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A young bird with a flair for discovery and invention learns self-acceptance one blue-footed step at a time.
Serendipity is horribly aware that she's entering the environs of the elasticated waistband. And these days it seems to be the arrival of her rose and bulb catalogues that inspires a thrill of near-erotic pleasure. As for her husband Stanton, at the first signs of receding hair he compensated by buying a new Harley-Davidson complete with helmet. But, much like Stanton's hairline, their blithe mantra that there's no such thing as middle age might just be beginning to wear a little thin. Victoria Mather and Sue Macartney-Snape are back with another achingly funny cocktail of Social Stereotypes. There is the ever-enthusiastic Antonia who works for Dimwit PR, speaks in exclamation marks and is just too, too blonde; Rachel, the new Tory, who puts other mums to shame with her 'I-got-a-first-and-I-also-have-a-cleavage' self-assurance; and the competitive grannies who fight tooth-and-nail for sole influence over their darling little grandson, Joshua. From the Long Lunchers to the Intimidating Shop Assistant, every foible is delicately detailed and every character strikes a chord. You'll no doubt have already run across a couple of them today.
You'll recognize them immediately. You've come across them yourself or seen them in the papers: Hussein the minicab driver who drives a smelly H-reg Sierra and has a wonderful new short cut to Heathrow that takes twice as long as the normal route; Andrew and Leonora, the smug couple, with their helicopter and their housekeeper and their brilliantly successful children Nicholas and Flora; steely American businessman Crawford Nemesis III, sent from New York to restructure Worldcorp's London office and given to lecturing his fellow dinner guests on the importance of competitive recreation. And of course, Tiffany Zeitgeist, the party blonde, who sprang to fame by wearing a fake-fur thong at a film premiere and who now has a weekly tabloid column which she dictates on her mobile.;In this cathartic new collection of deliciously detailed social sketches, Victoria Mather and Sue Macartney Snape have English society, from top to bottom, off to a T. Perfect for the loo or the guest-room. Or slip it into your pocket to read under the table as Crawford drones boringly on.
A brilliant new collection of stereotypes from the long running Daily Telegraph series.In this hilariously mordant, yet touchingly sympathetic, book, no aspect of English life is spared. Victoria Mather and Sue Macartney-Snape return in sparkling form to immortalize those very English characters and situations we come across every day. For all of us, there_ll always be an England, and, we_re afraid, this is it...Stereotypes include:The Post Office QueueThe Cheryl Cole WannabeThe Rebellious CongregationThe Pub Quiz TeamThe Comical Dog ShowThe Hateful HostsThe MilkmanThe Village OrganistThe Pet FuneralPraise for previous collections:_Mather and Macartney-Snape are not so much observers, more collectors, pinning their victims like butterflies in a display cabinet ... Very enjoyable._ - Michael Parkinson_With consummate skill the authors have once again skewered our national smugness_ - Nicky Haslam_A dazzling combination_ - Jilly Cooper
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Michael Parkinson has described Victoria Mather and Sue Macartney-Snape as 'not so much observers, more collectors, pinning their victims like butterflies in a display cabinet. Their observations are made with the wit and humour necessary to survive the circles they move in.' True to form, The Appalling Guests offers the chance to delight in yet another array of social stereotypes, from supermodel Tweetie's baby shower (the editor of Vogue has bought a leather nappy bag with organic nappy rash unguents wrapped in silver cellophane and sequins) to the Chalfont St Oswald amateur dramatics society staging of Little Red Riding Hood with leading light Pam, who has written it, directed it, designed the costumes and given herself the leading role. You'll recognise them all -- the back seat driver, the beautiful boy at the gym, the merchant banker, the Archers addict and the competitive mother. And thanks to The Appalling Guests, you'll know how to avoid them.
From the winner of the National Book Award and the National Books Critics’ Circle Award—and one of the most original thinkers of our time—“Andrew Solomon’s magisterial Far and Away collects a quarter-century of soul-shaking essays” (Vanity Fair). Far and Away chronicles Andrew Solomon’s writings about places undergoing seismic shifts—political, cultural, and spiritual. From his stint on the barricades in Moscow in 1991, when he joined artists in resisting the coup whose failure ended the Soviet Union, his 2002 account of the rebirth of culture in Afghanistan following the fall of the Taliban, his insightful appraisal of a Myanmar seeped in contradictions as it slowly, fitfull...
Poppy is the epitome of cool, wondering as she varnishes her toenails, if she should have a little dolphin tattooed on her ankle. Besides being long, books are not quite so cool - what she really needs are her friend's notes. Downloading songs on to her iPod and reading Hello! instead of doing her A-level revision, Poppy fobs off her despairing parents by telling them that Google's ace for research on As You Like It. Whatever: she'll get an A. Social Stereotypes has itself just become a teenager and in this new collection Victoria Mather and Sue Macartney-Snape return pin-sharp in their aim to immortalize the characters de nos jours. From Krystal and Craig practising the samba at the Palais ...
From the creators of A World of Kindness, a meditative, sensory picture book with arresting art from fourteen illustrators featuring several award-winning artists like Scot Ritchie, Suzanne Del Rizzo, and many more. Now in paperback!