Autobiography: arts and entertainment Books
Pan Macmillan Slipstream
Book SynopsisElizabeth Jane Howard was the author of fifteen highly acclaimed novels, including the five volumes of The Cazalet Chronicles, as well as After Julius, Falling, Getting It Right, Love All, and Odd Girl Out. The Cazalet Chronicles The Light Years, Marking Time, Confusion, Casting Off and All Change have become established as modern classics and have been adapted for a major BBC television series and for BBC Radio 4. She had one child, Nicola, and married three times lastly to fellow author Sir Kingsley Amis. In 2000 she was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List, and in 2002 Macmillan published her autobiography, Slipstream. She died, aged ninety, at home in Suffolk on 2 January 2014.Trade ReviewHer talent seemed so effervescent, so unstoppable, that there was no predicting where it might take her -- Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall
£11.69
Pan Macmillan With Nails
Book SynopsisRichard E. Grant was born and brought up in Mbabane, Swaziland. He has featured in over sixty films, including Withnail and I, L.A. Story, Dracula, The Age of Innocence, The Player, Jack and Sarah, Gosford Park, Bright Young Things and Penelope, as well as numerous television shows. He is also the author of By Design: A Hollywood Novel and The Wah-Wah Diaries: The Making of a Film. He lives in London with his family.
£9.89
Simon & Schuster Ltd Scrappy Little Nobody
Book Synopsis‘Fearsome wit’ Elle‘Charming’ Buzzfeed‘Ridiculously entertaining’ Associated Press‘Endearingly honest’ Guardian A collection of humorous autobiographical essays by the Academy Award-nominated actress and star of Pitch Perfect, Twilight, Up in the Air, Into the Woods and Trolls. Even before she made a name for herself on the silver screen, Anna Kendrick was unusually small, weird, defiant, and ‘10 per cent weird’. When she was thirteen, a classmate dropped by her house unexpectedly and discovered written evidence of Anna’s social ineptitude. From then on she decided to ‘keep the crazy inside my head where it belonged. Forever. But here's the thing about crazy: It. Wants. Out.’ In
£8.54
Pan Macmillan I Wanna Be Yours
Book SynopsisThis is a memoir as wry, funny, moving and vivid as its inimitable subject himself. A joy for both lifelong fans and for a whole new generation.'One of Britain's outstanding poets' – Sir Paul McCartney'Riveting' – Observer'An exuberant account of a remarkable life' – New StatesmanJohn Cooper Clarke is a phenomenon: Poet Laureate of Punk, rock star, fashion icon, TV and radio presenter, social and cultural commentator. At 5 feet 11 inches (32in chest, 27in waist), in trademark dark suit, dark glasses, with dark messed-up hair and a mouth full of gold teeth, he is instantly recognizable. As a writer his voice is equally unmistakable and his own brand of slightly sick humour is never far from the surface.I Wanna Be Yours covers an extraordinary life, filled with remarkable personalities: from Nico to Chuck Berry, from Bernard Manning to Linton Kwesi Johnson, Elvis Costello to Gregory Corso, Gil Scott Heron, Mark E. Smith and Joe Strummer, and on to more recent fans and collaborators Alex Turner, Plan B and Guy Garvey.Interspersed with stories of his rock and roll and performing career, John also reveals his boggling encyclopaedic take on popular culture over the centuries: from Baudelaire and Edgar Allan Poe to Pop Art, pop music, the movies, fashion, football and showbusiness – and much, much more, plus a few laughs along the way.'Nothing short of dazzling' – Alex TurnerTrade ReviewThis is not a ‘ponderous trudge through the turgid facts of an ill-remembered life’ but the kind of autobiography Rimbaud might have written if he had been a Mancunian stand-up comedian. -- Graham Robb * Spectator Best Books of the Year *The bookshop shelves have been clogged up for years by musicians and artists who made their debuts in the sulphurous days of 1976-7, but I Wanna Be Yours, the autobiography of the "punk poet" John Cooper Clarke, aka "the Bard of Salford", knocked most of the competition into a cocked hat. -- Books of the Year * TLS *Any autobiography that features both Bernard Manning and Nico is unlikely to disappoint; even less so when it’s written with such brilliantly Dickensian vigour by the Bard of Salford, John Cooper Clarke . . .this fast, funny book catches his life in its lines -- Music Books of the Year * Sunday Times *Manchester punk poet John Cooper Clarke takes a rather different approach to heroin addiction, treating it as a source of humour in his sharply observed, entertaining memoir . . . “Relentless tragedy is always hilarious,” he notes of his eventual recovery. “At some point the laughter has to stop.” -- Best Music Books of 2020 * Daily Telegraph *[I Wanna Be Yours] might be the funniest book published this year. Few memoirists have had better material to work with: heroin addiction, years living in a squat with Nico, endless love affairs and a TV appearance with the Honey Monster. Talk about getting the most out of life. -- Best Music Books of the Year 2020 * The Times *John Cooper Clarke is one of Britain’s outstanding poets. His anarchic punk poetry has thrilled people for decades and his no nonsense approach to his work and life in general has appealed to many people including myself for many years. Long may his slender frame and spiky top produce words and deeds that keep us on our toes and alive to the wonders of the world. -- Sir Paul McCartneyI say to people, have you heard of John Cooper Clarke and if they say, yes, yeah he's an absolute genius and you just go, 'oh - ok, you've saved me a lot of time' -- Steve Coogan, comedian and actor (I'm Alan Partridge)John Cooper Clarke uses words like Chuck Berry uses guitar riffs melody and anger, humour and disdain in equal measure. He's the real deal, really funny and really caustic, the velvet voice of discontent. -- Kate Moss. . . nothing short of dazzling -- Alex Turner, musician (Arctic Monkeys)There are a legion of new young poets who rightly pay homage to Cooper Clarke -- Julian Hall * Independent *It’s impossible not to hear Clarke’s voice, rhythmic & deadpan, while reading his memoir. Like his poetry,his prose style is wry and dry . . . Mad anecdotes & whimsical gags abound, but wisdom often lurks beneath the wordplay. * Guardian *Riveting * The Observer 'Book of the Week' *An immensely engaging memoir that fizzes with wit . . . Though he needs no such affirmation, it cements Clarke’s status as one of the most distinctive voices in pop cultural history – it’s impossible not to hear him read every word aloud in your head with that unforgettable Manc drawl – and reveals much about a remarkable life and career * NME *An exuberant account of a remarkable life * New Statesman *A naturally splendid tell-all * I newspaper *The most entertaining and certainly the most culturally revealing book I have read this year -- D. J. Taylor * Literary Review *Clarke’s primordial gift for language is everywhere in this book. It is almost impossible not to read passages out loud — a meta reminder of his contribution to the joy of spoken-word performance. As Clarke puts it: 'Wherever people gather for amusement, that’s where I’ll be.' * Financial Times *He became the first big-time performance punk poet – a warm-up act for the Sex Pistols, with famous fans ranging from Sir Paul McCartney to Kate Moss. And his life has been as chaotically unpredictable as his next line . . . Now clean and, to his own surprise, a happily married family man at 71, the bard of Salford has written his memoirs. * Sunday Mirror *One of the most magnificent and hysterically funny memoirs of modern times * Irish Times *Crafted, entertaining and educative * Mojo Magazine *Elegantly sardonic . . . His writing remains spry and sparkly, sweary but sweet, with this book testament to how 'a half-arsed grafter with a rich vocabulary' became a kind of British institution * Uncut Magazine *A poet who writes about darkness and decay but makes people laugh, a human cartoon, a gentleman punk, a man who has stayed exactly the same for thirty years but never grown stale. John Cooper Clarke is an original -- Claire Smith * Scotsman *One of the most entertaining autobiographies of the year. Hilarious and inspirational in equal measure, it’s the perfect panacea to the misery of 2020 * The Quietus *I Wanna Be Yours could not be more entertaining, charming and optimistic . . . Its immense spirit-lifting qualities will do the despairing – and everyone else – the world of good * Strong Words Magazine *I telephoned hardworking entertainer and poet Dr. John Cooper Clarke to tell him how much I’m enjoying his memoir, I Wanna Be Yours . . . a buxom read and a highly entertaining one. -- Martin Newell * East Anglian Times *
£10.44
The New York Review of Books, Inc Down Below
Book SynopsisA stunning work of memoir and an unforgettable depiction of the brilliance and madness by one of Surrealism''s most compelling figuresIn 1937 Leonora Carrington—later to become one of the twentieth century’s great painters of the weird, the alarming, and the wild—was a nineteen-year-old art student in London, beautiful and unapologetically rebellious. At a dinner party, she met the artist Max Ernst. The two fell in love and soon departed to live and paint together in a farmhouse in Provence. In 1940, the invading German army arrested Ernst and sent him to a concentration camp. Carrington suffered a psychotic break. She wept for hours. Her stomach became “the mirror of the earth”—of all worlds in a hostile universe—and she tried to purify the evil by compulsively vomiting. As the Germans neared the south of France, a friend persuaded Carrington to flee to Spain. Facing the approach “of robots, of thoughtless, fleshless beings,” she packed a suitcase that bore on a brass plate the word Revelation. This was only the beginning of a journey into madness that was to end with Carrington confined in a mental institution, overwhelmed not only by her own terrible imaginings but by her doctor’s sadistic course of treatment. In Down Below she describes her ordeal—in which the agonizing and the marvelous were equally combined—with a startling, almost impersonal precision and without a trace of self-pity. Like Daniel Paul Schreber’s Memoirs of My Nervous Illness, Down Below brings the hallucinatory logic of madness home.
