Search results for ""author alan"

Sounds like easy money: collecting an antique for a rich stranger. Alan Allen, freshly unemployed, short of cash, and caught up in a bizarre case of mistaken identity, is about to find out otherwise. But not before being swept on a European wild-goose chase in this refreshing, surreal and gloriously funny novel.

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'The underrated A Quiet Life is one of the funniest books I have ever read' HILARY MANTEL 'One of the best novelists of her generation' GUARDIAN Seventeen-year-old Alan can't stand rows. But, though the Second World War has ended, peace hangs by a fine thread at home: his troublesome sister Madge creeps off for night-time liaisons with a German POW; their ineffectual father - broken by the hardships of war and an unhappy marriage can't put food on the table despite the family's middle-class manners.Meanwhile, his mother pursues her escapist fantasies in romantic novels and love affairs. Obedient, faithful Alan is trapped among them all, the focus of their jibes and resentment, as inexorably the family heads towards disaster. Beryl Bainbridge's classic early novel is a vintage story of English domestic life, laced with sadness, irony and wicked black humour.

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His exploits echo with the bustle of crowded ports and the crash of naval warfare…It is 1780 and seventeen-year-old Alan Lewrie is a brash young libertine with a head full of dreams. When he is found in bed with the wrong woman, he is forced to leave his profligacy behind for a new life at sea.Though sickness and hard labour await him aboard the tall-masted Ariadne, Lewrie finds himself gradually adapting to the world of a midshipman.But as he heads for the war-torn Americas into a hail of cannonballs, will he ever catch wind of the plot brewing against him back at home?The first Alan Lewrie novel, this action-packed naval adventure is perfect for fans of Patrick O’Brian, Julian Stockwin and C.S. ForesterPraise for The King's Coat ‘You could get addicted to this series. Easily.’ New York Times Book Review‘The best naval series since C. S. Forester . . . Recommended.’ Library Journal‘Fast-moving. . . A hugely likeable hero, a huge cast of sharply drawn supporting characters: there's nothing missing. Wonderful stuff.’ Kirkus Reviews

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Discover the behind-the-scenes story of how The Second City theatre created a generation of world class great actors, directors, and writers. In the late Fifties and Sixties, iconoclastic young rebels in Chicago opened two tiny theatres—The Compass and The Second City—where they satirised politics, religion and sex. Developing scenes by improvising based on audience suggestions turned out to be a fine way to develop great actors, directors, and writers. Alumni went on to create such ground-breaking works as The Graduate, Groundhog Day, and Don’t Look Up. Many of them also became stars on Saturday Night Live. Something Wonderful Right Away features the pioneers who founded the empire that transformed American comedy. This new edition tells even more of the story. Included for the first time is an interview with Viola Spolin, the genius who invented theatre games that were the foundation of improvisational theatre. Also included are dozens of follow-up stories about Mike Nichols, Barbara Harris, Del Close, Joan Rivers, Alan Arkin, and Gilda Radner, plus “You Only Shoot the Ones You Love,” the story of how this book’s author, playwright Jeffrey Sweet, ended up being so involved in the community he covered that he was captured by it.

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An unruly bunch of bright, funny sixth-form boys in pursuit of sex, sport and a place at university. A maverick English teacher at odds with the young and shrewd supply teacher. A headmaster obsessed with results; a history teacher who thinks he's a fool.In Alan Bennett's classic play, staff room rivalry and the anarchy of adolescence provoke insistent questions about history and how you teach it; about education and its purpose.The History Boys premiered at the National in May 2004.

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This book uses Nottingham, a city in the East Midlands of England, as a case study to examine changing attitudes and responses to drinking and alcohol problems in the UK from the 1950s to early 2000s. Based on original research drawn from local archives and oral histories, it examines responses to drink and drink problems over time, comparing local developments with those nationally. In the 1950s pub going and drinking were viewed by city inhabitants as essential activities, just as now. Author Alan Sillitoe’s Nottingham-based novel Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1958) describes Saturday night as “the best and bingiest glad-time of the week.” For the majority of people, drinking and occasional drunkenness were acceptable and tolerated aspects of everyday life. However, in the 1950s, the idea of the ‘alcoholic’, a medical as well as moral phenomenon, surfaced in society. The book describes how, as this view took hold in the 1960s, it became associated locally with poverty, and viewed in the extreme terms as a problem of the vagrant alcoholic. The vagrants’ ever-presence in the city, coupled with their unsanitary drinking, gave the place an unwholesome look. In subsequent decades, street drinkers continued to inform the local approach and went through a number of transformations; from the hooligan/ drunken football fan of the 1980s to the young binge drinker of the late 1990s/early 2000s.

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In this study, Alan Paskow first asks why fictional characters, such as Hamlet and Anna Karenina, matter to us and how they emotionally affect us. He then applies these questions to painting, demonstrating that certain paintings beckon us to view their contents as real. As emblematic of the fundamental concerns of our lives, paintings, he argues, are not simply in our heads but in our world. Paskow also situates the phenomenological approach to the experience of painting in relation to contemporary schools of thought, particularly Marxist, feminist, and deconstructionist.

