Exploring the journey of reconnection to faith, the narrative follows Karlen as he navigates his path back to Judaism. Infused with both humor and heartfelt moments, it serves as a relatable parable for anyone seeking to rediscover their beliefs and identity.
"A warm and surprisingly real-life biography, featuring never-before-seen photos, of one of rock's greatest talents: Prince. Neal Karlen was the only journalist Prince granted in-depth press interviews to for over a dozen years, from before Purple Rain to when the artist changed his name to an unpronounceable glyph. Karlen interviewed Prince for three Rolling Stone 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. 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. 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. Going back to Prince Rogers Nelson's roots, especially his contradictory, often tortured, and sometimes violent relationship with his father, This Thing Called Life 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 The Wire and could quote from every episode of The Office, 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'"-- Provided by publisher
Karlens delightfully engaging, sometimes irreverent history of the Yiddish language chronologically charts the language from its beginnings as a minor dialect in 11th-century France to its unlikely revival and electrifying 21st-century renaissance.
Delving into the hidden world of Minneapolis, this book uncovers a tapestry of family secrets intertwined with gangsters, gambling, and brothels. It reveals the intricate social dynamics of organized crime, painting a vivid picture of the darker side of the city. Through its exploration of these themes, it offers a compelling glimpse into a life shaped by illicit activities and the complexities of familial ties amidst the chaos.