The Wig Diaries is Mary Ladd's debut irreverent cancer book. Delivered with bold gallows humor, it intimately address the gravity of cancer and invites the reader to bear witness to both the horror and the joke(s). Armed with creative sensibility, Ladd robs her diagnosis of its dour weightiness. Refusing to tiptoe around the gnarlier elements of treatment and recovery, the narrative is powerful in its unvarnished honesty and contagious lust for life exemplified by hilarious anecdotes. A uniquely fresh modern and black comedy take on cancer Covers and pokes fun at everything from diagnosis to treatment to medical bills Illustrated by noted San Francisco Chronicle Bad Reporter cartoonist Don Asmussen “I love this book.” —Mary Roach, author of the books Grunt, Stiff, Spook, and Bonk “This looks like a hoot and a half. I want more.” —Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket), author of A Series of Unfortunate Events “Clear-eyed, fun, and reassuring, it’s the perfect guide!” —Vanessa Hua, author of A River of Stars and Deceit and Other Possibilities
A microhistory in the vein of Salt and Cod exploring the biological, evolutionary, and cultural history of one of the world's most fascinating fibers. Most people don't give a second thought to the stuff on their head, but in Hair, Kurt Stenn — one of the world's foremost hair follicle experts — takes readers on a global journey through history, from fur merchant associations and sheep farms to medical clinics and patient support groups, to show the remarkable impact hair has had on human life. From a completely bald beauty queen with alopecia to the famed hair-hang circus act, Stenn weaves the history of hair through a variety of captivating examples, with sources varying from renaissance merchants’ diaries to interviews with wig makers, modern barbers, and more. In addition to expelling the biological basis and the evolutionary history of hair, the fiber is put into context: hair in history (as tied to textile mills and merchant associations), hair as a construct for cultural and self-identity, hair in the arts (as the material for artist's brushes and musical instruments), hair as commodity (used for everything from the inner lining of tennis balls to an absorbent to clean up oil spills), and hair as evidence in criminology. Perfect for fans of Mark Kurlansky, Hair is a compelling read based solidly in historical and scientific research that will delight any reader who wants to know more about the world around them.
The survival of Edmund Harrold's diary for the years 1712-1715 is a remarkable piece of luck for historians. Not only are such diaries for the 'middling sort' rare for this period, but few provide so candid an insight into the everyday concerns and troubles of early eighteenth century life. Providing a full transcription of the diary, with a substantial introduction and scholarly references, this edition (the first since a partial transcription in the nineteenth century) offers a unique insight into both a troubled individual, and the society in which he lived and worked. Born in 1678, Edmund Harrold seems to have worked his whole life in Manchester as a barber and wigmaker, with a sideline in book dealing. The period covered by his diary, although short, is rich in its insights into his life and thoughts. It lays open his struggles with alcohol, his attitudes to (and frequency of) marital sex, his reactions to the death of his three wives and 5 children, and his religious meditations upon these and other subjects. The diary also relates the ups and downs of his business, together with the day-to-day realities of a provincial barber, from cutting hair, to wig making, to unblocking the nipples of wet nurses (the only medical service he records performing). What emerges from the these pages is a fascinating snapshot into the social, professional and private life of an impoverished inhabitant of Manchester during a period of profound social and economic change. It is impossible to read the diary without developing some sense of empathy with this troubled man, but more than this, it puts flesh onto the bones of history, reminding us that the people we read about and study were all individuals.
