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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Harper Perennial Modern Classics)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Harper Perennial Modern Classics)
Hunter S. Thompson
¥66.22
‘We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold. I remember saying something like, “I feel a bit lightheaded; maybe you should drive …”’ Hunter S. Thompson is roaring down the desert highway to Las Vegas with his attorney, the Samoan, to find the dark side of the American Dream. Armed with a drug arsenal of stupendous proportions, the duo engage in a surreal succession of chemically enhanced confrontations with casino operators, police officers and assorted Middle Americans. This stylish reissue of Hunter S. Thompson’s iconic masterpiece, a controversial bestseller when it appeared in 1971, features the brilliant Ralph Steadman illustrations of the original. It brings to a new generation the hallucinatory humour and nightmare terror of Hunter S. Thompson’s musings on the collapse of the American Dream.
Look who it is!: My Story
Look who it is!: My Story
Alan Carr
¥57.09
The brilliantly funny Sunday Times top ten bestseller. Alan Carr tells his life story in his own words, from growing up in a football-mad family in Northampton to his rise as one of Britain’s best-loved comedians. ‘Puberty had been unkind. Whereas it had come in the night and left the other boys with chiselled, stubbly chins and deep masculine voices, I’d been left with a huge pair of knockers and the voice of a pensioner.’ Alan Carr Alan Carr grew up in one of the most boring towns in England – Northampton. A place known for making shoes. It was also known for its football club, Northampton Town FC. Alan’s dad as manager of the club was a local hero. A dream come true for most lads, but not Alan. Alan wore glasses and had man boobs at 14. He did not like P.E. In his very first book, Alan tells his life story, (‘oh and what a life’) with his unique twist of natural, observational humour – ‘I’m not saying I’m a fantasist but there have been times when things that I’ve seen on television when I was younger have tended to seep into my subconscious and blended into my own life. I remember telling my Mum about the time I stopped that woman from having a diamond encrusted necklace stolen and she’d say ‘No Alan, that was Poirot.’ With his tongue-in-cheek, end of pier humour that made him famous, Alan describes an ordinary life in bursts of technicolour. His journey from awkward schoolboy hiding his man-boobs on the pitch, drinking tea with the dinner ladies and working in a call centre, to becoming one of our best-loved comedians likened to the great Frankie Howerd, make his book a guaranteed tickler with a laugh-out-loud gag on every page.
The Military Wives: Wherever You Are – Nicky’s Story
The Military Wives: Wherever You Are – Nicky’s Story
The Military Wives
¥12.95
This is Nicky’s story, one of four individual journeys taken from Wherever You Are by The Military Wives. At 33, Nicky Clarke had stopped thinking she would ever fall in love. But they say when you stop looking, love happens – and that was the year she was swept off her feet by Hugo Clarke, a major in the Scots Guards. A year later Hugo and Nicky were married. But life in the military is never calm for long, and the next few years saw Hugo leave for Iraq and Afghanistan for months at a time. In married quarters Nicky met other military wives quickly, but forging friendships proved difficult: the occasional coffee morning just wasn’t enough. Nicky decided that this community needed to be brought together. With the help of a friend and a local choirmistress, Nicky set a time for the local wives to gather and sing. Before she knew it, a family was growing and a support network was formed. The first Military Wives choir was born. Mere months later, the choir would become a nationwide phenomenon. The Wives would go on to perform for the Queen, record a bestselling album and achieve a Christmas number 1. This is one woman’s true story of heartbreak and hope; of how singing changed the course of her life. Sales of this ebook will benefit the Military Wives Choirs Foundation, a network of choirs that reaches across the military community to provide support, guidance and funding for individual choirs, but first and foremost to bring women closer together through singing. The Foundation is a registered subsidiary charity of SSAFA Forces Help.
