Diaries & Memoirs

A funny, insightful memoir by much-loved documentary maker Louis Theroux, who takes us on a weird and wonderful journey through his life and two decades of groundbreaking television.

The story of the relationship between the most devastating heavyweight boxer in history and the mentor who made him.

A lot of professors give talks titled The Last Lecture . Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy? When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave, Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams wasn t about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because time is all you have and you may find one day that you have less than you think). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living. In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humour, inspiration, and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.

Proof of Heaven is a captivating book penned by Dr. Eben Alexander, a renowned neurosurgeon. This fascinating piece of literature was first published in 2012 by Little, Brown Book Group. The book, which falls under the genre of biographies, provides a riveting account of the author's near-death experience and his journey into the afterlife. Dr. Alexander's scientific background gives a unique perspective to the narrative, making it a must-read for those interested in exploring the intersection of faith, science, and the possibility of life after death. The book has been lauded for its insightful take on spirituality and the existence of heaven. It's a thought-provoking read that challenges our understanding of consciousness and the universe. Proof of Heaven is not just a book; it's an exploration of life's greatest mysteries.

Vintage Publishing is part of Penguin Random House UK.

'There's never been a more honest or raw memoir ... and it may just save lives' Daily Mail'Funny, fascinating, compelling ... also a wonderful read for fans of Friends' The TimesThe 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.'Hi, my name is Matthew, although you may know me by another name. My friends call me Matty. And I should be dead.'So begins the riveting story of acclaimed actor Matthew Perry, taking us along on his journey from childhood ambition to fame to addiction and recovery in the aftermath of a life-threatening health scare. Before the frequent hospital visits and stints in rehab, there was five-year-old Matthew, who travelled from Montreal to Los Angeles, shuffling between his separated parents; fourteen-year-old Matthew, who was a nationally ranked tennis star in Canada; twenty-four-year-old Matthew, who nabbed a coveted role as a lead cast member on the talked-about pilot then called Friends Like Us. . . and so much more.In an extraordinary story that only he could tell - and in the heartfelt, hilarious, and warmly familiar way only he could tell it - Matthew Perry lays bare the fractured family that raised him (and also left him to his own devices), the desire for recognition that drove him to fame, and the void inside him that could not be filled even by his greatest dreams coming true. But he also details the peace he's found in sobriety and how he feels about the ubiquity of Friends, sharing stories about his castmates and other stars he met along the way. Frank, self-aware, and with his trademark humour, Perry vividly depicts his lifelong battle with addiction and what fuelled it despite seemingly having it all.Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing is an unforgettable memoir that is both intimate and eye-opening - as well as a hand extended to anyone struggling with sobriety. Unflinchingly honest, moving, and uproariously funny, this is the book fans have been waiting for.'An unflinching and often harrowing must-read for 90s pop culture fans' Guardian'Written with Chandler's trademark sarcasm and self-deprecation' Telegraph'A hopeful read ... I started to think of [it] not as a celebrity memoir about addiction, but as an addiction memoir written by a man who understands his own history through the prism of showbiz' Independent

A study of a life lived in an environment of wild music and endless wonder, Sonic Life is the long-awaited memoir of iconic American musician and Sonic Youth frontman, Thurston Moore. A music-obsessed retrospective, beginning with his childhood epiphany of rock 'n' roll in the early 1960s into an infatuation with the subversive world of 1970s punk and no wave blasting forth from New York City - where he eventually runs off to join a band in 1978. By 1981 Moore would form the legendary and notorious experimental rock group Sonic Youth, who proceeded to record and tour relentlessly for almost 30 years, always progressing, always exploring.Along the way we meet a constellation of artists and musicians who colluded and collided with Sonic Youth including Velvet Underground, Stooges, Patti Smith, Television, Sex Pistols, Clash, Nirvana, Hole, Beastie Boys, Neil Young and a cavalcade of other musical visionaries, as well as figures from the art world - Jean Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Gerhard Richter.Simply put, Thurston Moore and Sonic Youth changed the sound of modern alternative rock music and opened the minds of a generation of artists to new possibilities within the form. This is essential reading.

Framed by ten words and phrases common in the Chinese vernacular, China in Ten Words reveals as never before the world's most populous yet often misunderstood nation.

Through his never-before-seen diaries - a twenty-five-year passion project - Alan Rickman invites readers backstage and into his life. He takes us behind the scenes on films and plays ranging from Sense & Sensibility, the Harry Potter series, Private Lives and many more. Detailing the extraordinary and the ordinary, he writes in a way that is anecdotal, indiscreet, witty, gossipy and utterly candid.

"Geddy Lee is one of rock and roll's most respected bassists. For nearly five decades, his playing and work as co-writer, vocalist, and keyboardist has been an essential part of the success story of Canadian progressive rock trio Rush. Here for the first time is his account of life inside and outside the band. ... [He] was [born] Gershon Eliezer Weinrib, after his grandfather murdered in the Holocaust. As he recounts [his life's] transformation, Lee looks back on his family, in particular his loving parents and their horrific experiences as teenagers during World War II"--

The COVID diaries of the alternative rock star and bestselling author of SING BACKWARDS AND WEEP

Welcome to the book of you the sequel to the bestselling book The Burn After Writing. This is What My Soul Looks Like is an irresistible opportunity to continue your own personal journey of self-reflection. Hundreds of questions gently pry open the secrets of your psyche. Recognize your biases, tune in to your feelings and increase your self-awareness. Think of it as self-therapy.

