Satirical fiction and parodies

Book Synopsis''Precisely balanced . . . a cracking comic thriller'' The TimesThe Discworld is very much like our own - if our own were to consist of a flat planet balanced on the back of four elephants which stand on the back of a giant turtle, that is . . . ''Well, he thought, so this is diplomacy. It''s lying, only for a better class of people. They say that diplomacy is a gentle art. That mastering it is a lifetime''s work. But you do need a certain inclination in that direction. It''s not something you can just pick up on the job.A few days ago Sam Vimes was a copper - an important copper, true - chief of police - but still, at his core, a policeman. But today he is an ambassador - to the mysterious, fat-rich country of Uberwald. Today, Sam Vimes is also a man on the run.At some point during his ambassadorship, things went very wrong. It''s snowing. It''s freezing. And if Vimes can''t make it through theTrade ReviewPrecisely balanced . . . excellent set pieces . . . a cracking comic thriller. * The Times *He would be amusing in any form and his spectacular inventiveness makes the Discworld series one of the perennial joys of modern fiction. * Mail on Sunday *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe brand-new, hilarious, feel-good adventure from the internationally bestselling author of The Hundred Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and DisappearedSweden, late summer of 2011. Self-taught astrophysicist Petra has calculated that the atmosphere will collapse on the 21st of September that year, around 21.20 to be more precise, bringing about the end of times.Armed with this terrible knowledge, Petra meets Johan, a domesday prophet, and Agnes, a widow of 75 who has made bank living a double life on social media as a young influencer. Together, the trio race through Europe as they plan to make the most out of the time they have left, in more ways than one.But of course, things rarely go to plan, even the end of the world

Read more less

Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.''I want I want somehow to get away with you into a world where words like that categories like that won''t exist. Where we shall be simply two human beings who love each other, who are the whole of life to each other; and nothing else on earth will matter.'Newland Archer, a successful and charming young lawyer conducts himself by the rules and standards of the polite, upper class New York society that he resides in. Happily engaged to the pretty and conventional May Welland, his attachment guarantees his place in this rigid world of the elite.However, the arrival of May's cousin, the exotic and beautiful European Countess Olenska throws Newland's life upside down. A divorcee, Olenska is ostracised by those around her, yet Newland is fiercely drawn to her wit, determination and willingness to flout convention. With the Countess, Newland is freed from the limitations that surround him and truly begins t

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn Burmese Days, George Orwell, one of the most famous writers in the English language, draws on his own experience of living and working in Burma to write an unflinching novel about the dark side of imperialism. 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 features an introduction by journalist and writer David Eimer.John Flory is a disillusioned timber merchant based in the remote town of Kyauktada in 1920s Burma. Whilst his English peers gather night after night to drink and gossip in their exclusive club, Flory has embraced local life – his best friend is Dr Veraswami and his mistress is Ma Hla May. The slow, sticky, hot days are interrupted by the arrival of the young and beautiful Elizabeth. And when the club is forced to elect a non-white member, Flory is caught up in an increasingly hostile and dangerous feud.Trade ReviewA scathing portrait of the imperious attitudes of the British. * New York Times *Of all the fictions about colonial rule – A Passage to India, The Raj Quartet, Out of Africa – Burmese Days is the angriest, rawest, most scathing and least sentimental. * The Times *A scathing indictment of imperialism, exposing the dark face of British rule in the subcontinent. * Hindu *Orwell draws on his own experience and what’s so striking is how the uncomfortable echoes of that time still reverberate today among some expatriate circles in the region . . . A vaguely Austen feel permeates the romantic subplot; the ending is devastating. * Travelfish *Orwell can write . . . in Burmese Days he has written a malodorous, realistic novel of the white man in the east, as he really is. * Kirkus Reviews *

Read more less

Book SynopsisNow a major new Netflix film from Noah Baumbach, starring Adam Driver and Greta GerwigHow strange it is. We have these deep terrible lingering fears about ourselves and the people we love. Yet we walk around, talk to people, eat and drink. We manage to function. The feelings are deep and real. Shouldn’t they paralyze us?Jack Gladney is the creator and chairman of Hitler studies at the College-on-the-Hill. This is the story of his absurd life; a life that is going well enough, until a chemical spill from a train carriage releases an ‘Airborne Toxic Event’ and Jack is forced to confront his biggest fear – his own mortality.White Noise is an effortless combination of social satire and metaphysical dilemma in which Don DeLillo exposes our rampant consumerism, media saturation and novelty intellectualism. It captures the particular strangeness of life lived when the fear of death cannot be denied, repressed or obscured and ponders the role of the family in a time when the very meaning of our existence is under threat.‘America’s greatest living writer.’ – ObserverPart of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the best of modern literature.Trade ReviewAmerica's greatest living writer. * Observer *An extraordinarily funny book on a serious subject, effortlessly combining social comedy, disaster, fiction and philosophy . . . hilariously, and grimly, successful. * Daily Telegraph *An astonishing novel . . . unforgettable . . . nearly every page crackles with memorable moments and perfectly turned phrases . . . dizzying, darkly beautiful fiction. * Sunday Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTo the consternation of the patrician, Lord Vetinari, a new invention has arrived in Ankh-Morpork – a great clanging monster of a machine that harnesses the power of all of the elements: earth, air, fire and water.Trade ReviewLaugh-out-loud funny...A chuffing wonderful book. * SFX *Terry Pratchett’s creation is still going strong after 30 years as Ankh-Morpork branches into the railway age…There are sly nods to the history of railways and a cheeky reference to The Railway Children. Most aficionados, however, will be on the look-out for in-jokes and references from previous novels – of which there is no shortage…It is at the level of the sentence that Pratchett wins his fans. * The Times *The genius of Pratchett is that he never goes for the straight allegory. . .he remains one of the most consistently funny writers around; a master of the stealth simile, the time-delay pun and the deflationary three-part list. . .I could tell which of my fellow tube passengers had downloaded it to their e-readers by the bouts of spontaneous laughter. -- Ben Aaronovitch * The Guardian *

Read more less

Book SynopsisEvelyn Waugh''s acidly funny novel of the Roaring Twenties, with an introduction by Simon JamesIn the years following the First World War a new generation emerges, wistful and vulnerable beneath the glitter. The Bright Young Things of twenties'' Mayfair, with their paradoxical mix of innocence and sophistication, exercise their inventive minds and vile bodies in every kind of capricious escapade - whether promiscuity, dancing, cocktail parties or sports cars. In a quest for treasure, a favourite party occupation, a vivid assortment of characters, among them the struggling writer Adam Fenwick-Symes and the glamorous, aristocratic Nina Blount, hunt fast and furiously for ever greater sensations and the fulfilment of unconscious desires.''The high point of the experimental, original Waugh''Malcolm Bradbury, Sunday Times''This brilliantly funny, anxious and resonant novel ... the difficult edgy guide to the turn of the decade''Richard Jacobs

