Rum Blazer
Soon to be a major motion picture!
A laugh-filled, heart-warming tale of how a friendship bewteen a small-time unlicensed Jamaican alcohol distiller and a boisterous cross-breed bloodhound / fox terrier led to one of the most unlikely sporting triumphs. Based very loosely on the true story of Jacob Cratchett, who won the 1923 Greyhound Derby two years after arriving in London from the West Indies, and enjoyed a short-lived fame with his cheeky claims that his dog, Rum Blazer, ran so fast becasue he fuelled him with his home-made hooch, the novel will appeal to dog lovers, sport lovers, rum lovers, and students of cultural and post-colonial studies.
"At the part where Rum Blazer is disqualified for not actually being a greyhound and has to be sold to a cruel landowner so Jacob can repay the prize money, I just cried and cried and cried" - Amanda Holden.
"They really knew how to make rum in those days" - Stuart Hall.
Friday, 14 June 2013
Wednesday, 20 February 2013
it's been a while
Remove!!! (text NM, title NM/JM)
a quirky addition to the ever-increasing genre of celebrity-infected memoir, 'Remove!!!' tells the life story of John Flogger, removals contractor to the stars in the golden age of Elstree studios. 'Remove!!!' has it all, from his humble beginnings as a Billingsgate porter, through his first encounter with the entertainment industry when he pushed a drunken Frankie Howard home in his wheelbarrow in 1946, to his time in the sun as the monopoly provider of removals through a controversial arrangement with UK Equity. Packed with anecdotes, including the hilarious items that fell out of Alec Guinness's bedside cabinet and the time Sylvia Sims' drawers were set on fire by Alistair Sim, 'Remove!!!' is an essential read for any lover of this period of cinema history.
With a Creamy Texture (text NM, title NM/JM)
The latest from the pen of the country's best-loved historical novelist, 'With a Creamy Texture' takes us slap-bang into the world of Elizabeth I's head chef, Mary Withencraft. The first-person present-tense narrative brings the sensual world of the sixteenth century to life, as Mary witnesses affairs, plots against the monocracy and against celibacy, and along the way manages to invent 'Creme Anglaise'.
"Contains some very interesting recipes" - Heston Blumenthal
"Juicy, foody, educational" - Greg Wallace
With a Creamy Texture (text JM, title NM/JM)
This slim volume packs a punch! Gerald Tossington has carved out a reputation as a respected dealer of fine art objects. His name is, while not exactly world known, well respected in the South East of England. But few who value his talents in buying and selling realise that he is also an accomplished essayist and diary-maker. Tossington's pen is arch and knowing, and his tone both bitchy and acute. He waves a sharp sword which scythes through the quaint world in which he moves: fine art auctions and those who attend them. These delicate pen portraits stay in the memory like an etching on glass. He adeptly mixes reverence and guile in his description of the people who cross his path, and his erudition shines through. An elegant addition to your bookcase.
The Quality (text JM, title NM)
'The Quality' is to science fiction what the queen is to the royal family! This one redefines a jaded genre for the new generation. This book astounds with a zingy confidence not seen since the heady days of cyberpunk. Nick Nutz is a school teacher. Confused about life, and fed up with his profession after only six months on the job, he accepts a new post after an unconventional interview in the cellar of a pub. Little does he realise that 'the quality' which got him the job is his (unrealised by himself) ability to dissolve the parameters of time and space. In this sci-fi blockbuster that reads like HG Wells on speed copulating with Doris Lessing on acid, hyper-realistic narrative gives way to gobsmacking hero-poetry and madcap romance. Part light-hearted comedy, part philosophical treatise and all hardcore action, 'The Quality' is ahead of its genre. Pure magic!
a quirky addition to the ever-increasing genre of celebrity-infected memoir, 'Remove!!!' tells the life story of John Flogger, removals contractor to the stars in the golden age of Elstree studios. 'Remove!!!' has it all, from his humble beginnings as a Billingsgate porter, through his first encounter with the entertainment industry when he pushed a drunken Frankie Howard home in his wheelbarrow in 1946, to his time in the sun as the monopoly provider of removals through a controversial arrangement with UK Equity. Packed with anecdotes, including the hilarious items that fell out of Alec Guinness's bedside cabinet and the time Sylvia Sims' drawers were set on fire by Alistair Sim, 'Remove!!!' is an essential read for any lover of this period of cinema history.