Will You Love Me?: The story of my adopted daughter Lucy: Part 1 of 3
Will You Love Me?: The story of my adopted daughter Lucy: Part 1 of 3
Cathy Glass
¥12.85
Will You Love Me can either be read as a full-length eBook or in 3 serialised eBook-only parts. This is PART 1 of 3 (Chapters 1-9 of 27). You can read Part 1 two weeks ahead of release of the full-length eBook and paperback. The eleventh memoir and latest title from the internationally bestselling author and foster carer Cathy Glass. This book tells the true story of Cathy’s adopted daughter Lucy. Lucy was born to a single mother who had been abused and neglected for most of her own childhood. Right from the beginning Lucy’s mother couldn’t cope, but it wasn’t until Lucy reached eight years old that she was finally taken into permanent foster care. By the time Lucy is brought to live with Cathy she is eleven years old and severely distressed after being moved from one foster home to another. Withdrawn, refusing to eat and three years behind in her schooling, it is thought that the damage Lucy has suffered is irreversible. But Cathy and her two children bond with Lucy quickly, and break through to Lucy in a way no-one else has been able to, finally showing her the loving home she never believed existed. Cathy and Lucy believe they were always destined to be mother and daughter – it just took them a little while to find each other.
Will You Love Me?: The story of my adopted daughter Lucy: Part 3 of 3
Will You Love Me?: The story of my adopted daughter Lucy: Part 3 of 3
Cathy Glass
¥47.48
Will You Love Me can either be read as a full-length eBook or in 3 serialised eBook-only parts. This is PART 3 of 3 (Chapters 17-27 of 27). You can read Part 3 on release of the full-length eBook and paperback. The eleventh memoir and latest title from the internationally bestselling author and foster carer Cathy Glass. This book tells the true story of Cathy’s adopted daughter Lucy. Lucy was born to a single mother who had been abused and neglected for most of her own childhood. Right from the beginning Lucy’s mother couldn’t cope, but it wasn’t until Lucy reached eight years old that she was finally taken into permanent foster care. By the time Lucy is brought to live with Cathy she is eleven years old and severely distressed after being moved from one foster home to another. Withdrawn, refusing to eat and three years behind in her schooling, it is thought that the damage Lucy has suffered is irreversible. But Cathy and her two children bond with Lucy quickly, and break through to Lucy in a way no-one else has been able to, finally showing her the loving home she never believed existed. Cathy and Lucy believe they were always destined to be mother and daughter – it just took them a little while to find each other.
Facing the Other Way: The Story of 4AD
Facing the Other Way: The Story of 4AD
Martin Aston
¥103.10
The first official account of the iconic record label. An NME Book of the Year 2013 ? A Rough Trade Book of the Year 2013 ? A Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year 2013 This Mortal Coil, Birthday Party, Bauhaus, Cocteau Twins, Pixies, Throwing Muses, Breeders, Dead Can Dance, Lisa Germano, Kristin Hersh, Belly, Red House Painters. Just a handful of the bands and artists who started out recording for 4AD, a record label founded by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1979, a label which went on to be one of the most influential of the modern era. Combining the unique tastes of Watts-Russell and the striking design aesthetic of Vaughan Oliver, 4AD records were recognisable by their look as much their sound. In this comprehensive account concentrating on the label’s first two decades (up to the point that Watts-Russell left), music journalist Martin Aston explores the fascinating story with unique access to all the key players and pretty much every artist who released a record on 4AD during that time, and to its notoriously reclusive founder. With a cover designed by Vaughan Oliver this is an essential book for all 4AD fans and anyone who loved the music of that time.
The Rest Is Noise Series: Beethoven Was Wrong
The Rest Is Noise Series: Beethoven Was Wrong
Alex Ross
¥11.77
This is a chapter from Alex Ross’s groundbreaking history of twentieth-century classical music, ‘The Rest is Noise’. Further extracts are available as digital shorts, accompanying the London Southbank festival programme. After Paul McCartney listened to the electronic layering and looping of Stockhausen, the Beatles used the same effects on Revolver’s ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ and put an image of the composer on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. For a split second during ‘Revolution 9’ the final chords of Sibelius’s Seventh Symphony can be heard. Even the most jaded veteran of twentieth century music must have been startled by the influence of the post-war avant-garde on the psychedelic generation. Now a major festival running throughout 2013 at London’s Southbank, The Rest is Noise is an intricate commentary not just on the sounds that defined the century, but on art’s troublesome dance with politics, social and cultural change. Alex Ross is the New Yorker’s music critic, and the winner of the Guardian First Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award for The Rest is Noise, which was also shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson and Pulitzer prizes for non-fiction.
