John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces is a bittersweet classic- although bitingly funny, it is bittersweet as it’s one of those novels that has always been in danger of being overshadowed by the events surrounding it’s publication, rather than the masterful text itself being celebrated first & foremost. Although believing his manuscript to be a masterpiece, the novel was never published & Toole sank into depression, eventually committing suicide in 1969. The work was published posthumously in 1980, after Toole’s mother found the manuscript. The text itself is truly wonderful, full of slapstick, satire & an unmistakable wit. The story centres on Ignatius J. Reilly: flatulent eloquent & pretty much unemployable… the ordinary folk of New Orleans seem to think he is unhinged as well. Ignatius ignores them as he heaves his vast bulk through the city’s fleshspots in a noble crusade against vice, modernity & ignorance. But ‘his momma’ has a nasty surprise in store for him. Ignatius must get a job. Undaunted, he uses his new-found employment to further his mission
- & now he has a pirate costume & a hot-dog cart to do it with. Largely biographical & painfully funny, A Confederacy of Dunces is a book that will stay with you forever.
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` This city is famous for its gamblers, prostitutes, exhibitionists, anti-Christs, alcoholics, sodomites, drug addicts, fetishists, onanists, pornographers, frauds, jades, litterbugs, & lesbians.. .don`t make the mistake of bothering me`. Ignatius J. Reilly: fat, flatulent, eloquent & almost unemployable. By the standards of ordinary folk he is pretty much unhinged, too. But is he bothered by this? No. For this misanthropic crusader against an America fallen into vice & ignorance has a mission: to rescue a naked female philosopher in distress. & he has a pirate costume & hot-dog cart to do it with... ...

Jesse & Lee share a house owned by a very nice Chinese dentist, where it rains in the hall. They move to cabins on the cliffs at Big Sur where the deafening croaks of frogs can be temporarily silenced by the cry, ` Campbell`s Soup`. Ultimately, we learn how the frogs are permanently silenced.. .and dreams disperse around a fire into 186, 000 endings per second. In anticipating flower power & the ideals of the Sixties, Brautigan`s debut novel was at least a decade before its time & remains a weird & brilliant classic. ...

London, 1902. The old queen is dead & her son Edward rules: twinkly, genial, outgoing
- a time of great confidence & optimism
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Following on from the huge success of the 44 Scotland Street series, Alexander Mc Call Smith has 'moved house' to a crumbling four-storey mansion in Pimlico
- Corduroy Mansions. It is inhabited by a glorious assortment of characters: among them, Oedipus Snark, the first ever nasty Lib Dem MP, who is so detestable his own mother, Berthea, is writing an unauthorised biography about him; & one small vegetarian dog, Freddie de la Hay, who has the ability to fasten his own seatbelt. (Although Corduroy Mansions is a fictional name, the address is now registered by the Post Office.)
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`A murder of crows`, `a charm of goldfinches`, `an ostentation of peacocks`: collective nouns for British birds have existed since at least the mid fifteenth century. They are thought to originate in texts about hunting, but have since evolved into evocative, witty & literary expressions, each striving to capture the very essence of the animal they describe. Some are portentous
- `a conspiracy of ravens` perfectly evokes this sinister bird
- others convey sound, such as `a murmuration of starlings` or `a chattering of choughs`. Yet more reflect with a flourish the beauty of the bird itself: what could be more celebratory than `a crown of kingfishers`, or `an exaltation of larks`? The best of these imaginative expressions are collected here, illustrated with charming woodcuts by Thomas Bewick, the renowned naturalist engraver of the eighteenth century. Featuring songbirds, aquatic birds, birds of prey & garden favourites, this beautifully presented book will delight both bird-lovers & word-lovers in equal measure.

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In a snow-covered village in Chechnya, eight-year-old Havaa watches from the woods as her father is abducted in the middle of the night by Russian soldiers. Their life-long friend & neighbour, Akhmed, has also been watching, & when he finds Havaa he knows of only one person who might be able to help. For tough-minded doctor Sonja Rabina, it's just another day of trying to keep her bombed-out, abandoned hospital going. When Akhmed arrives with Havaa, asking Sonja for shelter, she has no idea who the pair are & even less desire to take on yet more responsibilities & risk. But over the course of five extraordinary days, Sonja's world will shift on its axis, revealing the intricate pattern of connections that binds these three unlikely companions together & unexpectedly decides their fate. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena is simply spectacular. (Ann Patchett). ...

A Continent Revealed presents the findings of the European Geotraverse (EGT),
- a unique study of the tectonic evolution of the
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In an old farmhouse on the slopes of a mountain lying between Tregaron & Aberystwyth, Elisabeth Luard brings the produce of the land into her kitchen & turns it into delicious food. This book is her response to the changes she sees in her garden & the surrounding countryside throughout the seasons, with distinctive recipes at the end of each month's chapter. It is the story of a year spent planting & picking in the garden, roaming the countryside with her grandchildren & introducing them to the pleasures of rural living. Elisabeth's cooking is rooted in the culture of the Mediterranean where she once lived, as well as being inspired by traditional Welsh recipes & by her own garden. In winter she stirs up warming dishes like Spanish biscocho or Welsh winter cawl; in the spring she waits until the first mayflower comes to bloom before planting lettuces, mangetouts & broad beans in her garden. She relies on locally sourced meat for dishes like Partridges with baby onions & cinnamon in red wine, Rabbit with tagliatelle, cream & mustard or Ceps with potatoes & bacon, & rakes the countryside for ingredients like fruit for Hedgerow jelly, nettles for soup, elderflowers for cordial, cake or even fritters. With full colour photography by Clare Richardson that perfectly captures the sense of life in the Welsh countryside, this is a unique & beautiful book. ...

Every year in spring, Gabriel Gate spends two months travelling in his beloved native l&, where he began as a chef more than 40 years ago. During these visits Gabriel delights in the top gourmet specialities of France`s renowned cities & regions including Nice, Marseille, Provence, the Loire Valley & Paris. On his travels, Gabriel discovers the outstanding fish & seafood, excellent wines & liqueurs, extraordinary cheeses, unique range of charcuteries, delicious bread, cakes & patisseries which are a constant delight for the French people. In A Cook`s Tour of France, he shares recipes for dishes from all the main regions of France, such as the popular Auge Valley chicken casserole from Normandy, the colourful ratatouille from Nice with lemon chantilly &, of course, stunning desserts as only the French can do, like the luscious strawberry tart from the Loire Valley. This beautifully illustrated book gathers the best classic recipes from the many regions of France, one of the world`s best destinations for food lovers ...