Search results for ""Author E."

A SUNDAY TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Winner of the Rubery Book Award 2020 (Non Fiction) Edith Nesbit is considered the inventor of the children’s adventure story and her brilliant children’s books influenced bestselling authors including C.S. Lewis, P. L. Travers, J.K. Rowling, and Jacqueline Wilson, to name but a few. But who was the person behind the best loved classics The Railway Children and Five Children and It? Her once-happy childhood was eclipsed by the chronic illness and early death of her sister. In adulthood, she found herself at the centre of a love triangle between her husband and her close friend. She raised their children as her own. Yet despite these troubling circumstances Nesbit was playful, contradictory and creative. She hosted legendary parties at her idiosyncratic Well Hall home and was described by George Bernard Shaw – one of several lovers – as ‘audaciously unconventional’. She was also an outspoken Marxist and founding member of the Fabian Society. Through Nesbit’s letters and deep archival research, Eleanor Fitzsimons reveals her as a prolific activist and writer on socialism. Nesbit railed against inequity, social injustice and state-sponsored oppression and incorporated her avant-garde ideas into her writing, influencing a generation of children – an aspect of her legacy examined here for the first time. Eleanor Fitzsimons, acclaimed biographer and prize winning author of Wilde's Women, has written the most authoritative biography in more than three decades. Here, she brings to light the extraordinary life story of an icon, creating a portrait of a woman in whom pragmatism and idealism worked side-by-side to produce a singular mind and literary talent.

Read more less

As this dynamic biography reveals, the writer Ernest William Hornung (1866 - 1921) became a household name in the 1890s. Scion of a wealthy Yorkshire family, he was short-sighted and slight and suffered from severe asthma. Returning home in high spirits from medical treatment in Australia in 1886, he was devastated to find that the family fortunes had collapsed. Already aware that he had a brilliant knack with words, Hornung managed to support himself by his pen alone, contributing short stories to children’s magazines, newspapers, and monthly periodicals. His first published novel proved a sensational best-seller.Peter Rowland’s superb literary biography traces Hornung’s rise to fame and fortune, as the writer deftly turned his hand to comedy, romance, and drama. In the process, the book untangles the intricate literary network of Victorian London and Hornung’s relationships with some of its leading figures, including his brother-in-law Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s, and their collaborative ventures.

Read more less

Help students realize their power as authors

Read more less

'I hate murders and I hate murderers, but I must admit that the discovery of a bearded corpse would give a fillip to my jaded mind.' Vivian Lestrange - celebrated author of the popular mystery novel The Charterhouse Case and total recluse - has apparently dropped off the face of the Earth. Reported missing by his secretary Eleanor, whom Inspector Bond suspects to be the author herself, it appears that crime and murder is afoot when Lestrange's housekeeper is also found to have disappeared. Bond and Warner of Scotland Yard set to work to investigate a murder with no body and a potentially fictional victim, as E C R Lorac spins a twisting tale full of wry humour and red herrings, poking some fun at her contemporary reviewers who long suspected the Lorac pseudonym to belong to a man (since a woman could apparently not have written mysteries the way that she did). Incredibly rare today, this mystery returns to print for the first time since 1935.

Read more less

Until the posthumous publication of the Millennium Trilogy, Stieg Larsson was probably best known for his commitment to left-wing causes, and his tireless work as an anti-fascist activist. Horrified by the rise of far-right extremism in Sweden, he threw himself into monitoring and exposing these often shadowy and violent groups and gained an international reputation for the depth of his achievements and knowledge. However his work carried substantial risks and he and his partner Eva Gabrielsson lived in constant fear for their lives. Jan Erik-Pettersson shows how Stieg's activism and energetic championing of social justice and women's rights characterised his life, as well as demonstrating how these concerns animated his huge-selling Millennium Trilogy, in particular the unforgettable character of Lisbeth Salander. He also persuasively establishes Stieg's place within the explosion of Scandinavian crime with which his novels are so closely associated, showing that in many ways his fiction stands somewhat apart from the work of other authors in this tradition. In Stieg: From Activist to Author, Jan Erik-Pettersson portrays a man willing to put his life at risk in order to fight for the things in which he believed, and an author whose inimitable work was energized by the causes to which he was so strongly committed.

Read more less

Readers, literary critics, and theorists alike have long demonstrated an abiding fascination with the author, both as a real person—an artist and creator—and as a theoretical concept that shapes the way we read literary works. Whether anonymous, pseudonymous, or trending on social media, authors continue to be an object of critical and readerly interest. Yet theories surrounding authorship have yet to be satisfactorily updated to register the changes wrought on the literary sphere by the advent of the digital age, the recent turn to autofiction, and the current literary climate more generally. In Reading the Contemporary Author the contributors look back on the long history of theorizing the author and offer innovative new approaches for understanding this elusive figure. Mapping the contours of the vast territory that is contemporary authorship, this collection investigates authorship in the context of narrative genres ranging from memoir and autobiographically informed texts to biofiction and novels featuring novelist narrators and characters. Bringing together the perspectives of leading scholars in narratology, cultural theory, literary criticism, stylistics, comparative literature, and autobiography studies, Reading the Contemporary Author demonstrates that a variety of interdisciplinary viewpoints and critical stances are necessary to capture the multifaceted nature of contemporary authorship.