Sven-Goran Eriksson
Sven-Goran Eriksson
Joe Lovejoy
¥82.01
A major in-depth biography of Sven-Goran Eriksson - the first foreign manager of the England football team - which chronicles his time in the hot seat, from taking over from Kevin Keegan, the story of the 2002 World Cup Finals in Japan and South Korea, through to the 2004 European Championships. Reserved - some would say introvert - by nature, he has so far dismissed as intrusive almost all questions about anything other than the England team. There is a fascinating story to be told about the moderate full-back who failed in his own country, retired from playing at 27, then went on to become one of the best coaches in the world. The son of a truck driver from a small provincial town in Sweden, Eriksson left school early and worked in a social security office. He went to college to study PE and played football as an amateur before being persuaded by an older teammate Tord Grip (now his assistant with England) that his career lay elsewhere in management. Modest success at Roma and Fiorentina was followed by a renewal of Sampdoria's fortunes. It wasn't long before Lazio came knocking - but not before an acrimonious fallout with Blackburn when his surprise about-turn left the Lancashire club without a new manager. He enjoyed phenomenal success in Rome, however, where he led Lazio to the scudetto, and this eventually paved the way to the England manager's job. Since then Eriksson has come under the microscope from the English press, as much for his private affairs as for his team's stuttering performances. Despite his achievements in leading England to the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 2002, his methods, formations and team selections are the subject of fierce debate up and down the country. Joe Lovejoy's book captures the essence of the man and goes some way to explaining his influence behind England. This paperback edition explores his thoughts about his captain playing his football in Spain and documents England's rocky road to the 2004 European Championship finals.
The Bad Mother
The Bad Mother
Esther Walker
¥22.66
A hilariously honest, and rather sweary, book about parenting from the author of The Bad Cook. From play dates to potty training, from weening to whining or whether to have two, or three, or more! Esther Walker focuses her unique humour on the art of parenting. Fans of Esther’s blog and journalism, or her bestselling Bad Cook book, will not be disappointed. This is every bit as funny, sweary and just plain honest as you would expect. Esther offers up her occasional successes and many failures as examples to parents everywhere: look, this is what happens, you’ll just have to deal with it! Harassed mums and dads will read this and smile, as well as sighing with ‘it isn’t just me’ relief.
The Military Wives: Wherever You Are – Claire’s Story
The Military Wives: Wherever You Are – Claire’s Story
The Military Wives
¥12.95
This is Claire’s story, one of four individual journeys taken from Wherever You Are by The Military Wives. Claire Balneaves never thought she’d end up as a military wife. But when she met a young medical assistant, Dave Balneaves, at a naval hospital, everything changed. Before long Claire and Dave had tied the knot and moved into married quarters – and Claire began to settle into the unique life of a military wife. Moving from house to house, from country to country, often solitary – in many ways Claire lived as a single mother. When family and medical difficulties cast a cloud over her personal life, Claire had no one to turn to. But from the moment she joined a nascent choir of military wives, that changed: wives with similar stories came together to sing, and there they found solace and strength. They found each other. Mere months later, the Military Wives choir would have met Gareth Malone, performed for the Queen, recorded a bestselling album and achieved a Christmas number 1. This is one woman’s true story of heartbreak and hope, and of how the choir changed the course of her life. Sales of this book will benefit the Military Wives Choirs Foundation, a network of choirs that reaches across the military community to provide support, guidance and funding for individual choirs, but first and foremost to bring women closer together through singing. The Foundation is a registered subsidiary charity of SSAFA Forces Help.
The Light’s On At Signpost
The Light’s On At Signpost
George MacDonald Fraser
¥66.22
From the author of the ever-popular Flashman novels, a collection of film-world reminiscences and trenchant thoughts on Cool Britannia, New Labour and other abominations. In between writing Flashman novels, George MacDonald Fraser spent thirty years as an "incurably star struck" screenwriter, working with the likes of Steve McQueen, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Cubby Broccoli, Burt Lancaster, Federico Fellini and Oliver Reed. Now he shares his recollections of those encounters, providing a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes. Far from starry-eyed where Tony Blair & Co are concerned, he looks back also to the Britain of his youth and castigates those responsible for its decline to "a Third World country … misruled by a typical Third World government, corrupt, incompetent and undemocratic". Controversial, witty and revealing – or "curmudgeonly", "reactionary", "undiluted spleen", according to the critics – The Light's on at Signpost has struck a chord with a great section of the public. Perhaps, as one reader suggests, it should be "hidden beneath the floorboards, before the Politically-Correct Thought Police come hammering at the door, demanding to confiscate any copies".
