CIRCLESOFT - Key Persons
In this companion biography to the acclaimed Victoria, A. N. Wilson offers a deeply textured and ambitious portrait of Prince AlbertFor more than six decades, Queen Victoria ruled a great Empire at the height of its power. Beside her for more than twenty of those years was the love of her life, her trus ted husband and father of their nine children, Prince Albert. But while Victoria is seen as the embodiment of her time, its values, and its paradoxes, it was Prince Albert, A. N. Wilson expertly argues, who was at the vanguard of Victorian Britain's transformation as a vibrant and extraordinary center of political, technological, scientific, and intellectual advancement. Far more than just the product of his age, Albert was one of its influencers and architects. A composer, engineer, soldier, politician, linguist, and bibliophile, Prince Albert, more than any other royal, was truly a "genius." It is impossible to understand nineteenth century England without knowing the story of this gifted visionary leader, Wilson contends. Albert lived only forty-two years. Yet in that time, he fathered the royal dynasties of Germany, Russia, Spain, and Bulgaria. Through Victoria, Albert and her German advisers pioneered the idea of the modern constitutional monarchy. In this sweeping biography, Wilson demonstrates that there was hardly any aspect of British national life which Albert did not touch. When he was made Chancellor of the University of Cambridge in his late twenties, it was considered as purely an honorific role. But within months, Albert proposed an extensive reorganization of university life in Britain that would eventually be adopted, making it possible to study science, languages, and modern history at British universities--a revolution in education that has changed the world. Drawn from the Royal archives, including Prince Albert's voluminous correspondence, this brilliant and ambitious book offers fascinating never-before-known details about the man and his time. A superb match of biographer and subject, Prince Albert, at last, gives this important historical figure the reverence and recognition that is long overdue. ...Show more
ars taught at schools in Australia and the UK. In Quaint Deeds he brings his trademark wit and warmth to the classroom, recalling the ups, downs and unexpected detours of a teaching life. Along the way, he shares the lessons his students have taught him, often in the most unlikely moments - whether playing pranks, experimenting with home-made fireworks, or searching for buried treasure in the English countryside. Uproarious and insightful in equal measure, Quaint Deeds is an irresistible ode to the magic and mystery of youth.
A deeply personal, behind-the-scenes exploration of Alex Miller's six-decade writing life. A Kind of Confession is a secret look into Alex Miller's writing life, spanning sixty years of creativity and inspiration. As a young man in 1961 Miller left his work as a ringer in Queensland and set out to achi eve his dream of becoming a serious novelist. It was not until 1988 that his first novel, Watching the Climbers on the Mountain, was published. Twelve more novels would follow, all bestsellers, many published internationally.This selection from his notebooks and letters makes it exhilaratingly evident that Miller has been devoted to finding and telling stories that are profound, substantial and entertaining, stories that capture both intellect and emotion.Miller's fascinating life is told in a personal, behind-the-scenes exploration of his struggle to become a published writer, his determination, his methods of creative thought and the sources of his inspiration. His writing, sometimes in anger and despair, sometimes with humour and joy, whether created for publication or for private meditation, is alive with ideas, moral choices, commentary, encouragement, criticism and love. ...Show more
hat he was in bed with another woman - and she knew it. . . .I supply only what a film director would, directing an actor on set - the wiping of spectacles, the ash on the carpet, a cat pouring itself off her lap." Looking for wonder and some reprieve from the everyday, Anna Funder slips into the pages of her hero George Orwell. As she watches him create his writing self, she tries to remember her own. When she uncovers his forgotten wife, it's a revelation. Eileen O'Shaughnessy's literary brilliance shaped Orwell's work and her practical nous saved his life. But why - and how - was she written out of the story? Using newly discovered letters from Eileen to her best friend, Funder recreates the Orwells' marriage, through the Spanish Civil War and WW II in London. As she rolls up the screen concealing Orwell's private life she is led to question what it takes to be a writer - and what it is to be a wife. Compelling and utterly original, Wifedom speaks to the unsung work of women everywhere today, while offering a breathtakingly intimate view of one of the most important literary marriages of the 20th century. It is a book that speaks to our present moment as much as it illuminates the past.
healing after the illness and death of Howard, her beloved spouse of forty-seven years. As Sacks gathered her thoughts and memories in preparation for writing Moving Forward, she came to see that, although widows might share some common ground, no one story of widowhood could capture the whole of its challenges or provide the widest range of wisdom gained from that experience. There is no "best" way to move forward after losing a life partner, but this book is filled with the stories of Sacks's journey, interwoven with the experiences and influences of thirteen other strong, sensitive, and generous widows. Together they provide a roadmap over the perilous ground of loss and the life that follows.
s the profound impact of life on the margins on herself, her family and her community.A proud Dunghutti woman, born and raised in Kempsey NSW, Ashlee was determined to keep her family together, despite the unforgivable acts and inevitable fallout, to gift her children what she never had - the presence of their father.This deeply engaging and inspiring memoir gives the reader a privileged look into a life unravelling and the journey from addict to empowerment. A riveting story told with compassion and sensitivity.
Baby Anil, a tiny baby from India, is adopted into the Mitchell family in 1980. It seems he has come from nowhere, with nowhere to go, but Baby Anil, who becomes known as Jaii, has other ideas. Medical opinion suggested Jaii had no chance of survival, even on the night he arrived. Multiple diagnoses inc luded pneumonia, a collapsed lung, heart murmur, blindness, dehydration, and malnutrition. Later, he underwent brain surgery, developed epilepsy, and was identified profoundly deaf. But everyone underestimated Jaii's personal tenacity and will to live, and despite having a broken wing, with incredible love and support from his family, he overcame a brain haemorrhage, a near drowning, and many other crises. Jaii's inspirational journey is powerfully documented by his mother, Kay, who stood by his side as he navigated his life's journey. Not only is it about the trauma and ultimate joy of overseas adoption, but also, most of all, it's about loving a child like Jaii. His story is written not only with love, passion, sensitivity, and a touch of humour but also, at times, with anger, frustration, and raw emotion. ...Show more
h so many people, especially young people, with her reflections. I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki became a runaway bestseller in South Korea, Indonesia, and the U.S., and reached a community of readers who appreciated depression and anxiety being discussed with such intimacy. Baek's struggle with dysthymia continues in I Want to Die but I Still Want to Eat Tteokbokki. And healing is a difficult process; the inner conflict she experiences in treatment becomes more complex, more challenging. With this second book, Baek Sehee reaches out to hold the hands of all those for whom grappling with everyday despair is part of a lifelong project, part of the journey.
Job Titles:
- Founding Member of Sonic Youth
em on a path to domination of the Australian charts, worldwide touring and fame. So much has been written about Silverchair over the years but very little has been said by the band's members. In Love & Pain, childhood friends Ben Gillies (drummer) and Chris Joannou (bass player) tell us the tales that Silverchair's fans have never heard, about how the band started, how they worked together and how they ended up. There are some funny, unforgettable rock 'n' roll stories, along with all the love and pain that came with being in the band: the cost of fame and intense pressure on teenagers who had no way of preparing for it; the navigation of their friendships with each other and their relationships with friends and family members; the mistakes they made and the successes they cherished. Gillies and Joannou write with vulnerability and blistering honesty, making this an extraordinary account of a band adored by so many.
