The Puppet Master is back with the inside story.Written by one half of the Fluck and Law partnership, which produced Spitting Image for many years, this book will catch up with creative spirit Roger Law to investigate life at sixty through the eyes of the puppet master.Roger Law, the evil genius behind the mocking, caricature puppets of Spitting Image – which lampooned Margaret Thatcher, ridiculed the Royal Family and gave birth to 'The Chicken Song' – unburdens his tormented soul and tells the awful truth of how it all came about.The award-winning series ran for eight years, with Law masterminding the corruption and undermining of an entire generation's respect for authority and institutions, and giving voice to such comedic reprobates as Harry Enfield, Pamela Stephenson and Rory Bremner. He subjected the British public to political outrages – to a reception of delight and indignation in equal measure – every Sunday evening from 1984 to 1992.When the satire bubble finally burst, Law found himself too young for retirement, too old to be retrained and without any discernable talent for domesticity or addressing a golf ball. In short, very thoroughly rinsed up.Confronted with 'one day off after another as far as the eye can see,' Law did what some people thought was the only decent thing he could do, possibly had ever done – he transported himself to Australia.STILL SPITTING AT SIXTY is Roger Law's account of his life in retirement down-under, filled with all the lunacy and flare that one would expect from the co-producer and creator of Spitting Image.
The definitive collection of religious essays by C.S. Lewis, plus a selection of letters, brought together in a substantial paperback volumeAs well as his many books, letters and poems, C.S. Lewis also wrote a great number of essays and shorter pieces on various subjects. He wrote extensively on Christian theology and the defence of faith, but also on various ethical issues and on the nature of literature and story-telling.This second volume (of two) collects together all Lewis’s religious essays. Grouped together by topic, there are over 50 essays covering The Search for God, Aspects of Faith, The Christian in the World, The Church, and also a selection of his Letters on the subject of Christianity.
WINNER OF THE HRF KEATING AWARD FOR BEST NON-FICTION CRIME BOOK 2018An entertaining history of British thrillers from Casino Royale to The Eagle Has Landed, in which award-winning crime writer Mike Ripley reveals that, though Britain may have lost an empire, her thrillers helped save the world. With a foreword by Lee Child.When Ian Fleming dismissed his books in a 1956 letter to Raymond Chandler as ‘straight pillow fantasies of the bang-bang, kiss-kiss variety’ he was being typically immodest. In three short years, his James Bond novels were already spearheading a boom in thriller fiction that would dominate the bestseller lists, not just in Britain, but internationally.The decade following World War II had seen Britain lose an Empire, demoted in terms of global power and status and economically crippled by debt; yet its fictional spies, secret agents, soldiers, sailors and even (occasionally) journalists were now saving the world on a regular basis.From Ian Fleming and Alistair MacLean in the 1950s through Desmond Bagley, Dick Francis, Len Deighton and John Le Carré in the 1960s, to Frederick Forsyth and Jack Higgins in the 1970s.Many have been labelled ‘boys’ books’ written by men who probably never grew up but, as award-winning writer and critic Mike Ripley recounts, the thrillers of this period provided the reader with thrills, adventure and escapism, usually in exotic settings, or as today’s leading thriller writer Lee Child puts it in his Foreword: ‘the thrill of immersion in a fast and gaudy world.’In Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, Ripley examines the rise of the thriller from the austere 1950s through the boom time of the Swinging Sixties and early 1970s, examining some 150 British authors (plus a few notable South Africans). Drawing upon conversations with many of the authors mentioned in the book, he shows how British writers, working very much in the shadow of World War II, came to dominate the field of adventure thrillers and the two types of spy story – spy fantasy (as epitomised by Ian Fleming’s James Bond) and the more realistic spy fiction created by Deighton, Le Carré and Ted Allbeury, plus the many variations (and imitators) in between.
The complete oral history of Monty Python – one of comedy's most legendary and influential troupes – publishing to coincide with the 50th anniversary of their BBC debut.With a foreword by John Oliver from Last Week Tonight‘Gilliam is one of the most manipulative bastards in that group of manipulative bastards. Michael is a selfish bastard, Cleese a control freak, Jonesy is shagged out and now forgets everything, and Graham as you know is still dead. I am the only real nice one!’ Eric IdleWith their dead parrots, holy grails and spam, Monty Python revolutionised comedy for the rest of the world. They paved the way for everything from Saturday Night Live to The Young Ones to The Simpsons. Its founding members, including the supremely talented writers/performers John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and Michael Palin, ushered in a new brand of surrealist comedy: a stream-of-consciousness sketch show that pushed the boundaries of format, style and content. Its legacy is not only important; it’s monumental.In Monty Python Speaks!, David Morgan has extensively interviewed the entire world of Python – from producers and collaborators like Douglas Adams, to the founding members themselves – to create the ultimate record of Britain’s most revolutionary and successful comedy act. Packed with rare and never-before-seen photographs, and told with all the group’s customary wit and irreverence (and spam), this is the inside story of a comedy phenomenon.
The stories and secrets behind BBC television’s most-loved show. The official companion to series 1 and 2, as well as the forthcoming Christmas special.The Life and Times of Call the Midwife takes you behind the scenes of the small-screen sensation that has brought to life Jennifer Worth’s experiences as a midwife among the slums and buzzing dockyards of London’s East End in the Fifties.Find out how Fifties fashions, make-up and homes were flawlessly recreated. Discover the hidden secrets of the nurses and nuns of Nonnatus House and what flavour cake ruled in the kitchen when war-time rationing finally came to an end. Immerse yourself in a world that’s been fondly revived to celebrate a glimpse of history that, like today, has childbirth at its heart.
Move over Brad Pitt. Take a hike George Clooney. On your way Prince Harry. Give us Mark Darcy, King Aragorn and Edward Cullen instead.Have you met your book boyfriend yet?In WITHER 16-year-old Rhine Ellery is kidnapped and sold as a bride to Linden, a rich young man with a dying wife. Even though he is kind to her, Rhine is desperate to escape her gilded cage. With the help of Gabriel, a servant she is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in what little time she has left. The Handmaid’s Tale for a new generationIn WAIT FOR YOU, a New York Times #1, Avery knows she should stay away from Cam Hamilton: he might be the hottest guy on campus but she really doesn’t need that sort of drama right now. Love is best left in the past – along with her troubles. But sometimes, the last thing that you want is just the thing you need…In New York Times bestseller, THE EDGE OF NEVER, twenty-year-old Camryn has always known that she wants a life less ordinary. But when tragedy strikes, she boards the next bus leaving town, destination unknown. On a journey of self-discovery, she meets another lost soul: Andrew Parrish, who harbours his own dark secrets… Andrew shows Camryn what it’s like to live by your own rules and how good it feels to give in to your deepest desires. But the dark shadow of Andrew’s secret is looming. Will it push them together – or tear them apart forever?
В одном из интервью Гарсиа Лорка охарактеризовал пьесу «Любовь Дона Перлимплина» как «набросок большой драмы», пояснив, что в будущем постарается «развить тему во всей ее сложности». Он добавил, что «дон Перлимплин из всех мужчин на свете менее всего заслуживает имени „рогоносец“.
Прочитав в интернете историю о коте блокадного Ленинграда, который помог выжить женщине и ребенку, автор решил изложить свою версию событий того времени. Все события в данном повествовании являются вымыслом.
Попав под сонное заклинание, молодая талантливая ведьма спит в шкафу сыскного агентства. А талантом ее является удивительная способность притягивать различные неприятности. Вот и в этот раз намечается новое дело – в часовом магазине завелся призрак. К тому же, шеф приобрел полезный артефакт – бутылку обмена душ и нанял нового стажера. Можно отправляться на задание. И куда судьба забросит наших героев? Может, в сказочное измерение? Или в ночной клуб? Кто сказал, на кладбище? Книга-антистресс. Написана с удовольствием и изрядной долей юмора. Цикл – "Пишу и ржу".
Создание инновационного чипа приводит к расколу общества. Каковы же будут последствия, и чем обернётся конфликт двух сторон? Жизнь кардинально меняется, и кто же скажет, в лучшую ли сторону? Пока ещё люди не осознают, на что идут ради «лучшего будущего»…