With a Creamy Texture (text NM, title NM/JM)
The latest from the pen of the country's best-loved historical novelist, 'With a Creamy Texture' takes us slap-bang into the world of Elizabeth I's head chef, Mary Withencraft. The first-person present-tense narrative brings the sensual world of the sixteenth century to life, as Mary witnesses affairs, plots against the monocracy and against celibacy, and along the way manages to invent 'Creme Anglaise'.
"Contains some very interesting recipes" - Heston Blumenthal
"Juicy, foody, educational" - Greg Wallace
With a Creamy Texture (text JM, title NM/JM)
This slim volume packs a punch! Gerald Tossington has carved out a reputation as a respected dealer of fine art objects. His name is, while not exactly world known, well respected in the South East of England. But few who value his talents in buying and selling realise that he is also an accomplished essayist and diary-maker. Tossington's pen is arch and knowing, and his tone both bitchy and acute. He waves a sharp sword which scythes through the quaint world in which he moves: fine art auctions and those who attend them. These delicate pen portraits stay in the memory like an etching on glass. He adeptly mixes reverence and guile in his description of the people who cross his path, and his erudition shines through. An elegant addition to your bookcase.
The Quality (text JM, title NM)
'The Quality' is to science fiction what the queen is to the royal family! This one redefines a jaded genre for the new generation. This book astounds with a zingy confidence not seen since the heady days of cyberpunk. Nick Nutz is a school teacher. Confused about life, and fed up with his profession after only six months on the job, he accepts a new post after an unconventional interview in the cellar of a pub. Little does he realise that 'the quality' which got him the job is his (unrealised by himself) ability to dissolve the parameters of time and space. In this sci-fi blockbuster that reads like HG Wells on speed copulating with Doris Lessing on acid, hyper-realistic narrative gives way to gobsmacking hero-poetry and madcap romance. Part light-hearted comedy, part philosophical treatise and all hardcore action, 'The Quality' is ahead of its genre. Pure magic!
Thursday, 26 July 2012
just one
Wearing
Platforms in Istanbul (Title MR, Text JM)
‘Wearing Platforms in Istanbul’ imagines a
world identical to this one, save for one detail: shares in living artists are
traded on the stock exchange. In this fictional
present, financial market specialist Clement O’Frey specialises in trading
shares in high end conceptual artists from the UK. His adeptness in cutting a deal has secured a
mercurial rise from near poverty to a very comfortable London life within 10
years. However, things go cataclysmically wrong when he bets his entire fortune
on the video artist Gillian Wearing.
Expecting her shares to soar to new heights in Turkey, O’Frey’s world
falls apart when they bottom out in what the stock-market world terms a “platform”. O’Fray loses everything, and the bulk of
this novel chronicles his dissent into mental breakdown. After a gruelling
passage through London’s mental healthcare facilities, he achieves a very
distinctive spiritual awakening courtesy of his son’s toy sparrow. He finds new
happiness as a media guru. A truly
uplifting piece of fiction.
“If you want to learn something about the
market for contemporary British art, as well as contemplate vast vistas – buy this
book!” (Matthew Collings).
Friday, 20 July 2012
On a trip to Eindhoven
We find inspiration on the flight
This Question (title JM, text NM)
A sprawling state-of-the-nation novel that takes in both the pinnacles of political and cultural power, and the quotidian deprivations of life in the margins. A powerful mystery thriller and exploration of psychological breakdown, social process and causality, as told through the consciousness of Charles Fontescue, charismatic political figure, Greta Pryce, a well-loved television entertainer, their friends and lovers and those they meet on their way up and way down, carried by the chain of events leading to and spiralling outward from the moment when the journalist asks the politician the unaskable question. The unfolding of the reasons, medical and retinal, for the fateful question provides a metaphor for the breakdown of social values. "Kept me guessing right til the end" - Ian Rankin.
