Biography Books
Simon & Schuster To Name the Bigger Lie
Book Synopsis“Has the page-turning quality of a thriller.” —NPR “Strange and wonderful…A book for our times.” —The New York Times Book Review “Propulsive…mesmerizing…breathtaking.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) This unforgettable memoir traces the ramifications of a series of lies that threaten to derail the author’s life—exploring the line between fact and fiction, reality and conspiracy.In To Name the Bigger Lie, Sarah Viren “has pulled off a magic trick of fantastic proportion” (The Washington Post), telling the story of an all-too-real investigation into her personal and professional life that she expands into a profound exploration of the nature of truth. The memoir begins as Viren is researching what she believes will be a book about her high school philosophy teacher, a charismatic instructor who taught her an
£9.49
Potter/Ten Speed/Harmony/Rodale The Explorers Club: A Visual Journey Through the
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£24.00
Penguin Adult The Plant Hunter
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£15.29
Random House USA Inc Vietnam War
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£17.85
Allen & Unwin How to Walk a Dog
Book Synopsis'The book of the year. THE book on dogs. And people.' Andrew Dickens, Newstalk ZBMike White began walking his SPCA-rescue huntaway, Cooper, at Wellington's dog parks ten years ago, and since then has become part of a remarkable community of people and their pets.Written with wit, wisdom and heartbreaking poignancy, How to Walk a Dog is a story anyone who has ever owned or loved a dog will relate to. You will laugh, you will cry, and you will learn some of the secrets of living with a dog.Illustrated with drawings from acclaimed cartoonist Sharon Murdoch.Trade ReviewMike White, for decades one of the country's most persuasive journalists, makes a case here as irrefutable as it is moving: throw a stick, make a dog happy, be a better person. He has convinced me. -- Vincent O'SullivanThis wryly affectionate portrait of dogs and their people is a tail-thumpingly delightful read. -- Jane CliftonSo charming and funny and sincere - this is dog lit at its best. -- Steve BrauniasTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. The names we give them 2. The people we meet with them 3. The places we walk them 4. The dogs we meet with them 5. The ways we train them 6. The heartache they cause us 7. The ways we play with them 8. The ways they shame us 9. The jobs we give them10. The ways we say goodbye to them
£8.54
Hashtag Press Ticking Off Breast Cancer
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£11.69
Les Fugitives This Tilting World
Book SynopsisSidi Bou Said, Tunisia: on the night after the terrorist attack killing thirty-eight tourists on the nearby beach of Sousse, a woman sits facing the sea, and attempts to take stock. Personal tragedies soon resurface, the unexpected deaths of a dear friend - a fellow writer who died just weeks ago at sea, having forsaken the work that had given his life meaning - and of her father, a quiet man who had left all that he held dear in Tunisia to emigrate to France in his later years. Through childhood memories and the prism of modern French classics, the story of Tunisia's Jewish community is pieced together. Shifting from Tunisia to Paris to a Flaubertian village in Normandy, Colette Fellous embarks on a Proustian lyrical journey, in which she gives voice to loved ones silenced by death and to those often unheard in life. Her love letter and adieu to her native country becomes an archive - or refuge - for stories of human resilience.Trade Review`Colette Fellous' beautiful book, humming and dancing with sensual intelligence, newly vivid in Sophie Lewis's deft, delicate, agile version, takes change and translation as its very themes. It asks us to imagine leaving home, searching for a new home. That home may simply be language itself, a web of knotted meanings. However, if that web serves as a rope bridge slung between places and people, and the bridge is cut and falls, survival is put at stake. This Tilting World explores how, after such a rupture, one woman tries to re-compose the meanings of her life and thereby go on living.' (Michele Roberts). `Fragments: the result of dispersion, of destruction perhaps - but also the indispensable ingredients for a promise of reparation. This duality lies at the heart of the final volume of Colette Fellous's work of remembrance... merely giving shape to intimate material, from which to look out on the world, and welcome in the outside.... Faced with hopeless violence, the mind's eye keeps watch and goes on to foster the struggle for softness that Colette Fellous learnt from Barthes, so that the moment of hiatus is calm and bright - a redemption. This book probes our reaction in the face of a world in shreds.' (Le Monde Des Livres). `A bewitching, hallucinatory elegy to home and exile, love and death, memory and loss. In precise, haunting prose, Fellous evokes the places and relationships, smells and sounds that make up this jigsaw of memories, set against the violence of contemporary events in Tunisia and France.' (Natasha Lehrer). `Colette Fellous (...) has two homelands: her birthplace, Tunisia, and her language, French. Between them is an arc, a tension, an energy: that of a double belonging which does not alienate but provides an opening.' (Le Monde). `[Fellous] enchants with her way of capturing emotions, sensations, moments, and people. She elegantly opens the doors to the past.' (Livres Hebdo). `...a reflection-sensitive and honest-on our present, this impossible present, this threshold between yesterday and a complex future, where we "see how our own lives have been entirely created by political history despite our thinking that they were ours alone, that they were `personal'".' (Diacritik). `Beyond the sadness and the loss, is a great seductive energy - we are drawn by a wish to live and to learn - and Fellous's inimitable way of regarding the world.' (Madame Figaro for Un amour de frere). `Without nostalgic yearning, lithe and fluid in her way of capturing the coruscating nature of words, Fellous weaves past and present into a labyrinth of a book in which she shares her passions: writing, tuning herself to the world and untangling with relish the threads of reality and of thought.' (Le Magazine Litteraire for La preparation de la vie). `Like a true disciple of Barthes, Colette Fellous works in fragments which she stiches together with infinite delicacy, inlaying the fabric of the text with black and white photographs, embroidering its surface with precious details; a sensual constellation of memories, colours and scents... The self as a fragment becomes an art, elegant and sensitive, as Colette Fellous returns to the vestiges of the past.' (Les Inrockuptibles for La preparation de la vie).
