The first volume of a collection of short stories by Sean Dietrich, a writer, humorist, and novelist, known for his commentary on life in the American South. His humor and short fiction appear in various publications throughout the Southeast.

Wildly entertaining, Maria Riva reveals the rich life of her mother in vivid detail. Opening with Dietrich’s childhood in Berlin, we meet an energetic, disciplined, and ambitious young actress whose own mother equated the stage with a world of vagabonds and thieves. Dietrich would quickly rise to stardom on the Berlin stage in the 1920s with her sharp wit and bisexualality—while wearing the top hat and tails that revolutionized our concept of beauty and femininity. Dietrich comes alive in these pages in all of her incarnations: as muse, artistic collaborator, bonafide movie star, box-office poison, lover, wife, and mother. She would stand up to the Nazis and galvanize American troops, eventually earning the Congressional Medal of Freedom. There were her artistic relationships with Josef von Sternberg (The Blue Angle, Morocco, Shanghai Express), Colette, Erich Maria Remarque, Noël Coward, and Cole Porter, and her heady romances. In her final years, she would make herself visibly invisible, devoting herself to the immortality of her legend. Marlene Dietrich: The Life captures this complex and astonishing woman. Maria Riva’s biography of her mother has the depth, range, and resonance of a novel and captures the conviction and passion of its remarkable subject.

"In this collection of interviews and photographs, the many facets of Dietrich's personality and of her life during World War II are recounted by those whose lives she touched"--Front flap of jacket.

“WilliamDietrich...should be read by anyone who loves adventure at its grandest!”—James Rollins, author of Alter of Eden Atthe height of WWII, a quartet of daring American adventurers pits theircunning against a cadre of Nazi S.S. agents seeking to acquire a powerfulweapon for the Fuhrer’s arsenal; today, as the Nazi specter begins to rear itshead once again, the descendants of those long-ago adventurers must unlock thesecrets of their forebears’ mission in order to save the world from Hitler’sresurgent Reich. Now, modern science and ancient Tibetan mythology surround adaring zoologist and a beautiful aviatrix who are all that stand between theNazis and world domination in New YorkTimes bestselling author William Dietrich’s Blood of the Reich, a knockout stand-alone novel perfect for fansof Ken Follett, Frederick Forsyth, and Thor Brad.

Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award (Biography) Named of the Best Books of the Year by the Washington Post and the Boston Globe Magisterial in scope, this dual biography examines two complex lives that began alike but ended on opposite sides of the century’s greatest conflict. Marlene Dietrich and Leni Riefenstahl, born less than a year apart, lived so close to each other that Riefenstahl could see into Dietrich’s Berlin apartment. Coming of age at the dawn of the Weimar Republic, both sought fame in Germany’s burgeoning motion picture industry. While Dietrich’s depiction of Lola-Lola in The Blue Angel catapulted her to Hollywood stardom, Riefenstahl—who missed out on the part—insinuated herself into Hitler’s inner circle to direct groundbreaking if infamous Nazi propaganda films, like Triumph of the Will. Dietrich, who toured tirelessly with the USO, could never truly go home again; Riefenstahl could never shake her Nazi past. Acclaimed German historian Karin Wieland examines these lives within the vicious crosscurrents of a turbulent century, evoking piercing insights into "the modern era’s most difficult questions, about illusion and mass intoxication, art and truth, courage and capitulation" (New Yorker).

The original texts of lieder are accompanied by line-by-line translations

In this heartfelt tale about enduring hope amid the suffering of the Great Depression, Sean Dietrich—also known as Sean of the South—weaves together a tale featuring a cast of characters ranging from a child preacher, a teenage healer, and two migrant workers who give everything they have for their chosen family. When fifteen-year-old Marigold becomes pregnant during the Great Depression, she is rejected by her family and forced to fend for herself. She is arrested while trying to steal food and loses her baby in the forest, turning her whole world upside down. She’s even more distraught upon discovering she has an inexplicable power to heal, making her a sought-after local legend. Meanwhile, middle-aged migrant workers Vern and Paul discover a violet-eyed baby abandoned in the woods and take it upon themselves to care for her. The men continue their search for work and soon pair up with a poverty-stricken widow, plus her two children, and the misfit family begins taking care of each other. As survival brings this chosen family together, a young boy finds himself without a friend to his name as the dust storms rage across Kansas. Fourteen-year-old Coot, a child preacher, is on the run from his abusive tent-revival pastor father with thousands of stolen dollars—and the only thing he’s sure of is that Mobile, Alabama, is his destination. In a sweeping saga with a looming second world war, these stories intertwine in surprising ways, reminding us that when the dust clears, we can still see the stars. Stand-alone Southern historical fiction set during the Great Depression Book length: approximately 98,000 words Includes discussion questions for book clubs Also by Sean Dietrich: The Incredible Winston Browne

Beloved writer Sean Dietrich—also known as Sean of the South—will warm your heart with this rich and nostalgic tale of a small-town sheriff, a mysterious little girl, and a good-hearted community pulling together to help her. Folks in Moab live for ice cream socials, baseball, and the local paper’s weekly gossip column. Sheriff Winston Browne has watched over Moab with a generous eye for a decade, and by now he’s used to handling the daily dramas that keep life interesting for Moab’s quirky residents. But just after Winston receives some terrible, life-altering news, a seemingly mute runaway with no clear origin arrives in Moab. The residents do what they believe is right and take her in—until two suspicious strangers arrive and begin looking for her. Suddenly Winston has a child in desperate need of protection—as well as a secret of his own to keep. With the help of Moab’s goodhearted townsfolk, the humble and well-meaning Winston Browne still has some heroic things to do. He finds romance, family, and love in unexpected places. He stumbles upon adventure, searches his soul, and grapples with the past. In doing so, he just might discover what a life well-lived truly looks like. Sometimes ordinary people do the most extraordinary things of all. Praise for The Incredible Winston Browne: “Sean Dietrich has written a home run of a novel with The Incredible Winston Browne. Every bit as wonderful as its title implies, it’s the story of Browne—a principled, baseball-loving sheriff—a precocious little girl in need of help, and the community that rallies around them. This warm, witty, tender novel celebrates the power of friendship and family to transform our lives. It left me nostalgic and hopeful, missing my grandfathers, and eager for baseball season to start again. I loved it.” —Ariel Lawhon, New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia “Make no mistake. [The Incredible Winston Browne] is a classic story, told by an expert storyteller.” —Shawn Smucker, author of Light from Distant Stars Stand-alone historical novel set in the 1950s Includes discussion questions for book clubs Also from Sean Dietrich: Stars of Alabama

How Creativity Happens In The Brain is about the brain mechanisms of creativity, how a grapefruit-sized heap of meat crackling with electricity manages to be so outrageously creative. It has a sharp focus: to stick exclusively to sound, mechanistic explanations and convey what we can, and cannot, say about how brains give rise to creative ideas.