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biography & memoir

Large 9780141046402

Will by Will Self

$22.99 AUD

Available Stock:
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Category: biography & memoir

Unflinching, intoxicating, heartfelt, and propelled by an exceptional energy, Will is the long-awaited memoir by Will Self, whose works have been shortlisted for the Booker Prize and translated into over twenty languages. A portrait of the artist as a young addict, Will is one of the most eloquent and u nusual depictions of the allure of hard drugs ever written.Will spins the reader from Self's childhood in a quiet North London suburb to his mind-expanding education at Oxford, to a Burroughsian trip to Morocco, an outback vision in Australia, and, finally, a surreal turn in rehab. Echoing the great Modernist writers of the early twentieth century in its psychedelic stream of consciousness, Will is vividly imagistic and mordantly witty. It is both kunstlerroman and confessional, a tale of excess and degradation, a karmic cycle that leads back to the author's own lack of . . . will. ...Show more

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Large 9781781257234

Fracture: Trauma, Success and the Origins of Greatness by Matthew Parris

$34.99 AUD

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Category: biography & memoir

Matthew Parris, presenter of Great Lives on BBC Radio 4, explores the surprising connection between trauma and greatness through vivid case histories. Ada Lovelace. Frederick Douglass. Vladimir Lenin. Marie Curie. Frieda Kahlo. Carl Jung. Tupac Shakur. All geniuses who changed the world in ways that sti ll influence our lives today. And all men and women who experienced, in childhood, trauma so severe that it should have broken them completely.While presenting Great Lives on Radio 4, Matthew Parris noticed a trend in the lives of the exceptional people the programme covered: many of them had been marked by extreme trauma and deprivation. They seemed to have succeeded not only in spite of their backgrounds, but perhaps even because of them. As Matthew Parris brings each individual's story to life in this original and compelling study, it becomes clear that we must rethink the origins of success, as well as the legacy of trauma. ...Show more

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Large 9781784744441

Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Today by Eddie S. Glaude Jr.

$35.00 AUD

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Category: biography & memoir

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A searing indictment of racial injustice in America - inspired by the life and work of James Baldwin - to help us understand the present moment, and imagine a new future into being 'Not everything is lost. Responsibility cannot be lost, it can only be abdicated. If one refu ses abdication, one begins again.' JAMES BALDWIN The struggles of Black Lives Matter and the attempt to achieve a new America have been challenged by the presidency of Donald Trump, a president whose time in the White House represents the latest failure of America to face the lies it tells itself about race. For James Baldwin, a similar attempt to force a confrontation with the truth of America's racism came in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement, and was answered with the murders of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. In the years from the publication of The Fire Next Time in 1963 to that of No Name in the Street in 1972, Baldwin - the great creative artist, often referred to as 'the poet of the revolution' - became a more overtly political writer, a change that came at great professional and personal cost. But from that journey, Baldwin emerged with a sense of renewed purpose about the necessity of pushing forward in the face of disillusionment and despair. America is at a crossroads. Drawing insight and inspiration from Baldwin's writings, Glaude suggests we can find hope and guidance through our own era of shattered promises and white retrenchment. Seamlessly combining biography with history, memoir and trenchant analysis of our moment, Begin Again bears witness to the difficult truth of race in America. It is at once a searing exploration that lays bare the tangled web of race, trauma and memory, and a powerful interrogation of what we all must ask of ourselves in order to call forth a more just future. 'Begin Again is that rare thing: an instant classic' Pankaj Mishra A TIME 100 Must-Read Book of 2020 A Washington Post Notable Work of Non-Fiction 2020 ...Show more

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Large 9780007463404

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang

$19.99 AUD

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Category: biography & memoir | Reading Level: very good

Few books have had such an impact as Wild Swans a popular bestseller and a critically acclaimed history of China that opened up the country to the world. Through the story of three generations of women in her own family-the grandmother given to the warlord as a concubine, the Communist mother, and the d aughter herself-Jung Chang reveals the epic history of China's twentieth century. Breathtaking in its scope, unforgettable in its descriptions, this is a masterpiece which is extraordinary in every way.   ...Show more

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Large 9780802145734

My Friend the Mercenary - A Memoir by James Brabazon

$19.99 AUD

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Category: biography & memoir

"Intensely vivid story of war and the peculiar breed of warriors who fight in 21st-century Africa . . . and tribute to an extraordinary comrade-at-arms." --Kirkus Reviews In February 2002, British journalist James Brabazon set out to travel with guerrilla forces into Liberia to show the world what was happening in that war-torn country. To protect him, he hired Nick du Toit, a former South African Defence Force soldier who had fought in conflicts across Africa for over three decades. What follows is an incredible behind-the-scenes account of the Liberian rebels--known as the LURD--as they attempt to seize control of the country from government troops led by President Charles Taylor. In this gripping narrative, James Brabazon paints a brilliant portrait of the chaos that tore West Africa apart: nations run by warlords and kleptocrats, rebels fighting to displace them, ordinary people caught in the crossfire--and everywhere adventurers and mercenaries operating in war's dark shadows. It is a brutally honest book about what it takes to be a journalist, survivor, and friend in this morally corrosive crucible. "A classic story of intrigue, greed, and violence in one of the most dysfunctional countries in the world. It is a gripping story that I couldn't read fast enough." --Sebastian Junger, New York Times-bestselling author ...Show more