£11.70
Les Fugitives Little Dancer Aged Fourteen
Book SynopsisShe is famous throughout the world, but how many know her name? You can admire her figure in Washington, Paris, London, New York, Dresden or Copenhagen but where is her grave? She danced as a 'petit rat' at the Paris Opera. She was also a model, she posed for painters and sculptors - among them Edgar Degas. Taking us through the underbelly of the Belle Epoque, Laurens casts a light on those who have traditionally been overlooked in the study of art, and opens a space for essential questions. She paints a compelling portrait of Marie van Goethem and the world she inhabited, in the 1880s; a time when art unsettled the hypocrisy of society.Trade Review'"Which counts for more, the painting or the model, art or nature?" Society has no interest in the living subject represented; to pose for a sculpture is to submit oneself entirely to the artist's gaze (...) The book adeptly evokes the "canvas of suffering" endured by Marie and her ilk in a world dominated by the male gaze.' - iNews '[E]rudite investigation into the story behind Degas's masterpiece...[Laurens] provides a glimpse into the art world of 19th-century Paris.' - Moira Hodgson, The Wall Street Journal 'An evocative tribute to a model, a man, and a moment. Sensitive, human, and profound, this vivid recreation of the sights, sounds, and smells of the nineteenth-century art world is underpinned by solid research, and written in a style that is assured and decisive.' - Catherine Hewitt, author of Renoir's Dancer: The Secret Life of Suzanne Valadon 'Laurens is one hell of a writer. Beyond the facts, she reconstructs an era, the harshness of which brings a lump to your throat.' - ELLE (France) 'Laurens' project is not simply a matter of adding another voice to the myriad artistic critiques of Degas' work.(...) Under the pen of an author intent on uncovering all there is to be known of Marie's life, Little Dancer Aged Fourteen develops into a curious form of investigative literature, exposing the unspoken moral failings of nineteenth-century culture in its search for Marie. The criticism throughout, if implicit, is certain.(...) Its status as a passion project, though, takes nothing away from the achievement of Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. Reverting to the author's own life in its closing moments, this book wills its reader to look beyond the surface, to discover the writer behind the writing, and the girl behind the sculpture.' - The Arts Desk 'Part historical account, part imagining and part love letter (...) Laurens' deeply felt, even obsessive connection to the sculpture (...) is outlined through connections to Laurens' children, love of dance, her Parisian grandmother, and to present-day dialogues around race, class and representation. This is a revised edition. The first, published in 2018, bore the subtitle The True Story Behind Degas's Masterpiece. It is right that this has been removed, for as Laurens is at pains to impart, little is truly known about Van Goethem. We think we know the work intimately but we don't, not really.' - Art Quarterly 'Laurens' book arrives at a cultural moment when the morality of the artist-subject relationship has landed under heightened scrutiny....Laurens' scholarship seeks to amend history's gendered bias, undoing the persistent myth that a woman's greatest accomplishment is inspiring a man's creative genius. Her objective is simple: Treat van Goethem as a human rather than a catalyst....With Little Dancer, Laurens broaches the persistent contemporary problem: What do we do with beloved artworks with unsavory origin stories? Don't look away, Laurens urges by example. On the contrary, dig deeper into the work itself and the people who collaborated to create it. It's tempting to project fantasy onto history, casting humans as geniuses or monsters, temptresses or victims. But art history isn't as simple as canceling bad actors and celebrating unsung heroes. Little Dancer pierces through Degas' rose-tinted reputation to depict an artist who is no hero and a subject who is no ghost.' -Priscilla Frank, Huffington Post 'The essence of late 19th century art: Famous man paints nameless woman, her body and image becoming a mantle upon which his notoriety hangs. Who were these women? Typically, no one cares. So it's refreshing to see an author like Camille Laurens who does.' - Claire Fallon, Huffington Post 'Good artists transform private obsession into something that can be shared: Nicholson Baker on John Updike, John McPhee on geology, Karl Ove Knausgaard on himself, or the French writer Camille Laurens on Edgar Degas, the (sort of) subject of her new book, Little Dancer Aged Fourteen....a strange hybrid of art history and art appreciation, a personal narrative that reads like a novel ...She has not solved a mystery (even if she turns up some interesting tidbits from various archives), but Laurens has done something more challenging: she's captured what it feels like to think. Her enthusiasm, the million little connections that she makes between the dancer, the artist, and her own life, subsume the reader. Laurens tells of reading an article on Degas by Martine Kahane, the head librarian of the Paris National Opera. Though the article is twenty years old, Laurens contacts her immediately, asking questions about Marie. A few weeks ago, I was seated at a dinner next to a woman, also a librarian; when the conversation turned to art, she mentioned that her great-aunt had been the first collector to bring a work by Claude Monet to the United States. That great aunt was Louisine Havemeyer, and, in 1903, she tried to buy Little Dancer from Degas. He rebuffed her. Reading this in Laurens's book, I was seized with a desire to contact her immediately, to share this clue ....Unanswered are the questions of what art is for, who Marie was, and even whether or not Laurens likes Degas. I take this as a measure of her success as a critic. Some questions can't be answered, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be asked.' - Rumaan Alam, The New Yorker 'Part exegesis, part history, largely speculation, the book insightfully examines themes of gender, class, power, and beauty, against the backdrop of Belle Epoque Paris. The third act examines the author's own project, with inconclusive but absorbing results.' - The New Yorker, Briefly Noted 'Little Dancer turns our modern gaze toward the intersections of the art world, the bourgeoisie, and those living in poverty in Paris two centuries ago, and challenges the reader to balance questions about the wealth divide, social justice, and what an artist's role is in articulating 'the weight of the real.' - World Literature Today, Editor's Pick 'A thought provoking, if sadly realistic, story....The surprise in the project is how well Laurens' intoxicating and contagious point of view comes across even through translation, for which Wood deserves a standing ovation.' - New York Journal of Book 'A fascinating look at the girl who inspired Degas's Little Dancer sculpture... part historical chronicle, part artfully discursive personal response and part imaginative close reading of the sculpture's past and present....the book is full of thought-provoking insights and revelations....Laurens herself arguably displays similar ambition in this book, which acknowledges cruel truths, displays critical virtuosity and stimulates thought with observations that can be both intriguing and unsettling.' - Cella Wren, The Washington Post "Familiar to millions but understood by few, Camille Laurens takes readers behind the curtain, sharing the story of the dancer who inspired Edgar Degas's famous sculpture.' -instyle.com, These Are the Books You Won't Be Able to Put Down in November 'Not many people today look at Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, Degas' iconic sculpture of a young girl in tutu and point shoes, and think "criminal." But in 1880s Paris, that is exactly what the critics saw. In this nonfiction work about the anonymous young woman who posed for the famous impressionist artist, French novelist Laurens [] frankly explores "the louche world" of dance in nineteenth-century Paris, the exhausting and vulnerable job of the artist's model, and her own journey as an amateur researcher. In focusing on Degas' model, she spins a compelling and tragic tale of poverty, power, and the arts that raises questions about the artist's responsibility to his subject. Degas, Laurens argues, was fascinated not with the ravishing ballerina but with the laboring dancer, "the wearying work of rehearsals, the dancer's body bent and weighted down with effort." Degas' sculpture as well as his paintings of ballet dancers-or opera rats, as they were known-broke the rules of both polite society and academic art to powerful and lasting effect.' - Booklist, (starred review) 'Little Dancer Aged Fourteen is a particularly interesting kind of non-fiction. (...) the result is a piece that raises more questions than it answers, but in doing so shows how very contemporary the concerns of the work still are: the classism, prejudice, poverty and exploitation of women over a hundred years ago are uncannily close to our modern experience.' - Helen Vassalo 'The virtue of Little Dancer Aged Fourteen is this accumulation of uncertainties as a moral prerequisite to looking. It is curious to me how we talk so much about 'engagement' in criticism when moralising tends so quickly to the opposite: to condemn the Little Dancer on feminist grounds, or to defend it with reference to the creation's autonomy vis-a-vis the creator are all ways, not of engaging, but of being done with the work of art itself. Laurens presents the evidence such judgments would rely on without confining herself to a definitive verdict, because her question is how we dwell with a work of art, how we must at once approach and step back from it to permit it to remain a permanent object of curiosity and wonder. In this way, she touches on one of the most significant problems for fiction: the imperative of understanding others while honouring that inner secrecy they always possess and we never will be able to grasp' - Adrian Nathan West, Review 31
£13.49
The Indigo Press These Bones Will Rise Again
Book SynopsisWhat are the right questions to ask when seeking out the true spirit of a nation? In November 2017 the people of Zimbabwe took to the streets in an unprecedented alliance with the military. Their goal, to restore the legacy of Chimurenga, the liberation struggle, and wrest their country back from over thirty years of Robert Mugabe’s rule. In an essay that combines bold reportage, memoir and critical analysis, Zimbabwean novelist and journalist Panashe Chigumadzi reflects on the ‘coup that was not a coup’, the telling of history and manipulation of time and the ancestral spirts of two women – her own grandmother and Mbuya Nehanda, the grandmother of the nation.Trade Review‘In a searing account that explores the heady post-independence days of the eighties, the economic downturn of the nineties, through to the effects of the land reform policies at the end of the century, Chigumadzi weaves together reflections on a nation’s founding spirit’ https://www.thedailyvox.co.za/these-bones-will-rise-again-is-an-intimate-telling-of-zimbabwean-history-shaazia-ebrahim/ -- Jennifer Malec * The Johannesburg Review of Books *‘Best summer books 2018, as picked by writers and cultural figures – part 2’ ‘an extraordinary and thrilling history of Zimbabwe’ https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jul/08/best-summer-holiday-reads-2018-philip-pullman-maggie-ofarrell-nina-stibbe-part-two -- Alex Preston * The Guardian *‘These Bones Will Rise Again reminds its readers of the complexities in the cultures of Africa . . . Panache Chigumadzi’s essay is a welcome addition to the new cannon of decolonised historical literature.’ https://livemag.co.za/book-review-panashe-chigumadzis-these-bones-will-rise-again/ -- Terry Simelane-Mathabathe * Live Mag *http://bookslive.co.za/blog/2018/08/27/i-wanted-to-interrogate-the-legacy-that-belonged-to-me-panashe-chigumadzi-on-these-bones-will-rise-again/ -- Rufaro Samanga interviews Panashe Chigumadzi * Okay Africa *‘By refusing to conceal the marks of its making, Chigumadzi’s essay lays bare the challenges of constructing historical narratives’ http://review31.co.uk/article/view/592/perhaps-she-was-this-perhaps-she-was-that -- Jacqueline Landey * Review 31 *‘Chigumadzi writes of her feeling of dislocation from the land of her birth having been raised in South Africa and her ancestral connection to Zimbabwe. Her sincerity to seek truth carries out beautifully throughout the book.’ https://www.thedailyvox.co.za/these-bones-will-rise-again-is-an-intimate-telling-of-zimbabwean-history-shaazia-ebrahim/ -- Shaazia Ebrahim * The Daily vox *‘the author has masterfully succeeded in providing the reader with a book that is a powerful ode to the various women, both great and small, who took Zimbabwe through its multiple phases of liberation’ http://www.rewritelondon.com/portfolio/book-review-these-bones-will-rise-again/ * Rewrite *‘Panache Chigumadzi passionately places her personal story, connected to the family history and the history of her nation, within a blend of Zimbabwe’s national mythology & socio-political turmoil’ https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/books/non-fiction/2019-05-02-these-bones-will-rise-again-breaks-120-years-of-oppression/ -- Bryan Davis * Sunday Times Books *Opinion: Mugabe Is Dead, but Big Man Politics Lives On https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/10/opinion/robert-mugabe-zimbabwe.html -- Panashe Chigumadzi * New York Times *10 Best Political Activism Books of All Time https://bookauthority.org/books/best-political-activism-books?t=h63snq&s=author&book=1999683307 * Book Authority *Panashe Chigumadzi ZAM Nelson Mandela Lecture 2023 https://youtu.be/LuuV1KFei-0 * ZAM Magazine *
£7.59
Editions Flammarion Karl: No Regrets
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£24.00
Le Livre de poche Le consentement
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£10.92
Hatje Cantz Niklas Maak: Server Manifesto: Data Center
Book SynopsisIf data is the greatest collective treasure of a digital society, basic material for business and politics: Why are the places where it is stored still so invisible? Niklas Maak, architectural critic and Professor for Architecture at Städelschule Frankfurt, explores this question in his new publication and envisions radical solutions for the future.
