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

Mike Leigh

Mike Leigh&rsquo;s 1970s classic play &lsquo;Abigail&rsquo;s Party&rsquo; focuses on an evening of domestic hell in the guise of a suburban drinks soir&eacute;e. While teenager Abigail parties a few doors away, the pretentious Beverly and her estate agent husband, Laurence, entertain their neighbours &ndash; Abigail&rsquo;s mother, Susan, ex-footballer, Tony, and his wife, Angela. But as the alcohol flows, tensions in the hosts&rsquo; barely functional marriage emerge and their obsessions, prejudices and petty competitiveness are ruthlessly, and hilariously, exposed. 
 
&lsquo;Goose-Pimples&rsquo;, meanwhile, is easily as sharp and uncompromising. This time, the action focuses on ambitious casino croupier, Jackie, and Saudi businessman, Muhammad, who meet &ndash; and misunderstand &ndash; one another spectacularly.

Abigail's Party & Goose-Pimples

David Walliams

Famous comedian, funniest judge on Britain's Got Talent, irresistible ladykiller and high-achieving sportsman, David Walliams is a man of many talents. Launched to fame with the record-breaking Little Britain, his characters - Lou, Florence, Emily, amongst others - became embedded in our shared popular culture. You couldn't enter a playground for a long while without hearing "eh, eh, eh" or "computer says no". 
 
Yet Walliams is a mystery. Often described as a bundle of contradictions, he is disarming and enigmatic, playing up his campness one minute and hinting about his depression the next. 
 
To read Camp David is to be truly shocked, as well as tickled pink, as Walliams bares his soul like never before and reveals a fascinating and complex mind. This searingly honest autobiography is a true roller-coaster ride of emotions, as this nation's sweetheart unlocks closely guarded secrets that until now have remained hidden in his past.

Camp David

Sue Birtwistle

Susie Conklin

The BBC&rsquo;s lavish adaptation of &lsquo;Pride and Prejudice&rsquo;, starring Colin Firth, was eighteen months in the making and continues to captivate audiences today. This indispensable companion to the series is packed with colour photographs, interviews and lavish illustrations. 
 
Follow a typical day's filming, including the wholesale transformation of Lacock village into Jane Austen's Meryton. Discover how Colin Firth approaches the part of Darcy, how actors' costumes and wigs are designed and how Carl Davis recreates the period music and composes an original score. Piece together the roles of behind-the-scenes contributors from researchers to fencing masters.

The Making of Pride and Prejudice

Gloria Hunniford

'Gloria Hunniford's daughter, TV presenter Caron Keating, was 34 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Initially she was declared in the clear but the cancer came back, despite her attempts to fight it off with every therapy going. She died aged 41. 
 
 
 
This is Gloria's account of Caron's life. It is outstanding from the beginning ... feels painfully truthful but is utterly absorbing. It does make you cry - endlessly. It is about the difficult bond between mothers and daughters ... about what happens to a family when one of its members gets taken over by a disease. Gloria's honesty in writing this book is extraordinary ... both Caron and Gloria come across as amazingly strong, loving and inspiring characters' Daily Express 
 
 
 
'We see Caron as a daughter, a sister, a wife, a friend and a mother - but most of all as a fighter. This is not a story of illness and death rather it's a beautiful, emotional celebration of an extraordinary life that sadly ended far too soon. A beautiful read' Daily Record

Next to You

Caron's Courage Remembered by Her Mother

Sierra Branham

Are you ready to find the greatest love in the galaxy? A reality dating show goes intergalactic in this sci-fi romance novel for fans of Ali Hazelwood and Hannah Nicole Maehrer! 
Tonight, on Love Galaxy, a hot new bombshell enters the cosmos! 
 
Trash collector Temmi never expected to land a spot on Love Galaxy, the wildly popular dating show starring the brother and sister heirs to the galactic empire: twenty-four contestants. Two imperial heirs. One chance for Temmi to change her life. 
 
Hang on – Temmi, babes, you’re supposed to be wooing the prince, not falling for his sister! 
 
