Biography Books

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Book SynopsisIntroducing the Collins Modern Classics, a series featuring some of the most significant books of recent times, books that shed light on the human experience classics which will endure for generations to come.You can turn your back on a person, but never turn your back on a drug especially when it's waving a razor-sharp hunting knife in your eyes'Roaring down the desert highway, Raoul Duke and his attorney Dr. Gonzo are seeking out the dark side of the American Dream. Armed with a drug arsenal of stupendous proportions, they confront casino operators, police officers and assorted Middle Americans, in surreal, chemically enhanced encounters.Hilarious, hallucinogenic and subversive, Hunter S. Thompson's semi-autobiographical novel is a cult classic and a masterpiece of gonzo journalism.A scorching epochal sensation' Tom WolfeTrade Review‘A classic of our time’ Cormac McCarthy ‘Peers into the best and worst mysteries of the American heart’ Rolling Stone ‘There are only two adjectives writers care about…”brilliant” and “outrageous”. Hunter Thompson has a freehold on both of them. Fear and Loathing is a scorching epochal sensation.’ Tom Wolfe ‘What goes on in these pages makes Lenny Bruce seem angelic… the whole book boils down to a mad, corrosive prose poetry that picks up where Norman Mailer’s An American Dream left off and explores what Tom Wolfe left out’ New York Times

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Book SynopsisA series of provocative discussions on everything from individual authors to contemporary religious thinking, Against Interpretation and Other Essays is the definitive collection of Susan Sontag''s best known and important works published in Penguin Modern Classics.Against Interpretation was Susan Sontag''s first collection of essays and made her name as one of the most incisive thinkers of our time. Sontag was among the first critics to write about the intersection between ''high'' and ''low'' art forms, and to give them equal value as valid topics, shown here in her epoch-making pieces ''Notes on Camp'' and ''Against Interpretation''. Here too are impassioned discussions of Sartre, Camus, Simone Weil, Godard, Beckett, Lévi-Strauss, science-fiction movies, psychoanalysis and contemporary religious thought. Originally published in 1966, this collection has never gone out of print and has been a major influence on generations of readers, and the field of cultural criticism, ever since. Susan Sontag (1933-2004) was born in Manhattan and studied at the universities of Chicago, Harvard and Oxford. She is the author of four novels - The Benefactor, Death Kit, The Volcano Lover and In America, which won the 2000 US National Book Award for fiction - a collection of stories, several plays, and six books of essays, among them Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors. Her books are translated into thirty-two languages. In 2001 she was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for the body of her work, and in 2003 she received the Prince of Asturias Prize for Literature and the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. If you enjoyed Against Interpretation and Other Essays, you might like Sontag''s On Photography, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.''A dazzling intellectual performance'' Vogue''Sontag offers enough food for thought to satisfy the most intellectual of appetites'' The TimesTrade Review'A dazzling intellectual performance.' Vogue

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Book SynopsisWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY BENJAMIN MARKOVITSIn 1845 Thoreau, a Harvard-educated 28-year-old, went to live by himself in the woods in Massachusetts. He stayed for over two years, living self-sufficiently in a small cabin built with his own hands. Walden is his personal account of the experience, in which he documents the beauty and fulfilment to be found in the wilderness, and his philosophical and political motivations for rejecting the materialism which continues to define our modern world.Trade ReviewLike Mary Wollstonecraft's Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Walden is one of those seriously important books I feel I must have read and, if I haven't, I should, because seriously important people - Tolstoy, Marx, Gandhi - said that it changed their lives -- Sue Arnold * Guardian *A lovely read...Thoreau was ahead of his time, right down to his hipster beard -- Lauren Laverne * The Pool *Walden can be taken as an antidote to apathy and anxiety. With its high spirits and keen appeals to the senses, it fortifies -- John Updike * Guardian *Walden is really the original alternative manifesto -- Martin Kettle * Guardian *It is as philosophy, as one of the great self-help books, as a spiritual message, that is Walden at its most powerful * Washington Post *

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Book SynopsisJeanette Winterson CBE was born in Manchester. She published her first novel, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, at twenty-five. Over two decades later she revisited that material in her internationally bestselling memoir Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?. Winterson has written thirteen novels for adults and two previous collections of short stories, as well as children's books, non-fiction and screenplays. She is Professor of New Writing at the University of Manchester. She lives in the Cotswolds in a wood and in Spitalfields, London.

