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Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King
by Jean MarzolloAn eloquent and powerful introduction to the life and death of Martin Luther King, Jr. This simplified summation leaves out most of the details, while bringing the essence of his life and work to young readers. A foreword offers options for softening the facts surrounding his murder for preschoolers.
Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King (Fountas & Pinnell LLI Blue: Level L)
by Jean Marzollo J. PinkneyThis book is a beautifully-rendered study of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life, told in simple, straightforward language for even the youngest of readers to understand. Pinkney's scratchboard and oil pastel illustrations convey both the strength and gentleness of King's character. Both text and art carry his central message of peace and brotherhood among all people.
Happy Chaos
by Frye Soleil MoonFrom Punky to parenting, Soleil Moon Frye shares insightful, realistic, in-the-trenches parenting advice, inspiration, and fun.
Happy Clouds, Happy Trees: The Bob Ross Phenomenon
by Kristin G. Congdon Doug Blandy Danny CoeymanReaders will know Bob Ross (1942-1995) as the gentle, afro'd painter of happy trees on PBS. And while the Florida-born artist is reviled or ignored by the elite art world and scholarly art educators, he continues to be embraced around the globe as a healer and painter, even decades after his death. In Happy Clouds, Happy Trees, the authors thoughtfully explore how the Bob Ross phenomenon grew into a juggernaut. Although his sincerity in embracing democracy, gift economies, conservation, and self-help may have left him previously denigrated as a subject of rigorous scholarship, this book uses contemporary art theory to explore the sophistication of Bob Ross's vision as an artist. It traces the ways in which his many fans have worshiped, emulated, and parodied him and his work. His technique allowed him to paint over 35,000 paintings in his lifetime, mostly of mountains and trees in landscapes heavily influenced by his time in the Air Force and stationed in Alaska.The authors address issues of amateur art, sentimentality, imitation, boredom, seduction, and democratic practices in the art world. They fully examine Ross as a painter, teacher, healer, media star, performer, magician, and networker. In-depth comparisons are made to Andy Warhol and Thomas Kinkade, and mention is made of his life in relation to Joseph Beuys, Elvis Presley, St. Francis of Assisi, Carl Rogers, and many other creative personalities. In the end, Happy Clouds, Happy Trees presents Ross as a gift giver, someone who freely teaches the act of painting to anyone who believes in Ross's vision that "this is your world."
Happy Days Were Here Again: Reflections of a Libertarian Journalist
by William F. Buckley Jr.In "Happy Days Were Here Again", William F. Buckley Jr. offers a collection of his finest essays from the latter part of his long career. Sometimes celebrating, sometimes assailing, Buckley takes on opponents ranging from Mikhail Gorbachev to Carl Sagan to Leonard Bernstein; reflects on the academic scene, the Gulf War, and the idea of sin; and offers appreciations of friends, both right and left. For everyone who appreciates the wit and style of America's preeminent conservative, this is a must-have collection.
Happy Days: 1880-1892 (H.L. Mencken's Autobiography)
by H. L. MenckenWith a style that combined biting sarcasm with the "language of the free lunch counter," Henry Louis Mencken shook politics and politicians for nearly half a century. Now, fifty years after Mencken's death, the Johns Hopkins University Press announces The Buncombe Collection, newly packaged editions of nine Mencken classics: Happy Days, Heathen Days, Newspaper Days, Prejudices, Treatise on the Gods, On Politics, Thirty-Five Years of Newspaper Work, Minority Report, and A Second Mencken Chrestomathy. Most of these autobiographical writings first appeared in the New Yorker. Here Mencken recalls memories of a safe and happy boyhood in the Baltimore of the 1880s.
