN9780873519519","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51330501738769,"sku":"CIN0873519515G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51471149662481,"sku":"GOR014293537","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51797155709201,"sku":"CIN0873519515VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0873519515.jpg?v=1751202360"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-neal-karlen.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}