Biography: arts and entertainment Books
Reach plc Behind The Scenes
Book SynopsisBeloved EastEnders actress Cheryl Fergison brings her extraordinary life to paper for the first time, detailing the highs and lows of her career from her iconic portrayal of Heather Trott to appearing on numerous other shows.
£18.70
John Murray Press Tall Tales and Wee Stories: The Best of Billy
Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER80TH BIRTHDAY EDITION - NOW WITH 10 NEW TALL TALES!'Connolly's raucous run through his life is as furious, funny and foul-mouthed as you'd expect' Sunday TimesIn December 2018, after fifty years of belly-laughs, energy and outrage, Billy Connolly announced his retirement from live stand-up comedy. It had been an extraordinary career.When he first started out in the late sixties, Billy played the banjo in the folk clubs of Scotland. Between songs, he would improvise a bit, telling anecdotes from the Clyde shipyard where he'd worked. In the process, he made all kinds of discoveries about what audiences found funny, from his own brilliant mimes to the power of speaking irreverently about politics or explicitly about sex. He began to understand the craft of great storytelling. Soon the songs became shorter and the monologues longer, and Billy quickly became recognised as one of the most exciting comedians of his generation.Billy's routines always felt spontaneous. He never wrote scripts, always creating his comedy freshly on stage in the presence of a live audience. A brilliant comic story might be subsequently discarded, adapted or embellished. A quick observation or short anecdote one night, could become a twenty-minute segment by the next night of a tour.Billy always brought a beautiful sense of the absurd to his shows as he riffed on his family, hecklers, swimming in the North Sea or naked bungee jumping. But his comedy can be laced with anger too. He hates pretentiousness and calls out hypocrisy wherever he sees it. His insights about the human condition have shocked many people, while his unique talent and startling appearance on stage gave him license to say anything he damn well pleased about sex, politics or religion. Billy got away with it because he has always had the popular touch. His comedy spans generations and different social tribes in a way that few others have ever managed.Tall Tales and Wee Stories brings together the very best of Billy's storytelling for the first time and includes his most famous routines including, The Last Supper, Jojoba Shampoo, Incontinence Pants and Shouting at Wildebeest. With an introduction and original illustrations by Billy throughout, it is an inspirational, energetic and riotously funny read, and a fitting celebration of our greatest ever comedian.Trade ReviewA read that entirely fits the personality of the extreme personality who wrote it, Connolly's raucous run through his life is as furious, funny and foul-mouthed as you'd expect. His stand-up knack for easy storytelling shines through * Sunday Times *A read that entirely fits the personality of the extreme personality who wrote it, Connolly's raucous run through his life is as furious, funny and foul-mouthed as you'd expect. His stand-up knack for easy storytelling shines through * Sunday Times *Wild and whirling . . . it reads like a talking book * Observer *Wild and whirling . . . it reads like a talking book * Observer *Connolly's writing is so much like his speech you can hear him as you read. * Evening Standard *Connolly's writing is so much like his speech you can hear him as you read. * Evening Standard *A glorious memoir full of insights into the funnyman's life and career. Hilarious. * Prima *A glorious memoir full of insights into the funnyman's life and career. Hilarious. * Prima *The Big Yin Bible * The List *The Big Yin Bible * The List *A very humorous read * Daily Stock Dish *A very humorous read * Daily Stock Dish *One of stand-up's great naturals. No one told a story better. * Guardian *One of stand-up's great naturals. No one told a story better. * Guardian *Raucous and side-splitting * Yours *Raucous and side-splitting * Yours *Wry, sometimes sacrilegious, often absurd and outrageously funny * The Senior AU *Wry, sometimes sacrilegious, often absurd and outrageously funny * The Senior AU *Gloriously, unashamedly peppered with swearing, bodily functions and drunken behaviour . . . you will laugh, guffaw and snort your way through this remarkable book * The Wee Review *Gloriously, unashamedly peppered with swearing, bodily functions and drunken behaviour . . . you will laugh, guffaw and snort your way through this remarkable book * The Wee Review *Bracingly sweary, robustly rude and brilliantly original, this is essential reading for fans of the Big Yin. * Daily Mail *Bracingly sweary, robustly rude and brilliantly original, this is essential reading for fans of the Big Yin. * Daily Mail *This book brings together the best of his stories...and offers something of a potted history of a life of spontaneous performance on stage. * Irish Independent Review *This book brings together the best of his stories...and offers something of a potted history of a life of spontaneous performance on stage. * Irish Independent Review *
£8.49
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Lee Miller
Book SynopsisThe first full-length biography of the legendary photographer Lee MillerTrade Review‘Lee Miller was an astounding woman, brought memorably to life in this astounding book' * Daily Telegraph *‘Lee Miller "the Surrealist icon turned wartime heroine behind the lens" attracts a serious, and gripping biography from Carolyn Burke' * Boyd Tonkin, Independent *‘Lee Miller does its perplexingly complicated subject more than justice, adding welcome depths and nuances to the familiar legend' * Sunday Times *‘Burke opens up the story of Lee's life. She offers many incredible stories and passages of considerable insight' * Daily Mail *
£15.29
Post Hill Press Messengers: The Guitars of James Hetfield
Book SynopsisJames Hetfield shares his personal collection of treasured guitars and reveals the story and significance of each within his life and career as the front man, guitarist, and songwriter for Metallica. From the Electra OGV that defined his style, sound and attitude to the mythical MX guitars, the first in a series of iconic collaborations with ESP, and from his signature Snakebytes through his ambitious projects with renowned luthier Ken Lawrence, James Hetfield shares the emotional and technical elements of the chosen tools that have shaped his singular musical journey, including exotic instruments, vintage Gibsons, and custom one-offs. He also reveals many studio secrets, including the key amplifiers and gear that sculpt his tone and create his sound. Each featured guitar is accompanied by lush museum-quality portraits by acclaimed photographer Scott Williamson, exhibiting intimate details one can only see if holding it in their own hands, alongside Hetfield’s deeply personal reminiscence. Spanning more than forty guitars, ranging from the original battle-scarred road warriors to the trusted studio stalwarts and enduring tour favourites, Messengers: The Guitars of James Hetfield is a meticulously crafted coffee table book and a mesmerizing window into the mind and soul of one of rock’s greatest front men. These invaluable guitars have forged over four decades of music history.Trade Review“From penning influential albums Kill ’Em All and Ride the Lightning on his original white OGV to resolutely reflecting on his harrowing pyrotechnics accident that left handprints burned into his double-neck Montreal, Hetfield masterfully chronicles over forty different guitars and the respective gear from Metallica's forty-year history and all of the memories, mishaps, and eccentricities that come with them. The end result, to put it simply, rocks.” -- Entertainment Weekly“Detailed photographs reveal every nick, scuff, and personalized customization of this fascinating stockpile, while Hetfield provides an entertaining, precise explanation of the merits and pitfalls of each guitar. Along the way, he regales readers with anecdotes amassed over the last forty-two years… Every Flying V, Explorer, and Les Paul in Hetfield’s collection is a messenger of metal and tells the beguiling stories behind the riffage too.” -- Library Journal
£999.99
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.
£999.99
Outline Press Ltd To Live Is To Die: The Life & Death Of
Book SynopsisToday, Metallica are known as consummate musicians, but it wasn t always that way. Their early career is marked by a gradual evolution from garage thrash to sophisticated, progressive heights an evolution driven by their bass player, Cliff Burton, who pushed the band to new heights with his songwriting ability and phenomenal bass skills across the band s first three albums, including their undisputed masterpiece, Master Of Puppets. Cliff s life was short but influential; his death at the age of 24 in a tour bus crash on a Swedish mountain road was sudden and shocking. Following his passing, Metallica went on to huge global success, but by their own admission they never pushed the creative envelope as radically as they had done during the first four years of their career. The cult of Burton grows year on year, and so too the list of bassists acknowledging his influence in metal and beyond. Published to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Metallica s debut album, Kill Em All, this revised and updated edition of To Live Is To Die adds a new chapter on Cliff s enduring legacy as well as a preface from Testament bass master Steve Di Giorgio.Trade ReviewOne of the best biographies you ll ever read. - Robb Flynn, Machine Head
£13.46
Canongate Books Neverland
Book SynopsisVanessa Kisuule is a big Michael Jackson fan. This fixation once gave her great joy, but now it keeps her up at night. In her bracingly honest, energetic and lively book she explores the fall-out from that fandom and how, or if, we can hold people to account whilst loving them at the same time.Why do famous musicians mean so much to us? How does the pop culture machine both mirror and magnify the worst aspects of human nature? Why is it so hard to accept that the people we love, famous or not, are capable of doing terrible things?As debates rage on about abusive public figures, Kisuule asks not just if we should separate the art from the artist, but how this moral conundrum informs the way we shape our relationships, families and notions of social justice. Witty, poetic and with references to R. Kelly, Britney Spears and a host of other famous faces, Neverland is both an ardent love letter to the music we love and an unflinching look at the costs of her
£15.29
Ebury Publishing The Beatles
Book SynopsisHUNTER DAVIES is the author of the only ever authorised biography of The Beatles, still in print in almost every country in the world. In 2012 he edited The Lennon Letters, published in 20 different foreign countries, and in 2014 The Beatles Lyrics. He wrote the first book about the Quarrymen. Plus forty other non-Beatly books, including novels, biographies, travel and children's books. As a journalist, he has a column in the Sunday Times about money and in the New Statesman about football. SPENCER LEIGH is the author of 25 books, most of them connected with The Beatles or popular music. He writes music obituaries for the Independent and for 25 years has had his own music programme on BBC Radio Merseyside. KEITH BADMAN is an author, journalist and film and video archives researcher. He has written or contributed to ten books about popular music, including four on The Beatles, and been a columnist for Record Collector magazine for 20Trade ReviewA document of our century * Marshall McLuhan *
£15.29
Ulysses Press Constant Comedy: How I Started Comedy Central and
Book SynopsisLearn the riveting, hilarious true story of the birth of Comedy Central - one of the most successful brand evolutions in cable television history.
£20.39
Fantom Films Limited Beyond Our Kenneth
£18.70
Ebury Publishing Fingers in the Sparkle Jar: A Memoir
Book SynopsisVoted the UK’s Favourite Nature BookThe memoir that inspired Chris Packham's BBC documentary, Asperger’s and MeEvery minute was magical, every single thing it did was fascinating and everything it didn't do was equally wondrous, and to be sat there, with a Kestrel, a real live Kestrel, my own real live Kestrel on my wrist! I felt like I'd climbed through a hole in heaven's fence.An introverted, unusual young boy, isolated by his obsessions and a loner at school, Chris Packham only felt at ease in the fields and woods around his suburban home. But when he stole a young Kestrel from its nest, he was about to embark on a friendship that would teach him what it meant to love, and that would change him forever. In his rich, lyrical and emotionally exposing memoir, Chris brings to life his childhood in the 70s, from his bedroom bursting with fox skulls, birds' eggs and sweaty jam jars, to his feral adventures. But pervading his story is the search for freedom, meaning and acceptance in a world that didn’t understand him.Beautifully wrought, this coming-of-age memoir will be unlike any you've ever read.Trade ReviewFingers in the Sparkle Jar is like nothing else I know - a flickering vat of life itself. A brilliant and remarkable book. -- Robert MacfarlaneIt’s bold and beautiful, both raw and lyrical, and a rather special book. -- Matt Haig * Independent *Incredibly powerful and moving. -- Richard E. GrantA beautiful, riveting and disturbing read. * Guardian *This book is courageous, disturbing, original and at times brilliant. -- Simon Barnes
£12.34
Independent Publishing Network Crikey! How Did That Happen?: The Refreshingly
Book Synopsis
£7.12
Danann Media Publishing Limited The Who
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£19.12
Omnibus Press SMiLE
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£11.69
Titan Books Ltd The Complete David Bowie (Revised and Updated
Book SynopsisTHE ULTIMATE EDITION - EXPANDED AND UPDATED WITH MORE THAN 70,000 WORDS OF NEW MATERIALCritically acclaimed in its previous editions, The Complete David Bowie is recognized as the foremost source of analysis and information on every facet of Bowie's work. The A-Z of songs and the day-by-day dateline are the most complete ever published. From his boyhood skiffle performance at the 18th Bromley Scouts' Summer Camp, to the majesty of his final masterpiece Blackstar, every aspect of David Bowie's extraordinary career is explored and dissected by Nicholas Pegg's unrivalled combination of in-depth knowledge and penetrating insight.* The Albums - detailed production history and analysis of every album.*The Songs - hundreds of individual entries reveal the facts and anecdotes behind not just the famous recordings, but also the most obscure of unreleased rarities - from 'Absolute Beginners' to 'Ziggy Stardust', from 'Abdulmajid' to 'Zion'.* The Tours - set-lists and histories of every live show.* The Actor - a complete guide to Bowie's career on stage and screen.* Plus - the videos, the BBC radio sessions, the paintings, the internet and much more.Trade Review"I can't imagine how this nook could be better...the definitive read for Bowiephiles." Uncut. "The complete David Bowie certainly lives up to its title... Pegg's opinionated and witty prose turns it into that rare thing: a reference book that sparkles." MOJO. "Pegg has a keen critical intelligence." Sunday Telegraph.
