Published diaries, letters and journals Books

Book Synopsis''A social history of Britain spanning four decades, told with unflagging empathy and wit '' Jonathan Coe, ObserverTHE FOURTH VOLUME OF MICHAEL PALIN''S BESTSELLING DIARIESThere and Back is a new window into the world of Michael Palin, following him as he comes and goes through the filming of four blockbuster travel documentaries and begins to publish his personal diaries for the very first time. From TV success to writer''s block, Python reunions to lunches with Alan Bennett, the sadness of losing his good friend George Harrison to the joys of welcoming his first grandchild, these diaries document a decade of highs, lows and everything in between - all with the warmth, humour and heart for which Michael is renowned.

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Book SynopsisNow a major BAFTA nominated BBC comedy-drama starring BAFTA and Emmy award-winning actor Ben Whishaw. The multi-million copy bestseller now with an exclusive preface by the author.Welcome to the life of a junior doctor: 97-hour weeks, life and death decisions, a constant tsunami of bodily fluids, and the hospital parking meter earns more than you.Scribbled in secret after endless days, sleepless nights and missed weekends, Adam Kay's This is Going to Hurt provides a no-holds-barred account of his time on the NHS front line. Hilarious, horrifying and heartbreaking, this diary is everything you wanted to know – and more than a few things you didn't – about life on and off the hospital ward.‘Painfully funny. The pain and the funniness somehow add up to something entirely good, entirely noble and entirely loveable.' - Stephen FrySunday Times Number One Bestseller for over a year and winner of a record FOUR National Book Awards: Book of the Year, Non-Fiction Book of the Year, New Writer of the Year and Zoe Ball Book Club Book of the Year.The BBC series was Winner of Best Longform Drama at the The Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards and Best Drama at the Broadcast Awards. Critics' Choice Awards nominee for 'Best Limited Series' and 'Best Actor'.Trade ReviewI’d prescribe this book to anyone and everyone. It's laugh-out-loud funny, heartbreakingly sad and gives you the lowdown on what it’s like to be holding it together while serving on the front line of our beloved but beleaguered NHS. It’s wonderful -- Jonathan RossSo clinically funny and politically important for supporters of the NHS that it should be given out on prescription * Guardian *Painfully funny. The pain and the funniness somehow add up to something entirely good, entirely noble and entirely loveable. -- Stephen FryFinally a true picture of the harrowing, hilarious and ultimately chaotic life of the junior doctor in all its gory glory, dark comedy and unavoidable sadness. A blisteringly funny account shot through with harrowing detail, many pertinent truths and the humanity we all hope doctors conceal behind their unflappable exteriors -- Jo BrandAs hilarious as it is heartbreaking – and it IS heartbreaking (also hilarious) -- Charlie BrookerBlisteringly funny, politically enraging and often heartbreaking . . . hilarious . . . brimming not just with humour but with humanity . . . This should be a wake-up call to all who value the NHS -- Hannah Beckerman * Sunday Express *A funny, excoriatingly revealing, beautiful book -- Dawn FrenchHorrifyingly hilarious and hilariously horrifying -- Danny WallaceA ferociously funny book -- Mark WatsonSuperb -- Pam AyresAs a hypochondriac I was worried about reading Adam Kay’s book. Luckily it’s incredibly funny – so funny, in fact, that it gave me a hernia from laughing -- Joe LycettBy turns witty, gruesome, alarming, and touching. Always illuminating and searingly honest -- Jonathan DimblebyBrilliant -- Mark HaddonTable of ContentsIntroduction - i: Introduction Chapter - 1: House Officer Chapter - 2: Senior House Officer Post 1 Chapter - 3: Senior House Officer Post 2 Chapter - 4: Senior House Officer Post 3 Chapter - 5: Registrar Post 1 Chapter - 6: Registrar Post 2 Chapter - 7: Registrar Post 3 Chapter - 8: Registrar Post 4 Chapter - 9: Senior Registrar Chapter - 10: Aftermath Section - ii: An Open Letter to the Secretary of State for Health Acknowledgements - iii: Acknowledgements

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Book SynopsisA timely book for today's world, Marcus Aurelius's Meditations explores how to endure hardship, how to cope with change and how to find something positive out of adversity.Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is translated by A. S. L. Farquharson and features an introduction by John Sellars.The Meditations are a set of personal reflections by Marcus Aurelius. He writes about the vicissitudes of his own life and explores how to live wisely and virtuously in an unpredictable world. He was a follower of the Stoic tradition of philosophy, and one of its finest advocates, both in the clarity of his writing and in the uprightness of his life. The aphorisms show how for him, as perhaps for us all, the answer to life lies in keeping a calm and rational mind, and in refusing to be cast down or alarmed by things over which we have no control.Trade ReviewHis meditations can indeed still offer all of us, historians included, worthwhile advice -- Tom Holland * Guardian *For many thinkers of the 19th century – from Darwin to Nietzsche – Marcus was an intellectual hero -- Mary Beard * London Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisFollowing from The Secret Diaries of Anne Lister: I Know My Own Heart, this second volume continues the story of one of the most remarkable women of her time - landowner, industrialist, traveller and lesbian.Trade ReviewThe Lister diaries are the Dead Sea Scrolls of lesbian history; they changed everything. By resurrecting them and editing them with such loving attention and intelligence, Helena Whitbread has earned the gratitude of a whole generationEngaging, revealing, at times simply astonishing: Anne Lister's diaries are an indispensable read for anyone interested in the history of gender, sexuality and the intimate lives of women[Anne Lister's] sense of self, and self-awareness, is what makes her modern to us. She was a woman exercising conscious choice. She controlled her cash and her body. At a time when women had to marry, or be looked after by a male relative, and when all their property on marriage passed to their husband, Anne Lister not only dodged the traps of being female, she set up a liaison with another woman that enhanced her own wealth and left both of them free to live as they wished . . . The diaries gave me courage