£9.49
Pan Macmillan Furiously Happy
Book SynopsisFor fans of David Sedaris, Tina Fey and Caitlin Moran comes Furiously Happy from Jenny Lawson, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Let's Pretend This Never Happened.In Let's Pretend This Never Happened, Jenny Lawson regaled readers with uproarious stories of her bizarre childhood. In Furiously Happy she explores her lifelong battle with mental illness. A hysterical, ridiculous book about crippling depression and anxiety? That sounds like a terrible idea. And terrible ideas are what Jenny does best.As Jenny says: 'You can't experience pain without also experiencing the baffling and ridiculous moments of being fiercely, unapologetically, intensely and (above all) furiously happy.' It's a philosophy that has - quite literally - saved her life.Jenny's first book, Let's Pretend This Never Happened, was ostensibly about family, but deep down it was about celebrating your own we
£10.44
John Blake Publishing Ltd Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption and Hollywood
Book SynopsisOn screen, Danny Trejo is the most recognisable anti-hero in Hollywood. But off screen, he is so much more. The ultimate hard-knock-lifer, and a true man of the world, he has all the stories, and all the scars. Raised in an abusive home, Danny struggled from an early age with heroin addiction, doing time in some of the country's most notorious prisons, before breaking into acting. Starring in modern classics and cult hits alike, including Heat, Breaking Bad, From Dusk Till Dawn and Sons of Anarchy, Danny has worked with silver-screen icons like Robert De Niro and Charles Bronson. Now, Danny recounts how he survived the horrors of jail, rebuilt his life, and drew inspiration from the adrenaline-fueled robbery heists of his past to forge his on-screen legend. Redemptive and raw, Trejo is an unforgettable journey through tragedy, pain, and success. Told with cowboy appeal, gritty rebel wisdom, and total honesty, these are outlaw stories from the frontiers: the frontiers of prison, of Hollywood, and of life.
£8.54
Grand Central Publishing Night People
Book Synopsis
£23.55
Pan Macmillan Am I Having Fun Now
Book SynopsisSuzi Ruffell is an award-winning stand up comedian, writer, radio presenter and podcast host. She appears regularly on TV favourites such as Live at the Apollo, The Jonathan Ross Show and Mock the Week, and sells out headline shows at leading venues around the country. Her video clips - on everything ranging from smear tests to having a geezer dad - have been viewed by tens of millions on TikTok, Youtube and Instagram.Suzi's hit podcasts include Like Minded Friends with Tom Allen, Big Kick Energy with Maisie Adam, and nine seasons of her solo offering, Out, on which she has interviewed LGBTQ+ luminaries including Dame Kelly Holmes, Self Esteem, Scott Mills, Hannah Gadsby, the Reverend Richard Coles, Mae Martin and Skin.
£20.99
Genesis Publications Definitely: The Official Story of Def Leppard
Book SynopsisJOE ELLIOTT: We had balls and we were naive, in a good way. We just went out there, full throttle.Offering fans the most personal and comprehensive record of Def Leppard’s history to date, Definitely: The Official Story of Def Leppard is narrated by the band in their own words, illustrated with photography and memorabilia from the Def Leppard archives.RICK SAVAGE: Coming up during the punk era helped us because there were only a couple of bands playing our type of music. People probably took more notice of us because we stood out.Despite an average age of only 18, Def Leppard burst onto the hard rock scene in 1980 like a group of seasoned veterans. Thinking big from the very start, the blueprint for their music was, as singer Joe Elliott states, ‘Queen meets AC/DC.’ Def Leppard’s story is one of stratospheric highs and crashing lows, of triumph over adversity. While becoming one of the world’s best-selling music artists with blockbuster albums Pyromania and Hysteria, the band overcame drummer Rick Allen’s accident and the death of bandmate Steve Clark. During their 45-year history, Def Leppard have continued to make new music – with 12 studio albums to their name, including their 2022 release Diamond Star Halos – finding success with every record and tour.In a wide-ranging account from the band and archive text from past members, Definitely chronicles Def Leppard’s incredible story, from their humble beginnings rehearsing in a spoon factory in Sheffield, to recording ground-breaking multi-platinum albums and touring sell-out stadiums around the world.JOE ELLIOTT: In the summer of 1988 we shifted 4 million copies of Hysteria in the US alone. At that moment we were the biggest band in the world.With unlimited access to the Def Leppard vault, Definitely presents over four decades of the band’s history through handwritten correspondence, rare vinyl pressings, tour memorabilia, music video storyboards, draft album artwork, press cuttings, previously unpublished photographs and much more.Part memoir, part scrapbook, Definitely: The Official Story of Def Leppard is the ultimate record of Def Leppard’s legendary career.
£31.50
Duckworth Books My Life in France
Book SynopsisBursting with Child's adventurous and humorous spirit,My Life in Francecaptures post-war Paris with wonderful vividness and charm.Trade Review'Child's exuberant, affectionate and boundlessly charming account... chronicles, in mouth-watering detail, the meals and the food markets that sparked her interest in French cooking, and her growing appreciation of all things French' New York Times'Luscious… The large-as-life presence of Julia Child looms on every page' Washington Times'Whether you have seen [Julie & Julia] or not, you must read this charming, eccentric memoir from Julia Child, a towering figure in the world of cookery' Independent on Sunday
£9.89
Headline Publishing Group James Acasters Guide to Quitting Social Media
Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERThis is a self-help book like no other. Because you are not helping yourself, James Acaster is helping you.In 2019, James quit all forms of social media - covering his phone in tar and driving it to a lock-up in Rhyl, before setting up home in a castle he''d built himself called Castle Anti-Net. But when the withdrawal symptoms hit him, he realised in order to stay clean he''d have to replace everything social media gave him with three-dimensional, real-life activities. Employing the help of a mysterious, wealthy benefactor named Clancy Dellahue, and an ever-growing gang of misfits (aka the Tangfastic Crew), James found ways to replace his online friends (he joined the scouts) and spy on his exes (climbing ropes, zip lines, fake moustache) as well as anonymously bullying strangers, seeing photos of everyone''s dogs, getting public figures fired, arguing with everybody about everything, and so much more. His life is amazing
£8.79
Canongate Books Stranger Than Kindness
Book SynopsisA SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERStranger Than Kindness is a journey in images and words into the creative world of musician, storyteller and cultural icon Nick Cave.This highly collectable book invites the reader into the innermost core of the creative process and paves the way for an entirely new and intimate meeting with the artist, presenting Cave's life, work and inspiration and exploring his many real and imagined universes. It features full colour reproductions of original artwork, handwritten lyrics, photographs and collected personal artefacts along with commentary and meditations from Nick Cave, Janine Barrand and Darcey Steinke.Stranger Than Kindness asks what shapes our lives and makes us who we are, and celebrates the curiosity and power of the creative spirit.The book has been developed and curated by Nick Cave in collaboration with Christina Back. The images were selected from 'Stranger Than Kindness: The Nick Cave Exhibition', opening at the Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen in June 2020.Trade ReviewA scrapbook of rarely seen photos and sketches traces Nick Cave's transformation from Aussie teenager into an international artist . . . It takes on a life of its own, revealing his often compulsive way of working, as well as his abiding interests and obsessions: desire, faith, sin, despair, redemption, grief, love, and the transformative thrust of language itself * * Observer * *Goes deep into Cave's creative process, via his artwork, lyrics and photographs, and his ever-succinct commentary * * Guardian, 5 of the best * *A carefully curated collection of artwork, handwritten lyrics, photographs, personal possessions and essays, Stranger Than Kindness is a proper deep-dive into the story and creative processes of Nick Cave * * NME, Best Music Books of the Year * *[Takes] us on a detailed journey into his creative psyche. It features everything from school reports and scribbled shopping lists to lyric sheets and handwritten dictionaries - "the secret and unformed property of the artist," as Cave puts it * * Evening Standard, Best Music Books of the Year * *The material evidence of Cave's creative life. [There is] an excellent introduction from Darcey Steinke . . . a book of beauty and understated style . . . The book serves best as an invitation to explore Cave's work further, whether one is a novice or a committed celebrant. It is worth the effort * * Herald * *Features [Cave's] lurid, bizarre, beautiful, touching artwork and handmade books [and] an exquisite, winding essay by the American novelist Darcey Steinke. The essay is, simply put, extraordinary . . . Steinke has otherworldly gifts . . . I bought an expensive art book from a musician I like; what I got was a kind of compass leading me through a weird and often bleak time * * VICE * *A fascinating read, doubly so when listening to Cave perform the songs his obsessive evidence-gathering informs * * The Times * *Magnificent . . . A visual history of Cave's life, it's annotated by him with the same warmth and wit that have made his Red Hand Files series of letters to his fans so special. As for the images, they give more insight into the workings of his mind than any interview could . . . Darcey Steinke [has] written a fascinating and scholarly essay on Cave's work that sets him alongside some of literature's greatest figures . . . Exhaustive, gorgeous and thoughtful, this book of treasures will delight and inspire any admirer of Cave's work * * Classic Rock * *Offer[s] an access-all-areas peek into his life's work, featuring lyrics, essays, set designs, artwork, personal notes, previously-unseen photos and more * * Q Magazine * *Nick Cave's fans have long deserved a book that offers a long-view perspective on him and his work, and Stranger Than Kindness more than fulfils on its promise. The book collates a - carefully considered and curated - scattershot of artistic imagery, original lyric drafts, scrapbooks, and a few literary influences . . . [There is an] insightful and searching essay from Darcey Steinke . . . Stranger Than Kindness both embodies and enriches our understanding of how Nick Cave the artist came to be, and illuminates why his music continues to matter to so many * * HeadStuff * *
£34.00
Random House USA Inc Based on a True Story
Book SynopsisNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Driving, wild and hilarious” (The Washington Post), here is the incredible “memoir” of the legendary actor, gambler, raconteur, and Saturday Night Live veteran. When Norm Macdonald, one of the greatest stand-up comics of all time, was approached to write a celebrity memoir, he flatly refused, calling the genre “one step below instruction manuals.” Norm then promptly took a two-year hiatus from stand-up comedy to live on a farm in northern Canada. When he emerged he had under his arm a manuscript, a genre-smashing book about comedy, tragedy, love, loss, war, and redemption. When asked if this was the celebrity memoir, Norm replied, “Call it anything you damn like.”
