Search results for ""vintage publishing""

**SHORTLISTED FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2023** A panoramic revisionist portrait of the nineteenth-century invention that is transforming the twenty-first-century world.''The real feat of this book is that it takes us on a ride-across the centuries and around the globe, through startling history and vivid first-person reporting.'' - Patrick Radden Keefe, New York Times bestselling author of Empire of PainThe bicycle is a vestige of the Victorian era, seemingly out of pace with our age of smartphones and ridesharing apps and driverless cars. Yet across the world, more people travel by bicycle than by any other form of transportation. Almost anyone can learn to ride a bike - and nearly everyone does.In Two Wheels Good, writer and critic Jody Rosen reshapes our understanding of this ubiquitous machine, an ever-present force in humanity''s life and dreamlife, and a flashpoint in culture wars for more

Read more less

A wildly inventive, exhilarating debut narrated by a young woman meditating on her Czech ancestors'' ''falling curse'', her twin brother''s fall from a window, and the malleable, breakable bonds keeping her family from falling apart.One thing that the city of Prague is famous for is throwing men out of windows. The word for this is defenestration.In 1895, Marta''s great-great-grandfather Jirí was said to have given a gentle push to the back of a stonemason for having wronged him. The stonemason fell to his death and the family fled the Czech capital for the American Midwest, where they set up a new life.So begins the story of Marta and her brother Nick, deeply interwoven twins haunted by the mysterious curse that has plagued their family for centuries, one that has doomed them to suffer various types of falls. And when Nick falls out of a window and ends up seriously injured, Marta embarks on a heart-breaking quest to discover whether or not his fall w

Read more less

Richard Hannay is living a quiet life in London, but after a chance encounter with a mysterious stranger he stumbles into a hair-raising adventure - a desperate hunt across the country and against the clock, pursued by the police and a cunning, ruthless enemy.

Read more less

'A treatise on empathy and grace in extraordinary circumstances' Jojo Moyes'Today I sat on a bench facing the sea, the one where I waited for L to be born, and sobbed my heart out.

Read more less

**SHORTLISTED FOR THE T.S. ELIOT PRIZE 2021**A book of loss, looking back, and what binds us to life, by a towering poetic talent, 'one of the poetry stars of his generation' (Los Angeles Times).'We sleep long, / if not sound,' Kevin Young writes early on in this exquisite gathering of poems, 'Till the end / we sing / into the wind.' In scenes and settings that circle family and the generations in the American South - one poem, 'Kith', exploring that strange bedfellow of 'kin' - the speaker and his young son wander among the stones of their ancestors. 'Like heat he seeks them, / my son, thirsting / to learn those / he don't know / are his dead.' Whether it's the fireflies of a Louisiana summer caught in a mason jar (doomed by their collection), or his grandmother, Mama Annie, who latches the screen door when someone steps out for just a moment, all that makes up our flickering, precarious joy, all that we want to protect, is lifted into the light in this moving book. Stones becomes an ode to Young's home places and his dear departed, and to what of them - of us - poetry can save.

Read more less

'It is spring, moonless night in the small town, starless and bible-black...'Under Milk Wood tells the story of a Welsh village during one spring day. It is populated by some of the best-loved characters in British literature. Lyrical, funny, moving, it is rooted in place but with a universality that has spoken to generations of readers. A Welsh epic, a work of poetic genius, a modern classic.'A tour de force of oral poetry which oozes word pictures and onomatopoeic musicality' Guardian

Read more less

VINTAGE CLASSICS' AMERICAN GOTHIC SERIESSpine-tingling, mind-altering and deliciously atmospheric, journey into the dark side of America with nine of its most uncanny classics.Every weekend, in basements and parking lots across the country, young men with good white-collar jobs and absent fathers take off their shoes and shirts and fight each other barehanded for as long as they have to. Then they go back to those jobs with blackened eyes and loosened teeth and the sense that they can handle anything. Fight Club is the invention of Tyler Durden, projectionist, waiter and dark, anarchic genius. And it's only the beginning of his plans for revenge on a world where cancer support groups have the corner on human warmth.'Hypnotic, pitiless and told brilliantly' Bret Easton Ellis'Like a noxious Doug Coupland, Palahiuk charts new-felt and totally contemporary categories of despair' Ali Smith, Guardian

