Search results for ""author mike"

'Moments of high tension - involving closeted sexuality, unrequited love and hidden parentage - erupt from a narrative that wrongfoots you with its careful pace' Daily Mail What's the point in friends, if you can't share your secrets? The Gunners used to be inseparable. A gang of latchkey kids, they took their name from the doorbell of the abandoned house they played in as children - and drank in as teenagers. Together they navigated the difficult journey from childhood to adolescence and learnt their first vital lessons about becoming adults; Mikey, Sam, Lynn, Alice, Jimmy and Sally are more like a family than just friends. One day, Sally suddenly stopped speaking to them and wouldn't explain why. Years later, Sally's suicide forces the Gunners back together for her funeral. All of them have secrets they are reluctant to share, secrets which mean they must reassess their happy memories and finally be honest about the reasons Sally left. This is a generous and poignant novel about the difficulty - and the joy - of being a true friend.

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In this captivating new memoir, award-winning writer Jessica B. Harris recalls her youth “surrounded by some of the most famous creative minds of the seventies and eighties…James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Nina Simone” (New York magazine)—in a vibrant, lost era of New York City.In the Technicolor glow of the early seventies, Jessica B. Harris debated, celebrated, and danced her way from the jazz clubs of the Manhattan’s West Side to the restaurants of Greenwich Village, living out her buoyant youth alongside the great minds of the day—luminaries like Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, and Toni Morrison. My Soul Looks Back is her tribute to that fascinating social circle and their shared commitment to activism, intellectual engagement, and each other. With “simmering warmth” (The New York Times), Harris paints evocative portraits of her illustrious friends: Baldwin as he read aloud an early draft of If Beale Street Could Talk, Angelou cooking in her California kitchen, and Morrison relaxing at Baldwin’s house in Provence. Harris describes her role as theater critic for the New York Amsterdam News and editor at then-burgeoning Essence magazine; star-studded parties in the South of France; drinks at Mikell’s, a hip West Side club; and the simple joy these extraordinary people took in each other’s company. At the center is Harris’s relationship with Sam Floyd, a fellow professor at Queens College, who introduced her to Baldwin. More than a memoir of friendship and first love, My Soul Looks Back is a carefully crafted, intimately understood homage to a bygone era and the people that made it so remarkable.

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The word has gone out that Seduce is dead, and the mourners gather on Church Island in the Caribbean for her wake. All bring their own memories of Seduce: her daughter Glory prays for the rescue of her mother's soul, but there are also those who have come to make sure that "dutty filthy woman" has finally ceased to be a temptress to the island's husbands. Her grandchildren, too, both in their different ways marked by growing up in such a conflicted family, strive to find something positive in Seduce's life, and new directions in their own. And then there is Seduce's old lover, Mikey, come to make his peace.In this remarkable debut novel, told in patois prose that is poetic and delicate, profane and slyly funny, Desiree Reynolds has powerful things to say about race, class and the struggle between the sexes.Desiree Reynolds started her writing career in London as a freelance journalist for the Jamaica Gleaner and the Village Voice. She has gone on to write film scripts, poetry and short stories; Seduce is her first novel. A teacher, broadcaster and DJ, Desiree currently lives in Sheffield.This book is also available as a eBook. Buy it from Amazon here.

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The true story of a Romany childhood... Gypsy Princess is a searingly honest account of what life is really like for travelling communities, for girls in particular, and captures a way of life that is slowly fading away. If you enjoyed the memoirs of Mikey Walsh and Jess Smith, you'll be enthralled by Violet Cannon's biography. 'A fascinating and enjoyable insight into Gypsy life' - CloserA true blooded Gypsy, Violet Cannon grew up the Romany way. Life was tough at times, living in a cramped one-roomed trailer, but, unbound by strict routines, Violet spent her days learning to keep home, playing and roaming the fields with a sense of freedom long lost to the rest of modern society. Immersed in the Gypsy way of life, her childhood set her apart from other children. Bullied by classmates, and segregated from 'gorgia' kids (all non-Gypsies), Violet eventually left school at the age of nine to live a life of travel, play and learning under generations-old Gypsy rules on the fringes of society. With traditional values at the heart of her childhood, the pressure of conforming and marrying young was intense. Violet was duty-bound to find a husband, but would her marriage lead to the 'happy ever after' she grew up believing in as a Gypsy girl? What readers are saying about Gypsy Princess:'A fascinating and realistic look at what it means to be a Gypsy in today's society. A little understanding of Gypsy traditions goes a long way and I hope we see more biographies like this one''Violet is so likeable and warm, and the stories are written so vividly that you can really imagine yourself there' 'I could not put this book down - from the first paragraph I was hooked. I would love to read more about this fascinating lady and her family. By the end of the book I felt as if I knew them all'