Happy Days: My Mother, My Father, My Sister & Me
by Shana AlexanderAcclaimed 60 Minutes commentator and true-crime author Shana Alexander turns her journalist&’s eye to her own unconventional family—and herself—in this fascinating, moving memoir Shana Alexander spent most of her life trying to figure out her enigmatic parents. Milton Ager was a famous songwriter whose creations included &“Ain&’t She Sweet&” and &“Happy Days Are Here Again.&” Cecelia Ager was a film critic and Variety columnist. They were a glamorous Jazz Age couple that moved in charmed circles with George and Ira Gershwin, Dorothy Parker, and Jerome Kern. They remained together for fifty-seven years, and yet they lived separate lives. This wise, witty, unflinchingly candid memoir is also a revealing account of Alexander&’s own life, from her successful career as a writer and national-news commentator to her troubled marriages and emotionally wrenching love affairs. She shares insights about growing up with a cold, hypercritical mother, her relationship with her younger sister, the suicide of her adopted daughter, and her reconciliation with her parents after a twenty-year estrangement. &“I had to do a lot of detective work to uncover the truth about my parents&’ lives,&” Alexander said. &“I knew almost nothing about them as people. But by the end they really did become my best friends.&”
Happy Days: Official Illustrated Autobiography
by Olly MursOlly Murs invites you behind the scenes in his official illustrated autobiography filled with hundreds of brand new and exclusive photos. 'My life has been a non-stop roller-coaster of extreme emotions, crazy days, unexpected highs and yet my life hasn't been without its low points too. I've tried to imagine myself sitting down with you explaining what I was thinking and feeling during those times. I hope this book will give you a behind-the-scenes view of my journey into a place where I finally found what had been missing in my life for all those years: music.' Endearingly written with disarming honesty and filled with exclusive new and unseen photographs on and offstage, Happy Days takes you closer to Olly than you've ever been before.
Happy Days: Official illustrated autobiography
by Olly MursOlly Murs invites you behind the scenes in his official illustrated autobiography filled with hundreds of brand new and exclusive photos. 'My life has been a non-stop roller-coaster of extreme emotions, crazy days, unexpected highs and yet my life hasn't been without its low points too. I've tried to imagine myself sitting down with you explaining what I was thinking and feeling during those times. I hope this book will give you a behind-the-scenes view of my journey into a place where I finally found what had been missing in my life for all those years: music.' Endearingly written with disarming honesty and filled with exclusive new and unseen photographs on and offstage, Happy Days takes you closer to Olly than you've ever been before.
Happy Days: Official illustrated autobiography
by Olly MursOlly Murs invites you behind the scenes in his official autobiography. 'My life has been a non-stop roller-coaster of extreme emotions, crazy days, unexpected highs and yet my life hasn't been without its low points too. I've tried to imagine myself sitting down with you explaining what I was thinking and feeling during those times. I hope this book will give you a behind-the-scenes view of my journey into a place where I finally found what had been missing in my life for all those years: music.' Endearingly written and read with disarming honesty and filled with exclusive new and unseen photographs on and offstage, Happy Days takes you closer to Olly than you've ever been before.(P)2012 Hodder & Stoughton
Happy Endings: The Tales of a Meaty-breasted Zilch
by Jim NortonJim Norton is a pervert in the truest sense of the word. The physical equivalent of a tall slug, he pays top dollar for massages with happy endings and is fascinated by shitty sitcoms and fat girls. He is also, at times, racially offensive and morally repugnant. He spares no one in his comedy -- least of all himself. Now, in this outrageous, blisteringly funny collection of essays, Norton tackles the topics that are near and dear to his heart: from public events like the legendary Voyeur Bus incident on the Opie and Anthony Show, which culminated in all involved being taken to jail, or seeking a hug from his childhood idol Gene Simmons, to deeply private moments, including a teenage Jim's embarrassing poetry-writing attempts while in rehab, and his inexpensive sexual experience with an unwashed MILF (a Monolith I'd Like to Forget). His stories are raw, searingly honest in their attention to detail, and most of all, hilarious. Filled with personal photos and nearly fifty candid and uncompromising essays, Happy Endings is one of a kind...and probably best read on an empty stomach.