Read more less

Book SynopsisIntroducing Little Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world''s greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith.Celebrating the range and diversity of Penguin Classics, they take us from snowy Japan to springtime Vienna, from haunted New England to a sun-drenched Mediterranean island, and from a game of chess on the ocean to a love story on the moon. Beautifully designed and printed, these collectible editions are bound in colourful, tactile cloth and stamped with foil.Lolly Willowes, so gentle and accommodating, has depths no one suspects. When she suddenly announces that she is leaving London and moving, alone, to the depths of the countryside, her overbearing relatives are horrified. But Lolly has a greater, far darker calling than family: witchcraft.''The book I''ll be pressing into people''s hands forever is Lolly Willowes . . . Starting as a straightforward, albeit beautifully written family saga, it tips suddenly into extraordinary, lucid wildness'' Helen MacdonaldTrade ReviewThe book I'll be pressing into people's hands forever is Lolly Willowes . . . Starting as a straightforward, albeit beautifully written family saga, it tips suddenly into extraordinary, lucid wildness -- Helen Macdonald * The New York Times Book Review *A great shout of life and individuality ... an act of defiance that gladdens the soul -- Justine Jordan * Guardian *My comfort read -- Tracey Thorn

Read more less

Book SynopsisTerry Pratchett was the acclaimed creator of the global bestselling Discworld series, the first of which, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1983. In all, he was the author of over fifty bestselling books which have sold over 100 million copies worldwide. His novels have been widely adapted for stage and screen, and he was the winner of multiple prizes, including the Carnegie Medal. He was awarded a knighthood for services to literature in 2009, although he always wryly maintained that his greatest service to literature was to avoid writing any. www.terrypratchettbooks.comTrade Review'Terry Pratchett is one of the great inventors of secondary - or imaginative or alternative - worlds. He is not derivative. He is too strong...He has the real energy of the primary storyteller'—A. S. Byatt, The Times'In a better world he would be acclaimed as a great writer rather than a merely successful one...This is the best Pratchett I've read...Ought to be a strong contender for The Booker Prize'—Charles Spencer, Sunday Telegraph'Reads with all the polished fluency and sure-footed pacing that have become Pratchett's hallmarks over the years'—Peter Ingham, The Times On Saturday

Read more less

Book Synopsis''This isn''t just football, it''s Discworld football. Or, to borrow another phrase, it''s about life, the Universe and everything'' The TimesThe Discworld is very much like our own - if our own were to consist of a flat planet balanced on the back of four elephants which stand on the back of a giant turtle, that is . . . Football has come to the ancient city of Ankh-Morpork. And now, the wizards of Unseen University must win a football match, without using magic, so they''re in the mood for trying everything else. This is not going to be a gentleman's game. The prospect of the Big Match draws in a street urchin with a wonderful talent for kicking a tin can, a maker of jolly good pies, a dim but beautiful young woman, who might just turn out to be the greatest fashion model there has ever been, and the mysterious Mr Nutt (and no one knows anything much about Mr Nutt, not even Mr Nutt) but there is sometTrade ReviewBehind the fantasy Terry Pratchett looks at very real contemporary issues and scores many goals. This isn't just football, it's Discworld football. Or, to borrow another phrase, it's about life, the Universe, and everything. * The Times *Satirical, historical, fantastical and irresistible. * Daily Mail *This is the 37th in a body of work so vast that it has spawned its own concordance, yet the quality remains as high as ever and the laughs as plentiful...Like all the Discworld novels, Unseen Academicals rewards a second reading. As ever it is peppered with allusions, from Keats to the Lewinsky affair, but, like Wodehouse, Pratchett wears his learning lightly and the pleasure of rereading is in teasing them out. * The Telegraph *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA beautiful gift edition of the first two Discworld novels - The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic - stunningly depicted in comic format for the first time - a fun read for established fans and new audiences alike.''Excellent and wacky as a good Pratchett should be'' -- ***** Reader review''A must-have for any Discworld fan'' -- ***** Reader review''Awesome'' -- ***** Reader review*************************************************************Imagine a flat world, sitting on the backs of four elephants, who hurtle through space balanced on a giant turtle. This is the Discworld - a place (and a time) parallel to our own - but also very different.The Discworld Graphic Novels presents the very first two volumes of this much-loved series (The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic) in graphic novel form. Introduced here are the bizarre misadventures of Twoflower,

Read more less

Book Synopsis A Book of the Decade, 2010-2020 (Independent) A LAUGH-OUT-LOUD SATIRE ABOUT RACE, CLASS AND INEQUALITY IN CONTEMPORARY AMERICA, BY A LITERARY GENIUS AT THE TOP OF HIS GAME Winner of the Man Booker Prize, 2016 In his trademark absurdist style, Paul Beatty will make you laugh and cry in this outrageous – and outrageously entertaining – indictment of our time. Born in Dickens on the southern outskirts of Los Angeles, the narrator of The Sellout spent his childhood as the subject in his father's racially charged psychological studies. He is told that this work will lead to a memoir that will solve their financial woes. But when his father is killed in a drive-by shooting, he discovers there never was a memoir. All that’s left is a bill for a drive-thru funeral. What’s more, Dickens has literally been wiped off the map to save California from further embarrassment. Fuelled by despair, the narrator sets out to right this wrong with the most outrageous action conceivable: reinstating slavery and segregating the local high school. The results will take him from Dickens to the Supreme Court, in the trial of the century. ‘Outrageous, hilarious and profound.’ Simon Schama, Financial Times ‘The longer you stare at Beatty’s pages, the smarter you’ll get.’ Guardian ‘The most badass first 100 pages of an American novel I’ve read.’ New York TimesTrade Review‘Outrageous, hilarious and profound… It takes a whole other level of sheer audacity to expose atrocious things through the play of wit.’ FT‘The most caustic and the most badass first 100 pages of an American novel I’ve read in at least a decade... The riffs don’t stop coming in this landmark and deeply aware comic novel.' New York Times‘A book of coruscating satire and the darkest humour whose bilious narrative voice leaves you at once enthralled and exhausted’. Observer, Best Books of 2016‘A hilarious, anger-fuelled cadenza that feels as if it were written in one manic burst’. Mark Haddon, Observer, Best Books of 2016‘Brilliant. Amazing. Like demented angels wrote it.’ Sarah Silverman‘A breathtakingly confrontational American race satire with a big laugh and a gasp on every page’. Peter Bradshaw, Guardian‘One of the few books of recent years that has made me choke with laughter’. Daily Mail, Best Books of 2016‘A compelling act of demonstrative rhetoric, a masterful show of verbal energy that questions just how far equality has come and where it hopes to go’. New Statesman‘It will make you laugh, but most of all it will make you think.’ The Sunday Times‘Beatty’s sharp humour challenges pieties from all sides…Intelligent…entertaining…exhilarating’. Daily Telegraph‘Bitterly funny and finely layered…[The Sellout] seems even more essential after the racially demarcated “whitelash” of Donald Trump’s victory.’ New Statesman, Books of the Year 2016'[An] outrageous, riff-strewn satire on race in America…[The Sellout] combines effervescent comedy and stinging critique, but its most arresting quality is the lively humanity of its characters.’ The New Yorker'Brutal and full of very dark humour, it tells us so much about the state of American race relations and, by extension, our attitude to colonialism and black history. Powerful stuff.' Kit de Waal‘Hilariously caustic.’ Rolling Stone‘There’s satire and then there’s satire, and without question Paul Beatty’s caustic third novel, The Sellout, definitely falls into the latter category…brutally honest and very funny’. Independent