£22.91
Hardie Grant Books Coco Chanel: The Illustrated World of a Fashion
Book SynopsisCoco Chanel: The Illustrated World of a Fashion Icon is an illustrated biography of Coco’s Chanel's life from the internationally reknown illustrator and author, Megan Hess. It features key moments from Coco's amazing life and iconic items from the fashion empire that she built. Think an illustrated picture book for adults, told through Megan's stylish and feminine illustrations with a fun, whimsical and magical bent. Coco Chanel takes us on a romp through the three distinct chapters of Coco's life: from Coco’s early life and building the brand, to the empire she created, to the legacy she left behind, and how her style is still influential and iconic today.Hess’s book literally paints a picture of the woman who forever changed the way women dress.—The AustralianCoco Chanel: The Illustrated World of a Fashion Icon is a beautifully presented biography of the designer—Books + Publishing NationalStyle lovers, unite! This amazing guided tour of Chanel’s game-changing empire is made for coffee tables—CleoAustralian illustrator Megan Hess, whose work graces prestigious designers and brands including Chanel, Carrier and Tiffany and Co., creates a whimsical adventure through the world of Mademoiselle Chanel—PRIMOLife
£15.29
Vintage Publishing The Vanishing Man
Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE JAMES TAIT BLACK BIOGRAPHY PRIZESHORTLISTED FOR THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZELONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTIONSelected as a Book of the Year in the Herald In 1845, a Reading bookseller named John Snare came across the dirt-blackened portrait of a prince at a country house auction. Suspecting that it might be a long-lost Velázquez, he bought the picture and set out to discover its strange history - a quest that led from fame to ruin and exile.Fusing detection and biography, this book shows how and why great works of art can affect us, even to the point of mania. And on the trail of John Snare, Cumming makes a surprising discovery of her own. But most movingly, The Vanishing Man is an eloquent and passionate homage to the Spanish master Velázquez, bringing us closer to the creation and appreciation of his works than ever before.Trade ReviewThe Vanishing Man is a riveting detective story and a brilliant reconstruction of an art controversy, but it is also a homage to the art of Velázquez, written by a critic who remains spellbound by his genius, as readers will be spellbound by this book -- Colm TóibínSumptuous...A gleaming work of someone at the peak of her craft * New York Times *An extraordinary story ... This terrific book is many things, a study in obsession, a paean of praise to an artist of genius, a detective story and, for the author, an exorcism of grief. Writing like Helen Macdonald in H is for Hawk, in the wake of the death of her father, Cumming pours heart and soul in The Vanishing Man and she has produced something of which her artist father, James Cumming, would be more than proud * Spectator *Laura Cumming twists several genres around her supple fingers in order to tell the extraordinary story of how Snare fell under the spell of a painting and sacrificed everything - prosperity, reputation, a respectable death surrounded by loving family - so that he might live with it like a love ... The detective story [...] gusts the plot along at a cracking pace... You put down The Vanishing Man not quite sure how Cumming has been able to bring off this particular magic trick, but happy and grateful that she has. * Guardian *In this superb and original book, Cumming interweaves the gripping story of Snare with that of Diego Velázquez himself, painting at the court in Madrid in the 17th century.. Like Donna Tartt's novel The Goldfinch, this is about the particular forms of obsession that only art can generate... This enthralling book is about what it means to create art so luminous that others would fight just to get close to it * Sunday Times *This is an absorbing dual biography inspired by the author's passion for Velázquez... Cumming brings her subject alive and writes with empathy and insight * Tatler *A real-life detective story involving an Old Master portrait of an ill-fated English king and an art obsession that would lead to the ruin of one of the book's two mysterious protagonists: one a humble 19th-century printer and bookseller from Reading, John Snare; the other the great 17th-century Spanish court painter named in the title ... Interwoven into the narrative of Snare's tribulations, and of beautifully compelling accounts of Velázquez's paintings, are moving snippets of biography that reveal Cumming's own relationship to the great Spanish master * Independent *Simultaneously art historian and detective, Cumming skilfully weaves together the lives not only of Velázquez and Snare, but also of the ill-fated king and of the man who unknowingly sparked her interest in the Spanish artist — her late father, the painter James Cumming. -- Anna Godfrey * Financial Times *Ingenious... intriguing... [Cumming] subtly interweaves the two narratives - that of Snare and that of Velázquez - so that they illuminate each other in surprising ways. -- Mark Hudson * Daily Telegraph *The painter, writes Cumming, allowed every sitter 'his privacy, his secrecy, his full mystery' even when revealing them for all to see and in this accomplished and touching book she allows her two subjects theirs -- Michael Prodger * Evening Standard *The compelling tale of enigmatic Spanish painter Velazquez – and the obsessive fan who bought himself a lifetime of misery… * Mail on Sunday *
£12.34
Holland House Books Recommended
Book SynopsisBefore Reese Witherspoon and Zoella's BookClubs, there was Oprah Winfrey and Richard and Judy. And before them, there wasHugh Walpole and the Book Society. This is the story of Britain's firstcelebrity book club and the judges who changed how we read.
£14.39
Palazzo Editions Ltd Lady Gaga: Applause
Book SynopsisAs one of the world’s best-selling musicians, Lady Gaga has set the musical bar high. Since her debut album, The Fame (2008), she has sold more than 124 million records and scooped numerous awards, including twelve Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, and eighteen MTV Music Video Awards. Yet she is much more than a musician. At the helm of the Haus of Gaga—a close-knit circle of behind-the-scenes creatives—Lady Gaga is a performance artist like no other; her forward-thinking fashions and innovations mark her out as the ultimate maverick. Recently, she has reinvented herself as an accomplished jazz performer, dueting with legendary singer Tony Bennett on Cheek to Cheek (2014) and Love For Sale (2021), while also proving herself a consummate actor with lead roles in A Star Is Born (2018) and House of Gucci (2021). And with her advocacy for LGBT rights and active championing of kindness via the Born This Way Foundation, co-founded with her mother Cynthia Germanotta in 2011, it’s clear to see why her fans adore her. Lady Gaga: Applause is a celebration of a true artist of our time. Illustrated throughout with stunning photography and complementary fashion segments, this comprehensive history follows Lady Gaga’s ever-evolving and often unpredictable career, and is testament to her many talents. A must for Little Monsters everywhere.
£21.25
Atlantic Books Rin Tin Tin: The Life and Legend of the World’s
Book SynopsisRin Tin Tin was born on a battlefield in France towards the end of WW1. He died in 1932, supposedly in the arms of Jean Harlow, the original 'blonde bombshell', epic in death as he was in life. In his prime, he was one of Hollywood's the biggest stars. He received two thousand fan letters a month, had jewels, furs and a private driver, had his paw-print set for posterity on Hollywood Boulevard and was credited with saving Warner Brothers from bankruptcy - twice. His owner, Lee Duncan, was so completely devoted to him that when his wife sued for divorce she cited Rin Tin Tin as co-respondent. Rin Tin Tin's story is a great yarn with a big heart and, in Susan Orlean's hands, it is also very funny. But at its core lies a profound and moving meditation on the idea of heroism: of what it means to dream of a figure who is brave and bold and strong, and why those ideals hold such power over our imagination. This book is set to become an eccentric classic.Trade ReviewFascinating... It is not only a story of fame, money and dogs, but also an engagingly written meditation on the things that survive us through singular obsession * Sunday Times *A marvellous achievement, not so much the biography of a dog as a fully realised exploration of 20th century America... Fun, engaging, informative, passionate and authoritative, and mercifully unsentimental, Rin Tin Tin is the very best kind of narrative non-fiction. One hundred percent pure reading bliss. -- Melanie McGrath * Evening Standard *Stunning... Calling Rin Tin Tin the story of a dog is like calling Moby-Dick the story of a whale * Boston Globe *
