Surfacing from the literary underground Bukowski's wild & immortal stories have become cult favourites This collection of anecdotal short stories demonstrates Bukowski's compelling semi-autobiographical style & his mastery of visceral language & the depiction of seamy underworlds Focusing on themes that recur throughout his work from Los Angeles & bar culture to alcoholism gambling sex & violence these pieces also introduce unexpected elements of fantasy & surrealism ...

As featured on the High Low Show podcast'I read The Most Dangerous Place on Earth in two chilling gulps It's a phenomenal first book' Anthony Doerr New York times bestselling author of All the Light We Cannot See' You might not think that anyone in this School sees you but I do I mean sees you really' Aged thirteen Tristan Bloch writes a love note to Calista Broderick He thinks she is perfect He wants to talk to her He thinks he loves her He could help her with her algebra homework Cally shares the note with her best friend Abigail who insists that she shows it to her boyfriend Ryan who decides to share it on Facebook & then everyone sees it Before long Tristan takes a morning ride to the Golden Gate Bridge leaves his bike on the against the rail & jumps Now Tristan's classmates are seventeen dealing with tests & affairs with teachers pressure from parents & going to parties These wealthy privileged teenagers should be the happiest on earth But the guilt of Tristan's death follows them all For fans of Thirteen Reasons Why Friday Night Lights & The Bling Ring The Most Dangerous Place on Earth is smart compelling & eye opening ' With a stunning constellation of characters' voices & a fiercely compelling story it's impossible to put down or to forget'
- Megan Abbott
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Howard Marks's The Most Important Thing distilled the investing insight of his celebrated client memos into a single volume & for the first time made his time-tested philosophy available to general readers In this edition Marks's wisdom is joined by the comments insights & counterpoints of four renowned investors & investment educators Christopher C Davis (Davis Funds) Joel Greenblatt (Gotham Capital) Paul Johnson (Nicusa Capital) & Seth A Klarman (Baupost Group) These experts lend insight into such concepts as second-level thinking the pricevalue relationship patient opportunism & defensive investing Marks also adds his own annotations expanding on his book's original themes & issues A new chapter addresses the importance of reasonable expectations & a foreword by Bruce C Greenwald called a guru to Wall Street's gurus by the New York Times speaks on value investing productivity & the economics of information Howard Marks the chairman & cofounder of Oaktree Capital Management is renowned for his insightful assessments of market opportunity & risk After four decades spent ascending to the top of the investment management profession he is today sought out by the world's leading value investors & his client memos brim with insightful commentary & a time-tested fundamental philosophy Now for the first time all readers can benefit from Marks's wisdom concentrated into a single volume that speaks to both the amateur & seasoned investor Informed by a lifetime of experience & study The Most Important Thing explains the keys to successful investment & the pitfalls that can destroy capital or ruin a career Utilizing passages from his memos to illustrate his ideas Marks teaches by example detailing the development of an investment philosophy that fully acknowledges the complexities of investing & the perils of the financial world Brilliantly applying insight to today's volatile markets Marks offers a volume that is part memoir part creed with a number of broad takeaways Marks expounds on such concepts as second-level thinking the pricevalue relationship patient opportunism & defensive investing Frankly & honestly assessing his own decisions--and occasional missteps--he provides valuable lessons for critical thinking risk assessment & investment strategy Encouraging investors to be contrarian Marks wisely judges market cycles & achieves returns through aggressive yet measured action Which element is the most essential? Successful investing requires thoughtful attention to many separate aspects & each of Marks's subjects proves to be the most important thing This is that rarity a useful book--Warren Buffett ...

'I think that if required on pain of death to name instantly the most perfect thing in the universe I should risk my fate on a bird's egg' Thomas Wentworth Higginson 1862 How are eggs of different shapes made & why are they the shape they are? When does the shell of an egg harden? Why do some eggs contain two yolks? How are the colours & patterns of an eggshell created & why do they vary? & which end of an egg is laid first
- the blunt end or the pointy end? These are just some of the questions A Bird's Egg answers as the journey of a bird's egg from creation & fertilisation to its eventual hatching is examined with current scientific knowledge placed within an historical context Beginning with an examination of the stunning eggs of the guillemot each of which is so variable in pattern & colour that no two are ever the same acclaimed ornithologist Tim Birkhead then looks at the eggs of hens cuckoos & many other birds revealing weird & wonderful facts about these miracles of nature Woven around & supporting these facts are extraordinary stories of the individuals who from as far back as Ancient Egypt have been fixated on the study & collection of eggs not always to the benefit of their conservation Firmly grounded in science & enriched by a wealth of observation drawn from a lifetime spent studying birds A Bird's Egg is an illuminating & engaging exploration of the science behind eggs & the history of man's obsession with them
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' Bloody hilarious' Isabelle Broom A laugh-out-loud romantic comedy perfect for fans of Don't Stop Me Now & The Bucket List to Mend a Broken Heart Emily has a satisfying job fab friends & most importantly a wonderful flat exactly 411 miles away from the judgemental interfering family she reluctantly sees once a year In fact the only minor stress in her life is her twenty-something neighbour Evan & his penchant for flirting loud music & even louder sex but he's nothing she can't handle Emily also has a boyfriend called Robert & it's going really well So well in fact that Emily is hoping to take him home to meet her family Finally no more pitying looks from her younger married siblings But when the relationship suddenly falls apart Emily is gutted How on earth is she going to face her family now? Enlisting the help of party-boy Evan Emily is determined for Robert to meet the parents come hell or high water even if it isn't the real Robert ...

With an introduction by Neil Gaiman Before television & radio before penny paperbacks & mass literacy people would gather on porches on the steps outside their homes & tell stories The storytellers knew their craft & bewitched listeners would sit & listen long into the night as moths flitted around overhead The Moth is a non-profit group that is trying to recapture this lost art helping storytellers
- old hands & novices alike
- hone their stories before playing to packed crowds at sold-out live events The very best of these stories are collected here whether it's Bill Clinton's hell-raising press secretary or a leading geneticist with a family secret; a doctor whisked away by nuns to Mother Teresa's bedside or a film director saving her father's Chinatown store from money-grabbing developers; the Sultan of Brunei's concubine or a friend of Hemingway's who accidentally talks himself into a role as a substitute bullfighter these eccentric pitch-perfect stories
- all amazingly true
- range from the poignant to the downright hilarious



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Please note this is a region 2 DVD & will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play Led by British talent Lily Cole (Snow White & the Huntsman The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus) Moth Diaries is a modern gothic coming of age story set in a world of obsessive teenage girl friendship Rebecca (SARAH BOLGER) a young girl haunted by her father&s suicide begins a new year at an elite girls& boarding school Before long Rebecca&s close friendship with the popular Lucy (SARAH GADON) is tested by the arrival of the dark & mysterious Ernessa (LILY COLE) Lucy quickly falls under the glamorous Ernessa&s spell & becomes emotionally & physically consumed by their intense friendship Hurt & confused Rebecca develops a crush on her English teacher Mr Davies (SCOTT SPEEDMAN) who is teaching a class in Gothic fiction As she immerses herself in their assigned reading the vampire novel Carmilla Rebecca becomes convinced that Ernessa is a vampire Mysterious deaths begin to occur & Rebecca is convinced Ernessa is to blame but when her warnings are dismissed as the result of obsessive jealousy she decides that she must take drastic action to save herself & those around her Actors Sarah Bolger Anne Day-Jones Sarah Gadon Valerie Tian Melissa Farman & Laurence Hamelin Director Mary Harron Certificate 15 years & over Year 2011 Languages English ...

A great rhapsodic urgent book full of joy grief rage & love A must-read' Helen Macdonald author of H is for Hawk Nature has many gifts for us but perhaps the greatest of them all is joy; the intense delight we can take in the natural world in its beauty in the wonder it can offer us in the peace it can provide
- feelings stemming ultimately from our own unbreakable links to nature which mean that we cannot be fully human if we are separate from it In The Moth Snowstorm Michael Mc Carthy one of Britain's leading writers on the environment proposes this joy as a defence of a natural world which is ever more threatened & which he argues is inadequately served by the two defences put forward hitherto sustainable development & the recognition of ecosystem services Drawing on a wealth of memorable experiences from a lifetime of watching & thinking about wildlife & natural landscapes The Moth Snowstorm not only presents a new way of looking at the world around us but effortlessly blends with it a remarkable & moving memoir of childhood trauma from which love of the natural world emerged It is a powerful timely & wholly original book which comes at a time when nature has never needed it more
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Yvvette Edwards' second novel The Mother tells Marcia's story Today Marcia is heading to the Old Bailey She's going there to do something no mother should ever have to do to attend the trial of the boy accused of her son's murder She's not meant to be that woman; Ryan her son wasn't that kind of boy But Tyson Manley is that kind of a boy & as his trial unfolds it becomes clear that it's his girlfriend Sweetie who has the answers Marcia so badly needs & who can
- perhaps
- offer Marcia some kind of hope for the future But Sweetie is as scared of Tyson as Ryan should have been & as Marcia's learned the hard way nothing's certain Not any more Somehow I am stronger Where it has come from exactly I cannot say but it is to do with hope it is to do with light

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I've taken your daughter as punishment for what you did Prepare to be gripped by the heart-stopping new thriller from the author of The Madam South London detective Sarah Mason is a single mother It's a tough life but Sarah gets by She & her ex-husband fellow detective Adam Boyd adore their 15-month-old daughter Molly Until Sarah's world falls apart when she receives a devastating threat Her daughter has been taken & the abductor plans to raise Molly as their own as punishment for something Sarah did Sarah is forced to stand back while her team try to track down the kidnapper But her colleagues aren't working fast enough to find Molly To save her daughter Sarah must take matters into her own hands in a desperate hunt that will take her to the very depths of London's underworld ...