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Book SynopsisTHE NO.1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER''A beautiful little book by a brilliant mind'' DAILY TELEGRAPH''Effortlessly instructive, absorbing, up to the minute and - where it matters - witty'' GUARDIANThe world-famous cosmologist and #1 bestselling author of A Brief History of Time leaves us with his final thoughts on the universe''s biggest questions in this brilliant posthumous work.Is there a God?How did it all begin?Can we predict the future?What is inside a black hole?Is there other intelligent life in the universe?Will artificial intelligence outsmart us?How do we shape the future?Will we survive on Earth?Should we colonise space?Is time travel possible?Throughout his extraordinary career, Stephen Hawking expanded our understanding of the universe and unravelled some of its greatest mysteries. But even as his theoretical work on black holes, imaginary timTrade ReviewA beautiful book from a brilliant mind * Daily Telegraph *Almost everything in Brief Answers is effortlessly instructive, absorbing, up to the minute and - where it matters - witty * Guardian *The best, most mind-bending sort of physics: black holes, time travel, the origins of the universe * The Times *It is that ultra-distinctive voice (modest, profound, sometimes very funny) that knits this book together * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisA gripping biography of a unique familyTrade ReviewI enjoyed The Mitford Girls enormously... Lovell has had access to material which was not previously available... she paints a somewhat more human, in fact more tragic, picture of the Mitfords than previous biographers * Observer *In the first book devoted to the whole tribe, Lovell does sterling work in revising our Nancy-made image of her parents in her novel The Pursuit of Love * Sunday Times *The remarkable Mitfords have inspired dozens of books but this may well be the best... Enjoyably anecdotal, it is engagingly written while displaying a rare and commendable restraint * Independent on Sunday *A book that can be heartily recommended -- A.N. Wilson * New Statesman *This is an excellent book - calm, dispassionate and respectful of its subjects * Daily Telegraph *By drawing on new sources, Lovell presents a fresh version of the Mitford story... Lovell's book proves that there was something extraordinary about those six well-bred girls from Gloucestershire * Independent *Lovell's never-a-dull moment biography animates usually underrated players such as the girls' mother, Lady Redesdale, who once lectured Hitler on the importance of wholemeal bread, and Pam, the second eldest and 'most rural' Mitford Girl, who had a sky-blue Aga to match her eyes * Daily Mail *A sensational saga * Mail on Sunday *The whole story is brought together, expertly and entertainingly, by Mary S. Lovell... as a curtain raiser, both of the Mitford Girls and those bright young things around them, it is second to none * Daily Express *Vivid social history that reads like a novel... An impressive group biography * Houston Chronicle *Fascinating, the way all great family stories are fascinating -- Robert Gottlieb * New York Times Book Review *These women were so powerfully, inescapably, passionately alive... The book remains engrossing from beginning to end * Vogue *A dazzling cast of characters... A rivetingly intimate history lesson * San Francisco Chronicle Book Review *Rises with aplomb to the challenges of a group biography, deftly weaving together the narrative threads of six at times radically disparate lives, to create a fascinating account of a fascinating family * Publishers Weekly *They were quite a handful these sisters. But they were always great fun. And so is Lovell's rollicking book * Miami Herald *

