Michael Gross

"Fifteen families. Four hundred years. The complex saga of the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant elite in America's history. For decades, writers from Cleveland Amory to Joseph Alsop to the editors of Politico have proclaimed the diminishment of the White Anglo-Saxon Protestants, who for generations were the dominant socio-cultural-political force in America. While the WASP elite has, in the last half century, indeed drifted from American centrality to...

A fascinating and comprehensive look into the life of American fashion designer Ralph Lauren, now with an afterword. "Deep-dish...sharp-clawed...honestly admiring."-New York Times There are at least two Ralph Laurens. To the public he's a gentle, modest, yet secure and purposeful man. Inside the walls of Polo Ralph Lauren, though, he was long seen by some as a narcissist, an insecure ditherer, and, at times, a rampaging tyrant. Michael Gross,...

On the little island lost in far sunny China the regular life of mandarin ducks in an instant turns into chaos: the flock of the military mallards making a cruise to Hawaii, by mistake lands on the mandarins' island. The chief of mallards, Duckmus doesn't want to reckon with the local traditions, as well the mandarins' Emperor doesn't like uninvited guests. The Cold War breaks out between two clans. The heir of the of mandarins' Emperor, Longway,...

Scientists discover time travel with horrible consequences when they inadvertently bring a giant carnivorous dinosaur back to modern Los Angeles.

"Gross turns his gimlet eye on the new-money wonderland that's sprung up on the southwest rim of Central Park. Mixing an absorbing business epic with ... social comedy, Gross creates a dishy exposé of today's wealthiest and most famous. This colorful story recounts the record-setting building's inspired genesis, costly construction, and the flashy international lifestyle it has brought to a once benighted and socially déclassé Manhattan neighborhood"--Dust...

Michael Gross, chronicler of America's rich and powerful, goes west to uncover the very secret history of Los Angeles, specifically those wealthiest and most private of enclaves--Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Holmby Hills, and Beverly Park--through their most mind-boggling estates, and the fascinating, fabulous folks who created and populate them. Gross begins with the mob-driven history of the newest mega-mansion district in L.A., Beverly Park. Using the...

It's a sun soaked holiday season for the Bannister family as they travel to Southern California to stay with Aunt Barbara, who surprises them with a new puppy named Eve . Everyone is smitten with Eve except for the Bannister's dog, Zeus, who sees what a mischievous animal she is when no one else is around.

"In Storms, see what happens when huge masses of air collide. Destructive or not, storms benefit us. The tropical regions of the Earth would be too hot to inhabit--and the subpolar regions too cold -- if we didn't have hurricanes and typhoons to distribute the Earth's heat so efficiently"--Container.

For famed cinematographer, adventurer, and mountaineer David Breashears, the terrifying experiences on Mount Everest during the deadly 1996 season became the defining moment of his life. By 1995, Breashears had already twice reached Mt. Everest's summit. Then he faced the greatest challenge of his life: to scale the 29,028-foot peak while hauling a giant IMAX camera to film the documentary Everest. In this extraordinary memoir, Breashears takes...