Passionate independent-minded nonfiction from the international bestselling author of The Corrections. Jonathan Franzens Freedom was the literary sensation of 2010 whilst The Corrections was the best-loved & most written-about novel the previous decade. How to be Alone is a collection of the personal essays & painstaking often humorous reportage that have earned Franzen a wide & loyal readership including what has come to be known as The Harpers Essay Franzens controversial 1996 look at the fate of the novel. From the sex-advice industry to the way a supermax prison works from his fathers struggle with Alzheimers disease to a rueful account of Franzens brief tenure as an Oprah Winfrey author each piece wrestles with Franzens familiar themes: the erosion of civic life & private dignity & the hidden persistence of loneliness in postmodern imperial America. These collected essays record what Franzen calls a movement away from an angry & frightened isolation toward an acceptance -- even a celebration -- of being a reader & a writer. They voice a wry distrust of the claims of technology & psychology the love-hate relationship with consumerism & the subversive belief in the tragic shape of the individual life that help make Franzen one of the sharpest toughest-minded & most entertaining social critics at work today. ...

This eighth edition of the best selling How to be an Even Better Manager" covers 50 essential topics across the three key areas in which any manager needs to be competent: managing people; managing activities & processes; & managing & developing yourself. Thoroughly revised & updated with nine new chapters providing timely advice on topics such as benchmarking cost cutting improving organizational capability & recovering from setbacks this is an invaluable handbook for current & aspiring managers. " How to be an Even Better Manager" provides sound guidelines that will help you to develop a broad base of managerial skills & knowledge. Even the most experienced manager needs to keep abreast of new developments & brush up on essential competencies so this new edition will continue to be an invaluable aid." ...

Dont bin it! With How to be an Everyday Kitchen Magician you will be astounded by what you can make from the most uninspiring food at the back of your fridge or cupboard. This book is so much more than a recipe book
- in fact its about learning to cook without using recipes at all. Its about making the most of what you have reducing your waste dramatically & discovering how to create spontaneous delicious dishes in minutes. Its filled with ingredients that most of us would throw away without so much as a second thought. For example.. .* A cold leftover sausage a crusty bit of cheddar a bendy courgette & a few wrinkly mushrooms can become a sublime risotto in 20 minutes. * Take a dried-out flour tortilla half an onion a squirt of tomato puree a squidgy tomato & a scattering of dried herbs combine with random bits of cooked veg & youve got a delicious pizza in less time than it takes for delivery. Whether youre a non-cook or an aspiring professional the recipes techniques & way of thinking about cooking in these pages will change your culinary life forever. Your everyday bits leftovers & rejects will become a treasure trove of delicious dishes rather than wasted cash. GBP12 billion worth of food & drink is thrown away every year in the UK adding up to hundreds of pounds per household.
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From the author of Wreck this Journal" Keri Smith's " How to be an Explorer of the World" is an invitation to rediscover the world around you. Artists & scientists analyze the world around them in surprisingly similar ways by observing collecting documenting analyzing & comparing. In this captivating guided journal readers are encouraged to explore their world as both artists & scientists. The mission Smith proposes? " To document & observe the world around you. As if you've never seen it before. Take notes. Collect things you find on your travels. Document findings. Notice patterns. Copy. Trace. Focus on one thing at a time. Record what you are drawn to." With a series of interactive prompts & a beautifully h&-illustrated two-colour package readers will enjoy exploring & discovering the world through this gorgeous book. Bestselling author Keri Smith is a freelance illustrator by trade & has illustrated for the " Washington Post" " The New York Times" Ford Motor Company " People" The Body Shop & Hallmark. She is the author of " Wreck This Journal" " How To Be An Explorer of the World" & " Mess". She lives in Canada." ...

Not for everyone the title of Prime Minister Foreign Secretary or other such hallowed callings; the vast majority of the House of Commons is made up of backbenchers
- the power behind the constitutionally elected throne. Here is a guide for anyone & everyone fascinated by the quirks & foibles of Westminster Palace covering all species of backbencher & providing every hardworking MP & political enthusiast with the know-how to survive life in Parliament. From how to address the crowd weather marital troubles & socialise at party conference to the all-important Backbenchers' Commandments How to be an MP is indispensable reading for anyone wishing to make a mark from the back bench & influence proceedings in the House. & in the process it provides the outsider with a riveting insight into life as a Member.
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A thoroughly entertaining & informative guide to modern shooting etiquette. The author is the daughter of shooting legend Sir Joseph Nickerson & contributor to The Field. Inspired by beaters keepers pickers-up & shoot organisers the book encapsulates the art of being the perfect guest at a shoot from the moment an invitation arrives to tipping at the end of the day ...

