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Turning Back The Clock: Hot Wars and Media Populism

Umberto Eco, 2008

After the Cold War, the 'Hot War' has made its comeback in Afghanistan and Iraq. Exhuming Kipling's «Great Game», we have gone back to the clash between Islam and Christianity. The ghost of the Yellow Peril has been resurrected, the nineteenth-century anti-Darwin debate has been reopened, right-wing governments predominate. It almost seems like history, tired of the big steps forward it has taken in the past two millennia, has gone into reverse. With his customary sharpness and wit, Eco proposes, not so much that we resume a forward march, but at the very least that we cease marching backwards. Подробнее

The Water's Lovely

Ruth Rendell, 2007

Weeks went by when Ismay never thought of it at all. Then something would bring it back or it would return in a dream. The dream began in the same way. She and her mother would be climbing the stairs, following Heather's lead through the bedroom to what was on the other side, not a bathroom in the dream but a chamber floored and walled in marble. In the middle of it was a glassy lake. The white thing in the water floated towards her, its face submerged, and her mother said, absurdly, 'Don't look!'' The dead man was Ismay's stepfather, Guy. Now, nine years on, she and her sister, Heather, still lived in the same house in Clapham. But it had been divided into two self-contained flats. Their mother lived upstairs with her sister, Pamela. And the bathroom, where Guy had drowned, had been demolished. Ismay worked in public relations, and Heather in catering. They got on well. They always had. They never discussed the changes to the house, still less what had happened that August day... But even lives as private as these, where secrets hang in the air like dust, intertwine with other worlds and other individuals. And, with painful inevitability, the truth will emerge. Подробнее

The Year of Living Biblically

A.J. Jacobs, 2009

Avoiding shellfish was easy. The stoning of adulterers proved a little more difficult — and potentially controversial. Was it enough to walk up to an adulterer and gently touch them with a stone? Even that could be grounds for accusations of assault, especially with female adulterers in Manhattan. So what's a good Bible-reading boy to do? Raised in a secular family but increasingly interested in the relevance of faith in our modern world, A.J. Jacobs decides to dive in head first and attempt to obey the hundreds of less-publicized rules. The resulting spiritual journey is at once funny and profound, reverent and irreverent, personal and universal, and will make you see history's most influential book with new eyes. Подробнее

Flat Earth News: An Award-winning Reporter Exposes Falsehood, Distortion and Propaganda in the Global Media

Nick Davies, 2009

'Finally I was forced to admit that I work in a corrupted profession'. When award-winning journalist Nick Davies decided to break Fleet Street's unwritten rule by investigating his own colleagues, he found that the business of reporting the truth had been slowly subverted by the mass production of ignorance. Working with a network of off-the-record sources, Davies uncovered the story of the prestigious Sunday newspaper which allowed the CIA and MI6 to plant fiction in its columns; the newsroom which routinely rejects stories about black people; the respected paper that hired a professional fraudster to set up a front company to entrap senior political figures; the newspapers which support law and order while paying cash bribes to bent detectives. Davies names and exposes the national stories which turn out to be pseudo events manufactured by the PR industry, and the global news stories which prove to be fiction generated by a new machinery of international propaganda. He shows the impact of this on a world where consumers believe a mass of stories which, in truth, are as false as the idea that the Earth is flat — from the millennium bug to the WMD in Iraq — tainting government policy, perverting popular belief. He presents a new model for understanding news. With the help of researchers from Cardiff University, who ran a ground-breaking analysis of our daily news, Davies found most reporters, most of the time, are not allowed to dig up stories or check their facts — a profession corrupted at the core. Read All About It. The news will never look the same again. Подробнее

Summer Lightning

P.G. Wodehouse, 2008

This is a Blandings novel. «The Empress of Blandings», prize-winning pig and all-consuming passion of Clarence, Ninth Earl of Emsworth, has disappeared. Blandings Castle is in uproar and there are suspects a-plenty — from Galahad Threepwood (who is writing memoirs so scandalous they will rock the aristocracy to its foundations) to the Efficient Baxter, chilling former secretary to Lord Emsworth. Even Beach the Butler seems deeply embroiled. And what of Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe, Clarence's arch-rival, and his passion for prize-winning pigs? With the castle full of deceptions and impostors, will Galahad's memoirs ever see the light of day? And will the Empress be returned...? Подробнее

Full Moon

P.G. Wodehouse, 2008

When the moon is full at Blandings, strange things happen: among them the painting of a portrait of The Empress, twice in succession winner in the Fat Pigs Class at the Shropshire Agricultural Show. What better choice of artist, in Lord Emsworth’s opinion, than Landseer. The renowned painter of The Stag at Bay may have been dead for decades, but that doesn’t prevent Galahad Threepwood from introducing him to the castle — or rather introducing Bill Lister, Gally’s godson, so desperately in love with Prudence that he’s determined to enter Blandings in yet another imposture. Add a gaggle of fearsome aunts, uncles and millionaires, mix in Freddie Threepwood, Beach the Butler and the gardener McAllister, and the moon is full indeed. Подробнее