Read more less

Book Synopsis''The work of a prolific humorist at his best'' Observer The Discworld is very much like our own - if our own were to consist of a flat planet balanced on the back of four elephants which stand on the back of a giant turtle, that is . . . ____________________''Sorry?'' said Carrot. If it''s just a thing, how can it commit murder? A sword is a thing'' - he drew his own sword; it made an almost silken sound - ''and of course you can''t blame a sword if someone thrust it at you, sir.''For Commander Vimes, Head of Ankh-Morpork City Watch, life consists of troubling times, linked together by...well, more troubling times.Right now, it''s the latter. There''s a werewolf with pre-lunar tension in the city, and a dwarf with attitude and a golem who''s begun to think for itself, but that''s just ordinary trouble. The real problem is more puzzling - people are being murdered, but there''s no trace of anything Trade Review'The work of a prolific humorist at his best' * Observer *'Like most true originals, Pratchett defies categorisation...Deliciously and amiably dotty...Driven by Swiftian logic and equally intellectually inventive' * The Times *'Fantastical, inventive and finally serious...It's enjoyable as crime fiction, but the real attraction is the laughter waiting to be uncovered on each page' * Observer *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIt is a truth universally acknowledged that a policeman taking a holiday would barely have had time to open his suitcase before he finds his first corpse.And Commander Sam Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch is on holiday in the pleasant and innocent countryside, but not for him a mere body in the wardrobe.Trade Review[Discworld is] Warm, silly, compulsively readable, fantastically inventive, surprisingly serious exploration in story form of just about any aspect of our world... Where other writers are delighted if they come up with just a handful of comic figures with self-sustaining life in them - Don Quixote and Sancho, the three men in the boat, Pooh and Piglet and Eeyore - Pratchettt breeds them by the score...There's never been anything quite like it -- Francis Spufford * Evening Standard *Pratchett is a master storyteller. He is endlessly inventive... a master of complex jokes, good bad jokes, good dreadful jokes and a kind of insidious wisdom about human nature... I read his books at a gallop and then reread them every time I am ill or exhausted -- A. S. Byatt * Guardian *To keep it fresh into the 39th volume of a series deserves a knighthood... Snuff is entertaining, with all Pratchett's genius on display. He still makes you care about his creations and, amid all the funnies, he can turn on the pathos * Sunday Express *[Pratchett] is now so good at skewering the banalities and injustices of our world through his fantasy creation balanced on the back of a giant turtle that he could probably do it in his sleep... As effortlessly, generously funny as only Pratchett can be, Snuff doesn't stint on laying bare the darker side of life either. A worthy addition to the Discworld canon * Sunday Times *Is there any sign of a falling-off in Sir Terry's extraordinary abilities? No. Not one. This is another brilliant, bravura command performance of comic fantasy. Terry Pratchett with Alzheimer's is still up there with PG Wodehouse. Amazing. Wonderful. Fantastic -- Harry Ritchie * Daily Mail *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA deep and meaningful masterpiece of science fiction, full of heart and mind-bending ideas. A true classic, Vonnegut will make you laugh and have you contemplating the meaning of lifeWhen Winston Niles Rumfoord flies his spaceship into a chrono-synclastic infundibulum he is converted into pure energy and only materializes when his waveforms intercept Earth or some other planet. As a result, he only gets home to Newport, Rhode Island, once every fifty-nine days and then only for an hour.But at least, as a consolation, he now knows everything that has ever happened and everything that ever will be. He knows, for instance, that his wife is going to Mars to mate with Malachi Constant, the richest man in the world. He also knows that on Titan - one of Saturn's moons - is an alien from the planet Tralfamadore, who has been waiting 200,000 years for a spare part for his grounded spacecraft . . .Readers love The Sirens of Titan:'A truly exceptional work by a truly exceptional author expressing some exceptionally powerful ideas' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Vonnegut uses the absurd to explore what makes us human . . . I recommend this book for any fan of Vonnegut or [Douglas] Adams' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'The Sirens of Titan is primarily a parody of trashy pulp science fiction novels, a boisterous, chucklesome book . . . In this sense, The Sirens of Titan, twenty years early, precedes and foreshadows (and, I would say, is superior to) Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'There are plenty of space travels in The Sirens of Titan but it isn't a space opera . . . It is a spaced out satire, a cosmic comedy of manners' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'I went into this expecting a science fiction/satire but instead I got an emotionally moving story about the meaning of life by none other than one of the greatest writers that ever lived. Period' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Funny until it suddenly becomes creepy, to tell you why would be a spoiler though . . . Vonnegut is only using sci-fi as a platform to tell an allegorical story about life, together with an anti-war and anti-religion themes' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'This is not just one of Vonnegut's best books. It's one of the best books I've ever read' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐Trade ReviewThe Sirens of Titan is a tour-de-force of sci-fi literature * Empire *

Read more less

Book SynopsisGeorge Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is one of the most famous and influential novels of the 20th century. This terrifying dystopia, which he created in a time of great social and political unrest, remains acutely relevant and influential to this day. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful hardbacks make perfect gifts for book lovers, or wonderful additions to your own collection. This edition features an introduction by writer, journalist and Orwell scholar Dorian Lynskey.The year is 1984. The country is impoverished and permanently at war, people are watched day and night by Big Brother and their every action and thought is controlled by the Thought Police. Winston Smith works in the department of propaganda, where his job is to rewrite the past. Spurred by his longing to escape, Winston rebels. He breaks the law by falling in love with Julia and, as part of the clandestine organization the Brotherhood, they attempt the unimaginable – to bring down the Party.Trade ReviewProbably the definitive novel of the 20th century, a story that remains eternally fresh and contemporary . . . Nineteen Eighty-Four has been translated into more than 65 languages and sold millions of copies worldwide, giving George Orwell a unique place in world literature. -- Robert McCrum * Guardian *It’s almost impossible to talk about propaganda, surveillance, authoritarian politics, or perversions of truth without dropping a reference to 1984 . . . It is both a profound political essay and a shocking, heartbreaking work of art. -- Atlantic * George Packer *[1984] does what every novel in the genre should do – combining the illumination of an intriguing idea and the telling of a cracking story . . . The book succeeds because it is no manifesto, but an absorbing, deeply affecting story. * Independent *I read it and found myself absolutely astonished at what I read. -- Isaac AsimovNineteen Eighty-Four is a work of pure horror, and its horror is crushingly immediate. * New York Times (original review) *

Read more less

Book Synopsis'HOLY WOOD IS A DIFFERENT SORT OF PLACE . . . HERE, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO BE IMPORTANT.'A new phenomenon is taking over the Discworld: moving pictures. Created by the alchemists of Ankh-Morpork, the growing 'clicks' industry moves to the sandy land of Holy Wood, attracted by the light of the sun and some strange calling no one can quite put their finger on...Also drawn to Holy Wood are aspiring young stars Victor Tugelbend, a wizarding student dropout, and Theda 'Ginger' Withel, a small-town girl with big dreams.But behind the glitz and glamour of the clicks, a sinister presence lurks. Because belief is powerful in the Discworld, and sometimes downright dangerous...The magic of movies might just unravel reality itself.'Funny, delightfully inventive, and refuses to lie down in its genre' - ObserverThe Discworld novels can be read in any order but Moving Pictures is a standalone.Trade Review'A true original among contemporary writers' * The Times *'Cracking dialogue, compelling illogic and unchained whimsy...Pratchett has a subject and a style that is very much his own' * Sunday Times *'Offers more entertainment per page than anything this side of Wodehouse' * Washington Post Book World *

