![]() Fuelled with the intense charisma and enthusiasm Branson is famous for, it drags the reader through a constantly shifting landscape of business formation and decay, interspersed with often funny, sometimes poignant but always relevant anecdotes from the author's life. Updated from the original to include the events of the past four years, it is, if not a literary masterpiece, at least a thoroughly gripping read. This edition of Richard Branson's autobiography has everything one would expect from the life of a self-made billionaire - from make-or-break nail biting phone calls to private island hideaways most of us mere mortals can only dream of visiting. Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson (Virgin Books, £9.99 sterling) Shalev's prose evokes the tastes and smells of that harsh part of the world, and the lavish narrative depicts past and present simultaneously within the dryly antic Jewish story-telling tradition. Starting from his current situation as the wealthy proprietor of a graveyard, in which wealthy Jews from the US pay huge sums for the privilege of being interred there, Baruch describes the development of their small community - the births, deaths, dramas, joys and tragedies over time. Baruch, who was adopted from the age of three by his strong, idiosyncratic grandfather, Ya'akov Mirkin, after his parents are killed by an Arab bomb, charts the history of the settlement as a well-woven series of incidents and anecdotes. Once the many diverse characters with their unusual names become as familiar and intimate as your neighbours, this earthy, quirky tale of early Jewish pioneers in Palestine - to become Israel - is a rich and entertaining read. The Blue Mountain by Meir Shalev (Canongate £6.99 sterling) You probably wouldn't recite many of these lyrics out at a poetry reading, but you will smile wryly at the wealth of experience and street smarts which Reed puts into every line. Reed's word-power lies in his simple rhyming couplets, and the poetry often lies in the short, sharp observations and miniature dramas which play out in each song. Taken together, Reed's lyrics add up to a coherent, often candid, slice of life, a twisted mythology for a city where myths and urban legends walk the darkened streets. This book gathers all the man's songs together, from his Velvet Underground days to his most recent album, Ecstasy. Woody Allen may have captured the heart of New York on celluloid, but Reed has it nailed down on vinyl, on such albums as Coney Island Baby, Street Hassle, Set The Twilight Reeling and New York. If New York wanted to appoint its own poet laureate, it would probably find no one better suited to the job than Lou Reed. Pass Thru Fire: The Collected Lyrics by Lou Reed (Bloomsbury, £9.99 sterling) Though space, that final frontier, still beckons. At the dawn of the 21st century, Flannery speculates that the frontier mentality - of freedom and unrestrained growth - is over. The breadth and depth of his research is impressive - as is his analysis of modern environmental exploitation ("the audacity and imbecility of which leaves one fairly gasping for breath") and the effects of aggressive capitalism. Beginning more than 65 million years ago, Flannery, with humour, style and vigour, traces the evolution of the continent - its land, climate, animals, plants and peoples - and the complex, often controversial discoveries of palaeontologists and archaeologists, to the US position today as a global superpower. The Eternal Frontier, An Ecological History of North America and its Peoples by Tim Flannery (Vintage, £8.99 sterling)Īn ecological Sherlock Holmes, Tim Flannery uncovers the compelling, astonishing tale of the creation of North America. The coy interplay between these two elements makes this an absorbing tale. Bainbridge stitched together her narrative cleverly, balancing an absurd, somtimes grotesque third-person narrative with Queeney's first-person reports in letter form to a Miss Hawkins greedy for information. Told through the eyes of Queeney, the Thrale's daughter, the story takes on the pallow tinge of resentment, jealousy and bitterness - although a favourite of Johnsons's, Queeney is perennially side-lined by her self-centred and childish mother, and views the proceedings throughout her childhood with helpless disdain. ![]() Johnson becomes a fixture in the Thrale houshold, and joins the family for meals, on their trips and in the bizarre goings-on of 18th-century domestic England. ![]() Samuel Johnson, creator of the famous dictionary and irascible London literary personality and wit, develops an affection and dependence on Mrs Hester Thrale after an introduction to her husband, Henry.Īccording to Queeney by Beryl Bainbridge (Abacus, £6.99 sterling) This is not your standard rosy love story.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |