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Yes, I Can Say That: When They Come for the Comedians, We Are All in Trouble
by Judy Gold"No one makes me laugh harder than Judy Gold. If I had to pick one comedian to write a book about free speech, it would be Judy." – Amy SchumerFrom award-winning comedian Judy Gold, a concise, funny, and thoughtful polemic on the current assault on comedy, that explores how it is undermining free speech and a fundamental attack against the integrity of the art.From Mae West and Lenny Bruce to Richard Pryor and Howard Stern to Kathy Griffith and Kevin Hart, comedians have long been under fire for using provocative, often taboo subjects to challenge mores and get a laugh. But in the age of social media, comedians are at greater risk of being silenced, enduring shaming, threats, and damaged careers because of angry, censorious electronic mobs. But while comedians’ work has often been used to rile up detractors, a new threat has emerged from the left: identity politics and notions like "safetyism" and trigger warnings that are now creating a cultural and political standard that runs perilously close to censorship. From college campuses to the Oscars, comics are being censured for old jokes, long-standing comedy traditions, unfinished bits and old material that instead of being forgotten, go viral. For comics like Judy Gold, today’s attacks on comics would have Richard Pryor and Lenny Bruce "rolling in their graves." "No one has the right to tell comics what they can or cannot joke about. Do you tell artists what they can or cannot paint?" she asks. Freedom of speech is fundamental for great stand-up comedy. Humor is the most palatable way to discuss a subversive or taboo topic, but it better be funny. A comic's observations are deliberately delivered to entertain, provoke, and lead to an exchange of ideas. "We are truth tellers." More important, the tolerance of free speech is essential for a healthy democracy.In addition to offering readers a quick study on the history of comedy and the arts (noting such historical reference points as The Hays Code) and the threats to them, Gold takes readers on a hilarious ride with chapters such as "Thank God Don Rickles is Dead," as well as her singular take on "micro-aggressions," such as:Person: "OMG! You’re a lesbian? I had no idea. I mean you wear make-up. When did you become a lesbian?"Judy Gold: "Coincidently, right after I met you!" (micro-assault!)In this era of "fake news," partisan politics, and heated rhetoric, the need to protect free speech has never been greater, especially for comics, who often serve as the canaries in the coalmine, monitoring the health of our democracy. Yes I Can Say That is a funny and provocative look at how safe spaces are the very antithesis of comedy as an art form—and an urgent call to arms to protect our most fundamental Constitutional right. There's a good reason it was the FIRST amendment.
Crush: Includes Crash, Clash And Crush (Crash #3)
by Nicole WilliamsThe conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Crash trilogy, never before published in any format!A football fantasy. A giant diamond. The modern-day Romeo and Juliet are taking their relationship to the next level. . . . Jude and Lucy are happily engaged, but that doesn't mean life's a bed of roses.Once again, the hottest couple around is torn apart, this time by football training and a summer job. Now it's Jude with the trust issues.Will Lucy's life-changing news bring them back together or end their relationship for good? Can love triumph forever?Find out in the best installment yet in Nicole Williams's racy and romantic Crash trilogy!
Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood
by William J. MannNew York Times Bestseller • Edgar Award winner for Best Fact CrimeThe Day of the Locust meets The Devil in the White City and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil in this juicy, untold Hollywood story: an addictive true tale of ambition, scandal, intrigue, murder, and the creation of the modern film industry.By 1920, the movies had suddenly become America’s new favorite pastime, and one of the nation’s largest industries. Never before had a medium possessed such power to influence. Yet Hollywood’s glittering ascendency was threatened by a string of headline-grabbing tragedies—including the murder of William Desmond Taylor, the popular president of the Motion Picture Directors Association, a legendary crime that has remained unsolved until now.In a fiendishly involving narrative, bestselling Hollywood chronicler William J. Mann draws on a rich host of sources, including recently released FBI files, to unpack the story of the enigmatic Taylor and the diverse cast that surrounded him—including three beautiful, ambitious actresses; a grasping stage mother; a devoted valet; and a gang of two-bit thugs, any of whom might have fired the fatal bullet. And overseeing this entire landscape of intrigue was Adolph Zukor, the brilliant and ruthless founder of Paramount, locked in a struggle for control of the industry and desperate to conceal the truth about the crime. Along the way, Mann brings to life Los Angeles in the Roaring Twenties: a sparkling yet schizophrenic town filled with party girls, drug dealers, religious zealots, newly-minted legends and starlets already past their prime—a dangerous place where the powerful could still run afoul of the desperate.A true story recreated with the suspense of a novel, Tinseltown is the work of a storyteller at the peak of his powers—and the solution to a crime that has stumped detectives and historians for nearly a century.