Temmi may have been hand-picked to date the quiet, bookish prince, but she can’t seem to keep away from Princess Spie. She’s entirely off limits, but their magnetic chemistry is undeniable. 
 
OK, plot twist! But all’s fair in love and revolution, right? 
 
When contestants start turning up dead and whispers of rebellion spread, Temmi and Spie find themselves in over their heads – romantically, politically and, possibly, fatally. 
 
Deadly eliminations and an anti-Empire coup? Things on Love Galaxy are getting seriously off-script… 
Sexy, snarky and full of heart, Love Galaxy is a rom-com with rocket fuel – perfect for anyone who lives for the drama!

Love Galaxy

Olivia Belle

They can't keep skating around their feelings... 
 
When disgraced Hollywood star Luca Vasvault is partnered with drama-averse professional skater Matilda Stevens on Stars on Ice, the pair get off to a less-than-smooth start. Matilda’s dazzling smile and generous spirit immediately set Luca on edge (surely no one can be that nice?) while Luca’s standoffish and brooding behaviour is making Matilda’s job unnecessarily difficult. 
 
Despite their tension behind the scenes, though, there’s no denying their chemistry on the ice. And since Matilda and Luca both need to win for their own reasons, they strike a deal: they’ll work together, playing up their “showmance”, to win the public’s love and better their chances of winning the competition. 
 
After all, they’re both performers for a living. How hard can it be to pretend their feelings are real?

On Thin Ice

Alice Montgomery

The first, intimate biography of Jamie Dornan as he takes on one of the most iconic characters in fiction - Christian Grey. 
 
Jamie Dornan is about to become the hottest sex symbol on the planet after landing the leading role in the Fifty Shades of Grey movies. But he remains almost as enigmatic as Mr Grey himself. 
 
Jamie Dornan: Shades of Desire will reveal everything fans want to know about the mysterious Mr Dornan, from his tragic childhood to his career as a Calvin Klein model, dating Keira Knightley to finding love with his wife Amelia Warner. How does his part as a BDSM-loving billionaire sit alongside his real life role as a family man and father to a young daughter? And how will he cope with fame as the Fifty Shades of Grey films launch him into superstardom? 
 
This biography will be the first to show what Jamie Dornan is really like behind closed doors.

Jamie Dornan: Shades of Desire

Gyles Brandreth

In Odd Boy Out Gyles Brandreth provides an extraordinarily revealing account of growing up and coming of age in an apparently well-to-do but always strapped-for-cash middle-class English family. 
 
By turns hilarious and moving, and chock full of unforgettable stories, Odd Boy Out is the unexpected and candid autobiography of one of the country's most unlikely personalities. Yet at root it is a powerful and passionate exploration of childhood - how our heritage, our parents and our upbringing make us who we are.

Odd Boy Out

John Lloyd

Richard Curtis

Ben Elton

Rowan Atkinson

Twenty-six years ago, Edmund Blackadder made his first appearance on our screens. Comedy has never been the same since (nor indeed has history). 
 
Gathered here - in this twenty-sixth anniversary commemorative edition - are the complete scripts of Blackadder's adventures and, mostly, misadventures. Every word, every lie, every cunning plan and cock-up. 
 
From medieval nastiness, through Elizabethan and Regency glory, to the mud and sautéed rats of the First World War, Blackadder and his oafish underling Baldrick can be most definitely blamed for ruining England's reputation as a country with a great history. 
 
This historical record has been set down by Mr Richard Curtis, Mr Ben Elton, Mr Rowan Atkinson and Mr John Lloyd.

Blackadder

The Whole Damn Dynasty

Brendan O'Carroll

Before he became the nation's favourite Mammy, Brendan O'Carroll was known, simply as Brendan. He's the youngest of ten children from a poor family in Dublin, he's a boy whose father died when he was just nine years old; he's someone whose hope and determination meant he never gave up. Throughout the tough moments, Brendan always had humour and a good story to tell alongside the ever-guiding inspiration of his own Mammy, a formidable figure who became Ireland's first female Labour MP, all whilst raising eleven children by herself. 
 
 Just like the show so brilliantly expresses, Brendan's first autobiography, the real story behind the man who became Mrs Brown, combines uplifting heart, warmth and hilarity.