Read more less

'A modern gothic triumph' Max PorterThe Bass Rock has for centuries watched over the lives that pass under its shadow on the Scottish mainland. And across the centuries the fates of three women are linked: to this place, to each other.In the early 1700s, Sarah, accused of being a witch, flees for her life.In the aftermath of the Second World War, Ruth navigates a new house, a new husband and the strange waters of the local community. Six decades later, the house stands empty. Viv, mourning the death of her father, catalogues Ruth's belongings and discovers her place in the past - and perhaps a way forward.Each woman's choices are circumscribed by the men in their lives. But in sisterhood there is the hope of survival and new life...WINNER OF THE STELLA PRIZE_______________PRAISE FOR THE BASS ROCK:'Daring, heartfelt, explosive' Daisy Johnson'A vividly imagined portrait' Sunday Times'Dark, disturbing and very sophisticated' William Boyd 'Wonderfully subtle and magnificently savage' Claire Fuller

Read more less

'Kennedy is a superb writer and the canniness of her observation keeps you reading' Sunday TimesHumour, fantasy, rage and despair both help and hinder the protagonists of these stories as they navigate changing circumstances, accumulating losses, moments of comprehension and tenderness. Here is the woman, hoping for a quiet day at the zoo, who finally snaps at a white man's racist tirade and vents years of fury; the micro-celebrity who practises lines for a chat show on which he'll never appear; and the woman who walks out of her honeymoon suite at midnight, perhaps for good. Unsparing in her close examination of human relationships, A. L. Kennedy proves once again why she is regarded as one of our great storytellers.'Kennedy dissects the small intimacies of inner thoughts... Her prose is typically direct, her sentences clear-cut and yet capable of great tenderness' Observer'An author with a proven ability to see - truly see - and whose prose can fire like gunshots across the page' New Statesman

Read more less

Discover this selection of the best of Dickens' Christmas stories and writings in one beautiful gift edition.The ultimate Christmas present.It is said that Charles Dickens invented Christmas, and within these pages you'll certainly find all the elements of a quintessential traditional Christmas brought to vivid life: snowy rooftops, gleaming shop windows, steaming bowls of punch, plum puddings like speckled cannon balls, sage and onion stuffing, miracles, magic, charity and goodwill. This beautifully produced Vintage Classics edition gathers together not only Dickens' Christmas Books ('A Christmas Carol', 'The Chimes', 'The Battle of Life', 'The Cricket on the Hearth' and 'The Haunted Man') but also stories that Dickens wrote for the special seasonal editions of his periodicals All the Year Round and Household Words, and a festive tale from The Pickwick Papers. A must-have for Christmas, this edition should be as necessary to your festivities as holly, mistletoe and silver bells.

Read more less

The story of a life. The story of the year.'Lessons shows [McEwan] at the very peak of his powers. He has written his masterpiece' Daily TelegraphWhen the world is still counting the cost of the Second World War and the Iron Curtain has descended, young Roland Baines's life is turned upside down. Stranded at boarding school, his vulnerability attracts his piano teacher, Miriam Cornell, leaving scars as well as a memory of love that will never fade.Twenty-five years later Roland's wife mysteriously vanishes, and he is left alone with their baby son. Her disappearance sparks of journey of discovery that will continue for decades, as Roland confronts the reality of his rootless existence and attempts to embrace the uncertainty - and freedom - of his future.'Ian McEwan is a masterful storyteller' Elif Shafak'A beautiful book about love, loss and regret' Observer'Luminous, beautifully written... about lives imperfectly lived' Vogue'A whole, unruly life between the covers of a single book: a literary feat' Spectator'A tour de force... A single life is silhouetted against global happenings' Sunday Times* A Book of the Year for The Times, Sunday Times, Financial Times, Spectator, New Statesman, Washington Post, Vogue and New Yorker *

Read more less

The Morrison siblings have been haunted by tragedy since the sudden death of their parents in an accident when they were young.Kate found an escape from the legacy of their dark past in her passion for the natural world. Now a zoologist far away from the small farming community where she grew up, she thinks she's outgrown her three brothers, who were once her entire world. But Kate can't seem to escape her childhood or lighten the weight of their mutual past.'I've been trying to tell everyone I know about Mary Lawson . . . Each one of her novels is just a marvel' Anne Tyler, bestselling author of French Braid'A remarkable novel, utterly gripping...I read it at a single sitting, then I read it again, just for the pleasure of it' Joanne Harris, bestselling author of Chocolat'Full of blossoming insights and emotional acuity...a compelling and serious page-turner' Observer

