Michael Symmons Roberts’s fourth book of poetry, Corpus, was the winner of the 2004 Whitbread Poetry Award, and was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize, the Forward Prize, and the Griffin International Prize. His sixth collection, Drysalter, was the winner of both the Forward Prize and the Costa Poetry Prize in 2013. He collaborated with Paul Farley on Edgelands (Cape/Vintage) and will do so again in The Deaths of the Poets (Cape, 2017). He has also worked many times with the composer James MacMillan. He has published two novels, and is Professor of Poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Michael Symmons Roberts

PublicationStatus

Brand

Format

AgeRange

Series

Imprint

CategoryLabel

Elizabeth Handy

Charles Handy

The world needs new ideas, now products, new kinds of associations and institutions, new initiatives, new art and new designs. But these new things seldom come from established organisations. They come from individuals - the New Alchemists. What drives people to create something from nothing? Is it ambition, the need for self-fulfilment? Is it to do with money, power, or even genes? Is there a mood of the time that encourages people? Can anyone do it? Charles Handy has talked to a range of extraordinary characters - from Trevor Baylis and Richard Branson to Jane Tewson and Terence Conran. And Elizabeth Handy has used her new style of composite portraits to highlight aspects of all the different alchemists in their particular environments. The New Alchemists is a fascinating and inspirational investigation into the creative and entrepreneurial process.

The New Alchemists

James Patterson

Cory Friedman was an ordinary fun-loving little boy. That fateful March morning in 1989 started just like any other but later that day, he started to feel very different and the course of his life was set to change. It started with an irresistible urge to shake his head, and before long, his body became a volatile, explosive and unpredictable force. Overtaken by physical urges, tics and compulsions, the bright young boy started to feel and look like a puppet on a string. 
 
Cory had developed a rare combination of Tourette Syndrome, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Anxiety Disorder and other neurological conditions. The life he knew had been torn apart and his family was left watching him suffer. Desperate to help and hopeful of a cure, they embarked on a fifteen year plight which took them beyond breaking point. Cory was seen by thirteen doctors who in total prescribed sixty potent medicines. He was mistakenly sent to a psychiatric ward and. On the brink of utter despair, he and his family decided to try a form of intervention that had never been tried in cases such as Cory's: he was sent to a wilderness survival camp in a bitter, unforgiving snowy Utah winter. This felt like their final chance. 
 
Throughout his young life, Cory struggled to have the same childhood and adolescence as his friends. From time to time an overwhelming anger and frustration overcame him when one doctor after another and an unprecedented number of medicines continually failed him. Still, throughout it all, Cory battled against the extraordinary events that were unfolding, and would take him on one of the most terrifying personal journeys ever recorded. 
 
Torn Apart is a true story of one family's courage, heartbreak, sacrifice and ultimately, triumph.

Torn Apart

The Heartbreaking Story of a Childhood Lost

Jilly Cooper

'Men, according to legend, want only one thing, are deceivers ever, are not interested in gossip, like a cosy armful, need two eggs, and seldom wash behind their ears.' 
 
Whatever their grading, Super Man or Slob, Jilly submits all men to remorseless scrutiny. In public and in private, home, office or bed, none escapes her beady eye - from painters to politicians, guardsmen to gigolos, stockbrokers to sex-fiends, this is Jilly Cooper's brilliantly funny guide to the male sex.

Men and Supermen

Twenty-eight women, ranging from Anita Roddick and Prue Leith to less well-known names, write their own personal stories which are accompanied by Elizabeth Handy's black and white photographs and an introductory essay by Charles Handy.   This generation of women is entering the sixties more healthy, more educated and more energetic than most of their mothers.    The subjects in this book provide the models for what has become, for the first time, a new age for many women.    Released from most of the cares and responsibilities that accompany midlife for women, they are free to reinvent themselves, to give more time to their career or calling, or to luxuriate in the serenity and friendships that few had time for in the past. Some enter new relationships, some start new careers or go back to study, some find that their work is only now reaching its peak. Many have survived traumas and tragedies, but 'the past is just the prologue' as one of them explains.