'GRIPPING' - The Times How can you speak up for someone accused of a savage murder? Or sway a jury? Or get a judge to drop a case? In this memoir, murder case lawyer William Clegg revisits his most intriguing trials, from the acquittal of Colin Stagg to the shooting of Jill Dando, to the man given life because of an earprint. All the while he lays bare the secrets of his profession, from the rivalry among barristers to the nervous moments before a verdict comes back, and how our right to a fair trial is now at risk. Under the Wig is for anyone who wants to know the reality of a murder trial. It has been praised as "gripping" by The Times, "riveting" by the Sunday Express and "fascinating" by the Secret Barrister, who described the author as "one of our country's greatest jury advocates." Several prominent barristers, including Matthew Scott and Bob Marshall-Andrews QC, have said Under the Wig is a "must read" for anyone with an interest in the criminal law. Switch off the TV dramas and see real criminal law in action. Well-known cases featured: The Murder of Rachel Nickell on Wimbledon Common The Chillenden Murders (Dr Lin and Megan Russell) The Trial of Private Lee Clegg The Murder of Jill Dando The first Nazi war crimes prosecution in the UK The Murder of Joanna Yeates The Rebekah Brooks Phone Hacking Trial REVIEWS 'This is a gripping memoir from one of our country's greatest jury advocates, offering a fascinating, no-holds-barred tour behind the scenes of some of the most famous criminal cases of modern times.' - The Secret Barrister 'Countless veteran lawyers have produced page-tuners based in the fictional world of law, but in Under the Wig William Clegg, QC, has distilled his extraordinary life in the criminal courtroom into a yarn equally as gripping.' - The Times 'One of England's best barristers provides a fascinating sometimes hilarious combination of a personal odyssey and insider accounts of the most important and famous court cases of recent times. 'From the infamous case of Colin Stagg and the Wimbledon Murders to war crimes in Belarus and Bosnia and the Murdoch phone hacking trials we share and applaud the author's deep commitment to justice and his infectious enthusiasm for one of the world's greatest professions. An absolute must read for anyone who aspires to join it (and anyone who already has.)' - Bob Marshall-Andrews QC 'Bill Clegg's memoir draws on some of the most high-profile criminal prosecutions of recent years to illuminate the career of a defence lawyer at the peak of his success. 'Deftly weaving personal reminiscences into the view from counsel's bench, he solves one high-profile murder case long before the police and ensures that justice is finally done in another after the tactics adopted by a better-known QC have led to a miscarriage of justice. 'Unlike many works of this genre, Clegg's case-book eschews endless exchanges with long-forgotten judges, lawyers and villains. Like the successful jury advocate that he is, Clegg reduces his story to its essence.' - Joshua Rozenberg 'A must read if you've got any interest in the criminal law.' - Matthew Scott, Barrister Blog 'Economically, simply and engagingly written... It is a must read for anyone with an interest in the law and justice, aspiring barristers and those with an interest in legal history.' - Catherine Baksi, Legal Hackette
Teenager Christopher “Ducky” McCrae deals with feeling isolated in this spin-off from the Newbery Award–winning author’s Baby-sitters Club series. Ducky has great new friends in Dawn, Sunny, Maggie, and Amalia. But as much as he enjoys spending time with the girls, sometimes he misses the connection he had with his former friends Jay and Alex, who’ve recently drifted away. With his parents always traveling and his brother too busy to spend time with him, lately Ducky feels like the loneliest teenager on the West Coast. So when one of his female friends develops a crush on him—no one is more surprised than Ducky . . . The next chapter following Ann M. Martin’s bestselling Baby-sitters Club series, the California Diaries are the first-person journals of Dawn, Sunny, Maggie, Amalia, and Ducky—five teenagers dealing with the ups and downs of growing up. This collection includes the complete set of Ducky’s three California Diaries.
A National Book Critics Circle finalist • One of People's top 10 books of 2021 • An instant New York Times bestseller • Named a best book of the year by NPR and Time A magnificent biography of one of the most protean creative forces in American entertainment history, a life of dazzling highs and vertiginous plunges—some of the worst largely unknown until now—by the acclaimed author of Pictures at a Revolution and Five Came Back Mike Nichols burst onto the scene as a wunderkind: while still in his twenties, he was half of a hit improv duo with Elaine May that was the talk of the country. Next he directed four consecutive hit plays, won back-to-back Tonys, ushered in a new era of Hollywood moviemaking with Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and followed it with The Graduate, which won him an Oscar and became the third-highest-grossing movie ever. At thirty-five, he lived in a three-story Central Park West penthouse, drove a Rolls-Royce, collected Arabian horses, and counted Jacqueline Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor, Leonard Bernstein, and Richard Avedon as friends. Where he arrived is even more astonishing given where he had begun: born Igor Peschkowsky to a Jewish couple in Berlin in 1931, he was sent along with his younger brother to America on a ship in 1939. The young immigrant boy caught very few breaks. He was bullied and ostracized--an allergic reaction had rendered him permanently hairless--and his father died when he was just twelve, leaving his mother alone and overwhelmed. The gulf between these two sets of facts explains a great deal about Nichols's transformation from lonely outsider to the center of more than one cultural universe--the acute powers of observation that first made him famous; the nourishment he drew from his creative partnerships, most enduringly with May; his unquenchable drive; his hunger for security and status; and the depressions and self-medications that brought him to terrible lows. It would take decades for him to come to grips with his demons. In an incomparable portrait that follows Nichols from Berlin to New York to Chicago to Hollywood, Mark Harris explores, with brilliantly vivid detail and insight, the life, work, struggle, and passion of an artist and man in constant motion. Among the 250 people Harris interviewed: Elaine May, Meryl Streep, Stephen Sondheim, Robert Redford, Glenn Close, Tom Hanks, Candice Bergen, Emma Thompson, Annette Bening, Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts, Lorne Michaels, and Gloria Steinem. Mark Harris gives an intimate and evenhanded accounting of success and failure alike; the portrait is not always flattering, but its ultimate impact is to present the full story of one of the most richly interesting, complicated, and consequential figures the worlds of theater and motion pictures have ever seen. It is a triumph of the biographer's art.
