Biographies

The humour of self-deprecation is peculiarly English. Few people do it better than Jeremy Lewis. His first two autobiographical volumes - Playing for Time and Kindred Spirits - are being reissued in Faber Finds to coincide happily with his third volume - Grub Street Irregular - being published by HarperCollins.The second volume of Jeremy Lewis's wonderfully entertaining autobiography sees him starting out, with a mixture of diffidence and self-professed incompetence, on a career in publishing. Along the way we see him tucking into cod and chips with Jane and Geoffrey Grigson, drinking tea with Kingsley Amis and retsina with Patrick Leigh-Fermor. When reviewing this book, Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson called it 'The funniest book I have ever read about publishing...this is not merely a hugely entertaining book, but an important one'. That judgment still stands.

The fascinating, insightful and at times hilarious memoirs of one of the most gifted and enigmatic British footballers of the last 25 years.Nicknamed "e;Le God"e; by the Southampton faithful, Matt Le Tissier was not cast from the same mould as 99% of other professional footballers. A real "e;one-off"e; if ever there was one, he was a one-club man in a 16-year career that brought little in the way of trophies but countless plaudits from footballs fans and commentators alike.To the old school brigade he was a "e;luxury player"e;, someone with a less than ideal work rate and waistline who simply wouldn't conform to the blueprint of a typically hard-working, unsophisticated British player. Terry Venables and Glenn Hoddle found it all too easy to leave him out of their England squads.But to the vast majority Le Tissier was a maverick to be treasured, a flair player who lit up every match he played in and delighted fans with his sumptuous technique and elan for the beautiful game. In fact, the kind of skilful, inventive player and scorer of wonderful goals this country produces all too rarely.Did he simply enjoy the comfort zone of being a big fish in a small pond? Or did he display commendable loyalty in staying with Southampton for his entire career? Did he shun opportunities to move on? Were England managers right not to pick him so many times? Would Fabio Capello pick him for England now? Does the British game discourage his style of play? And how much would he be worth in today's transfer market?Taking Le Tiss is the great man's first chance to answer all these questions and many more. It is also a delightfully self-deprecating and witty story from a player who was more of a Big-Mac-and-fries than a chicken-and-beans man.

A miracle of still-plentiful hair, raw sex-appeal, and strutting talent . The frontman of one of the most influential and controversial groups of all time. A musical genius with a career spanning over four decades. Mick Jagger is a testament at once to British glamour and sensual decline, the ultimate architect and demi-god of rock.Bestselling biographer Philip Norman offers an unparalleled account of the life of a living legend, Mick Jagger. From Home Counties schoolboy, to rebel without a cause to Sixties rock sensation and global idol, Norman unravels with astonishing intimacy the myth of the inimitable frontman of The Rolling Stones. MICK JAGGER charts his extraordinary journey through scandal-ridden conspiracy, infamous prison spell, hordes of female admirers and a knighthood while stripping away the colossal fame, wealth and idolatry to reveal a story of talent and promise unfulfilled.Understated yet ostentatious; the ultimate incarnation of modern man's favourite fantasy: 'sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll', yet blessed with taste and intelligence; a social chameleon who couldn't blend in if he tried; always moving with the Jagger swagger yet modest enough to be self-deprecating, Mick was a paradoxical energy that reconfigured the musical landscape.This revelatory tour de force is ample tribute to a flawed genius, a Casanova, an Antichrist and a god who, with characteristic nonchalance realised the dreams of thousands of current contenders and rocker pretenders, longevity, while coasting on a sea of fur rugs.

This beautiful and deeply moving tale recounts educational psychologist Torey Hayden's battle to unlock the emotions of a troubled and sexually abused child who, with the help of Hayden, was finally able to overcome her dark past and realise her full potential. Six-year-old Sheila was abandoned by her mother on a highway when she was four. A survivor of horrific abuse, she never spoke, never cried, and was placed in a class for severely retarded children after committing an atrocious act of violence against another child. Everyone thought Sheila was beyond salvation - except her teacher, Torey Hayden. With patience, skill, and abiding love, she fought long and hard to release a haunted little girl from her secret nightmare - and nurture the spark of genius she recognised trapped within Sheila's silence. This is the remarkable story of their journey together - an odyssey of hope, courage, and inspiring devotion that opened the heart and mind of one lost child to a new world of discovery and joy.

A rare, controversial, and totally no holds barred memoir from one of Hollywood's greats.

A celebration of Diana's life, the book commemorates this remarkable woman's life from her childhood to her tragic premature death at the age of 36, and explores her legacy.

"More than just a story of an abiding cultural preoccupation, The Longing For Less peels back the commodified husk of minimalism to reveal something surprising and thoroughly alive." -Jenny Odell, author of How to Do Nothing "Thoughtful and absorbing . . . A superb outing from a gifted young critic that will spark joy in many readers." -Kirkus Reviews, starred review "Less is more": Everywhere we hear the mantra. Marie Kondo and other decluttering gurus promise that shedding our stuff will solve our problems. We commit to cleanse diets and strive for inbox zero. Amid the frantic pace and distraction of everyday life, we covet silence-and airy, Instagrammable spaces in which to enjoy it. The popular term for this brand of upscale austerity, "minimalism," has mostly come to stand for things to buy and consume. But minimalism has richer, deeper, and altogether more valuable gifts to offer. Kyle Chayka is one of our sharpest cultural observers. After spending years covering minimalist trends for leading publications, he now delves beneath this lifestyle's glossy surface, seeking better ways to claim the time and space we crave. He shows that our longing for less goes back further than we realize. His search leads him to the philosophical and spiritual origins of minimalism, and to the stories of artists such as Agnes Martin and Donald Judd; composers such as John Cage and Julius Eastman; architects and designers; visionaries and misfits. As Chayka looks anew at their extraordinary lives and explores the places where they worked-from Manhattan lofts to the Texas high desert and the back alleys of Kyoto-he reminds us that what we most require is presence, not absence. The result is an elegant new synthesis of our minimalist desires and our profound emotional needs.