Reinvented Lives

Women at Sixty: A Celebration

Azar Nafisi

Azar Nafisi, author of the international bestseller Reading Lolita in Tehran, now gives us a stunning personal story of growing up in Iran, memories of her life lived in thrall to a powerful and complex mother, against the background of a country's political revolution.A girl's pain over family secrets; a young woman's discovery of the power of sensuality in literature; the price a family pays for freedom in a country beset by political upheaval - these and other threads are woven together in this beautiful memoir. 
 
Nafisi's intelligent and complicated mother, disappointed in her dreams of leading an important and romantic life, created mesmerising fictions about herself, her family, and her past.But her daughter soon learned that these narratives of triumph hid as much as they revealed.Nafisi's father escaped into narratives of another kind, enchanting his children with classic tales like the Shahnameh, the Persian Book of Kings.When her father began to see other women, young Azar began to keep his secrets from her mother.Nafisi's complicity in these childhood dramas ultimately led her to resist remaining silent about other personal - as well as political, cultural, and social - injustices. 
 
Reaching back in time to reflect on other generations in the Nafisi family, Things I've Been Silent About is also a powerful historical portrait of a family that spans the many periods of change leading up to the Islamic Revolution of 1978-79.It is, finally, a deeply personal reflection on women's choices, and how Azar Nafisi found the inspiration for a different kind of life.This unforgettable portrait of a woman, a family, and a troubled homeland is a stunning book that readers will embrace, a new triumph from an author who is a modern master of the memoir.

Things I've Been Silent About

Memories

John Armstrong

Ann Armstrong

Have you ever wondered how typewriters can rival commercial radio? Why, according to John, it's best to shave only once a week, and with old fashioned soap and water? And what the various repercussions of spring and its extra hour of daylight bring? 
 
The BBC created a fantastically cult television series when they filmed the daily operations of John and Ann's double glazing firm U-Fit, the third largest in Coventry. It was here we were first introduced to John's misanthropic musings and no-nonsense attitude to management and his wife Ann's doting loyalty. 
 
Now their individual and highly entertaining personalities have been brought to the page, as they ruminate on various aspects of life from asbos to Buddhism, and Chekov to Maltesers.

The Armstrongs' A-Z Guide to Life

Rob Rinder

Too many lawyers spout jargon... I’m here to cut the bulls**t. Robert Rinder 
 
Have you had a holiday from hell? Been left with a hole in your floor by a dodgy builder? Fed up with fighting over who gets the dog after your divorce? 
 
Don't worry, criminal barrister Rob Rinder, star of the ITV hit show Judge Rinder and columnist for the Sun, is here to help you take action. From common legal woes to problems you may have, this is a collection of real-life stories of things gone wrong, for which he provides sound legal advice. 
 
With sections on jargon-busting, consumer rights and common mistakes, Rinder’s Rules provides a thorough guide to everyday legal issues that you can carry with you anywhere.This book is both incredibly informative and unbearably funny.

Rinder's Rules

Make the Law Work For You!

Richard Wiseman

This little book is a distillation of Richard Wiseman's research into how to lead a luckier life.  Featuring much new material - including original 'charm' designs that will help you to stay lucky - as well as an overview of the four principles that make up The Luck Factor, this is a fun and accessible insight into the scientific principles of good fortune.  Small enough to fit in your pocket, its contents are powerful enough to change your life!

The Little Book Of Luck

Paul Sherwood

After helping thousands of people with back and heart problems, Doctor Sherwood deals with more ailments - from the small but irritating symptoms of colds to the life-threatening diseases such as appendicitis. Having studied the human lymphatic system for most of his life Paul Sherwood has come to the conclusion that many of our afflictions are rooted in blockages and malfunctions of this vital but over-looked fluid network. Using case histories from his long experience as an eminent West-End physician he illustrates his theories with proven examples - explaining the causes of symptoms in simple terms and the means by which they were relieved. The book concentrates on preventative measures and especially in children where catarrh, ear and throat trouble can cause such misery. There is also an emphasis of this theory in the treatment of Asthma, the bane of modern urban life - with diet, exercise and environmental considerations all playing an important part in health recovery. His original theories on preventing cot-death, asthma, arthritis, sinusitis etc. have already cured his patients - this book will help many more suffers.