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Large 9781474622424

Featherhood by Charlie Gilmour

$32.99 AUD

Available Stock:
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Category: biography & memoir

'The best piece of nature writing since H is for Hawk, and the most powerful work of biography I have read in years' Neil Gaiman 'Wonderful - I can't recommend it too highly' Helen Macdonald 'One of those rare, enchanted books' Isabella Tree 'Beautiful - it made me cry' Simon Amstell 'I was entrance d' Cathy Rentzenbrink This is a story about birds and fathers. About the young magpie that fell from its nest in a Bermondsey junkyard into Charlie Gilmour's life - and swiftly changed it. Demanding worms around the clock, riffling through his wallet, sharing his baths and roosting in his hair... About the jackdaw kept at a Cornish stately home by Heathcote Williams, anarchist, poet, magician, stealer of Christmas, and Charlie's biological father who vanished from his life in the dead of night. It is a story about repetition across generations and birds that run in the blood; about a terror of repeating the sins of the father and a desire to build a nest of one's own. It is a story about change - from wild to tame; from sanity to madness; from life to death to birth; from freedom to captivity and back again, via an insane asylum, a prison and a magpie's nest. And ultimately, it is the story of a love affair between a man and a magpie.   ...Show more

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Large 9781922147639

Travels with Epicurus: A Journey to a Greek Island in Search of an Authentic Old Age by Daniel Klein

$19.99 AUD

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Category: biography & memoir | Reading Level: very good

Travels with Epicurus- A Journey to a Greek Island in Search of an Authentic Old Ageis a humorous, uplifting meditation on finding the pleasures of old age, by the New York Times bestselling co-author of Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar. When philosopher, jokester and septuagenarian Daniel Klein goe s to the dentist for a regular check-up, he is informed that he needs a section of his lower teeth removed and replaced with either a denture plate or implants. The implants would require frequent trips to the dentist over the course of a year, a lot of money and a lot of pain. The denture plate on the other hand would leave Klein with the unmistakable clunky smile of an old man. Though Klein initially opts for the implants he soon questions his decision. Is it better to a spend a precious year trying to extend the prime of his life, or to live an authentic old age, toothless grin and all? Klein decided the answer lay in a place where people seemed to know the secret to a long, happy and healthy life - Greece. He travels there with a library of his favourite philosophers and observes other septuagenarians and octogenarians, and contemplates his own life, particularly seeking out wisdom from renowned hedonist Epicurus. From that journey comes a sincere and humorous book on ageing and an Epicurean way of living. ...Show more

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Large 9780715653968

The Iris Trilogy - Memoirs of Iris Murdoch by John Bayley

$69.99 AUD

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Category: biography & memoir

The complete, heart-warming trilogy of John Bayley's touching memoirs chronicling his marriage to the great British novelist now available in a single volume. Dame Iris Murdoch (1919-1999) was one of the greatest British novelists and philosophers of the twentieth century. She read philosophy at Oxford where she met and later married John Bayley, a literary critic and fellow novelist. So began a forty-year, intense and unconventional but happy marriage, detailed in the classic bestselling memoir Iris. Despite Iris' extramarital affairs with men and women throughout their long marriage - which John always suspected - their bond was unbreakable, and his memoir beautifully captures their child-like moments of bliss: walking in forests, swimming together in streams, and sharing hot cups of coffee on crisp mornings. These are touching but poignant stories with the knowledge that Iris and her grand intellect would eventually succumb to Alzheimer's disease. John would care for her singlehandedly for five years, the last of which he writes about in Iris and the Friends that also describes her peaceful passing. Finally, he reflects on his bereavement and the void that is left when a soulmate departs in A Widower's House. All three books are told by the person who knew Iris best, with gentle humour - at times unbearably moving - in his portrayal of a remarkable woman. AUTHOR: John Bayley (1925-2015), CBE was a British literary critic and the author of Alice, The Queer Captain, George's Lair and The Red Hat. He was Warton Professor of English at Oxford University and was a fellow of St Catherine's college. ...Show more

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Large 9780520343542

Beethoven, a Life by Jan Caeyers; Daniel Hope (Foreword by); Brent Annable (Translator)

$57.95 AUD

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Category: biography & memoir

