Conor O. Clery Livres

The astonishing life of the modest New Jersey businessman who anonymously gave away 10 billion dollars and inspired the "giving while living" movement. In this bestselling book, Conor O'Clery reveals the inspiring life story of Chuck Feeney, known as the "James Bond of philanthropy." Feeney was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to a blue-collar Irish-American family during the Depression. After service in the Korean War, he made a fortune as founder of Duty Free Shoppers, the world's largest duty-free retail chain. By 1988, he was hailed by Forbes Magazine as the twenty-fourth richest American alive. But secretly Feeney had already transferred all his wealth to his foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies. Only in 1997 when he sold his duty free interests, was he "outed" as one of the greatest and most mysterious American philanthropists in modern times, who had anonymously funded hospitals and universities from San Francisco to Limerick to New York to Brisbane. His example convinced Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to give away their fortunes during their lifetime, known as the giving pledge.

In the Soviet Union of 1962, shoemaker Stanislav Suvorov is imprisoned for five years for selling his car at a profit, violating the Kremlin's strict speculation laws. Decades later, his daughter Zhanna helps navigate the new Russia, where past crimes turn into opportunities. Upon his release, Stanislav, driven by social shame, chooses voluntary exile in Siberia, relocating his family from a relatively comfortable life in Grozny to the harsh environment of Krasnoyarsk. This region, seen by some as the capital of the gulag, offers others a chance for a fresh start. The narrative unfolds during the final days of a Soviet Union where the Communist Party and KGB are desperate to maintain control, foreign visitors are unwelcome, and basic freedoms are severely restricted. Daily bread queues symbolize the struggles faced by the populace, where advocating for democracy can lead to imprisonment. The story spans over eighty years of Soviet and Russian history through the lens of the Suvorov family, intimately known to the author, Conor O'Clery, who is married to Zhanna. It vividly portrays a tumultuous period marked by war, power struggles, and the transition from Communism to capitalism, capturing the resilience of ordinary lives shaped by extraordinary circumstances.