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Fina Puigdevall, who has run Les Cols since 1990, has bared her soul in her first book. It takes an in-depth look at her philosophy and creations; two of the elements that make up this magical restaurant where it is possible to savour both peace and tranquillity. Its 384 pages cannot but glow with a personal and didactic beauty.In 1990, a young Fina Puigdevall opened the doors of Les Cols (Olot, Girona) in the farmhouse (masía) where she was born. For 27 years, together with her life (and professional) partner Manel Puigvert, she has forged this restaurant with two Michelin stars that is unique in the world and which reflects every facet of her soul. Now, this cook bares it completely in Anima, her first publication. The book, published by Montagud Editores, offers an intimate portrait of the restaurant. Each and every one of Anima's 384 pages glow with a spirit that is didactic, beautiful, reflective and contemplative in equal measure. And they do so via 32 of Fina Puigdevall's most emblematic recipes. All of them take the shape of an offering to the diner, while at the same time reflecting, with exquisite faithfulness, one of the cross-sectional axes of her cuisine: "the unchanging cycle of the seasons". Produce, beyond being an object of homage, is the recipient of devotion and a profound love for the earth; the discreet yet undeniable protagonist.In addition, ten experts on contemporary art, culture, philosophy and poetry, among other disciplines, have collaborated on this book. Their writings open a window onto aspects that are vital for understanding Puigdevall's cuisine. Among them, landscape is represented; the complete awareness of the surroundings and the peace and calm that can only be achieved when plenitude has been reached. These writings are all along the same lines as Fina's dishes, where the superfluous is done away with so that elegance and what is of essence are highlighted. Anima's circle closes with 84 famous and undisputed philosophical quotations by inspirational, wise figures from the world over and from throughout the ages - from Fray Luis de León to Oscar Wilde, via Rabindranath Tagore - and with photos by Mikel Ponce that encompass the same values that guide the evolution of Les Cols.

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Investigative journalist Terry Nelson is divorced, depressed and disillusioned. He has abandoned his career to smoke copious amounts of crack cocaine and engage in meaningless sex in order to reach ‘pleasure’s cutting edge’. Obsessed with the beautiful yet vapid Paula, Terry is soon drawn into a shadowy underworld to fund their growing drug habits. Mikey, a Jamaican gangster, befriends Terry and recruits him as a driver for drug deals. This allows Terry access to large amounts of crack cocaine, as well as information about the local drugs scene. Peterfield – a once prosperous manufacturing hub in the North of England – has descended into extreme urban decay and become a place where the residents turn to sex and drugs to escape their dead-end, mundane existence. Drug dealers supplied by international crime gangs are only too pleased to meet the population’s needs and regenerate the area to further line their pockets. Terry is convinced the gangs are led by a mysterious figure – Bonique. Who is Bonique? This is the question that haunts Terry and threatens to destroy his life. As Terry searches for contacts to Bonique his life becomes increasingly violent and leads him to question the path he has chosen. A vigilante group is increasingly active, targeting suspected drug dealers and criminals plaguing Peterfield. Who are they and who are they led by? Terry’s relationship with his mother and father is very strained. Why is his father so distant? Does the reason involve an unidentified girl Terry witnessed arguing with his father when he was in his teens? Terry struggles to piece together any strands of information that might yield an answer. A Government Task Force arrives in Peterfield to break the drug gangs’ hold on the city. Terry’s involvement with drugs is taken advantage of by the organisation for information. The cash he’s paid keeps his drug habit financed. Terry’s Task Force handler, Mark, is reluctant to share information and appears to be hiding something. Can Terry pull together all the pieces and soothe his growing obsessions? Or will he lose control of the forces pulling him in the wrong direction, causing harm to himself and his family?