Read more less

Book SynopsisWith the satirical eye of his science fiction author alter ego Kilgore Trout, the author of Slaughterhouse-Five delivers a classic of modern American literature.Eliot Rosewater, President of the fabulously rich Rosewater Foundation and volunteer firefighter, is tortured by an inheritance he doesn't feel that he deserves. After (unfortunately) developing a social conscience, he sets out on a drunken tour of America, unravelling a little more at every stop until his path crosses with the science-fiction writer Kilgore Trout. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater is one of Kurt Vonnegut's funniest satires, about the pleasures, pains and perversions of people and money, the obsessions of a famous family and the collective madness of a nation.Trade ReviewVonnegut faces up to the less glamorous phenomenon of human mediocrity in this sharp, hilarious, boundlessly humane story. It taught me about compassion and a few things about writing good dialogue -- Michel Faber * Glasgow Herald *Rumbustious stuff... There may be greater novelists than Vonnegut, but there can be a few, if any, with as much good humour and generosity * Guardian *Filled with irony and black humour and a woozy bonhomie * Sunday Times *Wild hilarity * Sunday Telegraph *Extremely funny * Observer *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review'One of the best and one of the funniest English authors alive' * Independent *'He is a moralist, a philosopher and a humanist whose infectious fun completely engulfs you... the Dickens of the twentieth century' * Mail on Sunday *'Other writers are mining the rich seam of comic fantasy that Pratchett first unearthed, but what keeps Pratchett on top is - quite literally - the way he tells them.' * The Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTerry Pratchett was the acclaimed creator of the global bestselling Discworld series, the first of which, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1983. In all, he was the author of over fifty bestselling books which have sold over 100 million copies worldwide. His novels have been widely adapted for stage and screen, and he was the winner of multiple prizes, including the Carnegie Medal. He was awarded a knighthood for services to literature in 2009, although he always wryly maintained that his greatest service to literature was to avoid writing any.www.terrypratchettbooks.comTrade Review'Like Jonathan Swift, Pratchett uses his other world to hold up a distorting mirror to our own, and like Swift he is a satirist of enormous talent ... incredibly funny ... compulsively readable.' * The Times *'A true original among contemporary writers - a fantasist who loves naff humour and silly names, and yet whose absurd world is, at heart, a serious portrait of the jingoistic fears that keep us at each other's throats.' * The Times *'The great Terry Pratchett, whose wit is metaphysical, who creates an energetic and lively secondary world, who has a multifarious genius for strong parody as opposed to derivative manipulation of past motifs, who deals with death with startling originality. Who writes amazing sentences.' -- A.S. Byatt * The New York Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisSherman McCoy is a WASP, bond trader and self-appointed 'Master of the Universe'. He has a fashionable wife, a Park Avenue apartment and a Southern mistress. His spectacular fall begins the moment he is involved in an accident in the Bronx. Prosecutors, newspaper hacks, politicians and clergy close in on him, determined to bring him down.Trade ReviewA noisy satire on Manhattan’s Wall Street cash-bloated plutocracy… Hugely readable. -- John Sutherland * The Times *If there is a set-book of the Eighties, it is Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities. No other novel has achieved such a precise place in the imagination of the reading classes. With his first attempt at fiction Wolfe has become the 'Dickens or Balzac of his age'; the dandy journalist has become the towering genius * The Times *Wolfe's modern morality tale displays the sardonic humour and sharp appreciation of the grotesque familiar to admirers of his non fiction... Savagely funny and compelling * Guardian *The air of New York crackles with an energy that causes the adrenalin to pump, until one has the illusion that this is where the whole of life is taking place. The feeling is perfectly reproduced in Wolfe's novel, which opens such cans of worms as racial hostility, dress codes, political labelling and the cynical opportunism that governs every action. It's, well, electric * Sunday Times *It's witty, sprawling and ambitious * Daily Telegraph *

Read more less

Book SynopsisUnless you're a woman on Tinder between the ages of 19 and 30 in the Clapham area, or a high-end cocaine dealer operating in South West London, you probably won't have heard of Rafe Hubris, BA (Oxon). Despite that, he's a crucial figure in the life of our nation. As Boris Johnson's most classic special adviser (spad) at Number 10, he helped the UK government skilfully and efficiently control the Covid crisis, containing it for good by the end of 2020. In the first of what will doubtless be many memoirs as Rafe travels his own inevitable journey to the premiership, this fly-on-the-wall account documents his Year of 'Rona in its entirety (and iniquity). Even non-Oxbridge readers (for whom the author has taken care to keep his language as accessible as possible) will come away from this volume struck by how lucky we are to have him. Floreat Etona!* *Note for non-Oxbridge readers: this means 'May Eton flourish' in Latin.** **Latin is the language of Ancient Rome and its empire.Trade Review'A pitch-perfect send-up' Evening Standard; ‘A neat and perfectly observed skewering of not just the current administration, but the culture of over-familiar, self-important special advisers too’ Daily Telegraph; ‘I was left with the uneasy feeling that this wasn’t humour, this was a fly-on-the-wall documentary and the occupants of Downing Street had managed, somehow, to live down to what had seemed like outrageous satire. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry’. Peter Magee, The Bookbag

Read more less

Book SynopsisTerry Pratchett was the acclaimed creator of the global bestselling Discworld series, the first of which, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1983. In all, he was the author of over fifty bestselling books which have sold over 100 million copies worldwide. His novels have been widely adapted for stage and screen, and he was the winner of multiple prizes, including the Carnegie Medal. He was awarded a knighthood for services to literature in 2009, although he always wryly maintained that his greatest service to literature was to avoid writing any. www.terrypratchettbooks.comTrade ReviewDelightful...gleeful and downright mischievous—Sunday TelegraphPratchett's writing is a constant delight. No one mixes the fantastical and the mundane to better comic effect or offers sharper insights into the absurdities of human endeavour—Daily Mail