One of Ireland's greatest contemporary writers turns her attention to one of the country's greatest novelists: James Joyce - 100th anniversary of the iconic classic ULYSSES. 'A delight from start to finish' SUNDAY TIMES

An inspirational account of the active power of compassion

Using television Audience of One reframes America through the rattled mind of a septuagenarian, insomniac, cable-news-junkie president.

Describes the intense rivalry - and collaboration - of the four players who created the golden era when USSR chess players dominated the world. More than 200 annotated games are included, along with personal details - many for the first time in English.

From the author of the critically acclaimed Keynes Hayek, the next great duel in the history of economics.

George "Bugs" Moran was the last of Chicago''s spectacular North Side gang leaders, a colorful and violent dynasty that began with Dean O''Banion in 1920. In <em>The Man That Got Away, </em>author Rose Keefe provides the first in-depth look at the enigmatic gangster''s charmed and wacky life from his Minnesota childhood to his early years as a horse thief. She chronicles his two marriages, his rise and fall in Chicago''s Prohibition-era underworld, his life as an independent outlaw in the 1930s and ''40s, and his last days in Leavenworth Penitentiary.In the process of telling Moran''s story, some of the twentieth century''s most fascinating and bewildering gangland figures are revisited: Al Capone, Johnny Torrio, Dean O''Banion, Vincent "the Schemer" Drucci, Earl "Hymie" Weiss, showboating Chicago Mayor "Big Bill" Thompson, the gang-hating but oddly pro-Moran Judge John H. Lyle, Virgil Summers, and Albert Fouts.History did not record the details of Moran''s last confession, but the public record and Rose Keefe''s interviews with Moran''s former associates now allow us to form an educated guess.

A groundbreaking collection of first-person writing on the joys and challenges of the modern disability experience: Disability Visibility brings together the voices of activists, authors, lawyers, politicians, artists, and everyday people whose daily lives are, in the words of playwright Neil Marcus, "an art . . . an ingenious way to live." A Vintage Books Original.According to the last census, one in five people in the United States lives with a disability. Some are visible, some are hidden--but all are underrepresented in media and popular culture. Now, just in time for the thirtieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, activist Alice Wong brings together an urgent, galvanizing collection of personal essays by contemporary disabled writers. There is Harriet McBryde Johnson''s "Unspeakable Conversations," which describes her famous debate with Princeton philosopher Peter Singer over her own personhood. There is columnist s. e. smith''s celebratory review of a work of theater by disabled performers. There are original pieces by up-and-coming authors like Keah Brown and Haben Girma. There are blog posts, manifestos, eulogies, and testimonies to Congress. Taken together, this anthology gives a glimpse of the vast richness and complexity of the disabled experience, highlighting the passions, talents, and everyday lives of this community. It invites readers to question their own assumptions and understandings. It celebrates and documents disability culture in the now. It looks to the future and past with hope and love.

The inside story of one of the greatest rock bands of all time, updated.

Features memoir of former KPMG CEO Eugene O'Kelley, completed in the three-and-a-half months between his diagnosis with brain cancer and his death in September 2005. This title reminds us to embrace the fragile, fleeting moments of our lives - the brief time we have with our family, our friends, and even ourselves.

In 1957, a children's book called The Lonely Doll was published. With its pink-and-white-checked cover and photographs featuring a wide-eyed doll, it captured the imaginations of young girls and made the author, Dare Wright, a household name. Close to forty years after its publication, the book was out of print but not forgotten. When the cover image inexplicably came to journalist Jean Nathan one afternoon, she went in search of the book--and ultimately its author. Nathan found Dare Wright living out her last days in a decrepit public hospital in Queens, New York. Over the next five years, Nathan pieced together Dare Wright's bizarre life of glamour and painful isolation to create this mesmerizing biography of a woman who struggled to escape the imprisonment of her childhood through her art.

The businessman whose ruthless political skills saw Arsenal leapfrog Tottenham Hotspur into the First Division. The manager who took Arsenal to a hat-trick of First Division titles after successfully appealing against a life ban imposed by the Football Association.

Absorbing analysis of fighter pilots, their culture and ethos presented by a long-standing member of the fraternity. During his career, the author amassed over 4,400 hours' flying time, equally split between the F-4 Phantom and the A-10 Warthog.

Bestselling novels about geisha life abound - but this is the first true story by a leading geisha.

Through a series of exquisitely observed autobiographical sketches, Adrian Tomine explores his life in comics - from an early moment on the playground being bullied, to a more recent experience, lying on a gurney in the hospital, and having the nurse say 'Hey!

The closest you can get to the most dangerous minds. Find out what truly makes a psychopath, from the leading expert who helped to create Killing Eve's Villanelle.

The inspiring story of a US Special Forces soldier who was medically retired after stepping on an IED, and his incredible return to active duty.