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In this volume of typographical (or “concrete”) poems, Alan Riddell weaves words and the very letters they’re made of into shapes and patterns that heighten or, in some cases, completely undermine the professed message of the pieces. When Eclipse was first published in 1972, concrete poetry was still a relatively new art form, and this book was the first substantial one-man collection to be published in Britain. Now, almost fifty years since its inception, this volume provides a unique perspective on this cutting-edge technique.

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It''s never too late for the adventure of a lifetime . . .Heather Winterbottom has worked side by side with her husband as GPs in their idyllic rural practice for over forty years. But as the time comes to hang up their stethoscopes, the Winterbottoms discover that they have rather different visions of retirement . . . Heather dreams of exploring the Greek Islands, of escaping the shackles of her routine life and embracing an exciting new adventure. Alan dreams of growing his own vegetables.When things come to a head at a family lunch, Heather announces that she has decided to take a year off. From her old life, from her marriage - from Alan. Alone in beautiful Greece, Heather embarks on her very own odyssey - complete with peak experiences, pitfalls and temptations. But what if coming home is the biggest adventure yet? ***Praise for Joanna Nell''s uplifting and heartwarming novels:''Takes readers on a sweet journe

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This remarkable novel, suppressed in 1957 and published by Dalkey Archive for the first time, is concerned with a day in the life of a stagnant, aristocratic Scottish family in the 1950s. As the family prepares for its annual Christmas dance, old rivalries and tensions flare as John Harling arrives to visit his sister Mary, who has married Duncan Mackean, next in line to inherit the estate left by Colin Mackean, dead two years now, but very much alive in the memory of the current family, presided over by Alan Mackean and his wife Augustine (Tin). By the end of this nerve-racking day, John tells his sister that this life, which you lead here, is incestuous and that her husband Duncan is in love with things he should have left -- long ago. Soil, place, family, the past -- roots...One must have courage to travel light today. That night, Duncan and Alan go out shooting; only one returns alive.

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AFC Bournemouth Miscellany collects together all the vital information you never knew you needed to know about the Cherries. In these pages you will find irresistible anecdotes and the most mindblowing stats and facts. Heard the one about the 42-year-old former manager who was coaxed out of retirement to play on the left wing? How about James Hayter's fastest ever hat-trick in Football League history? Or the time 60,000 supporters lined the seafront to congratulate the champions on their Premier League promotion? Do you know which Cherries goalie stood 6ft 9in tall? Why 60s inside-forward Alan Hope suddenly became Alan O'Neill? Or which Cherries star was the first to top the scoring charts in three different divisions? All these stories and hundreds more appear in a brilliantly researched collection of trivia - essential for any Bournemouth fan who holds the riches of the club's history close to their heart.

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This is a practical, modern introductory grammar for classroom and self-instruction. Unlike Alan Gardiner's monumental Egyptian Grammar , this is not intended as a reference work, and it is designed to be as user-friendly as possible by, for example, presenting simplified forms of genuine texts rather than diving straight into the originals. It is suggested the the 16 lessons be spread over about 30 weeks study. The book is widely used in North American courses.

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Improper Names offers a genealogy and theory of the “improper name,” which author Marco Deseriis defines as the adoption of the same pseudonym by organized collectives, affinity groups, and individual authors. Although such names are often invented to pursue a specific social or political agenda, they are soon appropriated for different and sometimes diverging purposes. This book examines the tension arising from struggles for control of a pseudonym’s symbolic power.Deseriis provides five fascinating and widely varying case studies. Ned Ludd was the legendary and eponymous leader of the English Luddites, textile workers who threatened the destruction of industrial machinery and then advanced a variety of economic and political demands. Alan Smithee—an alias coined by Hollywood film directors in 1969 in order to disown films that were recut by producers—became a contested signature and was therefore no longer effective to signal prevarication to Hollywood insiders. Monty Cantsin was an “open pop star” created by U.S. and Canadian artists in the late 1970s to critique bourgeois notions of authorship, but its communal character was compromised by excessive identification with individual users of the name. The Italian media activists calling themselves Luther Blissett, aware of the Cantsin experience, implemented measures to prevent individuals from assuming the alias, which was used to author media pranks, sell apocryphal manuscripts to publishers, fabricate artists and artworks, and author best-selling novels. The longest chapter here is devoted to the contemporary “hacktivist” group known as Anonymous, which protests censorship and restricted access to information and information technologies.After delving into a rich philosophical debate on community among those who have nothing in common, the book concludes with a reflection on how the politics of improper names affects present-day anticapitalist social movements such as Occupy and 15-M.

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A Dirty Bertie collection to delight everyone who revels in his revolting ways!Enjoy the comic capers of Dirty Bertie – the boy with nosepickingly disgusting habits – in this bumper book of nine revolting stories from FAME!, HORROR! and ALIENS!Dirty Bertie is a hugely popular series featuring the character created by David Roberts and written by Alan MacDonald. With each hilarious story split into bitesize chapters, Dirty Bertie is ideal for reluctant readers and those just beginning to read independently.