Read more less

The first complete biography of a little-known but fascinating figure in the history of espionage and the American Revolution A man of as many names as motives, Edward Bancroft is a singular figure in the history of Revolutionary America. Born in Massachusetts in 1745, Bancroft moved to England as a young man in the 1760s and began building a respectable résumé as both a scientist and a man of letters. In recognition of his works in natural history, Bancroft was unanimously elected to the Royal Society, and while working to secure French aid for the American Revolution, he became a close associate of such luminaries as Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and John Adams. Though lauded in his time as a staunch American patriot, when the British diplomatic archives were opened in the late nineteenth century, it was revealed that Bancroft led a secret life as a British agent acting against French and American interests.In this book, the first complete biography of Bancroft, historian Thomas J. Schaeper reveals the full extent of the agent's deception during the crucial years of the American Revolution. Operating under aliases, working in ciphers, and leaving coded messages in the trees of Paris's Tuileries Gardens, Bancroft filtered information from unsuspecting figures including Franklin and Deane back to his contacts in Britain, navigating a complicated web of political allegiances. Through Schaeper's keen analysis of Bancroft's correspondence and diplomatic records, this biography reveals whether Bancroft should ultimately be considered a traitor to America or a patriot to Britain.

Read more less

'Echo is a compulsive page turner mixing supernatural survival horror and pulp adventure' Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts'Hallucinatory, eerie and terrifying' Catriona Ward, author of The Last House on Needless Street'Echo is a haunting contribution to the literature of folk horror' Ramsey Campbell'The most frightening opening scene ever written' The GuardianIt's One Thing to Lose Your LifeIt's Another to Lose Your Soul Travel journalist and mountaineer Nick Grevers awakes from a coma to find that his climbing buddy, Augustin, is missing and presumed dead. Nick's own injuries are as extensive as they are horrifying. His face wrapped in bandages and unable to speak, Nick claims amnesia - but he remembers everything. He remembers how he and Augustin were mysteriously drawn to the Maudit, a remote and scarcely documented peak in the Swiss Alps. He remembers an ominous sense that they were not alone. He remembers something waiting for them . . . Sam Avery wants to be glad that Nick is alive and coming home, but the accident has stirred up memories that Sam thought were long buried. Soon he realizes that it isn't just the trauma of the accident that haunts Nick. Something has awakened inside of him, something that endangers the lives of everyone around him . . .'This is totally, brilliantly original'Stephen King, on HEX 'Creepy and girpping and original' George R. R. Martin on HEX 'Reminiscent of vintage Stephen King' John Connolly on HEX 'The next genre superstar' Paul Cornell

Read more less

'Echo is a compulsive page turner mixing supernatural survival horror and pulp adventure' Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts'Hallucinatory, eerie and terrifying' Catriona Ward, author of The Last House on Needless Street'Echo is a haunting contribution to the literature of folk horror' Ramsey Campbell'The most frightening opening scene ever written' The Guardian It's One Thing to Lose Your LifeIt's Another to Lose Your SoulWhen climber Nick Grevers is brought down from the mountains after a terrible accident he has lost his looks, his hopes and his climbing companion. His account of what happened on the forbidden peak of the Maudit is garbled, almost hallucinogenic. Soon it becomes apparent more than his shattered body has returned: those that treat his disfigured face begin experiencing extraordinary and disturbing psychic events that suggest that Nick has unleashed some ancient and primal menace on his ill-fated expedition.Nick's partner Sam Avery has a terrible choice to make. He fell in love with Nick's youth, vitality and beauty. Now these are gone and all that is left is a haunted mummy-worse, a glimpse beneath the bandages can literally send a person insane.Sam must decide: either to flee to America, or to take Nick on a journey back to the mountains, the very source of the curse, the little Alpine Village of Grimnetz, its soul-possesed Birds of Death and it legends of human sacrifice and, ultimately, its haunted mountain, the Maudit. Dutch writer Thomas Olde Heuvelt is a Hugo Award Winner and has been hailed as the future of speculative fiction in Europe. His work combines a unique blend of popular culture and fairy-tale myth that is utterly unique. Echo follows his sensational debut English language novel, HEX.

