In Gerald Ronson: Leading from the Front, the last of the great British tycoons reveals how he fought his way to the top of the business ladder, lost everything twice, then clawed his way back up again. Amazingly for a man who now holds an iconic status in British business, Ronson quit school before his 15th birthday to work with his father in the family's furniture factory, and as a young man he and his friends were street fighters, using their fists to take on the British fascist movement. This propelled into a role as a leader in the country's Jewish community, and he is now considered to b the most influential secular Jew in the UK. Ronson will forever be associated with the famous Guinness affair, which was the biggest financial scandal of the '80s. He was found guilty after a media circus of a trial in which the cards were stacked against him and he spent six months in jail. Years later, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled that it had been an unfair trial. True to character, he organised his life in prison, tried to assist his fellow inmates and has since helped many of them find their way back into society. After Guinness, which Ronson calls the greatest crisis in his life, he suffered a major financial crash that nearly bankrupted him, and he has spent the last two decades rebuilding his empire and reputation. Now in his 70s, he spends a great deal of time raising money for charities and good causes. His company, Heron, was for a time the second-largest private company in the country, and he is arguably the most respected property developer in Europe. He is also responsible for bringing cut-price petrol to Britain, and it was he who turned petrol stations into convenience stores and introduced self-service at the pumps. Told in his own tough, no-nonsense words, Ronson's insights into British business, the British Establishment and justice system, and his family, friends and foes make this the single most important autobiography of the year.
Through the essays included in this text we can attest to Gerald Guiness' stature as an intelligent, innovative & specially graceful critic as he presents topics which might have seemed too current in the hands of any other commentator. Some of the titles of the essays present a suggestive sample of the books appeal: CONTEMPORARY PUERTO RICAN FICTION: AN OUTSIDER'S VIEW; "WHAT DID HE SAY, WHAT DID HE MEAN" THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF DISCOURSE IN PUERTO RICO.
Castletown House, Ireland's largest and earliest Palladian-style house, was built between 1722 and 1729 for William Conolly, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons and the wealthiest commoner in Ireland. In 1967, the house was bought by the Hon. Desmond Guinness, founder of the Irish Georgian Society and opened to the public. In 1994, ownership of the house was transferred to the State, and it is now managed by the Office of Public Works. Castletown House, a history, is the story of that house, written by the children who grew up there, Baroness Diana Wrangle Conolly Carew, the Hon. Sarah McPherson & their brother, the Hon. Gerald Edward Ian Maitland-Carew. In this fascinating history, the character of the house is brought to life through its former residents, together with stories of their Olympic medals, the chance survival of the house through the Civil War, and tales of visiting royalty to the greatest of Ireland’s great houses.
In Gerald Ronson: Leading from the Front, the last of the great British tycoons reveals how he fought his way to the top of the business ladder, lost everything twice, then clawed his way back up again. Amazingly for a man who now holds an iconic status in British business, Ronson quit school before his 15th birthday to work with his father in the family's furniture factory, and as a young man he and his friends were street fighters, using their fists to take on the British fascist movement. This propelled into a role as a leader in the country's Jewish community, and he is now considered to b the most influential secular Jew in the UK. Ronson will forever be associated with the famous Guinness affair, which was the biggest financial scandal of the '80s. He was found guilty after a media circus of a trial in which the cards were stacked against him and he spent six months in jail. Years later, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled that it had been an unfair trial. True to character, he organised his life in prison, tried to assist his fellow inmates and has since helped many of them find their way back into society. After Guinness, which Ronson calls the greatest crisis in his life, he suffered a major financial crash that nearly bankrupted him, and he has spent the last two decades rebuilding his empire and reputation. Now in his 70s, he spends a great deal of time raising money for charities and good causes. His company, Heron, was for a time the second-largest private company in the country, and he is arguably the most respected property developer in Europe. He is also responsible for bringing cut-price petrol to Britain, and it was he who turned petrol stations into convenience stores and introduced self-service at the pumps. Told in his own tough, no-nonsense words, Ronson's insights into British business, the British Establishment and justice system, and his family, friends and foes make this the single most important autobiography of the year.
Although books on the comedies of the silent era abound, few have attempted to survey film comedy as a whole—its history and evolution, how the philosophical visions of its greatest artists and directors have shaped its traditions, and how these visions have informed both the meaning and manner of their work. Blending information with interpretation, description with analysis, Mast traces the development of screen comedy from the first crude efforts of Edison and Lumière to the subtlety and psychological complexity of Annie Hall. As he guides the reader through detailed discussions of specific films, Mast reveals the structures, the values, and the cinematic techniques which have appeared and reappeared in comic cinema. The second edition of The Comic Mind treats the comic developments of the 1970s in terms of the traditions of film comedy set forth in the first edition, including a discussion of the evolution of Jacques Tati and the emergence of Mel Brooks and Woody Allen as the two greatest American comic stylists of the seventies. "The most comprehensive study of film comedy yet written in English. . . .The book's extensive index with references to companies from which 16mm prints of many of the cited films may be rented will be of great value to the film teacher and audiovisual librarian."—Choice
Although Jesus's work of redemption is often viewed as a singular event, a careful examination of Scripture reveals that the Messiah began his redemptive work just after the fall and will continue it to the end of the world. In the spirit of Jonathan Edwards's History of the Work of Redemption, distinguished theologian Gerald McDermott traces the progress of redemption throughout the Bible and Church history. This book connects the dots surrounding Israel, redemption by the Jewish Messiah, secular and sacred history, the world religions, and Jewish-Christian worship through liturgy and sacraments. It shows how Jesus as Messiah was redeeming throughout Old Testament history, and it carries that story up through the last two millennia. McDermott contends that it is only through a historical examination of the Messiah's redemption amid the turmoil of the world and the worship of his people that one can best see God's beauty.