Call Me Mrs. Brown

The hilarious autobiography from the star of Mrs. Brown’s Boys

Jeremy Clarkson

Get tucked in to a third bestselling helping of Clarkson's Farm from our favourite wellie-wearing wannabe farmer, Jeremy Clarkson 
 'Brilliant . . . laugh-out-loud' Daily Telegraph 
 
 'Outrageously funny . . . will have you in stitches' Time Out 
 --- After three years, Jeremy Clarkson has discovered the golden rule of farming: 
 
 whatever you hope will happen, won't. 
 
 Enthusiastic schemes to diversify face defeat at the hands of the Council Planning department, or derision from Kaleb. Jeremy's plans for a business empire founded on rewilding and nettle soup are doubted by Lisa. And the stifling thickets of red tape keep only one person smiling – Cheerful Charlie, who charges by the hour. 
 
 But the animals couldn’t be happier. A rented bull called Break-Heart Maestro is delighting the cows. The pigs are bringing home the bacon. And the goats are . . . most probably psychopaths. 
 
 Yet on the good days it hard not to be optimistic. 
 Where else do you get to harvest blackberries with a vacuum cleaner? 
 
 Maybe it’s not just Break-heart Maestro who gets a happy ending? 
 
---- 
 
Readers are loving Diddly Squat: Pigs Might Fly 
 
‘Another funny book from Jeremy. This one made me chuckle but, my only complaint it's too short. I wanted more. Hopefully Another book is being written as we speak’ ***** Reader Review 
 ‘I love the show and I love the books. Both make me chuckle but have also given me an insight into farming and how hard farming is’ **** Reader Review 
 ‘I’ve read the previous books and loved those as well. 
 Witty and funny with depth and a bit of seriousness’ **** Reader Review 
 ‘Loved it, quickest book I've ever read. Can't wait for the next Clarkson instalment’ **** Reader Review

Diddly Squat: Pigs Might Fly

Alan Connor

Test your wits with the ultimate game of cunning, logic and intuition 
 
'This book is brilliant' Zoe Ball, BBC Radio 2 
 
It's time to start your adventure. Get them before they get you 
 
Put your sleuthing skills to the test in a world of deception, betrayal, and strategy. Placed in a castle in the Scottish Highlands, you must figure out if your fellow players are Faithful or a Traitor. Can you trust Jorge, the dentist with an encyclopaedic memory and tendency to smile at everyone? Or Nina, the retiree who acts like the group's matriarch but has a knowing glint in her eyes..? Beware, for in this treacherous game, trust is a luxury you cannot afford. 
 
In the official book of the BAFTA-winning phenomenon, The Traitors: The Interactive Game Book, the decisions you make will decide what happens next. Take this thrilling journey on your own or with others, pooling your wisdom to make the right choices. With over 20 standalone games to play in a group - all with cunning Traitors twists - this is the perfect gift, guaranteed to unleash hours of mischief and fun. 
 
*Praise for The Traitors TV show* 
 
'Addictively fiendish, this treachery was the best thing on TV in 20 years' Daily Mail 
 
'By far and away the most compelling and engrossing reality show of 2022, if not all time' Rolling Stone 
 
'One of the hottest realities right now, The Traitors is an absolute phenomenon you can enjoy also in a book format. Now, this is not a normal book' Digital Spy

The Traitors

The Ultimate Game of Cunning, Logic and Intuition

Ronnie Archer-Morgan

Janet Gleeson

'Ronnie has overcome a heart-breaking start in life to achieve great success and no one deserves it more. What a dude, what a life!' - Fiona Bruce 
 
'Brilliant...a mercurial memoir of a meritorious life.' - Lemn Sissay 
 
For decades, Ronnie Archer-Morgan has brought to life the fascinating, often surprising backstories behind our most cherished heirlooms and household objects on the Antiques Roadshow. Now, he tells his own unlikely story. 
 