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The year is 1969 and Jack Sheffield is a young teacher in need of a job. In a room full of twenty-nine other newly qualified teachers, he's overjoyed when he's appointed to Heather View Primary. Jack is excited to start his first year there and to begin shaping young minds in a beautiful new location on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales.But Heather View isn't as idyllic as it first sounds. In fact, it looks more like a prison than a primary school. With less than adequate funding and a head teacher who doesn't seem to care, it's no easy task to give the kids the education they deserve. But Jack's determined to do just that.Full of warmth and good humour, Back to School is like taking a nostalgic walk through the past to a simpler time..._____________________What readers are saying: ***** 'I felt I was transported back in time. This was a joy to read.'***** 'By chapter 3 I loved this book so much that I ordered two other titles by this author!'***** 'So uplifting and joyous.' _____________________Praise for Jack Sheffield: 'Wry observation and heartwarming humour in equal measure.' Alan Titchmarsh 'Overflowing with amusing anecdotes.' Daily Express 'Amusing adventures at the North Yorkshire village school.' Choice 'Jack Sheffield's in a class of his own.' York Press

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First published in 1998. Over three hundred letters and documents have recently been discovered at the fort of Vindolanda, written on wooden tablets which have amazingly survived nearly 2000 years. Painstakingly deciphered by Alan Bowman and J. David Thomas, they have contributed a wealth of evidence for daily life in the Roman Empire. From the military documents we learn of the strength and activities of the units stationed at Vindolanda. The accounts testify to the lifestyle of officers and ordinary soldiers, with payments for pepper and oil, towels and tallow, boots and beer. Then there are snapshots of domestic life in letters between the officers' wives, including a birthday invitation (see front cover). Most fascinating of all is the evidence for a high level of literacy in the Roman army, where even someone of humble rank receives a letter from home promising him a parcel of socks. Alan Bowman's lively summary of this new evidence is followed by the texts of 38 key tablets, in Latin and in translation, including new tablets found in 1991-4, which bring the reader very close to the actual people who inhabited Vindolanda in 100 AD.

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What a beautiful, genuine, moving book. Reminds us of what's important in life. Dip into this, and get strength for the day. For when you can feel the darkness, use this book as light.Jeremy Vine Journalist and Author A time for reflectionChristmas should be a time of peace, togetherness and celebration; yet it can leave all too many of us feeling overwhelmed by loneliness, stress and worry.In This Light is a timely collection of thoughtful meditations. The Most Revd Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, leads contributions from celebrities, business leaders, athletes, politicians and others, whose names you might not know but whose stories you will come to love.Alan Titchmarsh, Sally Philips, Bear Grylls, Afua Hirsch, Bishop Michael Curry, Secretary John Kerry, Dany Cotton, Elif Shafak, Jo Malone and Sally Lloyd-Jones--among others--offer their thoughts and insights as we reflect on this time of year.In a world that often seems in turmoil, these personal essays invite us to remember and rejoice in the true, timeless spirit of Christmas.The Archbishop of Canterbury will donate all royalties received from this book, in equal parts, to support these wonderful organisations:Caring for Ex-Offenders, part of the ministry of Holy Trinity BromptonEqual Justice InitiativeThe Melanesian MissionCharis Tiwala

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Alan Bogg is Professor of Labour Law at the University of Bristol, Barrister at Old Square Chambers, and Emeritus Fellow at the University of Oxford, UK.Hugh Collins is the Cassel Professor of Commercial Law at the London School of Economics, and Emeritus Vinerian Professor of English Law at the University of Oxford, UK.ACL Davies is Professor of Law and Public Policy at the University of Oxford, UK.Virginia Mantouvalou is Professor of Human Rights and Labour Law at University College London, UK.

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From Alan Turing to Michelle Obama, Jeff Bezos to Sonia Sotomayor, Princeton Legends Alphabet presents the A to Z of esteemed, high-achieving Princetonians who have left their indelible marks upon the world. Educationally written and beautifully illustrated, Princeton Legends Alphabet will inspire future generations of Princeton scholars.

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The race to space between the United States and the Soviet Union captured the popular imagination. On April 12, 1961, the USSR launched cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on a one-orbit flight, making him the first human in space. Three weeks later, American astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. flew 116 miles above Earth before splashing down in the Bahamas. Over the next twenty years astronauts emerged as national heroes.This book tells the story of the people and events of Projects Mercury and Gemini with hundreds of unpublished and rare photographs—both colour and black-and-white. Unlike other publications, which illustrate the space race with well-known and easily accessible images, this history draws from the authors’ private library of over one hundred thousand (and growing) high-quality photos of the early U.S. manned-space program.Collected over a lifetime from public and private sources—including NASA archives, fellow collectors, retired NASA and news photographers, and auction houses—the images document American space missions of the Cold War era more comprehensively than ever before. Devoting a chapter to each flight, the authors also include detailed descriptions, providing new insight into one of America’s greatest triumphs.

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In Mega-City One Judge Dredd is the Law. From the League of Fatties to Trapper Hag and the Starborn Thing no perp escapes the instant justice he dispenses with an iron fist. Now in this sixth volume of his collected adventures you’ll meet some of Dredd’s most bizarre adversaries yet! Written by comic supremos John Wagner (A History of Violence) and Alan Grant (Batman) with art by Carlos Ezquerra (Strontium Dog) and Steve Dillon (Preacher) amongst others, this is classic 2000 AD!