£16.20
HarperCollins Publishers A Cooks Book The Essential Nigel Slater with over
Book SynopsisIf you were to only have one Slater cookbook in your life, this is it' OFM, Books of the YearHe is king among food writers' Nigella LawsonSlater's best book' Diana Henry, Sunday TelegraphA Cook's Book is the story of Nigel Slater's life in the kitchen.From the first jam tart Nigel made with his mum standing on a chair trying to reach the Aga, through to what he is cooking now, this is the ultimate Nigel Slater collection brimming with over 200 recipes.Hewrites about how his cooking has changed from discovering the best way to roast a chicken to the trick to smoky, smooth aubergine mash. He gives the tales behind the recipes and recalls the first time he ate a baguette in Paris, his love of jewel-bright Japanese pickled radishes and his initial slice of buttercream-topped chocolate cake. These are the favourite recipes Nigel Slater cooks at home every day; the heart and soul of his cooking. Chapters include: a slice of tart, a chicken in the pot, everyday greens, the solace of soup and Trade Review‘A Cook’s Book, all 500 pages and nearly one and a half kilos of it, enters the world as if from the kitchen of someone fresh to the world of food writing, a-brim with ideas, vital and enthusiastic . . . He is king among food writers . . . There is not a cook or a reader in the land who wouldn’t gratefully hug this new volume of his to their chest’ Nigella Lawson ‘A magnificent volume of comfort. After all these years, no one describes the simple sensuous pleasures of food better than Slater’ Bee Wilson ‘This is a book for life . . . This, and it’s high praise, is Slater’s best book’ Diana Henry, Sunday Telegraph ‘It’s so good. I think it’s his best one, and I say that because every single recipe is something you’d make tonight, for supper, with no fuss or stress . . . It’s super-homey and a friendly, comfortable book for people who don’t view recipes as projects. Divinely written, as per’ India Knight, Sunday Times ‘I've got five Nigel Slaters – and in all honesty I don't need a single new recipe in my life . . . But that's absolutely nothing to do with it. Cookery books are like new clothes – you imagine a whole life to go with them’ Alexandra Schulman, Daily Mail ‘It is beautiful’ Grace Dent ‘This beautiful book has all you’ll ever need’ Graham Norton, Virgin Radio ‘Every time Nigel Slater announces a new book, I quickly make a spot next to all his other books that sit on my bookshelf. His latest book, A Cook’s Book is like your favourite chocolate cake, sweetened with fond memories and layered with Nigel’s wisdom to make us all better cooks in the kitchen’ Nik Sharma ‘It’s gorgeous’ Felicity Spector ‘It’s beautifully designed, spilling over with tempting ideas’ Express Books of the Year ‘The beauty of his prose is matched to the warmth of his recipes’ Tom Parker-Bowles, Daily Mail
£27.00
Orion Publishing Co Munkey Diaries
Book Synopsis''Birkin''s diary entries ultimately expose the toxic reality behind one of the 20th century''s most glamorous couples'' Sunday TimesJane Birkin - actor, singer, songwriter and model - may have shot to worldwide fame through her relationship with Serge Gainsbourg and their controversial hit ''Je t''aime ... moi non plus'', but it would be her wide-ranging acting career and effortless Gallic cool that was to truly cement her legacy as an enduring international icon. In Munkey Diaries, the first volume of Birkin''s diaries, we''re transported to the flamboyant world of London in the Swinging Sixties and Saint-Germain-des-Prés in the 1970s. There are intimate revelations about Jane''s tumultuous life with her first husband, the composer John Barry, and her romantic and professional collaboration with Gainsbourg, as well as keen insights into her working life as an actor, singer and songwriter.Far from an ordinary memoir, Munkey DiariesTrade ReviewBirkin's diary entries ultimately expose the toxic reality behind one of the 20th century's most glamorous couples * Sunday Times *Painfully honest * Daily Mail *Birkin's diary entries ultimately expose the toxic reality behind one of the 20th century's most glamorous couples. * The Sunday Times *touching memoir * Daily Mail *
£9.49
Headline Publishing Group Could It Be Forever My Story
Book SynopsisIn the seventies, when he was just 20 years old, David Cassidy achieved the sort of teen idol fame that is rarely seen. He was mobbed everywhere he went. His clothes were regularly ripped off by adoring fans. He sold records the world over. He was bigger than Elvis. And all thanks to a hit TV show called The Partridge Family. Now, in his own words, this is a brutally frank account of those mindblowing days of stardom in which being David Cassidy played second fiddle to being Keith Partridge. Including stories of sex, drugs and rock''n''roll that explode the myth of Cassidy as squeaky clean, it''s also the story of how to keep on living life and loving yourself when the fickle fans fall away.
£11.69
St. Martin's Press Gold Dust Woman
Book SynopsisA NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!All you ever wanted to know about Fleetwood Mac's mesmerizing frontwoman. - People MagazineDavis is astute and respectful...adept in his literary analysis. - The New York Times Book ReviewStevie Nicks is a legend of rock, but her energy and magnetism sparked new interest in this icon. At sixty-nine, she''s one of the most glamorous creatures rock has known, and the rare woman who''s a real rock n'' roller.Gold Dust Woman gives the gold standard of rock biographers (The Boston Globe) his ideal topic: Nicks'' work and life are equally sexy and interesting, and Davis delves deeply into each, unearthing fresh details from new, intimate interviews and interpreting them to present a rich new portrait of the star. Just as Nicks (and Lindsey Buckingham) gave Fleetwood Mac the shot of adrenaline they needed to become real rock starsaccording to Christine McVieGold Dust Woman is
£23.99
HarperCollins Publishers All Cheeses Great and Small
Book SynopsisThis is the story of Alex James's transition from a leading light of the Britpop movement in the 1990s, to gentleman farmer, artisan cheese-maker and father of five.I was hanging around the pigsty in the way I'd previously hung around at The Groucho Club. I felt wonderfully connected, grounded in the real world, standing in pig muck'Following fifteen years in Blur, Alex James did two wild, unexpected things. He fell in love and he bought a farm.Moving into a rambling, chaotic farmstead in the beautiful Cotswold countryside, he decides the best way to learn about farming is the same way he learned most about music: by jumping in and doing it. As his family settles in, he discovers the unexpected joys that country life abounds in: finding the first egg from your very own chicken, coming across a bramble bush laden with blackberries, roasting home-grown pears on an open fire, before stumbling on a new venture making cheese.Wonderfully warm, witty and perfectly observed, this is the storyTrade Review‘James’s prose is clean and poetic. His childlike wonder at the simple things – from herons to heaps of rubble – can be infectious’ DAILY TELEGRAPH ‘A joy to read. Prose flows and weaves and curls itself into pleasing rhythms…(Alex James) can write like a god’ SPECTATOR ‘The upbeat tone matches that of his Blur-era autobiography A BIT OF A BLUR, treating his downsize from rock heart-throb to cockerel-throttling country gent as if cheese contests were Britpop orgies. Riding bikes, the smell of berry bushes, piles of cow dung: all brilliant’ NME
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Love Janis
Book SynopsisJanis Joplin's sister uses newly discovered letters to chronicle the singer's life, discussing her restless teen years, involvement in the hippie scene at Haight-Ashbury, sexual experimentation, drug use, and career.