 Born in the fifties to a Sierra Leonean mother battling mental health problems, Ronnie spent his childhood in and out of care. After difficult beginnings, marked by abuse, racism and brushes with both criminals and the police, he got into music, managing to get DJ gigs and, later, worked as a celebrity hairdresser for Vidal Sassoon and Smile in the height of seventies London. A flair for spotting antiques led him to start his own Knightsbridge gallery, ultimately becoming one of the most respected figures in the industry, culminating in a regular spot as an expert on the nation's Sunday favourite, Antiques Roadshow. 
 
 Told with rich warmth, this is an extraordinary journey from deprivation and abuse to adventure and success against the odds - with stories of the incredible objects which shaped the way. 
 
'A surprising story, like many of the objects he appraises on the Antiques Roadshow' - Kate Adie, broadcaster and bestselling author 
 
'A fascinating, rollercoaster read, very well told.' - Times

Would It Surprise You To Know…?

David Niven

The Moon's a Balloon is an account of one of the most remarkable lives Hollywood has ever seen. From early tales of school, army and wartime hi-jinx, Niven shows how, even as an unknown young man, he knew how to live the good life. But it is his astonishing stories of life in Hollywood, working and partying with the legends of the silver screen - Lawrence Oliver, Vivien Leigh, Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor, James Stewart, Lauren Bacall, Marlene Dietrich, Noel Coward and dozens of others, while making some of the most acclaimed films of the last century - which turn Niven's memoir into an outright masterpiece.

The Moon's a Balloon

The Classic Hollywood Memoir

Sam Faiers

Secrets and Lies is the explosive new memoir from Sam Faiers. 
 
Sam Faiers has come a long way since she burst on to our screens in The Only Way is Essex, but over the last couple of years, her love life, health and success have pushed her to the limit. In Secrets and Lies, Sam gives us the truth about life in the spotlight. 
 
Finally turning her back on all the TOWIE jealousies and dramas, Sam lays bare her fellow cast members and describes what really goes on behind the scenes. She also reveals all on her dramatic on-off relationship with Joey Essex: the engagements and bust-ups, that infamous 'slap', what really happened when Joey was in I'm a Celebrity, and their doomed rekindled romance. 
 
For the first time she talks about her eating issues, as well as her success as a businesswoman, her excitement and sister Billie's pregnancy and the birth of baby Nelly, and her wish to settle down herself. Funny, charming, telling it like it is, Secrets and Lies is essential reading for fans of Sam and TOWIE.

Secrets and Lies

The truth behind the headlines

Antony Beevor

Olga Chekhova was the niece of Anton Chekhov, a stunning Russian beauty and a famous Nazi-era film actress who Hitler counted among his friends. After fleeing Bolshevik Moscow for Berlin in 1920, she was recruited by her composer brother Lev, to work for Soviet intelligence. In return, her family were allowed to join her. 
 
The extraordinary story of how the whole family survived the Russian Revolution, the civil war, the rise of Hitler, the Stalinist Terror, and the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union is a breathtaking tale of compromise and survival in a merciless age. 
 
In Antony Beevor's spellbinding narrative, this single story paints a vivid picture of an extraordinary era.

The Mystery of Olga Chekhova

A Life Torn Apart By Revolution And War

The true story of a family torn apart by revolution and war

Al Pacino

From one of the most iconic actors in the history of film, an astonishingly revelatory account of a creative life in full 
 
To the wider world, Al Pacino exploded onto the scene like a supernova. He landed his first leading role, in The Panic in Needle Park, in 1971, and by 1975, he had starred in four movies—The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, Serpico, and Dog Day Afternoon—that were not just successes but landmarks in the history of film. Those performances became legendary and changed his life forever. Not since Marlon Brando and James Dean in the late 1950s had an actor landed in the culture with such force. 
 
But Pacino was in his mid thirties by then, and had already lived several lives. A fixture of avant-garde theater in New York, he had led a bohemian existence, working odd jobs to support his craft. He was raised by a fiercely loving but mentally unwell mother and her parents after his father left them when he was young, but in a real sense he was raised by the streets of the South Bronx, and by the troop of buccaneering young friends he ran with, whose spirits never left him. After a teacher recognized his acting promise and pushed him toward New York’s fabled High School of Performing Arts, the die was cast. In good times and bad, in poverty and in wealth and in poverty again, through pain and joy, acting was his lifeline, its community his tribe. 
 