Read more less

Book Synopsis'The funniest novel I’ve read all year' – Aravind Adiga, author of The White TigerDisorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou is a bighearted satire – alive with sharp edges, immense warmth, and a cast of unforgettable characters – that asks: who gets to tell our stories? And how does the story change when we finally tell it ourselves?Twenty-nine-year-old PhD student Ingrid Yang is desperate to finish her dissertation on the late canonical poet Xiao-Wen Chou and never read about ‘Chinese-y’ things. When she accidentally stumbles upon a strange and curious note in the Chou archives, she convinces herself it’s her ticket out of academic hell.But Ingrid’s in much deeper than she thinks. Her clumsy exploits to unravel the note’s message lead to an explosive discovery, one that upends her entire life and the lives of those around her. With her trusty friend Eunice Kim by her side and her rival Vivian Vo hot on her tail, together they set off a roller coaster of mishaps and misadventures, from campus protests and over-the-counter drug hallucinations, to book burnings and a movement that stinks of Yellow Peril propaganda. In the aftermath, nothing looks the same, including her gentle and doting fiancé . . .As the events Ingrid instigated keep spiraling, she’ll have to confront her sticky relationship to white men and white institutions – and, most of all, herself.Trade ReviewThe funniest, most poignant novel of the year * Vogue *Funny, fearless . . . acutely inspects the power of the white gaze, academic imperialism, peer rivalry and self-hate * Observer *A rollicking, whip-smart ride through the hallowed halls of academia * Harpers Bazaar *Witty, knowing and funny . . . If Donna Tartt set the bar for the noirish campus novel, Elaine Hsieh Chou is setting a new bar for sharp, sideways takes on academia * Evening Standard *Chou’s pen is a scalpel. Disorientation addresses the private absurdities the soul must endure to get free, from tokenism, the quiet exploitation of well-meaning institutions, and the bondage that is self-imposed. Chou does it with wit and verve, and no one is spared. -- Raven Leilani, author of LusterThe funniest novel I’ve read all year . . . Uproarious . . . packed full of sly truths about race, love, and life in general—all of which you’re going to miss, because you’ll be laughing so hard * Aravind Adiga *Funny and insightful, with plenty to say about art, identity, Orientalism and the politics of academia . . . entertaining, rising to a delightful climax * New York Times Book Review *An irreverent campus satire that skewers white sclerotic academia, creepy Asian fetishists and twee boba tea liberalism . . . Helmed by a memorable screwball protagonist, the novel is both a joyous and sharply-drawn caper -- Cathy Park HongAs the best comedy does, Disorientation manages to highlight uncomfortable truths, capture grey areas and hard lines, and resist sliding into easy binaries of heroes and villains * Vanity Fair *Disorientation does what great comedies and satires are supposed to do: make you laugh while forcing you to ponder the uncomfortable implications of every punchline * Washington Post *Captivating, irresistible, and intensely readable, and what we ultimately come to literature to find . . . a unique, propelling story * Chicago Review of Books *A deeply smart, satirical novel that takes a critical look at racism in academia * Buzzfeed *A multivalent pleasure, a deeply original debut novel that reinvents the campus novel satire as an Asian American literary studies whodunnit . . . Wickedly funny and knowing, Chou’s dagger wit is sure-eyed -- Alexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical NovelA searing literary satire of campus politics * Entertainment Weekly *A fresh, hilarious and thoughtful satire that'll make you think about cultural identity in a whole new way * Good Housekeeping *Searing satire . . . Chou details her protagonist’s struggles with dry humour and wit * Time *So many stifle-a-strangled-laugh lines . . . A send-up of the polite, cardigan-draped white supremacy of liberal arts colleges * Glamour *A smart, satirical look at everything from the fetishization of Asian women to who is celebrated in modern academia * Electric Literature *Hilariously tongue-in-cheek * i-D *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Number One Global Sensation*Foyle's Fiction Book of the Year**Amazon Book of the Year**Shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year**Fiction Book of the Year 2024 British Book Awards*Addictive' GraziaHugely entertaining' ObserverProvocative' Mail on SundayTHIS IS ONE HELL OF A STORY. IT'S JUST NOT HERS TO TELL.When failed writer June Hayward witnesses her rival Athena Liu die in a freak accident, she sees her opportunity and takes it.So what if it means stealing Athena's final manuscript?So what if it means borrowing' her identity?And so what if the first lie is only the beginningFinally, June has the fame she always deserved. But someone is about to expose her What happens next is entirely everyone else''s fault. The book that everyone is talking about' GlamourIngenious, astute, hugely entertaining' David NichollsBreathtakingly clever on jealousy, talent, success, and who gets to tell which story' Elizabeth DayHard to put down. Harder to forget' Stephen KingR.F. Kuang's book YellTrade Review‘Propulsive’ SUNDAY TIMES ‘Razor-sharp’ TIME ‘A clever, pacy tale’ SARA PASCOE 'Tense, modern… a brilliant exploration of the literary world' AISLING BEA ‘A riot’ PANDORA SYKES ‘Darkly comic’ GQ ‘A wild ride’ STYLIST ‘Pacy and provocative’ MAIL ON SUNDAY ‘A hugely entertaining account of a brazen literary heist’ OBSERVER ‘A wicked little satire of publishing, racial politics and icky internet culture’ THE TIMES ‘Intriguing’ ELLE ‘Strikingly topical’ GUARDIAN ‘Utterly diverting’ FINANCIAL TIMES ‘Blistering’ SCOTSMAN ‘Unforgettable’ WOMAN & HOME ‘A spiky, snarky, shady, smart, sinister take on white privilege’ NIKKI MAY ‘Incisive and compelling… sweeps the reader up on a thrilling ride, but leaves us thinking about the questions raised for days’ JENNIFER SAINT ‘A rollicking good read that you’ll struggle to put down’ WOMAN’S WEEKLY ‘Deeply, darkly hilarious’ MARIE CLAIRE ‘So addictive you could easily risk heatstroke if you read it on a sun lounger’ GRAZIA ‘This acute, fast-paced thriller will have literary insiders nodding in recognition and outsiders gasping in shock’ THE BOOKSELLER ‘A firecracker of a book’ i PAPER ‘Uncomfortable and addictive… a must-read’ INDEPENDENT ‘Not since Martin Amis’s The Information has the venality, self-regard and absurdity of the writing life been so gloriously skewered’ THE CRITIC ‘Once you start, you won’t be able to put it down’ HEAT ‘Scathing, spiky and full of laugh-out-loud moments’ GLAMOUR ‘Well-observed and alarmingly convincing’ DAILY MAIL ‘Sharp and funny… a superb insight into the publishing world’ PRIMA

Read more less

Book SynopsisTerry Pratchett was the acclaimed creator of the global bestselling Discworld series, the first of which, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1983. In all, he was the author of over fifty bestselling books which have sold over 100 million copies worldwide. His novels have been widely adapted for stage and screen, and he was the winner of multiple prizes, including the Carnegie Medal. He was awarded a knighthood for services to literature in 2009, although he always wryly maintained that his greatest service to literature was to avoid writing any.www.terrypratchettbooks.comTrade ReviewA consistently clever, charming and funny voice—IndependentHe wasn't imagining an alternative universe; he was reimagining ours—Frank Cottrell Boyce, GuardianCracking dialogue, compelling illogic and unchained whimsy... Pratchett has a subject and a style that is very much his own—Sunday Times

Read more less

Book SynopsisBret Easton Ellis is the author of several novels, including Imperial Bedrooms, Less Than Zero, The Rules of Attraction, American Psycho, Glamorama and Lunar Park, and a collection of stories, The Informers. Less Than Zero, The Rules of Attraction, American Psycho and The Informers have all been made into films. His first work of non-fiction, White, was published in 2019. He is the host of the Bret Easton Ellis Podcast available on Patreon. He lives in Los Angeles.Trade ReviewAn enormously entertaining novel, powered by a celebratory fun entirely absent in the writing of the generation of American writers who succeeded Ellis. * Independent *Great emotional complexity and depth . . . it’s a very interesting ride with an always interesting novelist – and, as such, is one worth taking. * The Times *Sharply observed, insidiously disquieting and extremely funny. * Literary Review *A triumphant piece of storytelling from a rebel whose work is controversial precisely because its sinister themes are so dexterously written. -- Chris Cleave * Sunday Telegraph *