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Film Worlds unpacks the significance of the "worlds" that narrative films create, offering an innovative perspective on cinema as art. Drawing on aesthetics and the philosophy of art in both the continental and analytic traditions, as well as classical and contemporary film theory, it weaves together multiple strands of thought and analysis to provide new understandings of filmic representation, fictionality, expression, self-reflexivity, style, and the full range of cinema's affective and symbolic dimensions. Always more than "fictional worlds" and "storyworlds" on account of cinema's perceptual, cognitive, and affective nature, film worlds are theorized as immersive and transformative artistic realities. As such, they are capable of fostering novel ways of seeing, feeling, and understanding experience. Engaging with the writings of Jean Mitry, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Christian Metz, David Bordwell, Gilles Deleuze, and Hans-Georg Gadamer, among other thinkers, Film Worlds extends Nelson Goodman's analytic account of symbolic and artistic "worldmaking" to cinema, expands on French philosopher Mikel Dufrenne's phenomenology of aesthetic experience in relation to films and their worlds, and addresses the hermeneutic dimensions of cinematic art. It emphasizes what both celluloid and digital filmmaking and viewing share with the creation and experience of all art, while at the same time recognizing what is unique to the moving image in aesthetic terms. The resulting framework reconciles central aspects of realist and formalist/neo-formalist positions in film theory while also moving beyond them and seeks to open new avenues of exploration in film studies and the philosophy of film.

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The South Platte River begins high atop the frozen Continental Divide, home to a chain of rugged 13,000-foot, snow-capped peaks. This region comprises lush valleys, meandering meadow streams, and rose-colored, boulder-filled canyons. For generations this area has been a recreation mecca and a fly fisher’s paradise in its purest form. Out of all the trout fisheries in America that are within an hour’s drive of a major metropolitan area, the South Platte River is clearly one of the best. It has become a river shrine to thousands of anglers on an annual basis and for good reason. Throughout the river’s entirety, the South Platte creates a series of reservoirs (Antero, Spinney, Eleven Mile, Cheesman, Strontia Springs, and Chatfield) that provide major metropolitan water storage systems for Denver Water and the City of Aurora. The by-products of these storage facilities are world-class tailwaters that provide anglers with year-round fishing opportunities. Against all odds, the South Platte River remains a world-class trout fishery abundant with some of the most finicky and challenging trout in the world. There’s a common belief among South Platte regulars—if you can catch trout on the South Platte; you can catch trout anywhere in the world. * Completely new maps and updated river, access, and fishing information * Regional experts like Landon Mayer, Greg Blessing, Jeremy Hyatt, Chris Wells, Richard Pilatzke and John Perizzolo, Rick Mikesell and many more, share insider information * New line up of cutting-edge fly patterns * Additional chapters on stillwaters and the Denver Metro Area

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WELCOME BACK TO CHERRYWOOD!Preparations are underway for Cherrywood's annual celebration of Guy Fawkes Night . . .When it's announced that the hotly anticipated 'Penny for the Guy' trail will have a celebrity judge - former DJ 'Screaming' Ade Adams - competition steps up amongst the villagers.But as everyone gathers for the main event, Ade is found dead atop the bonfire with three mysterious tarot cards in his pocket, and barmaid and part-time sleuth Tess Feather suspects foul play. Why would anyone in Cherrywood want the retired disc jockey dead? And could there be a connection to a recently returned villager: Tess's estranged brother Mikey?Once again, Tess is forced to team up with her ex-boyfriend - private investigator Liam Hanley - and her friends Raven and Oliver as they investigate a tale of murder and vengeance that could go all the way to the top.WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE CHERRYWOOD MYSTERIES:'⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ My new favourite cosy crime series!' '⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Truly, this was one of the best starts to a new British cosy series I have read in a while''⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐Wow what an amazing book! This is a great read for all the Thursday Murder Club fans''⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ I loved it, and I hope this is the start of a long series of Cherrywood books!''⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Love the drama and romance! The lovely British setting and a great bunch of characters! Looking forward to book 2!''⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ I loved this British cozy mystery! And the characters were so good!''⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Cleverly written, with a good air of mystery . . . I really enjoyed this novel'----Return to Cherrywood in the gripping and addictive new instalment in The Cherrywood Mysteries. If you love a charming and quintessentially British cosy murder mystery, packed full of witty one-liners and an eclectic cast of characters, you won't want to miss this one. Perfect for fans of Fiona Leitch, Hannah Hendy and Robert Thorogood.