For the first twenty-six years and one hundred and seven days of his life, Ben McKelvey didn't spend much time thinking about change, nor about why humans act the way they do. He was young and fit and working as a journalist, interviewing Beyonce one day and Kirsten Dunst the next. Then one day, while at the gym, Ben had a stroke. Totally out of the blue. One moment, he had a head full of language, syntax and verbal dexterity and the next it was all gone. He was twenty-six years old. It was a terrifying time but after a week, he could speak again. Many months later, he could read and function. There are many things that we don't understand about the brain, and neuroplasticity - the brain's capacity for physical change to accommodate new use - is one of those things: it seemed Ben's brain had fixed itself. Then, three years later, Ben had a heart attack. Emergency surgery followed, then more surgery, then more brain damage. As he recovered, Ben started to question everything about how he'd been living his life. Ben's brain changed itself and in the process Ben changed too, and that led him to being shot at in Los Angeles, embedded in Afghanistan and kidnapped in Syria. It also helped him find a new career, working with others to tell their stories. Combining autobiography, reportage and science, Ben Mckelvey details his personal story, along with research about psychology and neuropathology. He shares stories about others who have dealt with illness or trauma and some of the most influential people who are moulding our understanding of ourselves.
This deeply revealing biography of tennis phenomenon Naomi Osaka tells the story behind her grand slam-winning career and her advocacy for racial justice and mental health. Most tennis fans met the Haitian-American-Japanese player Naomi Osaka for the first time as they watched her win the 2018 US Open in a controversial match against Serena Williams. Since then, Osaka has galvanised the tennis world not only by winning three more grand slams-all tennis fans will remember Osaka winning the Australian Open twice-but also by being outspoken on matters of social justice and mental health. It is both her extraordinary talent and her candour that have propelled her to the top of her sport and onto the front page of newspapers and magazines worldwide, making her the highest-paid female athlete in the world since 2020. But where did she come from and how did she get here? The story of Naomi Osaka and her family is unlike any other. Readers will be thrilled to read this book and learn more about tennis's most fascinating player. Ben Rothenberg has covered Naomi Osaka around the world since she emerged onto the WTA Tour in 2014. In this book, Ben will chart Naomi Osaka's incredible impact on tennis and on social justice in sports, predicting where she'll go next. ...Show more
them a copy of his amateur fanzine, they took the author under their wing and hired him as their official historian. They turned his little rag into their official newsletter and advertised it in one of their albums. Soon after, he began traveling the world with them and staying at their homes. German went from being a teenage fan who wanted to know everything about his favorite band to suddenly knowing too much! He was privy to their private jams and recording sessions as well as to their parties, peccadilloes, and in-fights. Yet, through it all, he maintained his identity as that nice boy from Brooklyn. Despite Keith's observation--or edict?--that people only leave the Stones in a casket or handcuffs, he was one of the few to leave their orbit on his own terms. This updated edition of Under Their Thumb includes new stories about German's relationship to the Stones and twenty never-before-seen images.
s, Bill and Guy McDonough and how their lives together lead them to success at the top of the music charts. This is a warts and all music memoir--it's about the good times and the bad, and how the trappings of fame ultimately lead to Guy's tragic death in 1984. It's an extraordinary tale of adventure and achievement--and how two close knit brothers were part of a music legacy that lives on today, over 40 years after the band's foundation.
In my fantasy of the Rambling Man who is something of a hobo, walking - or maybe jumping into the car of a moving train - is what he does. He slings his guitar or banjo over his shoulder and strides out along the road to the next town. There he plays a few songs at a local gig and meets a beautiful woma n who feeds and shags him. It's a wonderful life, and a million miles better than sitting on your couch watching reality TV. During his lifetime of global adventures, Sir Billy Connolly's genuine curiosity and natural ability to connect with the people he meets on the road has made him a true 'citizen of the world'. A good trip, in my book, should be littered with little detours. Travelling from A to B is all very well, but you risk missing out on so much . . . In Rambling Man, Billy takes us with him on his incredible journeys criss-crossing the world. But this is no conventional travel memoir. From Ireland to India, Australia to the Arctic, we join the Big Yin on an international voyage full of detours, digressions and the most eccentric of characters - all underscored by the chosen soundtrack of the ultimate ramblin' man himself. ...Show more
Greta Thunberg. 'Inspiring and powerful... Brinkley is a force of nature.' - Ellidy Pullin, author of Heartstrong In 2016, Brinkley Davies was in a car that hit a mother kangaroo. She was determined to rear the surviving joey and named her 'Bunji'. Although Brinkley didn't know it at the time, Bunji would become a life-long friend and spark a fire in her to do better for Australia's wildlife, leading Brinkley to eventually set up her own conservation foundation and start campaigning for the rights of animals everywhere. Including stunning photographs taken by Brinkley herself, charting the growth of Bunji and their incredible bond, as well as the wild and beautiful environments she found herself in through the course of her work as an eco-warrior, Saving Bunji tells the inspiring story of one woman's quest to do better for the planet, and to live a life in tune with nature.
The Woman in Me is a brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope. In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court. The impact of sharing her voice-her truth-was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and th e lives of countless others. The Woman in Me reveals for the first time her incredible journey-and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history. Written with remarkable candor and humor, Spears's groundbreaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love-and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last. ...Show more
When Arthur Conan Doyle was a lonely 7-year-old schoolboy at pre-prep Newington Academy in Edinburgh, a French émigré named Eugene Chantrelle was engaged there to teach Modern Languages. A few years later, Chantrelle would be hanged for the particularly grisly murder of his wife, beginning Conan Doyle's own association with some of the bloodiest crimes of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. This early link between actual crime and the greatest detective story writer of all time is one of many. Using freshly available evidence and eyewitness testimony, Christopher Sandford follows these links and draws out the connections between Conan Doyle's literary output and factual criminality, a pattern that will enthral and surprise the legions of Sherlock Holmes fans. In a sense, Conan Doyle wanted to be Sherlock - to be a man who could bring order and justice to a terrible world. ...Show more
Memoir by the International Red Cross nurse whose work during the famine in Ethiopia was first brought to the attention of the western world by the BBC's Michael Buerk and which triggered Bob Geldof's Live Aid.One of the most enduring images of the Ethiopian famine that shocked the world in 1984 was tha t of the young International Red Cross nurse who, surrounded by thousands of starving people and with limited supplies, had the terrible task of choosing which children to feed, knowing that those she turned away might not last the night. That nurse was Claire Bertschinger, and those pictures inspired Live Aid, the biggest relief programme the world had ever seen. 'In her was vested the power of life and death,' Bob Geldof said. 'She had become God-like, and that is unbearable for anyone.' Michael Buerk, whose BBC documentary first showed those pictures, persuaded Claire to return to Ethiopia almost twenty years later. For all those years she had been haunted by the terrible choices she had been forced to make. But when she met them again, the survivors welcomed her back with open arms.Born in Essex, Claire Bertschinger had to overcome dyslexia to qualify as a nurse. When she joined the International Red Cross, she fulfilled a zest for adventure and a passionate vocation for relief work. She has worked with the war-wounded and hostages in Lebanon, with the Mujahidin in Afghanistan, and with victims of civil war and displaced persons in Uganda, Sierra Leone and the Sudan. Working in war zones she often came under fire herself while trying to save the lives of others. ...Show more
Cory Leadbeater grew up in a working-class town in New Jersey, one of three brothers, a quiet kid looking to find refuge from the rougher parts of his childhood in Dickens, Austen and Frost. Almost a decade ago when he was just starting at Columbia's MFA program, still living at home, he received an off er to work with a well-known writer whose identity was kept confidential. The writer: Joan Didion. Over the course of nine years working with Joan, Leadbeater struggles to walk the tightrope that appears before him after he accepts such an extraordinary offer. As he is drawn into a rarified world he'd only dreamed of as a child, his own family life, his mental health, his creative hopes spiral. He finds an advocate for his fiction but eventually has two manuscripts rejected, all while his mother battles cancer. In his other life with Joan, he dines with dignitaries, accompanies her to parties and art openings, helps keep order in her world, while he writes and drinks and tries to conquer his own addiction and depression - forces that have always accompanied his rich imagination. In hypnotic prose that pulses with life and longing, Leadbeater gives us an intimate look into a rare and beautiful relationship with a literary iconand exposes the fault lines between who gets a chance at the modern American Dream and who is left behind. ...Show more
ount of what happens behind the anti-jump wire. Most of us have done our time in the retail trenches, but service stations are undoubtedly the front line, as Melburnian David Goodwin found out when he started working the weekend graveyard shift at a servo in his home suburb of Werribee. From his very first night shift, Goodwin absorbed a consistent level of mind-bending lunacy over his six years: giant shoplifting bees, balaclava-clad assailants hurling water bombs of different-flavoured cordial through the sunroof of a BMW blasting Roxette's Joyride, and synchronised anarcho-goths high on MDMA loosing large rats in the store from their matching Harry Potter backpacks. Goodwin grew to love his servo, assuming the role of nocturnal ringleader of the depraved halogen circus, handing out free pastries and slurpees as he grew a backbone and finally became street smart. From psycho meatheads on a steady a diet of homemade speed and strong psychedelics to guitar-strumming, self-appointed mystics trying to grift their way to a better world, the creatures that tottered through the parting glass proved that servos will always attract those a few litres short of a full tank. For anyone who's ever toiled under the unforgiving fluorescent lights of a customer service job, Stale Sausage Rolls is a side-splitting and darkly mesmeric coming-of-age story from behind the anti-jump wire that will have you gritting your teeth, then cackling at the absurdity, idiocy and utterly beguiling strangeness of those who only come out at night.
