This reference offers useful information & practical advice on everything you need to consider for your time out
- whether before
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In The Visit (original title Der Besuch der alten Dame), Claire Zachanassian, now a multimillion heiress & an older woman, returns to the impoverished town of her youth with a dreadful bargain: in exchange for returning the town to prosperity through her vast wealth, she wants the townspeople to kill the man who jilted her. From its subtle exploration of parochial politics to its horrific climax, The Visit shows a population willing to sacrifice loyalty & scruples in the pursuit of riches. It is a drama of the absurd that reduces human nature to its most ridiculous depths. Durrenmatt was one of the most important figures of modern European drama & The Visit remains both a powerful critique of twentieth century civilisation & an outstanding piece of experimental theatre. ...

The Visit is a sensitive & keenly observed portrait of a rural Australian town called Bangoree in the 1970s, centring on the social life of a group of `local intellectuals.` In The Visit
- Amy Witting`s debut novel, first published when she was almost sixty
- a group of Bangoree residents gather to read plays by Beckett & Brecht. But their literary pursuits, & their lives, take an unexpected turn after it is revealed that the late Roderick Fitzallan set some of his celebrated love poems in their small country town. Who is the local mystery woman who inspired Fitzallan`s verse all those years ago?

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SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL IMPAC DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD It is the 1760s, the height of the Enlightenment. The young King of Denmark, Christian VII, is a half-wit. His queen, the English princess Caroline Mathilde, has fallen in love with his most trusted advisor, the court physician Struensee. Guldberg, a cold-blooded religious fanatic, is determined to annihilate the Enlightenment ideas Struensee is introducing to Denmark
- whoever prevails in their bitter ideological battle will control not only the king but the nation state. Adultery, insanity, back-stabbing & blue blood... Enquist brilliantly recasts a dramatic era of Danish history, weaving a wide range of historical characters
- Voltaire & Diderot, Catherine the Great & George III
- into a tale of ruthless political ambition & personal betrayal.


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` How to tell the story of a 500-page collection of stories spanning more than forty years? Especially when I really want to just exclaim, ” Oh, Oh, OH!” in a state of steadily mounting rapture` Geoff Dyer, Observer Williams` uniquely devastating portrayals of modern life have been captivating readers & writers for decades. Here, for the first time, Williams` thirty-three best stories are available in a single volume, together with thirteen new stories that show a writer continuing to mould the form into something strange & new. Bleak but funny, real but surreal, domestic but dangerous, familiar but enigmatic, Joy Williams` stories fray away the fabric at the edge of ordinary experience to reveal the loneliness at the heart of human life. In ` The Lover`, a girl suffers a spiritual & physical wasting away; in ` The Visiting Privilege`, a visitor finds refuge in her friend`s psychiatric ward; in ` Charity`, a woman gives a poor family gas money & finds herself marooned in their peculiar world; in ` Another Season` an itinerant man cleanses an island of roadkill; in ` Craving` an alcoholic couple head towards a car crash. The Visiting Privilege represents the culmination of Williams` career & cements her place as the most singular artist of short fiction writing today. ...

Aung San Suu Kyi is known for her courageous stand for democracy & human rights inside Burma (now Myanmar). Forced to endure many years of house arrest by the military junta, she continues to act as a focus for change inside the country now that she is free. Such is her determined action for the best interests of Burma that she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. One of the very few people she has trusted enough to take her message to the wider world is Alan Clements. The Voice of Hope offers unquestionably the most wide-ranging collection of her views on the political situation inside Burma, her non-violent approach to democracy & human rights, her Buddhist beliefs, her family, & how she keeps a sense of meaning & purpose under the most difficult conditions. ...

The Terracotta Dog opens with a mysterious tete-a-tete with a Mafioso, some inexplicably abandoned loot from a supermarket heist, & some dying words that lead Inspector Montalbano gives to a secret grotto in a mountain cave where two young lovers dead fifty years ago & still embracing are watched over by a life-size terracotta dog. Montalbano`s passion to solve this old crime takes him, heedless of personal danger, on a journey through the island`s past & into a family`s dark heart amid the horrors of World War II. ...

From the beginning, Laurens van der Post has been aware of a dimension in life far larger & more significant than the outer eventfulness of everyday living. His perception of life's mysterious power began with the Bushmen, the first people of his native Africa, & grew in the universal imagery of dreams, the fertile legends & stories of ancient civilization, the intuitive teaching of prophets, poets & other pioneers of human awareness. In this text, he has brought together two of his most deeply-felt & far-reaching essays, & has extended their message by exploring the potential in all men & women to acquire self-knowledge & to live life according to its fundamental precepts. ...

We all hear voices. Ordinary thinking is often a kind of conversation, filling our heads with speech: the voices of reason, of memory, of self-encouragement & rebuke, the inner dialogue that helps us with tough decisions or complicated problems. For others
- voice-hearers, trauma-sufferers & prophets
- the voices seem to come from outside: friendly voices, malicious ones, the voice of God or the Devil, the muses of art & literature. In The Voices Within, Royal Society Prize shortlisted psychologist Charles Fernyhough draws on extensive original research & a wealth of cultural touchpoints to reveal the workings of our inner voices, & how those voices link to creativity & development. From Virginia Woolf to the modern Hearing Voices Movement, Fernyhough also transforms our understanding of voice-hearers past & present. Building on the latest theories, including the new `dialogic thinking` model, & employing state-of-the-art neuroimaging & other ground-breaking research techniques, Fernyhough has written an authoritative & engaging guide to the voices in our heads.

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The Volcano Adventure Guide is the first book of its type. It contains vital information for anyone wishing to visit, explore, & photograph active volcanoes safely & enjoyably. Following an introduction that discusses eruption styles of different types of volcanoes, how to prepare for a volcano trip, & how to avoid volcanic dangers, the book presents guides to visiting 42 different volcanoes around the world. This section is packed full of practical information including tour itineraries, maps, transportation details, & warnings of possible non-volcanic dangers. Three appendices at the end of the book direct the reader to a wealth of further volcano resources. Aimed at non-specialist readers who wish to explore volcanoes without being foolhardy, it will fascinate amateur enthusiasts & professional volcanologists alike. The stunning colour photographs throughout the book will delight armchair travellers as well as inspire the adventurous to get out & explore volcanoes for themselves. ...