The excellent Monsieur Dutilleul has always been able to pass through walls but has never seen the point of his gift given the general availability of doors. One day however his tyrannical boss drives him to desperate creative measures; he develops a taste for intra-mural travel & becomes something of a show-off. How will the unassuming clerk adjust to a glamorous life of crime? Aymes genius lies in the practical unfolding of bizarre & difficult situations. In each story comedy is balanced by a serious streak & then unbalanced once more.. . ...

At the end of a holiday in Bali Julian an unhappy schoolteacher decides to visit a renowned local healer Samtyang in search of guidance. During daily sessions at the wise mans house Julian begins to identify the source of his unhappiness through a series of simple questions & answers that point to his own limiting beliefs & fears. Day after day their dialogue is punctuated by real-life situations & challenges that Julian is asked to experience on the islands mainland & its surroundings. As his journey unfolds Julian begins to understand how he can make his dreams become a reality & find his very own way to true happiness. From international bestselling author Laurent Gounelle The Man Who Wanted to be Happy" explores the world of new possibilities that opens up to us when we discover how to break free of what prevents us from living a life full of joy." ...

After a period following the Iraq War when the reputation of Britains spooks has hit an all-time low John le Carres intellectual hero George Smiley has come to be seen as the perfect spy a man who would never allow secret intelligence to be misused for political purposes. Le Carre revealed shortly before the Iraq War that the model for Smiley was the author & MI5 officer John Bingham the 7th Baron Clanmorris. Michael Jagos brilliant account of Binghams life is not just the story of a perfect spy it is also of a writer whose thrillers transcended the genre exploring the emotions behind the darkest human behaviour. As an intelligence officer the bespectacled Bingham had a deep influence on Le Carre then a junior colleague in MI5. Like Smiley Bingham was an expert interrogator. His understanding of the human psyche demonstrated so brilliantly in his seventeen novels persuaded his subjects to give up the intelligence they were holding deep inside. He took part in many of MI5s greatest wartime & Cold War operations from the Double Cross operation that ensured the success of D-Day through the tracking of Soviet spies in Cold War Britain to the monitoring of Lord Lucan & others planning a right-wing coup in the 1970s. As le Carre said Nobody who knew John & the work he was doing could have missed the description of Smiley in my first novel. ...

One morning Mr Gaskitt puts on all his clothes Mrs Gaskitt picks up a robber in her taxi Gus & Gloria have trouble with a teacher Horace the cat goes to a friends house to watch TV & the car radio gets things wrong. What happens next is an action-packed farcical romp that interweaves all the different plots & ends in a thrilling car chase with Mr Gaskitt saving the day! ...

In June 1805 a 56-year-old Italian immigrant disembarked in Philadelphia carrying only a violin. Before dying in New York 23 years later he would find New World respectability as the first Professor of Italian at Columbia University. For now he set up shop as a grocer. There was always an air of mystery about the Abbe Lorenzo da Ponte. A scholarly poet teacher & priest with a devoted wife he also had a reputation as a womanizer. Da Ponte charmed all he met pioneering the place of Italian music in American life. But his self-assurance also excited mistrust. When the first Italian opera was performed in New York in 1825 he had the nerve to claim he had written it. Like the memoirs he had recently written to pay off more debts the old man was so full of tall stories... The many lives of Lorenzo da Ponte
- librettist of Mozarts three great operas The Marriage of Figaro Don Giovanni & Cosi Fan Tutte
- begin in Venice linger in Vienna & London & ends in New York where today he lies buried in an unmarked grave in the worlds largest cemetery.

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Early Readers are stepping stones from picture books to reading books. A blue Early Reader is perfect for sharing & reading together. A red Early Reader is the next step on your reading journey. Sam has an ordinary life
- but his mother used to be a pirate! One day at breakfast they decide to go to sea & an amazing adventure begins. A brand new Early Reader edition of this hilarious story.
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A beautifully produced paperback edition of the literary art book hailed as one of the best & most continually fascinating books about painting in recent memory. Lucian Freud (1922-2011) spent seven months painting a portrait of the art critic Martin Gayford. Gayford describes the process chronologically from the day he arrived for the first sitting through to his meeting with the couple who bought the finished painting. As Freud creates a portrait of Gayford so the art critic produces his own portrait of the notoriously private artist recounting their wide-ranging conversations & giving a rare insight into Freuds working practice. The book is illustrated throughout with photographs by David Dawson of Freud at work with paintings by Freud from the 1940s to the present & images by other artists discussed by Freud with Gayford. The result vividly conveys what it is like to be on the inside of the process of creating a painting by a great artist. It will be read as long as Freuds work is admired". (" The Sunday Times"). " If it is Freud who dominates this book it is Gayfords achievement to bring him out & to do so with wit & humor as well as acute intelligence. " Man with a Blue Scarf" is literally inimitable no one else is going to get this opportunity. It's the real deal". (" The Guardian"). "A journal an act of confession a character study of Freud a piecemeal survey of art history & an investigation into the practicalities of portraiture". (" The Spectator"). " Gayfords observations & Dawsons photos provide a unique insight into the working habits of the greatest painter of the human frame in all its infinite variety". (" New Statesman"). " Freud is vividly surprising potent & dynamic a portrait of an anarchic painter with views on everything from Leonardos failings to Princess Margarets voice". (" The Observer")." ...

' Mister there's something quite extra about the smell of death. Care to try it?' After a year missing in action Bond is back.. .brainwashed by the KGB & on a mission to assassinate M. To prove his worth to the Service he must hunt down & eliminate his fiercest opponent yet: Pistols" Scaramanga
- " The Man With The Golden Gun". Ian Fleming's final "007" novel is a fitting tribute to a unique British hero."
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From Shanklys day to the modern era the Reds have regularly broken transfer fee records & paid top wages to maintain their position at the summit of the English game. During that time trusted money man Arthur Lowe was closely involved in the handling of the clubs finances. His early days learning the ropes saw him acting as a part-time chauffeur for Shankly before rising through the ranks to become Chief Accountant a position he held for 27 years. As part of the clubs inner circle Arthur worked closely with Anfield managers & directors developing friendships & close working relationships with Bob Paisley Kenny Dalglish Gerard Houllier & Rafa Benitez among others. From Bruce Grobbelaar in 1981 to Fernando Torres in 2007 he witnessed every new Kop signing put pen to paper registering his name on some of the most important documents in the clubs history. His autobiography provides a rare insight behind the scenes at Anfield during a period when the emergence of agents & foreign stars saw football turned into a multi-million pound business. Arthur provides a unique perspective on all the big LFC talking points. He gives his inside view on the Steven Gerrard Chelsea saga & the Souness years as well as the Athens ticket fiasco & the ill-fated 2006 takeover. He also reveals more about a shock GBP40 000 fraud why Liverpool signed two keepers on the same day & how Roy Evans had a pet...alligator! If youre a Liverpool fan wanting a glimpse of what really makes the club tick The Man With The Keys To The Bank Of Anfield will be money well spent. ...

It is an intriguing collection where most of the stories concern relationships sports & household pets & interestingly does not feature any of Wodehouses regular characters; one however Extricating Young Gussie" is remarkable as the first appearance of some of Wodehouses most well-known & beloved characters Jeeves & his master Bertie Wooster (although here Berties surname appears to be Mannering-Phipps & Jeeves role is very small) along with Berties fearsome Aunt Agatha." ...