Becoming A Londoner

The first volume of National Book Award finalist David Plante's extraordinary diaries of a life lived among the artistic elite in 1960s London. “Nikos and I live together as lovers, as everyone knows, and we seem to be accepted because it's known that we are lovers. In fact, we are, according to the law, criminals in our making love with each other, but it is as if the laws don't apply. It is as if all the conventions of sex and clothes and art and music and drink and drugs don't apply here in London . . .” In the 1960s, strangers to their new city and from the different worlds of New York and Athens, David and Nikos embarked on a life together, a partnership that would endure for forty years. At a moment of “absolute respect for differences,” London offered a freedom in love unattainable in their previous homes. Friendships with Stephen and Natasha Spender, Francis Bacon, Sonia Orwell, W. H. Auden, Christopher Isherwood, Steven Runciman, David Hockney, and R. B. Kitaj, meetings with such Bloomsbury luminaries as E. M. Forster and Duncan Grant, and a developing friendship with Philip Roth living in London with Claire Bloom, opened up worlds within worlds; connections appeared to crisscross, invisibly, through the air, interconnecting everyone. David Plante has kept a diary of his life for more than half a century. Both a deeply personal memoir and a fascinating and significant work of cultural history, this first volume spans his first twenty years in London, beginning in the mid-sixties, and pieces together fragments of diaries, notes, sketches, and drawings to reveal a beautiful, intimate portrait of a relationship and a luminous evocation of a world of writers, poets, artists, and thinkers.

The first volume of David Plante's extraordinary diaries of a life lived among the artistic elite, both a deeply personal memoir and a hugely significant document of cultural history

This book is the first ethnographic exploration of gender, race and class practices amongst British born or raised Arabs in London. Ramy M.K. Aly looks critically at the idea of 'Arab-ness' and the ways in which ethnic subjects are produced, signified and recited in the city. Looking at everyday spaces, encounters and discourses, the book explores the lives of young people and some of the ways in which they 'do' or achieve 'Arab-ness'. Aly's ethnography uncovers narratives of growing up in London, the codes of sociability at Shisha cafes and the sexual politics and ethnic self-portraits which make British-Arab men and women. Drawing on the work of Judith Butler, Aly emphasises the need to move away from the notion of identity and towards a performative reading of race, gender and class. What emerges is a highly innovative contribution to the study of diaspora and difference in contemporary Britain.

London – one of the world's most exciting cities. Teeming with life, bursting with history, it houses over 8 million people, and has thousands of stories to tell. 365 Reasons to be Proud to be a Londoner is a quirky, fun exploration of the people and events that make London so special, with an entry for every day of the year. From the building of London's frankly awe-inspiring sewer system to the founding of the iconic Abbey Road recording studios, from the diary of Samuel Pepys to the invention of the World Wide Web, this fascinating book provides 365 compelling reasons why every Londoner should be proud of their wonderful city. Maybe it's because you're a Londoner...that you'll love this book! Word count: 30,000 Related titles: 365 Reasons to be Cheerful (9781906032968) 365 Reasons to be Proud to be British (9781907554391) 365 Reasons to be Proud to be English (9781909396715) 365 Reasons to be Proud to be Irish (9781909396401) 365 Reasons to be Proud to be Scottish (9781907554872) 365 Reasons to Look on the Bright Side (9781907554681)

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A blackly comic late 20th-century murder mystery set against the looming end of the millennium, in which a woman tries to orchestrate her own extinction—from "one of the most gifted novelists of his generation" (TIME). “Lyrical and obscene, colloquial and rhapsodic." —The New York Times First published in 1989, London Fields is set ten years into a dark future, against a backdrop of environmental and social decay and the looming threat of global cataclysm. As the dreaded Y2K approaches, Nicola Six, a “black hole” of sex and self-loathing, has chosen her thirty-fifth birthday, November 5, 1999, as the date of her own murder. Whom to manipulate into killing her is the question; her choice wavers between violent lowlife Keith Talent, who is obsessed with winning a darts tournament, and a dimly romantic banker named Guy Clinch. When Samson Young—a writer suffering from a long bout of writer’s block—stumbles upon these three, he believes he has found a story that will write itself. A highly unusual mystery with an unexpected twist at the end, London Fields is also a corrosively funny narrative of pyrotechnic complexity and scalding moral vision.

Becoming Jimi Hendrix traces “Jimmy’s” early musical roots, from a harrowing, hand-to-mouth upbringing in a poverty-stricken, broken Seattle home to his early discovery of the blues to his stint as a reluctant recruit of the 101st Airborne who was magnetically drawn to the rhythm and blues scene in Nashville. As a sideman, Hendrix played with the likes of Little Richard, Ike and Tina Turner, the Isley Brothers, and Sam & Dave—but none knew what to make of his spotlight-stealing rock guitar experimentation, the likes of which had never been heard before. From 1962 to 1966, on the rough and tumble club circuit, Hendrix learned to please a crowd, deal with racism, and navigate shady music industry characters, all while evolving his own astonishing style. Finally, in New York’s Greenwich Village, two key women helped him survive, and his discovery in a tiny basement club in 1966 led to Hendrix instantly being heralded as a major act in Europe before he returned to America, appeared at the Monterey Pop Festival, and entered the pantheon of rock’s greatest musicians. Becoming Jimi Hendrix is based on over one hundred interviews with those who knew Hendrix best during his lean years, more than half of whom have never spoken about him on the record. Utilizing court transcripts, FBI files, private letters, unpublished photos, and U.S. Army documents, this is the story of a young musician who overcame enormous odds, a past that drove him to outbursts of violence, and terrible professional and personal decisions that complicated his life before his untimely demise.

An employee's-eye view of what makes a great boss—and how you can become one Whereas most books on managing people approach the subject from the perspective of a manager of an idealised organisation, Becoming a Better Boss takes a real-world approach, looking at the topic from the perspective of an employee in a real-world organisation—dysfunctions, warts, and all. Focusing on the choices individual employees make every day in getting work done, this book reinvents the practice of management one employee at a time. Author Julian Birkinshaw stresses the importance of taking management seriously, reveals where management practice often goes wrong, and dives deeply into the worldview of employees. He then explores the common personal biases and frailties of managers and discusses the vital importance of experimentation to overcome the limitations and idiosyncrasies of a particular organisation. Throughout, he supports his assertions with case studies from a wide and varying range of management experiments and situations at real companies. Written by a leading authority on strategy, management, and innovation who is also the author of eleven books, including Reinventing Management Introduces a new approach to management focused on real employees and actual situations Includes case studies from real organisations Between the stress of deadlines and the demands of today's business environment, it's easy for managers to lose sight of the importance of people management. Becoming a Better Boss not only shows managers how to lead effectively, but why doing so is vitally important to every organisation's success.

Through George Orwell's firsthand accounts, readers are exposed to the harsh realities of life as a member of the destitute underclass. Orwell works various menial jobs, as dishwasher and plongeur in Parisian restaurants, and encounters a cast of characters from all walks of life. These include fellow down-and-outs, as well as the exploitative and indifferent employers and landlords who profit from their desperation. Down and Out in Paris and London sheds light on the daily challenges faced by those living in poverty, from the constant struggle to secure food and shelter to the lack of dignity and respect afforded to the working poor. Orwell's experiences also serve as a critique of societal structures and attitudes that perpetuate poverty and inequality, offering insight into the systemic failures that marginalize and oppress the most vulnerable members of society. GEORGE ORWELL was born in India in 1903 and passed away in London in 1950. As a journalist, critic, and author, he was a sharp commentator on his era and its political conditions and consequences.