£9.49
Oxford University Press Louis Armstrong In His Own Words Selected Writings
Book SynopsisArmstrong recounts his early life in New Orleans, his experiences in Chicago and New York during the 1920s, his crowning as "King of the Zulus," and his late years in Queens, New York. Here is a dimension of Louis Armstrong that includes the history of jazz and, he history of American culture.Trade ReviewReview from previous edition 'a fascinating collection ... it's pretty damn entertaining.' * Mojo *Table of Contents1. "LOUIS ARMSTRONG + THE JEWISH FAMILY IN NEW ORLEANS, LA., THE YEAR OF 1907" (MARCH 31, 1969-1970); 5. "THE ARMSTRONG STORY" (1954); 10. EARLY YEARS WITH LUCILLE (CA. 1970); 15. LETTER TO L/CPL. VILLEC (1967)
£16.87
HarperCollins Publishers Inc I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp
Book SynopsisTrade Review"A rueful, battle-scarred, darkly witty observer of his own life and times." -- New York Times "In his poetic memoir, I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp, Hell takes us on a tour of a lost world and stakes out his place in cultural history." -- Los Angeles Times "Hell brings to his new autobiography more literary experience than your typical rock memoirist...I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp ultimately celebrates passion, in all its complicated, sometimes dangerous forms." -- USA Today "This valuable book... is not only an absorbing cultural history but also a clear-eyed story that superbly channels the attitude expressed in the first blurt to his best-known song 'Blank Generation': "I was saying let me out of here before I was even born." -- Boston Globe "Mr. Hell has an excellent new memoir, I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp, that describes that wild, reckless and important era in downtown Manhattan with candor, wit and reverence." -- The Observer "His book shines its own dirty light. Which means it has lots of sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll. Pick up I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp, if you want poetry and insight." -- Spin "There are many shivery, illicit pleasures in this louche memoir... Hell was a virtuoso of taste, a critic with a sensibility so fine and unconventional it bordered on its own form of art... weird and singular and superbly self-aware." -- BookForum "Hell is an enthusiastic reporter of the critical artistic crossover of the avant-garde art scene and the world of punk rock... his account rings true and it entertains... a treasure both to those present during gritty, heady '70s NYC and to those not." -- Time Out New York (4 Stars) "Hell brings his searingly honest songwriting style to this candid and page-turning memoir... [Hell's] portrait of the artist searching for himself offers a glimpse into his own genius as well as recreating the hellishness and the excitement of a now long-gone music scene in New York City." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A skilled writer...In recalling the days when love came in spurts, Hell is precise, telling a lot without ever seeming to tell too much. He nails the essence of both scenes and people, from rock peers to exploitative record producers...A deft, lyrical chronicle." -- Kirkus "Hell is a fine writer and full of self-knowledge, and part of the pleasure of this randy, drug-addled memoir are his descriptions of New York during the bad old days when crime was rampant and the streets filthy. A compelling and entertaining memoir." -- Booklist "[Hell] almost single handedly created 'punk' as we know it... Few people have been as important--yet as underappreciated as Richard Hell. Poet, musician, fashion icon and terrific, terrific writer. Chances are, you have been deeply influenced by Richard Hell your whole life. You just didn't know it." -- Anthony Bourdain "Richard Hell designed and executed a sustained performance of rock stardom as if he had invented the concept himself. Radically self-aware, he wields prose keen as a diamond knife, sharpened by the light of the moon." -- Luc Sante, award winning author of Low Life "An exquisite snapshot of early punk possibility--that so beautifully captures the exuberance of starting a band!" -- Legs McNeil "Charming and impossible, Hell is the first (and best!) name in punk rock. His insights are informed by the romance of running away to the mystery heard in the rowdy grooves of a dirty LP or in the pages of a thumbed book of verse." -- Thurston Moore "Tramp gave me the same feeling I had as a kid... I cozied up and fell in love with a world that wasn't mine. There are very few books that make me want to start writing my own; this is one of them." -- Kathleen Hanna "Other rock bios are tasteful and cautious - you feel the writer take you to a certain point but then pull back... Hell will take you right there, and that is why this book is an honest and special treat." -- Dean Wareham
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Fagen D Eminent Hipsters
Book SynopsisIn Eminent Hipsters, musician and songwriter Donald Fagen, best known as the co-founder of the rock band Steely Dan, presents an autobiographical portrait that touches on everything from the cultural figures that mattered the most to him as a teenager, to his years in the late 1960s at Bard College, to a hilarious account of a recent tour he made with Boz Scaggs and Michael McDonald.Fagen begins by introducing the ''eminent hipsters'' that spoke to him as he was growing up (and desperately yearning to be hip) in suburban New Jersey in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The figures who influenced him most were not the typical ones Miles Davis, say, or Jack Kerouac but rather people like Jean Shepherd, whose manic, acidic nightly radio broadcasts out of WOR-Radio had a tough realism about life and enthralled a generation of alienated young people'; Henry Mancini, whose chilled-out, nourish soundtracks, especially to films by Blake Edwards utilised the unconventional, spaTrade ReviewNerdishly clever, entertainingly original and even a moving reconfiguration of the memoir format. -- Bernadette McNulty * Sunday Telegraph *Fagen, as you might expect, is an elegant and erudite writer. -- John Mulvey * Uncut *If you're a Dan fan you should read this book. If you're not a Dan fan you should read it anyway. * The Afterword *Part memoir, part personal dissertation, and it makes for an enjoyable, if brief, read. -- Dylan Jones * GQ *A curious little autobiographical volume by another hero of long ago, Donald Fagen, once and again of Steely Dan. * Spectator *Eminent Hipsters is regularly funny and insightful. * Sunderland Echo / Dorset Echo *I would like to be given Eminent Hipsters. -- Sebastian Faulks * Observer *An excellent, albeit slim, collection of essays about the Steely Dan singer’s formative teenage influences as "a subterranean in gestation with a real nasty cast of otherness". -- Andy Gill * Independent *A memoir of inspired essayism and darkly comic recollection which barely touches on Steely Dan yet utterly satisfies. -- Mat Snow * Mojo *This is moaning of the highest order — jazz moaning, you might call it — and Fagen keeps it up for 70 brilliant, hilarious pages. For the intelligent, grumpy old music fan, only one of these books needs to be bought as a present this Christmas, and it’s not Morrissey’s. -- Markus Berkmann * Spectator *Eminent Hipsters is regularly funny and insightful…whether you know who Fagen is or not, it’s still worth anyone’s time. * Yorkshire Evening Post *The writing is sharp, wry and elegant, without a single wasted word. -- Aidan Smith * Scotland on Sunday *This book is a piece of pure bliss. -- Anthony Quinn * Guardian *An unalloyed joy. -- Les Gofton * Times Higher Education *Constantly surprising, and recalled with great elegance. * Financial Times *A terrific and easy read. -- Jonathan O'Brien * Sunday Business Post *Wry, funny and forensically observant. * Saga *A terrific music memoir. -- Tony Clayton-Lea * Irish Times *
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers Kiss Me Like a Stranger My Search for Love and
Book SynopsisGene Wilder defined film comedy in the 1970s and ''80s. But this is no traditional autobiography, rather it''s an intelligent, quirky, humorous account of key events that have affected him in search for love and art.In this very personal, fascinating book, Wilder gives a great insight into the creative process on stage and screen. He discusses his experiences of working with the very best of movie talent, including Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Sidney Poitier and Richard Pryor, and tells how he developed his own unique style from his early days at The Actors'' Studio with Lee Strasberg.Amongst other incidents, he describes his time in the UK, which he has great fondness for, studying at the Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol. During this period he came top of his class at fencing and doorstepped Sir John Geilgud to ask him to explain the use of iambic pentametre.Wilder also talks amusingly about his failed love life off-screen (including 4 marriages) and is candid about much darker times sucTrade Review‘Funny, unusual and completely convincing.’The Mail on Sunday 'Wilder's prose is as probingly honest as his best performances.’Sunday Times 'Like it's author, it has great charm and intelligence.'Daily Mail – Critic's Choice 'Pure Gene Wilder! Uproarishly funny and at times very moving. It made me want to go out and see every Gene Wilder movie again.'Mel Brooks
£9.49
Gallery Books Between Two Worlds
Book SynopsisFrom Tyler Henry, clairvoyant and star of E!'s hit reality series Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry, comes Between Two Worlds, a captivating memoir about his journey as a medium thus far.Dying doesnt mean having to say goodbye. Tyler Henry discovered his gift for communicating with the departed when he was just ten years old. After experiencing a sudden, accurate premonition of his grandmothers deathwhat Tyler would later describe as his first experience of knowingnesslife would never be the same. Now in his twenties, Tyler is a renowned, practicing medium, star of the smash hit E! reality show, Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry, and go-to clairvoyant of celebrities, VIPs, and those simply looking for closure and healing. He has worked with some of Hollywoods biggest names including Khloe Kardashian, Amber Rose, Margaret Cho, Jaime Pressly, and Monica Potter. Despite struggling to accept his rare talent, Tyler grew to embrace it, and
£15.29
Orion Publishing Co The Python Years
Book SynopsisThe funny, warm and moving diaries of a man at the centre of one of the world''s most influential comedy troupes.Michael Palin''s diaries begin when he was newly married and struggling to make a name for himself in the world of television comedy. But Monty Python was just around the corner . . . This engaging volume is a window into the world of Monty Python, from the group''s early cult success to the global superstardom that followed. Amongst tales from the making of THE HOLY GRAIL and LIFE OF BRIAN are stories of the three-day week and the various trials of a peripatetic life, told with Michael''s trademark warmth and good humour.
£11.24
Atria Books From This Moment on
Book SynopsisFrom the award-winning country/pop star Shania Twain comes an in-depth look at her difficult childhood and rise to worldwide fame.
£14.33
Quarto Publishing PLC Alice Cooper
Book SynopsisAlice Cooper: Golf Monster is the full account of how Cooper became one of the biggest rock stars on the planet with hits like "School's Out" and "Elected", nearly lost it all to alcoholism, and then turned things around by finding a healthy obsession (golf) to replace his unhealthy addiction to alcohol. While most will be familiar with his wild, mascaraed visage and vaudevillian on-stage theatrics, perhaps few will have been aware of the double life Alice Cooper leads. He still tours the world with his band, playing a hundred gigs a year; snake coiled round his neck, beheaded by guillotine at the end of every show...but three hundred days out of that year, Cooper is on the course. Alice Cooper: Golf Monster is an unlikely and captivating tale of wretched excess, life-saving redemption, ghoulish make-up, power chords, and five-irons to the centre of the green. Both humorous and candid, this book reveals another dimension to a man who has epitomised rock 'n' roll for the last forty years.Trade Review'Clever, witty and perfect for dads who like metal (clubs)' The Times
£15.30
Hodder & Stoughton A Heart That Works
Book SynopsisIn this memoir of loss, acclaimed writer and comedian Rob Delaney grapples with the fragile miracle of life, the mysteries of death, and the question of purpose for those left behind.When you''re a parent and your child gets hurt or sick, you not only try to help them get better but you also labour under the general belief that you can help them get better. That''s not always the case though. Sometimes the nurses and the doctors can''t fix what''s wrong. Sometimes children die.Rob Delaney''s beautiful, bright, gloriously alive son Henry died. He was one when he was diagnosed with a brain tumour. An experience beyond comprehension, but an experience Rob must share. Why does he feel compelled to talk about it, to write about it, to make people feel something like what he feels when he knows it will hurt them? Because, despite Henry''s death, Rob still loves people. For that reason, he wants them to understand.A Heart That Works is an intimate, unfTrade ReviewThis book is so rich with grief and love and pain and humor and an incandescent, purifying, flame-throwing wrath. Though Delaney can't bring Henry back, he can - and does - show enough of him to the world to make a reader see him a little bit, know him a little bit, and fully love him. What an unbelievable gift -- Lauren GroffWhat a read. Its beauty and pain and humour and anger will help many people. This is a beautiful monument -- Richard OsmanThe weaving of the joy and pain, the love and loss, the absurdity of grief, is done so beautifully. It feels like a message in a bottle, a despatch, a communication from the depths of suffering and despair that ultimately brings a message of great hope -- Cathy RentzenbrinkIt is a gift, it's an immense piece of work. It's brilliant. It's needed, like a deep, physical draught of something strong and cold -- Russell T. DaviesI could have read about Henry for a thousand pages. It is impossible not to share in Delaney's tenderness, his attention, his anger, his night-black humor, and impossible not to see his son through his eyes: loved, learning, smiling ecstatically. I will turn to this book again and again, to feel deeply and to learn about this world from Henry -- Patricia LockwoodWarm and vivid and heartbreaking, humane and somehow even funny, Rob Delaney has written a very special tribute to a very special boy, and a beautiful treatise on what really matters in life -- Monica HeiseyI got to know Henry through Rob's words. His sweet soft head. His amazing smile . . . I cried a lot but also felt hopeful because life goes on and Rob talks you through how that happens. I am in awe. It's a love letter to fatherhood and the most beautiful tribute to a child who is so deeply adored. This book will sit with me for a very long time -- Dawn O'PorterDelaney is a phenomenal storyteller . . . A Heart That Works is in the same league as The Year of Magical Thinking in its stark, clarified articulation of grief * Buzzfeed *I love this book, and it is a tough ride, filled with grace and beauty and unimaginable pain. I cried a number of times, laughed a lot, grieved with the Delaneys, and underlined so many moments of courage, exposure, humanity and the deepest meaning. All I can say is Wow -- Anne Lamott, author of BIRD BY BIRDThis book is unlike anything I've ever read. Brutally honest, powerful, like a beautiful howl. A love letter to Delaney's precious boy. To his wife. His family. To parenthood. It is a book that will help so many grieving parents. I loved everything about it -- Laura Zigman, author of SEPARATION ANXIETYEmotionally raw, yet masterfully told. At the heart of this intimate story of coming to terms with the death is a stubborn embrace of life itself -- Mat Johnson, author of PYMI don't think I've ever read anything before that captures the enormity and power of parental love, how radical it is, how transformative and total -- Eleanor CattonIt taught me a lot about grieving, life, death and parenting. Every parent should read it. Every human should read it -- Philippa PerryThis is such an important, intimate and powerful book. It's unflinching. It stares grief right in the eyes and forces you to do the same -- Sue PerkinsBeautiful, funny, tender -- Lauren Laverne, Radio 6 Music Breakfast ShowSimply beautiful -- Nihal Arthanayake, Radio 5 LiveTender, perceptive and strangely, darkly funny amid unconscionable tragedy... This is a rallying call against the polite timidity that we often show grief * The i *A viscerally extraordinary book -- Elizabeth Day * How To Fail *Vital and very, very funny... As much as I wish he hadn't had to write it, I am glad he did. Because such deaths do happen. And they largely happen in private... That he is able to do so with such guiltless, funny and disarming honesty is testament to the profound effect of Henry's short but meaningful life -- Rory Kinnear * Guardian *Rob Delaney shows us his big, beautiful, messy, angry, kind, wise heart and gives us a full life to live instead of the half-life we have been living. I can't say enough about the seismic shift this book created in me -- Sarah PolleyLike Catastrophe, which laughs at and celebrates the messiness of married life, A Heart That Works is tragicomic, a jumble of joy and fear and laughter and pain... bleakly fun * Observer Magazine *A devastatingly candid account of a parent's grief that will have readers laughing and crying in equal measure... Few would attempt to bring humor and levity to such an unbearably sad story, but Delaney manages to do so with grace, sincerity, and warmth * Kirkus Starred Review *The book is remarkable for how deeply it delves into the granular aspects of death... This memoir is a big-hearted depiction of personal pain, urging readers to appreciate what they have * Sunday Independent *The most moving, thought-provoking and intimate account of navigating grief that you're likely to read... Delaney's book is shot through with profound anger, flashes of humour and most of all the enormous, all-encompassing love he feels for Henry and his family * Daily Express *How do you go on when the very worst happens? That's the question Catastrophe star and comedian Delaney grapples with in this raw account of losing his two-and-a-half-year-old son Henry to brain cancer in 2018. There are moments of dark humour amid the heartbreak, but expect to start crying on page 17 * Grazia *Wrenching . . . A Heart That Works is heartbreaking (and how can it not be?), but it's also an affecting portrait of a father's love for his son * Time *A heart-breaking, consoling, funny and angry lament . . . life-changing * Irish Times *[Delaney's] meditations on loss, family and hope are so profound you'll come out the other side of this book a different person * i news, Best Books of 2022 *A raw, painful and, at times, darkly funny memoir . . . As heartbreaking as the book may be, Delaney's pitch black humor buoys even the toughest moments . . . Delaney's book is ultimately about all-encompassing, heart-exploding love. * New York TImes *A love story unlike any other -- Mia FarrowThe pain comes less from horrifying details than from the way Delaney lures us into contact with the very aspects of our lives that are easiest to ignore: our fragilities, our constant proximity to calamity, our powerlessness to control what life brings, or when * New Yorker *A wrenching, unflinching and somehow often funny memoir * USA Today *It is a relief to read an account of grief that is not a series of hard-won life lessons wrapped in a gratitude journal . . . The result is a book that sings with life . . . That a book about a dead child is at times laugh-out-loud funny is a testament to Delaney's skill; in the hands of a lesser writer, the humor could seem dismissive or grasping instead of the natural release valve of a person who is highly attuned to the absurdity of the awful * Washington Post *A book that'll break a heart, and put it back together again...A life changing read * Stylist *Achingly beautiful * People *Extraordinary . . . it brims with chaotic life * Sunday Times *It is laugh out loud funny, and cry out loud sad, and warm as a huge log fire in winter and I could have carried on reading it for 1000 pages. * Mark Haddon *
£15.29
Simon & Schuster Back to the Prairie: A Home Remade, A Life
Book SynopsisThe New York Times bestselling author and star of Little House on the Prairie returns with a hilarious and heartfelt memoir chronicling her journey from Hollywood to a ramshackle house in the Catskills during the COVID-19 pandemic. Known for her childhood role as Laura Ingalls Wilder on the classic NBC show Little House on the Prairie, Melissa Gilbert has spent nearly her entire life in Hollywood. From Dancing with the Stars to a turn in politics, she is always on the lookout for her next project. She just had no idea that her latest one would be completely life changing. When her husband introduces her to the wilds of rural Michigan, Melissa begins to fall back in love with nature. And when work takes them to New York, they find a rustic cottage in the Catskill Mountains to call home. But “rustic” is a generous description for the state of the house, requiring a lot of blood, sweat, and tears for the newlyweds to make habitable. When the pandemic descends on the world, it further nudges Melissa out of the spotlight and into the woods. She trades Botox treatments for DIY projects, power lunching for gardening and raising chickens, and soon her life is rediscovered anew in her own little house in the Catskills.
