Atlantic Books strana 20 z 31

'A strange and joyous marvel' Richard Flanagan 'Delightful... Enchanting' Guardian 'Spectacular' Culturefly A young man named Levi McAllister decides to build a coffin for his sister, Charlotte - who promptly runs for her life. A water rat swims upriver in quest of the cloud god. A fisherman named Karl hunts for tuna in partnership with a seal. And a father takes form from fire. The answers to these riddles are to be found in this tale of grief and love and the bonds of family, tracing a journey across the southern island that takes us full circle. SHORTLISTED FOR THE READINGS PRIZE FOR NEW AUSTRALIAN FICTION

Guardian's Best Non-Fiction, 2019 The Tablet's Highlights of 2019 Personality tests. Team-building exercises. Forced Fun. Desktop surveillance. Open-plan offices. Acronyms. Diminishing job security. Hot desking. Pointless perks. Hackathons. If any of the above sound familiar, welcome to the modern economy. In this hilarious, but deadly serious book, bestselling author Dan Lyons looks at how the world of work has slowly morphed from one of unions and steady career progression to a dystopia made of bean bags and unpaid internships. And that's the 'good' jobs... With the same wit that made Disrupted an international bestseller, Lyons shows how the hypocrisy of Silicon Valley has now been exported globally to a job near you. Even low-grade employees are now expected to view their jobs with a cult-like fervour, despite diminishing prospects of promotion. From the gig economy to the new digital oligarchs, Lyons deliciously roasts the new work climate, while asking what can be done to recoup some sanity and dignity for the expanding class of middle-class serfs.

Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, not big, important emotions - like grief. And love. He thinks he's defective. His family knows better - that his autism means he just processes emotions differently. When he steadfastly refuses to consider a relationship, his mother takes matters into her own hands and returns to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride. As a mixed-race girl living in the slums of Ho Chi Minh City, Esme Tran has always felt out of place. So when the opportunity arises to go to America and meet a potential husband, she can't turn it down. This could be the break her family needs. Seducing Khai, however, doesn't go quite as planned. Esme's lessons in love seem to be working... but only on herself. She's hopelessly smitten with a man who's convinced he can never return her affection. As Esme's time in the United States dwindles, will Khai let his head catch up with his heart? Will he find the strength to let go, and let love in?

A blazing, intimate collection about a young generation of Chinese millennials, their unconventional sex lives and fantastic technologies, on a quest for every kind of freedom. In twelve stunning stories of love, family, and identity, Xuan Juliana Wang's debut collection captures the unheard voices of an emerging generation. Young, reckless, and catapulted toward uncertain futures, here is the new face of Chinese youth on a quest for every kind of freedom. From a young artist who becomes the unlikely star of a Chinese livestream, to a pair of divers at the Beijing Olympics poised at the edge of success and self-discovery, Wang's unforgettable characters - with their unusual careers, unconventional sex lives and fantastical technologies - share the bold hope that, no matter where they've come from, their lives too can be extraordinary.

In an era when politicians are responsible for the Brexit logjam and embroiled in sexual-harassment and expenses scandals, it's no wonder we've lost our faith in government. Every year, they introduce new legislation that doesn't do what it sets out to achieve - often with terrible financial and human costs. But, with some notable exceptions, they are decent, hard-working people, doing a hugely difficult and demanding job. In this searching examination of our political class, award-winning journalist Isabel Hardman investigates the strange and demanding world of Westminster, and asks why we end up with representatives we no longer trust - and how might faith be restored.

'The whole thing sparks astonishingly to life' Observer When Ian Buruma arrived in Tokyo as a young film student in 1975, he found a feverish and surreal metropolis in the midst of an economic boom, where everything seemed new and history only remained in fragments. Through his adventures in the world of avant-garde theatre, his encounters with carnival acts, fashion photographers and moments on-set with Akira Kurosawa, Buruma came of age. For an outsider, unattached to the cultural burdens placed on the Japanese, this was a place to be truly free. A Tokyo Romance is a portrait of a young artist and the fantastical city that shaped him, and a timeless story about the desire to transgress boundaries: cultural, artistic and sexual.

'A devastating expose.' Mail on Sunday They helped cause the 2008 financial crash. They created a global tax avoidance industry. They lurk behind the scenes at every level of government... The world's 'Big Four' accountancy firms - PwC, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, and KPMG - have become a gilded elite, with an average partner's salary rivalling that of a Premier League footballer. How has this seemingly humdrum profession achieved this, and what price are we paying for their excesses? Informed by numerous insider interviews, investigative journalist Richard Brooks charts the profession's rise to global influence and offers a gripping expose of the accountancy industry. This is essential reading for anyone interested in how our economy really works.