Sonny Boy is the memoir of a man who has nothing left to fear and nothing left to hide. All the great roles, the essential collaborations, and the important relationships are given their full due, as is the vexed marriage between creativity and commerce at the highest levels. The book’s golden thread, however, is the spirit of love and purpose. Love can fail you, and you can be defeated in your ambitions—the same lights that shine bright can also dim. But Al Pacino was lucky enough to fall deeply in love with a craft before he had the foggiest idea of any of its earthly rewards, and he never fell out of love. That has made all the difference. 
 
_________________________________________________________________________ 
 
Praise for Al Pacino: 
 
‘Al Pacino is magical’ Martin Scorsese 
 
‘A legend’ Francis Ford Coppola 
 
‘So unique and special’ Robert De Niro 
 
‘A singular, special talent, whose work stands the test of time’ Robin Williams 
 
‘A wicked sense of humour’ Oliver Stone 
 
‘Charming, hilarious, a nonstop talker. There is an aspect of him that is like a lost orphan, like this kind of crazy idiot savant’ Diane Keaton 
 
‘As Michael in The Godfather, Pacino was everything I wanted that character to be on screen. I couldn’t believe it. It was, in my eyes, a perfect performance, a work of art’ Mario Puzo, author of The Godfather 
 
‘Comedic, talented, and certifiably insane’ Johnny Depp 
 
‘Al is money, the man in charge, making it happen. I got to act with Al Pacino and it was worth more to me than anything’ Samuel L Jackson 
 
‘A marvellous actor and man’ Sean Connery 
 
‘The depth of Al Pacino's artistry is only more overwhelmed by the generosity of his spirit and his warmth. Al Pacino is Van Gogh. Modigliani' Andy Garcia 
 
‘The greatest actor in the world’ Jamie Foxx

Sonny Boy

A Memoir

Eddie Izzard

The stand-up comedian of his generation. Star of stage and screen. Tireless supporter of charity. Runner. Political campaigner. Fashion icon. Human. There is no one quite like Eddie Izzard. 
 
This is the story of how a boy who wanted to become a professional footballer and win the lead in Joseph and His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat found comedy. Affecting, witty and nothing less than rousing, readers will, as Eddie himself says, 'look at my life and say, 'If that idiot transvestite can run a whole bunch of marathons, play the Hollywood Bowl, and travel across France with a French-speaking tour, then what's holding me back?''

Believe Me

A Memoir of Love, Death and Jazz Chickens

Peter Biskind

Are Batman and 24's Jack Bauer heroic loners defending our way of life - or right-wing vigilantes attacking it? Is Avatar just a National Geographic version of Star Wars or a passionate assault on capitalism? And what about Game of Thrones - sword and sorcery fantasy, or lesson in mainstream politics? 
 
In The Sky is Falling! bestselling cultural critic Peter Biskind takes us on a dizzying ride across two decades of pop culture to show how the TV and movies we love have taught us to love political extremism. Welcome to a darkly pessimistic, apocalyptic world where winter has come, the dead are walking, and ultra violence, revenge and torture are all in a day's work. Welcome to the new normal.

The Sky is Falling!

The Unexpected Politics of Hollywood’s Superheroes and Zombies

How Vampires, Zombies, Androids and Superheroes Made America Great for Extremism

David Jason

Sir David Jason's career, from the outside, might seem like one glorious procession to national treasure status. But the truth is that he's had more knockbacks, more ups and downs, and more roundabout routes along his bumpy journey in life than one of Del Boy's get-rich schemes. 
 
David's north star for navigating life's challenges has always been his positive outlook and his resilience. 'This time next year, we'll be millionaires' was what Derek Trotter once said. This certainly wasn't always the case for David, growing up in a working class family in London in the rubble of the Blitz. Before he was making us laugh on TV he was a jobbing electrician. But with every challenge he has faced in life, he's always looked forward, and has never give in. 
 