Happy Feet
by Richard MichelsonOn March 12, 1926, the doors of the Savoy Ballroom swung open in Harlem. It was a night to remember, when blacks and whites, rich and poor, all came together todance! This inspiring story of the world-famous dancing palace and home of the Lindy Hoppers is told from a father to his son, Happy Feet. It's Happy Feet's favorite story--after all, he was born on the very night the Savoy opened. And he hopes that one day he'll make his own dancing debut at the legendary ballroom . . . because with a lot of hard work and a little Savoy magic,anythingis possible. Includes an author's note with biographies of Swing-Era dancers.
Happy Hour Is for Amateurs: Work Sucks. Life Doesn't Have To.
by Philadelphia LawyerFor some people, happy hour is never enoughThis is a book about escape. It's also about laughing gas. And bourbon and dope and sex and mushrooms and every other vice millions of us indulge in to forget our jobs, the office, and the stifling, corporate caricatures we're forced to become for paychecks. This is a book about a decade lost in a senseless career no one likes and all the ridiculous things I did to run from it. In the end, it's probably your story as much as mine. We're everywhere. We just can't say it out loud.
Happy Landings: Emilie Loring's Life, Writing, and Wisdom
by Patti BenderRom coms, meet cutes, mystery men, courageous women, and the happy endings of today draw a direct line to the words between the covers of Emilie Loring&’s romance novels.With a career spanning 40 years, Emilie Baker Loring saw millions of her books sold during her lifetime. Happy Landings: Emilie Loring's Life, Writing and Wisdom shares this best-selling author&’s uplifting story for the first time. Loring&’s books brimmed with intricate plot twists, intense imagery, and page-turning excitement, setting her works apart from the drugstore novels of the early- to mid-20th century. Her oft-quoted phrases are part of the American lexicon. Her readership has continued long after her passing. Now with generations of readers, Loring&’s books have sold more than thirty-seven million copies in a dozen languages. And now Emilie&’s own compelling life story is finally told in full. With never-before-published photographs, privileged access to the Loring family archives, and twenty years of meticulous research, Patti Bender reveals a woman who lived as she wrote, with intelligence, humor, and wisdom. "After all, living is the greatest thing we'll ever do. Why not make an art of it?" (Emilie Loring) Emilie Loring lived through two World Wars, a pandemic, the Great Depression, and deep, personal loss with her optimism intact and thirty best-selling novels to show for it. This is a woman&’s story in swiftly changing times for women; a charming story with little-known anecdotes about prominent authors; and the story of a writer in the making, with advice and encouragement for aspiring authors. "I am personally grateful to Patti for filling out a dim, long-ago picture of my grandmother. Her skillful, sensitive portrait brings Emilie alive for me and adds many new dimensions--hard working, organized, feminist--with an extraordinary sense of optimism, and faith that things would turn out all right." --Valentine Loring Titus, Emilie Loring's granddaughter
Happy Odyssey
by Sir Adrian Carton de WiartThe legendary British Army officer recounts his experiences in the Boer War and both World Wars in this memoir with a foreword by Winston Churchill. Lieutenant General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart had one of the most extraordinary military careers in the history of the British Army. His gallantry in combat won him a Victoria Cross and a Distinguished Service Order, as well as an eyepatch and an empty sleeve. His autobiography is one of the most remarkable of military memoirs. Carton de Wiart abandoned his law studies at Balliol College, Oxford, in 1899 to serve as a trooper in the South African War. During World War I he served both in British Somaliland and on the Western Front, where he lost his left eye to a bullet at the Battle of Somme. He went on to serve as a liaison officer with Polish forces, narrowly escaping the German blitz at the outbreak of World War II. He was part of the British Military Mission to Yugoslavia, taken prisoner by the Italian Army, and made numerous attempts at escape. He spent the remainder of the war as Churchill&’s representative in China. The novelist Evelyn Waugh famously used Carton de Wiart as the model for his character Brigadier Ben Ritchie Hook in the Sword of Honour trilogy. In this thrilling autobiography, the legendary officer tells his own remarkable story.