Wonderment (title NM, text JM)
A tour-de-force by TV's favourite scientist, Megan Grimley. 'Wonderment' explains everything you have always wanted to know about pretty much anything you are interested in. Easy to read: complex theoretical concepts are explained in terms the modern layperson will have no problems getting to grips with. How our brain oils control the weather, sexual relationships, business life, politics and emotional hang-ups. Learn to extract and examine your own brain oils using the pull-out tool included with the hardback edition.
Not suitable for people with pacemakers or children under 18.
This Question (title JM, text NM)
A sprawling state-of-the-nation novel that takes in both the pinnacles of political and cultural power, and the quotidian deprivations of life in the margins. A powerful mystery thriller and exploration of psychological breakdown, social process and causality, as told through the consciousness of Charles Fontescue, charismatic political figure, Greta Pryce, a well-loved television entertainer, their friends and lovers and those they meet on their way up and way down, carried by the chain of events leading to and spiralling outward from the moment when the journalist asks the politician the unaskable question. The unfolding of the reasons, medical and retinal, for the fateful question provides a metaphor for the breakdown of social values. "Kept me guessing right til the end" - Ian Rankin.
Wonderment (title NM, text JM)
A tour-de-force by TV's favourite scientist, Megan Grimley. 'Wonderment' explains everything you have always wanted to know about pretty much anything you are interested in. Easy to read: complex theoretical concepts are explained in terms the modern layperson will have no problems getting to grips with. How our brain oils control the weather, sexual relationships, business life, politics and emotional hang-ups. Learn to extract and examine your own brain oils using the pull-out tool included with the hardback edition.
Not suitable for people with pacemakers or children under 18.
Sunday, 8 July 2012
Liverpool Street Location Inspires Two Corkers...
... in my opinion. We swapped titles back, as JM turned up her nose at 'Fantastic Family', which NM was very excited about.
Plans to Impose (title JM, text JM)
The world's first novel inspired by the rigourous academic discipline of structuralism, 'Plans to Impose' takes a considered look at those planning applications submitted to Walthorpe District Council which were, for various reasons, unsuccessful. Marrying contemporary theoretical debate with a wry side-swipe at the labyrinthine complexities of UK planning law, this novel never ceases to fascinate and entertain in equal measures. Lacking a conventional narrator, the plot's thrust is carried by a series of 'I' voices authored by the local applicants to the planning department seeking three-story mirrored glass extensions to bungalows, or to develop a shopping complex in their back yard.
Fantastic Family (title NM, text NM)
The latest graphic novel to make waves in the mainstream best-seller charts. 'Fantastic Family' chronicles the exploits of three generations of a dynasty of super-heroes, beginning in turn-of-the-20th century Nottinghamshire, with the meeting of Agatha Dymock and the Mighty Tom. She is a psychic spy against German intelligence agents, and he is a circus strongman fighting against the illegal employment of child chimney sweeps. We follow the struggle of their children to find their own identity in the 1920's and 30's, their son Ronald briefly flirting with the idea of becoming a Blackshirt. William enjoys an untroubled life as a super-hearing super hero until his ideas are irrevocably changed by his burgeoning love for a Jewish refugee girl and he finds fulfilment in hs work as an early type of radar. Sadly, the story ends in tragedy as the third generation succumbs to venereal disease while posted to the far east during the Malaysian uprising.
