Play All
Play All

Author: Clive James

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2016-08-30

Total Pages: 149

ISBN-13: 0300224575

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“A loving and breezy set of essays” on today’s most addictive TV shows from “an incisive and hilarious critic” (Slate). Television is not what it once was. Award-winning author and critic Clive James spent decades covering the medium, and witnessed a radical change in content, format, and programming, and in the very manner in which TV is watched. Here he examines this unique cultural revolution, providing a brilliant, eminently entertaining analysis of many of television’s most notable twenty-first-century accomplishments and their not always subtle impact on modern society—including such acclaimed serial dramas as Breaking Bad, The West Wing, Mad Men, and The Sopranos and the comedy 30 Rock. With intelligence and wit, James explores a television landscape expanded by cable and broadband and profoundly altered by the advent of Netflix, Amazon, and other cord-cutting platforms that have helped to usher in a golden age of unabashed binge-watching. “James loves television, he loves the winding stories it tells and that we share them together. Play All is a late love letter to the medium of our lives.”—Sunday Times “Large-brained and largehearted, and written with astonishing energy.”—The New York Times Book Review “Witty and insightful musing on popular and critically acclaimed series of the past two decades.”—Publishers Weekly

Clive James On Television
Clive James On Television

Author: Clive James

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Published: 2017-04-06

Total Pages: 590

ISBN-13: 1509832432

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A hilarious journey through the life and television of the 1970s and 80s, this nostalgic time capsule collects the treasured columns of Clive James. 'The funniest writer in Britain' – Sunday Times Clive James is the man who created TV criticism as a genre, bringing to it all the breadth of reference, intelligence and delight that he brought to more conventionally highbrow art forms. At a time when there were only three TV channels in the UK, and a primetime show might gather a simultaneous audience of 20 million people, he was commenting on the hitherto overlooked major cultural phenomenon of the era. From the Olympics to the fall of Richard Nixon, from the Eurovision Song Contest to the rise of Thatcher, from endless Star Trek reruns to the election of Reagan, and from Charlie's Angels to Michael Foot's Labour Party, Clive James's inimitable commentary brought sense and humour to his huge audience. In Clive James On Television are collected all three volumes of the brilliant, uniquely Jamesian humour that saw hundreds of thousands of devoted fans turn to his column each Sunday morning. It is together a hilarious, insightful portrait of the time – whether or not you were there the first time around. 'His contribution to the art and enjoyment of TV criticism over the past ten years has been immense. His work is deeply perceptive, often outrageously funny and always compulsively readable' – British Press Awards, on Clive James (Winner, Critic of the Year 1981) This book combines the three volumes of Clive's collected columns: Visions Before Midnight, The Crystal Bucket and Glued To The Box. Clive James (1939–2019) was a broadcaster, critic, poet, memoirist and novelist. His much loved, influential and hilarious television criticism is available both in three individual volumes and collected in Clive James On Television. Praise for Clive James: 'The perfect critic' – A.O. Scott, New York Times 'There can't be many writers of my generation who haven't been heavily influenced by Clive James' – Charlie Brooker 'A wonderfully witty and intelligent writer' – Verity Lambert