Happy Old Me: How to Live A Long Life, and Really Enjoy It
by Hunter Davies'As long as I&’m alive, I&’ll be with her, and she&’ll be with me.' Hunter Davies on Margaret Forster.Happy Old Me is a moving yet uplifting account of one year in Hunter Davies&’ life, navigating bereavement and finding hope in the future. On 8th February 2016, Margaret Forster lost her life to cancer of the spine. The days that followed for her husband, Hunter Davies, were carried out on autopilot: arrangements to be made, family and friends to be contacted. But how do you cope after you have lost your loved one? How do you carry on? As Hunter navigates what it means to be alone again after 55 years of marriage, coping with bereavement and being elderly (he still doesn&’t believe he is), he shares his wisdom and lessons he has learnt living alone again. Revealing his emotional journey over the course of one year, as well as the often ignored practical implications of becoming widowed, he learns that, ultimately, bricks and mortar may change but the memories will remain. Part memoir, part self-help, Happy Old Me is a fitting, heart-felt tribute to the love of his life and a surprisingly amusing and informative book about an age, and stage in life, which we might all reach someday. The third book in Hunter Davies' much-loved memoir series, which includes The Co-Op's Got Bananas and A Life in the Day. Praise for Hunter Davies:- &‘He recalls his childhood growing up in Scotland and Cumbria in the Forties and Fifties, capturing gritty working-class life with humour and charm and painting a vivid picture of that period of social history&’ Press Association &‘What sets this book apart, though, is its avoidance of cliché and its determination to reveal everything that might be revealed.&’ Daily Mail &‘Eighty-year-old Davies takes a delightfully irreverent approach to his account of his youth and his days as a rookie journalist. Food was rationed, clothes were utilitarian and life could be rough, but there was fun to be had from friendships, films, skiffle and girls&’ Sunday Express &‘Davies is a wonderful companion, leading readers down memory lane with great chumminess that will really resonate with those of a certain age. This book deserves a place on the shelf beside Alan Johnson&’s This Boy.&’ Express 'Ken Loach might have turned all this into a powerful social film, but the avuncular Davies sprinkles in so many cheery anecdotes that the book bounces along enjoyably' Sunday Times
Happy People Are Annoying
by Josh PeckA wonderfully candid memoir from one of the most recognizable faces of a generation, actor, writer, Youtuber, and television superstar, Josh Peck. In his warm and inspiring book, Josh reflects on the many stumbles and silver linings of his life and traces a zigzagging path to redemption. Written with such impressive detail and aching honesty, Happy People are Annoying is full of surprising life lessons for anyone seeking to accept their past and make peace with the complicated face in the mirror.Josh Peck rose to near-instant fame when he starred for four seasons as the comedic center of Nickelodeon’s hit show Drake & Josh. However, while he tried to maintain his role as the funniest, happiest kid in every room, Josh struggled alone with the kind of rising anger and plummeting confidence that quietly took over his life.For the first time, Josh reflects on his late teens and early twenties. Raised by a single mother, and coming of age under a spotlight that could be both invigorating and cruel, Josh filled the cratering hole in his self-worth with copious amounts of food, television, drugs, and all of the other trappings of young stardom. Until he realized the only person standing in his way...was himself. Today, with a string of lead roles on hit television shows and movies, and one of the most enviable and dedicated fanbases on the internet, Josh Peck is more than happy, he’s finally, enthusiastically content.Happy People are Annoying is the culmination of years of learning, growing, and finding bright spots in the scary parts of life. Written with the kind of humor, strength of character, and unwavering self-awareness only someone who has mastered their ego can muster, this memoir reminds us of the life-changing freedom on the other side of acceptance.
