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The Member of the Wedding: A Drama (Sparknotes Literature Guide Ser.)
by Carson McCullersThe novel that became an award-winning play and a major motion picture and that has charmed generations of readers, Carson McCullers’s classic The Member of the Wedding is now available in small- format trade paperback for the first time. Here is the story of the inimitable twelve-year-old Frankie, who is utterly, hopelessly bored with life until she hears about her older brother’s wedding. Bolstered by lively conversations with her house servant, Berenice, and her six-year-old male cousin — not to mention her own unbridled imagination — Frankie takes on an overly active role in the wedding, hoping even to go, uninvited, on the honeymoon, so deep is her desire to be the member of something larger, more accepting than herself. “A marvelous study of the agony of adolescence” (Detroit Free Press), The Member of the Wedding showcases Carson McCullers at her most sensitive, astute, and lasting best.
Memories Before and After the Sound of Music: An Autobiography
by Agathe von TrappAgathe von Trapp, the oldest daughter in the Trapp Family Singers, offers readers the real story behind an American classic in her poignant and fascinating autobiography Memories Before and After The Sound of Music. The courageous family and events immortalized in the beloved Broadway musical and hit Hollywood film come vibrantly alive in these pages, and Agathe’s post-Sound of Music life is equally compelling.
Metallica: This Monster Lives
by Joe Berlinger Greg MilnerMetallica is one of the most successful hard-rock bands of all time, having sold more than ninety million albums worldwide. Receiving unique, unfettered access, acclaimed filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky followed Metallica over two and a half years as they faced monumental personal and professional challenges that threatened to destroy the bands just as they returned to the studio to record their first album in four years. While the documentary itself provides an insider's view of Metallica, the two and a half years of production (and more than 1,600 hours of footage) garnered far more than can be expressed in a two-hour film.Berlinger's book about the experience reveals the stories behind the film, capturing the energy, uncertainty, and ultimate triumph of both the filming and Metallica's bid for survival. It weaves the on-screen stories together with what happened off-screen, offering intimate details of the band's struggle amidst personnel changes, addiction, and controversy. In part because Berlinger was one of the only witnesses to the intensive group-therapy sessions and numerous band meetings, his account of his experience filming the band is the most honest and deeply probing book about Metallica - or any rock band - ever written.This is the book both Metallica and film fans have dreamed of - a stark and honest look at one of rock's most important bands through the eyes of the most provocative documentary filmmakers working today.
Metamorphoses
by Ovid'Still remarkably vivid. It is easier to read this for pure pleasure than just about any other ancient text' Nicholas Lezard, GuardianOvid's sensuous and witty poem begins with the creation of the world and brings together a dazzling array of mythological tales, ingeniously linked by the idea of transformation - often as a result of love or lust - where men and women find themselves magically changed into extraordinary new beings. Including the well-known stories of Daedalus and Icarus, Pyramus and Thisbe, Pygmalion, Perseus and Andromeda, and the fall of Troy, the Metamorphoses has influenced writers and artists from Shakespeare and Chaucer to Picasso and Ted Hughes. This translation by David Raeburn is in hexameter verse, which brilliantly captures the energy and spontaneity of the original.Translated by DAVID RAEBURN with an Introduction by DENIS FEENEY
The Million Dollar Divorce: A Novel (Million Dollar #1)
by RM JohnsonRM Johnson, the Essence bestselling author of Dating Games and The Harris Family, delivers an absorbing and provocative novel about the lowdown schemes and broken dreams that follow a fractured marriage.Successful business entrepreneur Nate Kenny is thrilled to marry the beautiful and intelligent Monica, chiefly because it means he can at last fulfill his lifelong dream of having a family. They wait to try for three years and when they finally do, the couple discovers that she is unable to bear children. Any love he once felt for Monica is gone and Nate wants out of the marriage. But he&’s worried about losing half of his sixty-million-dollar fortune in a divorce settlement. Desperate for an out, he searches for a way to exploit the infidelity clause in the couple&’s prenuptial agreement.Enter Lewis Waters. With his baby's mother addicted to drugs, Lewis is already seriously down on his luck when he accidentally smashes his car into Nate&’s Bentley. Without auto insurance or any way to pay for the repairs, Lewis is at the end of his financial rope. But the scheming Nate sees another way for the attractive young man to repay his debt: as sexual bait for Monica. Nate sets up Lewis with all of the accessories he believes Lewis will need to earn Monica's love, or at the very least, her lust: a big house, a fancy car, expensive clothes, and a full bank account. But as is often the case when it comes to matters of the heart, things don&’t unfold according to plan. When Monica falls hard for Lewis, Nate panics—was protecting his fortune more important than trying to save his marriage? As he finds himself overwhelmed by second thoughts, Nate is willing to do anything to get Monica back.An inspired fusion of realism and romance, The Million Dollar Divorce is an unpredictable caper of lust, betrayal, and family ties.