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Book SynopsisAn extraordinary memento of a life-changing moment in history, artist Vic Lee’s visually stunning, graphic novel–style personal diary chronicles his experience of the coronavirus pandemic as it unfolded. With beautiful hand-drawn illustrations and typography, Vic Lee’s Corona Diary vividly captures what it was like to live through this unprecedented period. Listening to daily news stories, experiencing different ways of living and working as well as adapting to new and necessary social controls, renowned London artist, illustrator and storyteller Vic Lee documents the first six months of the pandemic in real time. An epilogue spread touches on the events of July, August and September.Reflect on and process the unforgettable events of the pandemic through an intimate account in images and lettering of the initial news from a place called Wuhan, Italy’s first cases then state of emergency, its spreaTrade ReviewAs the lives of all of us have played out over through the pandemic the book will be a great visual read for many as a reflection and reminder of what we’ve been through, via the lens of a visual artist who was compelled to take up his brush and document the worst global crisis of recent times. -- Derek Brazell * Association of Illustrators *One of The Most Anticipated Graphic Novels of 2021 According to Goodreads Members -- Tommy Williams * GeekTyrant *The book is a chaotic collage that hangs together because its apparent formlessness echoes the uncertainty of the pandemic, the need to constantly remain on alert. It can be tricky to create a memoir as you are living it, but Lee benefits because his circumstance is shared by us. His book is full of small moments of recognition. -- David Ulin * The Orange County Register *The 88-page book tells the story of the pandemic year — the highs and the lows, from clapping campaigns for front-line workers to toilet paper shortages and the vaccine rollout efforts. -- Victoria Craig * Marketplace.org *This diary includes news, witty observations and a little bit of comedy though it doesn’t shy away from the lives that have been lost or the social impact of the pandemic. -- Neymat Raboobee * BookRiot *Created as the year 2020 unfolded, Lee’s personal and cathartic memoir conveys the ups and downs felt by people throughout the world—from the earliest news of an outbreak in Wuhan to lockdowns and toilet paper shortages to the growing numbers of victims, opinions and reactions. -- Holly Davis * Artists Magazine *

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Book SynopsisA revised edition of St John’s reflections on his profound spiritual experience and love for Jesus Christ and the Church.Table of ContentsPreface Part 1 My Life in Christ Part 2 My Life in Christ Notes Subject Index Scripture Index

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Book SynopsisFrom Paris to Prague, from the past to the present, authors and artists explore what Europe means to them - and us. Through moving personal letters, hilarious anecdotes, brilliant new fiction, and original illustrations, Postcards to Europe paints a picture of a nation and a continent, and how they define each other. Featuring some of the biggest, best and brightest names from the world of fiction, current affairs, politics, art, film, history and food. There is nothing like this out there and every reader will find something to cherish and share in this stunning collection. Contributed to by: Richard Herring, Alain de Botton, Sarah Perry, Matt Haig, Bee Wilson, Andrew Roberts, Oliver Kamm, Hari Kunzru, Colonel Tim Collins, Jessie Burton, Kate Eberlen, Will Self, Adam Dant, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Jennifer Higgie, Simon Garfield, Ian Rankin, Mark Kermode, Amy Liptrot, Nicci French, Rob Temple, Afua Hirsch, Sarah Winman, Sunny Singh, Owen Jones, David Shrigley, Ben Collins, Henry Marsh,

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Book Synopsis'Charming, touching and very very funny' Jenny Colgan'Simply too good' Daily MailFrom the author of the Times bestselling A Chip Shop in PoznanONE HOUSE. TWO HOUSEMATES. THREE REASONS TO WORRY: WINNIE AND BEN ARE SEPARATED BY 50 YEARS, A GULF IN CLASS, AND MAJOR DIFFERENCES OF OPINION.When hunting for a room in London, Ben Aitken came across one for a great price in a lovely part of town. There had to be a catch. And there was. The catch was Winnie: an 85-year-old widow who doesn't suffer fools.Full of warmth, wit and candour, The Marmalade Diaries tells the story of an unlikely friendship during an unlikely time. Imagine an intergenerational version of Big Brother, but with only two contestants. One of the pair a grieving and inflexible former aristocrat in her mid-eighties. The other a working-class millennial snowflake. What could possibly go wrong? What could possibly go right?Out of the most inauspicious of soils - and from the author of The Gran Tour - comes a book about grief, family, friendship, loneliness, life, love, lockdown and marmalade.Trade ReviewCharming, touching and very very funny * Jenny Colgan *Displays a keen eye for the humour of everyday life ... underneath it all is the wonderful story of two people born half a century apart, learning lessons from each other. * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisA beautifully illustrated account of the letters and correspondence of Jane Austen. It has been said that Jane Austen the woman and Jane Austen the author are all of a piece, and nowhere is this more evident to the lovers of her novels than in the pages of her letters. This handsome celebration of Austen's letters is illustrated with portraits, facsimile letters, topographical engravings and fashion plates, all helping to bring to life the world Jane Austen inhabited. The letters, with an accompanying commentary by Penelope Hughes-Hallett, are separated into six periods of Jane Austen's life, between the years 1796, when she was twenty, and 1817, the year of her death. They celebrate Jane Austen's talent for expressing exactly what she perceived, making this an illuminating companion to her novels. Although the book follows a broadly chronological scheme, the letters are arranged round visual themes, including the Hampshire countryside, social life in Bath and London, domestic pursuits, paying visits and travelling by carriage. The author, who was born in Jane Austen's Hampshire village of Steventon, lectured on English Literature for the Open University and the Oxford University Department of External Studies. Trade Review‘It’s a fascinating insight into [Jane Austen’s] life and what influenced her.’ * The People's Friend *'Thoughtful and Attractive.' * Best of British *'This is a wondrous mixture of personal opinion, informed commentary and illuminating illustrations... a volume to dip into and enjoy again and again' * Jane Austen’s Regency World Review *

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Book SynopsisFew have written more beautifully about the British countryside than Francis Kilvert. A country clergyman born in 1840, Kilvert spent much of his time visiting parishioners, walking the lanes and fields of Herefordshire and writing in his diary. Full of passionate delight in the natural world and the glory of the changing seasons, his diaries are as generous, spontaneous and vivacious as Kilvert himself. He is an irresistible companion.This new edition of William Plomer’s original selection contains new archival material as well as a fascinating introduction illuminating Kilvert’s world and the history of the diaries.‘One of the best books in English’ Sunday Times'Kilvert has touched and delighted (and mildly shocked) readers of his diaries ever since they were first published. New readers are in for a treat' Alan BennettTrade ReviewKilvert has touched and delighted and (mildly shocked) readers of his diaries ever since they were first published. New readers are in for a treatOne of the most enchanting portraits of English rural life ever written...Kilvert's lyrical nature writing is recognised for its Wordsworthian sensibility * Guardian *One of the best books in English * Sunday Times *Funny, lyrical, witty and wise, Robert Kilvert’s diaries are a treasure-house of vital fieldwork and social observation. Parochial is the best sense, he joyed in the natural wonders of his parish, recording the trials and splendours of his day-to-day. As such, the diary is a marvel of observance; a hybrid hymn to a world now lost and a vibrant counterpoint to fellow poet-cleric, Gerard Manley HopkinsThe best picture of quiet vicarage life in Victorian England that has yet been given to us