Read more less

Book SynopsisEvelyn Waugh''s brilliantly irreverent satire of Fleet Street, with an introduction by Alexander WaughLord Copper, newspaper magnate and proprietor of The Daily Beast, has always prided himself on his intuitive flair for spotting ace reporters. That is not to say he has not made the odd blunder, however, and may in a moment of weakness make another. Acting on a dinner party tip from Mrs Algernon Stitch, he feels convinced that he has hit on just the chap to cover a promising little war in the African Republic of Ishmaelia. But for, pale, ineffectual William Boot, editor of the Daily Beast''s ''nature notes'' column, being mistaken for a competent journalist may prove to be a fatal error...''Waugh at the mid-season point of his perfect pitch''Christopher Hitchens

Read more less

Book SynopsisAnimal Farm is George Orwell’s brilliant political satire and allegorical fable about the corrupting effects of power. Published in 1945 it is, to this day, one of the most famous and influential works of fiction ever written.Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful hardbacks make perfect gifts for book lovers, or wonderful additions to your own collection. This edition features an introduction by journalist, award-winning writer and editor of the New Statesman, Jason Cowley.When the old Major, a highly respected white boar, gathers his fellow farm animals to preach about freedom, rebellion and the evils of man, he incites a revolution that has been brewing for years. The animals drive out their drunken farmer and create their own society – with the promise of equality for all, two scheming pigs, Napoleon and Snowball, appoint themselves leaders. What begins as a supposedly equalitarian community descends into an increasingly violent and hierarchical society, permeated by lies and corruption. Years after publication, Orwell's words remain a stark warning against the lure of fascist populism.Trade ReviewIf you are looking for allegorical literature to understand today’s politics, Animal Farm is a great guidepost. * Observer *The Cold War Candide . . . Virtually every detail in Animal Farm allegorizes some incident in that history. * New Yorker *Animal Farm is moving, bitter and a warning from history . . . [it] is one of the greatest socio-political works of all time. * Fantasy Book Review *Animal Farm is a biting satire of totalitarianism . . . Orwell is unnervingly precise in the way he depicts each step on the road from revolution to tyranny. * Common Sense Media *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA visionary, a craftsman, a comedian and as serious as it is possible to be without accidentally writing a religious text. He can do anything with a piece of prose, and it is a humbling experience to see him go to work on what has passed up till now as modern fiction. He''s so modern he''s in a different time-space continuum from the rest of us. Goddamn him'' Zadie SmithThe mysterious disappearance of her great- grandmother and twenty-five other elderly inmates from a Shaker Heights nursing home has left Lenore Stonecipher Beadsman emotionally stranded on the edge of the Great Ohio Desert. But that is simply one problem of many for the hapless switchboard operator, seriously compounded by her ongoing affair with boss Rick Vigorous; the TV stardom of her talking cockatiel, Vlad the Impaler; and other minor catastrophes that threaten to elevate Lenore''s search for love and self-detemination to new heights of spasmodic weirdness.Trade Review'Daring...hilarious...enigmatic...wonderfully odd... a zany picaresque adventure of contemporary America run amok' NEW YORK TIMES 'Dazzling...exhilarating...bizarre...sweepingly successful...engaging and haunting... a remarkable book with lots of prestidigitation in it... Wallace's talent is consistently impressive' SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

Read more less

Book Synopsis'Holy Wood is a different sort of place. Here, the most important thing is to be important.'Alchemists have always thought that they can change reality, shape it to their own purpose.Trade Review'A true original among contemporary writers' * The Times *'Cracking dialogue, compelling illogic and unchained whimsy...Pratchett has a subject and a style that is very much his own' * Sunday Times *'Offers more entertainment per page than anything this side of Wodehouse' * Washington Post Book World *

Read more less

Book SynopsisEighth book of the original and best CITY WATCH series, now reinterpreted in BBC''s The Watch''Snuff is entertaining, with all Pratchett''s genius on display'' Sunday ExpressThe Discworld is very much like our own - if our own were to consist of a flat planet balanced on the back of four elephants which stand on the back of a giant turtle, that is . . . ''The jurisdiction of a good man extends to the end of the world.'' It is a truth universally acknowledged that a policeman taking a holiday would barely have had time to open his suitcase before he finds his first corpse.Commander Sam Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch is on holiday in the pleasant and innocent countryside, but not for him a mere body in the wardrobe. There are many, many bodies - and an ancient crime more terrible than murder.He is out of his jurisdiction, out of his depth, out of bacon sandwiTrade Review[Discworld is] Warm, silly, compulsively readable, fantastically inventive, surprisingly serious exploration in story form of just about any aspect of our world...Where other writers are delighted if they come up with just a handful of comic figures with self-sustaining life in them - Don Quixote and Sancho, the three men in the boat, Pooh and Piglet and Eeyore - Pratchettt breeds them by the score...There's never been anything quite like it. -- Francis Spufford * Evening Standard *Pratchett is a master storyteller. He is endlessly inventive...a master of complex jokes, good bad jokes, good dreadful jokes and a kind of insidious wisdom about human nature...I read his books at a gallop and then reread them every time I am ill or exhausted. -- A. S. Byatt * Guardian *To keep it fresh into the 39th volume of a series deserves a knighthood...Snuff is entertaining, with all Pratchett's genius on display. He still makes you care about his creations and, amid all the funnies, he can turn on the pathos. * Sunday Express *[Pratchett] is now so good at skewering the banalities and injustices of our world through his fantasy creation balanced on the back of a giant turtle that he could probably do it in his sleep...As effortlessly, generously funny as only Pratchett can be, Snuff doesn't stint on laying bare the darker side of life either. A worthy addition to the Discworld canon. * Sunday Times *Is there any sign of a falling-off in Sir Terry's extraordinary abilities? No. Not one. This is another brilliant, bravura command performance of comic fantasy. Terry Pratchett with Alzheimer's is still up there with PG Wodehouse. Amazing. Wonderful. Fantastic. -- Harry Ritchie * Daily Mail *

Read more less

Book Synopsis'The world lives between those who say it cannot be done and those who say that it can . . . it's just a matter of thinking creatively.'Moist von Lipwig is a con man turned civil servant. As head of the Royal Bank and Post Office of Ankh-Morpork, he doesn't really want or need another job. But when the Patrician Lord Vetinari gives you a task, you do it or suffer the consequences. In Moist's case, death.A brand-new invention has come to the city: a steam locomotive named Iron Girder, to be precise. With the railway's introduction and rapid expansion, Vetinari enlists Moist to represent the government and keep things on track.But as with all new technology, some people have objections, and Moist will have to use every trick in his arsenal to keep the trains running . . .'The most serious of comedies, the most relevant and real of fantasies' IndependentRaising Steam is the third and final book in the Moist von Lipwig series, but the Discworld novels can be read in any order.Trade ReviewLaugh-out-loud funny...A chuffing wonderful book.—SFXTerry Pratchett’s creation is still going strong after 30 years as Ankh-Morpork branches into the railway age…There are sly nods to the history of railways and a cheeky reference to The Railway Children. Most aficionados, however, will be on the look-out for in-jokes and references from previous novels – of which there is no shortage…It is at the level of the sentence that Pratchett wins his fans.—The TimesThe genius of Pratchett is that he never goes for the straight allegory. . .he remains one of the most consistently funny writers around; a master of the stealth simile, the time-delay pun and the deflationary three-part list. . .I could tell which of my fellow tube passengers had downloaded it to their e-readers by the bouts of spontaneous laughter.—Ben Aaronovitch, The Guardian