Happy Place: Living the Disney Parks Life
by Scott RenshawWhat if the childhood day you remembered as one of the most magical of your life became every day of your life?In Happy Place, Scott Renshaw explores the phenomenon of Disney theme park super-fans, and the unique connections they build with places known to most people only as occasional vacation destinations. Along the way, Renshaw meets a pass-holder who has visited Disneyland for one thousand consecutive days, another who has taken more than three thousand rides on his single favorite attraction, and even to some who have managed to turn visiting Disney parks into their job. Happy Place is also a personal journey to find out what happens when an infatuation with the parks turns into a relationship. Is that relationship always full of joy, or-when nostalgia collides with the realities of a corporation running a business-can it sometimes turn to frustration and disappointment?Happy Place isn't the story of a place. It's a love story, about the kind of love that emerges when "happiest place on earth" becomes more than just a slogan.Scott Renshaw has been Arts & Entertainment Editor and film critic for the Salt Lake City Weekly newspaper since 2002, with film reviews appearing in alternative newsweeklies in ten states. Over a twenty-year career as a professional writer and critic, he has received awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, and has contributed writing about Disney parks to the website IndieWire. This is his first book.
Happy Together: Bridging the Australia-China Divide
by David Walker Li YaoIn the late nineteenth century, as crippling famine devastated northern China, the Li family had no choice but to leave Shanxi province. Heading north, they began a new life, farming the remote grasslands of Inner Mongolia. They prospered as landowners and teachers, but could not escape the ravages of warlords, soldiers and revolutionaries. Born into this pioneering family, Li Yao grew up in Mao's China. He dreamt of becoming a writer, but his dreams were torn apart by the Cultural Revolution. When the storm finally subsided, the young man turned to translation. In Australian writing, he found colourful tales set in new landscapes, a literature quite unfamiliar to him. Li Yao's story is interwoven with that of his friend, Australian historian David Walker. David's family had also settled in an unfamiliar and difficult land, a world away in distant South Australia. The two men became friends as Li Yao translated one of David's books into Chinese, and their personal histories provide a fascinating, illuminating window into life in China, an experience inevitably shaped by China's relations with the wider world.
Happy Trails: Andrew Lauder's Charmed Life and High Times in the Record Business
by Mick Houghton Andrew LauderAndrew Lauder is one of British record business's most significant and highly influential figures but outside the music industry few people will probably know his name. He's always retained a fan's perspective which, combined with an exceptional knowledge of music, meant he was at ease around musicians and never happier than spending time with them. During the later '60s and throughout the '70s in particular (working at the legendary United Artists), he had a knack of being one step ahead of the next trend. In hindsight it's easy to identify the changing eras in music but underground music, pub rock and punk in Britain, for example, evolved quite seamlessly and it was visionaries like Andrew who, instinctively, saw what was coming and helped bring about those transitions. He was ahead of the game in other ways too; pioneering a more creative way of marketing and promoting records and revolutionising the way catalogue was organised and presented. This is his story.
Happy at Any Cost: The Revolutionary Vision and Fatal Quest of Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh
by Kirsten Grind Katherine SayreFrom award-winning Wall Street Journal reporters, &“a startling portrait of one of our greatest tech visionaries, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh&” (Robert Kolker, author of Hidden Valley Road), reporting on his short life and untimely death and what they mean for our culture&’s pursuit of happiness.Tony Hsieh—CEO of Zappos, Las Vegas developer, and all-around beloved entrepreneur—was famous for spreading happiness. He lived and breathed this philosophy, instilling an ethos of joy at his company and outlining his vision for a better workplace in his New York Times bestseller Delivering Happiness. He promoted a workplace where bosses treated employees like family members, where stress was replaced by playfulness, and where hierarchies were replaced with equality and collaboration. His outlook shaped Silicon Valley and the larger business world. Hsieh used his position at work to integrate levity into a normally competitive environment. He aspired to build his own utopian cities, pouring millions of dollars into real estate and small businesses, first in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada—where Zappos was headquartered—and then in Park City, Utah. He gave generously to his employees and close friends, including throwing infamous Zappos parties and organizing gatherings at his home, an Airstream trailer park. When Hsieh died suddenly in November of 2020, the news shook the business and tech world. Wall Street Journal reporters Kirsten Grind and Katherine Sayre quickly realized the importance of the story because of Hsieh&’s stature in the industry, but as they dug into the details of his final months, they realized there was a bigger story to tell. They found that Hsieh&’s obsession with happiness masked his darker struggles with addiction, mental health, and loneliness. In the last year of his life, he spiraled out of control, cycling out of rehab and into the waiting arms of friends who enabled his worst behavior, even as he bankrolled them from his billion-dollar fortune. Happy at Any Cost sheds light on one of the most venerated, yet vulnerable, business leaders of our time. It's about our culture&’s intense need to find &“happiness&” at all costs, our misguided worship of entrepreneurs, the stigmas still surrounding mental health, and how the trappings of fame can mask all types of deeper problems. In turn, it reveals how we conceptualize success—and define happiness—in our modern age.
