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Paradise of the damned : the true story of an obsessive quest for El Dorado, the legendary city of gold / by Thomson, Keith,1965-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.The transporting account of an obsessive quest to find El Dorado, set against the backdrop of Elizabethan political intrigue and a competition with Spanish conquistadors for the legendary city's treasure. As early as 1530, reports of El Dorado, a city of gold in the South American interior, beckoned to European explorers. Whether there was any truth to the stories remained to be seen, but the allure of unimaginable riches was enough to ensnare dozens of would-be heroes and glory hounds in the desperate hunt. Among them was Sir Walter Raleigh: ambitious courtier, confidant to Queen Elizabeth, and, before long, El Dorado fanatic. Entering the Elizabethan court as an upstart from a family whose days of nobility were far behind them, Raleigh used his military acumen, good looks, and sheer audacity to scramble into the limelight. Yet that same swagger proved to be his undoing, as his secret marriage to a lady-in-waiting enraged Queen Elizabeth and landed him in the Tower of London. Between his ensuing grim prospects at court and his underlying lust for adventure, the legend of El Dorado became an unwavering siren song that hypnotized Raleigh. On securing his release, he journeyed across an ocean to find the fabled city, gambling his painstakingly acquired wealth, hard-won domestic bliss, and his very life. What awaited him in the so-called New World were endless miles of hot, dense jungle packed with deadly flora and fauna, warring Spanish conquistadors and Indigenous civilizations, and other unforeseen dangers. Meanwhile, back at home, his multitude of rivals plotted his demise. Paradise of the Damned, like Keith Thomson's critically acclaimed Born to Be Hanged, brings this story to life in lush and captivating detail. The book charts Raleigh's obsessive search for El Dorado -- as well as the many doomed expeditions that preceded and accompanied his -- providing not only an invaluable history but also a gripping narrative of traveling to the ends of the earth only to realize, too late, that what lies at home is the greatest treasure of all.
Subjects: Biographies.; Raleigh, Walter, Sir, 1552?-1618.; El Dorado.; Explorers;

A funny kind of paradise / by Owens, Jo,1961-author.;
When her husband left her with a baby, a toddler and a fledgling business, Francesca managed--she wasn't always gentle or patient, but the business thrived and Chris and Angelina had food to eat. At nearly 70, she feels she's earned a peaceful retirement. But when a massive stroke leaves her voiceless, partially paralyzed and wholly reliant on the staff of an extended care facility, it seems her freedom is lost. However, Francesca is still clear-headed and sharp, and she knows one thing: she wants to live. She savours her view of a majestic chestnut tree through the hospital window, and speaks in her mind to her beloved friend Anna, dead for two years. The daily tasks and dramas of the rotating crew of care aides tether her to the world: Young Lily, eager to fall in love and regularly falling apart when things don't work out; Michiko, with her spiky hair and tattoos and wicked sense of humour; Molly, endlessly kind and skilled in her work; Blaire, cold and enigmatic. Amidst the indignities of bed baths and a feeding tube, Francesca is surprised to experience flashes of hilarity and joy, even the blossoming of a new friendship with a fellow patient. But as she reflects to Anna on her dutiful son and her troubled and absent daughter, regrets and painful realizations rise to the surface. For the first time, there is nowhere for Francesca to hide from her own choices, and she must reckon with her past before it's too late. A Funny Kind of Paradise is a warm and insightful novel about one woman's opportunity for reinvention--for unconditional love, acceptance and closure--in the unlikeliest of places.
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Mother and child; Cerebrovascular disease; Long-term care facilities; Older people;

