From the famous Topolino to the award-winning Cinquecento and the modern Seicento, here’s the definitive story of the baby Fiats, with particular emphasis on the Nuova 500. Read, too, about the motorsport success of Abarth versions. Covers years 1936 to 2010
Pawel, a young businessman in debt to loan sharks, wakes up one April morning in a sea of debris, broken glass, ripped upholstery, and clothes spilling out of the wardrobe. He turns to two friends for help: Bolek, a former coal miner, now a drug dealer who lives in tasteless luxury; and Jacek, an addict, who is himself on the run through Warsaw, a washed-out city, a hostile landscape of apartment blocks, railroad stations, wild gardens, factories, and suburban wastelands.In this novel Andrzej Stasiuk portrays a generation of Poles, freed from outdated ideologies but left feeling adrift and disconnected from family, neighbors, and friends. At once existential crime fiction and a work of art, Nine establishes Stasiuk as a major voice in European literature.
The story of Fiat’s timeless Pinifarina-styled Spider (convertible), the elegand Boano-designed Coupé and Abarth’s hard-charging 124 Spider-based rally car.
The interest and fascination these novel cars generate have made micro vehicles significant collectibles over the past decade, and yet information published on micro trucks has been almost non-existent. Old brochures printed by numerous micro-car builders depict the various truck versions available. In the case of Iso, everything from hook and ladder to vans to pickups were featured, but few if any examples were thought to have been built beyond the prototype stage. Full colour photography, text and specs describe previously unseen Iso production micro trucks, as well as featuring the changes necessary for converting the production Iso into a micro truck. Also featured are rare Topolino Fiat vans, as well as more common production micro trucks from Autobianchi, Moto Guzzi, Vespa Ape, New Map Solyto and Diahatsu. Rare Topolino Fiat vans ready for full restoration are also shown. Whereas very few 1950 Fiat 500 Topolino C Furgone models exist, there is only one known 1948 Fiat 500 Topolino B Furgone believed to have survived. As well, this volume covers the somewhat more familiar production versions built by Moto Guzzi and New Map Solyto. For micro car enthusiasts wanting to expand their collection, this volume includes the more commonly available micro trucks from Autobianchi, Vespa and Diahatsu along with helpful hints on restoration. Illustrated with 91 colour photos, many of never-before-seen micro trucks.
Samuel Peter Shaws drama of love and betrayal is peopled by the Sink Set, a group of fickle, moneyed sophisticates living in London's leafy southern suburbs. For all but one of them, the Iraq War is sobering but coincidental, a backdrop against which they shrug and carry on. Colly Wolfson, a member of the Set, is a forty-something prize-winning architect and builder; wealthy, debonair, popular. But personal tragedy strikes him twice. Overcome by grief and guilt, he tries to make amends, but keeps his efforts secret. For a time, he believes he might achieve a new beginning. But in 2003 on the anniversary of his own tragedies he is horrified by the numbing, hi-tech bombing of Baghdad. It leaves him isolated among his uncaring friends and it unhinges him. Increasingly unhappy and with his marriage crumbling, he drifts into two affairs and the downward spiral begins. While They Were Dying is the story of a man falling apart and of the efforts of his family and friends to save him; a story of love and devotion, betrayal and deception. And all the while, among the laughter and the tears, is Colly's ever-present obsession with the monster in the corner the Iraq War of Bush and Blair.
A screenwriter is about to discover that in life there are no rewrites Martin Benson writes scripts for porn films. He didn’t always aspire to be a screenwriter; he once had dreams of becoming a great journalist. But life has a way of interfering with the best-laid plans. In this darkly captivating novel, Martin shares the story of his past— and a future that is yet to be written. Martin’s search for that elusive thing called happiness takes him back to the Norfolk village of his youth. There, he meets and moves in with schoolteacher Suzi Richards, whose biological clock is ticking. But he is haunted by Elaine Keenan, the gorgeous actress who got away. Then one day the phone rings, sending Martin on a search for his lost love and a final reckoning with the past. Filled with angst and longing, Real Life charts one man’s course back through his own history—a witty, lively account that blurs the line between art and reality, with an ending you will never see coming.
Recently widowed, Judy Schofield jumps at the chance to look after her two grandchildren while their parents are out of the country. After all, she's already raised one set of children. But as weeks become months, Judy feels more and more like an outsider among the young mothers with all their parenting theories at her grandchildren's snooty private school, until she finds a friend in another grandmother - and a man who takes her mind off all the stress. She just needs to take it one food allergy, incomprehensible homework assignment and major meltdown at a time.