A hilarious anthology of comic treasures written by Britain's "comic genius"—the former editor of Punch and beloved regular on BBC's Radio 4 ( The Times).Alan Coren was one of contemporary Britain's most prolific humorists. Over his forty-year career, Coren wrote comic and satirical pieces for The New Yorker, The Times, Observer, Tatler, Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, and Punch, and publi...

A headline-crunching celebration of Radio 4’s hugely successful topical comedy quiz showThe News Quiz made its debut on Radio 4 in 1977, and four decades later it’s still playfully making and breaking the headlines of our daily news.Among the vintage gems in this collection are 25 Years of the News Quiz, in which Alan Coren, Andy Hamilton, Jeremy Hardy, John Sergeant, Linda Smith and Francis Wheen take a t...

Sandi Toksvig’s first four series as host of the popular satirical comedy showTaking over the News Quiz chair from Simon Hoggart, comedian and broadcaster Sandi Toksvig steps up to the plate to lead the intrepid panellists in a round-up of the biggest (and smallest) news stories of 2006 and 2007. With the exception of one show, hosted by Clive Anderson when Sandi had the flu, she chairs each of these 33 episodes with her characteristic wit, charm and erudi...

With this volume filled with thousands of bizarrely fascinating facts, we're on a roll!Is there any other single book in the universe with this many awesome tidbits of bite-sized information? Nope. And that's a fact! At nearly 400 pages (with a handy index for your fact-seeking convenience), Wise Up! is a must-have for anyone who likes their information on the go. It's organized into hundreds of topics—everything from sports and entertainment to word origi...

The world is full of pointless things. From rail replacement bus services to chip forks. From war to windchimes. From people who put cushions on beds to people who read the bit they write about the book on amazon. Look around you right now. Just about the only thing that isn't pointless is you. You look amazing. Join Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman, the hosts of BBC1 quiz show Pointless as they take you on a journey through The 100 Most Pointless Things in the World. Filled with play...

The late Reginald Bretnor (1911-1992) was never a prolific writer -- he wrote only a handful of books and about 100 short stories (and more than 120 short-short "Feghoots" under his Grendel Briarton pseudonym) -- over a 45-year writing career. In addition to wars, weaponry, and science fiction, Bretnor's broad interests included cats. (And puns. Did we mention the horrible puns?) These subjects are all touched on in this collection. A sly sense of humor permeates Bretnor’s fiction, and as ...

Edmond Hamilton. For most people, this name conjures visions of two-fisted space opera -- pure pulp science fiction. And Hamilton -- known as the author of the "Captain Future" series -- was indeed one of the foremost writers of pulp space opera. Over the years, as his work became more polished and sophisticated, he evolved into far more than that: a visionary of the future whose imagination knew no bounds. He was truly a cosmic writer, as stories such as "Devolution" (in this collection) ...

Fredric Brown (1906-1972), one of science fiction's greatest masters from the Golden Age, is famous for his many classic short stories -- quite a few of which are presented here, including "Arena," "Knock," "Earthmen Bearing Gifts," "The Star Mouse," and many more. The 32 tales of science fiction and fantasy assembled in this massive volume include:ARENAEXPERIMENTKEEP OUTHAPPY ENDINGHALL OF MIRRORSEARTHMEN BEARING GIFTSIMAGINEIT DIDN...

A brilliant – and rather transgressive – collection of short stories from the double Man Booker Prize-winning author of Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies and The Mirror & the Light.Including a new story ‘The School of English’.Hilary Mantel is one of Britain’s most accomplished and acclaimed writers. In these ten bracingly subversive tales, all her gifts of characterisation and observation are fully engaged, summoning forth the horro...

THE RUNAWAY GLOBAL BESTSELLER'Gripping, enthralling - a top-notch thriller and a compulsive read.' SJ Watson, bestselling author of BEFORE I GO TO SLEEPRachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She's even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. 'Jess and Jason', she calls them. Their life - as...

A picaresque novel of how one person's actions can have far-reaching—even global—consequences, from a #1 international bestselling author."A funny and completely implausible farce about a woman, a bomb and a man's frustrated ambition to overthrow the king of Sweden. . . . The rest of the world will chuckle all the way through it." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)In a tiny shack in the largest tow...

Discover the delightfully heartwarming and life-affirming bestseller about one man's unlikely journey through love, perfect for fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely FineTHE INTERNATIONAL MILLION COPY BESTSELLER'I couldn't put this book down. It's one of the most quirky and endearing romances I've ever read. I laughed the whole way through' SOPHIE KINSELLA'Brilliant, important, good-hearted' GUA...