Best Selling Books by David Rensin

It’s like a plot from a Hollywood potboiler: start out in the mailroom, end up a mogul. But for many, it happens to be true. Some of the biggest names in entertainment—including David Geffen, Barry Diller, and Michael Ovitz— started their dazzling careers in the lowly mailroom. Based on more than two hundred interviews, David Rensin unfolds the never-before-told history of an American institution—in the voices of the people who lived it. Through nearly seven decades of glamour and humiliation, lousy pay and incredible perks, killer egos and a kill-or-be-killed ethos, you’ll go where the trainees go, learn what they must do to get ahead, and hear the best insider stories from the Hollywood everyone knows about but no one really knows. A vibrant tapestry of dreams, desire, and exploitation, The Mailroom is not only an engrossing read but a crash course, taught by the experts, on how to succeed in Hollywood.

What would my mother say? How would she want me to handle this situation? How can I make this tough decision and stay true to myself? What would my mother say? Sam Haskell still asks himself these questions every day. When Haskell was young, his devoted mother, Mary, instilled in her son the values of character, faith, and honor by setting an example and asking him to promise to live his life according to her lessons. He did, and those promises have served Haskell consistently from his Mississippi boyhood to his long career at the venerable William Morris Agency in Beverly Hills. In this inspiring memoir full of touching stories and amusing anecdotes, Haskell reveals how he kept his pledge to his mother to live a decent life–even in the shark-infested waters of Hollywood, where he handled the hottest stars and packaged the highest-rated shows–by refusing to become the cliché of an amoral agent. Here is Haskell as a child in Amory, Mississippi (pop. 7,000), discovering the power of hope as he waits for an unlikely visit from the “Cheer Man” (a representative of the detergent company who gave ten dollars to anyone using the brand), learning humility after pursuing an eighth-grade “Good Citizenship” award he cockily assumed he’d win, confronting the complications of human character when a near-fatal car crash exposed his judgmental father’s true nature. Years later, in Hollywood, Haskell would rely on his mother’s teachings–honesty, self-reliance, and belief in God–as he swiftly rose from the William Morris mailroom to eventually become the company’s Worldwide Head of Television. His capacity for friendship and his insistence on living his version of the Golden Rule (being “thoughtfully political”) allowed him to handle various client crises and the tense negotiations that nearly scuttled the last years of Everybody Loves Raymond and the entire existence of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Haskell has achieved success through self-respect, and from his story we learn how we, too, can maintain our dignity when faced with life’s challenges. This stirring memoir is a testament to mothers everywhere who instill in their sons the lasting values they need to become good men and devoted fathers.

The bestselling autobiography of the legendary Louis Zamperini, hero of the blockbuster Unbroken. A modern classic by an American legend, Devil at My Heels is the riveting and deeply personal memoir by U.S. Olympian, World War II bombardier, and POW survivor Louis Zamperini. His inspiring story of courage, resilience, and faith has captivated readers and audiences of Unbroken, now a major motion picture directed by Angelina Jolie. In Devil at My Heels, his official autobiography (co-written with longtime collaborator David Rensin), Zamperini shares his own first-hand account of extraordinary journey—hailed as “one of the most incredible American lives of the past century” (People). A youthful troublemaker, a world-class NCAA miler, a 1936 Olympian, a WWII bombardier: Louis Zamperini had a fuller life than most. But on May 27, 1943, it all changed in an instant when his B-24 crashed into the Pacific Ocean, leaving Louis and two other survivors drifting on a raft for forty-seven days and two thousand miles, waiting in vain to be rescued. And the worst was yet to come when they finally reached land, only to be captured by the Japanese. Louis spent the next two years as a prisoner of war—tortured and humiliated, routinely beaten, starved and forced into slave labor—while the Army Air Corps declared him dead and sent official condolences to his family. On his return home, memories of the war haunted him nearly destroyed his marriage until a spiritual rebirth transformed him and led him to dedicate the rest of his long and happy life to helping at-risk youth. Told in Zamperini’s own voice, Devil at My Heels is an unforgettable memoir from one of the greatest of the “Greatest Generation,” a living document about the brutality of war, the tenacity of the human spirit, and the power of faith.

A Los Angeles Times bestseller, David Rensin’s biography reveals the audacious life and legend of rebel surfer Miki Dora. “The most complete portrait of Dora ever painted, but also a solid recounting of surfing’s original boom years and a thin, peculiar slice of Americana in the late 1950s and early 60s . . . All for a Few Perfect Waves is much more than just another day at the beach.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review For twenty years, Miki “Da Cat” Dora was the king of Malibu surfers—a dashing, enigmatic rebel who dominated the waves, ruled his peers’ imaginations, and who still inspires the fantasies of wannabes to this day. And yet, Dora railed against surfing’s sudden post-Gidget popularity and the overcrowding of his once empty waves, even after this avid sportsman, iconoclast, and scammer of wide repute ran afoul of the law and led the FBI on a remarkable seven-year chase around the globe in 1974. The New York Times named him “the most renegade spirit the sport has yet to produce” and Vanity Fair called him “a dark prince of the beach.” To fully capture Dora’s never-before-told story, David Rensin spent four years interviewing hundreds of Dora’s friends, enemies, family members, lovers, and fellow surfers to uncover the untold truth about surfing’s most outrageous practitioner, charismatic antihero, committed loner, and enduring mystery. “Miki took to his grave many stories that no one will ever know, but this book will also tell many and give new insight into his life.” —Kelly Slater, best-known surfer in the world

WHAT MEN WANT. WHAT MEN FEEL. WHAT WOMEN NEED TO KNOW. When Dr. Brandy Engler opened her sex therapy practice for women in Manhattan, she got a big surprise. Most of the calls were from men. They wanted to talk about womanizing, porn addiction, impotence, prostitutes—and most of all, love. Her patients were everyday guys from all walks of life. Among them were David, the Wall Street hotshot and compulsive womanizer; Charles, an introvert who kept pushing away the fiancée he thought was too beautiful for him; Paul, the self-made man who visited massage parlors despite his sexy wife; and the men’s group whose stark revelations about male anger and their search for the right woman will open your eyes. In The Men on My Couch, Dr. Engler allows readers inside those private sessions to witness her exciting and evocative encounters with what men desire and fear. Dr. Engler tells her own story, too. At first her patients’ revelations are painful and disconcerting, especially against the backdrop of her own difficult love affair. Yet Dr. Engler lets readers experience how she evolves both professionally and personally, from chagrin to compassion, and reconciles her idealized notions of love and sex with the unexpected and raw truths she hears in the office. The Men on My Couch is unlike books you’ve read before. There are no tired facile conclusions or pejorative generalizations. Here are fresh insights into modern sexual maladies, gleaned from real people having real struggles and experiencing real epiphanies—in the real world. This book will change how both women and men think about love, sex, and desire.

Legendary Hollywood supermanager and producer Bernie Brillstein reveals his collection of wisdom gleaned from his fifty years of insight, instinct, and experience in both business and life. An uncommon collection of common sense, The Little Stuff Matters Most delivers the hard and fast lessons of Brillstein’s unparalleled business experience in fifty pithy, wise, and completely entertaining essays. Brillstein, whose name is synonymous with some of the highest-profile Hollywood careers, shares these invaluable lessons in the clever, unfailingly honest, and inimitable tone for which he is known and loved. Memorable tips include: Know the difference between "hot" and "good" Only doctors and hookers need pagers Don’t pet the snakes Have an opinion, even it it’s wrong It’s all lies, and that’s the truth When your time has come, success will find you The stomachache—and other gastrointestinal warnings Each of the book’s fifty "Bernie-isms" is followed by refreshing commentary, peppered with colorful tales from Bernie’s career and clever drawings by acclaimed New Yorker cartoonist David Sipress. This book is the next best thing to having your own personal manager on call 24/7—without having to fork over 15 percent of your paycheck.

New York Times Bestseller: This memoir by the Unbroken hero “brims with sage wisdom . . . and fond observations from his adventurous ninety-seven years” (Kirkus Reviews). Completed just two days before Louis Zamperini’s death at age ninety-seven, Don’t Give Up, Don’t Give In shares a lifetime of wisdom, insight, and humor from “one of the most incredible American lives of the past century” (People). Zamperini’s story has touched millions through Laura Hillenbrand’s biography Unbroken and its blockbuster movie adaptation. Here, in his own words, Zamperini reveals with warmth and great charm the essential values and lessons that sustained him throughout his remarkable journey. He was a youthful troublemaker from California who turned his life around to become a 1936 Olympian. Putting aside his track career, he volunteered for the army before Pearl Harbor and was thrust into World War II as a B-24 bombardier. While on a rescue mission, his plane went down in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, where he survived against all odds, drifting two thousand miles on a small raft for forty-seven days. His struggle was only beginning: Zamperini was captured by the Japanese, and for more than two years he courageously endured torture and psychological abuse in a series of POW camps. He returned home to face more dark hours—but in 1949 Zamperini’s life was transformed by a spiritual rebirth that would guide him through the next sixty-five years of his long and happy life. Louis Zamperini’s Don’t Give Up, Don’t Give In is an extraordinary last testament that captures the wisdom of a life lived to the fullest. “A fitting capstone to the Zamperini legend.” —USA Today

The story of the critically acclaimed musician''s personal odyssey from his childhood under a Greek military dictatorship to his wild years playing rock-and-roll across America.