£16.20
Prestel Make Your Own Luck: A DIY Attitude to Graphic
Book SynopsisFrom art school student to designer for Nike, Topshop, and Google, Kate Moross has lived the life that young graphic artists dream of. But it hasn't always been a smooth ride, and in this informative memoir and guide Moross offers true insider's tips on how to make it in a highly competitive field. Written in an approachable, forthright, and refreshingly honest tone, Make Your Own Luck features chapters on how to thrive in art school, developing your own style, how to self-promote, collaboration with other artists, how to deal with "copycats," and when to consider working for free. She also touches on the fine points of music packaging and videos, how to find an agent, and looks back on the touchstone moments that helped shape her career. Designed to mimic Moross's signature bold, brightly coloured style, this book is filled with dozens of examples of her work for companies such as Google, Adidas, and Nokia, as well as musicians including Simian Mobile Disco, Jessie Ware, Zomby, and Pictureplane. Irreverent and packed with enormously helpful tips for designers of all stripes, Make Your Own Luck is certain to become an indispensable guide for anyone interested in graphic art as a vocation or hobby.
£21.24
Hauser & Wirth Nonmemory
Book SynopsisProduced in conjunction with Del Vaz Projects, Nonmemory presents seminal work from Mike Kelley in dialogue with seven contemporary artists whose works engage with the locus of memory, and its role as it posits our perceptions of space and pace. Nonmemory brings together works by Mike Kelley and a group of artistsKelly Akashi, Meriem Bennani, Beatriz Cortez, Raúl de Nieves, Olivia Erlanger, Lauren Halsey, and Max Hooper Schneiderwhose work similarly engages Kelley's titular concept: the non-memory' of the various institutional spaces or built environments he encountered in his life. Documenting the eponymous exhibition at Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles in 202324, the book also features reproductions of important works by Kelley, his foundational essay, Architectural Non-memory Replaced with Psychic Reality,' conversations with each artist, and a new text by exhibition curator and editor of the publication Jay Ezra Nayssan.
£30.40
Vitra Design Museum Plastic: Remaking Our World: Remaking Our World
Book SynopsisPlastic has shaped our daily lives like no other material. Originally associated with convenience, progress, even revolution, today plastic seems to have lost its utopian appeal. Plastic is everywhere, yet most conspicuous as waste and as a key factor in the global environmental crisis. This book examines the success story of plastic in the twentieth century and at the same time presents the different discourses on how we should manage the waste the material produces and also find solutions that take into account its entire life cycle in the future. Mark Miodownik, Susan Freinkel, and Nanjala Nyabola each contribute an essay that sheds light on the history of plastics from 1850 to today. A material-rich visual chronology illustrates how consumers’ perception of plastics has changed over the decades. Brief descriptions of a selection of 50 objects examine the importance of plastics for material culture. Reprints of fundamental texts about the history of plastics—for example by Alexander Parkes and Roland Barthes—provide a context from the history of ideas. The book reflects the current discourse and state of research on plastic with numerous individual interviews and panel discussions that were held with designers, representatives from industry, researchers, and environmental activists. Underpinning these conversations are comprehensive data visualizations on plastic production and consumption, recycling.
£40.00
Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther Konig,Germany Art on the Frontline: Mandate for a People's
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£10.80
Steidl Publishers Juergen Teller: Notes About My Work
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£17.00
Tuttle Publishing True Crime Japan: Thieves, Rascals, Killers and
Book Synopsis"This is a book I wish I'd written. It's brilliantly researched, full of detail and illuminating…" —Jake Adelstein, author of Tokyo IceUncover the shocking world of the Japanese courtroom.In a country where nearly all defendants plead guilty, the interesting part is what happens between the plea and the sentencing. In True Crime Japan, journalist and longtime resident of Japan Paul Murphy delves into a year's worth of criminal court cases in Matsumoto, a city located 140 miles to the west of Tokyo. The nine defendants in these cases range from ruthless mobsters to average citizens with a variety of methods and motives. Using court documents and interviews, Murphy makes a point of including the perspectives of the defendants, as well as those of their families, neighbors, and lawyers. He explores not only the motives of offenders but the culture of crime and punishment in Japan.The nine cases include:"Late in Life" — A wealthy octogenarian is put in jail for stealing fried chicken"Mama's Boys" — A disbelieving family unveils their son's role as a yakuza gangster."Mother Killers" — A middle-aged carpenter beats his 91-year old mother to death and goes to work the following day, leaving the body for his wife to find.True Crime Japan provides an unusual lens through which to view Japanese society and its emphasis on honor, shame, and conformity. Murphy's in-depth analysis of the court system reveals Japan to be, perhaps surprisingly, a land of true individuals.Trade Review"Murphy has an admirable desire to educate: the stories are interspersed with discussions about broader Japanese social themes, including a fascinating discussion of life in Japanese prisons." --Asia Review of Books"Murphy never exploits his subjects. Instead, his deep research offers insights--at times instructive, at others sobering--into Japanese culture and how societal changes play out at the grassroots level." --Japan Times"Murphy creates a winning mix of irreverent and earnest observations in this snapshot of the underworld in modern Japan." --Publishers Weekly
£11.69
Tuttle Publishing Japanese Legends and Folklore: Samurai Tales,