Never Say Die
Never Say Die
Melanie Davies,Lynne Barrett-Lee
¥54.25
On a Saturday morning in May 1980, Melanie Bowen, a pretty fifteen year old, ran down the stairs of her parents’ home in Port Talbot, grabbed her leather jacket and crash helmet, yelled a goodbye, and then walked out of the front door into the sunshine for what was to be the last time in her life. Never Say Die is the true story of what followed… Since the motorcycle crash that left her paralysed from the chest down, Melanie's life has been one of extremes. On the down side, she has endured 5 horrific months of despair and indignity in rehabilitation, undergone a colostomy at 23, been in another serious car crash, suffered syringomyelia and the terrifying prospect of full quadriplegia, been diagnosed with breast cancer and broken several bones. On the plus side, however, she's won medals in athletics for Wales, been humbled and inspired by Falklands veterans at RAF Chessington, raised thousands for charity, become a major disability poster girl in America, dabbled with the film world and been screen tested for a movie, met the Queen, and set up her own rehabilitation charity, whose patrons include the acclaimed actor Michael Sheen, Dame Tanni Grey Thompson and former Welsh Rugby captain, Gwyn Jones. She has also, against all the odds, found lasting happiness, having fallen in love with and married the surgeon who 25 years earlier told her she would never walk again.
Punished
Punished
Vanessa Steel
¥57.09
‘Punished’ is the inspiring true story of an unusual little girl, Vanessa, whose childhood was devastated by torture and abuse at the hands of her sadistic mother. Vanessa was nearly destroyed until she discovered a secret that ultimately saved her life. From the age of 3, Vanessa lived in daily terror of her mother's unpredictable rage. If she was 'naughty', her mother would lash out at her – with beatings, torture, starvation and making Vanessa sleep in their garden's pigsty, tied up like an animal. Her mother said her punishments were God's revenge on her for being the devil's child. Her father lived in denial of her suffering. When she was 6 years old, Vanessa's grandfather began to sexually abuse her – to her despair, aided and abetted by both her mother and grandmother. At eight years old, she then discovered that the 'mother' who hated her so much had adopted her as a baby and would never love her as her own. At the most horrific times of Vanessa's abuse, she nearly lost all hope that she would escape her prison, until mysterious things started to happen to her that allowed her to fight back. This is the story of how Vanessa survived a childhood that nearly destroyed her and how her secret led her out of the horrors of her past.
The Screwtape Letters: Letters from a Senior to a Junior Devil
The Screwtape Letters: Letters from a Senior to a Junior Devil
C. S. Lewis
¥61.51
The Screwtape Letters is a Christian apologetic novel by C. S. Lewis. It is written in a satirical, epistolary style and while it is fictional in format, the plot and characters are used to address Christian theological issues, primarily those to do with temptation and resistance to it. First published in February 1942, the story takes the form of a series of letters from a senior Demon Screwtape to his nephew Wormwood, a Junior Tempter. The uncle's mentorship pertains to the nephew's responsibility for securing the damnation of a British man known only as "the Patient".
Yours, Jack: The Inspirational Letters of C. S. Lewis
Yours, Jack: The Inspirational Letters of C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis,Paul F. Ford
¥95.75
A collection of 365 readings containing the best and most compelling writing culled from more than 4,000 pages of C.S.Lewis‘s famous published letters. Thoughout his life, C.S. Lewis – ‘Jack’ to his friends – spent a good portion of each day writing letters to people for whom he became a spiritual mentor – literally thousands of them. Contained within this vast body of correspondence is wisdom and personal insight as powerful as anything else he ever wrote or had published. Jack’s famous letters, published in their entirety in a collection consisting of three impressive volumes, reveal much about his private life, reflections, friendships and feelings, as well as all of Lewis’s interests: theology, literature, poetry, fantasy, and unknown details about his world-famous Narnia stories and other books. Amongst Jack’s correspondents were J.R.R. Tolkien, Dorothy L. Sayers, Owen Barfield, Arthur C. Clarke, Sheldon Vanauken and Dom Bede Griffiths. Now, this distillation of 365 inspirational readings extracted from the letters offers an easy-to-digest look at this great author’s lifetime of correspondence and drives straight to the heart of this insightful and inspirational thinker.