Read more less

'The absolute best if you want easy, no-fuss, filling dinners' Ruby TandohCook delicious one-tin versions of your favourite recipes from around the world.The Roasting Tin Around the World covers all corners of the globe with brand new recipes. The greatest hits from each region are reworked into quick and easy one-tin meals. The dishes are perfect for weeknight dinners, lunch breaks and family favourites.Rukmini Iyer's vision for the roasting tin series is: 'minimum effort, maximum flavour'. This book really delivers with its bold, punchy, and global flavours. The perfect way to experience your favourite international flavours and bring the world to your dinner table this winter.Just chop a few ingredients, pop them into a roasting tin and let the oven do the work. Featuring 75 easy-to-make recipes that make use of your lockdown larder ingredients, The Roasting Tin Around the World is the perfect cook book for vegans, vegetarians, and meat-eaters alike.'I love Rukmini Iyer's books' Judy Murray, OBE 'So delicious. So easy' Nina StibbeINDIA EXPRESS, THE NEW COOK BOOK FROM THE MILLION-COPY SELLING AUTHOR OF THE ROASTING TIN SERIES, IS OUT NOW.

Read more less

Three generations of Taiwanese American women are haunted by the myths of their homeland in this blazing debut of one family's queer desires, violent impulses and buried secrets.One evening, Mother tells Daughter a story about a tiger spirit who lived in a woman's body. Her name was Hu Gu Po, and she hungered to eat children, especially their toes. Soon afterwards, Daughter awakes with a tiger tail. And more mysterious events follow: Holes in the backyard spit up letters penned by her estranged grandmother; a visiting aunt leaves red on everything she touches; a ghost bird shimmers in an ancient birdcage.All the while, Daughter is falling for a neighbourhood girl named Ben with mysterious stories of her own. As the two young lovers translate the grandmother's letters, Daughter begins to understand that each woman in her family embodies an old Taiwanese myth, and fears the power of the tiger spirit bristling within her to cause pain. She will have to bring her family's secrets to light in order to derail their destiny. 'What gives me fuel are other books - anything stylish and/or dirty. This year I loved reading K-Ming Chang's Bestiary' Raven Leilani, author of Luster

Read more less

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTUREThe choir from Our Lady of Perpetual Succour School for Girls is being bussed to the national finals in the big, big city. It's an important day for The Sopranos, with pub-crawling, shoplifting and body-piercing being the top priorities. And with a newly anchored nuclear sub in the bay, the Man Trap disco will be full of submariners on shore-leave tonight. There is no time for delays – or even for winning…But after the fifth bottle of alco-pop on the bus it's clear that all is not going to plan, for anyone. The Sopranos are never going to be the same.

Read more less

'Charming, witty and warm, Small Miracles is a gentle gem of a novel, a cheery balm in troubling times.' AJ Pearce, bestselling author of Dear Mrs BirdIn the summer of 1995, three nuns play the lottery to save their failing convent and set off on an adventure to Italy in search of a miracle. A joyful, heart-warming story of friendship, community, faith and love.The 1990s are proving tough for the convent. The order of the Sisters of Saint Philomena is down to its three last nuns. The place that Sisters Margaret, Bridget and Cecilia call home is in dire need of repairs and, with no savings and no new recruits, they are facing the prospect of having to sell up and leave behind the friends and neighbours in the parish community that they love.That is, until ninety-year-old Cecilia decides to play the newly launched National Lottery and a series of small miracles begins to unfold...Small Miracles takes the reader on a joyful and uplifting journey as these three unforgettable nuns learn more about life, love and friendship than they could ever have imagined.***Sweet Mercies, the new Christmas adventure with the Sisters of Saint Philomena, is available for pre-order now!***