Letterman: The Last Giant of Late Night
by Jason ZinomanNew York Times comedy critic Jason Zinoman delivers the definitive story of the life and artistic legacy of David Letterman, the greatest television talk show host of all time and the signature comedic voice of a generation.In a career spanning more than thirty years, David Letterman redefined the modern talk show with an ironic comic style that transcended traditional television. While he remains one of the most famous stars in America, he is a remote, even reclusive, figure whose career is widely misunderstood. In Letterman, Jason Zinoman, the first comedy critic in the history of the New York Times, mixes groundbreaking reporting with unprecedented access and probing critical analysis to explain the unique entertainer’s titanic legacy. Moving from his early days in Indiana to his retirement, Zinoman goes behind the scenes of Letterman’s television career to illuminate the origins of his revolutionary comedy, its overlooked influences, and how his work intersects with and reveals his famously eccentric personality. Zinoman argues that Letterman had three great artistic periods, each distinct and part of his evolution. As he examines key broadcasting moments—"Stupid Pet Tricks" and other captivating segments that defined Late Night with David Letterman—he illuminates Letterman’s relationship to his writers, and in particular, the show’s co-creator, Merrill Markoe, with whom Letterman shared a long professional and personal connection.To understand popular culture today, it’s necessary to understand David Letterman. With this revealing biography, Zinoman offers a perceptive analysis of the man and the artist whose ironic voice and caustic meta-humor was critical to an entire generation of comedians and viewers—and whose singular style ushered in new tropes that have become clichés in comedy today.
Nightfly: The Life of Steely Dan's Donald Fagen
by Peter JonesDonald Fagen will forever be associated with Steely Dan, the band he formed with Walter Becker and four other musicians in 1972. The smooth, radio-friendly veneer of the duo's songs made Steely Dan internationally popular and famous in the 1970s, but the polish glossed over the underlying layers of anger, disappointment, sleaze, and often downright weirdness lurking just beneath the surface. The elliptical lyrics were—and continue to be—an endless source of fascination. What kind of person was capable of writing such songs? Fagen has always kept his true self hidden behind walls of irony, confounding most journalistic enquiries with a mixture of obscurity and sarcasm. Nightfly cracks open the door to reveal the life behind the lyrics and traces Fagen's story from early family life in suburban New Jersey, to his first encounter with Walter Becker at Bard College, their long struggle for recognition as songwriters, and the formation of Steely Dan. The band's break-up in 1981, re-formation in 1993, and Fagen's parallel solo career are covered in detail.Author Peter Jones seeks to explain the public's continuing fascination with Fagen's music, both in collaboration with Becker and as a solo artist.
The Complete Crash Collection: Crash, Clash, Crush (Crash Ser.)
by Nicole WilliamsIn the New York Times bestselling Crash trilogy, the world is introduced to this generation's Romeo and Juliet: Jude Ryder and Lucy Larson—Explosive. Sizzling. Tragic.Crash: A steamy summer encounter with bad boy Jude means trouble for Lucy. Her sights are set on becoming a ballerina, and she won't let anything get in her way . . . except Jude. He's got a rap sheet, dangerous mood swings, and a name that's been sighed, shouted, and cursed by who knows how many girls. Jude's a cancer, the kind of guy who's fated to ruin the lives of girls like Lucy—and he tells her so. But as rumors run rampant and reputations are destroyed, Lucy's not listening to Jude's warning. Is tragedy waiting in the wings? Clash: Their Romeo-and-Juliet-level passion is the only thing Jude and Lucy agree on. That, and fighting all the time . . .Also not helping? Lucy's raging jealousy of the cheerleader who's wormed her way into Jude's life. While trying to hang on to her quintessential bad boy and also training to be the top ballet dancer in her class, Lucy knows something's going to give . . . soon.Crush: A football fantasy. A giant diamond. The modern-day Romeo and Juliet are taking their relationship to the next level. . . . Jude and Lucy are happily engaged, but that doesn't mean life's a bed of roses. Once again, the hottest couple around is torn apart, this time by football training and a summer job. Now it's Jude with the trust issues. Will Lucy's life-changing news bring them back together or end their relationship for good? Can love triumph forever?
LO: Screendance Remixed (ISSN)
by Alanna Thain Priscilla GuyThis edited collection assembles international perspectives from artists, academics, and curators in the field to bring the insights of screendance theory and practice back into conversations with critical methods, at the intersections of popular culture, low-tech media practices, dance, and movement studies, and the minoritarian perspectives of feminism, queer theory, critical race studies and more.This book represents new vectors in screendance studies, featuring contributions by both artists and theoreticians, some of the most established voices in the field as well as the next generation of emerging scholars, artists, and curators. It builds on the foundational cartographies of screendance studies that attempted to sketch out what was particular to this practice. Sampling and reworking established forms of inquiry, artistic practice and spectatorial habits, and suspending and reorienting gestures into minoritarian forms, these conversations consider the affordances of screendance for reimaging the relations of bodies, technologies, and media today.This collection will be of great interest to students and scholars in dance studies, performance studies, cinema and media studies, feminist studies, and cultural studies.
By Myself and Then Some
by Lauren BacallThe epitome of grace, independence, and wit, Lauren Bacall continues to project an audacious spirit and pursue on-screen excellence. The product of an extraordinary mother and a loving extended family, she produced, with Humphrey Bogart, some of the most electric and memorable scenes in movie history. After tragically losing Bogart, she returned to New York and a brilliant career in the theatre. A two-time Tony winner, she married and later divorced her second love, Jason Robards, and never lost sight of the strength that made her a star.Now, thirty years after the publication of her original National Book Award–winning memoir, Bacall has added new material to her inspiring history. In her own frank and beautiful words, one of our most enduring actresses reveals the remarkable true story of a lifetime so rich with incident and achievement that Hollywood itself would be unable to adequately reproduce it.
Decolonial Imaginaries in Palestinian Experimental Film and Video: Postnational and Feminist Aesthetics (Routledge Focus on Film Studies)
by Kristin Lené HoleDecolonial Imaginaries in Palestinian Experimental Film and Video focuses on an underexamined group of female Palestinian filmmakers, highlighting their relevance for thinking through a diverse set of issues relating to decolonial aesthetics, post-nationalism and gender, non-Western ecologies, trauma and memory, diasporic experiences of space, biopolitics, feminist historiography and decolonial temporalities.Positing that these filmmaker-artists radically counter dominant media images of Palestinians, deessentializing Palestinian identity while opening up history and the present to new potentialities and ways of imagining Palestinian futures, Decolonial Imaginaries in Palestinian Experimental Film and Video argues that Palestinian experience is urgently relevant to all of us. As the works address issues of food availability and land use, environmental collapse and forced displacement, Hole explores how such films generate hope, imagine impossible possibilities and offer inspiration and wisdom when it comes to losing and rebuilding.Addressing a fundamentally transnational and understudied area, this book will resonate with readers working in the areas of film and media studies, Palestinian cultural studies, historiography, Middle East studies and experimental film.
Swan: The Life and Dance of Anna Pavlova
by Laurel SnyderThe world is big.Anna is small.The snow is everywhere and all around.But one night . . .One night, her mother takes her to the ballet, and everything is changed. Anna finds a beauty inside herself that she cannot contain.So begins the journey of a girl who will one day grow up to be the most famous prima ballerina of all time, inspiring legions of dancers after her: the brave, the generous, the transcendently gifted Anna Pavlova. Beautiful, inspirational, and triumphant, Anna Pavlova's life is masterfully captured in this exquisite picture book.
Strictly Bruce: Stories Of My Life
by Bruce ForsythBruce Forsyth, the consummate performer and much-loved face of British entertainment, shares his story of a remarkable life lived to the full. A dancer, comedian, singer, actor, musician and all-round entertainer, Bruce achieved national recognition as the host of Sunday Night at the London Palladium in the 1950s. With his classic one-man shows, appearances alongside some of the world’s greatest performers, and hugely popular TV shows ranging from The Generation Game to Strictly Come Dancing, he was a household name renowned for putting a smile on the nation’s face.Charting his life story from talented young lad growing up in north London to achieving national treasure status, Strictly Bruce is full of warm anecdotes spanning over eight decades of Bruce’s life, man and boy. It’s a chance to take a trip down memory lane, celebrate the golden age of British showbiz and step behind the scenes of Bruce’s personal life, meeting the people he loved and learning what made him tick.
Superstar DJs Here We Go!: The Rise and Fall of the Superstar DJ
by Dom Phillips"It was about larging it. It was about pulling out a wad of 20s when you were buying your champagne at the bar. It was about buying your cocaine in an eight ball. It was about wearing designer clothes. At that top tier of that club scene, it was about giving it loads."With a foreword by music journalist, Miranda Sawyer, Superstar DJs Here We Go! is the full, unexpurgated story of the biggest pop culture phenomenon of the 1990s: the rise and fall of the superstar DJ.During the 1990s big names such as Sasha, Jeremy Healy, Fatboy Slim, Dave Seaman, Nicky Holloway, Judge Jules, and Pete Tong exploded out of acid house, becoming international jetsetters, flying all over the world just to play a few hours and commanding up to £140,000 a night. The plush, heavily branded 'superclubs' where they performed - clubs like Cream, Ministry, Renaissance and Gatecrasher - were filled with thousands of adoring clubbers, roaring their approval of their DJ gods. For the DJs and promoters, it was a licence to print money and live like a rock star. For clubbers, it was a hedonistic utopia where anyone and everyone could come together to look fabulous, take drugs, and dance the night away. But underneath the shiny surface lurked a darker side, a world of cynical moneymaking, rampant egos and cocaine-fuelled self-indulgence that eventually spiralled out of control leaving behind burnt-out DJs, jobless promoters and a host of bittersweet memories.They went from having the clubbing world at their feet to the world's biggest comedown. Dom Phillips - former editor of clubbers' bible Mixmag - reveals an enthralling and at times jaw-dropping account of flawed people, broken dreams and what really happens when it all goes Pete Tong.
Teenage Revolution
by Alan DaviesWhen Alan Davies was growing up he seemed to drive his family mad. 'What are we going to do with you?' they would ask - as if he might know the answer.Perhaps it was because he came of age in the 1980s. That decade of big hair, greed, camp music, mass unemployment, social unrest and truly shameful trousers was confusing for teenagers. There was a lot to believe in - so much to stand for, or stand against - and Alan decided to join anything with the word 'anti' in it. He was looking for heroes to guide him (relatively) unscathed into adulthood.From his chronic kleptomania to the moving search for his mother's grave years after she died; from his obsession with joining (going so far as to become a member of Chickens Lib) to his first forays into making people laugh (not always intentionally); Teenage Revolution is a touching and funny return to the formative years that make us all.