£14.48
Simon & Schuster Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies
Book SynopsisAn “extraordinarily brilliant” and “pleasurably naughty” (André Aciman) investigation into the Shakespeare authorship question, exploring how doubting that William Shakespeare wrote his plays became an act of blasphemy…and who the Bard might really be.The theory that Shakespeare may not have written the works that bear his name is the most horrible, unspeakable subject in the history of English literature. Scholars admit that the Bard’s biography is a “black hole,” yet to publicly question the identity of the god of English literature is unacceptable, even (some say) “immoral.” In Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies, journalist and literary critic Elizabeth Winkler sets out to probe the origins of this literary taboo. Whisking you from London to Stratford-Upon-Avon to Washington, DC, she pulls back the curtain to show how the forces of nationalism and empire, religion and mythmaking,
£14.53
Grand Central Publishing Kasher in the Rye: The True Tale of a White Boy
Book Synopsis
£15.99
Unicorn Publishing Group Shirley: The Life of a Botanical Adventurer
Book SynopsisShirley, The Life of a Botanical Adventurer is the remarkable story of Dr Shirley Sherwood, scientist, author, travel writer, gardener as well as mother and grandmother. Following the tragic death of her brilliant scientist husband, Michael Cross, in a freak air crash in 1964, she was left as a 30-year-old widow with two young boys aged four and three. For the next twelve years she worked as a key member of the Nobel Prize-winning team which developed Tagamet, the first block-buster drug (sales of over $1 billion a year). After her marriage to Jim Sherwood in 1977, she left science to concentrate full-time on the huge task of restoring the fabled Orient-Express train, probably the most luxurious and exotic form of travel ever devised. The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, running between London and Venice, was relaunched in 1982, ninety-nine years after its first journey. Sherwood's history of the project sold more than 400,000 copies. The Orient-Express train was just the beginning. The Sherwoods went on to create the five-star Orient-Express Hotels company (now Belmond), which owned some of the finest hotels in the world, including the Cipriani in Venice, the Mount Nelson in Cape Town and the Copacabana Palace in Rio. They pioneered new train routes across the Alps, started the Eastern & Oriental Express running between Singapore and Bangkok- crossing over the Bridge on the River Kwai- opened up tourism in Myanmar with the first cruise ship to operate on the Irrawaddy, and took over the railways of Peru, which run all the way to Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca. Her most lasting achievement, the one of which she is proudest, is the Shirley Sherwood Collection of contemporary botanical art, which she started in 1990 and now includes over 1,000 paintings and drawings representing the work of more than 300 contemporary botanical artists from 36 countries. She has mounted exhibitions in many prestigious locations including the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Kirstenbosch in Cape Town and the Real Jardin Botanico, Madrid. The Shirley Sherwood Gallery in Kew Gardens is the first museum to be dedicated to modern botanical art and her books, which often accompanied her exhibitions, have been largely responsible for re-establishing botanical art in its rightful place as an important art form. These are just some of the many achievements in a long and rich life, vividly described in this book.Trade Review"Shirley Sherwood put botanical art firmly back on the agenda with her incredible collection and her unremitting quest for only the very best." – Sir Roy Strong CH FRSL “A remarkable and sophisticated life of science, travel and passion for the best of contemporary botanical art." - Sir Peter Crane FRS "Shirley is an inspiration in how to use one’s gifts wisely and live life well. Her memoir is a delight." - Dame Mary Archer"this is a compelling tale of a life rich in incident and bravery" -- Steven Desmond
£21.25
Little, Brown Book Group In Conclusion Dont Worry About It
Book SynopsisAdvice for graduates and reflections on staying true to yourself from the beloved Gilmore Girls actress and New York Times bestselling author of the memoir Talking as Fast as I Can and the novel Someday, Someday, Maybe.If you''re kicking yourself for not having accomplished all you should have by now, don''t worry about it. Even without any ''big'' accomplishments yet to your name, you are enough. In this expansion of the 2017 commencement speech she gave at her hometown Langley High, Lauren Graham, the beloved star of Gilmore Girls and Parenthood, reflects on growing up, pursuing your dreams, and living in the here and now. Whatever path you choose, whatever career you decide to go after, the important thing is that you keep finding joy in what you''re doing, especially when the joy isn''t finding you. In her hilarious, relatable voice, Graham reminds us to be curious and compassionate, no matter where life tak
£9.49
Penguin Publishing Group Fearless and Free
Book SynopsisA MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR: The TODAY Show, Vanity Fair, Financial Times, W Magazine, Oprah Daily, LibraryReadsPraised as “funny and witty” by Kwame Alexander on the TODAY show, now published in the US for the first time, Fearless and Free is the memoir of the “trailblazing” (People), rule-breaking, one-of-a-kind Josephine Baker, the iconic dancer, singer, spy, and Civil Rights activist.“A gorgeous, captivating gem of a memoir… Josephine Baker’s as enthralling on the page as she was on the stage.” —Abbott Kahler, New York Times bestselling author of Eden Undone and Sin in the Second CityAfter stealing the spotlight as a teenaged Broadway performer during the height of the Harlem Renaissance, Josephine then took Paris by storm, dazzling audiences across the Roaring Twenties. In her famous banana skirt, she enraptured royalty and countless fans—Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso among them. She strolled the streets of Paris with her pet cheetah wearing a diamond collar. With her signature flapper bob and enthralling dance moves, she was one of the most recognizable women in the world.When World War II broke out, Josephine became a decorated spy for the French Résistance. Her celebrity worked as her cover, as she hid spies in her entourage and secret messages in her costumes as she traveled. She later joined the Civil Rights movement in the US, boycotting segregated concert venues, and speaking at the March on Washington alongside Martin Luther King Jr. First published in France in 1949, her memoir will now finally be published in English. At last we can hear Josephine in her own voice: charming, passionate, and brave. Her words are thrilling and intimate, like she’s talking with her friends over after-show drinks in her dressing room. Through her own telling, we come to know a woman who danced to the top of the world and left her unforgettable mark on it.
£24.00
Faber & Faber Then It Fell Apart
Book Synopsis*Featured in The Times'' ''Best Books of the Year So Far''*What do you do when you realise you have everything you think you''ve ever wanted but still feel completely empty? What do you do when it all starts to fall apart? The second volume of Moby''s extraordinary life story is a journey into the dark heart of fame and the demons that lurk just beneath the bling and bluster of the celebrity lifestyle. In summer 1999, Moby released the album that defined the millennium, PLAY. Like generation-defining albums before it, PLAY was ubiquitous, and catapulted Moby to superstardom. Suddenly he was hanging out with David Bowie and Lou Reed, Christina Ricci and Madonna, taking esctasy for breakfast (most days), drinking litres of vodka (every day), and sleeping with super models (infrequently). It was a diet that couldn''t last. And then it fell apart. The second volume of Moby''s memoir is a classic about the banality of fame. It is shocking, r
£8.24
Pan Macmillan Gotta Get Theroux This: My Life and Strange Times
Book SynopsisFrom much-loved documentary maker Louis Theroux comes a funny, heartfelt and entertaining account of his life and weird times in TV.The Sunday Times Bestseller.'Honest and soul-searching' - Sunday Express______________In 1994 fledgling journalist Louis Theroux was given a one-off gig on Michael Moore’s TV Nation, presenting a segment on apocalyptic religious sects. Gawky, socially awkward and totally unqualified, his first reaction to this exciting opportunity was panic. But he’d always been drawn to off-beat characters, so maybe his enthusiasm would carry the day. Or, you know, maybe it wouldn’t . . .In Gotta Get Theroux This, Louis takes the reader on a joyous journey from his anxiety-prone childhood to his unexpectedly successful career. Nervously accepting the BBC’s offer of his own series, he went on to create an award-winning documentary style that has seen him immersed in the weird worlds of paranoid US militias and secretive pro-wrestlers, get under the skin of celebrities like Max Clifford and Chris Eubank and tackle gang culture in San Quentin prison, all the time wondering whether the same qualities that make him good at documentaries might also make him bad at life.As Louis woos his beautiful wife Nancy and learns how to be a father, he also dares to take on the powerful Church of Scientology. Just as challenging is the revelation that one of his old subjects, Jimmy Savile, was a secret sexual predator, prompting him to question our understanding of how evil takes place. Filled with wry observation and self-deprecating humour, this is Louis at his most insightful and honest best.______________'Funny, engaging' - Sunday Times'Gripping' - Daily Mail'Absorbing and surprisingly candid' - Telegraph MagazineTrade ReviewAn absorbing and surprisingly candid book . . . * Telegraph Magazine *Gripping * Daily Mail *Engaging, funny * Sunday Times *If you are a fan of Louis Theroux's self-deprecating humour and relaxed broadcasting style, you will enjoy this honest and soul-searching account of his life so far. * Sunday Express *
£10.44
Little, Brown Book Group Yearbook
Book SynopsisA collection of funny personal essays from Seth Rogen, one of the writers of Superbad and Pineapple Express and one of the producers of The Disaster Artist, Neighbors, and The Boys.