Read more less

Book SynopsisSOON TO BE A MAJOR TV SERIES Discover Joseph Heller's hilarious and tragic satire on military madness, and the tale of one man's efforts to survive it. It’s the closing months of World War II and Yossarian has never been closer to death.Trade ReviewIt is a rare book in that it has the ability to make you laugh out loud and be deeply moved within a few pages. -- Adam Staten * British Journal of General Practice *Wildly original, brutally gruesome, a dazzling performance that will outrage as many readers as it delights. Vulgarly, bitterly funny, it will not be forgotten by those who can take it * New York Times *Blessedly, monstrously, bloatedly, cynically funny and fantastically unique. No one has ever written a book like this * Financial Times *Blessedly, monstrously, bloatedly, cynically funny, and fantastically unique. No one has ever written a book like this * Financial Times *An apocalyptic masterpiece * Chicago Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisBret Easton Ellis is the author of several novels, including Imperial Bedrooms, Less Than Zero, The Rules of Attraction, American Psycho, Glamorama and Lunar Park, and a collection of stories, The Informers. Less Than Zero, The Rules of Attraction, American Psycho and The Informers have all been made into films. His first work of non-fiction, White, was published in 2019. He is the host of the Bret Easton Ellis Podcast available on Patreon. He lives in Los Angeles.Trade ReviewA murder mystery – a woozy, paranoid, hallucinatory version of LA noir. * Sunday Times *Brilliantly written and coolly self-aware . . . Here, as in Less Than Zero, Ellis is plumbing the depths of human nature, exposing it at its worst. * Observer *The novel is a kind of modern noir and, as in Chandler, the form’s accepted master, atmosphere is king. Paranoia prevails. * Independent on Sunday *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIt's all change for Moist von Lipwig, swindler, conman, and (naturally) head of the Royal Bank and Post Office. A steaming, clanging new invention, driven by Dick Simnel, the man with t'flat cap and t'sliding rule, is drawing astonished crowds - including a few particularly keen young men armed with notepads and very sensible rainwear.Trade ReviewLaugh-out-loud funny...A chuffing wonderful book. * SFX *Terry Pratchett’s creation is still going strong after 30 years as Ankh-Morpork branches into the railway age…There are sly nods to the history of railways and a cheeky reference to The Railway Children. Most aficionados, however, will be on the look-out for in-jokes and references from previous novels – of which there is no shortage…It is at the level of the sentence that Pratchett wins his fans. * The Times *The genius of Pratchett is that he never goes for the straight allegory. . .he remains one of the most consistently funny writers around; a master of the stealth simile, the time-delay pun and the deflationary three-part list. . .I could tell which of my fellow tube passengers had downloaded it to their e-readers by the bouts of spontaneous laughter. -- Ben Aaronovitch * The Guardian *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA mysterious stranger named Chichikov arrives in a small provincial Russian town and proceeds to visit a succession of landowners, making each of them an unusual and somewhat macabre proposition. He offers to buy the rights to the dead serfs who are still registered on the landowner's estate, thus reducing their liability for taxes. It is not clear what Chichikov's intentions are with the dead serfs he is purchasing, and despite his attempts to ingratiate himself, his strange behaviour arouses the suspicions of everyone in the town.A biting satire of social pretensions and pomposity, Dead Souls has been revered since its original publication in 1842 as one of the funniest and most brilliant novels of nineteenth-century Russia. Its unflinching and remorseless depiction of venality in Russian society is a lasting tribute to Gogol's comic genius.Trade Review"Gogol was a strange creature, but then genius is always strange." - Vladimir Nabokov

Read more less

Book SynopsisBorn into a poor family, Fanny Price is raised amid the daunting splendour of Mansfield Park by her rich uncle, Sir Thomas Bertram. Treated as an inferior by most of the family, Fanny forms a close attachment to her cousin Edmund, the only person to show her kindness. With the departure of her uncle to the West Indies and the arrival from London of the fashionable Henry and Mary Crawford, flirtation and romantic intrigue abound. As Fanny becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the conduct of her companions, she finds herself isolated and forced to face the conflict between her sense of integrity and social expectation.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA minor masterpiece. I laughed so much I fell from my armchair' Time OutThe Discworld is very much like our own if our own were to consist of a flat planet balanced on the back of four elephants which stand on the back of a giant turtle, that is . . .''Anything you do in the past changes the future. The tiniest little actions have huge consequences. You might tread on an ant now and it might entirely prevent someone from being born in the future.''The Discworld''s most inept wizard has found himself on the Discworld's last continent, a completely separate creation.It''s hot. It''s dry . . . very dry. There was this thing once called The Wet, which no one believes in. Practically everything that''s not poisonous is venomous. But it''s the best bloody place in the world, all right?And in a few days, it will be except . . . Who is this hero striding across the red desert? Champion sheep shearer, horse rider, road wTrade Review'Pratchett's humour takes logic past the point of absurdity and round again, but it is his unexpected insights into the human morality that make the Discworld series stand out' * Times Literary Supplement *A cross between Tolkien and a gentler, more benign Tom Sharpe. * Sunday Telegraph *Delightful...gleeful and downright mischevious. The pleasures on the page are so quirkily seductive. Puts one in mind of one of the greatest comic writers of them all PG Wodehouse' * Sunday Telegraph *A minor masterpiece. I laughed somuch I fell from my armchair' * Time Out *The humour sparkles as brightly as ever' * The Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe inspiration for such works as Joseph Heller''s Catch-22, Jaroslav Hašek''s black satire The Good Soldier Švejk is translated with an introduction by Cecil Parrott in Penguin Classics.Good-natured and garrulous, Švejk becomes the Austro-Hungarian army''s most loyal Czech soldier when he is called up on the outbreak of the First World War - although his bumbling attempts to get to the front serve only to prevent him from reaching it. Playing cards, getting drunk and becoming a general nuisance, the resourceful Švejk uses all his natural cunning and genial subterfuge to deal with the doctors, police, clergy and officers who chivvy him towards battle. The story of a ''little man'' caught in a vast bureaucratic machine, The Good Soldier Švejk combines dazzling wordplay and piercing satire to create a hilariously subversive depiction of the futility of war.Cecil Parrott''s vibrant, unabridged and unbowdlerized translation is accompanied by an intro

Read more less

Book Synopsis''Stylish and stimulating'' The TimesAgeing Hollywood star Marshall Stone is scared. Scared that the parts are drying up. Scared of being forgotten. So when he hears an eminent author is writing his biography, Stone siezes the chance of immortality. But painful memories and suppressed scandals soon threaten to destroy the carefully-constructed fiction of his life. Inspired by Len Deighton''s own experiences of the film industry, Close-Up is a brilliant exposé of the sleaze, venality and betrayals of the studio machine.''The richness, the sardonic humour, the wheeling and dealing ... the power of the book is undoubted'' Evening StandardTrade ReviewThe film industry is in many ways the ideal subject for Mr Deighton's talents. * Times Literary Supplement *Immense skill ... a stylish and stimulating performance. * The Times *The richness, the sardonic humour, the wheeling and dealing world of the films with its parties, its highly coloured characters ... The power of the book is undoubted. * Evening Standard *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe misadventures of Lemuel Gulliver certainly are extraordinary. First he is shipwrecked in a strange land, and finds himself a prisoner of the tiny inhabitants of Lilliput. Then he washes up in Brobdingnag, where the people are giants of extraordinary proportions. Further exploits see him stranded with the scientists and philosophers of Laputa, and meeting a race of talking horses who rule over bestial humans. One of the finest satires in the English language, Gulliver’s Travels delights in the mockery of everything from government to religion and – despite the passing of nearly three centuries – remains just as funny and relevant today. This gorgeous Macmillan Collector’s Library edition of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver’s Travels features the beautiful artwork of the celebrated English illustrator Arthur Rackham, and an afterword by author and critic, Henry Hitchings. Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector’s Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector’s Library are books to love and treasure.