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AN IRISH TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 _______________ 'A blade-sharp coming-of-age novel' SPECTATOR 'Confirms Flattery as a bracingly original writer' IRISH INDEPENDENT 'In enviably elegant prose, she manages to be both arch and deadly serious' LOUISE KENNEDY _______________ A wildly original debut novel about two young women navigating the complex worlds of Andy Warhol's Factory, and coming of age in 1960s New York New York City, 1966. Seventeen-year-old Mae lives in a run-down apartment with her alcoholic mother and her mother's sometimes-boyfriend, Mikey. She is turned off by the petty girls at her high school, and the sleazy men she typically meets. When she drops out, she is presented with a job offer that will remake her world entirely: she is hired as a typist for the artist Andy Warhol. Warhol is composing an unconventional novel by recording the conversations and experiences of his many famous and alluring friends. Tasked with transcribing these tapes alongside several other girls, Mae quickly befriends Shelley and the two of them embark on a surreal adventure at the fringes of the countercultural movement. Going to parties together, exploring their womanhood and sexuality, this should be the most enlivening experience of Mae's life. But as she grows increasingly obsessed with the tapes and numb to her own reality, Mae must grapple with the thin line between art and voyeurism and determine how she can remain her own person as the tide of the sixties sweeps over her. Nothing Special is a whip-smart coming-of-age story about friendship, independence and the construction of art and identity, bringing to life the experience of young women in this iconic and turbulent moment. _______________ PRAISE FOR SHOW THEM A GOOD TIME: 'A masterclass . . . Bold, irreverent and agonisingly funny' Sally Rooney 'Announces the arrival of a brilliant talent' Financial Times 'Explores difficult questions about self-worth, agency and intimacy with thrilling sharpness' Sunday Times 'Demands repeated reading' Jon McGregor A 2023 HIGHLIGHT FOR: THE TIMES * TELEGRAPH * STYLIST * GQ * GUARDIAN * HARPER'S BAZAAR * GOOD HOUSEKEEPING * WATERSTONES * i-D * IRISH TIMES * HUFFINGTON POST UK

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AN IRISH TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 _______________ 'A blade-sharp coming-of-age novel' SPECTATOR 'Confirms Flattery as a bracingly original writer' IRISH INDEPENDENT 'In enviably elegant prose, she manages to be both arch and deadly serious' LOUISE KENNEDY _______________ A wildly original debut novel about two young women navigating the complex worlds of Andy Warhol's Factory, and coming of age in 1960s New York New York City, 1966. Seventeen-year-old Mae lives in a run-down apartment with her alcoholic mother and her mother's sometimes-boyfriend, Mikey. She is turned off by the petty girls at her high school, and the sleazy men she typically meets. When she drops out, she is presented with a job offer that will remake her world entirely: she is hired as a typist for the artist Andy Warhol. Warhol is composing an unconventional novel by recording the conversations and experiences of his many famous and alluring friends. Tasked with transcribing these tapes alongside several other girls, Mae quickly befriends Shelley and the two of them embark on a surreal adventure at the fringes of the countercultural movement. Going to parties together, exploring their womanhood and sexuality, this should be the most enlivening experience of Mae's life. But as she grows increasingly obsessed with the tapes and numb to her own reality, Mae must grapple with the thin line between art and voyeurism and determine how she can remain her own person as the tide of the sixties sweeps over her. Nothing Special is a whip-smart coming-of-age story about friendship, independence and the construction of art and identity, bringing to life the experience of young women in this iconic and turbulent moment. _______________ PRAISE FOR SHOW THEM A GOOD TIME: 'A masterclass . . . Bold, irreverent and agonisingly funny' Sally Rooney 'Announces the arrival of a brilliant talent' Financial Times 'Explores difficult questions about self-worth, agency and intimacy with thrilling sharpness' Sunday Times 'Demands repeated reading' Jon McGregor A 2023 HIGHLIGHT FOR: THE TIMES * TELEGRAPH * STYLIST * GQ * GUARDIAN * HARPER'S BAZAAR * GOOD HOUSEKEEPING * WATERSTONES * i-D * IRISH TIMES * HUFFINGTON POST UK

