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Underground Books

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Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Countercultural Cook SIGNED

Waters, Alice; Mueller, Cristina; Carrau, Bob Paperback. Signed by Alice Waters in ink at title page. 8" X 5 1/4". ix, 306pp. Very mild shelf wear to covers, corners, and edges of pictorial paper wraps. Pages are clean and unmarked. Binding is sound. ABOUT THIS BOOK: The New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed memoir from cultural icon and culinary standard bearer Alice Waters recalls the circuitous road and tumultuous times leading to the opening of what is arguably America's most influential restaurant. When Alice Waters opened the doors of her "little French restaurant" in Berkeley, California in 1971 at the age of 27, no one ever anticipated the indelible mark it would leave on the culinary landscapeâ€"Alice least of all. Fueled in equal parts by naiveté and a relentless pursuit of beauty and pure flavor, she turned her passion project into an iconic institution that redefined American cuisine for generations of chefs and food lovers. In Coming to My Senses Alice retraces the events that led her to 1517 Shattuck Avenue and the tumultuous times that emboldened her to find her own voice as a cook when the prevailing food culture was embracing convenience and uniformity. Moving from a repressive suburban upbringing to Berkeley in 1964 at the height of the Free Speech Movement and campus unrest, she was drawn into a bohemian circle of charismatic figures whose views on design, politics, film, and food would ultimately inform the unique culture on which Chez Panisse was founded. Dotted with stories, recipes, photographs, and letters, Coming to My Senses is at once deeply personal and modestly understated, a quietly revealing look at one woman's evolution from a rebellious yet impressionable follower to a respected activist who effects social and political change on a global level through the common bond of food.(Publisher).
  • $22
book (2)

I’m Glad My Mom Died SIGNED

McCurdy, Jennette Hardcover. Signed by Jennette McCurdy to bookplate at front free endpaper. 9 1/4" X 6 1/4". x, 304pp. Book presents nicely with unclipped dust jacket wrapped in protective archival sleeve. Bound in yellow paper over boards with spine lettered in white. Pages are clean and unmarked. Binding is sound. A presentable later printing, signed by the author, of this heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by iCarly star Jennette McCurdy. ABOUT THIS BOOK: Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother's dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called "calorie restriction," eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, "Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn't tint hers?" She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income. In I'm Glad My Mom Died, Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detailâ€"just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly, she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi ("Hi Gale!"), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants. Told with refreshing candor and dark humor, I'm Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair.(Publisher).
  • $50
We Are What We Eat: A Slow Food Manifesto SIGNED

We Are What We Eat: A Slow Food Manifesto SIGNED

Waters, Alice; Carrau, Bob; Mueller, Cristina Paperback. Signed by Alice Waters in ink. 8 1/4" X 5 1/2". 191pp. Very mild shelf wear to covers, corners, and edges of pictorial paper wraps. Pages are clean and unmarked. Binding is sound. ABOUT THIS BOOK: From chef and food activist Alice Waters, an impassioned plea for a radical reconsideration of the way each and every one of us cooks and eats In We Are What We Eat, Alice Waters urges us to take up the mantle of slow food culture, the philosophy at the core of her life's work. When Waters first opened Chez Panisse in 1971, she did so with the intention of feeding people good food during a time of political turmoil. Customers responded to the locally sourced organic ingredients, to the dishes made by hand, and to the welcoming hospitality that infused the small spaceâ€"human qualities that were disappearing from a country increasingly seduced by takeout, frozen dinners, and prepackaged ingredients. Waters came to see that the phenomenon of fast food culture, which prioritized cheapness, availability, and speed, was not only ruining our health, but also dehumanizing the ways we live and relate to one another. Over years of working with regional farmers, Waters and her partners learned how geography and seasonal fluctuations affect the ingredients on the menu, as well as about the dangers of pesticides, the plight of fieldworkers, and the social, economic, and environmental threats posed by industrial farming and food distribution. So many of the serious problems we face in the world todayâ€"from illness, to social unrest, to economic disparity, and environmental degradationâ€"are all, at their core, connected to food. Fortunately, there is an antidote. Waters argues that by eating in a "slow food way," each of usâ€"like the community around her restaurantâ€"can be empowered to prioritize and nurture a different kind of culture, one that champions values such as biodiversity, seasonality, stewardship, and pleasure in work. This is a declaration of action against fast food values, and a working theory about what we can do to change the course. As Waters makes clear, every decision we make about what we put in our mouths affects not only our bodies but also the world at largeâ€"our families, our communities, and our environment. We have the power to choose what we eat, and we have the potential for individual and global transformationâ€"simply by shifting our relationship to food. All it takes is a taste.(Publisher).
  • $25
Exceptionally Gifted Children (Second Edition) SIGNED

Exceptionally Gifted Children (Second Edition) SIGNED

Gross, Miraca U.M. Second Edition. Paperback. Signed and inscribed to previous owner by author in ink at title page. 9 1/2" X 7". 307pp. Very mild shelf wear to covers, corners, and edges of pictorial paper wraps. Pages are clean and unmarked. Binding is sound. ABOUT THIS BOOK: Exceptionally Gifted Children is unique. The first edition of this book, published in 1993, introduced 15 remarkable children, some of the most gifted young people ever studied, and traced their path through school, exploring their academic achievements (and in some cases enforced underachievement), their emotional development, their social relationships and their family relationships and upbringing. This new edition reviews these early years but also follows the young people over the subsequent ten years into adulthood. No previous study has traced so closely and so sensitively the intellectual, social and emotional development of highly gifted young people. This 20 year study reveals the ongoing negative academic and social effects of prolonged underachievement and social isolation imposed on gifted children by inappropriate curriculum and class placement and shows clearly the long lasting benefits of thoughtfully planned individual educational programs. The young adults of this study speak out and show how what happened in school has influenced and still influences many aspects of their lives. Miraca Gross provides a clear, practical blueprint for teachers and parents who recognise the special learning needs of gifted children and seek to respond effectively.(Publisher).
  • $30