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Action thriller by the classic adventure writer set in Iceland. The assignment begins with a simple errand – a parcel to deliver. But to Alan Stewart, standing on a deserted road in Iceland with a murdered man at his feet, it looks anything but simple. The desolate terrain is obstacle enough. But when Stewart realises he has been double-crossed and that the opposition is gaining ground, his simple mission seems impossible…

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In this, his first book, Alan Shapiro vividly recreates some of the more memorable and poignant moments from his Jewish-American childhood, and in the process reveals his compassionate interest in the forgotten, the alienated, and the infirm. The Courtesy is an intelligent, reflective examination of the poet's own psychological history. "The Courtesy is really an admirable book: it shows up the unreality of a lot of the other poetry one reads, dealing honestly and with that perversity which is a sign of thoughfulness, with the slight but heavy matter of our everyday defeats."--Michael Hoffman, Poetry Nation Review

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"MERCY," Part Two The tale of kink and metal continues as Ally and Alan ride their rollercoaster of sexual exploration. Meanwhile Anne and Laura enjoy their little slice of heaven relationship. Good times all around. Sure would be a shame if addictive behavior and trust issues ruined all that fun. I mean, that would be terrible.

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Living simply isn’t always simple. When Alan Boye first lived in sustainable housing, he was young, idealistic, and not much susceptible to compromise—until rattlesnakes, black widow spiders, and loneliness drove him out of the utilities-free yurt he’d built in New Mexico. Thirty-five years later, he decided to try again. This time, with an idealism tempered by experience and practical considerations, Boye and his wife constructed an off-the-grid, energy-efficient, straw bale house in Vermont. Sustainable Compromises chronicles these two remarkable attempts to live simply in two disparate American eras. Writing with hard-won authority and humor, Boye takes up the “how-to” practicalities of “building green,” from finances to nuts and bolts to strains on friends and family. With Walden as a historical and philosophical touchstone and his own experience as a practical guide, he also explores the ethical and environmental concerns that have framed such undertakings from Thoreau’s day to our own. A firsthand account of the pleasures and pitfalls of living simply, his book is a deeply informed and engaging reflection on what sustainability really means—in personal, communal, ethical, and environmental terms.

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Celebrations, Alan Burns’s third novel, brings the inherent violence and oppression so apparent in Europe after the Rain into the setting of a family-owned factory, where social hierarchies, legal structures and humiliation keep the workers in line. By bringing the differences between workers sharply into focus, Burns creates a choking atmosphere of oppression and exploitation – heightened and upended by his trademark aleatoric style, peppering with seemingly random headlines and offcuts the text, which has not lost any of either its relevance or its acerbic bite in the intervening years.

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This volume includes: Daniel Kölligen, “Ὄρθος, The Watchdog”; Richard L. Phillips, “Invisibility and Sight in Homer: Some Aspects of A. S. Pease Reconsidered”; Antonio Tibiletti, “Pondering Pindaric Superlatives in Context”; Matthew Hiscock, “Αὐθέντης: A ‘Mot Fort’ in the Discourse of Classical Athens”; James T. Clark, “Off-Stage Cries? The Performance of Sophocles’ Philoctetes 201–218, Trachiniae 863–870, and Euripides’ Electra 747–760”; Giuseppe Pezzini, “Terence and the Speculum Vitae: ‘Realism’ and (Roman) Comedy”; Neil O’Sullivan, “Quotations from Epicurean Philosophy and Greek Tragedy in Three Letters of Cicero”; Ernesto Paparazzo, “A Study of Varro’s Account of Roman Civil Theology in the Antiquitates Rerum Divinarum and Its Reception by Augustine and Modern Readers”; Joseph P. Dexter and Pramit Chaudhuri, “Dardanio Anchisae: Hiatus, Homer, and Intermetricality in the Aeneid”; Michael A. Tueller, “Dido the Author: Epigram and the Aeneid”; Benjamin Victor, Nancy Duval, and Isabelle Chouinard, “Subordinating si and ni in Virgil: Some Characteristic Uses, with Remarks on Aeneid 6.882–883”; Richard Gaskin, “On Being Pessimistic about the End of the Aeneid”; Gregory R. Mellen, “Num Delenda est Karthago? Metrical Wordplay and the Text of Horace Odes 4.8”; Kyle Gervais, “Dominoque legere superstes? Epic and Empire at the End of the Thebaid”; D. Clint Burnett, “Temple Sharing and Throne Sharing: A Reconsideration of Σύνναος and Σύνθρονος in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods”; Charles H. Cosgrove, “Semi-Lyrical Reading of Greek Poetry in Late Antiquity”; Byron MacDougall, “Better Recognize: Anagnorisis in Gregory of Nazianzus’s First Invective against Julian”; Alan Cameron, “Jerome and the Historia Augusta”; Jessica H. Clark, “Adfirmare and Appeals to Authority in Servius Danielis”; and Jarrett T. Welsh, “Nonius Marcellus and the Source Called ‘Gloss. i.’”

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October 1941. Twenty-one-year-old Alan Mart is posted to India and taken under the wing of the dogmatic, overbearing Acting-Captin Sam Holl. Following the Japanese advance on Singapore, the men are deployed to Malaya. What follows is a quietly shattering and searingly authentic depiction of the claustrophobia of jungle warfare and the futility of war.