FILES are my stories of the times when I've been a total, utter twat. Time and time again, I've been a massive eejit. But the more I think about it, the more I understand that the moments where I've made mistakes, misunderstood stuff and messed up are key. That's where all my learning happens and where I laugh the most. Being a twat is universal and my twatishness is no different to yours. Except perhaps, that mine has been horrifyingly public on occasion. My hope is that reading these stories of my twattishness might remind you of just what a massive twat you also are, that we might celebrate and revel in this most delightful of traits, together. 'This woman is a national treasure' - Mail on Sunday 'Dawn French is a wonderful writer' Daily Mail
Dean Yates was the ideal warzone correspondent: courageous, compassionate, dedicated. After years of facing the worst, though, including the Bali bombings and the Boxing Day tsunami, one final incident undid him. In July 2007, two of his staff members were brutally gunned down by an American helicopter in Iraq. What followed was an unravelling of everything Dean thought he knew of himself. His PTSD was compounded by his moral wound - the devastation of what he thought he knew of the world and his own character and beliefs. After years of treatment, including several stints inside a psychiatric facility, Dean has reshaped his view of the true meaning of life. Here, in all its guts and glory, is that journey to a better way of being. Dean has been to the blackest heart of humanity and come out with strength and hope. Line in the Sand is a memoir that is going to resonate for generations to come. It tackles the most important topic of our age in an unforgettable way. ...Show more
Alan Turing was an extraordinary man who crammed into his 42 years the careers of mathematician, codebreaker, computer scientist and biologist. He is widely regarded as a war hero grossly mistreated by his unappreciative country, and it has become hard to disentangle the real man from the story. It is e asy to cast him as a misfit, the stereotypical professor. But actually Alan Turing was never a professor, and his nickname 'Prof' was given by his codebreaking friends at Bletchley Park. Now Dermot Turing has taken a fresh look at the influences on his uncle's life and creativity, and the creation of a legend. For the first time it is possible to disclose the real character behind the cipher-text: how did Alan's childhood experiences influence the man? How did his creative ideas evolve? Was he really a solitary genius? What was his wartime work after 1942, and what of the Enigma story? What is the truth about the conviction for gross indecency, and did he commit suicide? In Dermot's own style, he takes a vibrant and entertaining approach to the life and work of a true genius. AUTHOR: Dermot Turing had a career in the legal profession before turning to writing narrative history, and he has written X, Y & Z and Reflections of Alan Turing (both THP). He is a former trustee of the Bletchley Park museum and is chairman of the Turing Trust charity. 100 b/w illustrations ...Show more
Dr Jodie Fleming, a clinical and health psychologist who previously specialised in the field of psycho-oncology - the human side of cancer - receives the terrifying news that she has two primary breast cancers. This becomes a frightening opportunity to practise what she preaches. The doctor becomes the patient. Having dedicated her career to helping others with cancer, and also caring for her husband with testicular cancer eight years prior, Jodie understands the role of caregiver on both a personal and professional level. The role of patient, however is another matter. Especially when the diagnosis comes exactly one month after the end of her marriage. What ensues is the epitome of complicated grief and a foray into the world of cancer from the other side of the desk. Jodie relocates interstate to her parents' home in country Victoria for a healthy dose of family dysfunction. Genetic testing and a prophylactic hysterectomy add salt to the open wound of infertility before viciously rubbing it in. Forced to draw upon the psychological strategies she'd previously taught her clients, Jodie begins her true education. A Hole in My Genes is Jodie's journey from that terrifying diagnosis to a cancer free future. ...Show more
ced unimaginable horrors every day, first in Buchenwald, then in Auschwitz, then on the Nazi death march. He lost family, friends, his country. Because he survived, Eddie made the vow to smile every day. He pays tribute to those who were lost by telling his story, sharing his wisdom and living his best possible life. He now believes he is the 'happiest man on earth'. Published as Eddie turns 100, this is a powerful, heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful memoir of how happiness can be found even in the darkest of times.
brated nurse who survived the horrors of a World War II prison camp, Elizabeth Fysh takes the fortunate reader on a fascinating journey. The subjects are exceptional people and include the woman who created Australia's first luxury hotel, the pioneer anthropologist who recorded the lives of the Wik people in Cape York, and the journalist who was at the centre of intrigue between the two World Wars. There's the mystery of the celebrated decorator whose brutal murder was never solved, the travails of the hardy Outback stockwoman immortalised in a Slim Dusty hit, and so many more eye-opening accounts of remarkable women with unbreakable mettle.
ved something more. In 2009, aged 25, she moved to St Paul KAASO, a primary school for orphans in Uganda, naively intent on giving back and 'saving the world'. However, this is not a story of scraping the surface on a token voluntourism jaunt, but of a lifelong love affair. While at KAASO, Emma was asked by a young student, Henry, whether she might sponsor the rest of his education. Initially hesitant to make such a commitment, she would go on not only to sponsor Henry, but also to found the Kiwi Sponsorships programme, funding the secondary education of more than 70 children in Uganda.Spanning a decade, Between Two Worlds chronicles Emma's journey from wide-eyed volunteer to someone whose life is deeply rooted within her Ugandan village community. She finds a way to marry her two worlds, building a bridge between the international sailing community and a rural East African village.Poignant and compelling, Between Two Worlds is a story of transformation and hope against all odds that will stay with you long after the final page.A portion of the proceeds from this book will go to KAASO.
Franz Kafka's letters to his one-time muse, Milena Jesenska - an intimate window into the desires and hopes of the twentieth-century's most prophetic and important writerKafka first made the acquaintance of Milena Jesenska in 1920 when she was translating his early short prose into Czech, and their rela tionship quickly developed into a deep attachment. Such was his feeling for her that Kafka showed her his diaries and, in doing so, laid bare his heart and his conscience. While at times Milena's 'genius for living' gave Kafka new life, it ultimately exhausted him, and their relationship was to last little over two years. In 1924 Kafka died in a sanatorium near Vienna, and Milena died in 1944 at the hands of the Nazis, leaving these letters as a moving record of their relationship. ...Show more
an just reporting on it from a studio, was an eye-opening and transformative experience. After leaving his television career behind in 2022, Graham became a fulltime farmer at his property, Eagles Reach - growing garlic, dabbling in native floristry, and becoming known to locals as the 'honey man'. But despite utilising his deep knowledge of the weather and climate to inform his farming choices, the realities of flash flooding, bushfires and drought presented unexpected challenges. Meditative and wry, Weatherman Goes Bush is a candid memoir about rediscovering yourself within the untamed beauty of the natural world. Infused with fascinating weather wisdom and small-town country anecdotes, each page is a charming breath of fresh air that will have you dreaming of your own escape to the country.
An uplifting, powerful and inspiring book about breaking through fear and finding joy through creativity, from bestselling author, Holly Ringland. The House that Joy Built is about how to give ourselves permission to be creative. It explores two big forces: the fear that can block our creativity, and t he permission we can meet that fear with - to not just create, but to revel in the life-changing wonder and joy of doing so. It offers a jump-start for the nervous heart of anyone whose desire to create is overruled by fear. It is a book for those people who yearn to write, as well as people who find their creativity elsewhere: gardeners, carpenters, sculptors, jewellery-makers, florists, songwriters, dancers, cooks, painters... anyone who wants to make something but doesn't because they're afraid. Afraid of feeling vulnerable, of criticism and judgement from others, of not being good enough, of not having enough, of having 'bad' ideas, of being too much.It is for everyone who has ever felt stuck creatively, for those who don't know how to begin, for those who feel they have so much welling up inside and are just trying to find a way into themselves. This book is an openhearted clarion call to experience the joy and freedom of creating. ...Show more
Chaperones, suitors, and arranged marriages aren't only reserved for the heroines of a Jane Austen novel. They're just another walk in the park for this leading lady, who is on a mission to find her leading lad. From the brilliant comics Yes, I'm Hot in This, Huda Fahmy tells the hilarious story of how she met and married her husband. Navigating mismatched suitors, gossiping aunties, and societal expectations for Muslim women, That Can Be Arranged deftly and hilariously reveals to readers what it can be like to find a husband as an observant Muslim woman in the twenty-first century. So relevant in today's evolving cultural climate, Fahmy's story offers a perceptive and personal glimpse into the sometimes sticky but ultimately rewarding balance of independent choice and tradition. ...Show more
'Leaving the blinding sand for the cool shade of the trees, I walked carefully through the undergrowth to where Dave, using two twigs as chopsticks, was picking up a freshly severed human finger'...John's trip to India starts badly when his girlfriend returns home. Left to his own devices, he soon finds himself looking at the sharp end of a knife in a train station cubicle. But his life is saved - and turned upside down - by an enigmatic fellow traveller called Rick, who persuades John to question his mundane plans for the future, risking it all for much, much more. Fast forward to the Thai island of Koh Pha-Ngan; John, Rick and their new friend Dave pose as millionaire aristocrats in a hedonistic Eden of beautiful girls, free drugs and wild beach parties. However, when they find themselves hotly pursued by the Thai Mafia. Tragedy sends them on increasingly adrenalin-fuelled journeys to Indonesia, Australia and Hong Kong, facing danger at every turn. This is not travel writing for the faint-hearted: this is an unbelievable true story of the hunt for excess, at any cost. ...Show more
A vivid trip through the mind of the top professional wrestler in the business--a nobody from nowhere who achieved his ambitions and walked away with the gold and the girl of his dreams. Ride alongside Jon Moxley as he retraces some of the highways traveled on his remarkable journey. Revel in the ne ver-before-told stories about his early life in Cincinnati, Ohio; the gritty independent wrestling scene where he cut his teeth; the complicated corporate landscape of the WWE where he bucked against authority; and the rebellious upstart AEW, where he won the championship in 2020 and was finally free to achieve the vision of the wrestler he'd always wanted to be. With plenty of pitstops and revelatory insights, including grisly ultraviolent encounters, crazy characters who became lifelong friends, and his unforgettable matches in Japan, MOX is the riveting account of the life of a brawler. It is a tale written in blood and soaked in debauchery, with a good dose of wisdom accumulated along the way. More than a backstage pass into the arena, MOX is a ticket into the ring. Once inside, you'll never look at pro wrestling the same again. ...Show more
or farming family in country New South Wales but clever, energetic and determined, she spent her restless life pushing at those doors. Most women like Dolly have more or less disappeared from view, remembered only in a family photo album as a remote figure in impossible clothes, and maybe for a lemon-pudding recipe. Restless Dolly Maunder brings one of them to life as a person we can recognise and whose struggles we can empathise with. As she did for her mother in One Life, Kate Grenville uses family memories and research to imagine her way into the life of her grandmother. This is the story of a woman born into a world of limits and obstacles who was able-though at a cost-to make a life for herself. Her battles and triumphs helped to open doors for the women who came after.
Katharine Stewart, who died in 2013, was one of Scotland's best-loved writers on rural life in the Highlands. A Croft in the Hills, her first book, tells the story of how a couple and their young daughter, fresh from city life, took over a remote hill croft near Loch Ness and made a livingfrom it. Full of warm personal insights, good humour and a love of living things, it has become a classic and has rarely been out of print since itwas first published in 1960.This omnibus gathers A Croft in the Hills together with some of Katharine's later books: A Garden in the Hills, describing a year in the life ofher Highland garden; A School in the Hills, a vivid history of the school at Abriachan which eventually became the Stewarts' family home; andThe Post in the Hills, which tells the dramatic story of the postal service in the Highlands, from the point of view of Katharine's later role aspostmistress of the smallest post office in Scotland, run from the porch of her Abriachan schoolhouse. Each of these books glows with whatNeil Gunn described as 'its unusual quality, its brightness and its wisdom'. The omnibus will bring the grace, charm and wisdom of KatharineStewart's writing to a new generation of readers. ...Show more
An extraordinary gift of a book, a tender, searching meditation on love and loss and what it means to be human. I wept at it, laughed with it, was entirely fascinated by it. I emerged feeling a little as if the world around me had been made anew.' - Helen Macdonald, author of H Is for Hawk and Vesper Fl ights Eighteen months before Kathryn Schulz's beloved father died, she met the woman she would marry. In Lost & Found, she weaves the stories of those relationships into a brilliant exploration of how all our lives are shaped by loss and discovery-from the maddening disappearance of everyday objects to the sweeping devastations of war, pandemic, and natural disaster; from finding new planets to falling in love. Three very different American families form the heart of Lost & Found: the one that made Schulz's father, a charming, brilliant, absentminded Jewish refugee; the one that made her partner, an equally brilliant farmer's daughter and devout Christian; and the one she herself makes through marriage. But Schulz is also attentive to other, more universal kinds of conjunction: how private happiness can coexist with global catastrophe, how we get irritated with those we adore, how love and loss are themselves unavoidably inseparable. The resulting book is part memoir, part guidebook to living in a world that is simultaneously full of wonder and joy and wretchedness and suffering-a world that always demands both our gratitude and our grief. A staff writer at the New Yorker and winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Kathryn Schulz writes with curiosity, tenderness, erudition, and wit about our finite yet infinitely complicated lives. Crafted with the emotional clarity of C. S. Lewis and the intellectual force of Susan Sontag, Lost & Found is an uncommon book about common experiences. ...Show more
runaway wedding, Gianni is diagnosed with cancer and Kerstin becomes his dedicated carer. But when she discovers that he has been cheating on her all through their relationship, she is faced with a difficult choice: walk away, or continue to care for the man who betrayed her. She turns first to wine and then to therapy, eventually ending up in a Buddhist monastery. There she realises that finding a new way of loving her lying, dying husband might offer a chance to grow from her pain rather than be crushed by it - and to avoid liver damage. Written with wisdom, humour, and unfailing kindness, this is a life-affirming tale of one woman's search for better ways to love, grieve and forgive.
and moving memoir about women at work, pay inequality and the alienating nature of the 21st century workforce. This is a story about resilience and reinvention, and it is also a story about how we are not human resources, we are human beings. Kristine was 15 when she lied to get a junior office job as a Girl Friday in 1975 - she took the job because she thought she only had to go to work on Fridays. She went on to experience the full gamut of working life, from joblessness, self-employment, mind-numbing office roles, toxic workplaces and out-of-control workloads. Miraculously, Kristine clocked up forty years of admin work, and then in her fifties she became unemployable and ready to tell all. Wisecracking, frank and completely relatable, Kristine Philipp's Girl Fridayoffers stirring insights into the personal and political contexts of working women's lives, the lengths older women must go to keep a job, the trials of walking the poverty line in later life and the power of friendships and camaraderie in the workplace.
Liz Hayes has graced our television screens for more than four decades. Millions of Australians kicked off their weeks with Liz co-hosting Channel 9's Today show, and now for over 25 years have settled into their Sunday nights to watch her investigative journalism on 60 Minutes. From camping in grizzly bear territory to sipping tea with an Afghani warlord in an active warzone, Liz has almost seen it all. She has shared the stories of celebrities and movie stars, leaders and politicians, heroes and villains across the globe, but - after a lifetime of reporting on others - when tragedy struck her own family, Liz discovered that sometimes the hardest story to tell is your own. Compelling and elegantly written, Liz's long-awaited memoir takes us behind the cameras and back to when Beth Ryan, the dairy farmer's daughter, became seasoned journalist Liz Hayes, and how life in the country gave way to 'controlled' crash-landings on US aircraft carriers. Synonymous with her iconic 60 Minutes television introduction, I'm Liz Hayes, is a warm and authentic memoir about what's possible, and what it can cost you, when you choose a life of adventure. ...Show more
Lydia Laube worked as a nurse in Saudi Arabia - and managed to avoid getting killed or chraged with murder. This is the story of how she kept her sanity and got her passport back First published 1991.
Before extraterrestrial Trash Queen Alaska Thunderfuck 5000 rocketed to superstardom on RuPaul's Drag Race, Justin Andrew Honard was a small-town Pennsylvania boy searching for a stage. This dishy, visual memoir spills the tea on Alaska's meteoric rise to fame, from her childhood makeovers of Mickey Mou se dolls all the way to her legendary Drag Race lip-syncs. With heartbreaking honesty, humour, and her signature drawl, she shares never-before-heard stories about the man behind the beat and sheds new light on the well-worn tales of her career, such as her time at Trannyshack and relationship with Sharon Needles. Intimate and alluring with exclusive photography throughout, this book is the ultimate backstage pass to the making of everyone's favourite Glametron transplant. ...Show more
The beloved star of Friends takes us behind the scenes of the hit sitcom and his struggles with addiction in this candid, funny, and revelatory memoir that delivers a powerful message of hope and persistence In an extraordinary story that only he could tell, Matthew Perry takes readers onto the soundsta ge of the most successful sitcom of all time while opening up about his private struggles with addiction. Candid, self-aware, and told with his trademark humour, Perry vividly details his lifelong battle with the disease and what fuelled it despite seemingly having it all. Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing is an unforgettable memoir that shares the most intimate details of the love Perry lost, his darkest days, and his greatest friends. Unflinchingly honest, moving, and hilarious: this is the book fans have been waiting for. ...Show more
rom Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon. In these insightful, provocative, slyly interlinked essays, one of our most brilliant and humane writers addresses with his characteristic warmth and lyric wit the all-important question: What does it mean to be a man today?
g.Fans know her as the spoiled, rich cheerleader Lyla Garrity on Friday Night Lights or as the affluent, mysterious Samantha on the HBO megahit Euphoria. But as revealed for the first time in these pages, Minka Kelly's life has been anything but easy. Raised by a single mother who worked as a stripper and struggled with addiction, Minka spent years waking up in strange apartments as she and her mom bounced around the country, relying on friends and relatives to take them in. At times they even lived in storage units. She reconnected with her father, Aerosmith's Rick Dufay, and eventually made her way to Los Angeles, where she landed the role of a lifetime on Friday Night Lights. Now an established actress and philanthropist, Minka takes this next step in her career as a writer. She has poured her soul into the pages of this book, which ultimately tells a story of triumph over adversity, and how resilience and love are all we have in the end.
her first name, but had radically different, harmful views, was getting chronically mistaken for her, it seemed too ridiculous to take seriously. Then suddenly it wasn't. She started to find herself grappling with a distorted sense of reality, becoming obsessed with reading the threats on social media, the endlessly scrolling insults from the followers of her doppelganger. Why had her shadowy other gone down such an extreme path? Why was identity - all we have to meet the world - so unstable? To find out, Klein decided to follow her double into a bizarre, uncanny mirror world- one of conspiracy theories, anti-vaxxers and demagogue hucksters, where soft-focus wellness influencers make common cause with fire-breathing far right propagandists (all in the name of protecting 'the children'). In doing so, she lifts the lid on our own culture during this surreal moment in history, as we turn ourselves into polished virtual brands, publicly shame our enemies, watch as deep fakes proliferate and whole nations flip from democracy to something far more sinister. This is a book for our age and for all of us; a deadly serious dark comedy which invites us to view our reflections in the looking glass. It's for anyone who has lost hours down an internet rabbit hole, who wonders why our politics has become so fatally warped, and who wants a way out of our collective vertigo and back to fighting for what really matters.
first time to study with an evangelical missionary group in the city. Eventually, her ancestors began appearing in her dreams, pleading with her to return and embrace her own culture.She listened. Two decades later, Nemonte has emerged as one of the most forceful voices in climate-change activism. She has spearheaded the alliance of indigenous nations across the Upper Amazon and led her people to a landmark victory against Big Oil, protecting over a half million acres of primary rainforest. Her message is as sharp as the spears that her ancestors wielded - honed by her experiences battling loggers, miners, oil companies and missionaries. In this astonishing memoir, she partners with her husband Mitch Anderson, founder of Amazon Frontlines, digging into generations of oral history, uprooting centuries of conquest, hacking away at racist notions of Indigenous peoples, and ultimately revealing a life story as rich, harsh and vital as the Amazon rainforest herself.