Book SynopsisJapanese Legends and Folklore invites English speakers into the intriguing world of Japanese folktales, ghost stories and historical eyewitness accounts. With a fascinating selection of stories about Japanese culture and history, A.B. Mitford—who lived and worked in Japan as a British diplomat—presents a broad cross section of tales from many Japanese sources. Discover more about practically every aspect of Japanese life—from myths and legends to society and religion. This book features 30 fascinating Japanese stories, including: The Forty-Seven Ronin—the famous, epic tale of a loyal band of Samurai warriors who pay the ultimate price for avenging the honor of their fallen master. The Tongue-Cut Sparrow—a good-hearted old man is richly rewarded when he begs forgiveness from a sparrow who is injured by his spiteful, greedy wife. The Adventures of Little Peach Boy—a tale familiar to generations of Japanese children, a small boy born from a peach is adopted by a kindly childless couple. Japanese Sermons—a selection of sermons written by a priest belonging to the Shingaku sect, which combines Buddhist, Shinto and Confucian teachings. An Account of Hara-Kiri—Mitford's dramatic first person account of a ritual Samurai suicide, the first time it had been reported in English. Thirty-one reproductions of woodblock prints bring the classic tales and essays to life. These influential stories helped shape the West's understanding of Japanese culture. A new foreword by Professor Michael Dylan Foster sheds light on the book's importance as a groundbreaking work of Japanese folklore, literature and history.Trade Review"One of the first and in many ways still one of the best books on Japan." --The Japan Times"An excellent introduction to Japanese literature." --Mainichi Daily News"Mitford's collection and observations have held through to today, a century and a half later. His reporting is accurate and reflects the mindset of Japanese people then and now. This book is not only extremely interesting to read but also should be required reading for anyone studying Japanese culture." --Journal of Folklore Research
£11.69
Tuttle Publishing Memoirs of a Kamikaze: A World War II Pilot's
Book Synopsis**Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY) Winner**An incredible, untold story of survival and acceptance that sheds light on one of the darkest chapters in Japanese history.This book tells the story of Kazuo Odachi who—in 1943, when he was just 16 years-old—joined the Imperial Japanese Navy to become a pilot. A year later, he was unknowingly assigned to the Kamikaze Special Attack Corps—a group of airmen whose mission was to sacrifice their lives by crashing planes into enemy ships. Their callsign was "ten dead, zero alive."By picking up Memoirs of a Kamikaze, readers will experience the hardships of fighter pilot training—dipping and diving and watching as other trainees crash into nearby mountainsides. They'll witness the psychological trauma of coming to terms with death before each mission, and breathe a sigh of relief with Odachi when his last mission is cut short by Japan's eventual surrender. They'll feel the anger at a government and society that swept so much of the sacrifice under the rug in its desperation to rebuild.Odachi's innate "samurai spirit" carried him through childhood, WWII and his eventual life as a kendo instructor, police officer and detective. His attention to detail, unwavering self-discipline and impenetrably strong mind were often the difference between life and death. Odachi, who is now well into his nineties, kept his Kamikaze past a secret for most of his life. Seven decades later, he agreed to sit for nearly seventy hours of interviews with the authors of this book—who know Odachi personally. He felt it was his responsibility to finally reveal the truth about the Kamikaze pilots: that they were unsuspecting teenagers and young men asked to do the bidding of superior officers who were never held to account.This book offers a new perspective on these infamous suicide pilots. It is not a chronicle of war, nor is it a collection of research papers compiled by scholars. It is a transcript of Odachi's words.Trade Review"…[an] eye-opening and informative account…Enhanced with helpful historical sidebars and footnotes, Odachi's memoir humanizes a much-mythologized aspect of the war in the Pacific. WWII history buffs and Japanophiles will savor the many insights." --Publishers Weekly"…expertly translated…Odachi provides personal insight on the last days of empire, and his stories of crime in Tokyo give this memoir life. This book deserves a spot next to Yasuo Kawahara's classic autobiography Kamikaze." --Library Journal"In preparing the English edition, Ohta and Bennett took great care to provide context to help international audiences understand the historical and cultural background of Odachi's story. Augmented by the meticulously researched details, the focus is fixed on telling Odachi's life in his own words. While the subject matter is often heavy, the text is laced with humorous anecdotes and wry comments, allowing Odachi's personality to come through." --The Japan Times
£13.49
Tuttle Publishing Gamblers Fraudsters Dreamers Spies
Book SynopsisCritically acclaimed author and longtime Japan resident Robert Whiting turns his attention to the fascinating stories of foreigners who made waves and achieved notoriety in post-World War II Japan.
£14.39
Tuttle Publishing The Widow The Priest and The Octopus Hunter
Book SynopsisGet to know the inhabitants of a tiny Japanese islandand their unusual stories and secretsthrough this fascinating, intimate collection of portraits. This book beautifully describes the residents of tiny Shiraishi Island as well as telling how Amy herself came to be in such a fascinating little corner of JapanAmy herself, with this book, has shown herself an integral part of this preservation. Rebecca Otowa, author of At Home in JapanWhen American journalist Amy Chavez moved to the tiny island of Shiraishi (population 430), she rented a house from an elderly woman named Eiko, who left many of her most cherished possessions in the houseincluding a portrait of Emperor Hirohito and a family altar bearing the spirit tablet of her late husband. Why did she abandon these things? And why did her tombstone later bear the name of a daughter no one knew? These are just some of the mysteries Amy pursues as she explores the lives of Shiraishi's elusive residents. The 31 revealing accounts in thi
£6.99
Nybrogade Press Natural Artefacts: Nature, Repair, Responsibility
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£15.29
Blackstone Audiobooks,U.S. The Ballad Of Speedball Baby: (A Memoir)
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£13.49
Bloomsbury Publishing USA Barbara Kingsolvers World
Book SynopsisLinda Wagner-Martin is Frank Borden Hanes Professor of English and Comparative Literature Emerita at The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She is the author or editor of over 50 books, including Toni Morrison, A Literary Life (Macmillan, 2015), The Oxford Companion to Women's Writing in the United States (ed. with Cathy N. Davidson, Oxford University Press, 1995), and Maya Angelou: Adventurous Spirit (Bloomsbury 2015, 2021 2nd ed). She is the recipient of many awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Hubbell Medal from the Modern Language Association. She has been a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute, at Rollins College, at Bellagio and at Bogliasco. She has served as president of The Ernest Hemingway Foundation and Society and the American Literature Division of the Modern Language Association. She has won many teaching awards, particularly at Michigan State University and University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
£21.99
Greenleaf Book Group LLC All about Yvie
Book SynopsisThe world's oddest drag artist. Yvie Oddly's memoir will inspire readers as Yvie candidly shares their evolution into their current identity and learning to balance their private and public personas. Readers will follow them on a journey they will sympathize with, and many may even see themselves in their struggles.
£19.12
Pm Press All We Have is the Story
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£20.39
HarperCollins Publishers Inc That Bird Has My Wings
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£16.19
Penguin Random House India Doglapan The Hard Truth about Life and StartUps
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£16.19
Triumph Books Muggsy: My Life from a Kid in the Projects to the
Book SynopsisA candid and insightful memoir from one the NBA's most unlikely stars. Growing up, Muggsy Bogues was always told he should do something else, anything besides basketball. He never acknowledged his many doubters except to prove them spectacularly wrong. Twenty years after receiving his first basketball as a toddler, he stood proud—at five-foot-three—as the starting point guard for the Charlotte Hornets in the NBA. From the East Baltimore playground courts where he earned his nickname by "muggin'" opponents for possession of the ball, to Dunbar High School where he excelled alongside future NBA players, Bogues set the tone in his early years for the great heights he'd reach professionally. In this new autobiography, Bogues delves deep into his life and career, reflecting on legendary battles with Michael Jordan, John Stockton, and other generational stars of '80s and '90s hoops. He shares far-ranging anecdotes from playoff runs in Charlotte, filming Space Jam, and even watching a young Steph Curry grow up.Conversational and clear-sighted, this is a story of uncompromising vision and fleet-footed determination during a golden era for the NBA.
£16.10
Triumph Books Iceman: Why I Was Born to Score
Book SynopsisAn entertaining and deeply personal autobiography from one of basketball's all-time great scorers To see George Gervin on the hardwood was to witness elegance, entertainment, and boundless cool. With his unmatched agility and vast repertoire of moves, Gervin floated his way to bucket after bucket, night after night across 14 years in the ABA and NBA. "The Iceman" made it look easy, and his number 44 hangs high in the San Antonio rafters as tribute to the excellence that seemed to roll right off his fingertips. In Iceman: Why I Was Born to Score, Gervin opens up for the first time about his life in basketball and beyond, including his childhood in Detroit, the rocky and unconventional path that brought him to professional basketball, and the successful legacy he built as a Spur. Gervin also reflects on family, mental health, spirituality, and his continuing bond with the San Antonio community in this candid and conversational book.
£24.26
Chicago Review Press A Long Time Ago in a Cutting Room Far, Far Away:
Book Synopsis"For its sheer excellence, diversity, and cultural impact, Paul Hirsch's filmography speaks for itself. They say a film is made in the editing room, and this book is easily the most comprehensive, revelatory, and illuminating account of this essential cinematic art. A must-read for both the casual moviegoer and the serious cinephile alike." —Mark HamillA Long Time Ago in a Cutting Room Far, Far Away provides a behind-the-scenes look at some of the most influential films of the last fifty years as seen through the eyes of Paul Hirsch, the Oscar-winning film editor who worked on such classics as George Lucas’s Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, Brian De Palma’s Carrie and Mission: Impossible, Herbert Ross’s Footloose and Steel Magnolias, John Hughes’s Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Joel Schumacher’s Falling Down, and Taylor Hackford’s Ray. Hirsch breaks down his career movie by movie, offering a riveting look at the decisions that went into creating some of cinema’s most iconic scenes. He also provides behind-the-scenes insight into casting, directing, and scoring and intimate portraits of directors, producers, composers, and stars.Part film school primer, part paean to legendary filmmakers and professionals, this funny and insightful book will entertain and inform aficionados and casual moviegoers alike.Trade Review"Paul Hirsch, a master of his craft, has written an intelligent, perceptive, compelling memoir of his editing life, from the late '60s through today. From the heights of Star Wars to the depths of Pluto Nash , if you want to know how the sausage is cut, this is the book for you. I should know, I was with him in the beginning and through our misadventure to Mars. Congratulations, Paul, for remembering all the things we forgot." Brian De Palma"It shouldn't be surprising that a great storyteller can tell great stories. From the man in the (cutting) room where it happened on many of our favorite films comes a glorious piece of work that makes you feel that you were there yourself. How do I feel about this book? Not 'ipsy-pipsy.' If you want to decipher that, read it!" J.J. Abrams"Paul's written a terrific expert's view of the editing process, which I believe will be an important technical and historical narrative for future filmmakers and film lovers." Taylor Hackford"Storyteller and showman, film editor Paul Hirsch narrates the ups and downs of his fifty-year career on the jungle gym of cinema with fascinating inside-the-boiler-room tales of how classic hits and flops were constructedand deconstructed. Jaw-dropping tales of working with George Lucas on Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back and on eleven Brian De Palma films ( Carrie , Phantom of the Paradise , etc.). Paul's invaluable tips and insights, hard won through experience, will brilliantly illuminate the creative process for aspiring filmmakers and enthusiasts alike." Walter Murch"For its sheer excellence, diversity, and cultural impact, Paul Hirsch's filmography speaks for itself. They say a film is made in the editing room, and this book is easily the most comprehensive, revelatory, and illuminating account of this essential cinematic art. A must-read for both the casual moviegoer and the serious cinephile alike." Mark Hamill"Veteran Hollywood film editor Hirsch's memoir overflows with fascinating insights and anecdotes" Publishers Weekly"The stories and insights from a veteran editor will appeal to cinephiles and anyone looking to learn more about the craft." Booklist"Mr. Hirsch paints a vivid picture of the crucial work done by film editors." Wall Street JournalTable of ContentsIntroduction ix 1. My First Hit: Carrie 1 2. Ten Years Earlier 18 3. My First Feature Film 26 4. Back to Trailers 32 5. My Next Big Break: Benny 35 6. Phantom and Its Horrors 50 7. Obsession 61 8. Star Wars 76 9. The Fury 124 10. King of the Gypsies and Home Movies 129 11. The Empire Strikes Back 146 12. Blow Out 163 13. The Black Is Back 169 14. Footloose in L.A. 178 15. Protocol 196 16. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off 201 17. The Secret of My Success 212 18. Planes, Trains & Automobiles 217 19. Steel Magnolias 227 20. I Become a Studio Bigwig 241 21. Falling Down 255 22. The Trouble with Trouble 264 23. Mission: Impossible 275 24. Mighty Joe Young 286 25. Mission to Mars 292 26. Pluto Nash 300 27. Lean Times 304 28. Ray 307 29. A Fallow Stretch 316 30. Back to the Big Time 322 31. The Elder Statesman 340 Postscript 347 Acknowledgments 351 Index 355
£17.95
Thorntree Press, LLC A Whore’s Manifesto: An Anthology of Writing and
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£10.76
Catalyst Press Captive New Short Fiction from Africa
Book SynopsisBrittle Paper''s "Anticipated African Books of 2024" From Short Story Day Africa, eleven writers from Africa and the African diaspora explore the identities that connect us, the obsessions that bewitch us, and the self-delusions that drive us apart. Passion and apathy, creation and destruction, honesty and deception—the blurred lines between these powerful forces are fundamental to the human condition. In three parts, the writers of Captive investigate these liminal spaces and rail against the boxes in which others seek to confine them, as writers, as Africans, and as humans. Journey from the fantastical Heaven’s Mouth where time stands still, to a London bus where a neurodiverse woman steals love to the songs of Tom Jones . . . flip the page to Ghana to examine a fertility fetish, or a post-apocalyptic Lesotho where sentient AI uses our emotions against us . . . visit the deceptively beautiful islands off the Tanzanian coast, where the ocean is always hungry, and women pay the price. Captive is a riot of imagination, a collision of worlds, and a testament to the shape-shifting nature of the soul.
£14.24
Santa Fe Writer's Project Us After
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£13.25
McSweeney's Publishing Heaven
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£17.10
Upperroom Big Jesus: Stories of Faith That Expose the Boxes
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£15.15
Row House Publishing The Mourners Bestiary
Book SynopsisA critically-acclaimed literary memoir braiding together environmental research and the personal journey of generational healing, grief, and chronic illness.Author Eiren Caffall is the inheritor of a family legacy of two hundred years of genetic kidney disease and the mother of a child who may inherit that legacy. A literary memoir on loss, chronic illness, and generational healing, Caffall’s The Mourner’s Bestiary is also a meditation on grief and survival told through the stories of animals in two collapsing marine ecosystems—the Gulf of Maine and the Long Island Sound—and the lives of a family facing a life-threatening illness on their shores. The Gulf of Maine is the world’s fastest-warming marine ecosystem, and the Long Island Sound has been the site of conservation battles that predict the fights ahead for the Gulf. Beguiling, idiosyncratic [...] Caffall writes with plangent intensity about our responsibi
£24.30
The University Press of Kentucky The Reggie Warford Story
Book SynopsisIn 1972, Reggie Warford was a sinewy, lightning-fast, sharp-shooting leftie who was in high demand by such renowned coaches as Bobby Knight at Indiana and Digger Phelps at Notre Drame. When the prolific player was signed by Joe B. Hall at the University Kentucky, he would ultimately become an inspirational scoring force on the team and the first Black basketball player to graduate from the universityinstrumental in helping to break the color barriers for generations of students who followed. Scott Brown tells the remarkable story of this trailblazing player and the barriers he broke at Kentucky. Despite a heart condition and health issues that plagued him and eventually claimed his life, his body and spirit exuded a commitment to the game he loved: basketball. From growing up during the Civil Rights era, relating his courage in remaining seated during the singing of My Old Kentucky Home (a protest that led to the eventual rewrite of the lyrics), recollections of his seminal games, in
£18.75
The University Press of Kentucky The Reggie Warford Story
Book SynopsisIn 1972, Reggie Warford was a sinewy, lightning-fast, sharp-shooting leftie who was in high demand by such renowned coaches as Bobby Knight at Indiana and Digger Phelps at Notre Drame. When the prolific player was signed by Joe B. Hall at the University Kentucky, he would ultimately become an inspirational scoring force on the team and the first Black basketball player to graduate from the universityinstrumental in helping to break the color barriers for generations of students who followed. Scott Brown tells the remarkable story of this trailblazing player and the barriers he broke at Kentucky. Despite a heart condition and health issues that plagued him and eventually claimed his life, his body and spirit exuded a commitment to the game he loved: basketball. From growing up during the Civil Rights era, relating his courage in remaining seated during the singing of My Old Kentucky Home (a protest that led to the eventual rewrite of the lyrics), recollections of his seminal games, in
£37.50
Hatje Cantz Beuys & Duchamp: Artists of the Future
Book SynopsisIn conversations and interviews Joseph Beuys mentioned Marcel Duchamp more than any other artist. And hardly anyone else seems to have challenged him more than this artist from the previous generation. Direct evidence of this is his oft-cited action Das Schweigen von Marcel Duchamp wird überbewertet (The Silence of Marcel Duchamp is Overrated) from 1964, through which Beuys attempted to shift focus onto the political and social dimensions of his concept of expanded art. The associations and connections between the artists go deep. Both used similar radical strategies to rejuvenate the concept of art and the role of art in everyday life; their questions had a number of aspects in common. This richly illustrated catalogue is the first to undertake a profound exploration of this multilayered relationship, while investigating both artists’ future-oriented potential.
£999.99
Aarhus University Press Denmark’s Catalyst: The Life and Letters of
Book SynopsisDenmark’s Catalyst: The Life and Letters of N.F.S. Grundtvig is the last book in the 6-volume series ‘N.F.S. Grundtvig. Works in English.’ Translator Edward Broadbridge joins forces with Grundtvig scholar Hans Raun Iversen in this new biography of the most influential Dane in modern Denmark. Grundtvig (1783-1872) was a pastor, pedagogue, poet, politician, and philosopher all rolled into one. Best known internationally for his concepts of a people’s (folk) high school, of ‘learning for life’ and of ‘lifelong learning’, in Denmark he is equally famous as the nation-builder and champion of ‘the common good’ – Denmark’s modern watchword.This comprehensive, illustrated biography is supplemented by 70 letters tracing Grundtvig’s personal experiences first-hand in surprisingly honest terms, including his love life, his depressions, and his four trips to England.
