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The Progress of a Biographer (Routledge Revivals)
Par Hugh Kingsmill. 1949
First published in 1949, The Progress of a Biographer follows a general principle that there are absolute truths, which an…
individual can in some degree apprehend and live by, but which churches and institutions can only obscure and pervert. This principle is followed for the sketches in this book, most of which were written between the end of World War II and the spring of 1948. The subjects range from P. G. Wodehouse to Karl Marx, from W. B. Yeats to Thackeray, and from Rainer Maria Rilke to Lloyd George. Believing that to understand a man’s work, one must form a coherent impression of the man, the author has tried to suggest the leading characteristics and governing impulses of his subjects. His intention has been to clarify rather than to criticise, though doubtless the affect may sometimes be one of criticism falling short of clarification. The book will be of interest to students across disciplines but will particularly appeal to students of English literature.Island Boy: Valentia, Skellig and my life at the ocean’s edge
Par Des Lavelle. 2022
‘There were twenty-five hours in my day then ... any job or challenge that the ocean or the harbour might…
offer was an option. I undertook them all.’ Des Lavelle was born on Valentia Island in County Kerry in 1934, surrounded by the wild Atlantic waters. Known to the world for his passion for the nearby Skellig Islands, Des has led a fascinating and varied life, but his heart forever draws him back to Valentia. His wide-ranging memoir takes us on an extraordinary journey from an idyllic childhood on Valentia, through a short-lived ‘permanent, pensionable job’ with the Western Union Telegraph Company to a rich and fascinating life where the sea always offered opportunities. When the movie Ryan’s Daughter needed marine advice in 1968, they came to Des. In 1974 a North Sea oil rig sought him out to help with a giant safety net, and a few years later his special skills came to the fore once more as Telecom Éireann laid their cables under the waves. From sea-faring on his beloved 32ft Béal Bocht to pioneering deep-sea diving, running a ferry, campaigning for his beloved island outpost, crewing with the Valentia lifeboat and travelling to far-flung places, Des Lavelle shares his ups and downs on his road to becoming a renowned author and expert on the historical and wildlife riches of Kerry’s intriguing Skellig Islands. Island Boy is the compelling story of a man born and raised in Valentia and of a unique life that he continues to live to the full.Black Boy: A Memoir (P. S. Ser.)
Par Richard Wright. 2022
A controversial, celebrated, and classic text of American autobiography, Black Boy is a subtly crafted narrative of Richard Wright's journey…
from innocence to experience in the Jim Crow South. Enduring poverty, hunger, fear, abuse, and hatred while growing up in Mississippi, Wright was desperate for a different way of life and headed north, eventually coming to Chicago, where he forged a new path and began his career as a writer. At the end of the book, Wright sits pencil in hand, determined to &“hurl words into this darkness and wait for an echo.&” Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.The Impossible City: A Hong Kong Memoir
Par Karen Cheung. 2022
A boldly rendered—and deeply intimate—account of Hong Kong today, from a resilient young woman whose stories explore what it means…
to survive in a city teeming with broken promises. &“Hums with the thrill of being lost in this massive, haunted, mythologized, neon city, yet finding oneself in the end.&”—Hua Hsu, author of A Floating Chinaman ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022—Entertainment Weekly, PureWowHong Kong is known as a place of extremes: a former colony of the United Kingdom that now exists at the margins of an ascendant China; a city rocked by mass protests, where residents rally—often in vain—against threats to their fundamental freedoms. But it is also misunderstood, and often romanticized. Drawing from her own experience reporting on the politics and culture of her hometown, as well as interviews with musicians, protesters, and writers who have watched their home transform, Karen Cheung gives us a rare insider&’s view of this remarkable city at a pivotal moment—for Hong Kong and, ultimately, for herself.Born just before the handover to China in 1997, Cheung grew up questioning what version of Hong Kong she belonged to. Not quite at ease within the middle-class, cosmopolitan identity available to her at her English-speaking international