Bob is more than a name. It''s a verb, an attitude, an entire way of life. The full meaning of Bobness is now revealed in the words of famous and regular Bobs themselves in this offbeat, humorous tribute to Bobs everywhere. Illustrated with celebrity photographs throughout.

The talent agent who worked with the likes of John Belushi, Jim Henson, Phil Hartman, and Dennis Miller reveals how he began at the mail room at the William Morris Agency, working his way to the top. 25,000 first printing.

A noted Hollywood manager and producer draws on his own fifty-year career to provide fifty important lessons, insights, words of wisdom, and rules that can be applied to the business world, including such memorable tips as "Don''t pet the snakes," "Have an opinion, even if it''s wrong," "It''s all lies, and that''s the truth," and "Know the difference between hot and good." 50,000 first printing

In uscita il film Unbroken sulla vita di Louis Zamperini Un''incredibile storia vera La vita dell’atleta olimpionico, eroe di guerra e sopravvissuto alla prigionia giapponese Louis Zamperini è stato un atleta olimpico e un eroe della seconda guerra mondiale, sopravvissuto a un incidente aereo avvenuto il 27 maggio 1943, nell’ambito delle operazioni belliche sullo scacchiere del Pacifico. Il suo B-24, infatti, cadde in picchiata nell’oceano, e Louis e altri due superstiti rimasero per ben 47 giorni su una zattera, in balia delle privazioni e degli squali, in trepidante attesa di essere salvati. Ma a riportarli sulla terraferma non furono i loro commilitoni, bensì i soldati giapponesi. Comincerà così un vero e proprio calvario per Zamperini, che passerà i successivi due anni come prigioniero di guerra: verrà torturato e umiliato, picchiato, ridotto alla fame, costretto a lavorare come uno schiavo e perfino sottoposto a esperimenti scientifici. Anni interminabili, durante i quali l’aviazione americana lo dichiarerà prima disperso e poi ufficialmente morto. Eppure Zamperini non si darà mai per vinto. Per questo la sua straordinaria vicenda resta ancora oggi un’indimenticabile prova di coraggio, di gloria e di vero eroismo. La sconvolgente e autentica storia dell’italoamericano Louis Zamperini, atleta alle Olimpiadi del 1936, eroe della II guerra mondiale, sopravvissuto alla prigionia giapponese. Un’incredibile vicenda umana dalle parole del suo protagonista appena scomparso all’età di novantasette anni. «Le sue memorie possono essere annoverate tra i libri fonte d’ispirazione, ma con il suo stile così leggibile, si va ad aggiungere anche al gran numero di testimonianze dirette sulla seconda guerra mondiale.» Library Journal «Questo libro non solo racconta l’interessante storia di una generazione che pian piano sta scomparendo, ma anche tutte le straordinarie esperienze che Zamperini ha sperimentato sulla sua pelle. Piacerà a molti lettori.» Booklist A gennaio del 2015 uscirà Unbroken, il film che racconta la storia di Zamperini, sceneggiato dai fratelli Coen e diretto da Angelina Jolie. Louis Zamperini nacque a Olean, a nord di New York, nel 1917 da immigrati italiani. Il padre era originario della provincia di Verona ed era arrivato da ragazzino in America. Il giovane Louis parlava solo italiano e fu preso di mira dai compagni di scuola. Il padre allora gli impartì qualche lezione di boxe e il fratello Pete, per allontanarlo dalle cattive compagnie, lo portò in pista a correre. In pochi anni divenne un fenomeno nei 5000 metri fino a partecipare alle Olimpiadi di Berlino del 1936 dove venne notato da Hilter che si volle congratulare con lui. Nel 1941, arruolato in aviazione, partecipò a diverse operazioni belliche, fino a quando non restò coinvolto in un incidente aereo. Naufragato e rimasto in mezzo al mare per 47 giorni, fu catturato dai giapponesi. Dopo due anni di prigionia riuscì a tornare negli Stati Uniti e a rifarsi una vita. È deceduto il 2 luglio 2014 all’età di novantasette anni. David Rensin autore e co-autore di diversi volumi vive a Los Angeles, in California, con la moglie e il figlio.

