Step into the heart of Jamaica through the eyes of someone who lived its stories, traditions, struggles, and triumphs firsthand.The Fantasy: A True Jamaican Living is a powerful memoir by Clive James that captures the essence of growing up in Portland, Jamaica. From childhood adventures and family traditions to the rhythms of reggae and dancehall, the book paints a vivid picture of Jamaican culture and the values that shape its people. Through twenty-one engaging chapters, readers ...

"[A] collection of Clive James's essays on a variety of literary topics . . . This is sanity, humor and acuity in the face of death" ( The Wall Street Journal).In 2010, Clive James was diagnosed with terminal leukemia. Deciding that "if you don't know the exact moment when the lights will go out, you might as well read until they do," James moved his library to his Cambridge house, where he would "live, read, and perhaps even write." James is the award-win...

"A loving and breezy set of essays" on today's most addictive TV shows from "an incisive and hilarious critic" ( Slate).Television is not what it once was. Award-winning author and critic Clive James spent decades covering the medium, and witnessed a radical change in content, format, and programming, and in the very manner in which TV is watched.Here he examines this unique cultural revolution, providing a brilliant, eminently entertaining analysi...

**The first instalment of his famed autobiography, Unreliable Memoirs is a hilarious and touching introduction to the life of the author, broadcaster, critic and poet, Clive James.'It is one of the most tender, frank and, above all, funny accounts of growing up I have ever read' –Michael Parkinson**In the first instalment of James's memoirs we follow the young Clive on his journey from boyhood to the cusp of manhood, when his days of wearing short trousers are fina...

**A hilarious journey through the life and television of the 1970s and 80s, this nostalgic time capsule collects the treasured columns of Clive James.'The funniest writer in Britain' – Sunday Times**Clive James is the man who created TV criticism as a genre, bringing to it all the breadth of reference, intelligence and delight that he brought to more conventionally highbrow art forms. At a time when there were only three TV channels in the UK, and a primetime show ...

“Under James’s uncanny touch, seven long centuries drop away, and the great poem is startlingly fresh and new.”—Stephen GreenblattThe Divine Comedy is the precursor of modern literature, and Clive James’s translation—decades in the making—gives us the entire epic as a single, coherent, and compulsively readable lyric poem. For the first time ever in an English translation, James makes the bold choice of switching from the terza rima composition of the orig...

Dante's immortal vision of Hell shines "as it never did before in English verse" (Edward Mendelson) in Clive James's new translation of Inferno.The most captivating part of perhaps the greatest epic poem ever written, Dante's Inferno still holds the power to thrill and inspire. The medieval equivalent of a thriller, Inferno follows Dante and his faithful guide, Virgil, as they traverse the complex geography of Hell, confronting its many t...

Hilarious and trenchant, Reliable Essays collects the most memorable works of criticism and travel writing from well-loved author and broadcaster, Clive James. With an introduction by Julian Barnes.'[An] intellectual as well as a joker, a wise man as well as a wit' – ObserverWhether discussing arts, politics or culture, Clive James opens up new avenues for thought whilst never being less than wonderfully entertaining. From...

**The debut novel from much-loved writer, poet and broadcaster Clive James, Brilliant Creatures is a bold, hilarious satire of the media industry.'Clive James doesn't miss a trick' – The Times**Lancelot Windhover used to be famous, but that was a long, long time ago. And so now, when his extramarital affair is on the path to becoming a subject for the gossip columns, it is at least some consolation to know he is remembered.A romping satire of Londo...

**His third book of cultural criticism, From the Land of Shadows sees essayist, critic and poet Clive James at his erudite, enlightening best.'[T]he lasting impression is of our critic's truly amazing breadth of reference' – Times Literary Supplement**Collecting his work from the late 1970s and into the early 1980s, this book contains engaging, informed discussions of such writers as Bernard Levin, Gore Vidal, John le Carré, Anthony Burgess, Evelyn Waugh, ...

**Following Visions Before Midnight, The Crystal Bucket is another hilarious time-capsule of 1970s television – the second collection of Clive James's ruthlessly funny, inimitable columns dissecting the entertainment of the day.'One of the few columnists who makes you laugh aloud' – Melvyn Bragg, Sunday Times**In many ways, the 1970s were a dark time for Britain – a time of struggle, deepening divisions and Christmas with the Osmonds. Cli...

Clive James tackles burning issues and shining personalities, from Barry Humphries to Barry Manilow and Michael Jackson to Michael Foot, in Snakecharmers in Texas – his fourth collection of essays, originally written between 1980 and 1987.With his trademark erudition and wise-cracking intelligence Clive James discusses space travel, Formula One, the nuances of kung-fu cinema, the lyrical footwork of Torvill and Dean and the charms of the Statue of Liberty....