£15.29
Omnibus Press Steely Dan
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£13.49
Callaway Editions,U.S. Bob Dylan: Mixing Up the Medicine
Book SynopsisBOB DYLAN: MIXING UP THE MEDICINE is an unprecedented glimpse into the creative life of one of America’s most groundbreaking, influential and enduring artists. 'If there is anything new to be discovered about Bob Dylan, you can probably find it in The Bob Dylan Centre… Now the Bob Dylan Centre is publishing its first book, essentially the archive in miniature: Bob Dylan: Mixing up the Medicine. It is a 608-page tome examining over 1000 images and objects culled from the collection by archivists and curators Mark Davidson and Parker Fishel.' - The Telegraph Several years ago, a treasure trove containing some 6,000 original Bob Dylan manuscripts was revealed to exist. Their destination? Tulsa, Oklahoma. The documents, as essential as they are intriguing—draft lyrics, notebooks, and diverse ephemera— comprise one of the most important cultural archives in the modern world. Along with countless still and moving images and thousands of hours of riveting studio and live recordings, this priceless collection now resides at The Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, just steps away from the archival home of Dylan’s early hero, Woody Guthrie. Nearly all the materials preserved at The Bob Dylan Center are unique, previously unavailable, and, in many cases, even previously unknown. As the official publication of The Bob Dylan Center, BOB DYLAN: MIXING UP THE MEDICINE is the first wide-angle look at the Dylan archive, a book that promises to be of vast interest to both the Nobel Laureate’s many musical fans as well as a broader cultural audience. Edited by Mark Davidson and Parker Fishel, BOB DYLAN: MIXING UP THE MEDICINE focuses a close look at the full scope of Dylan’s working life, particularly from the dynamic perspective of his ongoing and shifting creative processes—his earliest home recordings in the mid-1950s right up through Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020), his most recent studio recording, and into the present day. The centerpiece of BOB DYLAN: MIXING UP THE MEDICINE is a carefully curated selection of over 600 images including never-before-circulated draft lyrics, writings, photographs, drawings and other ephemera from the Dylan archive. With an introductory essay by Sean Wilentz and epilogue by Douglas Brinkley, the book features a surprising range of distinguished writers, artists and musicians, including Joy Harjo, Greil Marcus, Michael Ondaatje, Gregory Pardlo, Amanda Petrusich, Tom Piazza, Lee Ranaldo, Alex Ross, Ed Ruscha, Lucy Sante, Greg Tate and many others. After experiencing the collection firsthand in Tulsa, each of the authors was asked to select a single item that beguiled or inspired them. The resulting essays, written specifically for this volume, shed new light on not only Dylan’s creative process, but also their own. BOB DYLAN: MIXING UP THE MEDICINE is the magnum opus every Bob Dylan fan has been waiting for since the 60s and will be a landmark publication for the ages.Table of ContentsPreface Introduction 1941–1960: An Accident of Geography 1961–1964: A Way of Life 1965–1966: The Sound of the Streets 1967–1973: Everybody’s Song 1974–1978: The Constant State of Becoming 1979–1987: Surviving in a Ruthless World 1988–2000: As Natural as Breathing 2001–2013: Themes, Dreams, and Schemes 2014–Present: The Here and Now Epilogue Contributors Acknowledgements Source Credits Index
£60.00
Scratching Shed Publishing Ltd Beware of the Bull: The Enigmatic Genius of Jake
Book SynopsisBeware of the Bull - The Enigmatic Genius of Jake Thackray is the critically-acclaimed first biography of the late, great singer-songwriter. Admired by Neil Gaiman, Jarvis Cocker, Alex Turner and Thea Gilmore, among others, Jake was one of the greatest and most original artists of the twentieth century; a unique talent and master storyteller whose songs are full of wit, poetry, irreverence and humanity. The book reveals a life as extraordinary as his writing: difficult upbringing in the terraces of Leeds; strict Catholic education; transformative experiences in France and Algeria; time as an inspirational, unorthodox and highly creative teacher; meteoric development as a writer and performer; subsequent discovery by the BBC; Abbey Road recordings and influence on The Beatles; fame, fortune and remarkable television career... and Jake's rejection of it all. It is a story of a complex, charismatic and self-effacing man whom many loved, but few understood. Beware of the Bull was written with the full support of the Thackray family. Exclusive access to personal papers has allowed for the inclusion of a wealth of rare poems, photographs and 'lost' lyrics. This paperback edition comes with a new foreword by the comedian Jon Richardson, an afterword by the authors, and further appendices with author Neil Gaiman and the distinguished conductor and composer Sir William Southgate.
£999.99
John Blake Publishing Ltd Mick Ronson: The Spider with the Platinum Hair
Book SynopsisDuring the five years it has taken to collate this work, authors Weird and Gilly have spoken to over fifty family members, close friends and colleagues including exclusive interviews with Suzi Ronson, David and Maggi Ronson (brother and sister), Minnie Ronson (mother), Steve Popovich (manager), Lou Reed, Mick Jones, Ian Hunter, Chrissie Hynde, Glen Matlock, Cherry Vanilla, Steve Harley, Bob Harris, Joe Elliott and a host of others. As a result, this book provides a deeply intimate and compelling insight into the life and times of an extraordinarily talented guitarist. A man who was tender and caring off the stage, yet fierce and electrifying on it. Jeff Beck, David Bowie, Ian Hunter and Annette Peacock are just a few of the names that were to become associated with the Mick Ronson legend. He toured with Bob Dylan, played with Mott The Hoople, worked with Lou Reed and produced an impressive number of albums with arresting originality. From his days as a mobile grocer to his performances at Wembley Stadium, this minutely detailed biography also includes scores of unpublished photographs and unseen rarities including: a hand-written six-page autobiography by the man himself, love letters to his first girlfriend, family album photographs and an exhaustive discography. After losing his battle with cancer, Mick passed away in the spring of 1993 at the young age of 46. This book is a salute to his remarkable music and legacy. Fully revised and updated with scores of new unpublished photographs and even more rare memorabilia.
£10.44
Pallas Athene Publishers Noa Noa
Book SynopsisGauguin's great diary from Tahiti almost never saw the light of day in its original form. The manuscript was sent by the artist from his island refuge to his friend Charles Morice in Paris, and published in 1901 with immediate success, under the two names of Paul Gauguin and Charles Morice. Morice, with Gauguin's permission, had 'edited' and enlarged it to make it more readable. How much of the charm and crispness of the manuscript had been lost in the process was anyone's guess. It was to be 40 years before Gauguin's original version came to light, and it is published here in a translation by the poet Jonathan Griffin, together with a detailed description by the art historian Jean Loize, who re-discovered the manuscript. Loize shows that Morice had in parts altered Gauguin's text beyond recognition - a startling discovery that entirely changed ideas about Gauguin's style and intentions. This genuine version of Noa Noa is not only an important document, it is also a beautiful piece of writing: amusing, acid, wide-eyed, moving. Gauguin feared that, unedited, it would seem absurdly crude; and no doubt it would have, to most readers in his day. Today we can appreciate its sketch form, jerky directness, authentic freshness. This edition is illustrated with the watercolours, wood-engravings and drawings that Gauguin assembled for the book.Trade Review"The London publishing house Pallas Athene has come up with the very welcome and worthwhile project of assembling English translations of early biographies of artists in an easily accessible publication." - Historians of Netherlands Art Reviews
£9.49
Little, Brown Book Group Sinatra