Ukridge

P.G. Wodehouse, 2008

Money makes the world go round for Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge – and when there isn’t enough of it, the world just has to spin a bit faster. Ever on the lookout for a quick buck, a solid gold fortune, or at least a plausible little scrounge, the irrepressible Ukridge gives con men a bad name. Looking like an animated blob of mustard in his bright yellow raincoat, he invests time, passion and energy (but seldom actual cash) in a series of increasingly bizarre money-making schemes. Finance for a dog college? It’s yours. Shares in an accident syndicate? Easily arranged. Promoting a kind-hearted heavyweight boxer? A snip. Poor Corky Corcoran, Ukridge’s old school chum and confidant, trails through these pages in the ebullient wake of Wodehouse’s most disreputable but endearing hero and hopes to escape with his shirt at least. Подробнее

A Pelican at Blandings

P.G. Wodehouse, 2008

Unwelcome guests are descending on Blandings Castle – particularly the overbearing Duke of Dunstable, who settles in the Garden Suite with no intention of leaving, and Lady Constance, Lord Emsworth’s sister and a lady of firm disposition, who arrives unexpectedly from New York. Skulduggery is also afoot involving the sale of a modern nude painting (mistaken by Lord Emsworth for a pig). It’s enough to take the noble earl on the short journey to the end of his wits. Luckily Clarence’s brother Galahad Threepwood, cheery survivor of the raffish Pelican Club, is on hand to set things right, restore sundered lovers and even solve all the mysteries. Подробнее

Laughing Gas

P.G. Wodehouse, 2008

A P.G. Wodehouse novel Joey Cooley is a golden-curled child film star, the idol of American motherhood. Reginald, Third Earl of Havershot, is a boxing blue on a mission to save his wayward cousin from the fleshpots of Hollywood. Both are under anaesthetic at the dentists when something strange happens – and their identities are swapped in the ether. Suddenly Joey can use his six-foot frame to get his own back on his Hollywood persecutors. But Reggie has to endure everything Joey had to put up with in the horrible life of a child star – including kidnap. «Laughing Gas» is Wodehouse’s brilliantly funny take on the ‘If I were you’ theme – a wry look at the dangers of getting what you wish for in the movie business and beyond. Подробнее

A Damsel in Distress

P.G. Wodehouse, 2008

Lady Maud, the spirited young daughter of the Earl of Marshmoreton, is confined to her home, Belpher Castle in Hampshire, under aunt’s orders because of an unfortunate infatuation. Enter our hero, George Bevan, an American who writes songs for musicals and is so smitten with Maud that he descends on Hampshire’s rolling acres to see off his rival and claim her heart. Meanwhile, in the great Wodehousian tradition, the Earl of Marshmoreton just wants a quiet life pottering in his garden, supported by his portly butler Keggs and free from the demands of his bossy sister and his silly-ass son. In a sunny story which involves chorus-girls, the theatre and a ball at the castle during a two-week house-party, Wodehouse deftly unties all the knots which he had so cleverly tied around his characters in the first place. Подробнее

The Small Bachelor

P.G. Wodehouse, 2008

A P.G. Wodehouse novel It’s America during Prohibition and shy young George Finch is setting out as an artist – without the encumbrance of a shred of talent. George falls in love with Molly, whose imperious stepmother Mrs Waddington insists he’s not the man to marry the stepdaughter of one of New York’s most fashionable hostesses. Poor George – he doesn’t seem to stand a chance. How George eventually triumphs over the bossy Mrs Waddington makes for a dizzying plot featuring some of Wodehouse’s most appealing minor characters – Mullett the butler and his light-fingered girlfriend Fanny, J. Hamilton Beamish, author of the dynamic Beamish Booklets, Officer Garroway the poetic policeman, and Sigsbee H. Waddington, the hen-pecked husband who longs for the wide open spaces of the West. Oh, and does Prohibition mean there’s no booze? Watch this space… Подробнее

Hot Water

P.G. Wodehouse, 2008

Château Blissac, on its hill above St Roque, is in a setting where every prospect pleases. But it doesn’t please its current occupier, J. Wellington Gedge. Mr Gedge wants none of it – and particularly none of the domineering Mrs Gedge’s imperious wish that he should become American Ambassador to Paris. Instead he pines for the simpler life of California, where men are men and filling stations stand tall. Mrs Gedge has powerful allies – including the prohibitionist Senator Opal. But will she get her way? And will the Senator’s delightful daughter Jane get her man? In a plot which involves safe-blowers, con men, jewel-thieves and even a Bloomsbury novelist, few are quite as they seem. But the heady atmosphere of France in the 1930s makes for one of Wodehouse’s most delightful comedies. Подробнее