Dante [videorecording] : inferno to paradise / by Cox, Alan,1970-narrator.; Burns, Ric,television director,screenwriter.; Fazzini, Antonio,on-screen participant.; Fraser, Fattori,on-screen participant.; Tulaine, Dikran,on-screen participant.; PBS Distribution (Firm),distributor.; Public Broadcasting Service (U.S.),broadcaster.;
Alan Cox, Antonio Fazzini, Fattori Fraser, Dikran Tulaine.Dante: Inferno to Paradise explores the riveting life and times of Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) and his soaring masterpiece, The Divine Comedy, arguably the greatest single work ever created in the history of Western literature. Directed by Ric Burns, and written by Burns and Riccardo Bruscagli, the film chronicles the mesmerizing story, at once dreamlike and hyper-real, that unfolds within the poem itself, the story of how Dante managed to create it under such unpromising circumstances, and how it has been transmitted over time.E.Closed-captioned for the hearing impaired.Subtitled for the deaf and hard-of-hearing (SDH).DVD ; wide screen presentation ; Dolby Digital 5.1.
Subjects: Video recordings for the hearing impaired.; Nonfiction television programs.; Biographical films.; Television mini-series.; Biographical television programs.; Documentary television programs.; Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321.; Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321.; Authors, Italian; Poets, Italian; Authors, Italian; Poets, Italian;
For private home use only.

Queenie Malone's Paradise Hotel / by Hogan, Ruth,1961-author.;
Tilly was a bright, outgoing little girl who liked playing with ghosts and matches. She loved fizzy drinks, swear words, fish fingers and Catholic churches, but most of all she loved living in Brighton in Queenie Malone's magnificent Paradise Hotel with its endearing and loving family of misfits-- staff and guests alike. But Tilly's childhood was shattered when her mother sent her away from the only home she'd ever loved to boarding school with little explanation and no warning. Now, Tilda has grown into an independent woman still damaged by her mother's unaccountable cruelty. Wary of people, her only friend is her dog, Eli. But when her mother dies, Tilda goes back to Brighton and with the help of her beloved Queenie sets about unravelling the mystery of her exile from The Paradise Hotel and discovers that her mother was not the woman she thought she knew at all ... Mothers and daughters ... their story can be complicated ... it can also turn out to have a happy ending.
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Psychological fiction.; Mothers and daughters; Heiresses; Friendship; Family secrets;

A kind of mirraculas paradise : a true story about schizophrenia / by Allen, Sandra(Nonfiction writer),author.;
"Dazzlingly, daringly written, marrying the thoughtful originality of Maggie Nelson's The Argonauts with the revelatory power of Neurotribes and The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, this propulsive, stunning book illuminates the experience of living with schizophrenia like never before. Sandra Allen did not know her uncle Bob very well. As a child, she had been told he was "crazy," that he had spent time in mental hospitals while growing up in Berkeley in the 60s and 70s. But Bob had lived a hermetic life in a remote part of California for longer than she had been alive, and what little she knew of him came from rare family reunions or odd, infrequent phone calls. Then in 2009 Bob mailed her his autobiography. Typewritten in all caps, a stream of error-riddled sentences over sixty, single-spaced pages, the often incomprehensible manuscript proclaimed to be a "true story" about being "labeled a psychotic paranoid schizophrenic," and arrived with a plea to help him get his story out to the world. In A Kind of Mirraculas Paradise, Allen translates her uncle's autobiography, artfully creating a gripping coming-of-age story while sticking faithfully to the facts as he shared them. Lacing Bob's narrative with chapters providing greater contextualization, Allen also shares background information about her family, the culturally explosive time and place of her uncle's formative years, and the vitally important questions surrounding schizophrenia and mental healthcare in America more broadly. The result is a heartbreaking and sometimes hilarious portrait of a young man striving for stability in his life as well as his mind, and an utterly unique lens into an experience that, to most people, remains unimaginable"--
Subjects: Autobiographies.; Biographies.; Allen, Sandra (Nonfiction writer); Schizophrenia;

