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Imperial Bedrooms (Vintage Contemporaries Ser.)
by Bret Easton EllisClay is a successful screenwriter, middle-aged and disaffected; he’s in LA to cast his new movie. However, this trip is anything other than professional, and he’s soon drifting through a louche and long-familiar circle – a world largely populated by the band of infamous teenagers first introduced in Bret Easton Ellis's first novel Less Than Zero. After a meeting with a gorgeous but talentless actress determined to win a role in his movie, Clay finds himself connected with Kelly Montrose, a producer whose gruesomely violent death is suddenly very much the talk of the town.Imperial Bedrooms follows Clay as his debauched reverie is interrupted by a violent plot for revenge and his seemingly endless proclivity for betrayal and exploitation looks set to land him somewhere darker and more ominous than ever before.
Water from the Sun and Discovering Japan: Short Reads (Picador Shots)
by Bret Easton EllisPreviously published in the short story collection, The Informers, Water from the Sun and Discovering Japan is part of the Picador Shots range of short reads.Bret Easton Ellis’s two short stories, Water from the Sun and Discovering Japan, chronicle the lives of a group of Los Angeles residents all of them suffering from nothing less that death of the soul. Ellis has immense gift for dialogue, off-the-wall humour, merciless description and exotic bleakness.In Water from the Sun, Cheryl Lane is going under. Her marriage to William has broken down, she has moved in with a young boy half her age who is more interested in other young boys that in her and she keeps not turning up at work, the one area of her life that seems to be in good working order. To keep afloat she drinks, she shops and she takes pills. Would meeting up with William, something she has been avoiding like everything else in her life, give her what she needs anyway?In Discovering Japan, Bryan, is on tour. His manager, Roger, has taken him to Tokyo to promote his record and do a few gigs. But to get Roger out of hotel room, off the drink, drugs and women is going to be a tall enough feet itself for Bryan. Written with spare and hypnotic prose, this is a story about a man hell-bent on destruction by a writer deeply concerned with the moral decline of our society.
No Cunning Plan: My Unexpected Life, from Baldrick to Time Team and Beyond
by Sir Tony RobinsonSir Tony Robinson is a much-loved actor, presenter and author with a stellar career lasting over fifty years. In this autobiography he reveals how the boy from South Woodford went from child stardom in the first stage production of Oliver!, a pint-sized pickpocket desperately bleaching his incipient moustache, to comedy icon Baldrick, the loyal servant and turnip aficionado in Blackadder. It wasn't all plain sailing though. Along the way he was bullied by Steve Marriott, failed to impress Liza Minnelli and was pushed into a stinking London dock by John Wayne. He also entertained us with Maid Marion and Her Merry Men (which he wrote and starred in) and coped manfully when locked naked outside a theatre in Lincoln during the live tour of comedy series Who Dares Wins. He presented Time Team for twenty years, watching countless gardens ruthlessly dug up in the name of archaeology, and risked life and limb filming The Worst Jobs in History. Packed full of incident and insight, No Cunning Plan is a funny, self-deprecating and always entertaining read.
Yes Please
by Amy PoehlerThe New York Times number one bestseller from the Saturday Night Live and Parks and Recreation star.In Amy Poehler's highly anticipated first book, Yes Please, she offers up a big juicy stew of personal stories, funny bits on sex and love and friendship and parenthood and real life advice (some useful, some not so much).Powered by Amy's charming and hilarious, biting yet wise voice, Yes Please is a book full of words to live by.
Arabel and Mortimer Stories (A Puffin Book)
by Joan AikenArabel and her notorious raven Mortimer make a welcome return to Puffin Books!When Arabel's father, Ebenezer Jones, drives his taxi home late one night he comes across 'a large black bird, with a hairy fringe around its beak.' He takes it home and from that moment on, life is never the same again for the Jones family. Arabel's raven is called Mortimer - and he's one in amillion. 'Nevermore!' he cries when astonished or upset, 'Down the hatch' he thinks before gobbling bowler hats, stairs, telephones. He dislikes flying except in emergencies, and with disaster-prone Mortimer around there are plenty of those. There are six hilarious escapades in this collection, brought to life by Quentin Blake's wonderfully animated illustrations.
Baby, You're Gonna Be Mine: Short Stories
by Kevin Wilson‘Wildfire Johnny’ is the story of a man who discovers a magic razor that allows him to travel back in time. ‘Scroll Through the Weapons’ is about a couple taking care of their underfed and almost feral nieces and nephews. ‘Signal to the Faithful’ follows a boy as he takes a tense road trip with his priest. And ‘Baby, You’re Gonna Be Mine’, the title story, is about a narcissistic rock star who moves back home during a rough patch. These stories all build on each other in strange and remarkable ways, showcasing Wilson’s crackling wit and big heart. Filled with imagination and humour, Baby, You’re Gonna Be Mine is an exuberant collection of captivating and charmingly bizarre stories that promise to burrow their way into your heart and soul.
Much Ado About Nothing: Webster's Spanish Thesaurus Edition (Macmillan Collector's Library #193)
by William ShakespeareComedy and tragedy intertwine when two very different couples fall in and out of love. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition features illustrations by renowned artist Sir John Gilbert and a new introduction from Professor Tiffany Stern.Whilst Beatrice and Benedick both despise love, exchanging insults and mockery rather than vows, for Hero and Claudio it is love at first sight. But as their marriage preparations begin, so too do Don John’s dirty tricks. Can his scheming get in the way of true love? And can an elaborate plan to bring fiery Beatrice and cynical Benedick closer together really come off? In Much Ado About Nothing, one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays, nothing is quite what it seems.
You're Crushing It: Positivity for living your REAL life
by Lex CroucherSometimes life can be pretty amazing. But other times it feels like: A. Your heart and stomach have been steamrolled into a grisly organ pancakeB. You are being put through an emotional spiralizer that creates human courgettiC. Both of the above. You're a courgetti pancake No, Instagram filters won't make it look any better. And, yes, we all feel this way.An honest, thoughtful and hilarious survival guide for young people by social media sensation, Lex Croucher. Learn that you can face whatever today throws at you, because it has terrible aim anyway. And realise that only you scrutinise your flaws – seriously, no one else is paying attention, there's far too much interesting stuff on Netflix. A must-read for anyone who wants to embrace their actual, real, unedited life. Just always remember … YOU'RE CRUSHING IT. Lex Croucher's frank and candid text is THE survival guide to help you make it through the crazy, topsy-turvy, whirlwind ride we call life. Brace yourself! Topics include: family and friends, body confidence, technology and social media, relationships, mental health, success and more.
How Not to Murder Your Mother
by Stephanie CalmanStephanie Calman moves on from bad motherhood, failed grown-upness to the ultimate in tricky relationships: that of mother and daughter. In typically candid Calman style she serves up a painfully acute examination of the human condition, softened by the bellylaugh of recognition that will seize all who read her. As a generation finds itself parenting its parents while still trying to haul up its children, she has – once again – hit the zeitgeist firmly over the head.
How Not to Murder Your Husband
by Stephanie CalmanThe idea for this book came when Stephanie began making a list of things that annoy her about her husband, and found how hard it was, once she had started, to stop. Here are the first Ten Things, just to give you an idea. He: (1) Leaves the bread unwrapped after making toast so it goes stale. (2) Writes illegible names and addresses on things like Christmas cards then tells her off when she try to amend them. (3) Breathes really loudly when he's asleep - 'I wasn't SNORING' - so that it's like being woken every night at 2am by Darth Vader. And not in a sexy, black cloak, galaxy ruling sort of way. (4) Says, 'I'm putting you in charge of that' as if he's doing her a favour when he wants to get out of doing something. (5) Says, 'Well, let's not make a problem out of it, shall we?' before ignoring the thing she's just told him about that's really bugging her and that she wants him to fix. (6) Doesn't fix things the minute she asks him to. (7) Manages to get the children to bed with far less yelling than she does. (8) Always sees the other side in an argument, i.e., the side that isn't hers. (10) Adores her mother. Viciously funny, touchingly honest and only too true, this is Stephanie Calman at her brilliant best.
The Racehorse Who Learned to Dance
by Clare BaldingCharlie's racehorse has certainly earned the name Noble Warrior: he won the Derby against all odds and bested a bunch of nasty kidnappers. But now Noddy is facing his greatest challenge yet . . .Charlie's best friend Polly is still recovering from an accident that left her almost paralysed. But Polly has a real talent with horses - and she and Charlie are determined not to let it go to waste.Can the two best friends find a way to make Polly's equestrian dreams come true, and forge a new path for the racehorse who wouldn't gallop?
The Wide Window (A Series Of Unfortunate Events Ser.)
by Lemony Snicket Brett HelquistDear reader, There is nothing to be found in Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events but misery and despair. You still have time to choose another international best-selling series to read. But if you insist on discovering the unpleasant adventures of the Baudelaire orphans, then proceed with caution… Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire are intelligent children. They are charming, and resourceful, and have pleasant facial features. Unfortunately, they are exceptionally unlucky. In The Wide Window the siblings encounter a hurricane, a signalling device, hungry leaches, cold cucumber soup, a horrible villain and a doll named Pretty Penny. In the tradition of great storytellers, from Dickens to Dahl, comes an exquisitely dark comedy that is both literary and irreverent, hilarious and deftly crafted.