Read more less

One of Ireland's greatest contemporary writers turns her attention to one of the country's greatest novelists: James Joyce - in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the iconic classic ULYSSES.'As skilful, stylish and pacy as one would expect from so adept a novelist' Sunday Telegraph'A delight from start to finish . . . achieves the near impossibility of giving a thoroughly fresh view of Joyce' Sunday Times'Accessible and passionate, it is a book which should bring Joyce in all his glory and agony to a new and very wide audience' Irish Independent Edna O'Brien depicts James Joyce as a man hammered by Church, State and family, yet from such adversities he wrote works 'to bestir the hearts of men and angels'. The journey begins with Joyce the arrogant youth, his lofty courtship of Nora Barnacle, their hectic sexuality, children, wanderings, debt and profligacy, and Joyce's obsession with the city of Dublin, which he would re-render through his words. Nor does Edna O'Brien spare us the anger and isolation of Joyce's later years, when he felt that the world had turned its back on him, and she asks how could it be otherwise for a man who knew that conflict is the source of all creation.

Read more less

'Echo is a compulsive page turner mixing supernatural survival horror and pulp adventure' Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts'Hallucinatory, eerie and terrifying' Catriona Ward, author of The Last House on Needless Street'Echo is a haunting contribution to the literature of folk horror' Ramsey Campbell'The most frightening opening scene ever written' The Guardian It's One Thing to Lose Your LifeIt's Another to Lose Your SoulWhen climber Nick Grevers is brought down from the mountains after a terrible accident he has lost his looks, his hopes and his climbing companion. His account of what happened on the forbidden peak of the Maudit is garbled, almost hallucinogenic. Soon it becomes apparent more than his shattered body has returned: those that treat his disfigured face begin experiencing extraordinary and disturbing psychic events that suggest that Nick has unleashed some ancient and primal menace on his ill-fated expedition.Nick's partner Sam Avery has a terrible choice to make. He fell in love with Nick's youth, vitality and beauty. Now these are gone and all that is left is a haunted mummy-worse, a glimpse beneath the bandages can literally send a person insane.Sam must decide: either to flee to America, or to take Nick on a journey back to the mountains, the very source of the curse, the little Alpine Village of Grimnetz, its soul-possesed Birds of Death and it legends of human sacrifice and, ultimately, its haunted mountain, the Maudit. Dutch writer Thomas Olde Heuvelt is a Hugo Award Winner and has been hailed as the future of speculative fiction in Europe. His work combines a unique blend of popular culture and fairy-tale myth that is utterly unique. Echo follows his sensational debut English language novel, HEX.

Read more less

The new novel from the bestselling author of The Idiot follows one young woman's quest for self-knowledge, as she travels abroad and tests the limits of her newfound adulthood. 'Elif Batuman is the queen of the campus novel... Enchanting' Sunday TimesSELIN IS THE LUCKIEST PERSON IN HER FAMILY:The only one who was born in America and got to go to Harvard. Now it's her second year, and Selin knows she has to make it count. The first order of business: to figure out the meaning of everything that happened over the summer...On the plus side, her life feels like the plot of an exciting novel. On the other hand, why do so many novels have crazy, abandoned women in them? And how does one live a life as interesting as a novel - a life worthy of becoming a novel - without turning into a crazy, abandoned woman oneself?'Stupendous... Hilarious... Batuman is a genius' Vogue'This novel wins you over in a million micro-observations' New York Times'Searingly smart' Evening Standard

Read more less

From the bestselling, Booker-shortlisted writer of Italian Ways and Europa, a classic novel about a man's emotional reckoning in a changed world far from homeFrank's reclusive existence in a leafy part of London is shattered when he is summoned to Milan for the funeral of an old friend. Preoccupied by this sudden intrusion of his past, he flies, oblivious, into the epicentre of a crisis he has barely registered on the news.It is spring, his luxury hotel offers every imaginable comfort; perhaps he will be able to weather the situation and return home unscathed? What Frank doesn't know is that he's about to make a discovery that will change his heart and his mind.The arresting new novel from Booker Prize-shortlisted Tim Parks, Hotel Milano is a universal story from a unique moment in recent history: a book about the kindness of strangers, and about a complicated man who, faced with the possibility of saving a life, must also take stock of his own.Praise for In Extremis:'Parks's prose brings us closer to the pressures and rhythms of a lived life than the work of any other contemporary writer I can think of'Mike McCormack, New Statesman Books of the Year'Head and shoulders above so many of the books turned out by similar writers... A wonderfully written novel'Kirsty Gunn, Guardian'Tim Parks is a hugely talented writer'Sunday Times

Read more less

A bibliography of studies of individual Middle English words and groups of words offering evidence for word meanings. Although detailed and full bibliographies exist for Old English word studies, this is the first specifically on Middle English lexicography, focussing on studies of individual Middle English words and groups of words which offer evidence for word meanings: ante- and post-datings for the Oxford English Dictionary and the Middle English Dictionary, missing entries and ghost words, possible proverbs, proposals for etymologies, wordplay, punning, new readingsin manuscripts and the reinterpretations of textual cruces. It first presents an annotated bibliography arranged alphabetically by author's name and date of publication; the annotations include notes on the contents and approach of each article, cross-references to related work, and references to reviews. Two indexes follow, the Index of Words, an alphabetical listing of words that have attracted significant discussion with references to the author(s), publication date and notes of pages on which the words are discussed; and an Index of Authors. The introductory section offers critical analyses of the word studies. Professor JANE ROBERTS and Dr LOUISE SYLVESTER teach atKing's College London.

