Most Popular Books by Merle Miller

“Never has a President of the United States, or any head of state for that matter, been so totally revealed, so completely documented” (Robert A. Arthur). Plain Speaking is the bestselling book based on conversations between Merle Miller and the thirty-third President of the United States, Harry S. Truman. From these interviews, as well as others who knew him over the years, Miller transcribes Truman’s feisty takes on everything from his personal life, military service, and political career to the challenges he faced in taking the office during the final days of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War. Using a series of taped discussions from 1962 that never aired on television, Plain Speaking takes an opportunity to deliver exactly how Mr. Truman felt about the presidency, and his thoughts in his later years on his accomplishments and the legacy he left behind. “The values of Plain Speaking, on the whole, are those of the highest form of political communication: the bull session. As with all good bull sessions, what is said here ranges widely in quality and seriousness, as one should expect when dealing with a complex man.” —The New York Times “Plain Speaking has a nostalgic, downhome quality of good friends gossiping over the back fence, or saying their piece of a twilight eve rocking on the porch—and if those fellas back in Washington have their secret machines running, well, they won’t like what they overhear. Not one little bit.” —Kirkus Reviews

The bestselling author of Plain Speaking crafts a candid portrait of one of the most complex, fascinating, difficult, and colorful American presidents. From his birth in 1908 to his death in 1973, the story of Lyndon B. Johnson is told without sparing his personal excesses and contentious public image—while also highlighting the strength of his greatest accomplishments in Washington. Interlaced with interviews from Lady Bird Johnson, John Kenneth Galbraith, J. William Fulbright, Larry O''Brien, Hubert H. Humphrey, and hundreds of others, Miller provides an extensive and objective image of the life of LBJ. "No secret remains. This is Lyndon Johnson true, lunging through life, pouring ''every ounce of his energy'' into whatever he did, ranting, raving, shouting, ''screaming at the universe,'' flogging system, staff and self to achieve what others pronounced unachievable . . . Miller allows his posse of turncoats—336 in all, myself among them—to lead him to the Johnson few ever knew: at his best, magnificent; at his worst, outrageous." —Horace Busby, The Washington Post "The domestic triumphs and the Johnson style come across like the Fourth of July . . . page-by-page, this is the low-down up to the Presidency—and one long book that never flags." — Kirkus Reviews

The groundbreaking work on being homosexual in America—available again only from Penguin Classics and with a new foreword by Dan Savage Originally published in 1971, Merle Miller’s On Being Different is a pioneering and thought-provoking book about being homosexual in the United States. Just two years after the Stonewall riots, Miller wrote a poignant essay for the New York Times Magazine entitled “What It Means To Be a Homosexual” in response to a homophobic article published in Harper’s Magazine. Described as “the most widely read and discussed essay of the decade,” it carried the seed that would blossom into On Being Different—one of the earliest memoirs to affirm the importance of coming out. For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

From the bestselling author of Plain Speaking and Lyndon comes this “vivid and consistently absorbing record of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s military career” (Kirkus Reviews). Bringing together thousands of hours of interviews with the men and women who were closest to him, Merle Miller has constructed a revealing and personal biography of the man who would become the supreme commander. From his childhood in Kansas to West Point, World War I, and Europe where he led the Allied Forces to a hard-won victory in World War II, Ike the Soldier goes behind the historic battles and into the heart and mind of Ike Eisenhower. Miller has crafted the defining biography on the life of the thirty-fourth president, bringing more depth to the man many thought they knew. His strained relationships with his father, brothers, and son are brought into focus; as well as his love affair with his wife Mamie, and his relationship with Kay Summersby—his driver turned companion and confidante during WWII. “An informed and balanced tribute to a world-class leader whose remarkable character gains greater luster with the passage of time.” —Kirkus Reviews “This is a highly enjoyable look at Ike’s personal and official relationships with the people most important to him during the first 55 years of his life, including family, Army and Allied colleagues and heads of state.” —Publishers Weekly

First published in 1948, Merle Miller’s first novel, That Winter, is a book of disillusioned youth, of veterans in the post-war world, in a story of personal despair, individual tragedy. It is the winter after the war has ended. Peter lets his inaction lead to writing for a magazine in which he has no faith. Lew renounces his Jewish name and family. Ted realizes that his only home was the Army. Through Westing, a phony novelist, who serves as catalytic agent, Ted suicides, Peter throws up his job, Lew realizes he cannot pass as a Christian. Widely considered to be one of the best novels about the post-war readjustment of World War II veterans, this classic novel will have you captivated from the first page. “Here is the clarification of unresolved drives, problems, incidents, of the push and pull of Fitzgerald, in the recording of the cracking of foundations, security, personal affairs, of hard reality edged with the passion of beliefs, with the gentleness of characterization.”—Kirkus Review