Mixed Signals
by Anna ClareAdele Western dreams of a thriving career as a cook, so when she is hired by Paul, an up-and-coming restaurateur, she couldn’t be more pleased. That’s until she meets Jude, the hunky builder who’s working on the renovation of the premises. While everyone around her seems to be partner swapping, Adele is determined to keep her man. But in the hot and steamy working conditions, it’s easy for the eye to wander…
The Model Occupation: The Channel Islands Under German Rule, 1940-1945
by Madeleine Bunting‘A masterly work of profound research and reflection, objective and humane’ Hugh Trevor-Roper, Sunday TelegraphWhat would have happened if the Nazis had invaded Britain? How would the British people have responded – with resistance or collaboration? In Madeleine Bunting’s pioneering study, we begin to find the answers to this age-old question.Though rarely remembered today, the Nazis occupied the British Channel Islands for much of the Second World War. In piecing together the fragments left behind – from the love affairs between island women and German soldiers, the betrayals and black marketeering, to the individual acts of resistance – Madeleine Bunting has brought this uncomfortable episode of British history into full view with spellbinding clarity.
The Monsters' Guide to Choosing a Pet
by Brian Patten Roger McGoughRoger McGough and Brian Patten have selected the very best of their animal poems in order to help two loveable monsters from outer space who visit Earth in search of a pet and need a bit of guidance...Split into sections, the monsters are introduced to animals that fly, swim, crawl and purr by two of our greatest childrens poets. Illustrated in Guy Parker-Rees' lively and intimitable style.
Moonlight (Little Clothbound Classics)
by Guy de MaupassantIntroducing Little Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith.Celebrating the range and diversity of Penguin Classics, they take us from snowy Japan to springtime Vienna, from haunted New England to a sun-drenched Mediterranean island, and from a game of chess on the ocean to a love story on the moon. Beautifully designed and printed, these collectible editions are bound in colourful, tactile cloth and stamped with foil.Often described as the father of the modern short story, there is perhaps no other writer more closely associated with the form than Guy de Maupassant. Included here is his most famous story, 'Boule de Suif', as well as tales of love, such as the brilliant 'Happiness', and the supernatural, like the chilling 'The Horla'.
Motorworld
by Jeremy ClarksonJeremy Clarkson invites us to Motorworld, his take on different cultures and the cars that they drive.There are ways and means of getting about that don't involve four wheels, but in this slice of vintage Clarkson, Jeremy isn't much interested in them.Back in 1996, he took himself off to twelve countries (okay, eleven - he goes to America twice) in search of the hows, whys and wherefores of different nationalities and their relationships with cars. There were a few questions he needed answers to:* Why, for instance, is it that Italians are more interested in looking good than looking where they are going?* Why do Indians crash a lot?* How can an Arab describe himself as 'not a rich man' with four of the world's most expensive cars in his drive? * And why have the otherwise neutral Swiss declared war on the car?From Cuba to Iceland, Australia to Vietnam, Japan to Texas, Jeremy Clarkson tells us of his adventures on and off four wheels as he seeks to discover just what it is that makes our motorworld tick over. _____________Praise for Jeremy Clarkson:'Brilliant . . . laugh-out-loud' Daily Telegraph'Outrageously funny . . . will have you in stitches' Time Out'Very funny . . . I cracked up laughing on the tube' Evening Standard
Movie Mistakes: Take 3
by Jon SandysEver noticed a digital watch in a historical film? Or seen a camera crew in a mirror?There's nothing we like more than finding a continuity error, a historical inaccuracy or a technical blunder. This third edition of the bestselling Movie Mistakes brings you over a thousand slip-ups to look out for.