Read more less

From the bestselling, Booker-shortlisted writer of Italian Ways and Europa, a classic novel about a man's emotional reckoning in a changed world far from homeFrank's reclusive existence in a leafy part of London is shattered when he is summoned to Milan for the funeral of an old friend. Preoccupied by this sudden intrusion of his past, he flies, oblivious, into the epicentre of a crisis he has barely registered on the news.It is spring, his luxury hotel offers every imaginable comfort; perhaps he will be able to weather the situation and return home unscathed? What Frank doesn't know is that he's about to make a discovery that will change his heart and his mind.The arresting new novel from Booker Prize-shortlisted Tim Parks, Hotel Milano is a universal story from a unique moment in recent history: a book about the kindness of strangers, and about a complicated man who, faced with the possibility of saving a life, must also take stock of his own.Praise for In Extremis:'Parks's prose brings us closer to the pressures and rhythms of a lived life than the work of any other contemporary writer I can think of'Mike McCormack, New Statesman Books of the Year'Head and shoulders above so many of the books turned out by similar writers... A wonderfully written novel'Kirsty Gunn, Guardian'Tim Parks is a hugely talented writer'Sunday Times

Read more less

PRE-ORDER NOW - READY PLAYER TWO: THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED SEQUEL TO READY PLAYER ONE_______________________'[A] masterful tale of Earth's desperate struggle against a powerful alien foe.' - Andy Weir, bestselling author of The Martian_______________________It's just another day of high school for Zack Lightman. He's daydreaming through another boring math class, with just one more month to go until graduation and freedom-if he can make it that long without getting suspended again. Then he glances out his classroom window and spots the flying saucer. At first, Zack thinks he's going crazy.A minute later, he's sure of it. Because the UFO he's staring at is straight out of the videogame he plays every night, a hugely popular online flight simulator called Armada-in which gamers just happen to be protecting the earth from alien invaders. But what Zack's seeing is all too real. And his skills-as well as those of millions of gamers across the world-are going to be needed to save the earth from what's about to befall it. Yet even as he and his new comrades scramble to prepare for the alien onslaught, Zack can't help thinking of all the science-fiction books, TV shows, and movies he grew up reading and watching, and wonder: Doesn't something about this scenario seem a little too... familiar? Armada is at once a rollicking, surprising thriller, a classic coming of age adventure, and an alien-invasion tale like nothing you've ever read before-one whose every page is infused with author Ernest Cline's trademark pop-culture savvy._______________________Here's what everyone's saying about this epic masterpiece:'a modern classic' - R.M. Rangeley on Amazon, 5 stars'A modern masterpiece full of a new style of literary magic' - Spiros Kagadis on Amazon, 5 stars'Excellent. Even better than Ready Player One.' - David Hay on Amazon, 5 stars'One of my favourite books of all time. Incredibly well written' - Erin Coppin on Amazon, 5 stars'Awesome! If you liked Ready Player One, would be very surprised if you don't like this' - T. Llewellyn-Sanders on Amazon, 5 stars'Absolutely awesome!!! Read in less than 24 hours, hooked on every page' - R. Nicholson on Amazon, 5 stars'Amazing and a great follow up read to Ready Player One!' - Chris on Amazon, 5 stars'an incredible story which had me on the edge of my seat the whole time... a joy to read' - Helen Ratcliffe on Amazon, 5 stars'Cline brings you back to all those amazing, unbelievable things you imagined could happen as a kid and makes them real' - Amazon reviewer, 5 stars'Absolutely brilliant! Couldn't put it down, a must read' - Sam Bean on Amazon, 5 stars'a love letter to old school alien invasion sci-fi... Highly, HIGHLY recommended for all fans of Cline's previous novel, Ready Player One, as well as any classic science fiction fan' - Izzy on Amazon, 5 stars'Ernest Cline is celebrating this culture in a way that's not just adding another book to the genre, but actually truly celebrating it, the possibilities, wonders and madness of it all' - Heather on Amazon, 5 stars'majorly, fantastically geeky... Armada just ticked all my boxes' - H. Ross on Amazon, 5 starsThis book has been published with two different covers and may be delivered with either cover. Please rest assured that regardless of the cover, the content of the book is the same.