Terry Wogan - Is it me?
by Terry WoganTerry Wogan was one of Britain's best-loved radio and television celebrities witty, charming and relaxed and undoubtedly captured the nation's heart. Here, Terry tells his life story from his beginnings as a young Limerick boy to his incredible success as an enduring celebrity with shows such as Wogan and The Eurovision Song Contest. Is It Me? is written in Terry's own inimitable style, with self-deprecating humour and a wry take on everyday life. The story is a delightfully observed, light-hearted journey through Terry's personal and professional lives. After reluctantly starting his career in banking, Terry escaped to make a sucessful break into broadcasting with RTE. Fronting Children in Need, Wogan and The Eurovision Song Contest and collecting millions of listeners to his morning BBC 2 radio show, Wake Up To Wogan, he is now the most prolific and popular presenter at the BBC. 'I am sure it's a challenging read' Sir David Frost 'I don't remember him' Jimmy Young
Test Match Special: Tall Tales – The Good The Bad and The Hilarious from the Commentary Box
by Jonathan Agnew Phil TufnellWho played the best pranks on his fellow team-mates? Which member of the TMS team terrorised his teachers in the annual staff-pupil game? And the truth behind 'the greatest sporting commentary of all time'...Between them, Jonathan Agnew and Phil Tufnell have probably watched more cricket than anyone alive, and they have many stories to tell, both as players and as commentators for Test Match Special. From their days as schoolboy cricketers, learning the ropes, to the shenanigans of the county circuit, and now their careers as commentators, they have seen it all.Joined by colleagues from TMS such as Isa Guha, Ebony Rainford Brent, Alison Mitchell, Carlos Brathwaite and Aatif Nawaz, Aggers and Tuffers share the highlights, mishaps and moments of brilliance and emotion that they have witnessed and experienced on pitches around the world.
Text In Action: A Definitive Guide To Exploring Text In Rehearsal For Actors And Directors
by Cicely BerryFollowing on from the widely acclaimed The Actor and the Text - which was addressed directly to the actor - Text in Action is drawn from Cicely's group work experiences, encompassing the viewpoint of the director as well. To begin with, the author explores language from a cultural and personal perspective. In these days of management jargon and internet technology are we losing touch with the ability to communicate fully?' Is the deeper imaginative world being left unexpressed? The main body of the book contains detailed, practical exercises for actors and directors during the rehearsal process. All exercises will be tied to specific scenes, leading to a fuller exploration of the rext. Text In Action analyses the imagery of plays, speech structures, the physicality of language and emphasises the importance of finding a collective voice. Cicely's guidance on the matter of voice will help actors find relationships and situations through the text in a unique way, in order to make it more dynamic and creative.
Thanks For Nothing
by Jack DeeComedian Jack Dee's hilarious account of how he became quite such a miserable git and a stand up comedian.'A brilliant book. So funny. It's my bible' Paul O'GradyIn this hilariously frank account of his life, Jack Dee finally reveals what turned a once optimistic young man into this grumpy middle-aged git. It's a journey that takes him from a first gig as a ventriloquist's dummy, to working in an artificial leg factory and delivering incontinence pads for the NHS, before he finally ends up on stage at the Comedy Store. Along the way, Jack shares his laugh-out-loud views on everything from the 'overrated moon landing' to boutique hotels, personal trainers and 'people who hold their cutlery the wrong way'.Outrageous, absurd, and full of surprises, this is Jack Dee at his funniest.
That Moment When: Life Stories from Way Back Then
by Mo GilliganCome on my journey. Look at where man's come from. I was working in retail in 2017.You might know Mo as the critically acclaimed stand-up comedian, BAFTA-winning presenter, Masked Singer judge and social media mega star. But do you know the moments that really made him? Opening up on the turning points, the good times, the challenges and the lessons learned, this is Mo as you've never seen him before.Journeying through childhood memories in South London, Mo reminisces about school days and old-school raving, and takes us behind the scenes of his first comedy gigs, the creation of the original Geezer, selling out national tours and becoming one of TV's most in-demand stars. Share the moment that Mo decided he wanted to be a comedian, the moment he went viral, the moment he realised he was famous (and how to deal with it), the moment his Netflix special dropped, the moment he won his BAFTA and the moments he still has to come.In among the laugh-out-loud observations, life lessons and candid storytelling, there lies the bigger influences in Mo's life - the unsung heroes of the Black British comedy scene, the power of community and the feel-good legacy he wants to create.'The Funniest Man in Britain' The Times
That's Me in the Corner: Adventures of an ordinary boy in a celebrity world
by Andrew CollinsFast approaching his fortieth birthday, Andrew is cornered at a family gathering by the nine-year-old son of his brother-in-law's sister. Having seen him as a talking head on TV, the boy asks, 'What are you?' It is a question so frank and simple that Andrew doesn't have an immediate answer to hand.So, with hilarious self-deprecation, he sets out to retrace how he got to where he is today. Seventeen precarious jobs in seventeen years: from trolley collector at Sainsbury's to high-flying film critic sipping cocktails with Will Smith and Jerry Bruckheimer on a yacht in Cannes. This is Andrew's tale of rubbing shoulders with the world's biggest stars: pissing off Christini Ricci, having his hairstyle mocked by Noel Gallagher, trying not to wake Clive James from his afternoon nap, having his apple pie eaten by Bob Geldof, and somehow stumbling into the next dream job.Along the way, he's been the world's worst gossip columnist, an almost-hip young gunslinger at the NME, a Radio 1 DJ (enduring a hellish Radio 1 roadshow in a car park in Birmingham), an ITV presenter, EastEnders scriptwriter, ghost writer for a major TV personality and much, much more. It charts a world of hedonism, mundanity, towering egos, shallow idiocy and occasional moments of mind-blowing joy. And, of course, being sent shit in a box.
There And Back Again: An Actor's Tale
by Joe Layden Sean AstinWhen Sean Astin, veteran Hollywood actor of over 30 movies including The Goonies, and Rudy, landed the part of Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings, he knew it was going to be different to anything he'd ever worked on before. Here he shares his heartfelt opinions on his early movies, how he got the part of Sam at that point in his career, and what it was like to be on set for nearly two years of his life. How did he and the other cast members get along? What were the excitements and the dangers they faced during filming? What happened the evening that Elijah Wood lost the keys to his room? How did Sir Ian McKellen cope when he didn't like the music the hobbits listened to during make-up and what happened when the crew considered striking?Revealing and immensely readable, There and Back Again is the behind-the-scenes look at what it was like to be involved in the making of one of the biggest movie franchises of all time.
Things I Couldn't Tell My Mother: My Autobiography
by Sue Johnston'There was a lot that we kept from my mother. My dad would say to me as a teenager "Don't tell your mother." We couldn't face the disapproval.'Sue Johnston always seemed to be disappointing her mother. As a girl she never stayed clean and tidy like her cousins. As she grew older, she spent all her piano lesson money on drinks for her mates down the pub, and when she discovered The Cavern she was never at home. The final straw was when Sue left her steady job at a St Helen's factory to try her hand at that unsteadiest of jobs: acting. Yet when Sue was bringing up her own child alone, her mother was always there to help. And playing her much-loved characters Sheila Grant in Waking the Dead and Barbara in The Royle Family- although her mum wouldn't say she was proud as such, she certainly seemed to approve. And in her mother's final months, it was Sue she needed by her side.The relationship with your mother is perhaps the most precious and fraught of any woman's life. When she began writing, Sue set out to record 'all the big things, and all the small things. Everything I wanted to tell my mother but felt I never could'. The result is a warm, poignant and often very funny memoir by one of Britain's favourite actresses.
