One of our most eloquent nature writers offers a passionate & informative celebration of birds & their ability to help us understand the world we live in As well as exploring how birds achieve the miracle of flight; why birds sing; what they tell us about the seasons of the year & what their presence tells us about the places they inhabit The Wisdom of Birds muses on the uses of feathers the drama of raptors the slaughter of pheasants the infidelities of geese & the strangeness of feeling sentimental about blue tits while enjoying a chicken sandwich From the mocking-birds of the Galapagos who guided Charles Darwin toward his evolutionary theory to the changing patterns of migration that alert us to the reality of contemporary climate change Simon Barnes explores both the intrinsic wonder of what it is to be a bird
- & the myriad ways in which birds can help us understand the meaning of life
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Cricket is a strange game It is a team sport that is almost entirely dependent on individual performance Its combination of time opportunity & the constant threat of disaster can drive its participants to despair To survive a single delivery propelled at almost 100 miles an hour takes the body & brain to the edges of their capabilities yet its abiding image is of the gentle village green & the glorious absurdities of the amateur game In The Meaning of Cricket Jon Hotten attempts to understand this fascinating frustrating & complex sport Blending legendary players from Vivian Richards to Mark Ramprakash Kevin Pietersen to Ricky Ponting with his own cricketing story he explores the funny moving & melancholic impact the game can have on an individual life ...

' Philosophers have an infuriating habit of analysing questions rather than answering them' writes Terry Eagleton who in these pages asks the most important question any of us ever ask & attempts to answer it So what is the meaning of life? In this witty spirited & stimulating inquiry Eagleton shows how centuries of thinkers
- from Shakespeare & Schopenhauer to Marx Sartre & Beckett
- have tackled the question Refusing to settle for the bland & boring Eagleton reveals with a mixture of humour & intellectual rigour how the question has become particularly problematic in modern times Instead of addressing it head-on we take refuge from the feelings of 'meaninglessness' in our lives by filling them with a multitude of different things from football & sex to New Age religions & fundamentalism ' Many of the readers of this book are likely to be as sceptical of the phrase the meaning of life as they are of Santa Claus' he writes But Eagleton contends that in a world where we need to find common meanings it is important that we set about answering the question of all questions; & in conclusion he suggests his own answer ABOUT THE SERIES The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly Our expert authors combine facts analysis perspective new ideas & enthusiasm to make interesting & challenging topics highly readable

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The Meaning of Liff has sold hundreds of thousands of copies since it was first published in 1983 & remains a much-loved humour classic This edition has been revised & updated &

Includes:: The Deeper Meaning of Liff giving fresh appeal to Douglas Adams & John Lloyd's entertaining & witty dictionary In life there are hundreds of familiar experiences feelings & objects for which no words exist yet hundreds of strange words are idly loafing around on signposts pointing at places The Meaning of Liff connects the two BERRIWILLOCK (n)
- An unknown workmate who writes ' All the best' on your leaving card ELY (n)
- The first tiniest inkling that something somewhere has gone terribly wrong GRIMBISTER (n)
- Large body of cars on a motorway all travelling at exactly the speed limit because one of them is a police car KETTERING (n)
- The marks left on your bottom or thighs after sunbathing on a wickerwork chair OCKLE (n)
- An electrical switch which appears to be off in both positions WOKING (ptcplvb)
- Standing in the kitchen wondering what you came in here for







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Shortlisted for the 2017 Andre Simon Food & Drink Book Awards ' The next Bill Bryson' New York Times In this often hilarious yet deeply researched book food & travel writer Michael Booth & his family embark on an epic journey the length of Japan to explore its dazzling food culture They find a country much altered since their previous visit ten years earlier (which resulted in the award-winning international bestseller Sushi & Beyond) Over the last decade the country's restaurants have won a record number of Michelin stars & its cuisine was awarded United Nations heritage status The world's top chefs now flock to learn more about the extraordinary dedication of Japan's food artisans while the country's fast foods
- ramen sushi & yakitori
- have conquered the world As well as the plaudits Japan is also facing enormous challenges Ironically as Booth discovers the future of Japan's culinary heritage is under threat Often venturing far off the beaten track the author & his family discover intriguing future food trends & meet a fascinating cast of food heroes from a couple lavishing love on rotten fish to a chef who literally sacrificed a limb in pursuit of the ultimate bowl of ramen & a farmer who has dedicated his life to growing the finest rice in the world in the shadow of Fukushima They dine in the greatest restaurant in the world meet the world champion of cakes & encounter wild bears Booth is invited to judge the world sushi championship enjoys' the most popular Japanese dish you have never heard of aboard a naval destroyer & unearths the unlikely story of the Englishwoman who helped save the seaweed industry Sushi & Beyond was also a bestseller in Japanese where its success has had improbable consequences for Booth & his family They now star in their own popular cartoon series produced by national broadcaster NHK

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What is science? Is it uniquely equipped to deliver universal truths? Or is it one of many disciplines
- art literature religion
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From the backstreets of Buenos Aires to Parisian high society this is the extraordinary story of the dance that captivated the world
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In The Meaning of the Body Mark Johnson continues his pioneering work on the exciting connections between cognitive science language & meaning first begun in the classic Metaphors We Live By Johnson uses recent research into infant psychology to show how the body generates meaning even before self-consciousness has fully developed From there he turns to cognitive neuroscience to further explore the bodily origins of meaning thought & language & examines the many

Dimensions of meaning
- including images qualities emotions & metaphors
- that are all rooted in the body's physical encounters with the world Drawing on the psychology of art & pragmatist philosophy Johnson argues that all of these aspects of meaning-making are fundamentally aesthetic He concludes that the arts are the culmination of human attempts to find meaning & that studying the aesthetic

Dimensions of our experience is crucial to unlocking meaning's bodily sources Throughout Johnson puts forth a bold new conception of the mind rooted in the understanding that philosophy will matter to nonphilosophers only if it is built on a visceral connection to the world





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A refreshing distillation of insights into the human condition by one of the best-known & most popular philosophers in the UKThinking about life what it means & what it holds in store does not have to be a despondent experience but rather can be enlightening & uplifting A life truly worth living is one that is informed & considered so a degree of philosophical insight into the inevitabilities of the human condition is inherently important & such an approach will help us to deal with real personal dilemmas This book is an accessible lively & thought-provoking series of linked commentaries based on A C Grayling's ' The Last Word' column in the GUARDIAN Its aim is not to persuade readers to accept one particular philosophical point of view or theory but to help us consider the wonderful range of insights which can be drawn from an immeasurably rich history of philosophical thought Concepts covered include courage love betrayal ambition cruelty wisdom passion beauty & death This will be a wonderfully stimulating read & act as an invaluable guide as to what is truly important in living life whether facing success failure justice wrong love loss or any of the other profound experience life throws out ...

Mr Mack's inventing career has got off to a bad start
- he's been arrested! It's up to Jimmy Robbie Kayla & Rover the wonder-dog
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