Muscle: A Writer's Trip Through a Sport with No Boundaries
by Jon HottenBodybuilding is the wildest, wierdest sport in the world, but it's more than just a sport. It's a whole way of life for the supermen who scale its Olympian heights. Muscle is a journey through a land of giants, men for whom life is given meaning by the pursuit of the perfect pec and who worship at the shrine of Schwartzenegger.Jon Hotten has a 40-inch chest and 12-inch arms. Undaunted, he fights his unpromising genetics to hitch up with the bodybuilding circus, hanging out with the stars and legends, the casualties, gym rats and iron junkies. As his forbidding subjects open up, he discovers a story of unregulated excess, chemical mayhem and hard-won glory, a story for anyone who's ever looked in the mirror and wanted more...
The Myth Of Decline: The Rise of Britain Since 1945
by George L BernsteinThis history of Britain since 1945 confronts two themes that have dominated British consciousness during the post-war era: the myth of decline and the pervasiveness of American influence. The political narrative is about the struggle to maintain a power that was illusory and, from 1960 on, to reverse an economic decline that was nearly as illusory. The British economy had its problems, which are fully analyzed; however, they were counterbalanced by an unparalleled prosperity. At the same time, there was a social and cultural revolution which resulted in a more exciting, dynamic society. While there was much American influence, there was no Americanization. American influences were incorporated with many others into a new and less stodgy British culture. Contrary to conventional wisdom, this groundbreaking book finds that the story of Britain since the war is marked not by decline but by progress on almost all fronts.
The Naked Leader Experience
by David TaylorImagine if you simply could not fail. Where would you go? What would you do? Who would you be?There are no answers, only choices. Right here and now, as you hold this book in your hands, you have literally millions of choices open to you. This has been true since the day you were born, and remains true until the moment you die. Yet, with so many choices and decisions to make every day, how can you be sure you're getting it right every time?With The Naked Leader Experience David Taylor releases you for ever from doubt, uncertainty and the fear of failure, forever, as he helps you to choose the right paths to take - the ones that will lead you towards the fulfilment of your dreams and ambitions. Refreshingly free of jargon and hype, and packed with positive, practical advice, this invaluable guide will show you how to:* RECLAIM your birthright and be the very best that you already are...* REIGNITE your relationships and truly connect with others...* REINVENT your organization and unleash the awesome potential that lies within you and your team...No matter what your age, experience, or the challenges you face, The Naked Leader Experience will serve to remind you of your unique strengths and abilities - and that your future is in your hands. So, if you're ready to accept this inspiring invitation to personal and professional transformation - ready to shape your own destiny - please stand up. Your time has come. Your life awaits you.
The Naked Woman: A Study Of The Female Body
by Desmond MorrisThe human female form is the brilliant end-point of millions of years of evolution, loaded with amazing adjustments and subtle refinements. It is the most remarkable organism on the planet. At different times and in different places, human societies have tried to improve on nature, modifying and embellishing the female form in a thousand different ways. In this new study, people-watcher Desmond Morris turns his skill and attention to the female form and takes the reader on a guided tour 'from head to toe'. Highlighting the evolutionary functions of biological features that all women share, Morris explores the enhancements and constraints that human societies have developed in the quest for control and perfection of the female form. Written from a zoologist's perspective and packed full of scientific fact, fascinating anecdote and thought-provoking conclusions, The Naked Woman builds on Desmond Morris's unrivalled experience as an observer of the human animal.
Napalm Dreams: A Men Of Valor Novel (The Men of Valor Novels #1)
by John F. MullinsA shattering novel of courage, heroism, and unbreakable bonds forged in the heat of battle. Green Beret Captain Finn McCulloden and his troops are having a very bad day -- even by the nightmarish standards of Vietnam. They've just been dropped into a meat grinder with orders to reinforce a Special Forces border camp that's about to be overrun by the North Vietnamese. Outnumbered twenty-to-one, beset by treachery from within, and saddled with an incompetent second-in-command, McCulloden knows that all hell is about to break loose. Through one brutal day and night McCulloden and his men fight alongside their native Montagnard allies in a pitched battle of blood and guts against an unwavering foe who never stops coming. The Green Berets can neither give up nor give in, and all will become heroes in the truest sense of the word. But one extraordinary soldier man rises above them all in an ultimate act of valor....