Collected Letters Volume One: Family Letters 1905–1931
Collected Letters Volume One: Family Letters 1905–1931
C. S. Lewis
¥104.48
This collection brings together the best of C.S. Lewis’s letters – some published for the first time. Arranged in chronological order, this is the first volume covering Family Letters: 1905-1931. C.S. Lewis was a most prolific letter writer and his personal correspondence reveals much of his private life, reflections, friendships and feelings. This collection, carefully chosen and arranged by Walter Hooper, is the most extensive ever published. In this great and important collection are the letters Lewis wrote to J.R.R. Tolkien, Dorothy L. Sayers, Owen Barfield, Arthur C. Clarke, Sheldon Vanauken and Dom Bede Griffiths. To some particular friends, such as Dorothy L. Sayers, Lewis wrote over fifty letters alone. The letters deal with all of Lewis’s interests: theology, literary criticism, poetry, fantasy, children’s stories as well as revealing his relationships with family members and friends. This first volume of Family Letters: 1905-1931 covers Lewis’s boyhood and early manhood, his army years, undergraduate life at Oxford and his election to a fellowship at Magdalen College. Lewis became an atheist when he was 13 years old and his dislike of Christianity is evident in many of his letters. The volume concludes with a letter describing an evening spent with J.R.R. Tolkien and Hugo Dyson when he came to see that he was wrong to think of Christianity as one of ‘many myths.’ ‘What Dyson and Tolkien showed me was that… the story of Christ is simply a true myth… but with this tremendous difference that it really happened.
Hoggy: Welcome to My World
Hoggy: Welcome to My World
Matthew Hoggard
¥66.22
The quintessential barking-mad Yorkshire cricketer, 'Hoggy's' record-breaking bowling exploits for England allied to his humorous, uniquely oddball yet hugely endearing attitude to sport and life makes this essential reading for all lovers of the game. More than just a line-and-length cricketer's biography, Hoggy offers an entertaining insight into the weird and wonderful world of one of cricket's true characters. From the pub to the wicket and everywhere in-between, the dogged nightwatchman and wicket-taker looks beyond the runs and wickets to reveal what cricketers really get up to on tour and in the dressing room …
More Than A Game: The Story of Cricket's Early Years
More Than A Game: The Story of Cricket's Early Years
John Major
¥95.75
The former Prime Minister examines the history of one of the great loves of his life. Throughout John Major’s life, one of the constant factors has been his deep love of cricket. In this sumptuously illustrated book he delves deep into the game’s history, tracing its development from its rustic beginnings to the international sport we know today. Along the way he examines – and at times demolishes – many cherished myths. Among the subjects to which he pays particular attention are the changing social role of cricket, developments in the rules, the emergence of the professional player, the game’s spread throughout the British Empire and the part it has played in cementing international relations. John Major’s history of cricket reflects not only his lifelong passion for the game, but the depth of his research among a wealth of hitherto neglected but fascinating sources. It is a significant addition to the already rich literature of the greatest game of all.
Pete: My Story
Pete: My Story
Pete Bennett
¥53.76
When Pete Bennett exploded into the Big Brother house, and into everyone's living rooms, he instantly became an icon. Weird, unpredictable, involuntarily foul-mouthed, beautiful and endlessly entertaining, from day one he was the favourite to win. As a small, sensitive boy, Pete struggled with the bullies and gangs of thugs in some of the hardest housing estates and schools in South London. Despite a tough start, he showed prodigious creative talents in art, music and performance. When Tourette's exploded in his head at puberty, he lost control of his mouth, his body and his face. Unable to finish his education or follow any normal career path, he was led to living the high life and low life on the streets of Brighton. He cheerfully experimented with hard drugs and perverse sexuality, happy to find himself in a world where being beautiful and weird made you a star, not a victim. After witnessing the death of his close friend, he came crashing down to earth. As he battled on with the effects of depression and drug addiction, poverty and Tourette's, a visionary trip to heaven convinced him that the only way he could survive and save his family from penury was by winning Big Brother. After a euphoric victory in August 2006, he is now one of the most famous faces and voices in the country.