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Book Synopsis''In the journal I do not just express myself more openly than I could do to any person; I create myself''Intimate, vulnerable and unsparing, Reborn bears witness to the evolution of Susan Sontag.With entries dating from 1947-1963, the first instalment from Susan Sontag''s diaries charts her ascension from early adolescence to her early thirties. Unabashed, though thoroughly self-reflective, Sontag''s diaries reveal the inner workings of her mind, her insecurities and her passions. This compelling account of the evolution of America''s greatest post-war intellectual allows us to behold the moral and political awakening of the artist and critic.''An exceptionally vivid, and often moving, account of a young woman''s painful journey towards acceptance of her own nature'' Sunday Telegraph''Moving on several levels . . . thrilling . . . fascinating . . . often reads like a brilliant postmodern bildungsroman'' New YoTrade ReviewFascinating. One can feel Sontag's mind beginning to ripen and bloom, and the full force of the intellectual originality that would be her hallmark emerging * Guardian *Inspirational. Sontag shows us not just the importance, but the exhilaration of being earnest * New Statesman *A fascinating document of her apprenticeship, charting her earnest quest for education, identity, and voice. Reborn is overwhelmingly a record of an inner landscape. * New York Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisThe Bookshop in Wigtown is a bookworm's idyll - with thousands of books across nearly a mile of shelves, a real log fire, and Captain, the bookshop cat. You'd think after twenty years, owner Shaun Bythell would be used to the customers by now. Don't get him wrong - there are some good ones among the antiquarian porn-hunters, die-hard Arthurians, people who confuse bookshops for libraries and the toddlers just looking for a nice cosy corner in which to wee. He's sure there are. There must be some good ones, right? Filled with the pernickety warmth and humour that has touched readers around the world, stuffed with literary treasures, hidden gems and incunabula, Remainders of the Day is Shaun Bythell's latest entry in his bestselling diary series.Trade ReviewPRAISE FOR SHAUN BYTHELL * : *Gentle, funny and soothing -- Alan BennettEffortlessly charming ... it is soothing to sink once again into the rhythms of Bythell's year * TLS *Utterly compelling ... I urge you to buy this book -- Charlotte Heathcote * Sunday Express *Wonderfully entertaining. * Observer *Warm, witty and laugh-out-loud funny, this gently meandering tale of British eccentricity will stay long in the memory. * Daily Mail *Laconic, droll, opinionated and unconvincingly misanthropic ... Wigtown's Pepys. -- Alan Taylor * Times Literary Supplement *Funny and fascinating in equal measure - a must for all those of us who haunt the sepulchres where old books are laid to rest. * Anthony McGowan *Equal parts preposterous and profound, sure to prove irresistible to fellow bibliophiles * Publishers Weekly *A book and bookshop lover's delight. * Red magazine *PRAISE FOR CONFESSIONS OF A BOOKSELLER -- :PRAISE FOR SEVEN KINDS OF PEOPLE YOU FIND IN BOOKSHOPS -- :Crisp and often funny - and Bythell is canny enough to temper his pantomime misanthropy with bursts of sweetness * Guardian *Bythell is having fun and it's infectious ... actually amusing * Scotsman *Any reader finding this book in their stocking on Christmas morning should feel lucky ... contains plenty to amuse - an excellent diversion * Bookmunch *The second volume of memoirs by the Wigtown bookseller Shaun Bythell is as absorbing as the first * London Review of Books *The best parts are irreverently funny and only borderline legal ... he is certainly not self-serving in terms of writing about what he sees as his own failures and weaknesses ... has kept me giggling all week * Scotland on Sunday *MORE PRAISE FOR DIARY OF A BOOKSELLER -- :All the ingredients for a gentle human comedy are here, as soothing as a bag of boiled sweets and just as tempting to dip into * Literary Review *The Diary Of A Bookseller is warm (unlike Bythell's freezing-cold shop) and funny, and deserves to become one of those bestsellers that irritate him so much. -- Jon Dennis * Mail on Sunday *Peopled with fascinating characters ... a sarcastic reminder of the struggles of small business ownership, the importance of community and the frustration of dealing with customers ... occasionally laugh-out-loud funny. * Herald *MORE PRAISE FOR CONFESSIONS OF A BOOKSELLER * : *Tempted to follow your dream and open a second-hand bookshop? Don't do anything before you read Shaun Bythell ... second-hand bookshops are alive because of people like him. * The National *I tore through the pages, but I was also rather sad when it finished - I could have read much, much more. Any bibliophiles should race to get a copy. * Shiny New Books *

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Book SynopsisAgatha Christie's Complete Secret Notebooks brings together for the first time Secret Notebooks and Murder in the Making, two volumes that explore the fascinating contents of her 73 notebooks. This includes illustrations, deleted extracts, unused ideas, two unpublished Poirot stories and a lost Miss Marple.When Agatha Christie died in 1976, aged 85, she had become the world''s most popular author. With sales of more than two billion copies worldwide in more than 100 countries, she had achieved the impossible more than one book every year since the 1920s, every one a bestseller.So prolific was Agatha Christie''s output 66 crime novels, 20 plays, 6 romance books under a pseudonym and over 150 short stories it was often claimed that she had a photographic memory. Was this true? Or did she resort over those 55 years to more mundane methods of working out her ingenious crimes?Following the death of Agatha''s daughter, Rosalind, at the end of 2004, a remarkable secret was revealed. UneartTrade Review'Many of Curran's discoveries will shape how Christie is read in future… This book is fascinating.' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY ‘Agatha Christie’s notebooks have had to wait for the meticulous attention, dedication and prodigious knowledge of John Curran to achieve publication.’ THE TIMES ‘A meticulously detailed study that is packed with shrewd perceptions about Christie's fiction… Curran has produced an enthralling miscellany of a book, in which her fans will rummage to their heart's content.' SUNDAY TIMES 'Curran has organized his material as efficiently as an Agatha Christie mystery… His enthusiasm for his subject carries us along.' IRISH TIMES ‘Something unimaginably unique: an unknown Poirot story, one that had lain silently between its covers for over 60 years.’ THE SCOTSMAN

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Book SynopsisThe brilliant tale of Anais Nin''s true love affair with Henry Miller, and her ambiguous, charged relationship with his wife, June. Drawn from the journals of a single momentous year in Paris, Henry and June provides a wildly lyrical account of a woman''s sexual awakening and the disillusion of idealized marriage.