£15.00
Pan Macmillan Creation Stories
Book Synopsis'Essential reading for anyone interested in the heady, vulgar, marvellous miasma of British music and culture in the nineties' - Irving Welsh'A true believer in the power of music and more importantly a believer in the people that make music. He gave me and many more like me a chance to change my life' - Noel GallagherAlan McGee's Creation Stories is a star-studded, outrageous, funny and anarchic account of the record label he set up and the bands that defined an era, including Primal Scream and Oasis.A charismatic Glaswegian who partied just as hard as any of the acts on his notoriously hedonistic label, Alan McGee became an infamous character in the world of music in the nineties. In Creation Stories he tells his story in depth for the first time, from leaving school at sixteen to setting up the Living Room club in London which showcased many emerging indie bands, from managing the Jesus and Mary Chain Trade ReviewMcGee was our Malcolm McLaren and Tony Wilson. An instigator and motivator, a born upsetter. I've never met anyone like him and neither have you. This is his story -- Bobby GillespieMcGee is a true believer and a complete one-off. I doubt anyone else could have built an entity like Creation and ran it for so long, making it all up as they went along. Essential reading for anyone interested in the heady, vulgar, marvellous miasma of British music and culture in the nineties, before it was all swamped by the surgical spirit sterility of the global marketplace -- Irvine WelshIn the 1980's Alan McGee saved British music by pumping ambition, passion and chaos into the independent scene. Without him Go West and Living In A Box would have won. A brilliant read for anyone interested in music -- James BrownIt's fast and loose and as insane as the label, full of great anecdotes and machine gun prose - it tells it like it was and it doesn't flinch from the truth -- John RobbA true believer in the power of music and more importantly a believer in the people that make music. He gave me, and many more like me, a chance to change my life. A pity he supports Rangers -- Noel Gallagher
£11.69
1984 Publishing Listen to My Heart (Limited): Life, Love &
Book SynopsisLIMITED COLLECTOR’S EDITION that includes Marie’s 2004 English-language solo album The Change on CD—previously unreleased in any physical format in North America—as well as bonus track “Sea of Love” (2017), the last song that Marie recorded. This edition also contains foil gilded page edges and a satin ribbon marker.Listen to My Heart is a completely candid and passionate, heartbreaking yet often witty life story of one of rock music’s most resilient lead singers, Marie Fredriksson from Roxette ("It Must Have Been Love," "Listen to Your Heart," "The Look," "Joyride").Given only a few months to live following a harrowing diagnosis in 2002, Marie boldly forged ahead into a life with newfound courage and inspiration. She continued as both a solo singer and with Roxette, where she performed over 550 concerts, sold 75 million records, and released over 50 singles including several global hits. In all, Roxette is Sweden’s biggest music group—second only to ABBA.Filled with behind-the-scenes stories involving everyone from Tina Turner and Elton John to The Rolling Stones and Frank Sinatra, Listen to My Heart also explores her humble family beginnings, an early tragedy in the sudden loss of Marie’s sister, her transition into the music industry as a solo artist, and the formation and challenges of being in one of the world’s most successful pop groups. All while trying to maintain a stable marriage and being a mother to two young children in the face of a life-altering illness. Marie passed away in the aftermath of her diagnosis in December, 2019.Heart-wrenching yet winning, and told with exceptional energy and sincerity, Listen to My Heart sheds new and revelatory light on the life and work of one of our generation’s most talented and courageous artists.Contains a foreword by Marie’s longtime friend, director Jonas Akerlund (Madonna, Lady Gaga, Beyonce, U2) and over 100 personal photographs, live and backstage shots, and memorabilia images.Trade Review"Singer-songwriter Marie Fredriksson (1958–2019) offers a heartbreakingly candid recollection of her early life, pop career [including many years with Roxette], and struggle with illness in this posthumous memoir. Fredriksson more than delivers on her stated mission to ‘share her moments of transcendence and offer consolation to those full of doubt’ by cataloging her favorite performances and refusing to let her diagnosis overshadow her career. Anecdotes about celebrities from Elton John to Frank Sinatra are just the cherry on top. Pop music fans will treasure this." — Publishers Weekly"Fredriksson's frustration at being discounted in the men-dominated music industry and her attempts to find alternative lifesaving treatments makes for an engaging read. Most poignant is her vulnerability as she opens her closets and photo albums that showcase a life well lived." — Library Journal
£23.39
Random House Publishing Group From Here to the Great Unknown
Book Synopsis
£16.88
Eye Books Tough Crowd: How I Made and Lost a Career in
Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'A must-read. Funny and utterly compelling' Jonathan Ross The Bafta-garlanded creator of Father Ted and The IT Crowd tells of his rise and painful fall. Part comedy-writing masterclass, part diary of a gender wars 'cancellation'. Having cut his teeth in music journalism, Graham Linehan became the finest sitcom writer of his generation. He captured the comedy zeitgeist not just as the co-creator of Father Ted but also with The IT Crowd and Black Books, winning five Baftas and a lifetime achievement award. Then his life took an unexpected turn. When he championed an unfashionable cause, TV commissioners no longer returned his emails, showbiz pals lost his number and his marriage collapsed. In an emotionally charged memoir that is by turns hilarious and harrowing, he lets us into the secrets of the writing room and colourfully describes the high-octane atmosphere of a sitcom set. But he also berates an industry where there was no one to stand by his side when he needed help. Bruised but not beaten, he explains why he chose the hill of women and girls' rights to die on - and why, despite the hardship of cancellation, he's not coming down from it any time soon.Trade Review'One of the best TV comedy writers of all time delivers a book which is a must-read for anyone who has ever wondered: a) how to create a hit sit-com and b) how it feels to lose everything. It's funny, complicated and utterly compelling' Jonathan Ross 'One of the most compelling and unflinchingly honest memoirs I've read in many years. It's also the funniest' Andrew Doyle 'Graham Linehan has long been one of my favourite writers - and this book shows that his brilliance in prose is the equal to his brilliance as a screenwriter. It unfolds with the urgency of a Sam Fuller film: that of a man who has been through something that few have experienced but has managed to return, undaunted, to tell us the tale' Richard Ayoade 'Hilarious, raw and touching. A must-read for anyone who wants to know the backstory behind Father Ted - and why he gave up the life of a luvvie to fight the threats posed by trans ideology to women's rights and child safeguarding' Helen Joyce 'This book is great company, and reminds us that Graham is first and foremost a writer, and a very funny one indeed. It is a not inconsiderable relief, in fact, to see that he has not lost the gift' Simon Evans 'A brilliant account of the evolution of a comedy writer, but also an extraordinary and chilling portrayal of cancel culture. I found it unputdownable' Lissa Evans A funny but dark memoir that goes from Linehan’s childhood in Dublin (nerdy, bullied) to his days as a music journalist, to writing Father Ted and The IT Crowd, to getting involved in the trans argument’ The Herald ‘A beautifully written memoir that is full of good humour and grace, and the best account yet of cancellation. Linehan’s is a story that calls out to be heard. To recommend it is to take a small stand’ Entertainment Focus ‘Because so much of the discussion around Tough Crowd will almost certainly be focused on his politics, I want to start by saying that this is a great book, full stop. In fact, it is one of the most entertaining new books I’ve read in a long time, in any genre’ Spiked ‘Simultaneously eloquent and chatty, Linehan never strays far from his need to entertain. The saddest thing about this memoir is that the very people who should read it, to hear the facts, probably won’t’ Irish Independent ‘The good news is that Graham Linehan is still funny. Tough Crowd contains a lot of fire and brimstone, but it is very entertaining’ The Critic ‘Linehan’s bracing and, at times, riveting memoir...charts the story of his apparent cancellation, but it also takes a deep dive into his formative years as a writer. The Father Ted chapters are stuffed with great detail and gossip’ Irish Independent ‘Seriously funny. Like Father Ted, Linehan will never stop scheming to escape his exile, and we laugh because it hurts’ The Distance ‘Sure to be the most controversial British TV memoir of the decade’ British TV.com
£16.99
Ebury Publishing Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and