Book SynopsisJust in time for the Chairman''s centennial, the endlessly absorbing sequel to James Kaplan''s bestselling Frank: The VoiceFinally the definitive biography that Frank Sinatra, justly termed ''The Entertainer of the Century,'' deserves and requires. Like Peter Guralnick on Elvis, Kaplan goes behind the legend to give us the man in full, in his many guises and aspects: peerless singer, (sometimes) powerful actor, business mogul, tireless lover and associate of the powerful and infamous.In 2010''s Frank: The Voice, James Kaplan, in rich, distinctive, compulsively-readable prose, told the story of Frank Sinatra''s meteoric rise to fame, subsequent failures, and reinvention as a star of the stage and screen. The story of ''Ol'' Blue Eyes; continues with Sinatra: The Chairman, picking up the day after Frank claimed his Academy Award in 1954 and had reestablished himself as the top recording artist in music. Frank''s life post-Oscar was incredibly dense: in between recording albums and singles, he often shot four or five movies a year; did TV show and nightclub appearances; started his own label, Reprise; and juggled his considerable commercial ventures (movie production, the restaurant business, even prizefighter management) alongside his famous and sometimes notorious social activities and commitments.Trade ReviewKaplan writes with an addictive wiliness, vigour and feeling that suit his subject . . . to a tee - Daily TelegraphAuthoritative and enjoyable . . . important too - Sunday TimesA wealth of entertaining detail about the singer's career, gnawing personal insecurity, lavish sexual indulgence, and obsessive musical virtuosity - The ObserverEvokes a sense of period with crackling energy - Sunday ExpressVery few writers can write coherently about what makes music work. Fewer still can tell what makes it profound. Kaplan can - The AgeAt last, Sinatra has the biography he deserves - The Irish Times
£12.34
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC No Modernism Without Lesbians
Book SynopsisA Sunday Times Book of the Year Winner of the Polari Prize 'A book about love, identity, acceptance and the freedom to write, paint, compose and wear corduroy breeches with gaiters. To swear, kiss, publish and be damned. It is vastly entertaining and often moving... There isn't a page without an entertaining vignette' The Times. The extraordinary story of how a singular group of women in a pivotal time and place – Paris, Between the Wars – fostered the birth of the Modernist movement. Sylvia Beach, Bryher, Natalie Barney, and Gertrude Stein. A trailblazing publisher; a patron of artists; a society hostess; a groundbreaking writer. They were all women who loved women. They rejected the patriarchy and made lives of their own – forming a community around them in Paris. Each of these four central women interacted with a myriad of others, some of the most influential, most entertaining, most shocking and most brilliant figures of the age. Diana Souhami weaves their stories into those of the four central women to create a vivid moving tapestry of life among the Modernists in pre-War Paris. 'One of the best books I've read this year.' James BridleTrade ReviewDiana Souhami argues that modernism would not exist without these extraordinary women, and their courage, passion and verve certainly make this lively group biography an inspirational read * Sunday Times *Souhami is one of our most rewarding and inventive biographers, and this book is a splendidly hectic and vivid read... If No Modernism Without Lesbians goes some way towards making us understand how they thought of themselves, and what they did, it will have done some good' * Spectator *Souhami has written several fine biographies... Now, in a comprehensive cultural history, she awards lesbians the credit for modernising art, manners and morals in the early twentieth century' * Observer *No Modernism Without Lesbians is undoubtedly a contribution, correcting the history of modernism to more accurately account for the women who made possible such a lasting transformation in literature and art... Souhami has opened the door to history a little further, creating more precious space for the whole truth to enter' * Daily Beast *[A] vivid cultural history... This often gossipy, always smart romp trains a well-deserved spotlight on lesser-appreciated literary and artistic lives' * Publishers Weekly *A book about love, identity, acceptance and the freedom to write, paint, compose and wear corduroy breeches with gaiters. To swear, kiss, publish and be damned * The Times *Souhami challenges the Modernist canon that has dominated cultural education at their expense, foregrounding instead great men and their muses... No Modernism Without Lesbians is important for 2020 because it rips apart the prevailing patriarchal model. What Souhami calls for is abandoning the Modernist canon and rebuilding it one lesbian at a time to create a new, inclusive, 21st-century model' * Gay & Lesbian Review *A fresh perspective on modernism * Kirkus Reviews *An extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to community, college, and university library LGBTA /Studies and Women's Biography collections * MidWest Book Review *The lives and contributions of these four lesbians, who played a significant role in art and literature, illuminates the way lesbian work is often undervalued or discredited in comparison to those who aren't lesbian * After Ellen *Richly researched, entertaining and hugely enjoyable... Souhami is a brilliant guide and this book a celebration, corrective and fillip all in one' -- Chris Gribble, judge of the 2021 Polari Prize and CEO of the National Centre for Writing
£9.49
Palazzo Editions Ltd Joy Division + New Order: Decades
Book SynopsisThere’s no template for making it as a globally successful pop group. Some of the ingredients remain constant and beyond the music, there’s a mix’n’match selection of premature death, drugs, drink, destroyed friendships, lukewarm solo projects and bungled finances. The saga of Joy Division and New Order has all those clichés, yet both groups defined their times and overturned their musical landscape. First, there was Joy Division. Their music reflected both the barren urban landscape of their native Manchester in the late 1970s and singer Ian Curtis’s heart of darkness. They remain forever set in aspic, not merely – if “merely” is the right word – by the suicide of their extraordinary and extraordinarily volatile singer, but by two albums as close to perfection as music can come. From the ashes of Joy Division rose New Order, who recruited a keyboardist because of – rather than in spite of – the fact she couldn’t play. On the cusp of the British dance music boom, with what seemed like remarkable prescience, they invested in The Haçienda, a club in their native Manchester. In its pomp, the queues were around the block, but its debts would sink their heroically hopeless record label, Factory. If Joy Division were sublime musical darkness, New Order were bathed in sunlight and their globally popular music bridged the chasm between indie and dance and inspired a generation. Having conquered the world while maintaining their credibility, they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and imploded in a tsunami of recrimination, while still making fabulous music to this day. You couldn’t make it up: there’s no need to.
£22.50
Fitzcarraldo Editions Fassbinder Thousands of Mirrors
Book SynopsisMelodrama, biography, cold war thriller, drug memoir, essay in fragments, mystery – Fassbinder Thousands of Mirrors is cult critic Ian Penman’s long awaited first original book, a kaleidoscopic study of the late West German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1945–1982). Written quickly under a self-imposed deadline in the spirit of Fassbinder himself, who would often get films made in a matter of weeks or months, Fassbinder Thousands of Mirrors presents the filmmaker as a pivotal figure in the late 1970s moment between late modernism and the advent of postmodernism and the digital revolution. Compelling, beautifully written and genuinely moving, echoing the fragmentary and reflective works of writers like Barthes and Cioran, this is a story that has everything: sex, drugs, art, the city, cinema and revolution.Trade Review‘[Fassbinder] Thousands of Mirrors is not a sorrowful kill-your-heroes recanting. It’s much more interesting than that – a freewheeling, hopscotching study of the Fassbinder allure and an investigation of Penman’s younger self…It’s a book about a film-maker but also, hauntingly, about the way our tastes and passions change over time.’ — Anthony Quinn, Observer‘Do Penman’s flurries of quickfire erudition add up to a dazzling kaleidoscope overall, or a labyrinth of aborted pathways? The answer is “both”. He’s boldly querying his subject’s genius from every vantage point – angry and young; older and (maybe) wiser.’ — Tim Robey, Telegraph‘Ian Penman is an ideal critic, one who invites you in, takes your coat, and hands you a drink as he sidles up to his topic. He has a modest mien, a feathery way with a sentence, a century’s worth of adroit cultural connections at the ready, and a great well of genuine passion, which quickly raises the temperature.’ — Lucy Sante, author of The Other Paris‘This is a wonderful book, and a surprisingly encouraging one too. Acute in its glancing survey of Fassbinder’s films, it also engages the early Seventies as a moment of ideological dishevelment that refuses to pass. If Penman lingers over those years in his own taut and revealing way, that is partly because they produced a kind of critical thought that, having not yet been squared up to fit the academic conveyor belt, could be rarified, speculative and experimental while also remaining closely engaged with political reality. Fassbinder is a great model for anyone puzzling over how we might remember as well as think and act in this chaotic time.’ — Patrick Wright, author of The Sea View Has Me Again‘Ian Penman – critic, essayist, mystical hack and charmer of sentences like they’re snakes – is the writer I have hardly gone a week without reading, reciting, summoning to mind. The writer without whom, etc.’ — Brian Dillon, author of Affinities‘Approached from all angles, Fassbinder is by turns a figure of intense corporeality, glistening with sweat, and an overblown mass of meaning.’ — Georgie Carr, Times Literary Supplement‘The book is many things, but above all it is a reckoning with the idea that art might enter the commodity world and awaken its inhabitants.... [T]he late 1970s/early 1980s, in which Penman was a shadowy but vital presence – post-punk, new pop, new romanticism – is remembered similarly as a moment where a sudden societal switch led to an efflorescence of radical popular culture. Writing his book in 2022, Penman was remembering Penman in 1982 remembering the just-dead Fassbinder marking one historical moment of transition by making reference to another that took place decades earlier. To read Penman doing this in what feels like another moment of passage into something unknown and frightening is rather eerie.’ — Owen Hatherley, London Review of Books‘This is a jittery, clammy book, sweat beading on every page… In its exuberant phrase making, obsessive listing, emotional explosions and crashes, bursting seams – the book has three appendices – and its linguistic pyrotechnics, it ultimately comes down on the side of willing delirium.’ — John Douglas Miller, Frieze‘[A] slender love letter.’ — Stuart Jeffries, Spectator‘[T]his is the efficient, gregarious guidebook that neophytes have been missing’ —Chris Molner, Los Angeles Review of Books ‘Drifting through personal back alleys and intellectual boulevards à la the wanderings of Walter Benjamin and Geoff Dyer. A maze of epigrams, aphorisms (“Aren’t all masks death masks?”), anecdotes, and numbered fragments. An exquisitely companionable guidebook-inventory of a vast, intimate mental space Penman dubs the Fassbundesrepublik…A Thousand Mirrors doesn’t try to solve the contradictions of its subject but lays them out like a suit and inhabits them.’ —Howard Hampton, Artforum‘Ian Penman’s Fassbinder Thousands Of Mirrors isn’t a biography of the epic and controversial master filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder – it’s much more. It’s chock-a-block with quotes and confessions, famous writers, artists, politics, history, social commentary and a bit of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll, among – of course – film talk. Like me, you’ll have to re-read this, not least because it’s a who’s who of post-WWII culture world.’ — Rhonda Lee Reali, Buzz Magazine‘And so, as if making a pact with his young review-churning self, Penman opted for a different strategy: to write quickly, finishing in a matter of months a critical portrait of Fassbinder in the style of Fassbinder — fast, made-to-deadline, bristling with ideas yet economical.The book rushes by in a flurry of numbered one-or-so-paragraph notes. The notes drift, venture lightly and suggestively down quick-flash exploratory tunnels, turn Fassbinder and his films over and peer at them from various heights.’ — William Harris, Jacobin‘Fassbinder Thousands of Mirrors, by the British critic Ian Penman, offers… an erotics—of cinema, of memory, of the gradual wreck of history. The sensuality of Penman’s book is inseparable from the music of his prose.’ — Jeremy Lybarger, The Baffler‘Ian Penman – legendary writer, critic and master of lucid, joyous prose – instead offers up a patchwork portrait of RWF, one assembled of 450 observations, reflections, bits of research and more. Through those fragments you get a proper sense of how one can really wallow in both Fassbinder’s massive body of work and his personal mythology – but Mirrors also reeks of adoration and joy, a delightful, emotive and appropriately flashy ode.’ — Ed Cunningham,Timeout Books of the Year 2023
£11.69
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Frida: The Biography of Frida Kahlo
Book SynopsisThe beautifully illustrated and authoritative biography of Frida Kahlo 'Frida will hold its place as the first comprehensive biography of this most visceral of artists' Observer 'Mesmerizing' Time Frida is the story of one of the twentieth century’s most extraordinary women, the painter Frida Kahlo. Born near Mexico City, she grew up during the turbulent days of the Mexican Revolution and, at eighteen, was the victim of an accident that left her crippled and unable to bear children. To salvage what she could from her unhappy situation, Kahlo had to learn to keep still – so she began to paint. Kahlo’s unique talent was to make her one of the century’s most enduring artists. But her remarkable paintings were only one element of a rich and dramatic life. Frida is also the story of her tempestuous marriage to the muralist Diego Rivera, her love affairs with numerous, diverse men such as Isamu Noguchi and Leon Trotsky, her involvement with the Communist Party, her absorption in Mexican folklore and culture, and of the inspiration behind her unforgettable art.Trade ReviewHayden Herrera has succeeded admirably in cutting through the myths to offer a plausible likeness of this wretched, glorious woman * Independent *Frida will hold its place as the first comprehensive biography of this most visceral of artists * Observer *Mesmerizing * TIME Magazine *Herrera presents intimate descriptions of Kahlo’s sensuous and fiery nature, and discusses Kahlo’s paintings with expert critical skill -- Janet Kaplan
£15.29
Transworld Publishers Ltd Strydom C Sugar Man
Book SynopsisIn the summer of 1972, during a compulsory stint in the South African military, Stephen ''Sugar'' Segerman heard the music that would forever change his life. A decade later, on yet another military base, Craig Bartholomew Strydom heard the same music. It would have a profound effect. Who was this folk singer who resonated with South Africa''s youth? No one could say. All that anyone knew was his name - Rodriguez - and the fact that he had killed himself on stage after reading his own epitaph.After many years of searching in a pre-internet age, Strydom with support from Segerman found the musician not dead but alive and living in seclusion in Detroit. Even more remarkable was the fact that Rodriguez, no longer working as a musician and struggling to eke out a blue-collar existence, had no idea that he had been famous for over 25 years in a remote part of the world...
£11.69
Faber & Faber You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone
Book SynopsisA ROUGH TRADE, MOJO, UNCUT & LOUDER THAN WAR BOOK OF THE YEARSHORTLISTED FOR THE RALPH J. GLEASON MUSIC BOOK AWARDA redemptive, myth-shattering biography of one of the twentieth century's most underestimated creative and artistic forces.'Here is the Odyssey of Nico . . . a scholarly and detailed chronicle of this brilliant artist, who was spurned and tortured for her trouble.'IGGY POP'At last, a comprehensive and compelling book about Nico.'VIV ALBERTINE'Absorbs from start to finish.'OBSERVERThe real story of Nico is one of determination, self-destruction and belief in one's artistic vision, at any cost . . .You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone is an empowering reappraisal of an underappreciated icon. Drawing upon new interviews and rare archival material Bickerdike defies the sexist casting of Nico's life as the tragedy o
£11.69
Arcturus Publishing Art Masters Paul Gauguin
Book SynopsisCaroline Bugler MA is an author and editor specialising in the visual arts and world cultures. She is currently working on the Collections Information Project at the National Gallery, London, and is also Editor of the British Museum Members Magazine. She is a regular contributor of exhibition reviews to Country Life magazine and other art journals is the author of several books including The Cat in Art, The Bird in Art and Strange Beauty: German Paintings at the National Gallery. She lives in London, UK.