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What are the basic concepts of executive organization and management? How does executive organization affect management? How can executive organization and management be improved? In Making Government Manageable, Thomas H. Stanton and Benjamin Ginsberg bring together a distinguished group of authorities from both the academic and political worlds to explore problems relating to the organization and management of government. The authors begin with a brief overview of the development of executive organization and management to the present day. They then offer examples of problems in federal department organization and management. They also raise the question of the effectiveness of third-party government-cases in which the private sector under contract with the government performs services for which the government is responsible and, in the process, makes policy for which the government becomes responsible. The authors conclude with a discussion of cases in which agencies have enjoyed some measure of success through reforming and reorganizing their internal structures and processes. Contributors: Murray Comarow, National Academy of Public Administration; Matthew A. Crenson, the Johns Hopkins University; Alan L. Dean, National Academy of Public Administration; Dan Guttman, The Johns Hopkins University and the National Academy of Public Administration; Dwight Ink, Institute of Public Administration; Ronald C. Moe, the Johns Hopkins University and National Academy of Public Administration; Sallyanne Payton, University of Michigan Law School; Beryl A. Radin, University of Baltimore and National Academy of Public Administration; Harold Seidman, formerly U.S. Bureau of the Budget; Barbara S. Wamsley, National Academy of Public Administration and the Johns Hopkins University.

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Build your child’s reading confidence at home with books at the right level Collins Big Cat supports every primary child on their reading journey from phonics to fluency. Top authors and illustrators have created fiction and non-fiction books that children love to read. Book banded for guided and independent reading, there are reading notes in the back, comprehensive teaching and assessment support and ebooks available. Zoha was eating spaghetti when she discovered a tiny silver spaceship in her food. There was an alien in her spaghetti! What could he possibly want? Join Zoha and Alan the alien on their adventure to understand life on Earth in this quirky story by Kay Woodward. White Plus/Band 10+ books provide challenging plots and vocabulary as well as opportunities to practise inference, prediction and reading stamina. Pages 46 and 47 allow children to re-visit the content of the book, supporting comprehension skills, vocabulary development and recall. Ideas for reading in the back of the book provide practical support and stimulating activities.

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How Russians, the Rich and the Government Try to Prevent Free Speech and How to Stop Them. ‘ESSENTIAL’ Amal Clooney‘AUTHORITATIVE’ Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC‘IMPORTANT ’Baroness Helena Kennedy KC‘COULD HARDLY BE MORE TIMELY’ Alan Rusbridger The British tradition of “free speech” is a myth. From the middle ages to the present, the law of defamation has worked to cover up misbehaviour by the rich and powerful, whose legal mercenaries intimidate investigative journalists. Now a new terror has been added through misguided judicial development of the laws of privacy, breach of confidence and data protection, to suppress the reporting of truths of public importance to tell. Drawing upon the author’s unparalleled experience of defending journalists and editors in English and Commonwealth courtrooms over the past half-century, the book describes the hidden world of lawfare, in which authors struggle against unfair rules that put them always on the defensive and against a costs burden that runs to millions. Law schools do not teach freedom of speech and judges in the Supreme Court do not understand it. This book identifies and advocates the reforms that will be necessary before Britain can truly boast that it is a land of free speech, rather than a place where free speech can come very expensive.

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A People's History of Tottenham Hotspur is the story of how fans helped create the identity of a world-famous club and tells a story from a perspective rarely acknowledged. Drawing on social history, contemporary press reports and first-hand interviews with the fans themselves, authors Martin Cloake and Alan Fisher trace the club's development from being the team of the suburbs and the rising south, through the glory years and the arrival of mass, popular culture, and into the modern era of the game. It is not a tale of trophies won and lost, of players bought and sold. Instead, it is the story of how one of the game's oldest and most famous teams was formed and established by its fans and how its identity was created by them. It evaluates how the fans' relationship with the club has evolved, as the game has changed: from those bygone days, when a club was at the heart of a local community, to the modern era, where the world's leading football clubs have to compete as multinational 'brands', appealing to fans on a global scale, stretching much further and wider than the north London footprint than the club's founders would have ever imagined.