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Book Synopsis THE REMARKABLE TRUE STORY BEHIND THE BBC''S MISS AUSTEN, NOW IN A STUNNING CELEBRATORY EDITION WITH NEW INTRODUCTION AND EPILOGUE: THE PERFECT GIFT FOR ANY JANE AUSTEN LOVER Readers LOVE Jane Austen at Home:''A tour de force which should be in the reading list of anyone who has either read the books or watched the film adaptations.'' ????? ''This book is a delight . . . I will return to Austen''s novels with a greater appreciation of the hardships and hopes of her heroines.'' ????? ''I devoured this. Jane''s story is told in vivid prose and a compassionate manner.'' ????? ------------- Where better to celebrate the 250th birthday of one of Britain''s most beloved novelists than the very rooms from which she quietly changed the world? In this bestselling biography, Lucy Worsley travels from room to room, house to house, showing us how and why Jane Austen lived as she did, examining the places and spaces that mattered to her. It wasn''t all country houses and ballrooms, but a life that was often a painful struggle. Jane famously lived a ''life without incident'', but with new research and insights Lucy Worsley reveals a passionate woman who fought for her freedom. A woman who far from being a lonely spinster in fact had at least five marriage prospects, but who in the end refused to settle for anything less than Mr Darcy.Featuring a guided tour of all the best Jane Austen sites to visit specially written for this birthday edition, this gorgeous book is perfect for Austen fans everywhere.--------------Critical acclaim for Jane Austen at Home:''This is my kind of history: carefully researched but so vivid that you are convinced Lucy Worsley was actually there at the party - or the parsonage.'' ? Antonia Fraser''Jane Austen at Home offers a fascinating look at Jane Austen''s world through the lens of the homes in which she lived and worked throughout her life. The result is a refreshingly unique perspective on Austen and her work and a beautifully nuanced exploration of gender, creativity, and domesticity.'' ? Amanda Foreman''A must for any Austenite.'' ? Red magazine''Brilliant and very moving, this book is a fascinating and original exploration of Jane Austen with lots of new material - Worsley brings Austen to life superbly, through her pages she is a flesh and blood woman, intelligent, powerful, contradictory, loving, loved. A magnificent book.'' ? Kate Williams''Rarely, if ever, will you encounter a historian so in command of their material. Truly, this is a dazzling exercise in persuasion, written with sense and sensibility.'' ? Saturday Express''Worsley offers us much that Austen''s admirers wish to know... [she] is entirely convincing.'' ? New York Times''A sprightly new take on Austen''s life.'' ? Mail on SundayLucy Worsley ''is a great scene-setter for this tale of triumph and heartbreak'' ? Sunday Times

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Book SynopsisThe Discourses/Fragments/Enchiridion''I must die. But must I die bawling?''Epictetus, a Greek Stoic and freed slave, ran a thriving philosophy school in Nicopolis in the early second century AD. His animated discussions were celebrated for their rhetorical wizardry and were written down by Arrian, his most famous pupil. The Discourses argue that happiness lies in learning to perceive exactly what is in our power to change and what is not, and in embracing our fate to live in harmony with god and nature. In this personal, practical guide to the ethics of Stoicism and moral self-improvement, Epictetus tackles questions of freedom and imprisonment, illness and fear, family, friendship and love.Translated and Edited with an Introduction by Robert DobbinTable of ContentsEpictetusIntroductionFurther ReadingNote on the TranslationThe DiscoursesFragmentsEnchiridionGlossary of NamesNotes

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Book SynopsisA dramatic, gripping account of the life and death of the notorious British tech mogul, Mike Lynch.

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Book Synopsis"One of the most original, amazing stories I've ever read" (Mary Gaitskill), iconic rock-and-roll musician Adele Bertei's memoir Twist is her harrowing and electric story of transforming trauma through art, pluck, and imagination, as told through the inimitable voice of her young alter ego, Maddie Twist. From iconoclastic writer and musician Adele Bertei comes a wholly original hero's journey that wages war on the cliche of the "misery memoir." Set in a 1960s and '70s American neighborhood rife with poverty and violence, fatherless Irish mothers and Italian mobsters, and women crucified into madness by misogyny, Bertei speaks through her electrically alive avatar Maddie Twist to flip the victim script. Through her unshakable belief in imagination, poetry, music, and community, she transforms trauma into survival. The immediacy of Maddie's voice is a revelation, providing insight into long-enduring systemic problems without the scrim of adult analysis. In an age of lies and obfuscation, Twist is a sharp yet tender arrow to the heart of naked truth. Bertei reveals what it's like to be a queer teen at a time when discovery could be fatal. Maddie peers deeply into the American psyche, refusing to consent to the systems of harm. Along the way we encounter an unforgettable schizophrenic mother, Catholic saints, West Side Story and Oliver!, poet killers, the abyss of rape, girl-gangsters and faux-pimps, teenage lesbian sex, racial tensions and misconceived divides, a drag family known as the Holy Maudlins, Vietnam vets in dark and light, cabaret, true family, rock and roll. And the ultimate saving grace: love. A compelling personal history of queer culture from a working-class view and a glimpse into worlds yet unseen, Twist is good medicine: for readers who've experienced similar traumas, for teens caught in the foster care system, for the formerly incarcerated looking for hope, for writers grappling with how to tell their own stories. Most of all, it's for everyone seeking transportive experiences in art and on the page.Trade Review"Twist is one of the most original, amazing stories I've ever read-a story of innocence and brutality, of courage and faith and luck. It is the story of an extraordinary woman-child in an extraordinary time, of devils and angels, trolls under the bridge and unexpected helpers. For all the pain and misfortune in the early life of the intrepid narrator, it is most of all about the connective, transformative power of art and soulful community. Twist is strong and strange poetry; while reading it you may hear music in your head-I did." -Mary Gaitskill "Twist is a dark, demented, horrific and hilarious shot to the heart of American girlhood. Adele Bertei was gender fluid before gender even entered the lexicon. Her writing is miraculous, but the bigger miracle may be that the author survived to write it. And lucky for us she did. This is a book to love." -Jerry Stahl "A powerful look at survival and redemption despite extremely challenging obstacles.... [Bertei] narrates with a zest and objectivity probably only possible from a long temporal remove, and she excels at bringing readers deep into the difficult circumstances of her life.... Throughout the book, Maddie comes across as curious, impulsive, and observant, fond of losing herself in books and brought to life by the music she hears-and creates." -Kirkus (starred review) "This raw, vivid work brings readers into a life of poverty, domestic violence, mental illness, war, and trauma . . . Readers travel with her through her coming-of-age experiences, such as being shunned and punished for her attraction to other girls. She also candidly shares her experiences of sexual violence. After aging out of the foster-care system, the author stumbles but finds her footing in the family she forms with her drag-queen neighbors, her boss at the thrift store, and her love for music and writing. VERDICT Bertei's childhood is harrowing, and her memoir does not hold back on the details, which are horrific at times. But the author sounds her voice loudly in this book, and her sense of self is captured throughout the pages. The end result is likely to captivate readers." -Rebekah Buchanan, Library Journal "Fascinating.... Twist is beautifully written in crystalline prose without judgment or stigmatization. What carries her through is music and singing and Bertei writes memorably about both. This is a story about a gay teenager in the 1960s and early 70s at a time, and in institutions, which had little understanding and less tolerance for gay youth. There are episodes of horrifying brutality and violence against Bertei. Yet the great accomplishment of Twist is that it ends on an uplifting and positive note, as Maddie/Bertei becomes herself-the person we know will go on to be a force in the New Wave No Wave scene in New York.... To be placed on your hit parade." -Tom Teicholz, Forbes "Bertei depicts her relationship with her brilliant mother, who was schizophrenic, with uncommon empathy and grace.... Equal parts raucous and harrowing, Twist gives the reader a glimpse of the formation of a singular, uncompromising artist." -Brendan Dowling, Public Library Association "Once 'the Devil ran through' her family, Maddie free falls from institution to institution, growing into her queerness and discovering her fate-that 'God has to be music.' This riveting novel/memoir by underground icon Adele Bertei situates the making of a survivor rebel against the background of the chaotic side of 1960's America. An honest, hard times page turner filled with heart and revelation." -Sarah Schulman "A harrowing voyage through the cultural tornado of America in the latter part of the 20th century as seen through the eyes of a thoroughly 21st century girl. This book gives serious credence to the expression 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.' Very inspirational." -Rufus Wainwright