Ecstasy, revenge and a murderer on the loose in a small town all drive a young man s obsession to find out the truth, whatever the cost... Stuart's feckless life suddenly comes into sharp focus as he begins a sweeping, illicit love affair with Kathy. The lovers are reckless, indiscreet and hopelessly in love. But all the time Stuart is haunted by events from twelve years earlier. As a young boy, he had watched a dark love affair blossom between his uncle and Shirley, Kathy's mother-in-law. The scandalous affair somehow becomes the trigger for two apparently unconnected incidents. First Stuart hears the screams of a mechanic as a five ton bus comes crashing down on his head in what the coroner described as a dreadful accident. Within a couple of weeks, Stuart's best friend disappeared and from that moment on, he always believed that there was a connection between his friend vanishing and the mechanic's death. Twelve years later and a chance encounter with the dead mechanic's wife, confirms his long held suspicions of a connection between these incidents. Just to complicate things further, Kathy is the sister of his missing friend and the wife of a man he's hated for most of his life. Unbeknown to Stuart, the cuckolded man not only knows a lot about the events from twelve years ago, he's well aware of his wife's amour as well. When the body of his friend is found, Stuart suddenly realises that their affair is about to end like a violent Greek tragedy. Salt of Their Blood is an epic story by a new author about a tempestuous, dark and very modern love affair.
The national bestselling biography and the basis for the film Capote starring Philip Seymour Hoffman in an Academy Award–winning turn. One of the strongest fiction writers of his generation, Truman Capote became a literary star while still in his teens. His most phenomenal successes include Breakfast at Tiffany’s, In Cold Blood, and Other Voices, Other Rooms. Even while his literary achievements were setting the standards that other fiction and nonfiction writers would follow for generations, Capote descended into a spiral of self-destruction and despair. This biography by Gerald Clarke was first published in 1988—just four years after Capote’s death. In it, Clarke paints a vivid behind-the-scenes picture of the author’s life—based on hundreds of hours of in-depth interviews with the man himself and the people close to him. From the glittering heights of notoriety and parties with the rich and famous to his later struggles with addiction, Capote emerges as a richly multidimensional person—both brilliant and flawed. “A book of extraordinary substance, a study rich in intelligence and compassion . . . To read Capote is to have the sense that someone has put together all the important pieces of this consummate artist’s life, has given everything its due emphasis, and comprehended its ultimate meaning.” —Bruce Bawer, The Wall Street Journal “Mesmerising . . . [Capote] reads as if it had been written alongside his life, rather than after it.” —Molly Haskell, The New York Times Book Review
A provocative and often hilarious look at teaching -- a beautifully written book that will resonate with anyone who's been a teacher or been taught in America. Gerald Newman, acclaimed author of The Rise of English Nationalism and holder of the Kent State University Distinguished Teaching Award, surveys his youth, education, students, and career in a memoir sparkling with humor and full of arresting portrayals of school life from both sides of the instructor's desk. Sketching his background and confessing his youthful follies and pranks, Newman arrives at his maverick schooldays, depicting a jolly parade of familiar types -- teachers, principals, geeks and Greeks, zany profs and silver-tongued "grandees of the lecture hall." Tracing his progress through the University of Washington, then Harvard, then his thirty-year career at Kent State after the infamous May 4th shooting (1970), he addresses the teacher's main mission to "Fix Stupid," amusingly revisiting battles with wayward students, John Birchers, Henry Kissinger, and other Harvard profs and sundry academics, administrators, and "woke" enthusiasts at Kent State. A historian, he shows his own shaping by great outside forces -- World War II, the Cold War, Vietnam, American political controversy, trendy intellectual fashions. He includes valuable teaching tips, laugh-out-loud accounts of educational travels, and biting commentary on the current political scene. This is a big book, containing much more than one man's life story, written in a light-hearted and entertaining spirit by a very keen observer.