Robert B. Parker's fool's paradise / by Lupica, Mike,author.; Parker, Robert B.,1932-2010,creator.;
"When a body is discovered at the lake in Paradise, Police Chief Jesse Stone is surprised to find he recognizes the murder victim--the man had been at the same AA meeting as Jesse the evening before. But otherwise, Jesse has no clue as to the man's identity. He isn't a local, nor does he have ID on him, nor does any neighboring state have a reported missing person matching the man's description. Their single lead is from a taxi company that recalls dropping off the mysterious stranger outside the gate at the mansion of one of the wealthiest families in town ... Meanwhile, after Jesse survives a hail of gunfire on his home, he wonders if it could be related to the mysterious murder. When both Molly Crane and Suitcase Simpson also become targets, it's clear someone has an ax to grind against the entire Paradise Police Department"--
Subjects: Detective and mystery fiction.; Stone, Jesse (Fictitious character); Police chiefs; Murder; Attempted murder;

Robert B. Parker's fool's paradise [sound recording] / by Lupica, Mike,author.; Naughton, James,narrator.; Parker, Robert B.,1932-2010,creator.; Random House Audio Publishing,publisher.;
Read by James Naughton."When a body is discovered at the lake in Paradise, Police Chief Jesse Stone is surprised to find he recognizes the murder victim--the man had been at the same AA meeting as Jesse the evening before. But otherwise, Jesse has no clue as to the man's identity. He isn't a local, nor does he have ID on him, nor does any neighboring state have a reported missing person matching the man's description. Their single lead is from a taxi company that recalls dropping off the mysterious stranger outside the gate at the mansion of one of the wealthiest families in town ... Meanwhile, after Jesse survives a hail of gunfire on his home, he wonders if it could be related to the mysterious murder. When both Molly Crane and Suitcase Simpson also become targets, it's clear someone has an ax to grind against the entire Paradise Police Department"--
Subjects: Detective and mystery fiction.; Audiobooks.; Stone, Jesse (Fictitious character); Attempted murder; Murder; Police chiefs;

The half known life : in search of paradise / by Iyer, Pico,author.;
"A journey through competing ideas of paradise to see how we can live more peacefully in an ever more divided and distracted world"--
Subjects: Paradise.; Spiritual life.; Travel;

The Good Place. [videorecording] / by Bell, Kristen,1980-actor.; Harper, William Jackson,actor.; Jamil, Jameela,actor.;
Kristen Bell, William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil, D'Arcy Carden, Manny Jacinto.What happens when we die? It's a question everyone has asked, since the beginning of time. But when Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell, Veronica Mars) dies tragically, she finds out that the afterlife is amazing; full of frozen yogurt, soulmates, and wonderful people who have done incredible things with their lives. It is absolutely perfect. The only problem is Eleanor isn't supposed to be in The Good Place. In fact, her life decisions wouldn't have even gotten her close. But due to a clerical error, she's been given someone else's reward and now has to struggle with being good in order to make sure her secret isn't discovered.PG.DVD ; widescreen presentation ; Dolby Digital 5.1.
Subjects: Television comedies.; Video recordings for the hearing impaired.; Future life; Paradise; Women and death;
For private home use only.

The Good Place. [videorecording] / by Bell, Kristen,1980-actor.; Harper, William Jackson,1980-actor.; Jamil, Jameela,1986-actor.; Shout! Factory (Firm),publisher.;
Kristen Bell, William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil.What On Earth? Michael Schur (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Parks And Recreation) brings you the fourth and final season of this hilarious comedy about the afterlife. Eleanor (Kristen Bell, Veronica Mars), Chidi (William Jackson Harper), Tahani (Jameela Jamil), and Jason (Manny Jacinto) are four cosmically bound friends in the fight for their eternity, alongside their former torturer, Michael (Ted Danson), and sentient database assistant, Janet (D'Arcy Carden).At the end of Season 3, a new test had begun. Michael, in a fit of panic, had relinquished his role as "the Architect" to Eleanor, so that she and the gang could help four new residents become better people. Unfortunately, the Bad Place doesn't exactly make their task easy and its latest move places Chidi in a dire situation, putting his relationship with Eleanor and the others in jeopardy.Canadian Home Video Rating: PG.DVD ; widescreen presentation ; Dolby Digital 5.1.
Subjects: Television comedies.; Television programs.; Video recordings for the hearing impaired.; Future life; Neighbors; Paradise; Women and death;
For private home use only.

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