In this latest volume of memoirs, told in his characteristically warm and funny style, David reveals the hard-won wisdom of a life lived doggedly getting through one day, looking to the next, and always chasing what's new on the horizon. It will touch, entertain and inspire readers, and might even teach them a thing or two about living a good life.

This Time Next Year

A Life Of Positive Thinking

Mel Brooks

AVAILABLE NOW 
 
At 95, the legendary Mel Brooks continues to set the standard for comedy across television, film, and the stage. Now, for the first time, this EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winner shares his story in his own words. 
 
'Not since the Bible have I read anything so powerful and poignant. And to boot - it's a lot funnier!' - M. Brooks 
 
For anyone who loves American comedy, the long wait is over. Here are the never-before-told, behind-the-scenes anecdotes and remembrances from a master storyteller, filmmaker, and creator of all things funny. 
 
 All About Me! charts Mel Brooks's meteoric rise from a Depression-era kid in Brooklyn to the recipient of the National Medal of Arts. Whether serving in the United States Army in World War II, or during his burgeoning career as a teenage comedian in the Catskills, Mel was always mining his experiences for material, always looking for the perfect joke. His iconic career began with Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows, where he was part of the greatest writers' room in history, which included Carl Reiner, Neil Simon, and Larry Gelbart. After co-creating both the mega-hit 2000 Year Old Man comedy albums and the classic television series Get Smart, Brooks's stellar film career took off. He would go on to write, direct, and star in The Producers, The Twelve Chairs, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie, High Anxiety, and Spaceballs, as well as produce groundbreaking and eclectic films, including The Elephant Man, The Fly, and My Favorite Year. Brooks then went on to conquer Broadway with his record-breaking, Tony-winning musical, The Producers. 
 
All About Me! offers fans insight into the inspiration behind the ideas for his outstanding collection of boundary-breaking work, and offers details about the many close friendships and collaborations Brooks had, including those with Sid Caesar, Carl Reiner, Gene Wilder, Madeleine Kahn, Alfred Hitchcock, and the great love of his life, Anne Bancroft. 
 
Filled with tales of struggle, achievement, and camaraderie (and dozens of photographs), readers will gain a more personal and deeper understanding of the incredible body of work behind one of the most accomplished and beloved entertainers in history.

All About Me!

My Remarkable Life in Show Business

Ronnie Corbett

Double acts don't come any closer than the The Two Ronnies. 
 
Messrs Barker and Corbett kept a nation laughing for two decades, and yet despite the rigorous work that went into writing, rehearsing and broadcasting almost a hundred episodes to millions of viewers each week, the pair never shared a cross word. 
 
For the first time, Ronnie Corbett tells the story of the their rise from theatre, through The Frost Report and into their own legendary show, as well as how some of their greatest sketches, including Mastermind and Fork Handles, came into being. 
 
This is the story of one of the great British institutions of the last thirty years, and a hilarious and moving look inside the working lives of two of our most-beloved comedians. 
 
.

And It's Goodnight from Him . . .

The Autobiography of the Two Ronnies

Adam Rutherford

Hannah Fry

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 
 
'Explores just about every area of life' DAILY MAIL 
 
'If only Adam Rutherford and Hannah Fry were on tap to all of us, all the time . . . The pair have such a gift for making life, numbers and the forces at work in the universe all the richer, stranger, funnier and more marvellous.' Stephen Fry 
 
In Rutherford and Fry's comprehensive guidebook, they tell the complete story of the universe and absolutely everything in it - skipping over some of the boring parts. 
 
This is a celebration of the weirdness of the cosmos, the strangeness of humans and the fact that amid all the mess, we can somehow make sense of life. 
 
Our brains have evolved to tell us all sorts of things that feel intuitively right but just aren't true: the world looks flat, the stars seem fixed in the heavenly firmament, a day is 24 hours... This book is crammed full of tales of how stuff really works. With the power of science, Rutherford and Fry show us how to bypass our monkey-brains, taking us on a journey from the origin of time and space, via planets, galaxies, evolution, the dinosaurs, all the way into our minds, and wrestling with some truly head-scratching questions that only science can answer: 
 
What is time, and where does it come from? 
Why are animals the size and shape they are? 
How horoscopes work (Spoiler: they don't, but you think they do) 
Does my dog love me? 
Why nothing is truly round? 
Do you need your eyes to see? 
 