Princess Daisy
Princess Daisy

Author: Judith Krantz

Publisher: Bantam

Published: 1984-11-01

Total Pages: 513

ISBN-13: 0553256092

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“With unfailing panache and a style that swoops from crisply cynical to downright voluptuous, Princess Daisy is a guaranteed winner.”—Cosmopolitan She was born Princess Marguerite Alexandrovna Valensky. But everyone called her Daisy. She was a blonde beauty living in a world of aristocrats and countless wealthy. Her father was a prince, a Russian nobleman. Her mother was an American movie goddess. Men desired her. Women envied her. Daisy's life was a fairy tale filled with parties and balls, priceless jewels, money and love. Then, suddenly, the fairy tale ended. And Princess Daisy had to start again, with nothing—except the secret she guarded from the day she was born. Praise for Princess Daisy “This page-turner is a champion.”—People “Judith Krantz has written the glamour novel of the year if not of the decade. Princess Daisy has the same storytelling assets as Scruples, only more of them. Glamour, glamour is everywhere.”—John Barkham Reviews “A positively gorgeous reading experience.”—Shirley Eder, Detroit Free Press “Princess Daisy soars to the heights of escapist entertainment. . . . It is delicious.”—Jill Gerson, Philadelphia Inquirer “In true saga style, this blockbuster weaves its spell across an international landscape. A breathless spin of romance.”—Kitty Kelley, Hollywood Reporter “Elegantly written, with verve and panache . . . a glamorous, extremely adult Cinderella story to delight millions of readers who relish nonstop entertainment. Rollicking wit, high drama, haute couture, and a fascinating cast of characters, who gallop from one sumptuous setting to the next.”—Ft. Worth Chronicle

Unreliable Memoirs
Unreliable Memoirs

Author: Clive James

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2009-05-18

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 0393336085

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Nearly 30 years ago, James wrote a refreshingly candid book that made no claims to be accurate, precise, or entirely truthful, only to entertain. Long unavailable in the U.S., "Unreliable Memoirs" is being made available to American readers.

Latest Readings
Latest Readings

Author: Clive James

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2015-01-01

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 0300213190

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The author reflects on his latest readings, and re-readings, undertaken after being diagnosed with terminal leukemia, combining thoughts on old favorites and new discoveries with personal musings on living and dying.

The Meaning of Recognition
The Meaning of Recognition

Author: Clive James

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Published: 2012-12-13

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13: 0330527177

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With essays taking the reader from London to Bali, theatre to library and from election campaigns to television, The Meaning of Recognition collects the best of Clive James on art, culture and politics from 2001–2005. Whether analysing Bing Crosby, Bruno Schulz or Shakespeare, celebrating The Sopranos and The West Wing, or lamenting the decline of Formula One, Clive James writes with style and substance, offering food for thought across a huge variety of subjects. On Pushkin, Philip Roth, or the nature of celebrity, he is always sane, engaged and unmistakably himself. This collection shows Clive at his witty, learned and heartfelt best. ‘Clive James, the most glorious prose stylist of his generation, refuses to stop learning ever more about the world’ — New Statesman '[Clive] can both get to the heart of a subject and raise a laugh' – Sunday Times Clive James (1939–2019) was a broadcaster, critic, poet, memoirist and novelist. His much-loved, influential and hilarious television criticism is available both in individual volumes and collected in Clive James On Television. His encyclopaedic study of culture and politics in the twentieth century, Cultural Amnesia, remains perhaps the definitive embodiment of his wide-ranging talents as a critic. Praise for Clive James: 'The perfect critic' – A.O. Scott, New York Times 'There can't be many writers of my generation who haven't been heavily influenced by Clive James' – Charlie Brooker 'A wonderfully witty and intelligent writer' – Verity Lambert

A Point of View
A Point of View

Author: Clive James

Publisher: Picador

Published: 2011-11-01

Total Pages: 429

ISBN-13: 1742629660

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The BBC Radio 4 series, A Point of View, has been on the air since 2007. Over the years, it's had a variety of presenters - including the national treasure that is Clive James - talking for ten minutes about anything and everything that has captured their imagination, piqued their interest, raised their blood pressure or just downright incensed them that week. Of all the presenters, Clive James was a clear favourite, and now, for the first time, his original pieces - sixty in total - and all new postscripts are collected together in one volume. Read along with Clive as he reflects on everything from wheelie bins to plastic surgery, Elizabeth Hurley to the Olympics, 24 to Damien Hirst, Harry Potter to giving up smoking, car parks to Chinese elections, Britain's Got Talent to the expenses scandal - and plenty more besides.

The Blaze of Obscurity: Unreliable Memoirs Book 5
The Blaze of Obscurity: Unreliable Memoirs Book 5

Author: Clive James

Publisher: Picador

Published: 2009-09-16

Total Pages: 333

ISBN-13: 1743036825

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For many people, Clive James will always be a TV presenter first and foremost, and a writer second -- this despite the fact that his adventures with the written word took place before, during and after his time on the small screen. Nevertheless, for those who remember clips of Japanese endurance gameshows and Egyptian soap operas, Clive reinventing the news or interviewing Hefner and Hepburn, Polanski and Pavarotti, Clive's 'Postcards' from Kenya, Shanghai and Dallas, or Clive James Racing Driver, Clive's rightful place does seem to be right there -- on the box, in our homes, and almost one of the family. However you think of him, though, and whatever you remember him for, The Blaze of Obscurity is perhaps Clive's most brilliant book yet. Part Clive James on TV and part Clive James on TV, it tells the inside story of his years in television, shows Clive on top form both then and now, and proves -- once and for all -- that Clive has a way with words ... whatever the medium.

The Crystal Bucket
The Crystal Bucket

Author: Clive James

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Published: 2015-10-08

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 1509822097

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Following Visions Before Midnight, The Crystal Bucket is another hilarious time-capsule of 1970s television – the second collection of Clive James's ruthlessly funny, inimitable columns dissecting the entertainment of the day. 'One of the few columnists who makes you laugh aloud' – Melvyn Bragg, Sunday Times In many ways, the 1970s were a dark time for Britain – a time of struggle, deepening divisions and Christmas with the Osmonds. Clive James, the man who made TV criticism an entertainment in its own right, provided the relief. By turns insightful and hilarious, this collection sees his lens turn to television as diverse as the election of Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Party, the Silver Jubilee, endless Star Trek reruns, the Frost/Nixon interviews and Charlie's Angels. 'He is one of the most remarkable figures in British cultural life at the moment: a poet and gifted literary critic who is also genuinely liked by the mass audience' – London Review of Books The Crystal Bucket collects James's TV criticism published originally in the Observer between 1976 and 1979. Clive's TV criticism from 1979 onwards continues in Glued To The Box. Clive James (1939–2019) was a broadcaster, critic, poet, memoirist and novelist. His much-loved, influential and hilarious television criticism is available both in individual volumes, of which this is the second, and collected in a single volume in Clive James On Television. Praise for Clive James: 'There can't be many writers of my generation who haven't been heavily influenced by Clive James' – Charlie Brooker 'A wonderfully witty and intelligent writer' – Verity Lambert 'The perfect critic' – A.O. Scott, New York Times

Cultural Amnesia
Cultural Amnesia

Author: Clive James

Publisher: Picador USA

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 918

ISBN-13:

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‘In the forty years it took me to write this book, I only gradually realized that the finished work, if it were going to be true to the pattern of my experience, would have no pattern . . . The book I wanted to write had its origins in the books I was reading. Several times, in my early days, I had to sell my best books to buy food, so I never underlined anything. When conditions improved I became less fastidious. Not long after I began marking passages for future consideration, I also began keeping notes in the margin beside the markings, and then longer notes on the endpapers . . . As the time for assembling my reflections approached, I resolved that a premature synthesis was the thing to be avoided. So this is a book about how not to reach one. If I have done my job properly, themes will emerge from the apparent randomness and make this work intelligible. But it will undoubtedly be a turbulent read, and if this book were not difficult, it would not be true.’ A lifetime in the making, Cultural Amnesia is the book Clive James has always wanted to write. Organized from A through to Z, and containing over 100 essays, it’s the ultimate guide to the twentieth century, illuminating the careers of many of its greatest thinkers, humanists, musicians, artists and philosophers. From Louis Armstrong to Ludwig Wittgenstein, via Walter Benjamin, Sigmund Freud, Franz Kafka and Marcel Proust, it’s a book for our times – and, indeed, for all time.