Journalist Nicole Haddow has entered a new phase of her financial life - as one half of a couple. At 39, she merged finances for the first time and as the author of Smashed Avocado and The Ethical Investor she had spent more than a decade researching personal finance, but is now discovering that sharing money and assets in the 2020s is complex.The traditional breadwinner husband and stay-at-home wife dynamics are increasingly rare. Relationships take many forms, with couples often having to navigate new social and financial issues. How do you split costs when one person earns more than the other? Should you discuss what happens if it doesn't work out? Is it right to ask your partner to contribute to your super while you're on parental leave? Should you go all-in with a joint bank account? How do you talk about money without killing the romance?Couple Goals is a practical and inspiring look at what can be achieved if you're a united team. Nicole shares her own story, talks to experts and couples who hold the secrets to success, and shows that when a couple is aligned in their financial values and vision for the future, anything is possible. ...
might believe. Behind Paris Hilton's meteoric rise from Upper West Side club kid to household name lies her self-proclaimed 'superpower' of ADHD and a hidden history that traumatized and defined her. Shocking, funny and surprisingly profound, Paris is the deeply personal memoir of the ultimate It Girl and a stunning inside view of a pop culture phenomenon. Until, in a revealing documentary, she disclosed that her childhood was shattered by two years of strip searches, isolation, beatings, restraint, and brainwashing within the now infamous 'troubled teen industry', Paris Hilton was simply the billionaire heiress America had watched grow up on television, on the internet, and in tabloids. But there was always more to Paris Hilton than met the eye. Yes, she is the media personality, DJ, entrepreneur, model, singer, actress and icon beloved all over the globe. And yet . . . Paris is the story people have always wanted Paris Hilton to tell - the story of who she really is. In this revealing and thought-provoking book, Paris will separate the creation from the creator, the brand from the ambassador, and show the woman who grew up with incredible privilege, but who was also trapped in a world of unreasonable expectation at a moment when young women were humiliated for sport in a gossip economy on steroids. Paris recounts her perilous journey through pre-#METOO sexual politics with grace, generosity, and plenty of fun, rising above a series of heart-wrenching challenges to find healing, lasting love and a life of meaning and purpose. The parallel story arcs in Paris' braided narrative come to full bloom as a watershed portrait of the Noughties, challenging each of us to question our role in her story and her role in ours. The result is an intimate and unexpected memoir about persona and personification, the price of being young and disobedient, and the complexity of manifesting your dreams after watching part of yourself disappear.
e-faced teen from Bondi - defied insults and intimidation to ride the waves. The reason: she simply loved to surf. But when Pauline's determination propelled her onto the pro circuit, her battle for acceptance and equality didn't end there. The endemic sexism of the industry meant prize money for women was a pittance, while sponsors ignored her because she was a lesbian and didn't have the beach babe look. Despite these challenges, Pauline became the 1993 World Champion and played a key role in bringing greater equality to the sport. This is the inspirational story of a true underdog battler, whose fearlessness and grit broke down the door of surfing's boys' club for the next generation of women.
Not a lot happened while growing up during the Sixties and Seventies. Or did it? A country town, an ordinary house, two parents and three children. A family like any other, until a series of events alters the course of their lives forever.
each him before it finishes him off? Peter Goldsworthy asks, obliquely. A GP of forty years' practice, as well as one of Australia's most awarded and celebrated writers, Goldsworthy ('Doctor Pete' to his patients) brings his characteristic black humour and storytelling power to the tale of his own cancer journey. Accidentally diagnosed after a scan of his dicky knee, he was thrown into a world that he knew only too well from the other side- a world that soon shrank to hospital visits, sleepless and hyped-up nights on dexamethasone and life-saving chemotherapy. Never one to waste a story, Peter intersperses his own experience with odd and astonishing case stories of patients and literary friends who have trodden the same path- both cautionary tales and exemplary tales, sometimes laugh-out-loud, sometimes deeply moving, that intersect with, or refract, his own travels through denial, acceptance, treatment and survival. Darkly funny, and filled with growing love and wonder, The Cancer Finishing School offers lessons in how to live life in the shadow of an incurable illness.
of the small volcanic island off Sicily she called home. Cannoli, curses and lighting a candle at church were as much a part of Pia's childhood as mouse plagues, her Aussie Nanna's lemon slice and cheering on South Melbourne at the footy with her Grandfather. After chasing a childhood dream to become a ballet dancer (with a back-up plan of becoming a nun) she was cruelly shamed out of her leotard and into a new dream: acting. The rollercoaster ride of fame would see her travel the world and narrowly avoid a sky-high #MeToo moment. But after fame comes real life - work stress, career questions, money worries, relationships and heartbreak, love and marriage, illness and grief. Having grown up pinballing between her very Italian side and her very Australian side while trying to carve out a space all her own, Pia didn't realise how the push and pull of tradition had made her world all the richer. Finally, setting foot on Vulcano to reconnect with her roots, Pia understands how all the parts of herself have made her the true survivor she is. Like her Nonna told her, every day on top of the earth is a good day. Finding My Bella Vita is a charming, honest and uplifting memoir full of heart and humour that reminds us all of the two things that matter most - love and family. (A good cannoli and some Vegemite toast also rate pretty highly!)
The dramatic inside story of the Tamil refugee family which became a cause clbre all around Australia, and the epic fight by a small rural community to set them free. It was dawn in the small rural town of Biloela. Loud thumping on the front door signalled the start of a four-year odyssey that would ca tapult Priya and her family into national debate. For the first time, Priya shares the story of her sheltered childhood in war-torn Sri Lanka, and her perilous escape across the Indian Ocean on an overcrowded and leaking fishing boat. Alone in a strange country, she had to make a new life without family or friends. She marries Nades and settles with him in Biloela, where they have two daughters. The shocking dawn raid was the first of multiple attempts by Australian government to deport the family. But the people of Biloela wouldn't have it. A small group swung into action, and built an extraordinarily powerful social media campaign that broke through into the mainstream, gathering support from hundreds of thousands of ordinary Australians around the country. Journalist Rebekah Holt has been following the family's journey over the four long, painful years, and she recounts the dramatic behind the scenes efforts to prevent the family from being deported. Finally, Priya, Nades and the girls were all granted the permanent visas they need by the new government, and they were able to return home to Biloela in the happiest ending they could have wanted. ...Show more
As her mother, Mira, nears the end of her life, journalist Rachelle Unreich wants to find out more about how Mira survived four concentration camps, including Auschwitz. There was a mystery to her survival, it seemed - which perhaps had something to do with the strange things that always happened around her. Incredibly, when she gave testimony about the Holocaust decades later, Mira said that it was during this time that she learned about 'the goodness of people'. Born in Czechoslovakia, Mira Blumenstock was twelve years old when World War II broke out. She would live a full life in Paris and Australia. Then, at eighty-eight, she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Rachelle interviewed Mira to distract her from her illness, and what she discovered about her mother was breathtaking. Not only did Rachelle begin to understand Mira's past, but she was able to fit together the jigsaw puzzle pieces of her own life. A story of love, loss, wonder and the deepest kind of faith, A Brilliant Life questions the role of fate and chance, and reveals an unbreakable connection between mother and child. It will capture hearts, spark important conversations and show us that one small act of kindness can, quite literally, save a life. ...Show more
Wotan's Daughter recounts the turbulent life and career of Marjorie Lawrence, one of Australia's most renowned opera stars. From humble beginnings in rural Victoria, Lawrence rose to become one of the pre-eminent Wagner singers of her generation, acclaimed and honoured in Europe and at the Metropolitan Opera in New York where she shared roles with the legendary Kirsten Flagstad. Stricken by polio at the height of her career, Lawrence fought back courageously against physical disability and prejudice to rebuild her shattered life and return to the stage. This is a book for all music lovers and those who value an inspiring story of triumph over adversity. This title recounts the turbulent life and career of Marjorie Lawrence, one of Australia's most renowned opera stars. From humble beginnings in rural Victoria, Lawrence rose to become one of the pre-eminent Wagner singers of her generation, acclaimed in Europe and at the Metropolitan Opera in New York where she shared roles with Kirsten Flagstad. Wotan's Daughter recounts the turbulent life and career of Marjorie Lawrence, one of Australia's most renowned opera stars. From humble beginnings in rural Victoria, Lawrence rose to become one of the pre-eminent Wagner singers of her generation, acclaimed and honoured in Europe and at the Metropolitan Opera in New York where she shared roles with the legendary Kirsten Flagstad. Stricken by polio at the height of her career, Lawrence fought back courageously against physical disability and prejudice to rebuild her shattered life and return to the stage. This is a book for all music lovers and those who value an inspiring story of triumph over adversity. ...Show more