Lewis Hamilton: My Story
Lewis Hamilton: My Story
Lewis Hamilton
¥73.58
Lewis Hamilton’s explosive arrival on the Formula 1 scene has made front-page headlines. In My Story, for the first time Lewis opens up about his stunning debut season in grand prix racing, as well as his dad Anthony, his home life and his early years. The only book with the real story, as told by Lewis. In his first season in F1, Lewis Hamilton thrilled the world of motor racing by finishing on the podium in his first nine consecutive races – the first driver to do so in the sport's 57-year history – and drove to victories in Canada, America, Hungary and Japan. But bare statistics alone do scant justice to the amazing impact Lewis Hamilton has had on the sporting landscape. My Story gives the real account from Lewis himself, as he sets the record straight about his colourful life on and off the track. Given a grounded upbringing by his dedicated father in unremarkable Stevenage, Lewis tells about how he first tried out go-karting while on a cut-price family holiday in Ibiza. In his book he gives the real version of events at a motor sport dinner where, as a nine-year-old wearing a borrowed suit, he approached McLaren team boss Ron Dennis with the immortal words that were to change his life forever. He rose rapidly through the Junior and Formula ranks, dominating every series with his raw speed and canny race craft. Here Lewis candidly recalls those key moments that shaped his career and went some way towards compensating for the sacrifices made by his father Anthony in getting his son to the top. Lewis also charts how he got into the sport and was signed up by Ron Dennis, what motivates him, who are his closest friends, how he copes with the constant travelling, and the physical and mental challenges of driving a state-of-the-art Formula 1 car. He looks back in detail at the 2007 World Championship – the race wins, the frightening crash in Germany, his intense rivalry with team-mate Fernando Alonso, his special relationship with Ron Dennis, and the furore over the Ferrari allegations – right up to the dramatic last race of the season in Brazil.
Imran Khan: The Cricketer, The Celebrity, The Politician
Imran Khan: The Cricketer, The Celebrity, The Politician
Christopher Sandford
¥147.35
The definitive biography of Imran Khan, the former Pakistan cricket captain and all-rounder – the Oxbridge graduate and vociferous campaigner; the devout Muslim whose kaleidoscopic social life flooded the gossip columns; the man who raised $60 million for cancer research and who is now one of the most important political figures in Pakistan. On one thing, Imran Khan’s friends and enemies agree: it all began with the leopard print satin trousers. In November 1974, the Cricketer International published an article about the new elite group of young talented players, ‘into concepts like fashion and pop music’, and bent on challenging cricket’s eternal stereotypes. Of the five featured stars on the cover, a superbly hirsute 21-year-old wearing a tight black shirt and gaudy trousers, with a facial expression of supreme self-confidence, stood out. Imran Khan has always been a controversial figure, a man who gives rise to hot debate on account of his strong conviction and hard line views. From his achievements on the cricket field as the Pakistan captain who captured the World Cup and the game’s best all-rounder in history, through to his racy social life – the practising Muslim boogieing on the dancefloor of Annabel’s, ‘an astonishing lovemaker’, according to one overnight partner, praised by Diana Princess of Wales, close friend to his then wife Jemima Goldsmith, as a ‘devoted husband’ – the Imran story is full of colour and contradictions. Acclaimed biographer Christopher Sandford has approached a richly varied cast list of Imran associates past and present – from Geoff Boycott, Javed Miandad, Mike Brearley, David Gower and John Major through to Nelson Mandela and close acquaintances male and female such as Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, John Major, Keith Richards, sources close to the late Princess of Wales and Pakistan’s General Musharraf. Imran Khan himself has agreed to be interviewed for the book and given Sandford exclusive access to his inner sanctum.