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Last Steps: The Late Writings of Leo Tolstoy
By Leo Tolstoy. 2009
1910. Anna Karenina and War and Peace have made Leo Tolstoy the world's most famous author. But fame comes at…
a price. In the tumultuous final year of his life, Tolstoy is desperate to find respite, so leaves his large family and the hounding press behind and heads into the wilderness. Too ill to venture beyond the tiny station of Astapovo, he believes his last days will pass in isolation. But as we learn through the journals of those closest to him, the battle for Tolstoy's soul will not be a peaceful one. Jay Parini introduces, translates and edits this collection of Tolstoy's autobiographical writing, diaries, and letters related to the last year of Tolstoy's life published to coincide with the 2009 film of Parini's novel The Last Station: A Novel of Tolstoy's Final Year.Literature and Evil (Penguin Modern Classics)
By Georges Bataille. 1957
'Literature is not innocent,' stated Georges Bataille in this extraordinary 1957 collection of essays, arguing that only by acknowledging its…
complicity with the knowledge of evil can literature communicate fully and intensely. These literary profiles of eight authors and their work, including Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal and the writings of Sade, Kafka and Sartre, explore subjects such as violence, eroticism, childhood, myth and transgression, in a work of rich allusion and powerful argument.Mamaji: Continents of Exile: 2 (Penguin Modern Classics)
By Ved Mehta. 1979
Book 2 in Ved Mehta's Continents of Exile series. Nearly 50 years in the making, Continents of Exile is one…
of the great works of twentieth-century autobiography: the epic chronicle of an Indian family in the twentieth century. From 1930s India to 1950s Oxford and literary New York in the 1960s-80s, this is the story of the post-colonial twentieth century, as uniquely experienced and vividly recounted by Ved Mehta.Translating individual experience into the universal, Mehta recounts the story of his mother's arranged marriage to a British-trained doctor and, by extension, of an ancient Indian family's struggle to find its place in a modern, rapidly changing world.A Lucid Dreamer: The Life of Peter Redgrove
By Dr Neil Roberts, Peter Redgrove. 2012
The work of the poet Peter Redgrove is one of the great unexplored treasures of late twentieth century literature. His…
prolific output presents an intriguing variety of personae: magician, scientist, lover, psychologist, joker, madman. It is only now, with the publication of his Collected Poems and this biography, that we can see how and why these personae developed - and discover the full depth and range of this visionary writer.Born into an apparently conventional middle-class family that was in reality deeply disturbed, the poet finally emerged: transforming himself from the neurotic, Oedipal young scientist, through a process of mental breakdown, insulin coma therapy, erotic revelation and the discovery of poetic companionship at Cambridge - and particularly his friendship and rivalry with Ted Hughes.Neil Roberts explores the inner story of this emergence, and Redgrove's later development through marriage, family life, the fellowship of the 'Group', alcoholic excess, infidelity and marital breakdown to his triumphant later partnership with Penelope Shuttle. We also discover, for the first time, some darker secrets: his fascination with Aleister Crowley, his damaged and damaging relationship with his father, and the lifelong sexual fetish which he called the 'Game'. Drawing on the poet's intimate journals and correspondence, and interviews with family, friends and colleagues, A Lucid Dreamer tells the exceptionally inward and revealing story of an astonishing creative life.The Light of Common Day
By Diana Cooper. 1959
Lady Diana Cooper had been famous from her earliest youth, the subject of gossip and adoration as the queen of…
the 'Coterie', an exclusive high society set. Her marriage to Duff Cooper, a rising political star, and her career on the stage and in early silent films only increased her notoriety. Her second volume of autobiography chronicles these years in the run-up to the Second World War, and her adventures as an unconventional hostess, actress, wife and mother are told in typically fast-paced, witty and brilliant style.The Life of Samuel Johnson
By James Boswell. 2008
In Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson, one of the towering figures of English literature is revealed with unparalleled immediacy and…
originality. While Johnson’s Dictionary remains a monument of scholarship, and his essays and criticism command continuing respect, we owe our knowledge of the man himself to this biography. Through a series of wonderfully detailed anecdotes, Johnson emerges as a sociable figure with a huge appetite for life, crossing swords with other great eighteenth-century luminaries, from Garrick and Goldsmith to Burney and Burke – even his long-suffering friend and disciple James Boswell. Yet Johnson had a vulnerable, even tragic, side and anxieties and obsessions haunted his private hours. Boswell’s sensitivity and insight into every facet of his subject’s character ultimately make this biography as moving as it is entertaining.Based on the 1799 edition, Christopher Hibbert’s abridgement preserves the integrity of the original, while his fascinating introduction sets Boswell’s view of Samuel Johnson against that of others of the time.Just Sayin': My Life In Words