"A feast for the eyes and the brain. Smart, sexy and hilarious... and educational" (Jonathan Ross)
Plans to Impose (title JM, text JM)
The world's first novel inspired by the rigourous academic discipline of structuralism, 'Plans to Impose' takes a considered look at those planning applications submitted to Walthorpe District Council which were, for various reasons, unsuccessful. Marrying contemporary theoretical debate with a wry side-swipe at the labyrinthine complexities of UK planning law, this novel never ceases to fascinate and entertain in equal measures. Lacking a conventional narrator, the plot's thrust is carried by a series of 'I' voices authored by the local applicants to the planning department seeking three-story mirrored glass extensions to bungalows, or to develop a shopping complex in their back yard.
Fantastic Family (title NM, text NM)
The latest graphic novel to make waves in the mainstream best-seller charts. 'Fantastic Family' chronicles the exploits of three generations of a dynasty of super-heroes, beginning in turn-of-the-20th century Nottinghamshire, with the meeting of Agatha Dymock and the Mighty Tom. She is a psychic spy against German intelligence agents, and he is a circus strongman fighting against the illegal employment of child chimney sweeps. We follow the struggle of their children to find their own identity in the 1920's and 30's, their son Ronald briefly flirting with the idea of becoming a Blackshirt. William enjoys an untroubled life as a super-hearing super hero until his ideas are irrevocably changed by his burgeoning love for a Jewish refugee girl and he finds fulfilment in hs work as an early type of radar. Sadly, the story ends in tragedy as the third generation succumbs to venereal disease while posted to the far east during the Malaysian uprising.
"A feast for the eyes and the brain. Smart, sexy and hilarious... and educational" (Jonathan Ross)
Sunday, 17 June 2012
from a day at Hackney City Farm
Spacious Accommodation (title JM text MR)
Abigail Walters' comic caper among rival groups of
thrusting young sales agents at Keymates, Chiswick's last remaining independent
estate agent when a new branch of a notoriously aggressive national chain opens
next door. The owner, the bow-tie and tweeds wearing Dickie relies on Chiswick
divorcees and mutually advantageous arrangements with local solicitors for his
business, but this simply won't cut it any more. New girl Polly decides that
this is the time to step into the limelight in order to beat this invader at
its own game – and that NOTHING is off limits in her pursuit for a sale.
Loyalties, friendships and ethics strain at the seams in pursuit of her next
commission as Polly seeks to save her beloved Keymates.
But why does Polly care so much about this
business? And why is she so desperate to outdo the sales of Keynotes star agent
– the ne'er do well, boss' favourite James, who turns up for a work with a
different blonde in his sports car virtually every day? Learn all this – and
the unexpected upsides of well appointed young men showing desperate buyers
around dream homes with very well-appointed bedrooms....
“Edgy, Vibrant stuff” Louise Mensch
“Sensational” Property Week
“...Shocking...a book that will strike a chord
with anyone that's ever owned a house” Baz Bambagoyne (Daily Mail)
Friday, 1 June 2012
31st May - just one, but a good one
Strawberry Notes (title NM, text NM)
A delicately crafted "what Maisie Knew" de nos jours. Strawberry Sussex, the daughter of music business David Sussex, has written a highly-charged memoir clothed in a gossamer-thin cloak of fiction. The work details the story of drug abuse, sex parties and perversions that made up the rock n' roll lifestyle of her father and his sequence of glamour model and personal trainer wives, all seen through the veil of misunderstandings and hazy conception of a young girl, as noted in her secret book of notes.
"The poignancy of the development of the girl's observations as she grows from a toddler to a full sexual being in her own right is astonishing" - Melvyn Bragg.
A delicately crafted "what Maisie Knew" de nos jours. Strawberry Sussex, the daughter of music business David Sussex, has written a highly-charged memoir clothed in a gossamer-thin cloak of fiction. The work details the story of drug abuse, sex parties and perversions that made up the rock n' roll lifestyle of her father and his sequence of glamour model and personal trainer wives, all seen through the veil of misunderstandings and hazy conception of a young girl, as noted in her secret book of notes.
"The poignancy of the development of the girl's observations as she grows from a toddler to a full sexual being in her own right is astonishing" - Melvyn Bragg.
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