Richard Glover's favourite dinner-party game is called 'Who's Got the Weirdest Parents?'. It's a game he always thinks he'll win. There was his mother, a deluded snob, who made up large swathes of her past and who ran away with Richard's English teacher, a Tolkien devotee, nudist and stuffed-toy collect or. There was his father, a distant alcoholic, who ran through a gamut of wives, yachts and failed dreams. And there was Richard himself, a confused teenager, vulnerable to strange men, trying to find a family he could belong to. As he eventually accepted, the only way to make sense of the present was to go back to the past - but beware of what you might find there. Truth can leave wounds - even if they are only flesh wounds.Part poignant family memoir, part rollicking venture into a 1970s Australia, this is a book for anyone who's wondered if their family is the oddest one on the planet. The answer: 'No'. There is always something stranger out there. ...Show more
The remarkable true story of an unrivalled journey to recreate the greatest run in film history: 15,621 miles, five-times across the United States. Becoming Forrest is the incredible story of Englishman Rob Pope, a veterinarian who left his job in pursuit of a dream - to become the first person ever to complete the epic run undertaken by one of Hollywood's most beloved characters, Forrest Gump. After his momma urged him "to do one thing in life that made a difference", he flew to Alabama, put on his running shoes, and sped off into the wilderness.His remarkable journey covered 15,600 miles, the distance from the North to the South Pole and a third of the way back. Over a grueling 18 months, braving injuries, blizzards, forest fires and deadly wildlife, he crossed the United States five times. During one of the most turbulent periods in recent American history, Rob immersed himself in American life. His time on the open road saw him forever changed, trying to make that difference, in the process of Becoming Forrest.This is a tale of one man who just wanted to make a difference. ...Show more
An unforgettable memoir from the author of the sensational international bestseller, Tracks, the story of a mother and daughter, of love, loss and the pursuit of freedom. In 1977, twenty-seven-year-old Robyn Davidson set off with a dog and four camels to cross 1,700 miles of Australian desert to the sea . A life of almost constant travelling followed. From the deserts of Australia, to Sydney's underworld; from Sixties street life, to the London literary scene; from migrating with nomads in Tibet, to 'marrying' an Indian prince, Davidson's quest was motivated by an unquenchable curiosity about other ways of seeing and understanding the world. Davidson threw bombs over her shoulder and seeds into her future on the assumption that something would be growing when she got there. The only terrain she had no interest in exploring was the past. In Unfinished Woman Davidson turns at last to explore that long avoided country. Through this brave and revealing memoir, she delves into her childhood and youth to uncover the forces that set her on her path, and confront the cataclysm of her early loss. Unfinished Woman is an unforgettable investigation of time and memory, and a powerful interrogation of how we can live with and find beauty in the uncertainty and strangeness of being. ...Show more
'Fascinating and authoritative' The Daily Express Sunday Times bestselling author Sean Smith tells the extraordinary story of a modern cultural icon: Harry Styles. Harry Styles has grown up. The One Direction boy band member so loved by millions has become a truly global superstar - and he's done it without shouting from the rooftops or displaying a mammoth ego. In this captivating biography for fans from day one as well as a whole new generation, Sean Smith chronicles the development of a thoroughly modern man with boundless charisma who represents a better world devoid of prejudice. Harry's life changed forever when his mum Anne filled in a form requesting an audition to the X Factor. He left his home in rural Cheshire as a sixteen-year-old and never went back - setting out on a path to become a genuine icon of the age. Harry Styles: the Making of a Modern Man follows his journey, painting a picture of a man who at times remains an enigma while embracing the world he cares about - his family, his friends and lovers, his music, acting and, of course, the world of fashion. Harry is the only British male artist to have his first two albums debut at number one in the US; his movie career is flourishing with starring roles in Don't Worry Darling and My Policeman and he is the first man to appear solo on the cover of Vogue. A champion of gender fluid fashion he has proved himself to be an inspiring role model in a world where toxic masculinity has no place. In troubling and uncertain times, Harry Styles lives to his own mantra that would benefit us all - 'Treat People with Kindness.' ...Show more
n Prison on the trumped-up charge of being a spy. In An Unlikely Prisoner he recounts how an impossibly cheerful professor of economics, whose idea of an uncomfortable confrontation was having to tell a student that their essay was 'not really that good', ended up in one of the most notorious prisons in South-East Asia. And how he not only survived his lengthy incarceration, but left with his sense of humour intact, his spirit unbroken and love in his heart. 'What Sean Turnell endured in his 650 days of incarceration is something that no human being should have to endure, yet he has done it with grace and, even in inhumane conditions, with profound humanity.'Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
He was one of the world's true superstars, and the silver screen's most beloved James Bond. Sir Sean Connery--a proud Scotsman born in 1930 to a working-class family--died at home in the Bahamas on October 31, 2020. He left behind him a legacy to rival any actor. Connery bestrode Hollywood like a Co lossus. He commanded some of the highest fees in the industry and was lauded by critics and the public alike. In July 2000, his unique contribution to the world of film was recognized when he was accorded a knighthood. John Parker traces the astonishing rise to stardom of a tough street kid from Edinburgh. The part of 007 became a monster that threatened to kill Connery as an actor; he escaped to establish himself as one of the world's most magnetic and commanding character actors, winning an Oscar for his role in iconic crime drama The Untouchables. The author has drawn on reminiscences of famous friends and colleagues, including Honor Blackman, Robert Hardy, and Eric Sykes, to create an authoritative and entertaining portrait of a talented, complex actor--and, above all else, a magnificent man. ...Show more
Sir Winston Churchill's paternal grandmother and the mother of Randolph Churchill, the 7th Duchess of Marlborough, has been a minor figure in many works, yet hers is a fascinating story. Frances Anne Emily Vane-Tempest-Stewart's family background, as well as her own life, is steeped in great historical names and occasions, from being the eldest daughter of Wellington's second-in-command in the Napoleonic Wars to being a lifelong personal friend of Queen Victoria. Frances' arrival at Blenheim Palace in 1843 as the bride of John Winston, 7th Marquess of Blandford, resulted in the great ancestral seat's regeneration, and from there she gave loyal support not only to her husband and her younger son, Randolph, but also to her famous grandson, Winston Churchill, shaping his character, ambitions and later achievements. Alongside the influence she had over her family, her own crowning achievement was the part she played in averting the effects of the Irish potato famine of 1879, which threatened to repeat the extensive loss of life of the 1840s famine. ...Show more
a woman who works not only for her family but also for her creative truth. Land's myriad of external obstacles ponders how motherhood and artistry can truly co-exist, if at all.
ower miraculously finds a three-minute video recorded by his wife before she died. A tree lopper's heart falls in a forest. A working mum contemplates taking the photographs of her late husband down from the fridge. A girl writes her last letter to the man she loves, then sets it on fire. An ageing gigolo regrets the one that got away. A palliative care nurse helps a dying woman converse with the angel at the end of her bed. A renowned 100-year-old scientist ponders the one great earthly puzzle he was never able to solve: 'What is love?' Endless stories. Human stories. Love stories. Inspired by a personal moment of profound love and generosity, bestselling author - and one of Australia's finest journalists - Trent Dalton spent two months in 2021 pounding city pavements, speaking to Australians from all walks of life and asking them one simple and direct question: 'Can you please tell me a love story?' For two straight weeks he sat at a desk with a sky-blue 1960s Olivetti typewriter, on the bustling corner of Adelaide and Albert streets, Brisbane, with a sign saying, 'Sentimental writer collecting love stories. Do you have one to share?' The result is Love Stories - a warm, wise, poignant, funny and moving book about love in all its guises, including stories, observations and reflections on lovers in parks; people in cemeteries, hospital wards, pubs and bingo halls; and newlyweds walking out of registry offices. There will be stories of people falling into love, falling out of love, and never letting go of the loved ones in their hearts. And woven through it all will be remembrances of Trent's own special moments, and of the people whose love stories have made him the man and writer he is today. A heartfelt, deep, funny, wise and tingly tribute to the greatest thing we will never understand and the only thing we will ever really need: love.