£45.60
Maxwell Leadership From These Roots: Bringing Light, Hope, and
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£22.10
Hachette Books Hitlers Warrior
Book SynopsisSS Colonel Jochen Peiper was one of the most controversial figures of World War II. Himmler''s personal adjutant and Hitler''s favourite tank commander, Peiper spearheaded the Ardennes Offensive and became the central subject in the famous Malmédy massacre trial. In Hitler''s Warrior , Danny S. Parker crafts both a definitive biography of Hitler''s most enigmatic warrior and a unique study of the morally inverted world of the Third Reich.Trade ReviewPraise for Hitler's Warrior "A brilliant study of a controversial but exceptional warrior in Hitler's Germany. To truly understand what the United States confronted in the Second World War, you must read this utterly absorbing story."--Alex Kershaw, New York Times bestselling author of The Bedford Boys and The Liberator "Hitler's Warrior is a spellbinding account of the brutal life and mysterious postwar death of SS Colonel Jochen Peiper. With the masterful control of twenty years of research, and a brilliant eye for detail, Danny Parker delivers a story about Himmler's personal adjutant that both horrifies and enthralls."--Annie Jacobsen, New York Times bestselling author of Area 51 and Operation Paperclip "Jochen Peiper's life and career illuminate the inner thoughts of Heinrich Himmler, the relationship between the SS and Waffen-SS, and the balance between ideology and opportunism in Nazi Germany. In this detailed and well-written biography of Peiper, Danny S. Parker probes deeply into important questions of history and memory."--Richard Breitman, American University and coauthor of FDR and the Jews "A full and thoughtful account of an important figure in the Nazi political and military system.--Gerhard L. Weinberg, William Rand Kenan, Jr., Professor Emeritus of History at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill "The most thorough and balanced account of the life of Jochen Peiper to have yet appeared--monumental research."--James J. Weingartner, author of Americans, Germans, and War Crimes Justice "Meticulously researched...reads like a novel. Clearly adds great depth to the study of the personal character of Jochen Peiper."--Military Review "[A] gripping book...and a chilling story of hunter turned quarry."-The Independent (UK)
£20.81
Triumph Books Run to Win: Jerry Kramer's Road to Canton
Book Synopsis“You can if you will.” A phrase uttered to a young Jerry Kramer by his line coach at Sandpoint High School in tiny Sandpoint, Idaho, that would go on to push him to a celebrated NFL career with the Green Bay Packers and a sentiment that he would repeat to close his speech at his long awaited enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame almost seven decades later in 2018.In the spirit of Jerry Kramer’s unforgettable and bestselling collaborations with the great Dick Schaap, his first book about his life and career in over two decades, Run to Win will serve as Kramer’s definitive statement about a remarkable life and career of perseverance, teamwork, and gridiron greatness. Spanning the beginning of the legendary Vince Lombardi era through Kramer’s confoundingly long wait to receive his bust in Canton, Kramer tells his amazing story as one of the most memorable and toughest Packers in franchise history.Including insightful commentary about the eminently intriguing Lombardi, as well as fellow Hall of Fame teammates Jim Taylor, Forrest Gregg, Willie Davis, Bart Starr, Emlen Tunnell, and many more, Run to Win is a must read for all true Packers fans from one of the legends who helped lay the foundation for one of the most identifiable and successful franchises in the history of professional sports.
£24.26
Simon And Schuster Group USA Abandoned at Birth
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£18.89
Monkfish Book Publishing Company How I Found God in Everyone and Everywhere
Book SynopsisThe spiritual journey is interior to each person, but not meant to be walked alone.Much can be gained from trailing the spiritual narratives of those who have traveled ahead of us, for the God they have found, we may never have considered. How I Found God in Everyone and Everywhere, Volume 2 again captures for a general audience the spiritual shift away from popular notions of a God “up there” and “out there” and toward immanent and inclusive understandings of a God in our very midst. It is built around the fascinating personal journeys of a close-knit group of prominent contributors, leaders including Christopher M. Bache, Jude Currivan, Amit Goswami, Kabir Helminski, Karen Johnson with Hameed Ali (A. H. Almaas), Sheri Kling, Beverly Lanzetta, Ervin Laszlo, Jay McDaniel, Raymond Moody, Peter Russell, Rupert Spira, and Becca Tarnas.From dark nights of suffering and despair, to the joy of scientific and intellectual discovery, to the aesthetic beauty of music and nature, and the blissful—and at times dreadful—shock of psychedelic, mystical and near-death experience, these spiritual memoirs reveal exceptional encounters with the Holy Mystery—a universal Mind that exceeds but also includes our very own. And, unlike the first volume, this new book is deliberately catered toward group study with its “Questions for Discussion” and “Sages to Explore” sections at the end of each chapter.
£17.09
MIT Press Ltd Her Space Her Time
Book SynopsisAn exciting new title in the vein of Hidden Figures, which tells the inspiring stories of long-overlooked women physicists and astronomers who discovered the fundamental rules of the universe and reshaped the rules of society.Women physicists and astronomers from around the world have transformed science and society, but the critical roles they played in their fields are not always well-sung. Her Space, Her Time, authored by award-winning quantum physicist Shohini Ghose, brings together the stories of these remarkable women to celebrate their indelible scientific contributions. In each chapter of the book, Ghose explores a scientific topic and explains how the women featured in that chapter revolutionized that area of physics and astronomy. In doing so, she also addresses particular aspects of women?s experiences in physics and astronomy: in the chapter on time, for instance, we learn of Henrietta Leavitt and Margaret Burbidge, who helped discover the big bang and the cosmic calendar; in the chapter on space exploration, we learn of Anigaduwagi (Cherokee) aerospace scientist Mary Golda Ross, who helped make the Moon landings possible; and in the chapter on subatomic particles, we learn of Marietta Blau, Hertha Wambacher, and Bibha Chowdhuri, who contributed to the discovery of the building blocks of the universe, and, in doing so, played a crucial role in determining who gets to do physics today.Engaging, accessible, and timely, Her Space, Her Time is a collective story of scientific innovation, inspirational leadership, and overcoming invisibility that will leave a lasting impression on any reader curious about the rule-breakers and trendsetters who illuminated our understanding of the universe.Some of the featured women scientists in the book?Williamina Fleming?Annie Jump Cannon?Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin?Antonia Maury?Henrietta Leavitt?Margaret Burbidge?Mary Golda Ross?Dilhan Eryurt?Claudia Alexander?Joyce Neighbors?Navajo women of Shiprock ?Harriet Brooks?Marie Curie?Lise Meitner?Marietta Blau?Hertha Wambacher?Bibha Chowdhuri?Wu Chien-Shiung?Women of the Manhattan Project?Vera Rubin
£17.85
