Before there was Gonzo, there was just plain Hunter -- a precocious, earnest, & occasionally troublesome honor student in Louisville, Kentucky. Before there was Doctor Thompson, there was Airman Thompson -- the military`s answer to Grantland Rice, protecting America by covering sports for his Florida base`s newspaper. Before there was Fear & Loathing, there was Dow Jones -- that is, Thompson`s early reportage for that company`s National Observer, which raised the standard for hip & provocative foreign coverage. Before there was Rolling Stone, there were job applications everywhere -- in hopes of being hired by a paper, pretty much any paper, an obsession for the starving writer with expensive tastes in alcohol, nicotine, & room service. In The Proud Highway, readers will find a Hunter S. Thompson they`ve imagined but never known. With the publication of these extraordinary letters, written from the time of his high school graduation in 1955 through the triumph of his first book, Hell`s Angels, in 1966, critics & fans can finally trace the development & maturation of a singular talent, one of our era`s most important voices. How Thompson changed the face of contemporary nonfiction -- & of America itself -- is the mesmerizing story of The Proud Highway. ...

A special edition of The Provincial Lady by E. M. Delafield reissued with a bright retro design to celebrate Pan`s 70th anniversary. The Provincial Lady should lead a charmed, upper-middle class life in her Devonshire village but with a husband reluctant to do anything but doze behind The Times, mischievous children & trying servants, it`s a challenge keeping up appearances on an inadequate income, particularly in front of the infuriating & haughty Lady Boxe. Delightfully witty, the Provincial Lady was the Bridget Jones of the 1930s, documenting the chaotic peculiarities of everyday life with wonderful wit & humour. This abridged edition takes the very best extracts from her first two `diaries` & presents them as one brilliantly comic novel. ...

The waters between Sydney & Hobart are famously treacherous. No one is fooled by the clear skies. In the hours before the 1998 Sydney to Hobart race, skippers gathered for a weather briefing. An intense low pressure was predicted, but three different forecasts disagreed about the exact course of the stormy weather. No one was unduly alarmed & all decided to sail. But within hours the yachts were confronted with hurricane-force winds & waves the height of a five-storey building. Six sailors died; 55 were pulled from the water. Of the 115 boats that started, just 43 would finish. In Hobart, a memorial service replaced the legendary parties that normally follow the race. By focussing on a handful of yachts & those who crewed them, Bruce Knecht brilliantly recreates those dramatic hours & the stomach wrenching fear of those caught in the eye of the storm, battling, some forlornly, for their lives. ...

From the author of ” Them & The Men Who Stare at Goats”, this is a book exploring the psychopath... This is a story about madness. It all starts when journalist Jon Ronson is contacted by a leading neurologist. She & several colleagues have recently received a cryptically puzzling book in the mail, & Jon is challenged to solve the mystery behind it. As he searches for the answer, Jon soon finds himself, unexpectedly, on an utterly compelling & often unbelievable adventure into the world of madness. Jon meets a Broadmoor inmate who swears he faked a mental disorder to get a lighter sentence but is now stuck there, with nobody believing he`s sane. He meets some of the people who catalogue mental illness, & those who vehemently oppose them. He meets the influential psychologist who developed the industry standard Psychopath Test & who is convinced that many important CEOs & politicians are in fact psychopaths. Jon learns from him how to ferret out these high-flying psychopaths &, armed with his new psychopath-spotting abilities, heads into the corridors of power... Combining Jon`s trademark humour, charm & investigative incision, ” The Psychopath Test” is a deeply honest book unearthing dangerous truths & asking serious questions about how we define normality in a world where we are increasingly judged by our maddest edges. ...

Pete Brown has visited hundreds of pubs across the UK & is uniquely placed to write about pubs that ooze atmosphere, whatever the reason, be it food, people, architecture, location or decor. The best pubs are those that always have a steady trade at any time on any day of the week, & where chat flows back & forth across the bar. They`re the places where you want to drink weak beer so you can have several pints & stay longer. Some are grand Victorian palaces, others ancient inns with stunning views across the hills. Some are ale shrines, others gastropubs (though they probably don`t call themselves that any more). A precious few are uniquely eccentric, the kinds of places that are just as likely to have terrible reviews on Trip Advisor as great ones, because some people don`t realize that the outside toilets, limp sandwiches on the bar & really disturbing full-size mannequin glaring at you from the corner are all part of the charm. This collection of 300 pubs with atmosphere will include 50 pub features & 250 smaller descriptions, alongside quirks of local history, pen portraits of punters or publicans, legends, yarns & myths, & case studies of different trends & types of pub. ...

With over 250 nursery rhymes, including both well-known favourites & hidden gems, this collection has something for every child. Beautiful illustrated by Raymond Briggs, the much-loved creator of the Snowman, this revised edition of a famous classic first won the Kate Greenaway in 1966 & is now available again for a whole new generation. ...

Perfect to dip into, this beautifully illustrated collection brings together all the best-loved classics, selections from favourite books such as ” Peter Pan”, ” Treasure Island”, ” Mary Poppins” & ” Heidi”, & poems such as ” The Owl & the Pussy-cat” by Edward Lear, ” You Are Old, Father William” by Lewis Carroll & Rudyard Kipling`s ” If”. ...

Tales of escape & adventure on Britain`s waterways. In The Pull of the River two foolhardy explorers do what we would all love to do: they turn their world upside down & seek adventure on their very own doorstep. Showing that it is still possible to get lost while knowing exactly where you are, The Pull of the River is a beautifully written exploration of nature, place & friendship, & an ode to the great art
- & joy
- of adventure.

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` Peter, Peter, Pumpkin eater Had a wife & couldn`t keep her...` In this extraordinary, semi-autobiographical novel, Penelope Mortimer depicts a married woman`s breakdown in 1960s London. With three husbands in her past, one in her present & a numberless army of children, Mrs Armitage is astonished to find herself collapsing one day in Harrods. Strange, unsettling & shot through with black comedy, this is a moving account of one woman`s realisation that marriage & family life may not, after all, offer all the answers to the problems of living. ...

The Pure Gold Baby is the story of Anna, a little girl with a luminescent quality, her mother, Jess, & the community that envelops them. A happy child, Anna is the unchanging core of this journey spanning decades & continents through the lives of those that love her. This profoundly engaging portrait of family, friendship, & the way we care for each other is a powerful reminder, if one were needed, of Margaret Drabble`s literary greatness. ...