Os homens no meu divã retraça a psicologia singular da sexualidade masculina, que fará com que os leitores — homens e mulheres — reconsiderem suas ideias sobre sexo e amor. Quando a dra. Brandy Engler, psicóloga especializada em relacionamentos e sexualidade, abriu sua clínica de terapia sexual para mulheres em Manhattan, ela teve uma grande surpresa. A maioria das ligações era de homens. Eles queriam falar sobre relacionamento, vício em pornografia, impotência sexual, prostitutas e, acima de tudo, amor. Os homens no meu divã reúne alguns relatos dos pacientes da dra. Engler, homens comuns e de diferentes esferas sociais. Entre eles estavam David, o figurão e mulherengo compulsivo de Wall Street que gostaria de ter relações mais românticas e estáveis; Charles, um introvertido que sempre repelia a noiva por considerá-la bonita demais para ele; Paul, o executivo bem-sucedido que frequentava casas de massagem apesar da esposa sexy; e o grupo de homens com revelações gritantes sobre a raiva masculina e a busca pela mulher certa. Escrito em coautoria com David Rensin, a dra. Engler permite que os leitores testemunhem, por meio dos relatos das sessões de terapia, os desejos emocionantes e surpreendentes desses homens. Os homens no meu divã vai além das conclusões fáceis e das generalizações pejorativas e retraça a psicologia singular da sexualidade masculina, que inevitavelmente fará com que os leitores — homens e mulheres — reconsiderem suas ideias sobre sexo e amor. Aqui, estão novas percepções sobre as idiossincrasias sexuais modernas, colhidas de pessoas reais tendo lutas reais e experimentando epifanias reais. Desafiada a ajudar esses homens, dra. Engler explorou os desejos e os medos deles em busca de compreensão. Com muita franqueza, ela explicita suas reações às revelações dos homens e o impacto delas em seus próprios casos de amor. Logo se vê que houve um processo de ajuda mútua, pois os pacientes contribuíram para que ela evoluísse profissional e pessoalmente, reconciliando as próprias noções idealizadas de amor com as verdades cruas ouvidas no escritório. " Os homens no meu divã levará você às minhas sessões confidenciais de terapia e a testemunhar diálogos provocantes e fortes que revelam as principais questões subjacentes ao comportamento sexual masculino. Como uma mosca pousada na parede, você observará as emoções cruas e os motivos reais por trás das doenças sexuais modernas que levaram os meus pacientes a buscar ajuda. À diferença da maioria dos outros livros sobre o comportamento sexual masculino, neste você também ficará a par das minhas reações profissionais e pessoais, tanto as que compartilhei nas sessões quanto aquelas que não expressei verbalmente. Em pouco tempo descobri uma verdade constante: raramente o sexo é só sexo. O sexo é uma experiência carregada de outros sentidos."

Quelles étaient les chances d''un pauvre gamin de Kalamata ne sachant ni lire la musique (mais ayant appris seul le piano a huit ans), ni danser, ni chanter, ni composer des paroles, ne se conformant à aucun style musical particulier et ne voulant pas jouer le "°jeu°" de l''industrie du spectacle - de réussir et, surtout, d''être reconnu mondialement°? Pratiquement aucune. Mais ce n''était pas impossible. Et c''est arrivé.

As remarkable as Docker containers are, they still need to be heavily scheduled and orchestrated to run efficiently, and seamlessly replaced and re-balanced when they fail. It''s a big job, well beyond the abilities of Chef, Puppet, and similar tools. This O''Reilly report introduces you to Kubernetes, a cluster management system from Google that''s capable of scheduling and launching roughly 7,000 containers a second . Dave Rensin, who directs Global Cloud Support and Services at Google, explains piece-by-piece how this system works. If you''ve created at least one simple container with Docker, you''ll understand how to get started with Kubernetes by using one of several options. Examine pods, a collection of containers bundled and scheduled together Run through volumes, the filesystems your container can see and use Create and organize pods with labels and annotations Use replication controllers to manage replicas: multiple copies of a pod Set up services, long-lived endpoints that identify a set of pods in your cluster Get started using your own servers, VMs from the public cloud, or a managed offering from a major cloud provider Find examples on GitHub of Kubernetes in use, including WordPress and Guestbook.