school, she also resisted the conservative values of her deeply traditional, often dysfunctional family.Through vivid and character-rich stories, Cheung braids a dual narrative of her own coming of age alongside that of her generation. With heartbreaking candor, she recounts her yearslong struggle to find reliable mental health care in a city reeling from the traumatic aftermath of recent protests. Cheung also captures moments of miraculous triumph, documenting Hong Kong&’s vibrant counterculture and taking us deep into its indie music and creative scenes. Inevitably, she brings us to the protests, where her understanding of what it means to belong to Hong Kong finally crystallized.An exhilarating blend of memoir and reportage, The Impossible City charts the parallel journeys of both a young woman and a city as they navigate the various, sometimes contradictory paths of coming into one&’s own.Black American Refugee: Escaping the Narcissism of the American Dream
Par Tiffanie Drayton. 2022
Named "most anticipated" book of February by Marie Claire, Essence, and A.V. Club"Drayton explores the ramifications of racism that span…
generations, global white supremacy, and the pitfalls of American culture."—Shondaland After following her mother to the US at a young age to pursue economic opportunities, one woman must come to terms with the ways in which systematic racism and resultant trauma keep the American Dream inaccessible to Black people.In the early '90s, young Tiffanie Drayton and her siblings left Trinidad and Tobago to join their mother in New Jersey, where she'd been making her way as a domestic worker, eager to give her children a shot at the American Dream. At first, life in the US was idyllic. But chasing good school districts with affordable housing left Tiffanie and her family constantly uprooted--moving from Texas to Florida then back to New Jersey. As Tiffanie came of age in the suburbs, she began to ask questions about the binary Black and white American world. Why were the Black neighborhoods she lived in crime-ridden, and the multicultural ones safe? Why were there so few Black students in advanced classes at school, if there were any advanced classes at all? Why was it so hard for Black families to achieve stability? Why were Black girls treated as something other than worthy?Ultimately, exhausted by the pursuit of a "better life" in America, twenty-year old Tiffanie returns to Tobago. She is suddenly able to enjoy the simple freedom of being Black without fear, and imagines a different future for her own children. But then COVID-19 and widely publicized instances of police brutality bring America front and center again. This time, as an outsider supported by a new community, Tiffanie grieves and rages for Black Americans in a way she couldn't when she was one. An expansion of her New York Times piece of the same name, Black American Refugee examines in depth the intersection of her personal experiences and the broader culture and historical ramifications of American racism and global white supremacy. Through thoughtful introspection and candidness, Tiffanie unravels the complex workings of the people in her life, including herself, centering Black womanhood, and illuminating the toll a lifetime of racism can take. Must Black people search beyond the shores of the "land of the free" to realize emancipation? Or will the voices that propel America's new reckoning welcome all dreamers and dreams to this land?Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker's Life
Par James Curtis. 2022
From acclaimed cultural and film historian James Curtis—a major biography, the first in more than two decades, of the legendary…
comedian and filmmaker who elevated physical comedy to the highest of arts and whose ingenious films remain as startling, innovative, modern—and irresistible—today as they were when they beguiled audiences almost a century ago."It is brilliant—I was totally absorbed, couldn't stop reading it and was very sorry when it ended."—Kevin Brownlow It was James Agee who christened Buster Keaton &“The Great Stone Face.&” Keaton&’s face, Agee wrote, "ranked almost with Lincoln&’s as an early American archetype; it was haunting, handsome, almost beautiful, yet it was also irreducibly funny. Keaton was the only major comedian who kept sentiment almost entirely out of his work and . . . he brought pure physical comedy to its greatest heights.&” Mel Brooks: &“A lot of my daring came from Keaton.&” Martin Scorsese, influenced by Keaton&’s pictures in the making of Raging Bull: &“The only person who had the right attitude about boxing in the movies for me,&” Scorsese said, &“was Buster Keaton.