Happy, Happy, Happy: My Life and Legacy as the Duck Commander
by Phil RobertsonThis no-holds-barred autobiography chronicles the remarkable life of Phil Robertson, the original Duck Commander and Duck Dynasty® star, from early childhood through the founding of a family business.LIVING THE DREAMDuck calls—though the source of his livelihood—are not what makes Phil Robertson the man he is today. When asked what matters in his life, he’s quick to say, “Faith, family, ducks—in that order.” It isn’t often that a person can live a dream, but Phil Robertson, aka The Duck Commander, has proven that it is possible with vision, hard work, helping hands, and an unshakable faith in the Almighty. Phil’s is the remarkable story of one man who followed the call he received from God and soon after invented a duck call that would begin an incredible journey to the life he had always dreamed of for himself and his family. In the love of his country, his family, and his maker, Phil has finally found the ingredients to the “good life” he always wanted. If you ever wind up sitting face-to-face with Phil, you’ll see that his enthusiasm and passion for duck hunting and the Lord is no act—it is truly who he is.If you’ve watched the exceedingly popular A&E® program Duck Dynasty®, you already know the famed Phil Robertson. As patriarch of the Robertson clan and creator of Duck Commander duck calls, he fearlessly leads his family in a responsible work ethic and an active faith.But what you don’t know is his life before the show. In the pages of this book, you’ll learn of Phil’s colorful past and his wild road to the “happy, happy, happy” life he leads today. Before the “happy,” Phil’s passion for the outdoors and wild living led him down some shady paths. As a young husband and father, he became the proprietor of a rough bar and lived a life, as he says, of “romping, stomping, and ripping” for a number of years. He even left his wife and young boys for a short period of time.Through it all, Phil Robertson has lived his life as a “called” man. Called to live off the land, called to leave a starring role in Louisiana Tech football (playing ahead of Terry Bradshaw) for duck hunting, called to wild living, called to create a new kind of duck call—and finally, called to follow God and lead a life of faith. In this eye-opening and rousing book, you’ll find stories that will shock you, as well as those that will inspire you. You’ll get to know the man behind the legend, and you’ll come away better for it.