'A wonderfully engaging blend of wit, enthusiasm, clarity and knowledge.' Bill Bryson 
 
'Like the universe itself, this book is multi-faceted, surprising and full of wonders. It's also funny, wise and exceedingly brainy. You really owe it to yourself to read it.' Tim Harford, author of How To Make The World Add Up

Rutherford and Fry’s Complete Guide to Absolutely Everything (Abridged)

new from the stars of BBC Radio 4

Nick Hornby

Nick Hornby's second bestselling novel is about sex, manliness and fatherhood. Will is thirty-six, comfortable and child-free. And he's discovered a brilliant new way of meeting women - through single-parent groups. Marcus is twelve and a little bitnerdish: he's got the kind of mother who made him listen to Joni Mitchell rather than Nirvana. Perhaps they can help each other out a little bit, and both can start to act their age.

About a Boy

Kevin Bridges

Aged 17, Kevin Bridges walked on stage for the first time and brought the house down. He only had a five-minute set but he discovered he really could earn a living from making people laugh. 
 
 Kevin began life as a shy, nerve-ridden school-boy. Reaching his teens, he followed his true calling as the class clown. This was a guy going somewhere - off the rails seeming most likely. 
 
 Kevin's trademark social commentary, sharp one-liners and laugh-out-loud humour blend with his reflections on his Glaswegian childhood and the journey he's taken to become one of the most-loved comedians of our time.

We Need to Talk About . . . Kevin Bridges

David Robinson

David Robinson's definitive and monumental biography of Charlie Chaplin, the greatest icon in the history of cinema, who lived one of the most dramatic rags to riches stories ever told. 
 
Chaplin's life was marked by extraordinary contrasts: the child of London slums who became a multimillionaire; the on-screen clown who was a driven perfectionist behind the camera; the adulated star who publicly fell from grace after personal and political scandal. This engrossing and definitive work, written with full access to Chaplin's archives, tells the whole story of a brilliant, complex man. 
 
David Robinson is a celebrated film critic and historian who wrote for The Times and the Financial Times for several decades. His many books include World Cinema, Hollywood in the Twenties and Buster Keaton. 
 
'A marvellous book... unlikely ever to be surpassed' Spectator 
 
'I cannot imagine how anyone could write a better book on the great complex subject... movingly entertaining, awesomely thorough and profoundly respectful' Sunday Telegraph 
 
'One of the great cinema books; a labour of love and a splendid achievement' Variety 
 
'One of those addictive biographies in which you start by looking in the index for items that interest you... and as dawn breaks you're reading the book from cover to cover' Financial Times

Chaplin

His Life And Art

Steve Coogan

Peter Baynham

Armando Ianucci

Patrick Marber

Alan Partridge is Britain's most remarkable broadcaster. He's scaled the giddy heights of a short-lived TV chat show, and the crashing lows of twenty-six weeks in a motel equidistant between Norwich and London. He's survived the death of a guest on air, his wife leaving him for a fitness instructor, Toblerone addiction and his autobiography Bouncing Back being pulped. But Alan continues to bounce back - resilience and Gordon are his middle names. 
 
 Every Ruddy Word charts Alan's incredible journey - from his first, unforgettable radio chat show, to the recent construction of a house to his own specifications.

Alan Partridge: Every Ruddy Word

All the Scripts: From Radio to TV. And Back

Kate Robb

Is love on the small screen better than the real thing? 
 
Brynn&rsquo;s happy ending has gone up in flames. She&rsquo;s newly divorced and living with a roommate &ndash; Josh &ndash; to afford her mortgage. At least she&rsquo;s got Carson&rsquo;s Cove to binge - her beloved 90s teenage soap. 
 
So when a birthday cake shows up on her and Josh&rsquo;s doorstep, Brynn makes a wish for her own happily-ever-after. 
 
The next morning, she doesn't wake up in her apartment. She's in Carson's Cove... and Josh is there too. Except they're not Brynn and Josh; they're the sweetheart and the bad boy. 
 