Summer Moonshine

P.G. Wodehouse, 2008

Poor Sir Buckstone Abbott, Bart! Not only does he own in Walsingford Hall one of the least attractive stately homes in the country, but he has to take in paying guests to keep it upright. So when it seems a rich (if not very nice) continental princess might buy it, he’s overjoyed – particularly as he’s being rooked by the publisher of his sporting memoirs. His daughter Jane comes up trumps in the company of the playwright Joe – but not before engagements are broken and fortunes lost and made.In a sunny story which involves chorus-girls, the theatre and a ball at the castle during a two-week house-party, Wodehouse deftly unties all the knots which he had so cleverly tied around his characters in the first place. Подробнее

Money for Nothing

P.G. Wodehouse, 2008

The peaceful slumber of the Worcester village of Rudge-in-the-Vale is about to be rudely disrupted. First there’s a bitter feud between peppery Colonel Wyvern and the Squire of Rudge Hall, rich but miserly Lester Carmody. Second, that arch-villain Chimp Twist has opened a health farm – and he and Soapy and Dolly Molloy are planning a fake burglary so Lester can diddle his insurance company. After the knockout drops are served, things get a little complicated. But will Lester’s nephew John win over his true love, Colonel Wyvern’s daughter Pat, and restore tranquillity to the idyll? It’s a close-run thing… Подробнее

The Girl in Blue

P.G. Wodehouse, 2008

A P.G. Wodehouse novel Young Jerry West has a few problems. His uncle Crispin is broke and employs a butler who isn’t all he seems. His other uncle Willoughby is rich but won’t hand over any of his inheritance. And to cap it all, although already engaged, Jerry has just fallen in love with the wonderful Jane Hunnicutt, whom he’s just met on jury service. But she’s an heiress, and that’s a problem too – because even if he can extricate himself from his grasping fiancée Jerry can’t be a gold-digger. Enter «The Girl in Blue» – a Gainsborough miniature which someone has stolen from Uncle Willoughby. Jerry sets out on a mission to find her – and somehow hilariously in the process everything comes right. Подробнее

7th Heaven

James Patterson, 2008

Two cases have pushed Detective Lindsay Boxer to the limit. The hunt for a deranged murderer with a taste for fire, and a devastating new lead in the high profile disappearance of the governor’s son combine in an electrifying series of stunning twists and emotional surprises. With the help of her friends and fellow members of the Women's Murder Club — Yuki, an attorney feeling the strain of a high profile court case; Claire, a medical examiner trying to balance her career and her pregnancy and Cindy, crime reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle — Lindsay must race to find the suspects and stop the cold-blooded killers, fast. Подробнее

The Ghost Agent

Alex Berenson, 2008

Below the radar, off the grid, and behind enemy lines, CIA agent John Wells plays a deadly game of risk... As a covert CIA special operative, John Wells knows the odds are always stacked against him. For every atrocity foiled, another deadly catastrophe awaits. So when it emerges that four of the world's most dangerous states are plotting together to unleash the ultimate nuclear threat, Wells realises that his odds on stopping them ranges from zero...to none. But that's never stopped him before. And it isn't going to stop him now... Подробнее

Cold Spring Harbor

Richard Yates, 2008

All the sorrows of Evan Shepard's loutish adolescence were redeemed at seventeen, in 1935, when he fell in love with automobiles... In the small suburban town of Cold Spring Harbor, Evan Shephard and his young bride Rachel yearn to escape the mistakes of their parents. But as they discover, families exert a hold as tight as fate, and every way out only ends up back home. Подробнее

Disturbing the Peace

Richard Yates, 2008

John Wilder is in his mid-thirties, a successful salesman with a place in the country, an adoring wife and a ten-year-old son. But something is wrong. His family no longer interests him, his infidelities are leading him nowhere and he has begun to drink too much. Then one night, something inside John snaps and he calls his wife to tell her that he isn't coming home. Подробнее

The Easter Parade

Richard Yates, 2008

Even as little girls, Sarah and Emily are very different from each other. Emily looks up to her wiser and more stable older sister and is jealous of her relationship with their absent father, and later her seemingly golden marriage. The path she chooses for herself is less safe and conventional and her love affairs never really satisfy her. Although the bond between them endures, gradually the distance between the two women grows, until a tragic event throws their relationship into focus one last time. Richard Yates's masterful novel follows the two sisters from their childhood in the 1920s through the challenges of their adult choices, and depicts the different ways they seek to escape from their tarnished family past. Подробнее

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