&” Keaton&’s deadpan stare in a porkpie hat was as recognizable as Charlie Chaplin&’s tramp and Harold Lloyd&’s straw boater and spectacles, and, with W. C. Fields, the four were each considered a comedy king--but Keaton was, and still is, considered to be the greatest of them all. His iconic look and acrobatic brilliance obscured the fact that behind the camera Keaton was one of our most gifted filmmakers. Through nineteen short comedies and twelve magnificent features, he distinguished himself with such seminal works as Sherlock Jr., The Navigator, Steamboat Bill, Jr., The Cameraman, and his masterpiece, The General. Now James Curtis, admired biographer of Preston Sturges (&“definitive&”—Variety), W. C. Fields (&“by far the fullest, fairest and most touching account we have yet had. Or are likely to have&”—Richard Schickel, front page of The New York Times Book Review), and Spencer Tracy (&“monumental; definitive&”—Kirkus Reviews), gives us the richest, most comprehensive life to date of the legendary actor, stunt artist, screenwriter, director—master.A Spectacle of Dust: The Autobiography
Par Pete Postlethwaite. 2011
After training as a teacher, Pete Postlethwaite started his acting career at the Liverpool Everyman Theatre where his colleagues included…
Bill Nighy, Jonathan Pryce, Antony Sher and Julie Walters. After routine early appearances in small parts for television programmes such as THE PROFESSIONALS, Postlethwaite's first success came with the acclaimed British film DISTANT VOICES, STILL LIVES in 1988. He then received an Academy Award nomination for his role in THE NAME OF THE FATHER in 1993. His performance as the mysterious lawyer "Kobayashi" in THE USUAL SUSPECTS is well-known, and he appeared in many successful films including ALIEN 3, BRASSED OFF, THE SHIPPING NEWS, THE CONSTANT GARDENER, as Friar Lawrence in Baz Luhrmann's ROMEO + JULIET, and in INCEPTION with Leonardo diCaprio. Pete Postlethwaite was one of the best-loved and widely admired performers on stage, TV (SHARPE, THE SINS) and in cinema. In THE ART OF DISCWORLD, Terry Pratchett said that he had always imagined Sam Vimes as 'a younger, slightly bulkier version of Pete Postlethwaite', while Steven Spielberg called him 'the best actor in the world', about which Postlethwaite said: 'I'm sure what Spielberg actually said was, "the thing about Pete is that he thinks he's the best actor in the world."' This is the story of a diverse and multi-talented actor's eventful life, told in his own candid and vibrant words.Read by Philip Jackson (BRASSED OFF), with an introduction by Sean Bean.(p) 2011 Orion Publishing GroupWhen Angels Fight: My Story of Escaping Sex Trafficking and Leading a Revolt Against the Darkness
Par Leslie F. King. 2022
As seen on The Today ShowWhen she was fifteen years old, Leslie King ran away from an abusive home, looking…
for a better life and longing for real love. What she found instead was a man who wooed her just long enough to trap her in a life of prostitution. She became one of the many thousands of trafficked individuals in the United States, a number that continues to rise--in the biggest cities and in the most idyllic towns.As is true for so many in similar situations, life was nothing but brokenness and pain for Leslie. After years of hopelessness, she finally decided to take her own life. And then God spoke. With his promise that he was with her and had mighty things for her to accomplish ringing in her ears, she got off the streets, got clean, and got to work on the mission to which he'd called her.Now Leslie is a passionate and heroic advocate for other trafficked women and teenage girls in her community and across the country.More than a gritty, no-holds-barred deliverance story, When Angels Fight includes powerful advice from Leslie and those she's encountered in her work--police officers, judges, and other advocates and activists. She also shows you what YOU can do to make a real difference in your own community. Her call from God includes marshaling others to the cause and equipping them to fight alongside her and the angels who battle for God's children--just as they once fought for her.Is It Just Me?: The hilarious Sunday Times Bestseller
Par Miranda Hart. 2012
Well hello to you dear audiobook browser. Now I have your attention it would be rude if I didn't tell…
