Mark Oldman is one the country’s leading wine personalities. Bon Appètit described his style as “winespeak without the geek.” Twice the winner of the Georges Duboeuf Best Wine Book of the Year Award, his books—Oldman’s Guide to Outsmarting Wine and Oldman’s Brave New World of Wine—have been called the “perfect book” by the Wall Street Journal and the “perfect primer” by The New Yorker. Oldman’s appearances at the country’s top gastronomic festivals are considered must-see events in the world of food and wine.

The Wangs vs. the World is a hilarious debut novel about a wealthy but fractured Chinese immigrant family that had it all, only to lose every last cent—and about the road trip they take across America that binds them back together. Debut novelist Jade Chang has worked as an arts and culture journalist and editor for publications like the BBC, Metropolis, Glamour, and The Los Angeles Times Magazine. She was recently an editor at Goodreads.

Shep Gordon — in his storied career as a talent manager, agent, and producer — has worked with, and befriended, some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry, from Alice Cooper to Bette Davis, Raquel Welch to Groucho Marx, Blondie to Jimi Hendrix, Sylvester Stallone to Salvador Dalí, Luther Vandross to Teddy Pendergrass. He is also credited with inventing the “celebrity chef,” and has worked with Nobu Matsuhisa, Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck, Roger Vergé, and many others. 

Carole Bayer Sager has written more than 400 songs. Nominated for over fifteen awards, she has won an Oscar, two Golden Globes, and a Grammy for Song of the Year. She recorded three solo albums and with Marvin Hamlisch wrote the hit Broadway musical They’re Playing Our Song.   She shares the remarkably frank and darkly funny story of her life in and out of the recording studio, from her fascinating (and sometimes calamitous) relationships to her collaborations with some of the greatest composers and musical artists of our time.

Maria Semple is the author of This One Is Mine and Where’d You Go, Bernadette, which has been translated into eighteen languages. Her TV credits include Beverly Hills 90210, Mad About You, Saturday Night Live, Arrested Development, Suddenly Susan, and Ellen. She graduated from Barnard College with a degree in English. Today Will Be Different is her third novel.

Jane Alexander has appeared in more than twenty films, including Testament, Kramer vs. Kramer, All the President’s Men, The Great White Hope, Brubaker, The Cider House Rules, Sunshine State, Feast of Love, and Terminator Salvation. She has performed in more than 100 plays. She is an impassioned wildlife proponent and conservationist, and former chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts.

From the time Julissa Arce was brought to this country as a child by her hardworking parents, Arce–the scholarship winner, the honors college graduate, the young woman who climbed the ladder to become a vice president at Goldman Sachs-had secretly lived as an undocumented immigrant. By opening up about the story of her successes, her heartbreaks, and her long-fought journey to emerge from the shadows and become an American citizen, Arce shows us the true cost of achieving the American dream-from the perspective of a woman who had to scale unseen and unimaginable walls to get there.

Bryan Cranston won four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of Walter White in AMC’s Breaking Bad. In his riveting memoir, A Life in Parts, Bryan Cranston traces his zigzag journey from his chaotic childhood to mega stardom by vividly revisiting the many parts he’s played, on camera, including: astronaut, dentist, detective, candy bar spokesperson, and off–paperboy, farmhand, security guard, dating consultant, murder suspect, dock loader, son, brother, lover, husband, father.

iO Tillett Wright is an artist, activist, actor, speaker, TV host and writer. iO’s work deals with identity, be it through photography and the Self Evident Truths Project/We Are You campaign or on television as the co-host of MTV’s Suspect. 
iO has exhibited artwork in New York and Tokyo, was a featured contributor on Underground Culture to T: The New York Times Style Magazine, and has had photography featured in GQ, Elle, New York Magazine, and The New York Times Magazine.