A book for anyone who fishes, anyone who wants to fish, and the millions worldwide who watched RIVER MONSTERS

The follow-up to the number one Sunday Times bestseller Reasons to Stay Alive

Back on the earth after three spaceflights, Chris Hadfield's captivating memoir An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth reveals extraordinary stories from his life as an astronaut, and shows how to make the impossible a reality.Colonel Chris Hadfield has spent decades training as an astronaut and has logged nearly 4,000 hours in space. During this time he has broken into a Space Station with a Swiss army knife, disposed of a live snake while piloting a plane, been temporarily blinded while clinging to the exterior of an orbiting spacecraft, and become a YouTube sensation with his performance of David Bowie's 'Space Oddity' in space. The secret to Chris Hadfield's success - and survival - is an unconventional philosophy he learned at NASA: prepare for the worst - and enjoy every moment of it.In his book, An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, Chris Hadfield takes readers deep into his years of training and space exploration to show how to make the impossible possible. Through eye-opening, entertaining stories filled with the adrenaline of launch, the mesmerizing wonder of spacewalks and the measured, calm responses mandated by crises, he explains how conventional wisdom can get in the way of achievement - and happiness. His own extraordinary education in space has taught him some counter-intuitive lessons: don't visualize success, do care what others think, and always sweat the small stuff.You might never be able to build a robot, pilot a spacecraft, make a music video or perform basic surgery in zero gravity like Colonel Hadfield. But his vivid and refreshing insights in this book will teach you how to think like an astronaut, and will change, completely, the way you view life on Earth - especially your own.

A genre-bending memoir that offers fierce and fresh reflections on motherhood, desire, identity and feminism. At the centre is a love-story, between Nelson and the artist Harry Dodge, who is undergoing gender reassignment, while Nelson undergoes the transformations of pregnancy. Personal, honest and wide-ranging, Nelson explores the challenges and complexities that make up a modern family.

From one of America's greatest and most iconic writers: an honest and courageous portrait of age and motherhood.Several days before Christmas 2003, Joan Didion's only daughter, Quintana, fell seriously ill. In 2010, Didion marked the sixth anniversary of her daughter's death. 'Blue Nights' is a shatteringly honest examination of Joan Didion's life as a mother, a woman and a writer.Recently widowed, and becoming increasingly frail, 'Blue Nights' is Didion's attempt to understand our deepest fears, our inadequate adjustments to ageing and to put a name to what we refuse to see and as a consequence fail to face up to, 'this refusal even to engage in such contemplation, this failure to confront the certainties of ageing, illness and death. This fear.' This fear is tied to what we cherish most and fight to conserve, protect, and refuse to let go, for, 'when we are talking about mortality we are talking about our children.' To face death is to let go of memory, to be bereft once more, 'I know what it is I am now experiencing. I know what the frailty is, I know what the fear is.'The fear is not for what is lost.The fear is for what is still to be lost.You may see nothing still to be lost.Yet there is no day in her life on which I do not see her.A profound, poetic and powerful book about motherhood and the fierce way in which we continue to exalt and nurture our children, even if they only live on in memory.'Blue Nights' is an intensely personal, and yet, strangely universal account of how we love. It is both groundbreaking and a culmination of a stunning career.

Tove Jansson's most personal book and a homage by two artists to the island they loved. In her late-forties, Tove Jansson, helped by a maverick seaman called Brunstrom, raced to build a cabin on an almost barren outcrop of rock in the Gulf of Finland. The island was Klovharun, and for twenty-six summers Tove and her life partner, the graphic artist Tuulikki Pietila, retreated there to live, paint and write, energised by the solitude and shifting seascapes. Notes from an Island, published in English for the first time, is both a memoir and homage to the island the two women loved intensely and relinquished only when pressed by age. It is also a unique collaboration between two artists. Tove's spare, precise prose - diary entries, vignettes and extracts from Brunstrom's log - frame the subtle washes and aquatints created by Tuulikki. Together they form a work of meditative beauty.

TikTok sensation and beloved home cook Nadia Caterina Munno, a.k.a. The Pasta Queen, presents a cookbook featuring the signature pasta tips and tricks that are 100% authentic to Italian traditions-and just as gorgeous as you are.

'A Latin American James Dean or Jack Kerouac' Washington Post'It's true; Marxists just wanna have fun... a revolutionary bestseller' GuardianAt the age of twenty-three, Ernesto 'Che' Guevara and his friend Alberto Granado set out from their native Argentina to explore their continent, with only a single 1939 Norton motorcycle to carry them, nicknamed La Poderosa ('the powerful one'). They travelled not to visit the usual tourist attractions, but to meet ordinary people and understand Latin American life. In amidst the tales of youthful adventures - of women, wine, thrilling escapes and the power of friendship - the young Che also learns first-hand about poverty, philosophy and philosophy and forms himself into the man who would become the world's most famous and admired revolutionary and freedom fighter. 'For every comic escapade of the carefree roustabout there is an equally eye-opening moment in the development of the future revolutionary leader. By the end of the journey, a politicized Guevara has emerged to predict his own legendary future' Time

The international bestseller and recommended by medics, patients and the NHS, this is a brain scientist's personal experience of a stroke. It tells of her journey and gives rare insight into human consciousness and its possibilities for all of us