Natural History
by Pliny the ElderPliny's Natural History is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to art and from geography to zoology. Mingling acute observation with often wild speculation, it offers a fascinating view of the world as it was understood in the first century AD, whether describing the danger of diving for sponges, the first water-clock, or the use of asses' milk to remove wrinkles. Pliny himself died while investigating the volcanic eruption that destroyed Pompeii in AD 79, and the natural curiosity that brought about his death is also very much evident in the Natural History - a book that proved highly influential right up until the Renaissance and that his nephew, Pliny the younger, described 'as full of variety as nature itself'.
Nearly Famous: Adventures of an After-Dinner Speaker
by Bob BevanFirmly established in the world of entertainment, The Cat's route to fame has been through corporate and sporting dinners. He grew up loving sport and perservered despite having only one eye and an almost total absence of natural ability. His reputation as a figure of fun and his readiness to laugh at his own failures have reaped rich rewards.How many of us have played football with Bobby Moore and George Best at Wembley, or played at Lord's, or written a poem teasing the Duke of Edinburgh for never recognising us? In Nearly Famous, The Cat writes hilariously of the many famous people he has worked with - everyone from Colin Cowdrey, Bobby Robson and Terry Venables to Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, Billy Connolly, Eric Morcambe and Brian Johnston - and the highs and lows of that most serious of businesses: making people laugh.
The New Alchemists: How Visionary People Make Something Out Of Nothing
by Charles Handy Elizabeth HandyThe world needs new ideas, now products, new kinds of associations and institutions, new initiatives, new art and new designs. But these new things seldom come from established organisations. They come from individuals - the New Alchemists. What drives people to create something from nothing? Is it ambition, the need for self-fulfilment? Is it to do with money, power, or even genes? Is there a mood of the time that encourages people? Can anyone do it? Charles Handy has talked to a range of extraordinary characters - from Trevor Baylis and Richard Branson to Jane Tewson and Terence Conran. And Elizabeth Handy has used her new style of composite portraits to highlight aspects of all the different alchemists in their particular environments. The New Alchemists is a fascinating and inspirational investigation into the creative and entrepreneurial process.
The New High Protein Healthy Fast Food Diet
by Dr Charles Clark Maureen Clark'We've all heard of Jen and Madonna using high-protein diets to lose weight. It's a tricky one to follow safely, but with Dr Clark's sensible approach us mere mortals can do it too.' New WomanDo you ever eat take-away Indian, Thai or Chinese food? Do you usually resort to sandwiches at lunchtime? Does your busy lifestyle mean you nip into M&S to buy ready-made meals? Well, if you do, you are like most people. But if you're used to living like this it can be difficult trying to follow a low-carb diet. Until now. In this brilliant book Dr Charles Clark provides not only the groundrules for his bestselling New High Protein Diet but, because he understands how busy people actually shop and eat, he incorporates convenience and fast foods into it. Analysing over 200 types of fast and convenience foods to help you choose the most suitable options, this is essential reading for everyone who wants to be slim, healthy, but realistic about their lifestyle.
News from Nowhere and Other Writings
by William MorrisPoet, pattern-designer, environmentalist and maker of fine books, William Morris (1834-96) was also a committed socialist and visionary writer, obsessively concerned with the struggle to achieve a perfect society on earth. News From Nowhere, one of the most significant English works on the theme of utopia, is the tale of William Guest, a Victorian who wakes one morning to find himself in the year 2102 and discovers a society that has changed beyond recognition into a pastoral paradise, in which all people live in blissful equality and contentment. A socialist masterpiece, News From Nowhere is a vision of a future free from capitalism, isolation and industrialisation. This volume also contains a wide selection of Morris's writings, lectures, journalism and letters, which expand upon the key themes of News From Nowhere.