£15.18
Palazzo Editions Ltd Guns N' Roses: The Life and Times of a Rock N'
Book SynopsisGuns N' Roses emerged from Los Angeles in the 1980s with a reputation for hard-hitting music and a riotous rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle that earned them the title of “The Most Dangerous Band in the World.” Their first album, 1987’s Appetite For Destruction, took the music industry by storm, becoming the biggest selling debut in the history of American music. Since then, rock writer Paul Elliott has interviewed the band many times, and he brings real insight to this updated exploration of the group; its music; its success; its struggles. With more than 200 stunning colour photographs from the band’s 40-year career, this comprehensive biography is the complete, incredible story of one of the hardest-rocking bands in music history.Trade Review'...labour of love comprehensiveness... as colourful and essential as the riff to Welcome To The Jungle... You're gonna buy!' * Kerrang! *'Lavishly illustrated... sharply written... an insightful cautionary tale. 4 Stars' * Planet Rock *'Elliott was the first UK writer to interview the band and had extensive contact with them, and the equally intimate collection of photographs that make this coffee table tome accessible and beautiful to look at... Elliott’s infectious enthusiasm will make you wish you were back there, and anyone who can make a reader pine for the ‘80s is an amazing writer.' * Muso's Guide *' [a] handsome, hefty, beautifully designed, vinyl-sized book...it’s still a hell of a journey.' * Classic Rock *"Readable...and definitely gets under the skin of the band." * Mass Movement *"For me, the main appeal was the umber and the quality of the hundreds of photos that feature on every page, every bit as colourful as the band's life, which will satisfy every G'n'R fan." * The Beat *
£21.25
Equinox Publishing Ltd Dora Bright: Her Life and Works in the Public Eye
Book SynopsisDora Bright was a 'stage star' before the term 'star' had even been invented. After a successful period at the Royal Academy of Music, reports of her ability circulated the globe from America, across Europe and as far as Australia. She became known as one of the finest pianists of her generation and was the first woman to be invited to perform at a Philharmonic Society concert in 1892, where she performed her newly composed Fantasia No. 2. A woman of considerable determination and stamina, she was at the forefront of the English Musical Renaissance at the turn of the twentieth century, and an avid supporter of the music of her friends and colleagues. Marriage did not prevent her from performing and composing, but the death of her husband made her turn away from public view for a time as she mourned his loss. Returning to the stage, she became friends with Adeline Genee, and together they returned English ballet to the centre of London Theatre, and were key to the creation of the Royal Academy of Dancing. This book takes the reader from the arrival of Dora Bright's grandfather in Sheffield in 1769 through to her death in 1951 providing, through a rich variety of archival materials, a public perspective on the life of this important, but now little-known, musician and composer.Table of ContentsPreface Introduction Chapter 1 Contemporaries Chapter 2 The Bright’s of Sheffield Chapter 3 The Bright Family Chapter 4 The early years 1880 - 1891 Chapter 5 Mrs. Knatchbull 1892 - 1900 Chapter 6 The Dancing Girl 1900 - 1907 Chapter 7 London Calling 1908 - 1920 Chapter 8 Return to the Country 1920 - 1939 Chapter 9 Swansong 1940 – 1951 Chapter 10 Women in Music Today Chapter 11 Major Works Catalogue Raisonné 2021 Appendices Appendix 1 – Dora Bright Family Tree Appendix 2 – Music written by Maurice Delara Bright (1825 – 1902) Appendix 3 – Royal Academy of music Prizes Appendix 4 – Dedicated Works Appendix 5 – Recorded Works
£28.45
Omnibus Press Careless Whispers: The Life and Career of George
Book SynopsisGeorge Michael is the single most played artist on UK radio for the last two decades. He has sold 100 million albums world-wide and had seven UK number one singles and albums. This paperback edition of the biography tells his story from the formation of Wham! in the early 1980s with friend Andrew Ridgley. Their success with hits including Young Guns (Go For It), and Club Tropicana and their split in 1986. His success as a solo artist with albums including Faith and Listen Without Prejudice. His legal battle with Sony which cost him millions of his own money. His personal life including his secret boyfriend Anselmo Feleppo who died in 1993, his former muse Kathy Jeung and art dealer Kenny Goss. Careless Whispers is the final word on a true original.
£10.44
Quarto Publishing PLC Christopher Nolan
Book SynopsisThis comprehensive and in-depth study delves into the life and works of one of modern films most celebrated, successful and intriguing auteurs, Christopher Nolan.‘What is the most resilient parasite? Bacteria? A virus? An intestinal worm? An idea. Resilient…highly contagious. Once an idea has taken hold of the brain it’s almost impossible to eradicate.’ - Cobb, Inception How has Nolan become this leading director? Is he the new Kubrick? What do audiences get out of his games? Visually, he offers a steely science-fiction noir with the highlights of big stars and a magician’s flourishes, whether he is tackling Victorian London or the far reaches of outer space. In narrative terms, his films twist and turn, provoking as many questions as they answer. This book will look to crack open the magic box of Nolan’s twisting universe. As a charactTrade Review "White Lion Publishing and author Ian Nathan have put something special together with this new (oversized) book all about Christopher Nolan. It seeks to understand exactly how the filmmaker has found success and the unique storytelling process he uses. From thorough breakdowns of each of Nolan’s films and insights into how they were made, this would be an ideal gift for any movie-lover." * Cinelinx.com *"...a highly informative and insightful read into the mind of one of the most definitive mind-bending directors in cinema. It is a gloriously packaged presentation that journeys you through the filmmakers historic trajectory with poignant anecdotes, quotations and in-depth behind-the-scenes knowledge to create a fully formed comprehensive picture of the man, his cinematic style and how the works interconnect thematically as it progresses." * The Reel Vision *"The 175 page book is filled with 150 great images from Nolan’s iconic films, many of them being behind-the-scenes shots. This book offers a full-breakdown of Nolan’s films individually, as well as a insightful account of the man himself. I’m a huge Nolan fan, so this book was an easy sell for me, but it’s a fantastic book all-around. * ReelTalker.com *"Nathan serves as a literary archeologist, excavating Nolan’s films, digging into their production, their themes, and the reactions they earned...well researched and highly recommend for Nolan aficionados." * Cinema Sentries *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION THE HYBRID KID The early days and Following (1998) THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS Memento (2000) & Insomnia (2002) THE INTIMIDATION GAME Batman Begins (2005) THE TRANSPORTED MEN The Prestige (2006) WHY SO SERIOUS? The Dark Knight (2008) HEAD SPINNING Inception (2010) THE BIG GOODBYE The Dark Knight Rises (2012) THE FIFTH DIMENSION Interstellar (2014) ON THE BEACH Dunkirk (2017) APOCALYPTIC THINKING Tenet (2020) Oppenheimer (2023) SOURCES
£23.80
Profile Books Ltd White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s