This internationally bestselling biography of Ludwig van Beethoven, now translated into English for the first time, offers an unparalleled story of the composer's life and works. With unprecedented access to the archives at the Beethoven House in Bonn, renowned Beethoven conductor and scholar Jan Caeye rs expertly weaves together a deeply human and complex image of Beethoven--his troubled youth, his unpredictable mood swings, his desires, relationships, and conflicts with family and friends, the mysteries surrounding his affair with the "immortal beloved," and the dramatic tale of his deafness. Caeyers also offers new insights into Beethoven's music and its gradual transformation from the work of a skilled craftsman into that of a consummate artist. Demonstrating an impressive command of the vast scholarship on this iconic composer, Caeyers brings Beethoven's world alive with elegant prose, memorable musical descriptions, and vivid depictions of Bonn and Vienna--the cities where Beethoven produced and performed his works. Caeyers explores how Beethoven's career was impacted by the historical and philosophical shifts taking place in the music world, and conversely, how his own trajectory changed the course of the music industry. Equal parts absorbing cultural history and lively biography, Beethoven, A Life paints a complex portrait of the musical genius who redefined the musical style of his day and went on to become one of the great pillars of Western art music. ] ...Show more

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Large 9780300249828

Morozov - The Story of a Family and a Lost Collection by Natalya Semenova

$51.95 AUD

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Category: biography & memoir

The first English-language account of Ivan Morozov and his ambition to build one of the world's greatest collections of modern art A wealthy Moscow textile merchant, Morozov started buying art in a modest way in 1900 until, on a trip to Paris, he developed a taste for the avant-garde. Meticulous and hi ghly discerning, he acquired works by the likes of Monet, Pissarro, and Cezanne. Unlike his friendly rival Sergei Shchukin, he collected Russian as well as European art. Altogether he spent 1.5 million francs on 486 paintings and 30 sculptures--more than any other collector of the age.   Natalya Semenova traces Morozov's life, family, and achievements, and sheds light on the interconnected worlds of European and Russian art at the turn of the century. Morozov always intended to leave his art to the state--but with the Revolution in 1917 he found himself appointed "assistant curator" to his own collection. He fled Russia and his collection was later divided between Moscow and St. Petersburg, only to languish in storage for decades. Morozov: The Story of a Family and a Lost Collection is being published to coincide with "The Morozov Collection" exhibition at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, in October 2020. ...Show more

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Large 9781612008554

The White Sniper - Simo Häyhä by Tapio Saarelainen

$37.99 AUD

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Category: biography & memoir

The remarkable story of the Finnish marksman nicknamed "White Death" by the Red Army for his record number of confirmed kills.   Simo Häyhä is the most famous sniper in the world. During the Winter War fought between Russia and Finland from 1939 to 1940, he had 542 confirmed kills with iron sights, a re cord that still stands today.   A man of action who spoke very little, Simo Häyhä was hugely respected by his men and his superiors and given many difficult missions, including taking out specific targets. Able to move silently and swiftly through the landscape, melting into the snowbound surroundings in his white camouflage fatigues, his aim was deadly and his quarry rarely escaped. The Russians learned of his reputation as a marksman and tried several times to kill him by indirect fire. He was promoted from corporal to second lieutenant, and he was awarded the Cross of Kollaa. For sniping, Simo Häyhä only ever used his own M/28-30 rifle. Eventually, his luck ran out, and Simo received a serious head wound on March 6,1940, though he subsequently recovered.   The White Sniper fully explores Simo Häyhä's life, his exploits in the Winter War, the secrets behind his success, including character and technique, and also includes a detailed look at his rifle itself. There are appendices on the basics of shooting, the impact of fire on the battlefield, battles on the Kollaa Front during the Winter War, and a list of ranked snipers of the world.   "No matter how many books on sniping you have read, this must be added to your list if you are serious about shooting." --GunMart ...Show more

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Large 9780522876222

Under the Rainbow: The Life and Times of E. W. Cole by Richard Broinowski

$44.99 AUD

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Category: biography & memoir

Under the Rainbow is the life story of E.W. Cole, a colourful and much loved figure of 19th century Melbourne. Best remembered for his Funny Picture Books, his sense of the absurd and his marketing genius, his wonderful arcade was the first 'department store' in Melbourne, replete with a live orchestra, an aviary and monkeys alongside books, ornaments, art, curios and tearooms. But there was more to Cole than his merchandising prowess- he scandalised the clergy with his sacrilegious views about Christianity, campaigned passionately against the White Australia policy, and advocated education for all. Cole's journey from an impoverished sandwich seller on the streets of London to owner of one of the most memorable establishments of early Melbourne is remarkable. His passion for learning, insatiable curiosity, and enduring faith in the essential goodness of humanity make him a figure worth celebrating. More than 100 years after his death, Cole's story is a timely reminder that a little bit of goodness can go a long way. ...Show more

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