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Book Synopsis90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin BooksAll moonlight is moving, wherever it may beJapanese gentlewoman Sei Shonagon invites us to look behind the painted screens in the Emperor's palace and discover a lost world, in which games of poetry are the highest form of wit, lovers send each other elegant morning-after letters, and appreciation of the natural world wild geese in autumn, the pure white frost of winter is one of life's most exquisite pleasures.

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Book SynopsisA publishing sensation, the publication of Victor Klemperer's diaries brings to light one of the most extraordinary documents of the Nazi period.'A classic ... Klemperer's diary deserves to rank alongside that of Anne Frank's' SUNDAY TIMESTrade ReviewThis is a classic ... Klemperer's diary deserves to rank alongside that of Anne Frank's ... These diaries are certain to become not only the main primary source for historians of the Nazi period, but also an essential read for anyone who wishes to understand what it was like to be a Jew living in Germany during the 1930s. But perhaps it is even more than that ... Read this wonderful book and judge for yourself * SUNDAY TIMES *I can't remember when I read a more engrossing book * SUNDAY TIMES *This extraordinary book describes in detail, and with unparalleled force and clarity, what it was like to live in Germany under Nazism. The historical record is very much the richer for it * FINANCIAL TIMES *It is not the horror of the Holocaust we see here, but the subtle, barely discernible corruption of daily life * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *Authoritative ... Victor Klemperer's detailed eye-witness chronicle, not dissimilar in its cumulative power to Primo Levi's, is a devastating account of man's inhumanity to man * LITERARY REVIEW *His diaries are not only a harrowingly poignant record of the suffering of just one victimised married couple among countless others. They are also a testament to the restitution that the world still owes to those non-Aryans on whose plight too many turned their backs * DAILY TELEGRAPH *All generalisations about German attitudes, from Trevor-Roper to Daniel Goldhagen, are dashed about the anthill of detail that Victor Klemperer so copiously and courageously assembled. I can hardly wait for the second volume * SPECTATOR *The first-hand immediacy of the material gives is an unmatched potency * OBSERVER *The most detailed personal account of a German Jew's daily life in the Third Reich outweighs and will surely outlive Goldhagen's sensationalist speculations about German anti-semitism ... It's not levity to call Professor Klemperer German Jewry's Mr Pepys of the Hitler years * JEWISH CHRONICLE *Marvellous, depressing, witty, sardonic, devastating * FINANCIAL TIMES *

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Book SynopsisTom Raworth's long-lost 1971 book is published at long last.

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Book SynopsisIn 1916, at the age of fourteen, Mary James begins chronicling her life. A stunning window into the lives and struggles of a household in Cardiff in the early 20th century, written by a young woman on the cusp of adulthood

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Book SynopsisThe Inventions, Researches and Writings of Nikola Tesla

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Book SynopsisWITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY BILL GATESIn this warm, insightful portrait of the Winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1965, we see the wisdom, humour and curiosity of Richard Feynman through a series of conversations with his friend Ralph Leighton.Winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1965, Richard Feynman was one of the world's greatest theoretical physicists, but he was also a man who fell, often jumped, into adventure. An artist, safecracker, practical joker and storyteller, Feynman's life was a series of combustible combinations made possible by his unique mixture of high intelligence, unquenchable curiosity and eternal scepticism.Over a period of years, Feynman's conversations with his friend Ralph Leighton were first taped and then set down as they appear here, little changed from their spoken form, giving a wise, funny, passionate and totally honest self-portrait of one of the greatest men of our age.

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Book SynopsisA brand new edition of Kathrine Kressmann Taylor's rediscovered diaries, chronicling the 1966 floods in Florence - now re-issued over 50 years after they were first published, introduced by Vanessa Nicolson and illustrated by Agnesbic.

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Book Synopsis“The hallucinatory prose-poems of Arthur Rimbaud rank among the glories of 19th-century French literature.” — New York TimesOne of the world''s most influential poets, Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) is remembered as much for his volatile personality and tumultuous life as he is for his writings, almost all of which he produced before the age of twenty. Paul Schmidt''s acclaimed collection brings together his complete poetry, prose, and letters, including The Drunken Boat, The Orphans'' New Year, After the Flood, and A Season in Hell. Complete Works is divided into eight seasons—Childhood, the Open Road, War, the Tormented Heart, the Visionary, the Damned Soul, a Few Belated Cowardices, and the Man with the Wind at His Heels—that reflect the facets of Rimbaud''s life. Insightful commentary by Schmidt reveals the courage, vision, and imagination of Rimbaud''s poetry and sheds light on one of the most enigmatic figures in letters.Trade Review“Rimbaud was pure dynamite . . . he restored literature to life.” — Henry Miller “The best edition in English” — Montreal Gazette “Visionary . . . Wicked . . . A Genius.” — The New Yorker “The hallucinatory prose-poems of Arthur Rimbaud rank among the glories of 19th-century French literature.” — New York Times “Paul Schmidt has wavered--no, has hovered--between solicitude and critique, and the result of such suspension is his beautiful, daring, careful work . . . serves us the Rimbaud that matters in its fine mesh.” — Richard Howard, Pulitzer Prize-winner poet and translator; professor, Columbia University “This collection is interesting for the light it casts on the background to the writing of ‘A Season in Hell’ and the poems later referred to (by Paul Verlaine) as ‘The Illuminations’. As well as the poems themselves, Schmidt includes transcriptions of letters (to Verlaine and others) and biographical details from the life of this most nihilistic genius.” — The Guardian “A mystic in the wild state.” — Paul Claudel

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Book SynopsisCharlotte Brontë's letters are our most direct source of information about the Brontës and the life of the novelist. Vivid and passionate, they describe her inmost feelings as well as the world around her in Haworth, Belgium, and London. They offer insights into her novels and the development of her literary style.Trade ReviewTo read these wonderful letters is to feel an almost spooky contact with their extraordinary author. * Val Hennesy, Dail Mail *A further dose of Bronte brilliance from Charlotte, whose lively letters are packed with astute observation. * Val Hennesy, Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisWith an introduction by Virginia Nicholson Saturday 2 February 1918. The first walk we've had for ever so long. Damp, mild vaporous day. Funeral bells tolling as we went out, & marriage as we came in. The streets lined with people waiting their meat. Aeroplanes droning invisible. Our usual evening, alone happily, knee deep in papers. This diary begins in January 1915. Virginia Woolf was about to publish her first novel, The Voyage Out. By the end of 1919 she had published many essays and reviews, as well as a second novel, Night and Day. Her diary was the counterpoint to that public writing: here she could record details of daily life, think about friends and reading, writing and her state of mind. This diary offers a unique insight into the life and mind of one of Britain's most influential writers, and the circle she was part of which came to be known as Bloomsbury. This new Granta edition includes Woolf's 'Asheham Diary' for the first time.