Pocas veces calificativos tan dispares han recaído en una única persona a lo largo de su vida: Da Cat, El Caballero Negro, El Rey de Malibú, El Chico Fiasco, El Albóndiga, El Gitano de Malibú... Pero aun así, seguramente ninguno de ellos pudo concentrar toda la esencia del impenetrable Miki Dora, ese gitano supersónico condenado por sí mismo a vagar eternamente por el mundo en busca de olas perfectas, en busca de su paraíso perdido. Más allá de sus peripecias delictivas y de su huida del FBI durante años, la historia de Miki Dora es un lamento descarnado por ese paraíso perdido, cualquiera que sea éste: el hogar, la patria, la familia, un puñado de olas solitarias o una inocencia de la que Miki Dora tuvo que desprenderse demasiado pronto. Esta es su historia, contada por cientos de personas que de una manera u otra,formaron parte de su vida. Solitario, rebelde, proscrito, errante, leyenda.

" Os homens no meu divã retraça a psicologia singular da sexualidade masculina, que fará com que os leitores — homens e mulheres — reconsiderem suas ideias sobre sexo e amor. Quando a dra. Brandy Engler, psicóloga especializada em relacionamentos e sexualidade, abriu sua clínica de terapia sexual para mulheres em Manhattan, ela teve uma grande surpresa. A maioria das ligações era de homens. Eles queriam falar sobre relacionamento, vício em pornografia, impotência sexual, prostitutas e, acima de tudo, amor. Os homens no meu divã reúne alguns relatos dos pacientes da dra. Engler, homens comuns e de diferentes esferas sociais. Entre eles estavam David, o figurão e mulherengo compulsivo de Wall Street que gostaria de ter relações mais românticas e estáveis; Charles, um introvertido que sempre repelia a noiva por considerá-la bonita demais para ele; Paul, o executivo bem-sucedido que frequentava casas de massagem apesar da esposa sexy; e o grupo de homens com revelações gritantes sobre a raiva masculina e a busca pela mulher certa. Escrito em coautoria com David Rensin, a dra. Engler permite que os leitores testemunhem, por meio dos relatos das sessões de terapia, os desejos emocionantes e surpreendentes desses homens. Os homens no meu divã vai além das conclusões fáceis e das generalizações pejorativas e retraça a psicologia singular da sexualidade masculina, que inevitavelmente fará com que os leitores — homens e mulheres — reconsiderem suas ideias sobre sexo e amor. Aqui, estão novas percepções sobre as idiossincrasias sexuais modernas, colhidas de pessoas reais tendo lutas reais e experimentando epifanias reais. Desafiada a ajudar esses homens, dra. Engler explorou os desejos e os medos deles em busca de compreensão. Com muita franqueza, ela explicita suas reações às revelações dos homens e o impacto delas em seus próprios casos de amor. Logo se vê que houve um processo de ajuda mútua, pois os pacientes contribuíram para que ela evoluísse profissional e pessoalmente, reconciliando as próprias noções idealizadas de amor com as verdades cruas ouvidas no escritório. “Os homens no meu divã levará você às minhas sessões confidenciais de terapia e a testemunhar diálogos provocantes e fortes que revelam as principais questões subjacentes ao comportamento sexual masculino. Como uma mosca pousada na parede, você observará as emoções cruas e os motivos reais por trás das doenças sexuais modernas que levaram os meus pacientes a buscar ajuda. À diferença da maioria dos outros livros sobre o comportamento sexual masculino, neste você também ficará a par das minhas reações profissionais e pessoais, tanto as que compartilhei nas sessões quanto aquelas que não expressei verbalmente. Em pouco tempo descobri uma verdade constante: raramente o sexo é só sexo. O sexo é uma experiência carregada de outros sentidos.” "

On the life and work of a Greece musicians.

Fils d''immigrants italiens, Louis Zamperini est né en 1917. Après une jeunesse délinquante, il arrache le record du monde étudiant du mile. Sélectionné pour courir aux jeux olympiques de Berlin, il est présenté à Hitler et Goebbels. En 1941, il s’engage comme pilote de bombardier dans l''US Air Force.Sa vie bascule le 23 mai 1943 lorsque son B-24 est abattu au-dessus du Pacifique. Avec deux camarades, il dérive durant 47 jours sur un radeau, survit miraculeusement avant d''être fait prisonnier par les Japonais. A Yokohama, il doit supporter pendant plus de deux ans la faim, les brutalités, les humiliations et le sadisme du sergent Watanabe.Libéré en 1945, il est accueilli en héros chez lui mais se réadapte mal à la vie civile, malgré le soutien de son épouse Cynthia et la naissance de leurs deux enfants. Une rencontre avec Billy Graham, le célèbre prêcheur, l''aide à retrouver la foi et à mettre un terme à sa vie désordonnée. En 1950, il accepte de repartir à Tokyo en tant que missionnaire, afin de faire la paix avec ses anciens bourreaux.