Learn about the luxury brand industry from the inside out with this masterful and insightful resource The newly revised Fourth Edition of Luxury Brand Management in Digital and Sustainable Times delivers a timely re-examination of what constitutes the contemporary luxury brand landscape and the current trends that shape the sector. Distinguished experts and authors Michel Chevalier and Gerald Mazzalovo provide readers with a comprehensive treatment of the macro- and micro-economic aspects of management, communication, distribution, logistics, and creation in the luxury industry. Readers will learn about the growing importance of authenticity and sustainability in the management of fashion, perfume, cosmetics, spirits, hotels and hospitality, jewelry, and other luxury brands, as well as the strategic issues facing the companies featured in the book. The new edition offers: A new chapter on the "Luxury of Tomorrow," with a particular focus on authenticity and durable development A completely revised chapter on "Communication in Digital Times," which takes into account the digital dimension of brand identity and its implications on customer engagement activities and where the concept of Customer Journey is introduced as a key marketing tool A rewritten chapter on "Luxury Clients" that considers the geographical changes in luxury consumption Considerations on the emerging notion of "New Luxury" Major updates to the data and industry figures contained within the book and a new section dedicated to the hospitality industry New semiotic analytical tools developed from the authors’ contemporary brand management experiences Perfect for MA and MBA students, Luxury Brand Management also belongs on the bookshelves of marketing, branding, and advertising professionals who hope to increase their understanding of the major trends and drivers of success in this sector.
The Thousand Deaths Of Mr Small is the best novel that Gerald Kersh has yet written... Charles Small, successful advertising expert and miserable man, turns over in his mind the 'stinking, sour, stagnant, untransmitted mass' which is his life... This book has a rich, warm quality; long and full of detail, it teems with humour, satire, incident, character; in a word, with life.' Yorkshire Post 'It see-saws from side-splitting dialogue to such catalogues of loathing and revulsion as have rarely been seen in print, from outrageous farce to sudden compassion for the Smalls of this world, who find Hell enough in 'the eternal contemplation of themselves as they made themselves.'' New York Herald Tribune 'With brilliant descriptive power and an emetic vocabulary, [Kersh] has produced a tormented and forceful work.' Commonweal
The comedians of the 1950s and 1960s were a totally different breed of relevant, revolutionary performer from any that came before or after, comics whose humor did much more than pry guffaws out of audiences. Gerald Nachman presents the stories of the groundbreaking comedy stars of those years, each one a cultural harbinger: • Mort Sahl, of a new political cynicism • Lenny Bruce, of the sexual, drug, and language revolution • Dick Gregory, of racial unrest • Bill Cosby and Godfrey Cambridge, of racial harmony • Phyllis Diller, of housewifely complaint • Mike Nichols & Elaine May and Woody Allen, of self-analytical angst and a rearrangement of male-female relations • Stan Freberg and Bob Newhart, of encroaching, pervasive pop media manipulation and, in the case of Bob Elliott & Ray Goulding, of the banalities of broadcasting • Mel Brooks, of the Yiddishization of American comedy • Sid Caesar, of a new awareness of the satirical possibilities of television • Joan Rivers, of the obsessive craving for celebrity gossip and of a latent bitchy sensibility • Tom Lehrer, of the inane, hypocritical, mawkishly sentimental nature of hallowed American folkways and, in the case of the Smothers Brothers, of overly revered folk songs and folklore • Steve Allen, of the late-night talk show as a force in American comedy • David Frye and Vaughn Meader, of the merger of showbiz and politics and, along with Will Jordan, of stretching the boundaries of mimicry • Shelley Berman, of a generation of obsessively self-confessional humor • Jonathan Winters and Jean Shepherd, of the daring new free-form improvisational comedy and of a sardonically updated view of Midwestern archetypes • Ernie Kovacs, of surreal visual effects and the unbounded vistas of video Taken together, they made up the faculty of a new school of vigorous, socially aware satire, a vibrant group of voices that reigned from approximately 1953 to 1965. Nachman shines a flashlight into the corners of these comedians’ chaotic and often troubled lives, illuminating their genius as well as their demons, damaged souls, and desperate drive. His exhaustive research and intimate interviews reveal characters that are intriguing and all too human, full of rich stories, confessions, regrets, and traumas. Seriously Funny is at once a dazzling cultural history and a joyous celebration of an extraordinary era in American comedy.
Mike Carney was born on the Great Blasket Island in 1920 in that unique, isolated Irish-speaking community. Mike left in 1937 to seek a better future in Dublin and eventually settled in Springfield, Massachusetts, with other former islanders. The death on the island of his younger brother set off a chain of events that led to its evacuation, in which Mike played a pivotal role. This is the story of his life and his efforts to promote Irish culture in America, to preserve the memory of The Great Blasket, to respect roots left behind and to set down roots in a new land. Written as Mike approached the age of 93, this memoir is probably the last of a long line of books written by Blasket Islanders. * Similar to: An Irish Navvy - the Diary of an Exile and The Hard Road to Klondike
Innovative poets such as Vsevolod Nekrasov, Lev Rubinstein, and Dmitry Prigov are among the most prominent literary figures of Russia in the 1980s and 1990s, yet they are virtually unknown outside Russia. The same is true of the numerous active Russian performance art groups, especially the pioneering Collective Actions group led by the brilliantly inventive Andrei Monastyrsky. Everything Has Already Been Written strives to make Moscow Conceptualism more accessible, to break the language barrier and to foster understanding among an international readership by thoroughly discussing a broad range of specific works and theories. Janecek’s study is the first comprehensive analysis of Moscow Conceptualist poetry and theory, vital for an understanding of Russian culture in the post‐Conceptualist era.
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