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Book SynopsisFrom the debris of her troubled early life, Lidia Yuknavitch weaves an astonishing tale of survival. It is a life that navigates, and transcends, abuse, addiction, self-destruction and the crushing loss of a stillborn child.A kind of memoir that is also a paean to the pursuit of beauty, self-expression, desire - for men and women - and the exhilaration of swimming, The Chronology of Water lays a life bare.Trade ReviewA brutal beauty bomb and a true love song. Rich with story, alive with emotion, both merciful and utterly merciless, I am forever altered by every stunning page. This is the book I'm going to press into everyone's hands for years to come. This is the book I've been waiting to read all of my life -- CHERYL STRAYED, author of WILDRendered with incredible grace . . . Like water, the memoir takes on an unpredictable journey . . . This is a story grounded in womanhood and what it means to be a woman in this world where women are all too often victimised by those who are meant to care for us most . . . Entrancing -- ROXANE GAYLidia Yuknavitch sets off, fiercely and unrelentingly towards the deep end. Here are phrases of nerve-jangling beauty, moments of sly humour and lines so raw you want to look away. The Chronology of Water is a story about surviving, destroying, becoming, and ultimately, falling in love with the written word. It's a marvel -- JESS KIDD, author of HIMSELF and THE HOARDERSomething about this story - the goddamn gorgeous language, the raw power of its brutality - gave me so much comfort and solace. In Yuknavitch's word embrace, I felt the magic of self-acceptance and self-love, and the crazy-wonderful beauty of life * * Huffington Post * *I've read The Chronology of Water, cover to cover, a dozen times. I am still reading it. And I will, most likely, return to it for inspiration and ideas, and out of sheer admiration, for the rest of my life. The book is extraordinary -- CHUCK PALAHNIUKYuknavitch's dark memoir is both exorcism and dissection, a raw and visceral account with the emphasis on physicality. . . . An unnerving but bracing memoir about her drive to survive and find her own voice * * Herald * *Lidia Yuknavitch is my favorite new writer . . . Genius. The tone is a combination of high and low, with some of the writing literary and metaphorical, some conversational and shock-jockey, all of it fueled by rage and pain and love and art and transformation * * The Atlantic * *Bold and highly unconventional . . . Hot, gritty, unrelenting in its push to dismantle the self and then, somehow, put the self back together again - gets not just under a reader's skin but seeps all the way into her bloodstream * * Publishers Weekly * *I love this book and I am thankful that Lidia Yuknavitch has written it for me and for everyone else who has ever had to sometimes kind of work at staying alive. It's about the body, brain, and soul of a woman who has managed to scratch up through the slime and concrete and crap of life in order to resurrect herself. The kind of book Janis Joplin might have written if she had made it through the fire - raw, tough, pure, more full of love than you thought possible and sometimes even hilarious. This is the book Lidia Yuknavitch was put on the planet to write for us -- REBECCA BROWN, author of THE GIFTS OF THE BODY

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Book SynopsisThis is the extraordinary true story of how a former British soldier turned extreme adventurer set out to run marathons in the world's most dangerous countries. In 2018, Jordan Wylie trained and ran in Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan to raise awareness of the plight of children suffering in war zones as well as the funds to help provide education. Risking his life in some of the most hostile places in the world, Wylie defies suicide bombers, official advice, dehydration and exhaustion, as well as his own mental and physical health issues in an incredible tale of endurance and tenacity against the odds. His first race, in Somalia, is moved to Somaliland after a suicide bomber kills 600 people. Running the Baghdad half-marathon brings back painful memories of friends and colleagues he lost when he served there. Finally, at the Afghanistan marathon, he provides a high-profile target for the Taliban, who murder seventeen people the day before he arrives. What makes these three runs even more challenging is the fact that Jordan is affected not just by mental health issues from his own experiences, but also with epilepsy. Alongside the more extreme obstacles, Jordan has to overcome self-doubt - and the doubt of others - to show what can be achieved with belief and fortitude.

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Book SynopsisFROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SKY WARRIORS AND SBS, COMES AN EPIC HISTORY ABOUT THE NORTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR.

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Book SynopsisAn invaluable collection of wisdom penned by the ancient philosopher Seneca. This compendium of insightful correspondence offers a road map to a more fulfilled existence, inviting readers to adopt the stoic mindset and attain greater resilience, wisdom, and serenity. Seneca's words resonate across centuries, guiding modern minds to live purposefully and confront the complexities of existence with grace and wisdom.