Will they stick to the script, or will real love change the story forever? 
 
A young divorcee finds herself in the ideal world of her favourite 90s nostalgia TV show, in this second-chance romantic comedy from the author of This Spells Love. 
 
---- 
 
Praise for Kate Robb 
 
'Utterly enchanting - a romance voice to watch' BK Borison, author of Lovelight Farms 
'A rom-com meets magic delight...' Sarah Adams, author of Practice Makes Perfect 
&lsquo;You&rsquo;ll laugh, you&rsquo;ll cry, you&rsquo;ll giggle and kick your feet' ***** 
&lsquo;I want to reread it every year because it's officially one of my comfort books' ***** 
&lsquo;A super cute romance with a parallel timeline twist' ***** 
'This book gives you all the warm and snuggly feelings&rsquo;' *****

Prime Time Romance

Will Smith

Mark Manson

The Instant Sunday Times Bestseller 
The Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller 
 
PRAISE FOR WILL 
'The best memoir I ever read' Oprah Winfrey 
'If you read one book this year, make it this one' Jay Shetty 
'Incredible' Idris Elba 
'The book is awesome. So candid and considered...fascinating' Chris Evans 
'A triumph...really inspiring, so well written, vulnerable and deep. I highly recommend it' Mindy Kaling 
'It's fantastic...very moving' Zoe Ball 
'Incredibly honest...inspiring' Greg James 
'A wild ride' New York Times 
'Raw, comedic, inspirational' GQ 
 
One of the most dynamic and globally recognized entertainment forces of our time opens up fully about his life, in a brave and inspiring book that traces his learning curve to a place where outer success, inner happiness, and human connection are aligned. Along the way, Will tells the story in full of one of the most amazing rides through the worlds of music and film that anyone has ever had. 
 
Will Smith's transformation from a fearful child in a tense West Philadelphia home to one of the biggest rap stars of his era and then one of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood history, with a string of box office successes that will likely never be broken, is an epic tale of inner transformation and outer triumph, and Will tells it astonishingly well. But it's only half the story. 
 
Will Smith thought, with good reason, that he had won at life: not only was his own success unparalleled, his whole family was at the pinnacle of the entertainment world. Only they didn't see it that way: they felt more like star performers in his circus, a seven-days-a-week job they hadn't signed up for. It turned out Will Smith's education wasn't nearly over. 
 
This memoir is the product of a profound journey of self-knowledge, a reckoning with all that your will can get you and all that it can leave behind. Written with the help of Mark Manson, author of the multi-million-copy bestseller The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Will is the story of how one exceptional man mastered his own emotions, written in a way that can help everyone else do the same. Few of us will know the pressure of performing on the world's biggest stages for the highest of stakes, but we can all understand that the fuel that works for one stage of our journey might have to be changed if we want to make it all the way home. The combination of genuine wisdom of universal value and a life story that is preposterously entertaining, even astonishing, puts Will the book, like its author, in a category by itself. 
 
'The Hollywood star's autobiography is full of indiscretions, drug-fuelled escapades and terrible parenting. Who could ask for more?' Telegraph 
'Candid ... digs into the life events which fine-tuned Smith's weapons-grade charisma and steely determination' Observer 
'I absolutely loved it...no holds barred...I felt as if Will Smith was talking to me. It's a testament to him and to his family' Lorraine Kelly

Will

The Sunday Times Bestselling Autobiography

Daisy May Cooper

When things were really bad, Mum would always say to me: 
 
'Don't worry, it will be a good read for your memoir one day.' 
 
I suppose that's a weird way of coping, isn't it? Trying to turn the bleakest situation into a positive. 
 
Life hasn't always been straightforward for Daisy May Cooper: growing up in rural poverty in Gloucestershire with her brother Chaz, she had to work a myriad of low-paid, unrewarding jobs just to make ends meet. Don't Laugh, It'll Only Encourage Her is the endearingly honest and hilarious memoir from the creator and star of award-winning BBC comedy This Country.

Showing results for: ‘Michael Symmons Roberts’

Filters

Category

Publication Date

Format

Series

Imprint

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter