An Invisible Thread: The True Story of an 11-Year-Old Panhandler, a Busy Sales Executive, and an Unlikely Meeting with Destiny
Schroff, Laura, Tresniowski, Alex
Lingua: inglese
Editore: Howard Books, 2011
- Rilegato
- Usato
Da: Wonder Book, Frederick, MD, U.S.A.Wonder Book
Venditore AbeBooks dal 1 novembre 1997
Condizione: Usato - Buono
EUR 6,41
Quantità: 1 disponibile
Aggiungi al carrelloDescrizione dell’articolo da parte del venditore
Good condition. Good dust jacket. A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains.
Codice articolo L02C-02651
- Titolo
- An Invisible Thread: The True Story of an 11-Year-Old Panhandler, a Busy Sales Executive, and an Unlikely Meeting with Destiny
- Autore
- Schroff, Laura, Tresniowski, Alex
- Editore
- Howard Books
- Anno di pubblicazione
- 2011
- Condizione
- Good
- Sovraccoperta
- sovraccoperta
- Rilegatura
- Rilegato
- Lingua
- inglese
- ISBN 10
- 1451642512
- ISBN 13
- 9781451642513
“Excuse me lady, do you have any spare change? I am hungry.”
When I heard him, I didn’t really hear him. His words were part of the clatter, like a car horn or someone yelling for a cab. They were, you could say, just noise—the kind of nuisance New Yorkers learn to tune out. So I walked right by him, as if he wasn’t there.
But then, just a few yards past him, I stopped.
And then—and I’m still not sure why I did this—I came back.
When Laura Schroff first met Maurice on a New York City street corner, she had no idea that she was standing on the brink of an incredible and unlikely friendship that would inevitably change both their lives. As one lunch at McDonald’s with Maurice turns into two, then into a weekly occurrence that is fast growing into an inexplicable connection, Laura learns heart-wrenching details about Maurice’s horrific childhood.
The boy is stuck in something like hell. He is six years old and covered in small red bites from chinches—bed bugs—and he is woefully skinny due to an unchecked case of ringworm. He is so hungry his stomach hurts, but then he is used to being hungry: when he was two years old the pangs got so bad he rooted through the trash and ate rat droppings. He had to have his stomach pumped. He is staying in his father’s cramped, filthy apartment, sleeping with stepbrothers who wet the bed, surviving in a place that smells like something died. He has not seen his mother in three months, and he doesn’t know why. His world is a world of drugs and violence and unrelenting chaos, and he has the wisdom to know, even at six, that if something does not change for him soon, he might not make it.
Sprinkled throughout the book is also Laura’s own story of her turbulent childhood. Every now and then, something about Maurice's struggles reminds her of her past, how her father’s alcohol-induced rages shaped the person she became and, in a way, led her to Maurice.
He started by cursing my mother and screaming at her in front of all of us. My mother pulled us closer to her and waited for it to pass. But it didn’t. My father left the room and came back with two full liquor bottles. He threw them right over our heads, and they smashed against the wall. Liquor and glass rained down on us, and we pulled up the covers to shield ourselves. My father hurled the next bottle, and then went back for two more. They shattered just above our heads; the sound was sickening. My father kept screaming and ranting, worse than I’d ever heard him before. When he ran out of bottles he went into the kitchen and overturned the table and smashed the chairs. Just then the phone rang, and my mother rushed to get it. I heard her screaming to the caller to get help. My father grabbed the phone from her and ripped the base right out of the wall. My mother ran back to us as my father kept kicking and throwing furniture, unstoppable, out of his mind.
As their friendship grows, Laura offers Maurice simple experiences he comes to treasure: learning how to set a table, trimming a Christmas tree, visiting her nieces and nephew on Long Island, and even having homemade lunches to bring to school.
“If you make me lunch,” he said, “will you put it in a brown paper bag?”
I didn’t really understand the question. "Okay, sure. But why do you want it in a brown paper bag?”
“Because when I see kids come to school with their lunch in a brown paper bag, that means someone cares about them.”
I looked away when Maurice said that, so he wouldn’t see me tear up. A simple brown paper bag, I thought.
To me, it meant nothing. To him, it was everything.
It is the heartwarming story of a friendship that has spanned thirty years, that brought life to an over-scheduled professional who had lost sight of family and happiness and hope to a hungry and desperate boy whose family background in drugs and crime and squalor seemed an inescapable fate.
He had, inside of him, some miraculous reserve of goodness and strength, some fierce will to be special. I saw this in his hopeful face the day he asked for spare change, and I see it in his eyes today. Whatever made me notice him on that street corner so many years ago is clearly something that cannot be extinguished, no matter how relentless the forces aligned against it. Some may call it spirit. Some might call it heart. Whatever it was, it drew me to him, as if we were bound by some invisible, unbreakable thread.
And whatever it is, it binds us still.
"Riassunto" può appartenere a un’altra edizione di questo titolo.
Informazioni sull’autore
Alex Tresniowski is a former human-interest writer at People and the bestselling author of several books, most notably The Vendetta, which was purchased by Universal Studios and used as a basis for the movie Public Enemies. His other titles include An Invisible Thread, Waking Up in Heaven, and The Light Between Us.
"Descrizione articolo" può appartenere a un’altra edizione di questo titolo.
Wonder Book
Frederick, MD, U.S.A.
Tariffe di spedizione nazionale per U.S.A.
| Articolo | Da 5 a 9 giorni lavorativi | Da 3 a 6 giorni lavorativi |
|---|---|---|
| Primo articolo | EUR 0,00 | EUR 9,78 |
Metodi di pagamento
Descrizione dello Store
With 3 stores less than 1 hour outside the DC/Metropolitan area (1 in Gaithersburg, 1 in Frederick and 1 in Hagerstown, MD), we have the largest selection of books in the tri-state area. Wonder Book and Video has been in business since 1980 and online since 1997. We have over 1 Million books for sale on our website and another 1 Million books for sale in our 3 locations. Items on Abe are not necessarily in stock at our retail locations. Please do not call the stores to place orders for Abe Books sales. We have a very active online inventory and as such, we can receive multiple orders for the same item. We fill those orders on a first come first serve basis, but will refund promptly any items that are out of stock. Since 1980 it has always been about the books. ALL kinds of books from 95 cent children's paperbacks to five figure rare and collectibles. A merging of the old and new is where we started, and it is where we are today. Our retail stores have always been places where a reader can rush in looking for a title needed for a term paper that is due the next day, or where bibliophiles can get lost "in the stacks" for as long as they wish. In 2002 USAToday recognized us as "1 of 10 Great Old Bookstores", and we have been featured in numerous other newspaper and TV stories including Washington Post and CSpan. Members ABAA, ILAB.…
Membro dell’associazione
Informazioni sull’azienda del venditore
Wonder Book
Wonder Book and Video, 1550 Tilco Drive
Frederick, MD U.S.A. 21704
Condizioni di vendita
We want you to be satisfied with the book you order. Our general description is
conservative and the book should be as good or better than our general
description
may indicate.
As we often get many requests for the same book, in some cases the book may
already be sold. We will email you regarding the availability.
RETURNS are cheerfully accepted up to 30 days. We ship out within 1-2 business
days and U.S. Standard Shipments usually arrive within 6-9 business days,
Priority 3-6. We want you to be satisfied with the book you order. Our general
description is conservative and the book should be as good or better than our
general description may indicate. We respond to every order inquiry within 2
business days, however our emails may occassionally get moved to spam/junk
folders or refused from your internet/email provider. IF YOU HAVE EMAILED US AND
HAVE NOT RECEIVED A RESPONSE - PLEASE CHECK YOUR SPAM SETTINGS AND/OR ADD OUR
EMAIL TO YOUR ADDRESS BOOK.
Diritto di recesso
Se sei un consumatore puoi recedere dal contratto in conformità con quanto segue. Per Consumatore si intende qualsiasi persona fisica che agisce per scopi estranei alla propria attività commerciale, imprenditoriale, artigianale o professionale.
Informazioni sul diritto di recesso
Diritto legale di recesso
Hai il diritto di recedere dal presente contratto entro 14 giorni senza fornire alcuna motivazione.
Il periodo di recesso scade dopo 14 giorni dal giorno in cui tu o una terza parte, diversa dal vettore e da te indicata, acquisisce il possesso fisico dell'ultimo bene o dell'ultimo lotto o pezzo.
Per esercitare il diritto di recesso, compila e invia elettronicamente una dichiarazione esplicita sul nostro sito Web, alla voce “I miei acquisti” nella sezione “Mio account”. Ti comunicheremo senza indugio una conferma di ricezione di tale recesso su un supporto durevole (ad es. via e-mail).
Per rispettare il termine di recesso, è sufficiente inviare la comunicazione relativa all'esercizio del diritto di recesso prima della scadenza del periodo di recesso stesso.
Effetti del recesso
In caso di recesso dal presente contratto, ti rimborseremo tutti i pagamenti ricevuti, compresi i costi di spedizione (ad eccezione dei costi supplementari derivanti dalla tua eventuale scelta di un tipo di spedizione diverso dal tipo meno costoso di consegna standard da noi offerto).
Potremo effettuare una detrazione dal rimborso per la perdita di valore dei beni forniti, qualora tale perdita sia il risultato di una manipolazione non necessaria da parte tua.
Eseguiremo il rimborso senza indebito ritardo e non oltre 14 giorni dal giorno in cui saremo informati della tua decisione di recedere dal presente contratto.
Il rimborso sarà effettuato utilizzando lo stesso mezzo di pagamento da te usato per la transazione iniziale, salvo che tu non abbia espressamente concordato altrimenti; in ogni caso, non dovrai sostenere alcun costo quale conseguenza di tale rimborso.
Possiamo trattenere il rimborso finché non avremo ricevuto i beni oppure finché non avrai fornito la prova di averli rispediti, a seconda di quale condizione si verifichi per prima.
Dovrai rispedire i beni o consegnarli a Wonder Book, Frederick, Maryland, U.S.A., senza indebito ritardo e, in ogni caso, entro 14 giorni dal giorno in cui ci hai comunicato la tua volontà di recedere dal presente contratto. Il termine è rispettato se rispedisci i beni prima della scadenza del periodo di 14 giorni. I costi diretti della restituzione dei beni saranno a tuo carico. Sei responsabile solo della diminuzione del valore dei beni risultante da una manipolazione diversa da quella necessaria per stabilire la natura, le caratteristiche e il funzionamento dei beni stessi.
Eccezioni al diritto di recesso
Il diritto di recesso non si applica a:
- La fornitura di giornali, periodici o riviste ad eccezione dei contratti di abbonamento; e
- La fornitura di contenuto digitale non fornito su un supporto materiale (ad es. su un CD o DVD), se al momento dell'invio dell'ordine hai accettato l'inizio dell'esecuzione e hai riconosciuto che non avresti potuto recedere una volta iniziata l'esecuzione.
Condizioni di spedizione
STANDARD DOMESTIC U.S. SHIPPING IS FREE. Priority Shipping is only $6.99 for first item, $1 each additional. Orders ship within 2 business days. Shipping outside of U.S. is typically between $8-13 and takes between 8-15 business days. Heavier books may require additional shipping. Faster Needs Please Inquire.