Be confident self-assured & stand up for your right to be yourself. The ability to make clear decisions to approach your life with complete confidence & self-assurance & to believe in yourself are all crucial to success. & in both work & life assertiveness holds the key to your self-respect & self-esteem. This remarkable guide is packed with real-life examples motivating scenarios quick wins & loads of friendly advice that will show you how to make your voice heard take control of your destiny feel empowered & motivated & begin to live the life you want without apology. Learn powerful life-changing techniques to make sure your opinions are always respected; deal confidently & effectively with other people their assumptions & their demands. Learn to be decisive confident & self assured. Understand that whilst you have rights so do those around you. Learn to say what you mean mean what you say & know that you really do have the right to say no. How To Be Assertive is a fun read & a great friend to have around. Its written by two experienced down-to-earth & real-world experts & with just one read it really could change your life forever. ...

Sometimes being just good just isnt good enough. Sometimes we all need to be brilliant. In just 90 days How To Be Brilliant will show you how to change the way you think & behave so that you can embrace every day every experience & every opportunity with positivity energy enthusiasm & inspiration. Michael Heppell author of the bestselling book Flip It will introduce you to over 50 amazing tricks tips & tools that when properly applied will move you & your life on to a whole new exciting level. This is the level where you really shine. Its the level where you believe anything is possible. & its the level where you start living your dreams & becoming the person you always wished you could be. So dont just be good; learn to be brilliant & discover a better way of being. ...

Speaking in public can be fun -- honestly! Whatever the occasion whatever the content whatever the situation this book will teach you everything you need to know to plan prepare & deliver any speech or presentation & will give you the skills to deliver it with style wit charm & confidence. Discover expert tips tricks tools & techniques that will help you build on skills & abilities you already have so you can stand up in front of any audience & really wow them. Whether you're looking for help in overcoming your fears & building your confidence or whether you're already quite good & want to polish your performance this book will help you. Anyone can learn to speak in public. This book will show you how even you can do it brilliantly. ...

A perennially popular collection of colour cartoon illustrations with accompanying texts on the endearing oddities of our British life & character. Drawing on their many years' experience of teaching English as a Foreign Language the authors also offer the wider world a tongue-in-cheek guide on how to get around in English & at the same time make sense of our 'funny ways'. It's a gentle brand of satire & although there's the occasional barbed arrow for bland food fashion disasters or dubious standards of hygiene the tone of The How To Be British Collection" is more nostalgic than scornful & the pet-loving royal-watching tea drinking characters that populate its pages are viewed with wry affection. Cartoons like " How to be Polite" & " How to Complain" have been reproduced in publications all over the world perhaps because they put a finger on that peculiar tentativeness that foreigners find so puzzling (and so funny) about us. In order to be British or at any rate to pass unnoticed in British society the visitor must learn not to 'make a fuss'. A fuss is something that the true Brit cannot st&. It is nearly as bad as a 'scene' & in the same category as 'drawing attention to yourself'. In the first frame of How To Be Polite a man -- presumably an uninitiated foreign visitor -- has fallen into a river. He's clearly in trouble & is shouting HELP! -- at the top of his voice judging by the speech bubble. An English gentleman is walking his dog along the river bank. There's a lifebelt prominently displayed beside them but the gent & his dog are walking away from the emergency with disapproving expressions. In the next frame the man in the river has changed his strategy & is calling out: " Excuse me Sir. I'm terribly sorry to bother you but I wonder if you would mind helping me a moment as long as it's no trouble of course...". & this time naturally the English gent is rushing to his aid throwing the lifebelt into the water. Even the dog is smiling. Much of the material in The " How to be British Collection" is about how cultural differences can prove a minefield for the unwary. To that extent its appeal
- in an age where so many of us travel & even set up home overseas
- is universal. Every visitor to Britain comes knowing that our favourite conversational gambit is the weather. But how many can successfully do it at 1) Elementary 2) Intermediate & 3) Advanced levels? The book's enduring popularity comes from the recognition factor -- how exposed we can be once we stray away from the comfort zone of our own native language. A hapless visitor phrase book in hand stops to ask an old lady in the street for directions. He looks pleased with himself for phrasing the question so nicely but then is utterly at a loss to understand her long rambling minutely detailed reply. We've all been there. To help the poor innocent abroad around these cultural & linguistic booby-traps the book

Includes:: on most pages collectible Expressions to learn & (of course) Expressions to avoid. Thus under the entry for Real English which negotiates the difficult area of colloquial speech including "idioms slang & even the occasional taboo word as used by flesh & blood native speakers" we find -- Expressions to learn:"'E nicked it off of a lorry & now the coppers 'ave done 'im for it." Expressions to avoid: " That's not correct English Mrs. Jones -- it says so here in my grammar book"."



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