Asthma And Beyond

Susan Lewis

An inspirational collection of true stories, introduced and edited by Sunday Times bestselling author Susan Lewis and published in support of Breast Cancer Care. 
 
All of us face challenges in our lives and when things get really difficult we often need someone to help us through. That someone can be the person closest to us, or someone we least expected, or even, in some cases, a total stranger. 
 
The Stories of Support campaign was set up for people to share their story of how someone helped them, in order to raise awareness and funds for Breast Cancer Care. In Susan Lewis’s novel, Never Say Goodbye, two strangers are brought together by tragedy and the bond that develops between them profoundly changes both their lives. Through Stories of Support Susan wanted to acknowledge the remarkable people who have given their support to friends, family, colleagues or the community. 
 
The five women who wrote the stories in this collection were selected by Susan Lewis because of their moving accounts of the exceptional support they have experienced from selfless friends and family through the most difficult of times. With an introduction from Susan Lewis, Shelley, Kate, Julie, Jane and Jeanette show the restorative power of love and friendship in a collection of stories they hope will inspire many others. 
 
Includes the first chapter of Never Say Goodbye.

Stories of Support

A collection of inspirational true stories

Anna Quindlen

In this treasure of a book, Anna Quindlen, the bestselling novelist and columnist, reflects on what it takes to 'get a life' - to live deeply every day and from your own unique self, rather than merely to exist through your days. Anna Quindlen uses her candid, heart-to-heart  voice  to show us how good life really is: 'Life is made of moments, small pieces of glittering mica in a line stretch of gray cement.  It would be wonderful if they came to us unsummoned, but particularly in lives as busy as the ones most of us lead now, that won't happen.  We have to teach ourselves how to live, really live-to love the journey, not the destination.'But how to live from that perspective?  To fully engage in our days?  In this, an unusual and beautiful book, Quindlen guides us with an understanding that come from knowing how to see the view, the richness in living.

A Short Guide To A Happy Life

Christine Longaker

Many books have been written on the subject of death and dying over the last twenty-five years, yet none provides a comprehensive spiritual paradigm combined with practical guidance for resounding effectively and compassionately to be most common difficulties and challenges of the dying. Christine's Longaker's uncompromising and uplifting book does it all, and is based on her own personal experiences, her study and work with Sogyal Rinpoche and on the workshops she now holds all over Europe and the USA.

Facing Death And Finding Hope

A Guide to the Emotional and Spiritual Care of the Dying

Rosemary Conley

Rosemary Conley is one of the UK's most successful and best-loved diet and fitness experts. Rosemary Conley's Secrets of Staying Young is the book that she's been plannint to write for 20 years. In it she shares some of her own experiences of looking and feeling young as the years pass, as well as giving advice on diet; exercise (Including a special section of exercises for the over-70s, an age group that is often overlooked in beauty and fitness books); dressing for your age and shape, and gives medical advice about HRT, plastic surgery and how to stay fit despite the changes in your body. 
 
Rosemary Conley's Secrets of Staying Young is not only a practical and useful guide for women, but also a very personal story of how she has maintained her health and stayed looking youthful throughout the years.

The Secrets of Staying Young

What are the little things that make life worth living? A walk in the countryside, perhaps; a log fire; a letter from a friend. 
 
In Simple Pleasures, some of the UK's best-loved writers and public figures ponder this conundrum and come up with their own answers, sharing their thoughts on, among other things, the joys of picking up litter, whittling sticks, reading aloud, and devouring a good cheese sandwich. With contributions from A. C. Grayling, Robert McCrum, Prue Leith, Sebastian Faulks and Ann Widdecombe, to name just a few, Simple Pleasures is perfect reading for anyone who appreciates - or aspires to - the finer, simpler things in life.

Showing results for: ‘Michael Symmons Roberts’

Filters

Category

Publication Date

Format

Imprint

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter