There are writing manuals... and there are writing manuals. Endless Joke casts a somewhat ironic and satirical eye over the current state of publishing, very much from one independent writer's perspective, but certainly far from a partisan one. It pokes affectionate fun while genuinely wrestling with some of the complications produced in the wake of traditional publishing's seismic changes. But don't be fooled: it somehow manages to be both punk-rock irreverent and devout as a choirboy—whi...

This is what can happen when a personal story of trauma meets the collective horror of an apocalyptic, true-life event: in this case, 9/11. No doubt many people who intended visiting NYC at that time must have circled September 11, 2001 on their calendars (it's a random date, after all), but how many of them had a) been diagnosed with PTSD that same year, b) planned to drive from the Pacific Coast of Canada all the way across the continent, and c) were willing to do it alone? This fairly b...

Embark on a journey of discovery.Delve into the foundation of our human lives and our destiny.Learn about the life that lies beyond our present sight.Set out as a series of logical questions and answers, From Homo Sapiens to Immortal Souls: Origin and Destiny of the Human Species provides a lens through which to explore our spiritual origin and the eternity that awaits us. In this grounded, conversational discussion, JP Duby helps readers to contemplate the purpose ...

The complete Series 1 & 2 of the historical sitcom about well-meaning but gullible 18th Century squire Fenton Babblewick and his clever manservant AugustusWhen idealistic Fenton Babblewick inherits his uncle's Yorkshire estate, it's the perfect opportunity to realise his Utopian dreams. But for his valet, Augustus Snipe, moving to Babblewick Hall is a nightmare. The servants are surly, the house is freezing cold and full of farm animals, and worst of all, it's in t...

Slices of 19th-century London life from the pen of Charles DickensHere are ten gloriously comic stories from Sketches by Boz, Charles Dickens' earliest collection of short pieces in which he honed his literary genius. Each tale is dramatised by Dr Stephen Wyatt with a full cast.©2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2021 BBC Studios Distribution LtdCast and creditsWritten by Charles DickensDramatised by Dr Stephen WyattD...

Julius Caesar is Shakespeare’s most political play. He examines whether political assassination can ever be justified, and the effect of this act of violence on its perpetrators. The high ideals of Brutus are tested to the full by the consequences of Julius Caesar’s murder; as is the self-interest of Cassius, whilst in the chaos that ensues, the opportunism of Mark Antony and Octavius is served rather than the cause of freedom. A classic study of power, Shakespeare shows the devastating ef...

Paris, 1878. Following the death of their father from overwork, the three van Goethem sisters find their lives upended. Without their father's wages, and with what little their mother earns as a laundress disappearing down the absinthe bottle, eviction from their single boarding room seems imminent. With few options for work available for a girl, bookish fourteen-year-old Marie and her younger sister Charlotte are dispatched to the Paris Opera, where for a scant seven francs a week, the gi...

Elegant, enigmatic Jay Gatsby yearns for his old love, the beautiful Daisy. But she is married to the insensitive if hugely successful Tom Buchanan, who won’t let her go despite having a mistress himself. In their wealthy haven, these beguiling lives are brought together by the innocent and entranced narrator, Nick until their decadent deceits spill into violence and tragedy. Part morality tale, part fairy tale, The Great Gatsby is the consummate novel of the Jazz Age. Its tenderness and p...

Originally collected in Eating the Dinosaur and now available both as a stand-alone essay and in the ebook collection Chuck Klosterman on Media and Culture, this essay is about advertising.

Travel in the entertaining company of a man made of equal parts bullshit and inspiration, in what is ultimately a twisted panegyric to the power of strange music to change people from the inside outAt turns funny and strangely sobering, this "found memoir" is a picaresque tale of inspired, heroic deceit, incompetence, and -- just possibly -- triumph. Follow the flailing escapades of maverick music manager Campbell Ouiniette at the Calgary Folk Festival, as he leaves a trail of empt...

"The teaching of creative writing just entered a whole new era . . . Heavens, what a joy this book is." —Lynne Truss, New York Times–bestselling author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves"What do you think of my fiction book writing?" the aspiring novelist extorted."Darn," the editor hectored, in turn. "I can not publish your novel! It is full of what we in the business call 'really awful writing.'""But how shall I absolve ...

These 23 stories take us on a twisted fun ride into some future times and parallel universes where characters as diverse as a one-legged International Actuarial Forensics specialist, a pharmaceutical guinea pig, and a far-sighted fetus engage in their own games of the survival of the fittest. From a new short story by William Gibson in which a teen disassociated from his body haunts his neighborhood through the decades, to Douglas Coupland’s balls-out satire of a slightly futuristic Surviv...