Read more less

Book Synopsis'It's vital to remember who you really are . . . it isn't a good idea to rely on other people or things to do it for you, you see. They always get it wrong.'An eighth son of an eighth son is born, a wizard squared, a source of magic. A sourcerer.Unseen University, the Discworld's most magical establishment, has finally got its wish: the emergence of a wizard more powerful than ever before. You'd think they would have been a little more careful what they wished for . . .As the sourcerer takes over the University and sets his sights on the rest of the world, only one wizard manages to escape his influence. Unfortunately for everyone, it's Rincewind.Once again the cowardly wizard must embark on a quest: to deliver a precious artefact - the very embodiment of magic itself - halfway across the Disc to safety. If he doesn't make it, the death of all wizardry is at hand.And the end of the world, depending on who you listen to.'One of our greatest fantasists, and beyond a doubt the funniest' George R.R. Martin'May well be considered his masterpiece . . . Humour such as his is an endangered species' The TimesSourcery is the third book in the Wizards series, but you can read the Discworld novels in any order. Trade ReviewCracking dialogue, compelling illogic and unchained whimsy... Pratchett has a subject and a style that is very much his own * Sunday Times *He will remain an enduring, endearing presence in comic literature * Guardian *His spectacular inventiveness makes the Discworld series one of the perennial joys of modern fiction * Mail on Sunday *

Read more less

Book SynopsisBret Easton Ellis is the author of several novels, including Imperial Bedrooms, Less Than Zero, The Rules of Attraction, American Psycho, Glamorama and Lunar Park, and a collection of stories, The Informers. Less Than Zero, The Rules of Attraction, American Psycho and The Informers have all been made into films. His first work of non-fiction, White, was published in 2019. He is the host of the Bret Easton Ellis Podcast available on Patreon. He lives in Los Angeles.Trade ReviewServes to establish Mr. Ellis’s reputation further as one of the primary inside sources in upper-middle-class America’s continuing investigation of what has happened to its children. * The New York Times Book Review *Compelling . . . sympathetic to his "lost generation" the way only Fitzgerald was about his * Vanity Fair *Ellis has always been regarded as th bad boy of contemporary American letters -- Douglas KennedyA tour de force of the heart of darkness, a moral Armageddon * The Times *

Read more less

Book Synopsis'Beard sank into a gloom of inattention, not because the planet was in peril - that moronic word again - but because someone was telling him it was with such enthusiasm'Michael Beard is a Nobel prize-winning physicist whose best work is behind him. He now spends his days speaking for enormous fees and half-heartedly heading a government-backed initiative tackling global warming. A compulsive womaniser, Beard finds his fifth marriage floundering. But this time, she's having the affair.When Beard's professional and personal worlds collide in a freak accident, an opportunity arises for Beard to simultaneously save his marriage and the world from environmental disaster.'Savagely funny... Enormously entertaining' Sunday Times'A satirical masterpiece...it will come to be regarded as a classic' Daily Telegraph'A stunningly accomplished work, possibly his best yet' Financial TimesVINTAGE EARTH is a collection of novels to transform our relationship with the natural world. Each one is a work of creative activism, a blast of fresh air, a seed from which change can grow. The books in this series reconnect us to the planet we inhabit - and must protect. Discover great writing on the most urgent story of our times.Trade ReviewSavagely funny... Enormously entertaining * Sunday Times *A satirical masterpiece...it will come to be regarded as a classic * Daily Telegraph *A stunningly accomplished work, possibly his best yet * Financial Times *McEwan has succeeded in producing a novel that is both profoundly serious and hilariously funny * Mail on Sunday *Vivacious and sprawling, a beautifully and compellingly written novel * The Times *

Read more less

Book Synopsis'A definite must for all fans of comic fantasy' - ENIGMA'Wacky humour bubbles through the polished narrative ... Holt doesn't skimp on the flashes of brilliance' - SFXEver been offered a promotion that seems too good to be true? You know - the sort they'd be insane to be offering to someone like you. The kind where you snap their arm off to accept, then wonder why all your long-serving colleagues look secretly relieved, as if they're off some strange and unpleasant hook ...It's the kind of trick that deeply sinister companies like J.W. Wells & Co. pull all the time. Especially with employees who are too busy mooning over the office intern to think about what they're getting into. And it's why, right about now, Paul Carpenter is wishing he'd paid much less attention to the gorgeous Melze, and rather more to a little bit of job description small-print referring to 'pest' control ...Books by Tom Holt: Walled Orchard Series Goatsong The Walled Orchard J.W. Wells & Co. Series The Portable Door In Your Dreams Earth, Air, Fire and Custard You Don't Have to Be Evil to Work Here, But It Helps The Better Mousetrap May Contain Traces of Magic Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Sausages YouSpace Series Doughnut When It's A Jar The Outsorcerer's Apprentice The Good, the Bad and the Smug Novels Expecting Someone Taller Who's Afraid of Beowulf Flying Dutch Ye Gods! Overtime Here Comes the Sun Grailblazers Faust Among Equals Odds and Gods Djinn Rummy My Hero Paint your Dragon Open Sesame Wish you Were Here Alexander at World's End Only Human Snow White and the Seven Samurai Olympiad Valhalla Nothing But Blue Skies Falling SidewaysLittle PeopleSong for NeroMeadowlandBarkingBlonde BombshellThe Management Style of the Supreme BeingsAn Orc on the Wild SideTrade ReviewA definite must for all fans of comic fantasy * ENIGMA *Wacky humour bubbles through the polished narrative ... Holt doesn't skimp on the flashes of brilliance * SFX *

Read more less

Book Synopsis''We are Progress and the New Age. Nothing can stand in our way.''When Oxford-educated Emperor Seth succeeds to the throne of the African state of Azania, he has a tough job on his hands. His subjects are ill-informed and unruly, and corruption, double-dealing and bloodshed are rife. However, with the aid if Minister of Modernization Basil Seal, Seth plans to introduce his people to the civilized ways of the west - but will it be as simple as that?

Read more less

Book Synopsis'Look after the dead', said the priests, 'and the dead will look after you.' Wise words in all probability, but a tall order when, like Teppic, you have just become the pharaoh of a small and penniless country rather earlier than expected, and your treasury is unlikely to stretch to the building of a monumental pyramid to honour your dead father.Trade Review'Like Dickens, much of Pratchett's appeal lies in his humanism, both in a sentimental regard for his characters' good fortune, and in that his writing is generous-spirited and inclusive' * Guardian *'As funny as Wodehouse and as witty as Waugh' * Independent *'Imagine a collision between Jonathan Swift at his most scatologically-minded and J.R.R. Tolkien on speed' * Daily Telegraph *'The best kind of parody - funny and smart and still a good story' * Mail on Sunday *

Read more less