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Book SynopsisConsidered by many to be the first work of the true crime genre, this ground-breaking book reconstructs the murder of the Clutter family from information provided by newspaper articles and interviews. ''Dick became convinced that Perry was that rarity, a natural killer - absolutely sane, but conscienceless, and capable of dealing, with or without motive, the coldest-blooded deathblows''On 15 November 1959, the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, a wealthy farmer, his wife and their two young children were found brutally murdered. Blood all over the walls, the telephone lines cut, and only a few dollars stolen. Heading up the investigation is Agent Al Dewey, but all he has are two footprints, four bodies, and a whole lot of questions. Truman Capote''s detailed reconstruction of the events and consequences of that fateful night, In Cold Blood is a chilling, gripping mix of journalistic skill and imaginative power. ''The American dream turning into the American nightmare. A remarkable book'' Spectator''One of the most stupendous books of the decade'' Sunday ExpressTrade ReviewOne of the stupendous books of the decade * Sunday Express *The American dream turning into the American nightmare . . . a remarkable book * Spectator *

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Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER''This is my kind of history: carefully researched but so vivid that you are convinced Lucy Worsley was actually there at the party - or the parsonage.'' Antonia Fraser''A refreshingly unique perspective on Austen and her work and a beautifully nuanced exploration of gender, creativity, and domesticity.'' Amanda ForemanLucy Worsley ''is a great scene-setter for this tale of triumph and heartbreak.'' Sunday TimesOn the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen''s death, historian Lucy Worsley leads us into the rooms from which our best-loved novelist quietly changed the world.This new telling of the story of Jane''s life shows us how and why she lived as she did, examining the places and spaces that mattered to her. It wasn''t all country houses and ballrooms, but a life that was often a painful struggle. Jane famously lived a ''life without incident'', but with new research andTrade ReviewThis is my kind of history: carefully researched but so vivid that you are convinced Lucy Worsley was actually there at the party - or the parsonage. * Antonia Fraser *Jane Austen at Home offers a fascinating look at Jane Austen's world through the lens of the homes in which she lived and worked throughout her life. The result is a refreshingly unique perspective on Austen and her work and a beautifully nuanced exploration of gender, creativity, and domesticity. * Amanda Foreman *A vivid portrait of Jane Austen. A must for any Austenite. * Red magazine *Brilliant and very moving, this book is a fascinating and original exploration of Jane Austen with lots of new material - Worsley brings Austen to life superbly, through her pages she is a flesh and blood woman, intelligent, powerful, contradictory, loving, loved. A magnificent book. * Kate Williams *Rarely, if ever, will you encounter a historian so in command of their material. Truly, this is a dazzling exercise in persuasion, written with sense and sensibility. * Saturday Express *A deep, prolifically researched dive into the houses, vacation homes, and schools where the author spent her life. * Vogue magazine *Worsley offers us much that Austen's admirers wish to know... [she] is entirely convincing. * New York Times *An interesting portrait of Georgian and Regency material culture. There's much intriguing historical detail. * Literary Review *A sprightly new take on Austen's life. * Mail on Sunday *Lucy Worsley 'is a great scene-setter for this tale of triumph and heartbreak' * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisHi! I'm Jess, and if you follow us on social media, you'll already know my Nan, Norma. We've had so much fun writing this book together. As well as plenty of personal stories we've never shared before about our childhoods, our relationships and the moments that have shaped our lives together this book is filled with Norma's brilliant one-liners and hilarious views on the world. You'll hear her thoughts on a huge range of topics, including me (a tiresome little monkey'), my partner Jake (Somebody must be paying him'), sex and dating (Can't we get through a blurb without you bringing the tone down?'), self care (Astral cream, you can't beat it') and more. This book is for everyone who has laughed, cried and found comfort in our videos. It's been a joy to write it together. With it, we promise to bring a smile to your face and warmth to your heart. With love,Jess and Norma xx

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Book SynopsisStart each day with intention and find your purpose with a year of creative living. Offering wisdom we can turn to any day of the year, this pocket-book of guidance from the best selling author of The Artist's Way is the perfect addition for anyone who seeks meaning and direction in their life. A beautiful companion to Cameron's life-changing creative process, The Daily Artist's Way features 366 page-a-day quotations, minute meditations and journal prompts to follow throughout the year. Helping us start each page anew, Julia's sage wisdom will inspire and guide readers from all walks of life in finding the possibility that each day brings.

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Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind'Based on a lecture given at Cambridge and first published in 1929, A Room of One's Own' interweaves Woolf's personal experience as a female writer with themes ranging from Austen and Brontë to Shakespeare's gifted (and imaginary) sister. Three Guineas', Woolf's most impassioned polemic, came almost a decade later and broke new ground by challenging the very notions of war and masculinity.This volume combines two inspirational, witty and urbane essays from one of literature's pre-eminent voices; collectively they constitute a brilliant and lucid attack on sexual inequality.Trade Review‘Brilliant interweaving of personal experience, imaginative musing and political clarity’Kate Mosse ‘Achingly relevant’Natasha Walter, Guardian

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Book Synopsis_______________THE PHENOMENAL KOREAN BESTSELLERTRANSLATED BY INTERNATIONAL BOOKER SHORTLISTEE ANTON HUR''Will strike a chord with anyone who feels that their public life is at odds with how they really feel inside.'' - RedPSYCHIATRIST: So how can I help you? ME: I don't know, I'm what's the word depressed? Do I have to go into detail? Baek Sehee is a successful young social media director at a publishing house when she begins seeing a psychiatrist about her what to call it? depression? She feels persistently low, anxious, endlessly self-doubting, but also highly judgemental of others. She hides her feelings well at work and with friends; adept at performing the calmness, even ease, her lifestyle demands. The effort is exhausting, overwhelming, and keeps her from forming deep relationships. This can''t be normal. But if she''s so hopeless, why can she always summon a desire for her favourite street food, the hot, spicy rice cake, tteokbokki? Is this just what life is like? Recording her dialogues with her psychiatrist over a 12-week period, Baek begins to disentangle the feedback loops, knee-jerk reactions and harmful behaviours that keep her locked in a cycle of self-abuse. Part memoir, part self-help book, I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki is a book to keep close and to reach for in times of darkness.

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Book SynopsisAlice Loxton is one of Britain's most exciting young historians and has pioneered bringing history to new audiences. She has a total following of over 2 million across Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. She is an experienced writer and presenter, regularly presenting documentaries on History Hit, Channel 4 and the BBC. She is the author of the acclaimed book UPROAR!: Scandal, Satire and Printmakers in Georgian London, nominated for Blackwell's Book of the Year.

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Book SynopsisFrom the bestselling author of UNDERLAND, THE OLD WAYS and THE LOST WORDS - an essay on the joy of reading, for anyone who has ever loved a bookEvery book is a kind of gift to its reader, and the act of giving books is charged with a special emotional resonance. It is a meeting of three minds (the giver, the author, the recipient), an exchange of intellectual and psychological currency, that leaves each participant enriched. Here Robert Macfarlane recounts the story of a book he was given as a young man, and how he managed eventually to return the favour, though never repay the debt.From one of the most lyrical writers of our time comes a perfectly formed gem, a lyrical celebration of the transcendent power and humanity of the given book.Trade ReviewI'll read anything Macfarlane writes -- David Mitchell, author of 'Cloud Atlas'[Macfarlane] can unfurl a sentence with the breathless ease of a master angler, a writer whose ideas transcend the physical region he explores * New York Times Book Review *[Macfarlane] is a godfather of a cultural moment * Sunday Times on Landmarks *

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Book Synopsis'A smart and highly entertaining portrait of a literary powerhouse'- THE TIMES BOOKS OF THE YEAR'A riveting portrait'- GUARDIAN BOOKS OF THE YEAR***'Worsley's sparkling biography brings a fresh eye to Christie's life and work, firmly busting the myth that she, or her novels, were cosy.' Daily Mail'Every Christie fan should read this' - The Times'Shows the Queen of Crime in a new light.' - Daily Telegraph'Worsley's book excels in bringing a broader historical perspective to Christie's life and work, and her enthusiasm is infectious.' - Observer'Nobody in the world was more inadequate to act the heroine than I was.'Why did Agatha Christie spend her career pretending that she was 'just' an ordinary housewife, when clearly she wasn't? As Lucy Worsley says, 'She was thrillingly, scintillatingly modern'. She went surfing in Hawaii, she loved fast cars, and she was intrigued by the new science of psychology, which helped her through devastating mental illness. So why - despite all the evidence to the contrary - did Agatha present herself as a retiring Edwardian lady of leisure? She was born in 1890 into a world which had its own rules about what women could and couldn't do. Lucy Worsley's biography is not just of an internationally renowned bestselling writer. It's also the story of a person who, despite the obstacles of class and gender, became an astonishingly successful working woman. With access to personal letters and papers that have rarely been seen, Lucy Worsley's biography is both authoritative and entertaining and makes us realise what an extraordinary pioneer Agatha Christie was - truly a woman who wrote the twentieth century.Trade ReviewEvery Christie fan should read this. * The Times *Shows the Queen of Crime in a new light. * Daily Telegraph *Worsley's sparkling biography brings a fresh eye to Christie's life and work, firmly busting the myth that she, or her novels, were cosy. * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisThis book offers a comprehensive exploration of sexual well-being, sexual medicine, sexual dysfunction, and sexual infections. Drawing from his extensive experience, the author provides in-depth insights into the diagnosis, treatment, and management of various sexual health issues.

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Book Synopsis''It is philosophy that has the duty of protecting us ... without it no one can lead a life free of fear or worry''For several years of his turbulent life, in which he was dogged by ill health, exile and danger, Seneca was the guiding hand of the Roman Empire. This selection of Seneca''s letters shows him upholding the ideals of Stoicism - the wisdom of the self-possessed person immune to life''s setbacks - while valuing friendship and courage, and criticizing the harsh treatment of slaves and the cruelties in the gladiatorial arena. The humanity and wit revealed in Seneca''s interpretation of Stoicism is a moving and inspiring declaration of the dignity of the individual mind.Selected and translated with an Introduction by Robin CampbellTable of ContentsLetters from a Stoic - Seneca IntroductionSeneca's LifeSeneca and PhilosophySeneca and Literature: His letters and other writings; his style; his influence and appealNote on translation and textPostscriptLettersNotesBibliographyAppendix: Tactitus' account of Seneca's deathIndex of persons and places

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book Synopsis''The only Lou Reed bio you need to read'' The Washington PostOne of Pitchfork''s ten best music books of 2023 A Kirkus Reviews best nonfiction book of 2023''A monumental work filled with first-person accounts of the master''s life and a dizzying array of never-before heard details'' Michael Imperioli, author of The Perfume Burned His EyesThe most complete and penetrating biography of the rock master, whose stature grows every year.Since his death ten years ago, Lou Reed''s living presence has only grown. The great rock-poet presided over the marriage of Brill Building pop and the European avant-garde, and left American culture transfigured. In Lou Reed: The King of New York, Will Hermes offers the definitive narrative of Reed''s life and legacy, dramatizing his long, brilliant, and contentious dialogue with fans, critics, fellow artists, and assorted habitués of the demimonde.

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Book SynopsisActor and director Al Pacino is a unique and enduring figure in the world of American stage and film. He grew up in New York City's South Bronx, attended the School of Performing Art, and studied acting at the Herbert Berghof Studio with Charles Laughton and the Actors Studio with mentor Lee Strasberg.He has been nominated for the Academy Award nine times, for movies including The Godfather, Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, The Godfather Part II, and The Irishman, and won the Oscar for Best Actor in 1992 for Scent of a Woman. He has been nominated for the Golden Globe Award nineteen times, and won four, and has been nominated for three Tonys and won two.Pacino has been awarded the Kennedy Center Honor, the American Film Institute Life Achievement Award, the National Merit of Arts from President Obama, and the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement in Motion Pictures.

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