Vincent O'Brien is a horse-racing legend. Recently voted horse racing's 'greatest of all time', ahead of familiar names like Lester Piggott, the Queen Mother and Sheikh Mohammed, O'Brien won every race that matters in Britain and Ireland over his fifty-year career and is without doubt the best and most versatile racehorse trainer the sport has ever known. O'Brien is the only man to have trained three consecutive Grand National winners. He won three consecutive Gold Cups and three consecutive Champion Hurdles. He has had extraordinary success in flat racing too - six Derby winners, three winners of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, three King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winners and twenty-five races at Royal Ascot. He trained some of the best-known racehorses in the history of the sport - including Nijinsky, winner of the Triple Crown in 1970. His life has been a fascinating one. From humble beginnings in County Cork, he chose to train racehorses as his career - much to the benefit of the sport - and went on to create the legendary Ballydoyle Stables. Here his extraordinary story is told by his wife, Jacqueline, and distinguished racing writer Ivor Herbert. ...Show more
Blamed for the 9/11 attacks, one woman has to find the courage to be her own hero.As the nation came together to mourn, to support, and to rebuild in the aftermath of 9/11, Virginia Buckingham was singled out for blame. As the head of Boston's Logan International Airport, the launching pad for the hijac ked planes that destroyed the Twin Towers, she was scapegoated by the media and political leaders for supposed airport security lapses and forced to resign. She was also sued for wrongful death by the family of a 9/11 victim, holding her personally responsible for the terrorist attack.A rising star at thirty-five--she had served as chief of staff to two consecutive Massachusetts governors before becoming the first woman to head the state's Port Authority--Buckingham's life and career was suddenly derailed. Grappling with issues of trauma, faith, leadership, and resilience, this unique memoir shares her struggle to rebuild her life and come to terms with being blamed for the unimaginable tragedy that occurred on her watch. ...Show more
Walter Kaufmann completed this, the third and final volume of his landmark trilogy, shortly before his death in 1980. The trilogy is the crowning achievement of a lifetime of study, writing, and teaching. This final volume contains Kaufmann's tribute to Sigmund Freud, the man he thought had done as much as anyone to discover and illuminate the human mind. Kaufmann's own analytical brilliance seems a fitting reflection of Freud's, and his acute commentary affords fitting company to Freud's own thought. Kaufmann traces the intellectual tradition that culminated in Freud's blending of analytic scientific thinking with humanistic insight to create a poetic science of the mind. He argues that despite Freud's great achievement and celebrity, his work and person have often been misunderstood and unfairly maligned, the victim of poor translations and hostile critics. Kaufmann dispels some of the myths that have surrounded Freud and damaged his reputation. He takes pains to show how undogmatic, how open to discussion, and how modest Freud actually was. Kaufmann endeavors to defend Freud against the attacks of his two most prominent apostate disciples, Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav Jung. Adler is revealed as having been jealous, hostile, and an ingrate, a muddled thinker and unskilled writer, and remarkably lacking in self-understanding. Jung emerges in Kaufmann's depiction as an unattractive, petty, and envious human being, an anti-Semite, an obscure and obscurantist thinker, and, like Adler, lacking insight into himself. Freud, on the contrary, is argued to have displayed great nobility and great insight into himself and his wayward disciples in the course of their famous fallings-out. ...Show more
o performing as a stand-up comedian, a national television host and then the highest paid woman in the cut-throat world of Sydney FM radio ... Wendy's tale of overcoming adversity is told with her trademark in-your-face frankness and celebrated wit. Starting life in rural Victoria, Wendy describes her time as a child in remote one-teacher, one-room country schools. As her teacher father moved around the state to take up new postings, Wendy, as the 'funny looking' kid often in the wrong colour school uniform, developed strategies to find new friends and fit in. When she was ten years old her mother went missing. It wasn't until she was well into her teens that Wendy had the reconstructive facial surgery that had long promised to transform her from a 'witch' into a 'princess', but fell agonisingly short. Somehow, despite her initial setbacks and emotional turmoil, Wendy showed the strength of character to carve her own way in the world. From political journalism, she took her first tentative steps on Melbourne's tiny stages in comedy revue, then struck out as a solo performer in stand-up comedy. She would make her mark internationally before coming home to entertain Australians for the past four decades on stage, in print, television and broadcasting. In Lies My Mirror Told Me Wendy reflects on her life - one of the most unlikely success stories you will ever read.
Join bestselling Australian storyteller William McInnes as he reflects on Australia's way of life and gives us his own take on our colourful and colloquial way with words. Whether we are bunging it on or behaving like a drongo, Australians have a turn of phrase for every situation that helps us. Our lin go helps us through life's landmark occasions. It's there in our fatalistic humour at moments of drama or heartbreak. It's there when we cut through the media hype, call out self-important BS or reflect on the ways our sporting heroes behave both on and off the field. And it's also there in the quiet conversations we have with ourselves. We use it to mark the ups and downs of our friendships and to navigate our relationships with our kids and families. Our love of plain speaking, of calling a spade a bloody shovel, communicates the essence of the thing to our mates, to those in the know - and to those at the top who should know better. Part memoir, part manifesto, this warm, witty, poignant and laugh-out-loud funny collection will have you thinking about what you say, how you say it and what that really says about us as a nation. Praise for the writing of William McInnes 'Warm and engaging . . . feels a little bit like home' Daily Telegraph 'If there is a quintessence of Australia at its best, William McInnes has distilled it' The Age 'Warm, nostalgic, funny and undeniably Australian' Sydney Morning Herald ...Show more
Many indeed, are the biographies of Winston Churchill, one of the most influential figures of the twentieth century. But what was that influence and how did he use it in the furtherance of his and his country's ambitions? For the first time, Professor William Nestor has delved into the life and actions of Churchill to examine just how skillfully he manipulated events to placed him in positions of power. His thirst for power stirred political controversy wherever he intruded. Those who had to deal directly with him either loved or hated him. His enemies condemned him for being an egoist, publicity hound, double-dealer, and Machiavellian, accusations that his friends and even he himself could not deny. He could only serve Britain as a statesman and a reformer because he was a wily politician who won sixteen of twenty-one elections that he contested between 1899 and 1955. The House of Commons was Churchill's political temple where he exalted in the speeches and harangues on the floor and the backroom horse-trading and comradery. Most of his life he was a Cassandra, warning against the threats of Communism, Nazism, and nuclear Armageddon. With his ability to think beyond mental boxes and connect far-flung dots, he clearly foretold events to which virtually everyone else was oblivious. Yet he was certainly not always right and was at times spectacularly wrong. This is the first book that explores how Churchill understood and asserted the art of power, mostly through hundreds of his own insights expressed through his speeches and writings. AUTHOR: Dr William Nester, a Professor at the Department of Government and Politics, St. John's University, New York, is the author of thirty-seven books on history and politics. His book George Rogers Clark: I Glory in War won the Army Historical Foundation's best biography award for 2013, and Titan: The Art of British Power in the Age of Revolution and Napoleon, won the New York Military Affairs Symposium's 2016 Arthur Goodzett Book Award. ...Show more