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Book Synopsis***THE ORIGINAL MILLION-COPY BESTSELLER AND TIK TOK SENSATION, NOW IN PINK*** For fans of Wreck This JournalWrite. Burn. Repeat. Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat, TikTok, VSCO, YouTube...the world has not only become one giant feed, but also one giant confessional. Burn After Writing allows you to spend less time scrolling and more time self-reflecting. Through incisive questions and thought experiments, this journal helps you learn new things while letting others go. Imagine instead of publicly declaring your feelings for others, you privately declared your feelings for yourself?Help your heart by turning off the comments and muting the accounts that drive you into jealousy for a few moments a night. Whether you are going through the ups and downs of growing up, or know a few young people who are, you will flourish by finding free expression - even if through a few tears!Push your limits, reflect on your past, present, and future, and create a secret book that's about you, and just for you. This is not a diary, and there is no posting required. And when you're finished, toss it, hide it, or Burn After Writing*.*Matches not included.

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Book SynopsisThe Gardener’s Year is a charming and light-hearted insight into the life of an amateur gardener. Structured loosely around what to plant, grow or cultivate each month, Karel Capek takes us on a rollicking journey through a year in his own small garden.Complete and unabridged. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, pocket-sized classics with ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition features lively black and white illustrations by Czech artist Josef Capek and is translated by M. and R. Weatherall.From making puddles with an untamable hose to sowing luxuriant weeds instead of grass, Capek reveals how a gardener grows into his surroundings ‘spurred on by each new failure’. Subverting the tradition of a ‘how to’ gardening book, he teaches his readers about the magic of seeds, the perils of planting vegetables and the thrilling surprises of a rock garden. As the year progresses and frail buds turn from flowering stems to drooping bulbs and falling leaves, Capek’s small garden buzzes with life, wisdom and humour.Trade ReviewA work of great charm and considerable subtlety which requires no more of the reader than a willingness to agree that it is a pleasant thing to own and cultivate a small patch of ground * Literary Review *This is a book no gardener should be without. This delightful little book is cram full of information, philosophy, and humour. * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisOn October 7, Israeli territory around the Erez border of Gaza Strip was invaded in a surprise attack by Hamas's Al Qassam Brigades. In response to this, the people of Gaza have been subjected to nearly three months of wholesale genocide. Over 20,000 civilians have been killed, an estimated million made homeless and displaced, tens of thousands injured, and an entire population traumatised. Never in living history has such an atrocity been perpetrated in plain sight of the world's leaders and mainstream media, who have all somehow managed to give it their complete backing. Images and video clips of hourly horrors and tragedies have spread around the world, combatted by fake news propagated not by dark conspiratorial corners on the web, but by corporate media outlets and politicians. Baseless Israeli propaganda and deliberately-biased framing has been fed to journalists and repeated, without question, on the front pages of the world's newspapers and in the mouths of TV pundits and politicians. One of the few voices of Gaza to make it out into Western media has been that of writer Atef Abu Saif', whose diary entries have been occasionally serialised (with edits and framing) in places like The New York Times, Washington Post, Le Monde and elsewhere. Here, the complete, unedited diaries show the journey of a man who arrived in Gaza just a few days before October 7 as a government minister and ended the period, like most other Palestinians, living in a tent in a refugee camp. If we allow our understanding of world events to be corrupted and spun by lazy, compliant journalism, we will never understand them, even those happening in real-time, before our very eyes. These diaries give us a rare exit ramp from this state of ignorance. WITH A FOREWORD BY PULITZER PRIZE WINNER CHRIS HEDGES

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Book SynopsisChiltern Publishing creates beautifully crafted editions of the World's finest literature. Their extraordinary and unique classic cover designs have evolved into exquisite, handcrafted writing journals of a high art form. Put simply: they are the finest writing journals on the market.

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Book SynopsisFrom the private papers of Mark Twain and Mozart to those of Robert Browning and Nelson, Love Letters of Great Men collects together some of the most romantic letters in history.Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is edited and introduced by publisher Ursula Doyle.For some of these great men, love is a ‘delicious poison’ (William Congreve); for others, love can scorch like the heat of the sun (Henry VIII), or penetrate the depths of one’s heart like a cooling rain (Flaubert). Every shade of love is here, from the exquisite eloquence of Oscar Wilde and the simple devotion of Robert Browning, to the wonderfully modern misery of the Roman Pliny the Younger. Taken together, these Love Letters of Great Men show that perhaps men haven’t changed so very much over the last 2,000 years; passion, jealousy, hope and longing are all represented described here – as is the simple pleasure of sending a letter to, and receiving one from, the person you love most.Trade ReviewThe most romantic book ever * Daily Mail *Pan has pioneered the art of product placement in reverse * Observer *Love Letters will sell boatloads of books * Entertainment Weekly *Inspired by the Sex and the City movie . . . Famous men caught with pen in hand and heart in mouth * The Times *Table of ContentsIntroduction - i: Introduction Chapter - 1: Pliny the Younger to his wife, Calpurnia Chapter - 2: King Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn Chapter - 3: William Congreve to Mrs Arabella Hunt Chapter - 4: Richard Steele to Miss Mary Scurlock Chapter - 5: George Farquhar to Anne Oldfield Chapter - 6: Alexander Pope to Martha Blount Chapter - 7: Alexander Pope to Teresa Blount Chapter - 8: Alexander Pope to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu Chapter - 9: David Hume to Madame de Boufflers Chapter - 10: Laurence Sterne to Catherine Fourmantel Chapter - 11: Laurence Sterne to Lady Percy Chapter - 12: Denis Diderot to Sophie Volland Chapter - 13: Henry Frederick, Duke of Cumberland, to Lady Grosvenor Chapter - 14: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to his wife, Constanze Chapter - 15: Lord Nelson to Lady Emma Hamilton Chapter - 16: Robert Burns to Mrs Agnes Maclehose Chapter - 17: Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller to Charlotte von Lengefeld Chapter - 18: Napoleon Bonaparte to his wife, Josephine Chapter - 19: Daniel Webster to Josephine Seaton Chapter - 20: Ludwig van Beethoven to his ‘Immortal Beloved’ Chapter - 21: William Hazlitt to Sarah Walker Chapter - 22: Lord Byron to Lady Caroline Lamb Chapter - 23: Lord Byron to the Countess Guiccioli Chapter - 24: John Keats to Fanny Brawne Chapter - 25: Honorè de Balzac to the Countess Ewelina Hanska Chapter - 26: Victor Hugo to Adèle Foucher Chapter - 27: Nathaniel Hawthorne to his wife, Sophia Chapter - 28: Benjamin Disraeli to Mary Ann Wyndham Lewis Chapter - 29: Charles Darwin to Emma Wedgwood Chapter - 30: Alfred de Musset to George Sand Chapter - 31: Robert Schumann to Clara Wieck Chapter - 32: Robert Browning to Elizabeth Barrett Chapter - 33: Gustave Flaubert to Louise Colet Chapter - 34: Gustave Flaubert to George Sand Chapter - 35: Walter Bagehot to Elizabeth Wilson Chapter - 36: Mark Twain to Olivia Langdon Chapter - 37: William F. Testerman to Miss Jane Davis Chapter - 38: Charles Stewart Parnell to Katherine O’Shea Chapter - 39: Oscar Wilde to Lord Alfred Douglas Chapter - 40: Pierre Curie to Marie Sklodovska (Marie Curie) Chapter - 41: G. K. Chesterton to Frances Blogg Chapter - 42: Captain Alfred Bland to his wife, Violet Chapter - 43: Regimental Sergeant-Major James Milne to his wife, Meg Chapter - 44: Second Lieutenant John Lindsay Rapoport to his fiancée Acknowledgements - ii: Acknowledgements

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Book SynopsisOliver Sacks was born in 1933 in London and was educated at the Queen's College, Oxford. He completed his medical training at San Francisco's Mount Zion Hospital and at UCLA before moving to New York, where he soon encountered the patients whom he would write about in his book Awakenings.Dr Sacks spent almost fifty years working as a neurologist and wrote many books, including The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat, Musicophilia, and Hallucinations, about the strange neurological predicaments and conditions of his patients. The New York Times referred to him as the poet laureate of medicine', and over the years he received many awards, including honours from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Royal College of Physicians. In 2008 he was appointed Commander of the British Empire. His memoir, On the Move, was published shortly before his death in August 2015.

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Book SynopsisA unique first-hand account of a historical gay trans man's whole life, which reads like a celebratory coming-of-age novel. Lou kept candid diaries from the age of 10. Through these extracts, we hear Lou's life in his own words: from 'playing boys' in his childhood in Wisconsin, to cruising San Francisco's gay bars for handsome 'youngmen'; from first hearing about gender non-conforming communities, to becoming a vital part of them as an activist, author, and archivist. Lou navigated his identity with few role models and was perhaps the first publicly gay transgender man. Successfully campaigning to remove heterosexuality from the medical requirements for gender affirming surgery, Lou was pivotal in our modern understanding of gender and sexuality as distinct identities. After he was diagnosed with HIV in 1986, he remarked that he had been told by clinics that 'it was impossible for me to live as a gay man, but it looks like I'm gonna die like one.' This selection shows Lou's joyous love of life, men, and sex. * LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD WINNER * * PUBLISHING TRIANGLE FINALIST * WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY SUSAN STRYKER 'Chatty and tender, casually poetic and voraciously sexual-Sullivan workshopped his identity and his relationships, committing to the page an interior monologue of self-discovery that paralleled the gay-liberation movement, the burgeoning transgender-rights movement, and the aids crisis... Given how many contemporary trans narratives are rooted in trauma, their choice to foreground trans pleasure and sensuality is celebratory, even radical' The New YorkerTrade ReviewCelebratory, even radical * The New Yorker *Monumental * Hyperallergic *Lou is an open-book mystery, a man who built bridges of access, a gentle soul with whom I share similar demons -- Amos Mac * them *This finely edited collection pulls out threads like gender self-determination, illicit queer sexual desire, and relationship woes that span his entire life. The volume reads like an open letter written for future queer trans people longing to understand their identities and experiences across time and space -- Chris VargasThis is a great book by a great person...If I am perhaps too glowing in my praise of Lou, that's probably because I can't physically imagine myself without him -- Charlie Markbreiter * Bookforum *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Remarkable. . . . In these memoirs, Chase-Riboud candidly and passionately describes her aspirations, her ambitions and creative inspiration, while also showcasing love and tenderness to her mother. Chase-Riboud is a pioneer."---Hans Ulrich Obrist, CNN Style"A fascinating portrait of the artist’s experience as a Black American woman living abroad at a time of marked racism, violence, and political tension, but also great cultural exchange and opportunity. . . . [I Always Knew] is a book about daily life. And of course, Chase-Riboud’s daily life is much more exciting than most."---Lauren Moya Ford, Hyperallergic"I Always Knew is the intimate, profound introduction to a life constantly driven by intelligence, creativity, restless at times, always thoughtful. . . . We cannot help but be amazed by the life of Chase-Riboud. . . . The book is the manifesto of [Chase-Riboud’s] ability to inspire us."---Donatien Grau, The Brooklyn Rail"[I Always Knew has] a remarkable openness, a sort of friendly affect that is irresistible."---Carl Rollyson, New York Sun"Barbara Chase-Riboud has lived the kind of life that could only be portrayed in a movie. Now, the story of her amazing life and art is recounted in [this] new book."---Eugene Holley Jr., Publishers Weekly"A charming epistolary record of a life of art and discovery, well and fully lived." * Kirkus Reviews *"[In I Always Knew,] Chase-Riboud weaves celebrity encounters, political bombshells, and artistic trends into lively, chatty tales, preserving her experiences of climactic events and her devoted relationship with her witty, often acerbic mother." * Booklist starred review *"A fascinating memoir."---Alexandra Grabbe, Next Avenue"cinematic, effervescent, and charming"---Nika Elder, Women's Art Journal

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Book SynopsisA SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'Irreverently funny ... kept me giggling all week.' Scotland on Sunday "Do you have a list of your books, or do I just have to stare at them?" Shaun Bythell is the owner of The Bookshop in Wigtown, Scotland. With more than a mile of shelving, real log fires in the shop and the sea lapping nearby, the shop should be an idyll for bookworms. Unfortunately, Shaun also has to contend with bizarre requests from people who don't understand what a shop is, home invasions during the Wigtown Book Festival and Granny, his neurotic Italian assistant who likes digging for river mud to make poultices.Trade ReviewThe second volume of memoirs by the Wigtown bookseller Shaun Bythell is as absorbing as the first -- Alan Bennett * London Review of Books *Bythell has a good ear for the absurd and a mundane telemarketing call becomes comedy gold ... For all Bythell's self-flagellation, he comes across as a generous, largely genial figure. It is hard to go for more than a few pages without finding him cooking for staying guests or drinking with friends until the small hours. -- Philip Boakes * Times *The best parts are irreverently funny and only borderline legal ... he is certainly not self-serving in terms of writing about what he sees as his own failures and weaknesses ... has kept me giggling all week. -- Stuart Kelly * Scotland on Sunday *All the ingredients for a gentle human comedy are here, as soothing as a bag of boiled sweets and just as tempting to dip into. -- Adam Douglas * Literary Review *Written with caustic wit...a diverting and congenial read. -- Jackie Law * Bookmunch *

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Book SynopsisThe beautiful new journal to keep note of memories, thoughts, and reflections – by writing just one sentence a day. Whether you journal in the morning or evening, it will only take a couple of minutes to capture each day. Finding the most meaningful moment of each day and jotting it down; whether it's a conversation, a lyric, a line from a book or even an image, will help you build a bank full of memories which you can rediscover for years to come. One Sentence a Day will help you to relive these forgotten memories and give you an instant pick me-up and to help you appreciate the significance of everyday moments of happiness. 365 entries to capture highlights and lows over the year Featuring journaling prompts and affirmations in this handy, pocket-sized notebook Get inspired by seasonal refreshes A modern and sophisticated journal that will instantly become a keepsake Improve self-care and

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Book SynopsisA SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERA WATERSTONES BEST BOOK OF 2022: ENTERTAINMENTA MAIL ON SUNDAYS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022Alan Rickman remains one of the most beloved actors of all time across almost every genre, from his breakout role as Die Hard's villainous Hans Gruber to his heart-wrenching run as Professor Severus Snape, and beyond. His air of dignity, his sonorous voice and the knowing wit he brought to each role continue to captivate new audiences today. But Rickman's artistry wasn't confined to just his performances. Rickman's writing details the extraordinary and the ordinary in a way that is anecdotal, indiscreet, witty, gossipy and utterly candid. He takes us behind the scenes on films and plays ranging from Sense & Sensibility, the Harry Potter series, Private Lives, My Name Is Rachel Corrie and many more.The diaries run from 1993 to his death in 2016 and offer insight into both a public and private life. Here is Rickman the consummate professional actor, but also the friend, the traveller, the fan, the director, the enthusiast: in short, the real Alan Rickman. Here is a life fully lived, all detailed in intimate and characteristically plain-spoken prose. Reading the diaries is like listening to Rickman chatting to a close friend. Madly, Deeply also includes a foreword by Emma Thompson and a selection of Rickman's early diaries, dating from 1974 to 1982, when his acting life first began.Trade ReviewMesmerising . . . Witty and debonair, caustic and fretful, for which some readers may like him less, others love him more. Madly, deeply and, better, truly he writes about what it is to be an actor * * Telegraph * *Fascinating . . . Mostly pithy, always frank * * The Times * *The star's thoughts reveal a man unwilling to suffer fools or mince his words - most of the time Alan Rickman's voice was a purr, but it masked sharp claws . . . I got the feeling he was wonderful company. These diaries confirm it -- Anthony Quinn * * Observer * *Insightful, moving and entertaining . . . The posthumously released diaries of Alan Rickman showcased both the late actor's self-doubt and savage film criticism -- The Guide 2022 * * Guardian * *His merciless verdicts on showbiz idiocy are tempered by a deep loyalty and humanity . . . So much of Rickman's character as it was preserved on screen cannot be captured in words - his unmistakable voice, his towering presence and charisma. But on the page, six years after his death, new parts of him can be found * * New Statesman * *Rickman's diaries reveal the frenetic lifestyle and frequent fretting of an actor at the height of his fame . . . Just when you think Rickman might be becoming insufferable, he has a knack of bursting the actorly bubble and saying something profound * * Guardian * *Astute and entertaining . . . [Rickman] offers a fascinating guide to life as an actor and what it's like to be at the centre of fame. One distinct thrill is reading Rickman's short, sharp film appraisals . . . These diaries are a reminder of a warm and witty man, one who could see the quirks of life and his own part in the absurd drama of existence * * Independent * *The reader gets a real sense of the rhythms of [Rickman's] working life. He is forever on the move. [. . . ] Fully, openly, joyfully - truly, madly and, yes, deeply - he put his energies into the present moment . . . For fans, these supplementary diaries are a pure delight from start to unforgivably early finish * * Times Literary Supplement * *Rickman belonged to that anointed group whose name alone would entice you to watch a film . . . His diaries look set to enthral us still * * Herald * *You feel he always wanted to do what was right, even if it was inconvenient to himself, and that is a rare character trait . . . There is true gold in [t]here * * i * *

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisSelected from the Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, Seneca''s Letters from a Stoic are a set of ''essays in disguise'' from one of the most insightful philosophers of the Silver Age of Roman literature. This Penguin Classics edition is translated from the Latin with an introduction by Robin Campbell.A philosophy that saw self-possession as the key to an existence lived ''in accordance with nature'', Stoicism called for the restraint of animal instincts and the severing of emotional ties. These beliefs were formulated by the Athenian followers of Zeno in the fourth century BC, but it was in Seneca that the Stoics found their most eloquent advocate. Stoicism, as expressed in the Letters, helped ease pagan Rome''s transition to Christianity, for it upholds upright ethical ideals and extols virtuous living, as well as expressing disgust for the harsh treatment of slaves and the inhumane slaughters witnessed in the Roman arenas. Seneca''s major contribution to a seemingly unsympathetic creed was to transform it into a powerfully moving and inspiring declaration of the dignity of the individual mind.Robin Campbell''s lucid translation captures Seneca''s humour and tautly aphoristic style. In his introduction, he discusses the tensions between Seneca''s philosophy and his turbulent career as adviser to the tyrannical emperor Nero.Lucius Annaeus Seneca (c.4BC - AD65) was born in Spain but was raised according to the traditional values of the republic of Rome. In AD48 he became tutor to the future emperor Nero and became his principal civil advisor when he took power. His death was eventually ordered by Nero in AD65, but Seneca anticipated the emperor''s decree and committed suicide.If you enjoyed Letters from a Stoic, you might like Marcus Aurelius''s Meditations, also available in Penguin Classics.