“A story with the echoes of Seuss and Willems.”— Publishers Weekly (starred review) “A boatload of giggles will keep the reader returning for more easy-to-read fun.”— Kirkus Reviews The first book in the vibrant and laugh-out-loud funny early reader What This Story Needs series is perfect for fans of Dr. Seuss and Mo Willems! What this story needs is a pig in a wig, on a boat in a moat with a frog, a dog, and a goat on a log... As a panda in a blouse, a skunk on a trunk, and more hop on board, it becomes clear that what this story really needs is a bigger boat! Join Pig on an exciting boat ride as she discovers that life is more fun with friends in this fantastic, funny read-aloud about friendship. What this reader needs are all the books in the series! What This Story Needs Is a Hush and a Shush What This Story Needs Is a Munch and a Crunch What This Story Needs Is a Bang and a Clang What This Story Needs Is a Vroom and a Zoom
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER! 'Wonderfully rich and mesmerising' William Boyd 'As brutal, withering and funny as you'd expect' Julian Clary 'Fabulously entertaining, impossibly glamorous, and utterly irresistible' Piers Morgan 'A treat from start to finish' Elizabeth Hurley *** Joan Collins has been a diarist from the age of twelve, writing enthusiastically over the years. She dictated most of these entries in real time into a mini-tape recorder at the end of the day, and now she is spilling the beans - well, nearly all of them. What you will discover was written when Joan 'felt like it' between 1989 and 2009. Whether it is an encounter with a superstar or a member of the Royal Family, or her keen and honest insights into other celebrities at dinner parties and events, Joan is honest and unapologetic. Taking us on a dazzling tour around the globe - from exclusive restaurants in Los Angeles to the glittering beaches of St Tropez, from dinner parties in London to galas in New York City - some of the characters you will meet in these pages include Rod Stewart, Princess Margaret, Donald Trump, Michael Caine, Princess Diana, Elizabeth Taylor, Rupert Everett, Roger Moore, Shirley MacLaine, Andrew Lloyd Webber and many more. Her diaries are intimate and witty, and they pull no punches, with NO apologies to anyone mentioned in them!
Longlisted for the Polari First Book Prize 2020 Life's a drag... Why not be a queen? 'Stories like the one where you shagged a 79-year-old builder and knocked over his sister's ashes while feeding him a Viagra. Or the time you crashed your car because you were giving a hand job in barely moving traffic and took your eye off the car in front. That's the kind of dinner-party ice-breaker I'm talking about.' Northern, working-class and shagging men three times her age, Crystal writes candidly about her search for 'the one'; sleeping with a VIP in an attempt to become a world famous journalist; getting hired and fired by a well-known fashion magazine; being torn between losing weight and gorging on KFC; and her need for constant sexual satisfaction (and where that takes her). Charting her day-to-day adventures over the course of a year, we encounter tucks, twists and sucks, heinous overspending and endless nights spent sprinting from problem to problem in a full face of make-up. This is a place where the previously unspeakable becomes the commendable - a unique portrayal of the queer experience. (c) 2019, Crystal Rasmussen (P) 2019 Penguin Audio