Book SynopsisTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER'A fascinating demythologising of the Playboy brand and Hefner himself' - Pandora Sykes'A raw, honest unveiling of the misogyny and darkness of the Playboy Mansion. . . I almost feel compelled to send a copy to every young woman who still believes the legacy of Playboy holds some glamour or promise' - Ellie FlynnOne of Stylist’s 'best non-fiction for 2024'One of the Independent’s 2024 'must-reads'One of The Sunday Times 'most exciting memoirs' for 2024'I was 21 years old when I found myself on the front stoop of the Playboy Mansion. I want to tell the real story of my time there - the good and the bad, the dark and the light.'In 2008 the Playboy mansion became Crystal Harris's sanctuary - a shimmering vestige of opportunity. Within months she had ascended its hierarchy to become Hugh Hefner's top girlfriend. But her new home came at a cost. Forced to follow strict rules that governed everything from her appearance to behaviour, she began to lose her identity. By the time she married Hef in 2012, the mansion had become her prison.Having made a promise to Only Say Good Things, for years Crystal suppressed the truth of what really happened behind the mansion's closed doors. Now, in this raw and honest memoir, she's finally ready to expose it all.Laying bare the devastating impact that a culture of relentless objectification and misogyny had on her health, Crystal's extraordinary story carries powerful lessons that are relevant to us all.Trade ReviewLifts the lid on the bleak truth of the inside story of the Playboy empire * Stylist *A fascinating demythologising of the Playboy brand and Hefner himself - who is revealed to be an agoraphobic megalomaniac incapable of real emotion.What drew so many women to him? And why did they stay? In this absorbing memoir, Crystal Hefner grapples with these questions and many more, with admirable candour -- Pandora SykesThis was such a raw, honest unveiling of the misogyny and darkness of the Playboy Mansion. Crystal reflects on both the vulnerabilities that led her into Hugh Hefner’s orbit, and the impact that his empire had on society and other young women with such candour that I almost feel compelled to send a copy to every young woman who still believes the legacy of Playboy holds some glamour or promise. Crystal’s ability to question her own complicity in Hugh Hefner’s misogynistic world, while also reflecting on all the complex factors that led her there is refreshing, and relatable for so many women and young girls who are still sold the lie that our self-worth is tied to our appearance or attractiveness to men. -- Ellie Flynn * Investigative journalist and broadcaster *
£16.14
Quercus Publishing Cured: The Tale of Two Imaginary Boys
Book SynopsisThe inside story of The Cure'Beautifully realised' Irish TimesComing of age in Thatcher's Britain in the late 70s and early 80s was really tough, especially if you lived in Crawley. But against the grinding austerity, social unrest and suburban boredom, the spark of rebellion that was punk set alight three young men who would become one of the most revered and successful bands of their generation. The Cure.Cured is a memoir by Lol Tolhurst, one of the founding imaginary boys, who met Robert Smith when they were five. Lol threads the genesis of The Cure through his schoolboy years with Smith, the iconic leader of the group, and the band's most successful era in the 1980s. He takes us up to the present day, a riveting forty years since the band's inception.The band's journey to worldwide success is woven into a story not only of great highs and lows but also of love, friendship, pain, forgiveness and, ultimately, redemption on a beach in Hawaii.Cured highlights those parts of the creative journey that are not normally revealed to fans, incorporating many first-hand recollections around Lol's personal odyssey. From suburban London to the Mojave desert, Cured brings an acute eye for the times to bear on a lifelong friendship, with tales of addiction and despair along the way. Cured is the story of a timeless band and a life truly lived.Trade ReviewBeautifully realised with an appealing deadpan style...If you're looking for something along the lines of Ian Hunter's classic Diary Of a Rock 'n' Roll Star you're in the right place here. * Irish TImes *
£10.44
Pan Macmillan A Funny Life: The Sunday Times Bestseller
Book SynopsisThe Sunday Times top 10 bestseller.Laugh along with Michael McIntyre as he lifts the curtain on his life in his revealing autobiography.Michael’s first book ended with his big break at the 2006 Royal Variety Performance. Waking up the next morning in the tiny rented flat he shared with his wife Kitty and their one-year-old son, he was beyond excited about the new glamorous world of show business. Unfortunately, he was also clueless . . .In A Funny Life, Michael honestly and hilariously shares the highs and the lows of his rise to the top and desperate attempts to stay there. It’s all here, from his disastrous panel show appearances to his hit TV shows, from mistakenly thinking he’d be a good chat show host and talent judge, to finding fame and fortune beyond his wildest dreams and becoming the biggest-selling comedian in the world. Along the way he opens his man drawer, narrowly avoids disaster when his trousers fall down in front of three policemen and learns the hard way why he should always listen to his wife.Michael has had a silly life, a stressful life, sometimes a moving and touching life, but always A Funny Life.Trade ReviewThere are plenty of guffaws but it can be moving too * The Mail on Sunday *A winning combination of the laugh-out-loud funny and the surprisingly poignant * Daily Mail (Weekend) *A highly entertaining insight into a stand-up comic’s life. McIntyre fans will lap it up * Daily Record (Saturday) *He will have you on the verge of tears with his recollections - both happy and sad * Sunday Express *
£9.49
Simon & Schuster Ltd Kris Jenner... And All Things Kardashian
Book SynopsisA REVEALING PERSONAL STORY: An ambitious businesswoman, Jenner will delve into the world of living a hectic life in the celebrity spotlight as well as touch on the themes of love, loss, marriage, divorce and motherhood, which should resonate with a wide range of women. Jenner will talk about being the mother of six children, her marriage to Olympic champion Bruce Jenner, her controversial parenting style, O.J. Simpson (She was married to the late Robert Kardashian, O.J.'s defense lawyer and was the best friend of murdered Nicole Brown Simpson), her work in television (she is currently the executive producer of all four hit Kardashian shows - Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami, Kourtney and Kim Take New York, Khloe & Lamar).
£10.08
HarperCollins Publishers Inc The Boys
Book SynopsisJoin award-winning filmmaker Ron Howard and audience-favorite actor Clint Howard as they frankly and fondly share their unusual family story of navigating and surviving life as sibling child actors.“What was it like to grow up on TV?” Ron Howard has been asked this question throughout his adult life.Trade Review“A Tinseltown childhood free of malice, regret or self-pity. It’s like a Ron Howard movie between two covers… a picture of a family unencumbered by major neuroses, hang-ups or rivalries… links to an earlier, simpler age… refreshing [and] homespun.” — Wall Street Journal “…kind, imperturbable and appreciative… the lulling rhythms of harmonious boomer sibs clearing out the old family house. See, they seem to say, brotherly love is possible in Hollywood.” — New York Times “[A] nostalgic coming-of-age story that examines life in showbiz, fun adventures and, perhaps above all, the importance of family.” — CNN.com “Who would have thought Ron Howard could be exciting? And yet, he and his brother Clint have written a saga of talent, ambition, serendipity, and lust. Well, forget about the lust. It’s just not there. But Ron and Clint’s story of their remarkable coming-of-age in show business will thrill any reader.” — Steve Martin “I’ve known and loved the Howard family for forty-eight years, and there are stories here that surprised even me. The Boys is an emotional journey that goes well beyond your typical Hollywood memoir.” — Henry Winkler "I have read dozens of Hollywood memoirs. But The Boys stands alone. A delightful, warm and fascinating story of a good life in show business.” — Malcolm Gladwell “This extraordinary book is not only a chronicle of Ron’s and Clint’s early careers and their wild adventures, but also a primer on so many topics—how an actor prepares, how to survive as a kid working in Hollywood, and how to be the best parents in the world! THE BOYS will surprise every reader with its humanity.” — Tom Hanks “How can the complexities of husband and wives, parents and children, brother to brother be contained between the pages of one book? It’s impossible and yet The Boys touched me in such a way that the Howards’ story---Rance, Jean, Ron and Clint—will continue, for a long time, to settle on my heart like soft rain. It is about life and show business and how one, famous family connected both--with passion, loyalty, respect and, most of all, love.” — Glenn Close “Actors and brothers Ron and Clint Howard reflect on growing up in Hollywood in this fascinating dual autobiography… Candid, humorous, and entertaining, this intimate account will be a hit with the brothers’ fans.” — Publishers Weekly "Filled with delightful stories from the sets of The Andy Griffith Show, Gentle Ben, The Music Man, and Happy Days, this memoir will be treasured by television and movie history buffs alike; fans of the Howards will greatly enjoy their teasing, loving banter, and evocation of a gentler era." — Library Journal (starred review) “It’s wholesome, earnest and contains just enough tidbits about Mayberry and “Happy Days” to satisfy ardent fans… In the end, it’s the remarkable story of a family that chose a very public line of work but managed to live by their own private values in an America that gave them the space to do just that.” — Associated Press "A treat for movie and TV buffs, this dual memoir is wholesome and satisfying…Fans of the Howards will revel in the details of their young ascents into the Hollywood spotlight.” — Kirkus Reviews
£11.69
Penguin Books Ltd Zayn The Official Autobiography
Book Synopsis***NOMINATED FOR THE NME BEST BOOK AWARD 2017 *** The first and only OFFICIAL book from ZAYN, for his ultimate fans. Zayn''s autobiography features exclusive, never-before-seen photographs alongside his story. -------------------------------- ''This book is my diary of a period that I would like to share with you all. I hope that there are things in the book that contextualise some of the moments and memories we have all shared together. There are things I address in the book that are very personal to me, things that I have never told anyone, things I still find hard to talk about. It''s a part of a journey I''m still on'' - ZAYN ZAYN opens up with this collection of thoughts, inspiration, and never-before-seen personal photographs. After five years of massive success with One Direction, ZAYN launched his career as a solo artist with Mind of Mine, becoming one of the most successful artists in the world. NowTrade ReviewThe first and only official book from ZAYN. Global superstar ZAYN shares a photographic journey of his life since leaving One Direction. from the publisher's description
£20.90