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An excellent way to celebrate a well-deserved second Michelin star, and a resounding endorsement from both the critics and the public, is to put the reasons for this success in black on white. This is what the brilliant chef Paco Morales has done. His first book, in which he uncovers the secrets of NOOR - a gastrocultural project that, far beyond its status as a restaurant, delves into the culinary traditions of al-Andalus - has been published by Montagud Editores. Over 320 pages, the book not only brings together 65 recipes that recreate Hispano-Muslim cuisine from a rabidly contemporary perspective... It also presents a detailed historical contextualisation of what and how people ate at the time, as well as dozens of indispensable techniques photographed step by step.On 17 March 2016, Paco Morales 'lifted the shutter' on NOOR Restaurant with several objectives in mind. One of them was to build a gastrocultural project that, service by service, would reinterpret and pay homage to a crucial period in the history of Spain: the Andalusian era. Another was to turn his native Cordoba into a must-visit place for seasoned gastronomes, inquisitive gourmets and lovers of good food. All with the utmost excellence as the omnipresent watchword.In less than four years, it has more than achieved it. This is practically unanimously endorsed by both his customers and the gastronomic critics. "He has been able to create a cuisine, something that is within the reach of very few. A personal, personal line, different from anything known, in which he combines avant-garde and tradition in equal parts", says Carlos Maribona, gastronomic journalist of the ABC newspaper. His are "contemporary recipes in which he demonstrates his talent for combining flavour, creativity and aesthetics. In his work, which is very personal, he is both rigorous and transgressive at the same time", says José Carlos Capel, food critic for El País. The inspectors of the Michelin Guide have joined in: in little more than three years, they have awarded the establishment two stars, recognising its "journey to the historic al-Andalus from 21st century gastronomic concepts".The chef, rigorous and perfectionist like few others, celebrates this success as it deserves: by setting down his reasons in black on white under the editorial direction of Jãvi Antoja de la Rosa. And he does so in a large-format work of 320 pages. It presents 314 preparations, 75 of them photographed step by step, in which recipes are rescued and reinterpreted, attention is drawn to ingredients that are distant only in appearance and craftsmanship is restored to that predominant position in haute cuisine that it should never have lost. All this, with 140 images signed by Mikel Ponce and the historical advice of Rosa Tovar and Lúa Monasterio.The 65 recipes that bring together these processes are accompanied by an exhaustive analysis by Paco Morales himself. In it, he shows that they are the result of a conscientious work of recovery, on the one hand, and updating in a contemporary key, on the other, of what and how people ate in al-Andalus in the 10th century, with the splendorous Caliphate of Cordoba; 11th century, with its fragmentation into the Kingdoms of Taifas; and 12th and 13th centuries, with the hegemony of the Almoravid and Almohad empires. In this way, and in addition to a didactic glossary, the work includes a detailed historical and culinary contextualisation of what arrived in the pantries, what was forged in the kitchens and what was served on the tables of the great houses of the time. It is completed with the cultural and spiritual notions that are indispensable for the reader to be able to delve deeper into everything that was going on around Hispano-Muslim gastronomy.However, Jãvi Antoja de la Rosa, director of the work and of the century-old gastronomic publishing house, is not wrong when he says that "this book is a publishing boast that aims to be on a par with the Cordovan chef". Nor when he poses a question that has little rhetoric in it: "Montagud Editores and NOOR, hand in hand. What could go wrong?

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