Portrait Of The Past

Imagine an author who has become a legend in his own lifetime - all because of the novel he wrote in the first flush of youth. Novelist Eugene Pota is a cultural icon of the twentieth century, struggling to write what will be the last novel of his career. But what to write about when, like so many noted authors before him, all of Pota's output since that first, landmark novel has been scrutinized and dissected - and found wanting? PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST, AS AN OLD MAN follows Pota's efforts to settle on a subject for his final work. In his search, Heller - through Pota - pays homage to his favourite authors and discusses the problems that have plagued so many writers whose later works failed to live up to the successes of their first: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, Jack London, Joseph Conrad, to name but a few. It is a rare and enthralling look into the artist's search for creativity, a search that comes at a point in life when impotence - both sexual and spiritual - has become a frustrating fact. Joseph Heller must have known that this would be his final novel; it stands as a fitting testament to the life and works of a leading light in modern literature.

A veteran police detective, Robert Snow was devoted to evidence and hard facts—he had never given any thought to reincarnation. But during a hypnotic regression, he experiences a vivid awareness of being alive in three separate historical scenes. Remaining skeptical, Snow begins to investigate with the intention of disproving reincarnation. Instead, diligent research and corroboration from multiple sources reveal solid evidence that he lived a former life as Carroll Beckwith, a nineteenth-century American artist. Portrait of a Past Life Skeptic tells the fascinating story of Robert Snow's transformation from skeptic to believer.

“Electric. A wildly astute plunge into the depths of love, rivalry, betrayal and the power of women.”—Bill Clegg An internationally renowned writer, Valeria Costas has dedicated her life to her work and to her secret lover, Martìn Acla, a prominent businessman. When his sudden stroke makes headlines, her world implodes; the idea of losing him is terrifying. Desperate to find a way to be present during her lover's final days, Valeria commissions his artist wife, Isla, to paint her portrait—insinuating herself into Martìn's family home and life. In the grand, chaotic London mansion where the man they share—husband, father, lover—lies in a coma, Valeria and Isla remain poised on the brink, transfixed by one another. Day after day, the two women talk to each other during the sittings, revealing truths, fragilities and strengths. But does Isla know of the writer's long involvement with Martìn? Does Valeria grasp the secrets that Isla harbors? Amidst their own private turmoil, the stories of their lives are exchanged, and as the portrait takes shape, we watch these complex and extraordinary women struggle while the love of their lives departs, in an unforgettable, breathless tale of deception and mystery that captivates until the very end.

From Mona Lisa's smile to Napoleon's plundered treasures and I. M. Pei's controversial glass pyramid, this book presents the world's greatest museum, not as the sum of its masterpieces, but as a living, changing institution that throws a high beam on the artistic, political, and social history of the Western World. 650 full-color photos.

Fourteen months of Hornby's warm, incisive, and hilarious chronicles of the books he buys and the books he reads.In this latest collection of essays following 'The Polysyllabic Spree,' critic and author Nick Hornby continues the feverish survey of his swollen bookshelves, offering a funny, intelligent, and unblinkered account of the stuff he's been reading. Ranging from the middlebrow to the highbrow (with unrepenting dips into the lowbrow), Hornby's dispatches from his nightstand table serve as useful guides to contemporary letters, with revelations on contemporary culture, the intellectual scene, and English football, in equal measure.

This, the fourth volume in the British Journal of Photography and Hoxton Mini Press' collaborative series, brings together 200 portraits from all over our island that show Britain at a time of collective regrouping. It createsh both a thoughtful reappraisal of our recent past, and reveals the individuals both loudly and quietly changing the future. It is published in support of 1854 Media's annual award, Portrait of Britain, which sees the finest portraits taken in the nation in recent years tour the country via JCDecaux digital billboards.

More than 100 years of images that reveal the changing face of a city and its inhabitants. This commemorative book shows Montrealers, from the beginnings of photography through to 1976, in images that capture the fragility of a moment, fleeting, yet frozen in time. Through hundreds of snapshots, this book reveals the face of an entire social world. Some photos are the work of masters of photography such as Robert Notman, Henri Cartier-Bresson, John Max, Alain Chagnon, Yousuf Karsh and many more. Others were taken by more or less everyday photographers, generally unaware that they were providing future generations with an invaluable glimpse of humanity and a fragment of eternity. These photographs are accompanied by commentary on the photographer’s work, if one exists, and on fascinating characteristics of the world they unveil to us. The photos are grouped under different themes: housing, culture, streets, religion, work, transportation, First Nations and more. This wholly unique book contains more than 400 original photographs, many previously unpublished or unknown.