Read more less

This is a book about yoga. Or at least, it was.January 2015. High on literary success and familial bliss, Emmanuel Carrère embarks on a rigorous ten-day meditative retreat in rural France in search of clarity and material for his next book, which he thinks will be a subtle, upbeat introduction to yoga.But his trip is cut short, and he is brought down to earth with a thud when he returns to a Paris in turmoil in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack. From then on, Carrère's life - along with his novel-in-progress - begins to unravel in ever more unexpected ways.'The story of how a life can fray, tighten itself into a noose, unravel... profound and moving' Geoff Dyer'Extraordinarily compelling' Financial Times

Read more less

The works of four major fifteenth-century writers re-examined, showing their innovative reconceptualization of Middle English authorship and the manuscript book. Thomas Hoccleve, Margery Kempe, John Audelay and Charles d'Orléans present themselves as the makers not only of their texts, but also of the books that transmitted their writing. This new study argues that they elaborated a "self-publishing pose" with the aim of regaining their audiences' confidence in the face of the compromised social, physical and material conditions they inhabited. Dr Critten shows that while the strategies of self-presentation that these authors develop draw on trends in contemporary literature and book history (such as the proliferation of the "go, litel bok" motif and the increasing popularity of the single-author codex), their approach to writing differs fundamentally from that pursued by their immediate predecessors, Chaucer and Gower, and by their most prominent peer, Lydgate. Rather, in their unusual insistence on their co-identity with their manuscripts, they demonstrate a new awareness of the socially instrumental potential of Middle English writing. RORY G. CRITTEN is a Maître d'enseignement et de recherche (lecturer) in the English Department at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland.

Read more less

A GRANTA BEST OF YOUNG BRITISH NOVELIST 2023'Hallucinogenic, electric and sharp.' JESSICA ANDREWS'Will make most readers howl with laughter and/or shut their eyes in horror.' GUARDIAN**Pre-order Eliza Clark's next novel, PENANCE, now**Irina is in a rut. She obsessively takes explicit photographs of average-looking men she scouts from the streets of Newcastle while her dead-end bar job slips away; she's more interested in drugs, alcohol, and extreme cinema. When she's offered an exhibition at a fashionable London gallery which promises to revive her career in the art world, it should feel like an escape. But the news triggers a self-destructive tailspin, drawing in her obsessive best friend and a shy young man from her local supermarket who has attracted her attention . . .BOY PARTS is the incendiary debut novel from Eliza Clark, a pitch-black comedy both shocking and hilarious, fearlessly exploring the taboos of sexuality and gender roles in the twenty-first century.'Smart, stylish, and very funny.' LARA WILLIAMS'Boundaries are for breaking and if anyone can crash through and reinterpret the fear of our time, Eliza Clark can.' MSLEXIA'A carnival funhouse ride: terrifying, feverish, hilarious.' JULIA ARMFIELDWHAT READERS ARE SAYING:'A dark, funny, nasty book. Brilliantly written, annoyingly good.' 5* reader review'I am obsessed.' 5* reader review'Both shocking and darkly funny, this razor-sharp debut is unlike anything I've read before.' 5* reader review'I loved this, properly loved it!!' 5* reader review'Left me both in awe and totally disturbed. Wow.' 5* reader review

Read more less

The Theatre of E. E. Cummings collects in their entirety Cummings’s long out-of-print theatrical works: the plays HIM (1927), Anthropos (1930), and Santa Claus (1946), and the ballet treatment Tom (1935). In HIM, a creatively blocked artist and his lover, Me, struggle to bridge the impasse in their relationship and in his art. In Anthropos, a Platonic parable, three “infrahumans” brainstorm slogans while a man sketches on a cave wall; and in Santa Claus, Death and Saint Nick exchange identities. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin is reimagined as dance, transforming the novel into a symbolic attack against Evil itself. Cummings’s prodigious creativity is on display in each of these works, which are ultimately about the place of the artist outside of society. “DON’T TRY TO UNDERSTAND IT, LET IT TRY TO UNDERSTAND YOU,” Cummings famously wrote about his intentions for the stage. Thoughtful and witty, Cummings’s dramas are an integral part of his canon.

Read more less

‘In 1968–69 I wanted to die, that is to say, stop living, being killed, but it was blocked on all sides,’ wrote Hélène Cixous, esteemed French feminist, playwright, philosopher, literary critic, and novelist. Instead of suicide, she began to dream of writing a tomb for herself. This tomb became a work that is a testament to Cixous’s life and spirit and a secret book, the first book she ever authored. Originally written in 1970, Tomb(e) is a Homerian recasting of Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis in the thickets of Central Park, a book Cixous provocatively calls the ‘all-powerful-other of all my books, it sparks them off, makes them run, it is their Messiah’.Masterfully translated by Laurent Milesi, Tomb(e) preserves the sonic complexities and intricate wordplay at the core of Cixous’s writing, and reveals the struggles, ideas, and intents at the centre of her work. With a new prologue by the author, this is a necessary document in the development of Cixous’s aesthetic as a writer and theorist, and will be eagerly welcomed by readers as a crucial building block in the foundation of her later work.

