Biography & Queer

Chastity Bono (now Chaz) was born in 1969 to Sonny and Cher, two of the most famous hippies of their generation. They entertained us with their music, humor, and style during a time of radical social and political change, a time that heralded being real, being free, and being whomever you wanted to be. Their beautiful baby girl, however, was going through changes of her own, trying to be who she wanted to be, which, it turns out, was a boy. In this candid and amazing memoir, Chaz discusses his 40-year struggle to become the man he was truly meant to be. With courage and honesty, he offers insight and understanding into his difficult and, ultimately, triumphant journey to be himself. —George

Local author Carolyn Burke’s definitive biography is a no-holds-barred account of France’s most famous chanteuse. From her gritty upbringing on the streets of Paris to her glamorous and destructive international fame, Edith Piaf was a woman ahead of her time. No Regrets offers to the reader this: Piaf may have lived wildly and died young, but “she had the life she wanted, filled with ‘hectic drama’ fueled by the singer’s ‘boundless joie de vivre.’” (Kirkus Reviews) —Kimberly

“In this beautifully written and culturally important biography, Bryant…tells the Hank Aaron story with gusto and a ferocious sweep. There is plenty of baseball, but just as important, the book includes front-office politics and the struggles of those who, like Aaron, came up right behind Jackie Robinson,” says the Washington Post.

Henrietta Lacks, a poor Southern tobacco farmer, was buried in an unmarked grave 60 years ago. Yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medical research. “Writing with a novelist’s artistry, a biologist’s expertise, and the zeal of an investigative reporter, Skloot tells a truly astonishing story of racism and poverty, science and conscience, spirituality and family driven by a galvanizing inquiry into the sanctity of the body and the very nature of the life force.” —Booklist, starred review