Read more less

A murder. A world in crisis. Britain's greatest spy . . . 'BRILLIANT' Richard OsmanIt is M's funeral. One man is missing from the graveside: the traitor who pulled the trigger and who is now in custody, accused of M's murder - James Bond.Behind the Iron Curtain, a group of former Smersh agents want to use Bond on a perilous mission that will change the balance of world power. He is smuggled into the lion's den - but whose orders is Bond following, and will he obey them when the moment to strike arrives?Discover the latest chapter in the world of 007, brought thrillingly to life by Sunday Times bestselling author Anthony Horowitz.PRAISE FOR ANTHONY HOROWITZ'S JAMES BOND TRILOGY:'Daring, exciting . . . superbly plotted' Sunday Express'Gripping . . . and with non-stop action' i'Fast-paced, skilfully written . . . leaves you wanting more' The Times'Ian Fleming would be proud' Guardian'Horowitz excels at action sequences' Sunday Times'Exciting high drama . . . Horowitz stays loyal to the fabulous Fleming formula' Daily Express

Read more less

**WINNER OF THE CWA ENDEAVOUR HISTORICAL DAGGER **'An exceptional historical crime novel' C.J. Sansom India, 1919. Desperate for a fresh start, Captain Sam Wyndham arrives to take up an important post in Calcutta's police force. He is soon called to the scene of a horrifying murder. The victim was a senior official, and a note left in his mouth warns the British to leave India - or else. With the stability of the Empire under threat, Wyndham and Sergeant 'Surrender-not' Banerjee must solve the case quickly. But there are some who will do anything to stop them...**A THE TIMES/SUNDAY TIMES CRIME CLUB TOP 40 BOOK OF LAST FIVE YEARS**Praise for the Wyndham and Banerjee series : 'A thought-provoking rollercoaster' Ian Rankin 'Does for the Raj what Philip Kerr did for the Reich' The Times/Sunday Times Crime Club 'Highly entertaining' Daily Telegraph If you enjoyed A Rising Man, further books in the Wyndham and Banerjee series are available now: A Necessary Evil Smoke and Ashes Death in the East The Shadows of Men

Read more less

A FAMILY STORY AND THE TALE OF A NATION.Ai Weiwei - one of the world's most famous artists and activists - weaves a century-long epic tale of China through the story of his own life and that of his father, Ai Qing, the nation's most celebrated poet. 'Engrossing...a remarkable story' Sunday TimesHere, through the sweeping lens of his own and his father's life, Ai Weiwei tells an epic tale of China over the last 100 years, from the Cultural Revolution to the modern-day Chinese Communist Party.Here is the story of a childhood spent in desolate exile after his father, Ai Qing, once China's most celebrated poet, fell foul of the authorities. Here is his move to America as a young man and his return to China, his rise from unknown to art-world superstar and international rights activist. Here is his extraordinary account of how his work has been shaped by living under a totalitarian regime.It's the story of a father and a son, of exceptional creativity and passionate belief, and of how two indomitable spirits enabled the world to understand their country.'A story of inherited resilience and self-determination' Observer'A majestic and exquisitely serious masterpiece about his China... One of the great voices of our time' Andrew Solomon'Intimate, unflinching...an instant classic' Evan Osnos, author of Age of Ambition

Read more less

'Deftly explores expectations of modern womanhood . . . Full of adventure and awe' Dolly AldertonPeople always said I'd find love where I least expected it. I always said they were idiots.I had no idea how to commit to another human being.I could barely commit to reading a magazine, and I wrote for magazines for a living. My specialist subject was celebrities, and my own relationships made their marriages look eternal.I'd never paid a household bill that didn't mention bailiffs, and my idea of exercise was to go and stand outside a famous person's house and stare until I'd convinced myself that I lived in it.But my life in LA was happy; free of care and consequence. That was, until I came down to earth - with a bump.So this is the story of how I staggered from partying in Hollywood to bringing up a baby in Piss Alley, Dalston; how I never did find a copy of What To Expect When You Weren't Even Fucking Expecting To Be Expecting, and why paternity testing is not a good topic for a first-date conversation.A deeply profound, laugh out loud Mother's Day gift for all parents, from shocked novices to experienced pros. ___________________Praise for THE HUNGOVER GAMES:'Funny, dark and true' Caitlin Moran'A deeper, funnier, realer, more poignant Bridget Jones' Philippa Perry'Sharply observed and funny' Guardian'Frank and fearless' Red'Outrageously entertaining' David Nicholls'This is the first time I've read anything about motherhood that didn't bore me' Sara Pascoe