Clowns: In conversation with modern masters
by Ezra LeBank David BridelClowns: In Conversation with Modern Masters is a groundbreaking collection of conversations with 20 of the greatest clowns on earth. In discussion with clown aficionados Ezra LeBank and David Bridel, these legends of comedy reveal the origins, inspirations, techniques, and philosophies that underpin their remarkable odysseys. Featuring incomparable artists, including Slava Polunin, Bill Irwin, David Shiner, Oleg Popov, Dimitri, Nola Rae, and many more, Clowns is a unique and definitive study on the art of clowning. In Clowns, these 20 master artists speak candidly about their first encounters with clowning and circus, the crucial decisions that carved out the foundations of their style, and the role of teachers and mentors who shaped their development. Follow the twists and turns that changed the direction of their art and careers, explore the role of failure and originality in their lives and performances, and examine the development and evolution of the signature routines that became each clown’s trademark. The discussions culminate in meditations on the role of clowning in the modern world, as these great practitioners share their perspectives on the mysterious, elusive art of the clown.
Creating Solo Performance
by Sean Bruno Luke DixonCreating Solo Performance is an innovative toolbox of exercises and challenges focused on providing you – the performer – with engaging and inspiring ways to explore and develop your idea both on the page and in the performance space. The creation of a solo show may be the most rewarding, liberating and stressful challenge you will take on in your career. This book acts as your silent collaborator as you develop your performance, by helpfully arranging exercises under the following headings: Beginnings Creating character Generating material Using your performance space Technology Endings Collaboration Exercises can be explored in sequence, at random or according to your specific needs and interests as a performer. By enabling you to create a bespoke formula that best applies to your specific subject, area of interest, style and discipline, this book will become an indispensable resource as you produce your solo show.
Creating Solo Performance
by Sean Bruno Luke DixonCreating Solo Performance is an innovative toolbox of exercises and challenges focused on providing you – the performer – with engaging and inspiring ways to explore and develop your idea both on the page and in the performance space. The creation of a solo show may be the most rewarding, liberating and stressful challenge you will take on in your career. This book acts as your silent collaborator as you develop your performance, by helpfully arranging exercises under the following headings: Beginnings Creating character Generating material Using your performance space Technology Endings Collaboration Exercises can be explored in sequence, at random or according to your specific needs and interests as a performer. By enabling you to create a bespoke formula that best applies to your specific subject, area of interest, style and discipline, this book will become an indispensable resource as you produce your solo show.
Lizzie Hearts and the Hedgehog's Hexcellent Adventure: (A Little Shuffle Story) (Ever After High Shorts)
by Suzanne SelforsAt Ever After High, Lizzie Hearts has a pet hedgehog with a serious sweet tooth. But when the hedgehog eats an entire waffle throne, she gets a major stomachache! Can an adventure with a new friend help to cure her tummy troubles? Read this original short story about Lizzie and her pet hedgehog, Shuffle. This story by Suzanne Selfors is a companion to her novel Next Top Villain.
Kiss and Spell: A School Story, Book 2 (Ever After High #Bk. 2)
by Suzanne SelforsAt Ever After High, Ginger Breadhouse is getting out from under her mum's evil reputation and forging her own destiny as a pastry chef and the host of the MirrorCast show Spells Kitchen. The problem is that her show will lose its camera crew unless she can increase her viewership to compete with the likes of Blondie Lockes and her show, Just Right. Ginger thinks a special Wish Spell from Professor Rumpelstiltskin will give her a showstopper recipe, but instead it accidentally grants her crush Hopper Croakington II a misfired wish. Can she undo the magic before it's too late?Don't miss the companion activity book, Science and Sorcery!