Book SynopsisWhen Muddy Waters came to London at the start of the '60s, a kid from Boston called Joe Boyd was his tour manager; when Dylan went electric at the Newport Festival, Joe Boyd was plugging in his guitar; when the summer of love got going, Joe Boyd was running the coolest club in London, the UFO; when a bunch of club regulars called Pink Floyd recorded their first single, Joe Boyd was the producer; when a young songwriter named Nick Drake wanted to give his demo tape to someone, he chose Joe Boyd. More than any previous '60s music autobiography, Joe Boyd's White Bicycles offers the real story of what it was like to be there at the time. His greatest coup is bringing to life the famously elusive figure of Nick Drake - the first time he's been written about by anyone who knew him well. As well as the '60s heavy-hitters, this book also offers wonderfully vivid portraits of a whole host of other musicians: everyone from the great jazzman Coleman Hawkins to the folk diva Sandy Denny, Lonnie Johnson to Eric Clapton, The Incredible String Band to Fairport Convention.Trade ReviewGloriously entertaining ... even those unfamiliar with back catalogues and B-sides will be intrigued by Boyd's ability to dish the dirt * Observer *The simple brilliance of White Bicycles is that its author never overstates his own importance or exaggerates his failings, and still ends up telling an irresistible tale. * The New York Times *From Dylan to Pink Floyd, Boyd was there and luckily for us, he can remember it all * Daily Express *An excellent memoir * Sunday Express *[Boyd] was at the heart of the action ... But there's much to interest non-music fans as well * Mail on Sunday *Drake's suicide provides the memoir with its most poignant episode, but there are plenty of colourful anecdotes * Sunday Telegraph *A brisk, wised-up and highly entertaining consideration of a crucial musical epoch's many facets. * Kirkus *One of the most entertaining and insightful rock 'n' roll books I've read -- Noel Mengel * Courier Mail, Brisbane Australia *Whenever anything musically noteworthy occurred in the 60s, Joe Boyd was probably nearby ... White Bicycles bursts with rollicking anecdotes, eyewitness accounts and canny observations about politics and youth ... Boyd guides us through the decade with keen ears and restless intellectual curiosity * Pitchfork *Brilliant and inspiring ... one of the finest music books ever -- Mike Scott, The Waterboys
£10.44
Permuted Press Entrances and Exits
Book SynopsisA NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER As seen on The Today Show, The View, and Jesse Watters The man who brought the kavorka to the Seinfeld show through one of the most remarkable and beloved television characters ever invented, Kramer, shares the extraordinary life of a comedy genius—the way he came into himself as an artist, the ups and downs as a human being, the road he has traveled in search of understanding.“The hair, so essential, symbolizes the irrational that was and is and always will be the underlying feature not only of Kramer but of comedy itself. This seemingly senseless spirit has been coursing through me since childhood. I’ve been under its almighty influence since the day I came into this world. I felt it all within myself, especially the physical comedy, the body movements, so freakish and undignified, where I bumped into things, knocked stuff down, messed up situat
£999.99
Headline Publishing Group Little Book of Yves Saint Laurent
Book SynopsisLittle Book of Yves Saint Laurent is the pocket-sized and exquisitely illustrated story of 60 years of innovative fashion design.An enigmatic, daring and astonishingly creative designer, Yves Saint Laurent is credited with the elevation of haute couture to fine art, turning the fashion show into a spectacle of breathtaking proportions, and revolutionizing the gendered norms of womenswear.Describing Saint Laurent's beginnings in Algeria as a precocious boy making miniature garments from fabric scraps, Little Book of Yves Saint Laurent depicts, in beautiful photographs and insightful text, the designer's ascent from fashion student to the right-hand of Christian Dior. Going on to found his own fashion house in 1961, Saint Laurent created his famous 'le smoking' trouser suit, brought the leather jacket to the mainstream and astounded the fashion world with his blend of elegance and artistic drama.Little Book of Yves Saint Laurent is a stylish gift for any lover of fashion.Table of ContentsEarly Life • Christian Dior • Artistic Explosion of Colour • A Decade of Style Innovation • The Scandal Collection • Theatre, Ballet and Screen • Perfumes • Accessories and Jewellery • Oriental Flourish • Legacy of Yves.
£12.59
Faber & Faber Nina Simones Gum
Book SynopsisTHE TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLERA GUARDIAN, TELEGRAPH, THE TIMES, IRISH TIMES, SUNDAY EXPRESS, ROUGH TRADE, MOJO, CLASH, ROLLING STONE, UNCUT BOOK OF THE YEARFrom award-winning musician and composer Warren Ellis comes the unexpected and inspiring story of a piece of chewing gum. FEATURING AN INTRODUCTION BY NICK CAVEI hadn't opened the towel that contained her gum since 2013. The last person to touch it was Nina Simone, her saliva and fingerprints unsullied. The idea that it was still in her towel was something I had drawn strength from. I thought each time I opened it some of Nina Simone's spirit would vanish. In many ways that thought was more important than the gum itself.On Thursday 1 July, 1999, Dr Nina Simone gave a rare performance as part of Nick Cave''s Meltdown Festival. After the show, in a state of awe, Warre
£17.00
Simon & Schuster Cudi
Book Synopsis
£19.00
Thames & Hudson Ltd The World According to Coco
Book SynopsisAn elegant collection of legendary designer Coco Chanel’s maxims on style, women and life, presented in a fashionable gift format.Trade Review'The perfect gift for lovers of fashion in general and Chanel in particular' - Cent Magazine'Full of witty bon mots' - Country and Townhouse'For someone with an interest in fashion, you can't go far wrong with "The World According to Coco"' - The Tablet
£12.34
HarperCollins Clint
£26.25
Pan Macmillan A Life Reimagined
Book SynopsisJill Halfpenny is one of the most recognized and beloved faces on British television, having burst onto the scene in 1989 as Nicola Dobson in Byker Grove. Since then, she has gone on to star in Coronation Street, EastEnders, Waterloo Road, Babylon, Three Girls, The Drowning, The Holiday and The Long Shadow.Jill also won the second series of Strictly Come Dancing and was crowned 'Champion of Champions' in 2004.Jill lives in Newcastle with her son.
£10.44
Cornerstone Make It Ours
Book SynopsisIn 2018, the fashion world was shocked when Virgil Abloh was appointed as head of menswear for Louis Vuitton. In the brand's 164 year history, he would be the first black designer to serve as Artistic Director. In this brilliant, landmark book about Virgil Abloh, Make It Ours, Robin Givhan charts his surprising path to the top of the fashion world a story that encompasses so much more than his own journey. This is at once a remarkable biography of the singular, creative force of an icon and a powerful meditation on fashion and race, taste and exclusivity, genius and luxury. With access to Abloh's family, friends, collaborators, contemporaries, and many of the key figures of fashion's present and recent past, Givhan weaves a spellbinding tale of a young man's rise amidst a cultural moment that would upend a century's worth of ideas about luxury and taste. Featuring a cast of fascinating characters ranging from early groundbreaking Black designers like Oswald Boateng to Abloh's mercurial but critical collaborator and mentor, Kanye West, Make It Ours moves seamlessly between high fashion and pop culture in telling the story of how the collision of these worlds irrevocably transformed our desires and beliefs about the essential connections between who we are and what we wear.
£17.00
Tidalwave Productions Orbit: The Cast of Doctor Who The Sequel
Book Synopsis
£7.96
Viz Media, Subs. of Shogakukan Inc The Creative Gene: How books, movies, and music
Book SynopsisThe ferociously talented Hideo Kojima, creator of Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding, shares his perspective on the stories and movies that influence his work!Ever since he was a child, Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding creator Hideo Kojima was a voracious consumer of movies, music, and books. They ignited his passion for stories and storytelling, and the results can be seen in his groundbreaking, iconic video games. Now the head of independent studio Kojima Productions, Kojima’s enthusiasm for entertainment media has never waned. This collection of essays explores some of the inspirations behind one of the titans of the video game industry, and offers an exclusive insight into one of the brightest minds in pop culture.Ever since he was a child, Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding creator Hideo Kojima was a voracious consumer of movies, music, and books. They ignited his passion for stories and storytelling, and the results can be seen in his groundbreaking, iconic video games. Now the head of independent studio Kojima Productions, Kojima’s enthusiasm for entertainment media has never waned. This collection of essays explores some of the inspirations behind one of the titans of the video game industry, and offers an exclusive insight into one of the brightest minds in pop culture.
£17.09