This Book Will Make You Feel Better: 100 Pages to Boost Your Mood
by Penguin LifeLooking for the perfect, joyful small gift? Look no further!A pocketful of sunshine for those dark, gloomy days, this book is beautifully illustrated with uplifting designs that are perfect for colouring in and bursting with happiness hacks including recipes, puzzles, poems, crafting ideas, quotes and mindfulness exercises that anyone can do at home and on a budget in no time at all.These fun, illustrated pages include:- Wordsearches to enjoy with a cup of tea- Head-scratching riddles to spark a fun debate- The ultimate gooey mug cake recipe for a well-deserved treat- Instructions for how to build a fort with blankets and cushions for a bit of childhood escapism- Dad jokes that you can't help but laugh out loud at- Serotonin-boosting colouring pages throughoutThe perfect gift to give a loved one, or yourself in an act of self-care, this book makes it possible to bring joy to every day, and who doesn't deserve that?
This Is Me: The No 1 Sunday Times Bestseller
by Mrs HinchGet to know the woman behind the Instagram cleaning sensation, Mrs Hinch, in her fascinating and remarkably honest memoir*** FEATURING A BONUS CHAPTER ABOUT THE BIRTH OF LENNIE ***THE SUNDAY TIMES NO. 1 BESTSELLER'Gut-wrenchingly honest' The Mail on Sunday'I love that woman so much, she is just so great' Rylan Clark-Neal, BBC Radio 2_____________I sometimes can't believe just how much has happened in the last couple of life-changing years. It's been a total whirlwind of a journey, and I'm so grateful to all my followers for their amazing love and support along the way.From my very first toy kitchen which was my pride and joy right through to the my very first Instagram posts stories of my cleaning routine, I'm going to take you back to the start of how it all began. But there is so much more to my story than just cleaning tips; there have been the highest of highs, but also heart-breaking devastating lows.So let's do this! Put your Hinch Lists to one side, get comfy and join me on the sofa with a cuppa. Welcome to my world.This is me: Soph - the wife, the mother and the person behind Mrs Hinch._____________'The sensation' Sun'We're mad about Mrs Hinch' Vogue'My new cleaning goddess' Daily Telegraph'Doing for household chores what Marie Kondo did for tidying' Daily Mirror'Mrs Hinch offers a reassuring structure for the day, a vision of domestic order' Guardian
Through My Eyes
by Cheryl ColeThrough My Eyes is the first official book from Cheryl Cole. Featuring a series of stunning exclusive new photos plus informal shots from her own personal collection, it gives us a unique glimpse into the life of our favourite star.From the recording studio in LA as she works on her debut album to backstage in Dublin on the opening night of her tour with the Black Eyed Peas, Cheryl shares with us some of her stand-out moments as a solo artist. We also explore the other elements of her stratospherically successful career as she takes us behind the scenes at The X Factor, into the world of L'Oreal, through the music industry's top awards ceremonies and into the windswept desert in California for a spectacular shoot under freezing conditions where we see her taking time off and enjoying rare moments of anonymity. Through the pictures that mean the most to her and their stories, which are told in her own words, Through My Eyes is a revealing and intimate portrait of the world of Cheryl Cole.
Through Thick and Thin: My Autobiography
by Gok WanWith his infectious energy and charisma, Gok Wan has an incredible gift of making women feel more confident within themselves - but it's not until you read his own inspirational story that you find out where he got that gift from. Gok grew up on a Leicester housing estate, with a loving family who ran a Chinese restaurant. For his parents, food meant love - and Gok was so well loved that by the time he was a teenager he weighed 21 stone. Being Asian and gay as well, Gok felt lonely and out of place. He was an easy target for bullies and suffered terribly at their hands. In a moment of inspiration, he decided to reinvent himself with his first style makeover and a larger-than-life personality to go with it. But his next move was to lose a devastating ten stone in nine months. In Through Thick and Thin, for the first time, Gok reveals all about that life changing period. The lessons Gok learnt during this time helped him bounce back to become a stylist to the stars, every woman's best friend and a national treasure. In this intimate memoir Gok tells his full story in his own words. Whether he's recounting the horrors of childhood bullying or riotous anecdotes about his loving family, behind the scenes in the fashion world or TV shows, Gok's voice jumps off the page with all the honesty, wit and warmth we've come to know and love him for.