The Passengers: A near-future thriller with a killer twist from the bestselling author of THE ONE
by John MarrsEight self-drive cars set on a collision course. Who lives, who dies? You decide.'Provocative, terrifying and compulsive. Another savagely clever near future thriller' Cara Hunter, bestselling author of CLOSE TO HOMEThe new gripping page-turning thriller for fans of BLACK MIRROR from the bestselling author of HER LAST MOVE and THE ONE - soon to be a major Netflix series.When someone hacks into the systems of eight self-drive cars, their passengers are set on a fatal collision course. The passengers are: a TV star, a pregnant young woman, a disabled war hero, an abused wife fleeing her husband, an illegal immigrant, a husband and wife - and parents of two - who are travelling in separate vehicles and a suicidal man. Now the public have to judge who should survive but are the passengers all that they first seem?________________________________WHAT READERS ARE SAYING'I was gripped right from the start - the plot had many twists and turns' - Melanie'An absorbing, engaging read that grabs you and doesn't let go, keeping you awake long past your bedtime' - Gisele'One of the most thrilling books I've read this year' - Luke'Marrs is so talented at creating these future worlds that are completely plausible and therefore utterly terrifying' - Kate'Has many twists and turns which keep you guessing to the very last page' - Greta'My heart is still pounding just thinking about this brilliantly twisted novel. An edge of your seat read' - Sara
The Laughing Clowns: A tale of finding love again by going home
by William McInnesWhen a developer asks Peter to assess a prime piece of Queensland real estate – the Pickersgill Peninsula Showgrounds – he jumps at the chance. It will give him time out from having to be with the family he loves. And it will take him back to his childhood home; to his parents, his twin sister, Pearl, and his brother, Gary, the TV weatherman.Over these few days, he will come to realise that sometimes when you go back to where you came from you find out how much you actually have, and how much you could lose. He just has to make his mind up, and listen to the advice that’s given by, of all people – the King of Hot Dogs. But will he?'For a novel that has so few pretensions, this is a skilfully constructed story that manages to be insightful, understated and very funny simultaneously' - Sydney Morning Herald'William McInnes is insightful, thoughtful and funny. He has a flair for fiction as much as memoirs and non-fiction, as The Laughing Clowns will attest' - The Daily Telegraph
The Birdwatcher: A Novel About Love, About Twitchers And About Learning To Trust
by William McInnesA novel about love, about twitchers, and about learning to trust from bestselling, award-winning author, William McInnes.This is a story about a bloke who's losing his hearing; a bird that can't fly but likes being read to; and a teenage daughter who doesn't know who to be angry at.It's about a woman living with the echo of illness finding out how much fun it can be to trust someone; a man called Murph who has a secret; and Perry Como.It's part love story, part Hot Diggity moments of discovery, whether they happen in a rainforest or while sitting on a verandah, or in somebody's heart.It's about cold outdoor showers and people not quite being complete. But, most of all, it's about giving yourself the gift to be still while you wait for the lights to change or the rain to stop, so you have time to think.For all of us, there are memories and secrets that can change our lives. If we let them.
Ever After High: Hopper Croakington Ii And The Princely Ebook (Ever After High)
by Suzanne SelforsThis short story by Suzanne Selfors is a companion to her novel Kiss and Spell. At Ever After High, Hopper Croakington II has a hopeless crush on Briar Beauty, but whenever he tries to talk to her he turns into a frog! When it's Briar's birthday, Hopper wants to give her a completely unique present -- he doesn't know what to do until he meets a little dragonfly with a fiery talent. Read this original short story about how Hopper got his pet dragonfly, Drake.
The Good, the Bad and the Smug
by Tom HoltNew Evil.Same as the Old Evil, but with better PR.Mordak isn't bad, as far as goblin kings go, but when someone, or something, starts pumping gold into the human kingdoms it puts his rule into serious jeopardy. Suddenly he's locked in an arms race with a species whose arms he once considered merely part of a calorie-controlled diet.Helped by an elf with a background in journalism and a masters degree in being really pleased with herself, Mordak sets out to discover what on earth (if indeed, that's where he is) is going on. He knows that the truth is out there. If only he could remember where he put it.
Dead Heat: Book 6 (Roman Brit #6)
by Shoo RaynerIt's a boiling hot summer in Fort Finis Terrae! The locals are getting restless, and demand a sacrifice to try and end the drought. Will Brit and Festus be forced to give up their new best friend Romeo the hare?
The Best of Matt 2015
by Matt PritchettNo matter how bad the news, the weather, your daily commute or the state of the economy, Matt always manages to put a smile on the world...From sporting triumphs and disasters to hapless public figures; from scientific achievements to the state of the nation - what is life without a bit of Matt to put everything into perspective? A Christmas must - this year, and every year.Matt is without doubt 'that rare thing - a daily cartoonist who never fails' The Times
Why Do Men Have Nipples?: Things You’d Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Gin ‘n’ Tonic
by Mark Leyner Billy GoldbergYou know how it is . . . you're at a party, you've had a drink or two and then someone introduces you to a friend. He's a doctor. And it seems like the perfect time to ask all those strange questions you've always wondered about, but never had the courage to ask:Can poppy seeds make you test positive for heroin?What are goosebumps?Why does asparagus make your wee smell?Why do old people get hairy ears?Is it possible to lose your contact lenses inside your head for ever?Why do some people have an 'outie' belly button and some people an 'innie'?Does warm milk really help you sleep?Is it actually possible to get scared to death?This book gives the answers to these and many more questions - pretty much everything you've ever wanted to know - but never had enough Dutch courage to ask!