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'A marvellous set of unsavoury suspects' Mail on Sunday 'Thriller of the Week' 'A rollicking read' Evening Standard Bryce Peabody is ready to give a scandalous talk at the annual literary festival in the pretty English town of Mold-on-Wold. Scathing in his reviews and unseemly in his affairs, Bryce is known to have many enemies. So when he is discovered dead in his hotel room festival-goers are desperate to know what happened. Could one of the numerous writers he insulted have taken revenge? Or perhaps one of his scorned lovers? As more festival-goers meet their ends, Francis Meadowes is drawn into a role he knows only from his own fiction; that of amateur detective.
McCrum pens a lighthearted and informative guide to everything from first meeting to last rites. Subjects covered include the opening contact between strangers; greetings, gestures, handshakes, and getting names right; as well as more complex traditions and how to behave abroad.
Once in a while a book is produced that captures the energy and spirit of the world of rock. Somebody Someday was published to massive popular and critical acclaim in September 2001. It shot straight to No 1 in the bestseller lists and proceeded to spend 14 weeks in the top 3. The insight, honesty and humour of the book was unprecedented. The photographic quality and design innovation; no more than this pop icon deserved. In short it was a triumph. For the paperback edition Robert P. Williams and Mark McCrum have delved even further into the phenomenon that is Robbie - covering his million selling 2001 album and looking at changes in his professional, family, social and love lives. Dynamically repackaged in a tempting trade paperback and including new photographs, this is a fitting follow up 2001's most successful hardback - Somebody Someday.
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In China your host will lose face if he does not pick up the tab In Tokyo, 'Chin-Chin' is slang for 'small penis'. In Sardinia a raised thumb means 'sit on this!' - try that in a traffic jam in Cagliari. The world is not, in fact, flat; and as travel becomes ever easier, understanding the way things are done in other societies becomes ever more crucial. Going Dutch in Beijing aims to help its readers avoid minor international incidents by offering a light-hearted but informative look at everything from first greetings to last rites, covering key minefields of misunderstanding along the way. If you want to know what not to say, what not to wear and what not to do when you are invited round for dinner, all around the world, it's as well to get up to speed before you find yourself in the local police station. As they say in South Korea - ?????! (Enjoy!)
'The financial investigation of the decade... Money Men instantly enters the canon of great financial crime books' Bradley Hope, author of The Billion Dollar Whale 'A rip-roaring ride into the underworld of the global economy' Tom Burgis, author of Kleptopia 'Required reading' The Economist 'A cross between the Enron scandal and Rosemary's Baby' John Lanchester, London Review of Books 'Reads like a crime drama' New Statesman 'The culmination of years of careful investigative work... Gripping' Evening Standard 'A thrilling, head-spinning book' Irish Times 'A rollercoaster read that reveals everything that's wrong with our financial system' Catherine Belton Now adapted as the Netflix documenta...
Mark McCrum's rich and varied travel book witnesses at first hand a South Africa in the throes of historic change.
When a fellow author is murdered during a literary festival, crime writer Francis Meadowes determines to discover who killed him. At the start of one of the English summer’s highlights, the annual literary festival in the pretty little country town of Mold-on-Wold, famous critic Bryce Peabody is found dead in his bed at the White Hart Hotel. At first it seems as if fifty-something Bryce might have succumbed to a heart attack, but the forensics team soon uncover evidence of something more sinister. Bryce had made many enemies in the past, with his scandalous private life and scathing reviews. Could it be that one of the many writers he insulted in print has taken a bitter revenge? Or perhaps there’s a more personal reason? Unable to help himself, crime writer Francis Meadowes, who is also staying at the White Hart, is drawn into a role he knows only from his own fiction, that of amateur detective.
Over several years, Parry spent a month living with fifteen different tribes in remote regions of the world. The result is an insight into wildly differing cultures that are vibrant, hospitable and full of spirit despite numerous hardships. Parry's insatiable curiosity takes him deep into the heart of each community, whether they be forest people, cannibals or nomadic herders, where beyond the obvious differences, he finds the same loves, trials and issues we have the world over. His encounters also throw up some thought-provoking and challenging questions: is change good? Should we protect tribes people? And, more importantly, who are we to impose our own cultural sensitivities in our judgement of their customs? Along the way, Parry takes part in some ridiculously dangerous rituals, which include taking mammoth amounts of a potentially lethal hallucinogen, having his penis forced back into his body and eating rats' livers cake. He also forges new friendships that will last him a lifetime.