you a little about my literary feast. So, here is the thing: is it just me or does anyone else find that adulthood offers no refuge from the unexpected horrors, peculiar lack of physical coordination and sometimes unexplained nudity, that accompanied childhood and adolescence? Does everybody struggle with the hazards that accompany, say, sitting elegantly on a bar stool; using chopsticks; pretending to understand the bank crisis; pedicures - surely it's plain wrong for a stranger to fondle your feet? Or is it just me? I am proud to say I have a wealth of awkward experiences - from school days to life as an office temp - and here I offer my 18-year-old self (and I hope you too dear listener) some much needed caution and guidance on how to navigate life's rocky path. Because frankly where is the manual? The much needed manual to life. Well, fret not, for this is my attempt at one and let's call it, because it's fun, a Miran-ual. I thank you.(P)2012 Hodder & StoughtonThe Soul of It All: My Music, My Life
Par Michael Bolton. 2012
After four decades in the music industry, Michael Bolton has cemented himself as one of the most successful musicians of…
our time. THE SOUL OF IT ALL is his backstage pass into his life lived thus far - into the venues, buses, limos and hotel rooms of stardom, and finally into his home and heart. His story will go long and dive deep, not only into his self-proclaimed 'vagabond vampire' life, but also into the belly of the beast that is the music industry, with its joys, follies and torments.From a 14-year-old kid performing in dive bars to struggling to provide for his wife and kids, to finally breaking through with the Soul Provider album, Bolton has fought for and earned a life most just dream of. THE SOUL OF IT ALL is his life, chockful of all the incredible stories, and the star-studded cast you'd expect, including: Pavarotti, Bob Dylan, Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Ray Charles and Lady Gaga.Winner: My Racing Life
Par A. P. McCoy. 2015
Tony (A.P.) McCoy has collected a record twenty consecutive jump jockey titles to date, and since 1992 he has ridden…
over 4,300 winners. This powerfully honest memoir looks at life at the very top in National Hunt racing - and beyond, discussing fatherhood, writing novels and his decision to retire while he's still a long way ahead. It is a definitive autobiography that is themed around AP's ten most important races: his first ride, first race, first fall, first win, greatest disappointment - and greatest triumph.These are the memoirs of a true champion, an icon of sport, whose astonishing achievements over the past twenty years are unlikely to be surpassed. It is a great story of courage and triumphs, setbacks and pain, the private and public life of a riding phenomenon.Read by Stephen Armstrong(p) 2015 Orion Publishing GroupRock Stars Stole my Life!: A Big Bad Love Affair with Music
Par Mark Ellen. 2014
In a sodden tent at a '70s festival, the teenage Mark Ellen had a dream. He dreamt that music was…
a rich meadow of possibility, a liberating leap to a sparkling future, an industry of human happiness - and he wanted to be part of it. Thus began his 50-year love affair with rock and roll. From his time at the NME and Smash Hits to Radio One, Old Grey Whistle Test, Live Aid, Q, Select, Mojo and The Word magazines, he's been at the molten core of its evolution, and watched its key figures from a unique perspective. This funny and touching personal memoir maps out his eventful journey. It tells stories and settles scores. It charts the peaks and disappointments. It flags up surprising heroes and barbecues the dull and self-deluded. It puts a chaotic world to rights and pours petrol on the embers of a glorious industry now in spiralling decline.(P)2014 Hodder & StoughtonKP: The Autobiography
Par Kevin Pietersen Mbe. 2014
The fascinating life story of professional cricketer Kevin Pietersen, MBE, from his childhood in South Africa to his recent experiences…
as one of the leading lights in the world of international cricket.Kevin was dropped from the England squad in February of this year, seemingly calling time on an international career that began nearly ten years earlier. The decision puzzled many observers - although the England team had failed miserably in the Ashes tour of 2013-14, Kevin was the tourists' leading run scorer across the series, and he remains the country's highest run scorer of all time across all formats of the game.This autumn Kevin will reveal all in his autobiography, telling the stories behind the many other highs and lows of his incredible career. Giving readers the full story of his life, from his childhood in South Africa to his recent experiences as one of the leading lights in the world of international cricket, this will be an autobiography that entertains and fascinates readers in equal measure.Billy Brown, I'll Tell Your Mother
Par Bill Brown. 2011
By the time he was ten years old, Billy Brown was running a successful little business on the black market:…