Read more less

This volume offers the first comprehensive analysis in English of all the writings of Julian (r. AD 361-363), the last pagan emperor of Rome, noted for his frontal and self-conscious challenge to Christianity. This book also contains treatments of Julian's laws, inscriptions, coinage, as well as his artistic programme. Across nineteen papers, international specialists in the field of Late Antique Studies offer original interpretations of an extraordinary figure: emperor and philosopher, soldier and accomplished writer. Julian, his life and writings, are here considered as parts of the tumult in politics, culture and religion during the Fourth Century AD. New light is shed on Julian's distinctive literary style and imperial agenda. This volume also includes an up-to-date, consolidated bibliography.

Read more less

Longlisted for the 2023 Dublin Literary AwardWinner of the Ivo Andrić Grand Prize for best novel of 2022From the INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR Eugene Vodolazkin – winner of the BIG BOOK AWARD, the LEO TOLSTOY YASNAYA POLYANA AWARD, and the READ RUSSIA AWARDFor fans of Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, and Umberto EcoVodolazkin’s new novel Brisbane is “a sophisticated and frequently moving study in dissonance, dedicated to pointing out contrasts between art and life, beauty and decay, intention and outcome. And, yes, between Ukraine and Russia” (Booklist).Brisbane is a richly layered, universal coming-of-age story of a musical prodigy robbed of his talent by an incurable disease who attempts to overcome his mortality. After Gleb Yanovsky, a celebrated guitarist, is diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at age fifty, he permits a writer, Sergei Nesterov, to pen his biography. For years, they meet regularly as Gleb recounts the life he’s lived thus far: a difficult childhood in Kyiv, his formative musical studies in St. Petersburg, and his later years in Munich, where he lives with his wife and meets a thirteen-year-old virtuoso whom he embraces as his own daughter. In a mischievous and tender account, Gleb recalls a personal story of a lifetime quest for meaning, and how the burden of success changes with age.Expanding the literary universe spun in his earlier novels, Vodolazkin explores music and fame, heritage and belonging, time and memory in this beautifully-wrought and relevant tale that carefully unravel into a puzzle: Whose story is it – the subject's or the writer's? Are art and love really no match for death? Is memory a reliable narrator? In Brisbane, the city of our dreams, as in music, Gleb hopes he’s found a path to eternity – and a way to stop the clock.

Read more less

On the surface, cities like Naples and Marrakech, New York and Tokyo, Paris and Sao Paolo might appear to have rather more differences and contrasts than affinities, but if you think about it, there is one thing that links all these cities, or rather all the world's big cities: street food. This book presents the very best in street food.

Read more less

'It's always been difficult to get published. But up till the last couple of decades, if you managed to get published, you were sure of some sales, or at least that your publisher would work hard to get them with a reasonable prospect of results. It's a different world now. With electronic point of sale, print on demand, internet bookselling, new delivery formats like e-readers, several hundred thousand new titles in English coming out every year, a lot of what was said 6 years ago or even 6 months ago is now out of date. A few years ago when we started O Books I began writing down notes for new authors, based on questions they kept asking. It soon turned into a 100 page document. One of the authors it was a particular joy to work with was Tim Ward. We thought it would be helpful for others to share our thoughts, coming as they do from both sides of the fence'.'But there are titles around on every conceivable aspect of publishing and marketing books, from how to improve your style to increasing your sales through Amazon, finding the motivation to keep going or appearing on "Oprah". Why did we think another book would be helpful? Most focus either from the self-publishing end, from the viewpoint of an author who doesn't have a publisher, or from the perspective of mainstream publishers/publicists used to dealing with $50,000-plus publicity budgets. In our business we deal with the middle ground, where most real-life authors are and most potential ones hope to be'.'A company recently tracked the sales of 1.2 million books in the US, and the results were: 950,000 of these sold fewer than 100 copies; another 200,000 sold fewer than 1,000 copies; 25,000 sold more than 5,000 copies; less than 500 sold more than 100,000 copies; and, 10 titles sold more than 1,000,000 copies. The average sale was 500 copies. If your aim is to get above the average, or to reach it (because that includes J K Rowling etc.), to the level of 1000, on to 10,000 and up to 100,000 copies, this is the book for you. If you've already sold that many, you don't need this'.