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“A fascinating peek behind the making of a megahit, and a delightful bit of nostalgia for those of us who remember life before streaming TV.” —Town & CountryWelcome to the O.C., b*tch: it’s the definitive oral history of beloved TV show The O.C., from the show’s creators, featuring interviews with the cast and crew, providing a behind-the-scenes look into how the show was made, the ups and downs over its four seasons, and its legacy today. On August 5th, 2003, Ryan Atwood found himself a long way from his home in Chino—he was in The O.C., an exclusive suburb full of beautiful girls, wealthy bullies, corrupt real-estate tycoons, and a new family helmed by his public defender, Sandy Cohen. Ryan soon warms up to his nerdy, indie band-loving new best friend Seth, and quickly falls for Marissa, the stunning girl next door who has secrets of her own. Completing the group is Summer, Seth’s dream girl and Marissa’s loyal—and fearless—best friend. Together, the friends fall in and out of love, support each other amidst family strife, and capture the hearts of audiences across the country.Just in time for the show’s twentieth anniversary, The O.C.’s creator Josh Schwartz and executive producer Stephanie Savage are ready to dive into how the show was made, the ups and downs over its four seasons, and its legacy today. With Rolling Stone’s chief TV critic and bestselling author Alan Sepinwall conducting interviews with the key cast members, writers, and producers who were there when it all happened, Welcome to the O.C. will offer the definitive inside look at the beloved show—a nostalgic delight for audiences who watched when it aired, and a rich companion to viewers currently discovering the show while it streams on HBO Max and Hulu.The O.C. paved the way for a new generation of iconic teen soaps, launched the careers of young stars, and even gave us the gift of Chrismukkah. Now, it’s time to go back where we started from and experience it all over again. Includes exclusive interviews with: Ben McKenzie * Mischa Barton * Adam Brody * Rachel Bilson * Peter Gallagher * Kelly Rowan * Melinda Clarke * Tate Donovan * Chris Carmack * Autumn Reeser * Willa Holland * Samaire Armstrong * Alan Dale * Colin Hanks * Amanda Righetti * Navi Rawat * Shannon Lucio * Michael Cassidy * McG * Imogen Heap * Alex Greenwald * Ben Gibbard * Paul Scheer * Doug Liman * and many more!

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'A revelatory classic' Maria Popova 'A spiritual polymath, the first and possibly greatest' Deepak ChopraWhat we have forgotten is that thoughts and words are conventions, and that it is fatal to take conventions too seriouslyToo often we fall into the trap of anticipating the future while lamenting the past and in the midst of this negative loop we forget how to live in the now. In this iconic and prescient text, pioneering Zen scholar Alan Watts shows us how, in an age of unprecedented anxiety, we must embrace the present in order to live a fulfilling life.

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'In the Orchard' is not so much a collection of poems about birds as a book of memories and rare moments in which a number of familiar birds have played a spark-like role in bringing poems about. They are chiefly lyrical in character and range in time from 'Resurrection' written over fifty years ago to recent poems like 'The Bully Thrush', but they are not ordered chronologically and shouldn't be associated with events in the poet's private life. The etchings by Alan Turnbull are the result of his patient and painstaking study of each bird as it relates to the poem in which it appears.

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Winner of the 41st International 3-Day Novel Writing Contest Alan is unsure if he is dead or dreaming, he only knows that he is stuck in a loop. He finds himself being forced to walk along a straight path through an unending pine forest where any deviation from the path causes him to black out and begin again. Dipping in and out of an endless purgatorial walk, Alan relives key moments in his life where he missed the opportunity to learn, escape, and change: The death of his mother, an abusive relationship with his father, and the opportunity to connect with his only real friend, a neighbour he never speaks to named Edgar. The Loop chronicles the life of an alcoholic who is unable to escape his past to explore the ways in which abuse can shape someone into their abuser and the ways trauma can transfer from one generation to the next. How much of who we are is who we are? How much of it is someone else? What if this has all happened before?

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'Delightful... Her characters are, as always, wonderfully imperfect' New York Review of BooksAlan has changed because he's injured his back. Pain has altered his appearance and made him glum, demanding and resentful. His wife Jane has to do everything for him - fetching, carrying, shopping, cooking, even dressing and undressing him. Sometimes she longs for escape.Delia is a writer and researcher specialising in fairy tales - she is, in her own estimation, a 'Great Artist'. Her husband, Henry, manages her every need making certain Delia gets everything she desires including spectacular doses of adulation.Can Delia coax Alan out of his grumpiness? Can Henry stop Jane feeling guilty? Can the two couples break out of their fixed roles?'I am re-reading with enormous delight and greed. If you're new to [Lurie], lucky you: marvellously astute comedies of social, moral and sexual manners, her witty exuberance is nothing short of inspirational' Helen Simpson

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How insightful is Alan Gart's Regulation, Deregulation, Reregulation? "This book is a must for anyone who wishes to chart the future of a radically changing financial industry It contains the most comprehensive histories in a single source of the banking, insurance, and securities companies; what has brought them to their current strains, and what the group is likely to look like a decade from now. It looks like a winner." --Ben Weberman, Columnist Forbes magazine "[Alan Gart] gives the reader an excellent feeling of the past, which has caused the situation we are presently in, and more importantly, gives us an excellent view of the future." --L.J. "Bud" Rowell, Jr., President and CEO Provident Mutual "A valuable compendium of important events in the history of the financial services industry. No one--student, banker, or regulator--should be without it." --Irwin L. Kellner, Chief Economist Chemical Bank "A monumental effort.Alan Gart knows banking." --Terrence A. Larsen, Chairman CoreStates Financial Group "An informative, substantive, and provocative discussion of the financial services industry. This is a stimulating, even exciting, tour de force." --Leonard Berwick, Chairman/CEO First City Bankers "Regulation, Deregulation, Reregulation is an illuminating and intriguing account of the dynamics of change taking place within the financial services industry." --Larry A. Frieder, PhD, Professor of Banking Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

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This book develops some of the extraordinary richness, beauty, and power of geometry in two and three dimensions, and the strong connection of geometry with topology. Hyperbolic geometry is the star. A strong effort has been made to convey not just denatured formal reasoning (definitions, theorems, and proofs), but a living feeling for the subject. There are many figures, examples, and exercises of varying difficulty. This book was the origin of a grand scheme developed by Thurston that is now coming to fruition. In the 1920s and 1930s the mathematics of two-dimensional spaces was formalized. It was Thurston's goal to do the same for three-dimensional spaces. To do this, he had to establish the strong connection of geometry to topology--the study of qualitative questions about geometrical structures. The author created a new set of concepts, and the expression "Thurston-type geometry" has become a commonplace. Three-Dimensional Geometry and Topology had its origins in the form of notes for a graduate course the author taught at Princeton University between 1978 and 1980. Thurston shared his notes, duplicating and sending them to whoever requested them. Eventually, the mailing list grew to more than one thousand names. The book is the culmination of two decades of research and has become the most important and influential text in the field. Its content also provided the methods needed to solve one of mathematics' oldest unsolved problems--the Poincare Conjecture. In 2005 Thurston won the first AMS Book Prize, for Three-dimensional Geometry and Topology. The prize recognizes an outstanding research book that makes a seminal contribution to the research literature. Thurston received the Fields Medal, the mathematical equivalent of the Nobel Prize, in 1982 for the depth and originality of his contributions to mathematics. In 1979 he was awarded the Alan T. Waterman Award, which recognizes an outstanding young researcher in any field of science or engineering supported by the National Science Foundation.

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In their lovely old Cotswolds village, Janet and Susan are known to all the other villagers as “the girls” - a fixture. Partners in love and work, co-proprietors of a picturesque shop specialising in the work of local artisans and farmers, they lead an enviable, enviably settled life. So it’s no catastrophe when Sue, the younger of the two, feels the need to take a month to travel on her own, leaving Jan alone to run their stall at the Inland Waterways Rally Craft Fair. Nor is it any real threat when a kindly gay man named Alan lends Jan a hand in Sue’s absence, or when the two wind up sharing some wine and even a bunk for the night. If Jan turns out to be pregnant some weeks after Sue’s return to the nest, what’s that but cause for joy? And when Alan happens to come visiting, by and by, finding the delighted girls raising a beautiful baby boy, who can blame him for wanting to share in a small part of their bliss? Yes, theirs is an enviable, enviably settled life. And the girls will defend it with every tool at their disposal.

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Premiering at the Manchester Opera House in February 2020 to rave reviews—including a notice from The Guardian that the show “sets a new standard of spectacle,” Back to the Future: The Musical brings the classic 1985 film to life on the theatrical stage. Featuring music and lyrics by Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard and a book by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale (adapted from their original screenplay), the show stars Tony Award–winner Roger Bart as Doc Brown and Olly Dobson as Marty McFly. Creating Back to the Future: The Musical offers fans of the film franchise and lovers of musical theater an engrossing and entertaining look at the birth of a new theatrical classic. With unprecedented access to cast and crew, author Michael Klastorin (Back to The Future: The Ultimate Visual History) pairs exclusive, in-depth interviews with previously unpublished photography; excerpts from Bob Gale’s personal journal; and a foreword by Gale to reveal and detail the years long process, and the creative ingenuity and technical innovation, that went into the show’s West End premiere.

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James and Carmona Hardwick are spending the summer playing host to numerous friends and relatives in an old Hardwick family residence by the sea.The arrival of Alan Field, a devastatingly handsome though shady figure from Carmona's past, destroys the holiday atmosphere in the old house and replaces it with a mounting tension, culminating in murder.Fortunately, Miss Silver is present to unravel the complex mystery and seek out the murderer amongst them.

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‘Super engaging and accessible’ PIERS TORDAY ‘Empowers children to be creative, perseverant and write independently’ TEACH PRIMARY ‘A must-have book for any young writer’ JANE CONSIDINE ‘An imaginative and affordable resource’ CLASS READS If you’re looking for emergency literacy help in a handy, pocket-sized book, then Write Like a Ninja is perfect for you. Crammed full of writing and grammar tips, prompts to get children thinking of rich alternatives and Alan Peat’s exciting sentences, this gem of a book is perfect for children aged 7 upwards either as an invaluable classroom aid or a brilliant dip-in thesaurus to use at home. It contains everything a budding writer needs to flourish as an author and meet the demands of the Key Stage 2 National Curriculum for English. This engaging, easy-to-use book allows children to write with confidence. There are awesome alternatives for overused adjectives, as well as themed vocabulary lists for describing settings, characters, food and drink, and more. From examples of metaphors, similes and superlatives to verbs, conjunctions and adjectives, this is a user-friendly book that children will turn to again and again to build their own ideas and enrich their writing. This neat little book will save hours of time spent tracking down resources and finding examples for children, and empower them to write independently using rich vocabulary, varied language and exciting sentences – all leading to becoming top writing ninjas! For more must-have Ninja books by Andrew Jennings (@VocabularyNinja), check out the Vocabulary Ninja and Comprehension Ninja classroom and home learning resources.

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When we spend so much of our time immersed in books, who's to say where reading ends and living begins? The two are impossibly and gloriously wedded, as Hill shows in Jacob's Room Is Full of Books. Considering everything from Edith Wharton's novels through to Alan Bennett's diaries, Virginia Woolf and the writings of twelfth century monk Aelred of Rievaulx, Susan Hill charts a year of her life through the books she has read, reread or returned to the shelf. From beneath a shady tree in a hot French summer, or the warmth of a kitchen during an English winter, Hill reflects on what her reading throws up, from writing and writers to politics and religion, as well as the joy of dandies or the pleasure of watching a line of geese cross a meadow. Full of wry observations and warm humour, as well as strong opinions freely aired, this is a rare and wonderful insight into the rich world of reading from one of the nation's most accomplished authors.

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With his tender, funny memoir of four decades in the business, Alan Zweibel traces the history of American comedy Alan Zweibel started his comedy career selling jokes for seven dollars apiece to the last of the Borscht Belt standups. Then one night, despite bombing on stage, he caught the attention of Lorne Michaels and became one of the first writers at Saturday Night Live, where he penned classic material for Gilda Radner, John Belushi, and all of the original Not Ready For Prime Time Players. From SNL, he went on to have a hand in a series of landmark shows—from It’s Garry Shandling’s Show to Curb Your Enthusiasm. In Laugh Lines, Zweibel takes readers through his 40-year career in the comedy-writing business and charts the story of American comedy over the decades. From when the Catskills were a breeding ground for talented comedians, through the era of vanguard New York City comedy clubs that spawned a new wave of original voices, Zweibel covers comedy variety television, prestige cable, the Broadway stage, and the streaming world today. He weaves together his own stories and interviews with his friends and collaborators, including Billy Crystal, Larry David, Martin Short, Dave Barry, Carl Reiner, Sarah Silverman, John Mulaney, and Steve Martin. Laugh Lines is a warmhearted cultural memoir of American comedy.

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Build a thriving 21st-century consultancy with an all-new edition of the classic bestsellerIn a world of rapidly evolving technologies and business paradigms, your consulting business needs to radically adapt its techniques and models. Taking full measure of these changes, Alan Weiss, the “Rock Star of Consulting,” will guide you through the process with a revised and completely updated sixth edition of his authoritative guide to consulting success.Weiss updates his time-tested model for creating a flourishing consulting business, while showing you the many dynamic changes in solo and boutique consulting, coaching, and entrepreneurship. In addition, he offers you invaluable guidance on raising capital, attracting clients, and creating an airtight marketing strategy.This new edition is packed with step-by-step advice on how to: Use volatility and disruption as offensive weapons Maximize fees by adopting a “value mindset” Build a successful model for marketing remotely Master cutting-edge technology to reach the broadest audience Form powerful alliances to increase reach and impact Think branding—and think global Generate six-figure projects, six-figure retainers, and seven-figure incomes Million Dollar Consulting has been the go-to classic for consultants for nearly 25 years. With cutting-edge new content, Alan Weiss will show you how to grow your business into a seven-figure firm today.

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A Deeper Shade of Blue charts the tumultuous years of Chelsea Football Club between 1972 and 1977 when the glittering cup-winning side of the early 70s was broken up, and stars such as Peter Osgood and Alan Hudson departed, along with manager Dave Sexton. It was an era that saw Chelsea relegated to the Second Division while massive debts pushed them to the brink of extinction. But the Blues bounced back with the birth of Eddie McCreadie's brash, young and exciting side, led by the precociously talented Ray 'Butch' Wilkins. McCreadie guided the club back to the First Division only to leave acrimoniously in bizarre circumstances - a golden opportunity spurned by the club's owners. A Deeper Shade of Blue is the eagerly awaited sequel to Neil Fitzsimon's Rhapsody in Blue. It reveals how the author made the difficult transition from adolescence to adulthood as a Chelsea supporter during those turbulent times. We discover how the innocence of youth was replaced by the harsh experience of growing up in 1970s England.

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The Tiwanaku The city of Tiwanaku lies ruined in the rugged Andean steppe of Bolivia twelve thousand feet above sea level, the highest urban settlement of the ancient world. Its wide streets open towards ramparts of glaciated mountain peaks and the intense blue waters of Lake Titicaca. Gigantic stone sculptures and shattered architectural blocks suggest profound antiquity and the passage of great events, now lost and unremembered. Here, two and a half thousand years ago, a distinct society emerged which over the course of thirteen centuries developed one of the greatest civilizations and the first empire of the ancient Americas. This book, the first published history of the Tiwanakan peoples from their origins to their present survival, is a feat of scholarly and archaeological detection undertaken and led by the author. Alan Kolata draws together the evidence of historical documents from the time of the Iberian conquest, accounts and legends of the contemporary inhabitants, and the results of extensive excavations in order to provide a narrative covering three thousand years. In doing so he addresses and explains features of Tiwanakan culture that have long puzzled scholars: the origins of their uniquely massive architecture, the nature of their sophisticated hydraulically-engineered agriculture, their obsession with decapitation and the display of severed heads, and not least the reasons for their mysterious and sudden decline at the end of the tenth century. The book is illustrated throughout with photographs, maps and drawings, and is fully referenced and indexed. Although written to appeal to the nonspecialist and assuming no prior knowledge of the subject, this is a book of scholarly import, and likely to become the standard work for many years.

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