whatever you needed, from bricks and firewood to dress material or machetes, Billy Brown could get it - or knew a man who could. And, for the right price, he would deliver it direct to your door in an old carriage pram.With energy and insight, Billy Brown paints a vivid and lively picture of Britain emerging from the ruins of the war, the hunger for opportunity, the growing pace of modernisation and the pride and optimism that held communities together. Londoners were intent on getting themselves back on their feet, and it provided the perfect opportunity for a boy with ambition and a lively imagination.Born in Brixton, south London, in 1942, Billy Brown was a lovable scamp with a nose for mischief. Left to his own devices while both his parents went out to work, if there was trouble to be had Billy would be in the thick of it. Ignoring the shaking of fists from his neighbours, his mother's scoldings and the regular thwack of the cane on his bottom at school, Billy wheeled and dealed, charmed Woolies' Girls, planned coronation celebrations, ran circles around circus performers and persuaded villains to work on his terms.Read by Bill Brown(p) 2011 Orion Publishing GroupThe Life and Loves of a He Devil: A Memoir
Par Graham Norton. 2014
Graham Norton has been entertaining audiences and having fun with some of the world's biggest stars for nearly twenty years.…
He is loved across the nation for his delight in the peculiar and for his ability to find humour and a common ground in all that life brings. The Life and Loves of a He Devil is Graham's funny and honest memoir on the theme of love. As he shows, it's really the things you love that make you who you are and so Graham tells his story from his Irish childhood to the present day, describing just what and who he loved - and sometimes lost - as a young boy, and his new loves and obsessions - big and small - as he's grown older. It's been ten years since his last book and being a decade older Graham has come to realise that what makes a life interesting is less what happens to you and more what inspires and drives you, what you love.. From Dolly Parton and dogs to wine and Ireland, Graham tells of his life and loves with characteristic humour and outrageous candour.(P)2014 Hodder & StoughtonCall the Midlife
Par Chris Evans. 2015
During his run into turning FIFTY, CHRIS EVANS is on a MISSION. To take stock of WHERE HE IS and…
WHERE HE'S AT in order to figure out how BEST to get the MOST out of what he BELIEVES are the BEST YEARS yet to come.His typically positive and upbeat journey involves ONE HUNDRED DAYS of contemplation, research, focus, frustration and DECISION MAKING while SECRETLY:*Training for The London MARATHON*Bringing back his cult Nineties TV show TFI FRIDAY*And the small matter of suddenly being asked to take over TOP GEAR.HEALTH, LOVE, MARRIAGE, SEX, DEATH and even RELIGION all come under his witty microscope as he poses the conundrum - MIDLIFE: CRISIS vs OPPORTUNITY ?There can only be one winner.Read by Vassos Alexander(p) 2015 Orion Publishing GroupLuis Suarez: Crossing the Line - My Story
Par Luis Suarez. 2014
Luis Suárez was a young boy already in love with football by the time his family moved from the countryside…
to Uruguay's capital, Montevideo. The guile and trickery of the street kid made an impact with the country's biggest club, Nacional, before he was spotted by Dutch scouts who brought him to Europe.Suárez was lured from Ajax to Merseyside by another iconic number 7, Kenny Dalglish. From that moment, he terrorised Premier League defences, driving a resurgent Liverpool towards their most exciting top-flight season in 24 years.But there is another side to Luis Suárez: the naturally fiery temperament which drives his competitiveness on the pitch. There was the very public incident with Patrice Evra of bitter rivals Manchester United, and the biting of Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic.Then during the World Cup finals in Brazil, in a physical encounter against Italy, he bit defender Giorgi Chiellini on the shoulder. Banned from football for four months, derided by the press, he was marched out of the country.In the summer's final twist, he became one of the most expensive footballers of all time, moving from Liverpool to Barcelona. In his first season at the Nou Camp he helped Barca to La Liga and Copa del Rey titles, scoring 16 goals in 27 games.In Crossing the Line, Luis Suárez talks from the heart about his intriguing career, his personal journey from scrapping street kid to performer on football's biggest stage, and the never-say-die attitude that sometimes causes him to overstep the mark.(P)2014 Headline DigitalBecoming Steve Jobs: The evolution of a reckless upstart into a visionary leader