The amazing story of the crew of the B-29 bomber The Great Artiste, who flew in both missions that dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Written by noted novelist and script writer Merle Miller and the radio operator of the B-29 Abe Sptizer, it is a fascinating first-hand account of the end of World War II and the beginning of the Nuclear Age. “None of us knew for sure what the “gimmick” was, not even after the fire and smoke rolled up toward us from Hiroshima and it looked as if the sun had fallen out of the sky and was on the ground. Not until a few minutes later when we had broken away from the danger zone and Colonel Paul W. Tibbets, our group commander and pilot of the B-29 that let go with the first bomb, said over the radio, “Well, boys, you have just dropped the first atomic bomb in history.” “Even then it didn’t sink in. I didn’t know what an atomic bomb was or what it had done to the city of Hiroshima below or what a far worse bomb would do a few days later when we let it go over Nagasaki.”

Miller''s report for the American Civil Liberties Union on his investigations of blacklisting activities in radio and television and of publications like the book, Red Channels and the newsletter, Counterattack which listed "left-leaning" people while charging that there existed a blacklist of anti-Communists, assesses the impact of blacklisting on casting and program content. Cogley''s Report, sponsored by the Fund for the Republic, offers no opinion on the practice of blacklisting, but seeks to ascertain all the facts involved through interviews, as far as they were possible, with every important interest concerned -executives of radio and TV chains, advertising agencies, leading advertisers, theatrical unions, leaders of anti-Communist organizations, and others prominent in "listing" or "clearing" individuals, and many producers, directors, actors, writers, reporters, news commentators, and agency men.

See for yourself how the lines on the drawing board turned into actual iron and rubber! This insider''s account takes you behind the scenes and tells the history of how and why the "New Generation" program came into being. Retired John Deere engineer, Merle Miller, delivers the full and fascinating story of the 3010 and 4010 New Generation tractors.

The report of an investigation --at the instigation and with the active cooperation of the ACLU-- into the "blacklisting" of actors whose political associations were suspect and who were denied work in 1950.

Story of a homosexual pianist who has searched his entire life for love.--Dust jacket.

"A savagely satiric look at the sex-and-alcohol world seeting behind the quiet streets of a small town... written in the tradition of Peyton Place."--Cover.

"A smooth suspense novel deals with subversion and assigns to Ward Matthews, with an OSS and magazine background, the search for Brock MacDonald whose disappearance after a Korean brain-washing had its ugly connotation. Hunting, Matthews finds his life no longer secure but his conscience makes him bring his enemy to book. At times more lively than likely but definitely wakeful entertainment."--Kirkus

The story of eight former army comrades. All eight of the men had shared the massive horror of war; the blaze and shellfire of the Battle of the Bulge had bonded them inextricably together. Now, years later, they came from all over the country to relive it at a Manhattan cocktail party. To them, the past was a vague and glorious half-forgotten haze. Now they were immersed in secret loves, infidelities, false hopes, lies, betrayals - the whole tangled burden of their mature lives. Except for one who remembered what the others had forgotten, and brought only a loaded gun to eliminate one of the celebrants. --Amazon.com.

We Dropped the Atom Bomb, first published in 1946 as We Dropped the A-Bomb, is the fascinating first-hand account of the crews of the B-29 bombers which took part in the atomic bomb missions over Hiroshima and Nagasaki to effectively end the war with Japan. Co-author Abe Spitzer was radio operator on the B-29 The Great Artiste, which accompanied the Enola Gay carrying the Hiroshima bomb; he was also the radio operator on Bockscar, which dropped the Nagasaki bomb. The book remains of interest today as it recounts events of these dangerous missions plus describes the mixed emotions of the crewmembers, who, up to the dropping of the first bomb on Hiroshima, were unaware of the exact nature of their deadly cargo.

The papers of Merle Miller relate to the writing of some of his books. There are various drafts, correspondence, printer''s copies, and reviews that document his creative writing process. The majority of the manuscripts are for his novel, The Sure Thing.

Describes the services and specialties of more than three hundred of the best food purveyors in Southern California, and includes hours, addresses, and telephone numbers

The letters cover topics ranging from family matters to the newpaper business and politics to Lennox Industries, Inc. Speeches given by Norris between 1949 and 1973 and materials relating to the 1968 Republican National Convention round out this collection.