Happy-Go-Lucky
by David SedarisBack when restaurant menus were still printed on paper, and wearing a mask-or not-was a decision made mostly on Halloween, David Sedaris spent his time doing normal things. As Happy-Go-Lucky opens, he is learning to shoot guns with his sister, visiting muddy flea markets in Serbia, buying gummy worms to feed to ants, and telling his nonagenarian father wheelchair jokes. But then the pandemic hits, and like so many others, he's stuck in lockdown, unable to tour and read for audiences, the part of his work he loves most. To cope, he walks for miles through a nearly deserted city, smelling only his own breath. He vacuums his apartment twice a day, fails to hoard anything, and contemplates how sex workers and acupuncturists might be getting by during quarantine. As the world gradually settles into a new reality, Sedaris too finds himself changed. His offer to fix a stranger's teeth rebuffed, he straightens his own, and ventures into the world with new confidence. Newly orphaned, he considers what it means, in his seventh decade, no longer to be someone's son. And back on the road, he discovers a battle-scarred America: people weary, storefronts empty or festooned with Help Wanted signs, walls painted with graffiti reflecting the contradictory messages of our time: Eat the Rich. Trump 2024. Black Lives Matter. In Happy-Go-Lucky, David Sedaris once again captures what is most unexpected, hilarious, and poignant about these recent upheavals, personal and public, and expresses in precise language both the misanthropy and desire for connection that drive us all. If we must live in interesting times, there is no one better to chronicle them than the incomparable David Sedaris.Praise for Calypso'Sedaris is the premier observer of our world and its weirdnesses' Adam Kay, author of This is Going to Hurt'He's like an American Alan Bennett' Guardian'Unquestionably the king of comic writing . . . Calypso is both funnier and more heartbreaking than pretty much anything out there' Hadley Freeman, Guardian
Happy-Go-Lucky (Language Acts and Worldmaking #22)
by David SedarisBack when restaurant menus were still printed on paper, and wearing a mask-or not-was a decision made mostly on Halloween, David Sedaris spent his time doing normal things. As Happy-Go-Lucky opens, he is learning to shoot guns with his sister, visiting muddy flea markets in Serbia, buying gummy worms to feed to ants, and telling his nonagenarian father wheelchair jokes. But then the pandemic hits, and like so many others, he's stuck in lockdown, unable to tour and read for audiences, the part of his work he loves most. To cope, he walks for miles through a nearly deserted city, smelling only his own breath. He vacuums his apartment twice a day, fails to hoard anything, and contemplates how sex workers and acupuncturists might be getting by during quarantine. As the world gradually settles into a new reality, Sedaris too finds himself changed. His offer to fix a stranger's teeth rebuffed, he straightens his own, and ventures into the world with new confidence. Newly orphaned, he considers what it means, in his seventh decade, no longer to be someone's son. And back on the road, he discovers a battle-scarred America: people weary, storefronts empty or festooned with Help Wanted signs, walls painted with graffiti reflecting the contradictory messages of our time: Eat the Rich. Trump 2024. Black Lives Matter. In Happy-Go-Lucky, David Sedaris once again captures what is most unexpected, hilarious, and poignant about these recent upheavals, personal and public, and expresses in precise language both the misanthropy and desire for connection that drive us all. If we must live in interesting times, there is no one better to chronicle them than the incomparable David Sedaris.Praise for Calypso'Sedaris is the premier observer of our world and its weirdnesses' Adam Kay, author of This is Going to Hurt'He's like an American Alan Bennett' Guardian'Unquestionably the king of comic writing . . . Calypso is both funnier and more heartbreaking than pretty much anything out there' Hadley Freeman, Guardian
Harald Hardrada: The Warrior's Way
by John MarsdenOne of the greatest medieval warriors Harald Sigurdsson, nicknamed Hardrada (Harold the Ruthless or hard ruler) fell in battle in an attempt to snatch the crown of England. The spectacular and heroic career which ended at Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire on 25 September 1066 had taken Harald from Norway to Russia and Constantinople and saw him gain a kingdom by force and determination rather than right or inheritance. He was one of the most feared rulers in Europe and was first and foremost a professional soldier, who acquired great wealth by plunder and showed no mercy to those he conquered. 'Harald Hardrada: The Warrior's Way' reconstructs a military career spanning three and a half decades and involving encounters with an extraordinary range of allies and enemies in sea-fights and land battles, sieges and viking raids across a varity of theatres of war. John Marsden's superbly researched and powerfully written account takes us from the lands of the Norsemen to Byzantium and the Crusades and makes clear how England moved decisively from three hundred years of exposure to the Scandinavian orbit to a stronger identification with continental Europe following the Norman invasion.