The astounding yet true rags-to-riches saga of a homeless father who raised and cared for his son on the mean streets of San Francisco and went on to become a crown prince of Wall Street.

At the age of twenty, Chris Gardner arrived in San Francisco to pursue a promising career in medicine. However, he surprised everyone and himself by setting his sights on the competitive world of high finance. Yet no sooner had he landed an entry level position at a prestigious firm, Gardner found himself caught in a web of incredibly challenging circumstances that left him part of the city''s working homeless with his toddler son. Motivated by the promise he made to himself as a fatherless child to never abandon his own children, the two spent almost a year moving from shelters, ""HO-tels"", and soup-lines. Never giving in to despair, Gardner makes an astonishing transformation from being part of the city''s invisible to being a powerful player in its financial district. Here is the story of a man who breaks his own family''s cycle of men abandoning their children, a story that appeals to the very essence of the American Dream.

Read by Andre Blake

“Gardner is encouraging us all to start where we are and dare to make our lives bigger and stronger, more satisfactory, and better. Chris Gardner is a knockout!”

—Maya Angelou

Chris Gardner’s astonishing memoir—the phenomenal New York Times bestseller, The Pursuit of Happyness, which inspired the film of the same name starring Will Smith—served as a shining beacon of hope for countless people. In Start Where You Are, “a book that teaches you how to transform the impossible into the possible” (Sidney Poitier), Gardner offers indispensible life lessons in getting from where you are to where you want to be.

The Times Best Gardening Books of 2022 Ornamental plants are the cornerstone of our gardens and we are spoiled for choice with literally tens of thousands of hardy beauties from which to select. But we take them absolutely for granted, not for a moment realising that every plant has a fascinating tale to tell. Wild Edens sets the record straight. With global coverage, each of the nine richly illustrated chapters explores a plant biodiversity hotspot. The reader is transported on a visually stunning and fascinating voyage of discovery which reveals our garden favourites - as well as some species that should be more widely cultivated - in their natural habitats, from daffodils from Andalusia and tulips from the Tien Shan, to monkey puzzles from Chile and rhododendrons from the Himalayas, lilies from Japan and proteas from South Africa.Because the authors have been to the hotspots, each chapter opens with their personal reflections on the landscape and spirit of place, and closes with their selection of prime locations. In between, the informative yet approachable text tells of the plants'' ''forgotten stories''. Of the landscapes which are their home, the adventures of how and when they were discovered and by whom, the reasons why they were collected, their impact on garden fashions and trends, etc. Wild Edens brings another dimension of interest and understanding to plants and gardens, as well as being a premium armchair traveller''s guide to the natural world of garden plants.

The astounding yet true rags-to-riches saga of a homeless father who raised and cared for his son on the mean streets of San Francisco and went on to become a crown prince of Wall Street.

At the age of twenty, Chris Gardner arrived in San Francisco to pursue a promising career in medicine. However, he surprised everyone and himself by setting his sights on the competitive world of high finance. Yet no sooner had he landed an entry level position at a prestigious firm, Gardner found himself caught in a web of incredibly challenging circumstances that left him part of the city''s working homeless with his toddler son. Motivated by the promise he made to himself as a fatherless child to never abandon his own children, the two spent almost a year moving from shelters, ""HO-tels"", and soup-lines. Never giving in to despair, Gardner makes an astonishing transformation from being part of the city''s invisible to being a powerful player in its financial district. Here is the story of a man who breaks his own family''s cycle of men abandoning their children, a story that appeals to the very essence of the American Dream.

Read by Andre Blake

“Gardner is encouraging us all to start where we are and dare to make our lives bigger and stronger, more satisfactory, and better. Chris Gardner is a knockout!”

—Maya Angelou

Chris Gardner’s astonishing memoir—the phenomenal New York Times bestseller, The Pursuit of Happyness, which inspired the film of the same name starring Will Smith—served as a shining beacon of hope for countless people. In Start Where You Are, “a book that teaches you how to transform the impossible into the possible” (Sidney Poitier), Gardner offers indispensible life lessons in getting from where you are to where you want to be.

The Times Best Gardening Books of 2022 Ornamental plants are the cornerstone of our gardens and we are spoiled for choice with literally tens of thousands of hardy beauties from which to select. But we take them absolutely for granted, not for a moment realising that every plant has a fascinating tale to tell. Wild Edens sets the record straight. With global coverage, each of the nine richly illustrated chapters explores a plant biodiversity hotspot. The reader is transported on a visually stunning and fascinating voyage of discovery which reveals our garden favourites - as well as some species that should be more widely cultivated - in their natural habitats, from daffodils from Andalusia and tulips from the Tien Shan, to monkey puzzles from Chile and rhododendrons from the Himalayas, lilies from Japan and proteas from South Africa.Because the authors have been to the hotspots, each chapter opens with their personal reflections on the landscape and spirit of place, and closes with their selection of prime locations. In between, the informative yet approachable text tells of the plants'' ''forgotten stories''. Of the landscapes which are their home, the adventures of how and when they were discovered and by whom, the reasons why they were collected, their impact on garden fashions and trends, etc. Wild Edens brings another dimension of interest and understanding to plants and gardens, as well as being a premium armchair traveller''s guide to the natural world of garden plants.