A heartbroken American writer starts a story about an ice-cold sombrero that falls inexplicably from the sky & lands in the centre of a small Southwest town. Devastated by the departure of his gorgeous Japanese girlfriend, he cannot concentrate on his writing & in frustration he throws away his beginning. But as the man searches through his apartment for strands of his lost love`s hair, the discarded story in the wastepaper basket
- through some kind of elaborate origami
- carries on without him. Arguments over the sombrero begin, one thing leads to another & before long all hell breaks loose in the normally sleep town. Brautigan`s fertile imagination twists & pulls at the ensuing chaos to come up with a tender, moving, surreal & incredibly funny tale that is told by a writer at the very peak of his creative powers.

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Somdan, sheet no. 2885-13, in the topographic survey of Nepal at 1:50, 000 published by the Nepali Government in the late 1990s & early 2000s & produced from remote sensing data by Finnish cartographers as part of that country’s international aid program. The maps cover 15’ x 15’ quadrangles.IMPORTANT – PLEASE NOTE BEFORE ORDERING: AVAILABILITY: although, theoretically at least, still in print, these maps are very difficult to get locally in Nepal and/or from various suppliers elsewhere specializing in obtaining such maps. DELIVERIES MAY TAKE SEVERAL WEEKS OR EVEN MONTHS.PROBLEMS WITH PLACE NAMES: reports from previous users indicate that transliteration of place names differs from that used widely not only on other maps & in guide books but also on the ground itself, in road signs & in the tourist & trekking industry in general. Whilst most names are similar enough to be easily recognizable, e.g. Namche Bajar for Namche Bazar or Lantan for Langtang, we have been told of confusion & difficulties arising from different spellings appearing on these maps.TREKKING ROUTES & TOURIST INFORMATION: whilst the maps show foot trails & mark locations of temples, etc, they carry no specific trekking information. Major trekking routes & places of interest are not highlighted. There is no marking for base camps & other tourist facilities. Map specifications: Contours are at 40m intervals, with graphics and/or coloring to show various features of the terrain (glaciers with moraines & crevasses, quarries, gravel or clay pits, etc.) & vegetation (forests, bush, grass, orchards & plantations, etc). Additional comments such as “open mixed forest mainly bajh & pine” annotate many area. The maps have numerous spot heights, but relatively few peaks are named. Areas outside the country’s borders are left blank. Settlements in remote areas are indicated by markings for individual buildings & the placing of names does not always make it clear which group of buildings they refer to. Road network distinguishes between major & minor foot trails. Symbols mark features such as temples, schools & hospitals, police stations, etc. Also shown are the country’s administrative divisions. The maps have a 1-km UTM grid, plus latitude & longitude lines at intervals of 5’. Map legend & all the text is in English. Coverage: the whole country is now covered, with the north at 1:50, 000, plus central & southern Nepal at 1:25, 000. The two series are complementary, do not overlap & use the same grid & numbering system (apart from the Lumbini Zone, where a different grid & numbering are used). For areas not shown on our grid & titles not listed here, please contact us by e-mail, but please do bear in mind the problems with availability & the likely very long delivery time. ...

Seventeen-year-old Arin Andrews shares all the hilarious, painful, & poignant details of undergoing gender reassignment as a high school student in this winning first-of-its-kind memoir. Now with a reading group guide & an all-new afterword from the author! In this revolutionary first-of-its-kind memoir, Arin Andrews details the journey that led him to make the life-transforming decision to undergo gender reassignment as a high school junior. In his captivatingly witty, honest voice, Arin reveals the challenges he faced as a boy in a girl`s body, the humiliation & anger he felt after getting kicked out of his private school, & all the changes both mental & physical-he experienced once his transition began. Some Assembly Required is a true coming-of-age story about knocking down obstacles & embracing family, friendship, & first love. But more than that, it is a reminder that self-acceptance does not come ready-made with a manual & spare parts. Rather, some assembly is always required. ...

The delightful, gossipy diaries of James Lees-Milne describe his encounters with the owners of country houses
- from eccentric
...