By Malorie Blackman. 2022
The long-awaited autobiography of one of the world's greatest children's writers, and an empowering and inspiring account of a life…
in books.Malorie Blackman OBE is one of Britain's best loved and most widely-read writers. For over thirty years, her books have helped to shape British culture, and inspired generations of younger readers and writers. The Noughts and Crosses series, started in 2000, sparked a new and necessary conversation about race and identity in the UK, and are already undisputed classics of twenty-first-century children's literature.She is also a writer whose own life has been shaped by books, from her childhood in south London, the daughter of parents who moved to Britain from Barbados as part of the Windrush Generation, and who experienced a childhood that was both wonderful and marred by the everyday racism and bigotry of the era. She was told she could not apply to study her first love, literature, at university, in spite of her academic potential, but found a way to books and to a life in writing against a number of obstacles.This book is an account of that journey, from a childhood surrounded by words, to the 83 rejection letters she received in response to sending out her first project, to the children's laureateship. It explores the books who have made her who she is, and the background to some the most beloved and powerful children's stories of today. It is an illuminating, inspiring and empowering account of the power of words to change lives, and the extraordinary life story of one of the world's greatest writers.The Life of Charlotte Bronte
By Elizabeth Gaskell. 1997
Elizabeth Gaskell's biography of her close friend Charlotte Brontë was published in 1857 to immediate popular acclaim, and remains the…
most significant study of the enigmatic author who gave Jane Eyre the subtitle An Autobiography. It recounts Charlotte Brontë's life from her isolated childhood, through her years as a writer who had 'foreseen the single life' for herself, to her marriage at thirty-eight and death less than a year later. The resulting work - the first full-length biography of a woman novelist by a woman novelist - explored the nature of Charlotte's genius and almost single-handedly created the Brontë myth.In My Wildest Dreams
By Leslie Thomas. 1984
From Barnardo boy to original virgin soldier; from apprentice journalist in London's Fleet Street to famous novelist...At times funny, at…
times sad, but always honest and utterly compulsive, Leslie Thomas's story is straight out of fiction. As an orphan, he picked his way through the rubble of post-war Britain and was sent on national service to the Far East. Later he became a Fleet Street reporter, with hilarious experiences to relate, and then became the bestselling author of The Virgin Soldiers - the novel that, although scandalous in its day, is now recognised as a classic of its kind. He is also the creator of Dangerous Davies: The Last Detective, which has been adapted into a popular television series. In 2005, Leslie Thomas was awarded an OBE for services to literature.With a new introduction for this edition, this is an amazing story, and Leslie Thomas's magic touch brings it crackling to life with warmth, wit and humour.The Journal of Beatrix Potter from 1881 to 1897
By Beatrix Potter. 2012
This ebook has been optimised for viewing on colour devices. Between the ages of 15 and 30 Beatrix Potter kept…
a secret diary written in code. When the code was cracked by Leslie Linder more than 20 years after her death, the diary revealed a remarkable picture of upper middle-class life in late Victorian Britain. This book provides an illuminating insight into the personality and inspiration of one of the world's best loved children's authors.Jacky Daydream
By Jacqueline Wilson. 2007
Lots of Jacqueline Wilson's characters are well-known and well-loved by thousands of readers: Hetty Feather, Ruby and Garnet, Pearl and…
Jodie, Elsa, Lily and, of course, the brilliant Tracy Beaker! But how much do you know about Jacqueline herself? Jacqueline takes a look back at her own childhood and teenage years in this captivating story of friendships, loneliness, books, family life and much more. She explores her past with the same warmth and lightness of touch that make her novels so special. Best of all, she reveals how she was always determined to be a writer; from the very first story she wrote, it was clear that this little girl had a very vivid imagination! But who would've guessed that she would grow up to be the mega-bestselling, award-winning Jacqueline Wilson?With original photographs and new illustrations by Nick Sharratt, this book is a delight for all of Jacky's fans, and a treat for any new readers too.If You’d Just Let Me Finish
By Jeremy Clarkson. 2018
Clarkson is back with a brand new book of hilarious stories and observations about our gone-wrong world. ___________In November 2016…
we woke up to the news that the forthright presenter of a popular television programme had become the most powerful man on the planet. His name, sadly, was not Jeremy Clarkson, but we might not have been any more surprised if it had been.Because the world seems to have taken a decidedly odd turn since Jeremy last reflected on the state of things between the covers of a book. But who better than JC to help us navigate our way through the mess?And while he's being trying to make sense of it all he's discovered one or two things along the way, including- The disabling effects of being vegan- How Blackpool might be improved by drilling a hole through it- The problem with meditation- A perfect location for rebuilding Palmyra- Why Tom Cruise can worship lizards if he wants toIt's all been a bit unsettling.But don't worry. If You'd Just Let Me Finish is Clarkson at his best. He may be as bemused, exasperated, amused and surprised as the rest of us, but in a world gone crazy, thank God someone has still got his head screwed on ...Praise for Clarkson:'Brilliant...laugh-out-loud' - Daily Telegraph'Outrageously funny...will have you in stiches' - Time Out'Very funny...I cracked up laughing on the tube' - Evening StandardInjury Time: A Memoir
By D. J. Enright. 2003
The distinguished poet, essayist and critic D. J. Enright died on the last day of December 2002. He had just…
put the finishing touches to Injury Time, a memoir and his third commonplace book in which the dying writer muses upon his own condition and that of the world he knows he is leaving. Comparing himself to the Chinese scholar Sima Qian, who chose an 'ignoble punishment' (in Dennis Enright's case, treatment for his cancer; in Qian's, castration) over respectable death in order to finish a book, he contemplates literature, manners, morals, people and, especially, the English language in all its glories and eccentricities - while recording his battle against cancer and his hospital experiences. Moving, and at times deeply poignant, imbued with its author's legendary humanity and wit, Injury Time is, nevertheless, funny, bracing and, above all, positive.Hopscotch: A Memoir
By Hilary Fannin. 2015
‘Quite brilliant; beautifully, cleverly observed; funny, heart-breaking.’ – Roddy DoyleHilary is four, not yet five, and she has a mother…
and a father and an older brother and sisters. She even has a name at home – Billy – that is different from her written-down name. But now that she is in Low Babies in the local convent school, it seems Hilary has something else called responsibilities. The world is a changing place. Hilary’s parents, themselves products of a country bathed in sanctifying grace, and presided over by leather-strapped Christian Brothers, wimpled nuns, and a strictly ingrained moral code, start to question their own life choices. As she begins to mature, Hilary’s perspective shifts from a confusing mosaic of half-understood conversations, bizarre rules and surreal religious symbolism, to a growing awareness of the eccentricities of the adult world around her, where money is tight, ideas are unorthodox and where living life to the full is the goal.As her parents’ unconventional lifestyle rubs against the grain of a pervasive Catholic society, the cracks begin to appear: siblings are expelled from school; final demands litter the hallway; and Hilary discovers the truth about the always-present but never-to-be-mentioned golden-haired lady. Hopscotch is a funny, poignant and beautifully written memoir, a spellbinding meditation on innocence, love and memory itself.The Hurley Maker's Son
By Patrick Deeley. 2016
Patrick Deeley's train journey home to rural East Galway in autumn 1978 was a pilgrimage of grief: his giant of…
a father had been felled, the hurley-making workshop silenced. From this moment, Patrick unfolds his childhood as a series of evocative moments, from the intricate workings of the timber workshop run by his father to the slow taking apart of an old tractor and the physical burial of a steam engine; from his mother’s steady work on an old Singer sewing machine to his father’s vertiginous quickstep on the roof of their house. There are many wonderful descriptions of the natural world and delightful cameos of characters and incidents from a not-so-long-ago country childhood. In a style reminiscent of John McGahern’s Memoir, Deeley’s beautifully paced prose captures the rhythms, struggles and rough edges of a rural life that was already dying even as he grew. This is an enchanting, beautifully written account of family, love, loss, and the unstoppable march of time.Into The Frame: The Four Loves of Ford Madox Brown
By Angela Thirlwell. 2010
Madox Brown, who grew up in France and Belgium before he came to England and won fame with paintings like…
'The Last of England', was always an outsider, and the women he loved also burst out of stereotypes. His two wives, Elisabeth Bromley and Emma Hill, and his secret passions, the artist Marie Spartali and the author Mathilde Blind, were all remarkable personalities, from very different backgrounds.Their striving for self-expression, in an age that sought to suppress them, tells us much more about women's journey towards modern roles. Their lives - full of passion, sexual longing, tragedy and determination - take us from the English countryside and the artist's studio to a Europe in turmoil and revolution. These are not silent muses hidden in the shadow of a 'Master'. They step out of the shadows and into the picture, speaking with voices we can hear and understand.The Insider: The Private Diaries of a Scandalous Decade
By Piers Morgan. 2011
The Insider dominated the media on publication in March 2005 and instantly became a No.1 bestseller. Not only did it…
fill thousands of column inches with its revelations about prominent political and showbiz figures, it was critically acclaimed across the broadsheets for its unique and fascinating insight into the worlds of celebrity, royalty, politics and the media.Piers Morgan was made editor of the News of the World, the UK's biggest-selling Sunday newspaper at the record-breaking age of 28. The decade that followed was one of the most tumultuous in modern times. In a world of indiscreet dinners, private meetings and gossipy lunches, Piers Morgan found himself in the thick of it. His diaries from this remarkable period reveal astonishing and hilarious encounters with an endless list of celebrities and politicians alike: Diana, William, Charles and Camilla; Tony Blair, Cherie, Gordon Brown; Paul McCartney, George Michael and Elton John; Jeremy Clarkson, Paula Yates and Gazza to name just a few.Entertaining, engaging and compulsive, The Insider was the most talked-about book of 2005, blowing apart every notion we have of politics, media and celebrity.How To Be a Medieval Woman (Penguin Little Black Classics)
By Margery Kempe. 2004
'And then he, completely astonished at her words, left off his lewdness, saying to her as many a man had…
done before, "Either you are a truly good woman or else a truly wicked woman." 'Brave, outspoken and guaranteed to annoy people wherever she went - including exasperated fellow pilgrims in Jerusalem and her long-suffering husband - Margery Kempe was one of the most vivid and unforgettable voices of the Middle Ages. Whether travelling alone, getting herself arrested or having visions of marrying Jesus, Margery repeatedly defied feminine convention - and also managed to compose the first autobiography in English, despite being unable to read or write.One of 46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. Each book gives readers a taste of the Classics' huge range and diversity, with works from around the world and across the centuries - including fables, decadence, heartbreak, tall tales, satire, ghosts, battles and elephants.Headlines and Hedgerows: A Memoir
By John Craven. 2019
Take a trip down memory lane with the memoir from national TV treasure John Craven, as he recounts both the…
highs and lows of one of the longest entertaining careers in history, and the people and animals that have helped to shape it. _______'A cracking read' Chris Evans, Virgin Radio Breakfast Show_______He began by reading the front page of the evening newspaper in the kitchen to his mother and aunt. Since then he's spoken into microphones to the nation on the BBC almost every week for more than half a century and is one of the most-beloved broadcasters of our time. Presenter of treasured programmes Newsround, Countryfile and Swap Shop, John brought us the headlines and breaking news of our childhood and later helped us discover the magic and wonder of the British countryside. Now, in his first ever autobiography, he recounts a life in news starting with the Grimthorpe Street Gazette, the handwritten newspaper he produced in his early teens - just one copy at a time, so small beginnings. Later, broadcasting on television to millions of children, his casual style of news-reading even found his jumpers making news. He writes about his childhood, his career and the people, events - and animals - that have shaped his life. This is John Craven. And this is the story behind the man so many of us grew up watching on our television screens._______'Magical memoirs. A BBC legend. A broadcasting icon. The best bits from cub reporter to Countryfile . . . his early career sounds like a riot' Daily MailThe Glossy Years: Magazines, Museums and Selective Memoirs
By Nicholas Coleridge. 2001
'The most entertaining book of the year' Sunday Times _____________________________________________________Diana touched your elbow, your arm, covered your hand with hers.…
It was alluring. And she was disarmingly confiding."Can I ask you something? Nicholas, please be frank..."Over his thirty-year career at Condé Nast, Nicholas Coleridge has witnessed it all. From the anxieties of the Princess of Wales to the blazing fury of Mohamed Al-Fayed, his story is also the story of the people who populate the glamorous world of glossy magazines. With relish and astonishing candour, he offers the inside scoop on Tina Brown and Anna Wintour, David Bowie and Philip Green, Kate Moss and Beyonce; on Margaret Thatcher's clothes legacy, and a surreal weekend away with Bob Geldof and William Hague. Cara Delevingne, media tycoons, Prime Ministers, Princes, Mayors and Maharajas - all cross his path.His career in magazines straddles the glossies throughout their glorious zenith - from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s to the digital iterations of the 21st century. Having cut his teeth on Tatler, and as Editor-in-Chief of Harpers & Queen, he became the Mr Big of glossy publishing for three decades.Packed with surprising and often hilarious anecdotes, The Glossy Years also provides perceptive insight into the changing and treacherous worlds of fashion, journalism, museums and a whole sweep of British society. This is a rich, honest, witty and very personal memoir of a life splendidly lived.__________________________________________________________'An entertaining whirlwind' Evening Standard'Gentle, jolly . . . Blissfully funny' Sunday Telegraph'An irresistible read, hilarious, honest and insightful. I adored it' Tina Brown'Sparkling' Spectator'Forthright, witty and gossipy . . . a passion for glossy magazines shines through this effervescent memoir' Sunday Express