The News from Paraguay: A Novel
by Lily Tuck“Brimming with rich descriptions of a beautiful country….The News From Paraguay evolves from a quirky, elegant tale of an unconventional love affair into a sweeping epic.” — Fort Worth Star-TelegramLily Tuck’s impressive novel offers a kaleidoscopic portrait of 19th century Paraguay, a largely untouched wilderness where European and American figures mix with the Spanish aristocracy of the capital and the indigenous peoples from the surrounding areas. The year is l854. In Paris, Francisco Solano—the future dictator of Paraguay—begins his courtship of the young, beautiful Irish courtesan Ella Lynch with a poncho, a Paraguayan band, and a horse named Mathilde. Ella follows Franco to Asunción and reigns there as his mistress. Isolated and estranged in this new world, she embraces her lover's ill-fated imperial dream—one fueled by a heedless arrogance that will devastate all of Paraguay.With the urgency of the narrative, rich and intimate detail, and a wealth of skillfully layered characters, The News from Paraguay recalls the epic novels of Gabriel García Márquez and Mario Vargas Llosa.
Nick Nairn's Top 100 Chicken Recipes
by Nick NairnWhether you are looking for a quick after-work supper idea or suggestions for a leisurely Sunday lunch, Nick Nairns Top 100 Chicken Recipes is sure to contain something to whet your appetite. Endlessly versatile and good for you too, chicken is the perfect standby food. In Top 100 Chicken Recipes, Nick Nairn, renowned for his enthusiasm for fresh ingredients and wonderfully inventive cooking, gives us his favourite chicken recipes. His dishes range from classics such as Casserole of Chicken, Onion and Bacon, and Lemon and Garlic Roast Chicken, to the more unusual, including Chicken with Spicy Lentils and Herbs and Chicken Wontons with Chilli Dipping Sauce. Written with foolproof step-by-step instructions, the recipes are all simple to prepare and use readily available ingredients. The perfect book to dip into whenever you need inspiration, Nick Nairns Top 100 Chicken Recipes contains every chicken dish youll ever need.
No Baloney: A Journey From Peckham To Las Vegas
by Frank Maloney Kevin BrennanFrom the streets of Peckham to the neon-lit strip of Las Vegas, Frank Maloney's life has been a roller-coaster ride that even he finds hard to believe at times. The Cockney-born son of Irish parents, who once harboured thoughts of becoming a priest, instead went on to manage Lennox Lewis for 12 years and help him become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.In No Baloney, Frank lifts the lid on the world of big-time boxing and its household names, and gives a remarkable account of his time with Lewis, revealing stories and offering opinions that can only come from a true insider. He also gives an insight into the way money, sex, drugs, politics, bribery and corruption have played their part in the sport. But Maloney's story is not just about boxing. It is also about one of life's characters, whose colourful story is told with a brand of humour and emotion that makes it compelling reading. Before settling on a career in boxing, he tried his hand at being a jockey, street trader, chef, pub landlord, cab driver and greengrocer. Along the way there have been girls, fights, a murder investigation and a broken marriage, but through it all there has also been a determination to succeed against the odds. Once dubbed a 'Mental Midget' and 'Pugilistic Pygmy' by Don King, Frank Maloney has gone on to have the last laugh over the flamboyant American promoter and over those who believed he would fail. For, above all, No Baloney is the story of a man who has been lucky enough to experience the kind of life he could not have imagined in his wildest dreams all those years ago in south-east London - and Maloney has made sure he's lived it to the full.
No Name
by Wilkie CollinsMagdalen and her sister Norah, beloved daughters of Mr and Mrs Vanstone, find themselves the victims of a catastrophic oversight. Their father has neglected to change his will, and when the girls are suddenly orphaned, their inheritance goes to their uncle. Now penniless, the conventional Norah takes up a position as a governess, but the defiant and tempestuous Magdalen cannot accept the loss of what is rightfully hers and decides to do whatever she can to win it back. With the help of cunning Captain Wragge, she concocts a scheme that involves disguise, deceit and astonishing self-transformation. In this compelling, labyrinthine story Wilkie Collins brilliantly demonstrates the gap between justice and the law, and in the subversive Magdalen he portrays one of the most exhilarating heroines of Victorian fiction.