Par Brent Schlender, Rick Tetzeli. 2015
We all think we know who Steve Jobs was, what made him tick, and what made him succeed. Yet the…
single most important question about him has never been answered. The young, impulsive, egotistical genius was ousted in the mid-80s from the company he founded, exiled from his own kingdom and cast into the wilderness. Yet he returned a decade later to transform the ailing Apple into the most successful company the world had ever seen. How did this reckless upstart transform himself into a visionary business leader? The first comprehensive study of Jobs' career following his dismissal from Apple, written with unparalleled access and insight, BECOMING STEVE JOBS offers a startling new portrait of the most important business figure in modern history. The most intimate biography yet of Jobs, written by the journalist who knew him better than any other, BECOMING STEVE JOBS draws on recently discovered interviews that have never before seen the light of day, and answers for the first time the most pressing questions about what made this legendary business leader such a success.'Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli render a spectacular service with this book, giving fresh perspective on Steve Jobs' journey from inspiring but immature entrepreneur into an inspired and mature company-builder. Most important, they capture Jobs' resilience, his refusal to capitulate, his restless drive to stay in the game, his voracious appetite to learn-this, far more than genius, is what made him great. Becoming Steve Jobs gets the focus precisely right: not as a success story, but as a growth story. Riveting, insightful, uplifting-read it and learn!' Jim Collins, author of Good to Great'BECOMING STEVE JOBS is fantastic. After working with Steve for over 25 years, I feel this book captures with great insight the growth and complexity of a truly extraordinary person. I hope that it will be recognized as the definitive history.' Ed Catmull, President, Pixar and Disney Animation (P)2015 Hodder & StoughtonPoirot and Me
Par David Suchet. 2013
In the summer of 2013 David Suchet will film his final scenes as Hercule Poirot. After 24 years in the…
role, he will have played the character in every story that Agatha Christie wrote about him (bar one, deemed unfilmable) and he will bid adieu to a role and a character that have changed his life.In Poirot and Me, David Suchet tells the story of how he secured the part, with the blessing of Agatha Christie's daughter, and set himself the task of presenting the most authentic Poirot that had ever been filmed.David Suchet is uniquely placed to write the ultimate companion to one of the world's longest running television series. Peppered with anecdotes about filming, including many tales of the guest stars who have appeared over the years, the book is essential reading for Poirot fans all over the world.(P)2013 Headline DigitalBritty Britty Bang Bang: One Man's Attempt to Understand His Country
Par Hugh Dennis. 2013
Hugh Dennis' hilarious and insightful exploration of the changing image of Britain and Britishness will enthral those who love Outnumbered,…
The Now Show, Mock the Week and quintessentially British humour. 'Utterly readable and laugh-out-loud funny' - Stephen Fry Hugh Dennis has secretly been worrying about what being "British" meant for nearly a decade, ever since his friend Ardal O'Hanlon had told him in passing that he was the most British person he had ever met. Hugh was unclear whether he was being praised, teased, vaguely insulted or possibly all three - because it has always been very difficult to know how to feel about being British.In 2012 we surprised the world. Not only did we provide an Olympic Games much better than Mitt Romney expected, or the French hoped, we also presented a completely new face - a gleaming fresh vision of Britain. Who thought that the country we knew so well would suddenly nip up into the national loft and bring down so much we had all forgotten about? What are our great traditions?Are we really good at inventing stuff? Are we obsessed by the weather?Did we invent Democracy?Who was Kenneth Branagh meant to be in that opening ceremony?Frankly this country has got some explaining to do... What readers are saying about Britty Britty Bang Bang:'Pure Hugh Dennis! Witty Britty! A witty anecdote in every other sentence''An amusing yet also enlightening trawl through British history and cultural values''Hugh Dennis writes very much in character - highly amusing and observant'