Read more less

"Great, beautiful little studies of unspoken fear and longing and love, told with a sure-footed delicacy rare in a debut" Sarah Moss, Irish Times"An exciting, original, and very welcome new voice" Donal Ryan"These are startling, adventurous and often wonderful stories. I loved this collection" Roddy DoyleA sharp and insightful debut short story collection about the pitfalls of ordinary life A wife yearns to escape the tight-fisted confines of a package holiday. A boy dreams of footballing greatness as his mother mourns a loss. A man tries to assemble an absent child's playhouse, with impossible instructions and too much beer. A woman seeks clarity from automated voices. A father is distracted from Christmas tree shopping with his son by the looming pressure of quarterly sales targets.Shine/Variance captures the tiny crises and wonders of daily life with warmth, wit and decisive clarity. Ordinary people - commuters, call centre workers, children and parents - struggle for stability while craving more, and the schism between expectation and reality is only rarely bridged. Yet, amidst the faltering, recognition and bright moments of hope still illuminate their days.Fresh, tender and darkly funny, these stories are a window into the longings, frustrations and painfully human connections of ordinary life from a remarkable new voice in fiction."The most powerful new collection I've read in some years" John Boyne"Brilliantly bats, staggeringly compelling, and ferociously funny. Stephen Walsh rips the concreteness of reality straight from us and reflects back a more wobbly version of our turbulent lives... Completely unique" June Caldwell"Full of assured originality and freshness - a new writer much to be welcomed" Bernard MacLaverty

Read more less

**THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Roxy Music's iconic first album with this collection of Bryan Ferry's evocative lyrics of aspiration and romantic longing, introduced by the author.'Lyrics is a book any Roxy fan would be proud to have on their shelf' The TelegraphBryan Ferry's work as a singer and songwriter, both as a solo artist and with Roxy Music, is legendary.Lyrics collects the words written for music across seventeen albums, from the first iconic Roxy album of 1972 via the masterpiece of Avalon to 2014's reflective Avonmore, introduced by the author, and with an insightful essay by James Truman.All the classic Roxy anthems are here - 'Virginia Plain', 'Do the Strand', 'Love is the Drug' - songs in which the real and the make-believe blend in a kaleidoscopic mix, shot through with cinematic allure.Also included are the evocative lyrics of romantic longing and lost illusions for which Ferry is rightly revered: 'Slave to Love', 'Mother of Pearl', 'More Than This'. As he writes in his preface, 'The low points in life so often produce the most keenly felt and best-loved songs.' And, it might be added, some of the best poetry.Discover this unforgettable collection of Bryan Ferry's work today.

Read more less

Atwood's first new fiction publication since The Testaments, this deeply personal collection includes a stunning sequence that follows a married couple as they travel the road together, the moments big and small that make up a long life of love -- and what comes afterThe stories explore the full warp and weft of experience, from two best friends disagreeing about their shared past, to the right way to stop someone from choking; from a daughter determining if her mother really is a witch, to what to do with inherited relics such as World War II parade swords.They feature beloved cats, a confused snail, Martha Gellhorn, George Orwell, philosopher-astronomer-mathematician Hypatia of Alexandria, a cabal of elderly female academics, and an alien tasked with retelling human fairy tales.The glorious range of Atwood's creativity and humanity is on full beam in these tales, which by turns delight, illuminate and quietly devastate.'Gripping... a writer in full possession of her powers' Financial Times'These reflections on marriage, mortality and many-tentacled aliens show Atwood's mastery of the short form' Guardian'She's Margaret Atwood, and she can do anything' Ann Patchett'There is no greater living writer' Daily Telegraph'The outstanding novelist of our age' Sunday Times 'A living legend' New York Times Book Review

Read more less

'All eight men and all eight stories stand as beautifully, pitifully, terribly true... This is fine, sound, good, honorable writing rich with insight and understanding, even when occasionally twisted by sorrow' New York TimesHunted by the police for a crime he didn't commit, a man turns to the sewers and a life underground. Struggling to get work, another turns to wearing his wife's clothes in a desperate last attempt. Finding himself the object of derision, yet another man buys a gun only to discover its true power. Here are Richard Wright's stories of eight men - black men, living at violent odds with the white world around them. As suspenseful as they are excoriating, they stand alongside Wright's novels as some of the most powerful depictions of black America in the twentieth century.

Read more less

'A magnum opus... Puts the reader at the heart of the horror that came to be called the Atlanta child murders' Toni MorrisonZala Spencer is barely surviving on the margins of Atlanta's booming economy when she awakens one summer's morning in 1980 to find her teenage son, Sonny, has disappeared. As uneasy hours turn into desperate days, Zala realizes that Sonny is among the many cases of missing children beginning to attract national attention. Growing increasingly disillusioned with the authorities, who respond to Sonny's disappearance with cold indifference, Zala and her estranged husband embark on an epic search. Through the eyes of a family seized by anguish and terror, we watch a city roiling with political, racial, and class tensions. Written over a span of twelve years, and edited by Toni Morrison, who called Those Bones Are Not My Child the author's magnum opus, Toni Cade Bambara's last novel leaves us with an enduring and revelatory chronicle of an American nightmare.

Read more less

'I'm the type which every man imagines he wants, until he gets me; and then he finds he doesn't really, after all'Goodbye to Berlin is the novella that inspired Cabaret, evoking the glamour and sleaze, excess and repression of Berlin society. Isherwood shows the lives of people under threat from the rise of the Nazis: a wealthy Jewish heiress, Natalia Landauer, a gay couple, Peter and Otto, and an English upper-class waif, the divinely decadent Sally Bowles.VINTAGE DECO: Nine blazing, daring novels to celebrate the 1920s - 100 years on.

Read more less

VINTAGE CLASSICS' AMERICAN GOTHIC SERIESSpine-tingling, mind-altering and deliciously atmospheric, journey into the dark side of America with nine of its most uncanny classics.A haunting and affecting meditation on love from the Nobel-prize winning author of Beloved.May, Christine, Heed, Junior, Vida - even L - all are women obsessed with Bill Cosey. He shapes their yearnings for a father, husband, lover, guardian, and friend. This audacious vision from a master storyteller on the nature of love - its appetite, its sublime possession, and its consuming dread - is rich in characters and dramatic events, and in its profound sensitivity to just how alive the past can be. Sensual, elegiac and unforgettable, Love ultimately comes full circle to that indelible, overwhelming first love that marks us forever.Winner of the PEN/Saul Bellow award for achievement in American fiction'Love is her best work...a slender but mesmerising tale' Evening Standard

Read more less

VINTAGE CLASSICS' AMERICAN GOTHIC SERIESSpine-tingling, mind-altering and deliciously atmospheric, journey into the dark side of America with nine of its most uncanny classics.A gripping and dark fictionalised account of life inside the Manson family from one of the most exciting young voices in fiction.If you're lost, they'll find you...Evie Boyd is fourteen and desperate to be noticed.It's the summer of 1969 and restless, empty days stretch ahead of her. Until she sees them. The girls. Hair long and uncombed, jewelry catching the sun. And at their centre, Suzanne, black-haired and beautiful.If not for Suzanne, she might not have gone. But, intoxicated by her and the life she promises, Evie follows the girls back to the decaying ranch where they live.Was there a warning? A sign of what was coming? Or did Evie know already that there was no way back?'Taut, beautiful and savage, Cline's novel demands your attention' Guardian

Read more less

VINTAGE CLASSICS' AMERICAN GOTHIC SERIESSpine-tingling, mind-altering and deliciously atmospheric, journey into the dark side of America with nine of its most uncanny classics.Hester Prynne is a beautiful young woman. She is also an outcast. In the eyes of her neighbours she has committed an unforgivable sin. Everyone knows that her little daughter, Pearl, is the product of an illicit affair but no one knows the identity of Pearl's father. Hester's refusal to name him brings more condemnation upon her. But she stands strong in the face of public scorn, even when she is forced to wear the sign of her shame sewn onto her clothes: the scarlet letter 'A' for 'Adulteress'

Read more less

VINTAGE CLASSICS' AMERICAN GOTHIC SERIESSpine-tingling, mind-altering and deliciously atmospheric, journey into the dark side of America with nine of its most uncanny classics.From the author of the Man Booker longlisted The Underground RailroadA pandemic has devastated the planet, sorting humanity into two types: the uninfected and the infected, the living and the living dead. The worst of the plague is now past, and Manhattan is slowly being resettled. Armed forces have successfully reclaimed the island south of Canal Street - aka 'Zone One' and teams of civilian volunteers are clearing out the remaining infected 'stragglers'.Mark Spitz is a member of one of these taskforces and over three surreal days he undertakes the mundane mission of malfunctioning zombie removal, the rigours of Post-Apocalyptic Stress Disorder, and attempting to come to terms with a fallen world.But then things start to go terribly wrong...'A dark futuristic satire laced with fiendish humour' The Times

Read more less

A beautiful hardback edition of one of the funny, heartbreaking, iconic coming-of-age novel.'I write this sitting in the kitchen sink' is the first line of this timeless, witty and enchanting novel about growing up.Cassandra Mortmain lives with her bohemian and impoverished family in a crumbling castle in the middle of nowhere. Her journal records her life with her beautiful, bored sister, Rose, her fading glamorous stepmother, Topaz, her little brother Thomas and her eccentric novelist father who suffers from a financially crippling writer's block. However, all their lives are turned upside down when the American heirs to the castle arrive and Cassandra finds herself falling in love for the first time.'I know of few novels that inspire as much fierce lifelong affection in their readers' Joanna Trollope'This book has one of the most charismatic narrators I've ever met' J. K. Rowling**One of the BBC's 100 Novels That Shaped Our World**VINTAGE QUARTERBOUND CLASSICS: Bound to be beautiful

Read more less

A beautiful hardback edition of the iconic forgotten classic, the story of one man's ordinary, extraordinary life. William Stoner enters the University of Missouri at nineteen to study agriculture. A seminar on English literature changes his life, and he never returns to work on his father's farm. Stoner becomes a teacher. He marries the wrong woman. His life is quiet, and after his death, his colleagues remember him rarely.Yet with truthfulness, compassion and intense power, this novel uncovers a story of universal value - of the conflicts, defeats and victories of the human race that pass unrecorded by history - and in doing so reclaims the significance of an individual life.'A beautiful, sad, utterly convincing account of an entire life' Ian McEwan'A brilliant, beautiful, inexorably sad, wise and elegant novel' Nick Hornby'A terrific novel of echoing sadness' Julian BarnesVINTAGE QUARTERBOUND CLASSICS: Bound to be beautiful

Read more less

A heartwarming tale about a very special dog. Beautifully illustrated, it is the perfect Christmas gift.One day, in the days when all the trains were driven by steam, a railway guard found something abandoned on a train...Mr Ginger Leghorn is used to collecting up umbrellas and other lost property but he's never found a puppy on his train before. He has no intention of keeping it but his five children - Alfie, Arthur, Beryl, Sissy and Albert - have other ideas and Jim is soon a much-loved, but often disruptive, member of the family.Whether it's his feud with the cat, getting stuck in rabbit-holes, accidentally going to sea, accompanying the children to school or carol singing at Christmas, Jim has a knack of making himself the centre of attention. This little black and tan puppy with his small bright eyes and very waggy rump becomes something of a hero in his town, and even catches the eye of the King himself.Station Jim is full of Christmas cheer for children and adults alike, and especially dog-lovers. It includes delightful pictures by celebrated illustrator Emma Chichester Clark, the creator of Plumdog.

Read more less

An exhilarating journey into the unfathomable depths of the human mind, from the acclaimed author of Let Me Not Be Mad.What does it take to care for a stranger? Really care.The Case for Love is a reflection on a career treating patients with brain trauma - people whose thoughts and feelings are largely unknowable - and how and why those treatments failed.It is a reconstruction of three haunting cases in which the patients were tragically misunderstood - and an attempt through the power of the imagination to understand and make amends.It then describes the author's abandonment of his career and his tumultuous quest for healing and redemption.It is also a story of intimate relationships, pets, fatherhood and heartbreak, culminating in a moment of psychedelic transcendence and rebirth.It is about the overpowering need for connection - and how, increasingly, we are trapped in ourselves.It is a meditation on empathy and an act of atonement.It is a unique, hybrid work of clinical case study and pure invention that destroys the boundary between fact and fiction in order to bring us face-to-face with the shocking, liberating truth.__________Praise for Let Me Not Be Mad'Imagine a gonzo Oliver Sacks communing with Edward St Aubyn's Patrick Melrose, R.D. Laing and the spirit of Kafka's 'The Country Doctor', and you still won't quite have the flavour of this wild and strikingly original book' William Fiennes'Stunning: clever, troubling, restless, honest, dishonest; one of the best portraits of madness and clinical practice I've read' Olivia Laing'A perfectly extraordinary - not to mention extraordinarily perfect - tense Hitchcockian psychodrama. I have rarely read a more haunting and enthralling account of a descent into madness. An important, profound and fascinating book' Stephen Fry'Blackly comic, warmly compassionate, a unique take on the human mind offering uncomfortable universal truths' Stewart Lee'A slow-burn belter of a book ... terrific ... so finely described, the result has the terse force of a classic short story' Roddy Doyle'Exhilarating ... dazzling ... a miraculous feat' Guardian

Read more less

From chutney to kimchi, from jam to gin - discover over 130 recipes for timeless preserves with a fresh modern flavour and seasonal appeal!Preserving is an ancient technique, one that speaks to a modern sensibility. Putting you in step with the seasons, you can use up leftovers and rediscover a timeless kitchen craftsmanship - the aspiration of all thoughtful modern cooks. With The Modern Preserver, you can master this mindful approach to the kitchen as you head into the new year.A passionate self-taught preserver, Kylee Newton takes you through every aspect of preserving: from classic chutneys and jams, through pickles and fermentation, to cordials and compotes. Here, she includes both simple recipes and immersive projects, and her recipes make stylish gifts and reassuringly natural homemade treats.Let The Modern Preserver show you the value in a thoughtful, healthy approach to the kitchen.'Jam making gets chic... A domestic dream of a book.' Grazia

Read more less

'A refreshingly original meditation... I wish I had written it myself' Literary ReviewGraveyards are oases: places of escape, peace and reflection. Liminal sites of commemoration, where the past is close enough to touch. Yet they also reflect their living community - how in our restless, accelerated modern world, we are losing our sense of connection to the dead.Jean Sprackland - the prize-winning poet and author of Strands - travels back through her life, revisiting her once local graveyards. In seeking out the stories of those who lived and died there, remembered and forgotten, she unearths what has been lost.

Read more less

'A cracking good thriller...that will keep you gripped to the last page' GuardianIn the depths of winter a killer stalks the city streets. Two women are found drowned in their own blood. A third woman is hanged from a diving board.YOU ARE ALLOWING THIS KILLING TO GO ON.The crime scenes offer no clues, the media is reaching fever pitch, and the police are running out of options.IT'S TIME THIS WAS STOPPED...There is only one man who can help them catch the killer. But Inspector Harry Hole doesn't want to be found....BECAUSE I HAVE APPOINTED THE NEXT VICTIM.*JO NESBO HAS SOLD OVER 55 MILLION BOOKS WORLDWIDE**Watch out for KILLING MOON, the new Jo Nesbo book, out now*

Read more less

Victor Frankenstein begins his anatomy experiments in a barn in the secluded village of Headington, near Oxford. The coroner's office provides the corpses he needs - but they have often died by violent means and are damaged and putrifying. Victor moves his coils and jars and electrical fluids to a deserted pottery manufactury in Limehouse. And, from Limehouse, makes contact with the Doomesday Men - the resurrectionists. Victor pays better than any hospital for the bodies of the very recently dead. Even so, perfect specimens are hard to come by... until that Thames-side dawn when Victor, waiting, wrapped in his greatcoat, on his wooden jetty, hears the splashing of oars and sees in the half-light that slung into the stern of the approaching boat is the corpse of a handsome young man, one hand trailing in the water....

Read more less

Tender Branson, the last surviving member of the Creedish death cult, has commandeered a Boeing 747, emptied of passengers, in order to tell his story to the plane's black box before it crashes. Brought up by the repressive cult and, like all Creedish younger sons, hired out as a domestic servant, Tender finds himself suddenly famous when his fellow cult members all commit suicide. As media messiah he ascends to the very top of the freak-show heap before finally and apocalyptically spiralling out of control.

Read more less