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Book SynopsisAn elegant, densely textured work, like a tapestry A welcome contribution to polar studies.' Sara Wheeler, Spectator [MacInness] handles the whole thing with masterly skilltakes us to the heart of the hope, love, anguish and grief' The TimesTrade Review‘A captivating, heartrending, emotionally exhausting, beautifully crafted bloody brilliant book’ Ben Tarring ‘I am reading it with fascination. It’s magnificent. [MacInnes has] an almost supernatural ability to conjure up the past.’ Sue Limb: co-author of Captain Oates: Soldier and Explorer 'The story of the five women waiting at home for Captain Scott and his doomed polar party is naturally occluded in tragedy. In this engaging book Katherine MacInnes for the first time presents them – two mothers at the outset, and three wives – as distinct individuals, separated one from the other by class, education, faith and temperament …An elegant, densely textured work, like a tapestry … A welcome contribution to polar studies.’ Sara Wheeler, Spectator ‘[MacInness] handles the whole thing with masterly skill…takes us to the heart of the hope, love, anguish and grief’ Ysenda Maxtone Graham, The Times ‘A breathless parallel narrative, flipping from the Antarctic horrors to the worried women keeping calm and carrying on … Mesmerising … Movingly done’ Kate Green, Country Life '[MacInnes] relies … deftly on photographs, from which she derives many of her descriptions of precise moments. It is fascinating and impressive to have her prose bring these images to life, as she plausibly recaptures the moments they depict … She show[s] that history in the making is not only experienced but felt, poignantly and painfully.' Stephanie Barczewski, TLS ‘Combining historical research, including access to family archives, with a vivid storytelling style, author Katherine MacInnes presents … the public and private fallout of the tragedy, which reveals much about society at the time. In doing so she presents a fresh and fascinating perspective on a well-worn story, as well as a window onto a lost world.’ This England magazine 'A truly gripping, original and refreshing angle on the history of polar exploration' The Bay magazine ‘Superb’ Bute Museum

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Book Synopsis''If ever there was a book calculated to make a man in love with its author, this appears to me to be the book.''William Godwin, the author''s future husband, was not alone in admiring Letters written during a short residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, Wollstonecraft''s most popular book during her lifetime. Not easy to categorize, it is both an arresting travel book and a moving exploration of her personal and political selves. Wollstonecraft set out for Scandinavia just two weeks after her first suicide attempt, on a mission from the lover whose affections she doubted, to recover his silver on a ship that had gone missing. With her baby daughter and a nursemaid, she travelled across the dramatic landscape and wrote sublime descriptions of the natural world, and the events and people she encountered. What emerges most vividly is Wollstonecraft''s courage and ability to look beyond her own suffering to the turmoil around her in revolutionary Europe, and a better future.This editioTrade ReviewThis collection brings to life a radical writer. * Katie Toms, The Observer *

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Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER AND WATERSTONES BEST BOOK OF 2022 'Sparklingly sardonic ... There really is no one like Bennett' Independent 'Filled with elegiac memories and literary gossip ... a major National Treasure' Lynn Barber 4 March. HMQ pictured in the paper at an investiture wearing gloves, presumably as a precaution against Coronavirus. But not just gloves; these are almost gauntlets. I hope they're not the thin end of a precautionary wedge lest Her Majesty end up swathed in protective get-up such as is worn at the average crime scene. 20 March. With Rupert now working from home my life is much easier, as I get regular cups of tea and a lovely hot lunch. A year in and out of lockdown as experienced by Alan Bennett. The diary takes us from the filming of Talking Heads to thoughts on Boris Johnson, from his father's short-lived craze for family fishing trips, to stair lifts, junk shops of old, having a haircut, and encounters on the local park bench. A lyrical afterword describes the journey home to Yorkshire from King's Cross station via fish and chips on Quebec Street, past childhood landmarks of Leeds, through Coniston Cold, over the infant River Aire, and on.Trade ReviewThe dyspeptic Pepys from Yorkshire, Alan Bennett, master of the "absurd and inexplicable" moments of ordinary life, offers up a curation of his thoughts, diaries and essays of the pandemic years that makes for a digestible stocking filler ... his thoughts and writing are as clear-eyed and vigorous as ever * Times Best Biography and Memoir Books of 2022 *From the singular pen of the incomparable Alan Bennett comes a drily witty and endlessly charming diary of life in and out of lockdown, running the gamut from park bench encounters to haircuts to Boris Johnson * Waterstones Best Books of 2022: Biography *Sparklingly sardonic ... There really is no one like Bennett, as this small gem demonstrates -- Martin Chilton * Independent *Filled with elegiac memories and literary gossip ... a major National Treasure -- Lynn Barber * Telegraph *Mournful and witty ... Bennett at his best -- Roger Lewis * Daily Mail *I worship Alan Bennett -- David SedarisHis stories improve with each telling ... Perhaps it is Bennett's long experience as a dramatist that lends his prose such perfect timing -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday *Our greatest living writer -- Clive Davis * The Times *He still has the sharpest pen in Britain ... Bennett is at his best when flirting with indecency ... mesmerising and unbearably sad * Daily Telegraph *There is no other writer, certainly none from any other era or nation, quite like Alan Bennett -- David Sexton * Evening Standard *Cleverer and funnier than any one person has a right to be -- John Carey * Sunday Times *His writing remains as deft and seamless as ever -- Kathryn Hughes * The Guardian *Vivid and evocative in the way we've come to expect from him ... the diaries of the inimitable Alan Bennett are always highly anticipated -- Alastair Mabbot * The Herald *He may clearly be increasingly frail but, even in lockdown, Alan Bennett retains his customary waspish wit in the latest tranche of his diaries * Choice *

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