This is the story of rise of the summer holiday as Britain's most popular leisure activity. From pre-war through to the 1950s were the boom years for the British seaside resorts, but by the mid 1960s jet airliners were in widespread service, leading to package holidays & the mass invasion of the Rivieras & Costas. Some Like it Hot looks at the trends in holidays favoured by the British & examines the history of each, featuring first person tales of the highs & lows of the annual break. ...

On 17 April 1986 John Mc Carthy was kidnapped in Beirut. For the next five years he was cut off from everything & everybody he knew & loved, from family, friends, &, perhaps above all, from Jill Morrell, the girl he was going to marry. For five years, John Mc Carthy had to endure the deprivation
- both physical & psychological
- of captivity; the filth & squalor of the cells in which he was kept; the agony of isolation & repeated self-examination; & the pain of ignorance, of not knowing if those he loved even realized he was alive. For Jill Morrell, the five years of John`s captivity were a different kind of hell: the initial shock & disbelief; the gradual acceptance that John had been taken & that her life had changed irrevocably, that all their plans had been shattered. But Jill refused to give up hope. For five years she & a group of friends worked ceaselessly on behalf of John & all British hostages in the Middle East, until the extraordinary day in August 1991 when John Mc Carthy stepped down from an aeroplane at RAF Lyneham. A day when they could begin again. This is their story, a remarkable account of courage, endurance, hope & love.

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The marriage of Kaname & Misako is disintegrating: whilst seeking passion & fulfilment in the arms of others, they contemplate the humiliation of divorce. Misako`s father believes their relationship has been damaged by the influence of a new & alien culture, & so attempts to heal the breach by educating his son-in-law in the time-honoured Japanese traditions of aesthetic & sensual pleasure. The result is an absorbing, chilling conflict between ancient & modern, young & old. ...

At twenty, Karl Ove moves to Bergen. As the youngest student to be admitted to the prestigious Writing Academy, he arrives full of excitement & writerly aspirations. Soon though, he is stripped of youthful illusions. His writing is revealed to be puerile & cliched, & his social efforts are a dismal failure. Awkward in company & hopeless with women, he drowns his shame in drink & rock music. Then, little by little, things take a brighter turn. He falls in love, gives up writing in favour of the steady rewards of literary criticism, & the beginnings of an adult life take shape. That is, until his self-destructive binges & the irresistible lure of the writer`s struggle pull him back. In this fifth instalment of the My Struggle cycle, Karl Ove discloses his personal & often deeply shameful battles with introversion, alcohol abuse, infidelity & artistic ambition. Knausgaard writes with unflinching honesty to deliver the full drama of everyday life, in a breathless novel poised between a desperate yearning to be good, & the terrible power of transgression. ...

Jeff Brouws & Wendy Burton have been collecting American vernacular railway photographs for many years, poring through boxes of snapshots at train shows & enthusiasts` gatherings. Seeking out the unusual, the lyrical, the pastoral & the urban, they have assembled a collection that

Includes:: railway landscapes, locomotives, bridges & people primarily during the age of steam. This fascinating assemblage is accompanied by an essay that

Includes:: a brief discussion of the aesthetic evolution of railway photography in the early to mid-twentieth century & the phenomenon of the International Engine Picture Club, which acted as a clearing house & swapping mechanism for rail fans.



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` The death was an odd one, it was true; but there was after all no very clear reason to assume it was anything but natural.` In the winter of 1942, England lies cold & dark in the wartime blackout. One bleak evening, Councillor Grayling steps off the 6.12 from Euston, carrying GBP120 in cash, & oblivious to the fate that awaits him in the snow-covered suburbs. Inspector Holly draws up a list of Grayling`s fellow passengers: his distrusted employee Charles Evetts, the charming Hugh Rolandson, & an unknown refugee from Nazi Germany, among others. Inspector Holly will soon discover that each passenger harbours their own dark secrets, & that the councillor had more than one enemy among them. First published in 1943, Raymond Postgate`s wartime murder mystery combines thrilling detection with rich characters & a fascinating depiction of life on the home front. ...