Read more less

Pru is on her own. But then, so are plenty of other people. And while the loneliness can be overwhelming, surely she'll find a party somewhere?'She really is the Nora Ephron of North London' Clare Chambers, author of Small PleasuresPru's husband has walked out, leaving her alone to contemplate her future. She's missing not so much him, but the life they once had - nestling up like spoons in the cutlery drawer as they sleep. Now there's just a dip on one side of the bed and no-one to fill it.In a daze, Pru goes off to a friend's funeral. Usual old hymns, words of praise and a eulogy but...it doesn't sound like the friend Pru knew. She's gone to the wrong service. Everyone was very welcoming, it was more excitement than she's had for ages. So she buys a little black dress in a charity shop and thinks, now I'm all set, why not go to another? I mean, people don't want to make a scene at a funeral, do they? No-one will challenge her - and what harm can it do?'I love clever books that make me laugh. Deborah Moggach, queen of social comedy, is on top form. Superb' Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of The Last Act of Love and Everyone is Still Alive 'Full of warmth and humour, as well as blistering truths' Daily Mirror

Read more less

A story of survival set in 600 AD Ireland; a parable of patriarchy, destruction and religion at sea, by Emma Donoghue, the bestselling author of Room.'Everything a novel should be: compassionate, unpredictable, and questioning. Haven is Donoghue at her strange, unsettling best.' - Maggie O'Farrell, author of HamnetIn seventh-century Ireland, a priest has a dream telling him to leave the sinful world behind. Taking two monks with him, he travels down the Shannon in search of an isolated spot on which to found a new place of worship. Drifting out into the Atlantic, the three men find an impossibly steep, bare island inhabited by tens of thousands of birds, and claim it for God. But in such a place, far from all other humanity, what will survival mean?‘Haven is a beautiful, bold blaze of a book’ – Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry‘Beautiful and timely’ - Sarah Moss, author of Summerwater‘Sinister, heart-wrenching and beautifully written’ – The Times‘Combines pressure-cooker intensity and radical isolation, to stunning effect’ – Margaret Atwood via Twitter‘Book of the Year’ pick in The Irish Times, The Guardian, The Irish Post, RTÉ and The Times.

Read more less

Transform your approach to learning and working in the 21st century In In The E Factor: The 21st Century Guide to Entrepreneurial Thinking, award-winning professor, entrepreneur, and accountant David Gibson delivers a singularly practical guide to critical thinking that will transform the way you think about learning and take action. The book explains all the key skills useful to teachers, students, and professionals in the contemporary classroom and marketplace, offering hands-on strategies and techniques for work and school that enhance productivity and effectiveness. You''ll discover how to apply the author''s one-of-a-kind model to everyday learning and working and become more successful. You''ll also find: Practical case studies that demonstrate the power of the E Factor approach in the real world Strategies for teaching students to apply the E Factor to enhance their overall educational experience and get more out of each class and lesson

Read more less

'THE MOST IMPORTANT LIVING RUSSIAN WRITER' New Yorker MY HEAD SPINS. I'M LYING IN A BED. WHERE AM I? WHO AM I? A man wakes up in hospital. He has no idea who he is or how he came to be there. The doctor tells him his name, but he doesn't remember it. He remembers nothing. As memories slowly resurface, he begins to build a picture of his former life. Russia in the early twentieth century, the turbulence of the revolution, the aftermath. But how can this be possible when the pills beside his bed are dated 1999? In the deft hands of Eugene Vodolazkin, author of the multi award-winning Laurus, The Aviator paints a vivid, panoramic picture of life in Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century, richly evoking the sights, sounds and political turmoil of those days. Reminiscent of the great works of Russian literature, and shortlisted for the Russian Booker Prize, it cements Vodolazkin's position as the rising star of Russia's literary scene.

Read more less

'A wickedly funny, clever, but also tender and lyrical novel about Britain and Britishness and what we have become' RACHEL JOYCEIn Bournville, a placid suburb of Birmingham, sits a famous chocolate factory. For eleven-year-old Mary and her family in 1945, it's the centre of the world. The reason their streets smell faintly of chocolate, the place where most of their friends and neighbours have worked for decades. Mary will go on to live through the Coronation and the World Cup final, royal weddings and royal funerals, Brexit and Covid-19. She'll have children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Parts of the chocolate factory will be transformed into a theme park, as modern life and the city crowd in on their peaceful enclave.As we travel through seventy-five years of social change, from James Bond to Princess Diana, and from wartime nostalgia to the World Wide Web, one pressing question starts to emerge: will these changing times bring Mary's family - and their country - closer together, or leave them more adrift and divided than ever before?*****'A beautiful, and often very funny, tribute to an underexamined place and also a truly moving story of how a country discovered tolerance' Sathnam Sanghera, bestselling author of Empireland'A hugely impressive state-of-the-nation tale' Observer'This charming read is as warming, rich and comforting as a mug of hot chocolate' The Times

Read more less

'ONE OF THE MOST BRILLIANTLY INVENTIVE WRITERS OF THIS, OR ANY, COUNTRY' INDEPENDENTWinner of the Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhys Prize 'Astonishingly accomplished'THE TIMES'Remarkable'OBSERVER'Gripping'NEW YORK TIMES'Fabulously atmospheric'GUARDIAN'Engrossing'DAILY MAILA magnificent achievement and an engrossing experience, David Mitchell's first novel announced the arrival of one of the most exciting writers of the twenty-first century.An apocalyptic cult member carries out a gas attack on a rush-hour metro, but what links him to a jazz buff in downtown Tokyo? Or to a Mongolian gangster, a woman on a holy mountain who talks to a tree, and a late night New York DJ?Set at the fugitive edges of Asia and Europe, Ghostwritten weaves together a host of characters, their interconnected destinies determined by the inescapable forces of cause and effect.PRAISE FOR DAVID MITCHELL'A thrilling and gifted writer'FINANCIAL TIMES'Dizzyingly, dazzlingly good'DAILY MAIL'Mitchell is, clearly, a genius'NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'An author of extraordinary ambition and skill'INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY'A superb storyteller'THE NEW YORKER

Read more less

PRE-ORDER PRECIPICE, THE THRILLING NEW NOVEL FROM ROBERT HARRIS, NOW - PUBLISHING AUGUST 2024'Top-class' The TimesMarch 1943, the war hangs in the balance, and at Bletchley Park Tom Jericho, a brilliant young codebreaker, is facing a double nightmare. The Germans have unaccountably changed their U-boat Enigma code, threatening a massive Allied defeat. And as suspicion grows that there may be a spy inside Bletchley, Jericho's girlfriend, the beautiful and mysterious Claire Romilly, suddenly disappears.'A compulsive page turner' Daily Mail'As human, intelligent and gripping as documentary fiction can get' Financial TimesAct of Oblivion, Sunday Times bestseller, June 2023

Read more less

From the bestselling, Booker-shortlisted chronicler of Italy, a classic novel about a man's emotional reckoning in a changed world far from homeFrank's reclusive existence in a leafy part of London is shattered when he is summoned to Milan for the funeral of an old friend. Preoccupied by this sudden intrusion of his past, he flies, oblivious, into the epicentre of a crisis he has barely registered on the news.It is spring, his luxury hotel offers every imaginable comfort; perhaps he will be able to weather the situation and return home unscathed? What Frank doesn't know is that he's about to make a discovery that will change his heart and his mind.Hotel Milano is a universal story from a unique moment in recent history: a book about the kindness of strangers, and about a complicated man who, faced with the possibility of saving a life, must also take stock of his own.

Read more less

Discover this funny and warm novel for anyone who has ever been curious about their partner's past from the bestselling author of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Meet Buffy. With three ex-wives, a failing career and only his dog George for company, Buffy's bachelorhood is looking worryingly confirmed. Until he meets Celeste. Dazzled by love, Buffy has no idea that Celeste is systematically researching his ex-wives, children and step-children, and unearthing secrets that will change all their lives... 'Wonderfully funny' Daily Mail 'Marries comedy and canniness into a novel that's warm, tolerant, shrewd and exuberant' Sunday Times

Read more less

WINNER: 2021 Plume d'Or - Grand Prix ACA-Bruel Award. A Practical Guide to E-Auctions for Procurement provides guidance to procurement professionals on how to realize the potential of e-auctions. Now is the time to optimize your e-negotiation strategy using key insights from the author Jacob Gorm Larsen, who is responsible for one of the most successful and award-winning e-sourcing programs in the world. A Practical Guide to E-Auctions for Procurement presents a proven process for developing an e-auction and e-negotiation strategy, along with a catalogue of change management initiatives for securing buy-in internally in the organization. The different e-auction formats and benefits are explained in detail and demonstrated with practical examples, templates and advice that can be adopted by the reader. Jacob and the team at Maersk are at the forefront when it comes to developing robots that execute e-auctions from end-to-end and are kicking off a transformation that will fundamentally change how we consider e-auctions and negotiations. In addition, with learnings from more than 10,000 e-auctions globally, this is the book for those in procurement looking to implement, deliver and maintain a thriving e-auction program.

Read more less

The hugely anticipated novel from the internationally bestselling author of The Pull of the Stars and Room'Beautiful and timely' - Sarah Moss, author of Summerwater'Combines pressure-cooker intensity and radical isolation, to stunning effect.' – Margaret Atwood via TwitterThree men vow to leave the world behind them and start anew . . . In seventh-century Ireland, a scholar and priest called Artt has a dream telling him to leave the sinful world behind. Taking two monks – young Trian and old Cormac – he travels down the river Shannon in search of an isolated spot on which to found a monastery. Drifting out into the Atlantic, the three men find an impossibly steep, bare island inhabited by tens of thousands of birds, and claim it for God. Their extraordinary landing spot is now known as Skellig Michael. But in such a place, far from all other humanity, what will survival mean?Haunting, moving and vividly told, Haven displays Emma Donoghue’s trademark world-building and psychological intensity – but this tale is like nothing she has ever written before . . .Pre-order Learned by Heart, the dazzling new love story from Emma Donoghue.

Read more less