Even the darkest journey must come to an end... ____________ 'Haunting, intoxicating' Ali Land, author of Good Me, Bad Me 'Deeply affecting' Chris Whitaker, author of All the Wicked Girls ____________ Three years ago, Lelle's daughter went missing in a remote part of Northern Sweden. Lelle has spent the intervening summers driving the Silver Road under the midnight sun, frantically searching for his lost daughter, for himself and for redemption. Meanwhile, seventeen-year-old Meja arrives in town hoping for a fresh start. She is the same age as Lelle's daughter was - a girl on the brink of adulthood. But for Meja, there are dangers to be found in this isolated place. As autumn's darkness slowly creeps in, Lelle and Meja's lives are intertwined in ways, both haunting and tragic, that they could never have imagined.

'Punchy... it could transform millions of meetings, doing away with all those mushy , consensus-driven hours wasted by people too scared of disagreement.' - Wall Street Journal 'Beautifully written and important.' - Adam Alter, bestselling author of Irresistible and Drunk Tank Pink We've decided by consensus that consensus is good. In this essential book, psychologist Charlan Nemeth argues that this principle is completely wrong: left unchallenged, the majority opinion is often biased, unoriginal, or false. It leads planes and markets to crash, causes juries to convict innocent people, and can quite literally make people think blue is green. We can make better decisions by embracing dissent: it forces us to question the status quo, consider more information, and engage in creative decision-making. From Twelve Angry Men to Edward Snowden, lone objectors who make people question their assumptions bring groups far closer to truth. By studying these examples and bringing a little trouble-maker spirit to our own lives, we can radically change the way we think, listen, and make decisions. 'A timely tome on the perils of silence and the value of voice.' - Adam Grant, bestselling author of Originals

How can you turn $1000 into $1 million? What is the best way to beat the lottery odds? When is the best time to take out a loan? How did one group of gamblers bet on hole-in-ones to win GBP500,000? How can maths help you set up a successful tech start-up? What about proving the Goldbach Conjecture for $1 million?Million Dollar Maths is a fun but invaluable guide to the straightforward and outlandish mathematical strategies that can make you rich. Learn the techniques for growing your everyday finances, as well as the common mistakes to avoid. Discover the skills, both fair and foul, that offer an additional edge when investing and gambling. And discover why we often misunderstand probability and statistics - with troubling financial costs. From making the most of special offers to utilising the power of exponential growth in your investments; from the art of card counting, to inventing the next Google, Million Dollar Maths is the quintessential primer to the myriad ways maths and finance intersect.

A wonderfully entertaining celebration of that most unique of creatures: the sloth. In public estimation, sloths have undergone an astonishing transformation in the course of the past few years. Thanks largely to YouTube clips posted by the sloth orphanage in Costa Rica, sloths have attracted a vast audience of admirers. Instead of seeing them as ridiculous anachronisms of which we know little, they have turned into creatures considered by many to be the most endearing on earth. Over much the same period, scientific investigations have also changed our view of sloths. No longer are they seen as total misfits in the modern world but, in the words of one specialist sloth investigator, they are 'masters of an alternative lifestyle'. In this wonderfully entertaining celebration of this most unique of creatures, William Hartston reveals the fascinating history of the sloth, from the prehistoric ground sloth to modern pygmy sloths in Panama, explores the current state of the science of sloths and reveals the truth behind sloth behaviour.

Personality tests. Team-building exercises. Forced Fun. Desktop surveillance. Open-plan offices. Acronyms. Diminishing job security. Hot desking. Pointless perks. Hackathons. If any of the above sound familiar, welcome to the modern economy. In this hilarious, but deadly serious book, bestselling author Dan Lyons looks at how the world of work has slowly morphed from one of unions and steady career progression to a dystopia made of bean bags and unpaid internships. And that's the 'good' jobs... With the same wit that made Disrupted an international bestseller, Lyons shows how the hypocrisy of Silicon Valley has now been exported globally to a job near you. Even low-grade employees are now expected to view their jobs with a cult-like fervour, despite diminishing prospects of promotion. From the gig economy to the new digital oligarchs, Lyons deliciously roasts the new work climate, while asking what can be done to recoup some sanity and dignity for the expanding class of middle-class serfs.

Do you eat too much sugar? What proportion of your country are immigrants? What does it cost to raise a child? How much tax do the rich pay? Are we more ignorant than we used to be?Take a minute to answer these questions. No matter how educated you are, this book suggests you are likely to be very wrong indeed. Informed by exclusive research across 40 countries, conducted by global polling firm Ipsos, The Perils of Perception investigates why we don't know basic facts about the world around us. Using the latest research into the media and decision science, Bobby Duffy asks how we can address our ignorance and why the populations of some countries seem better informed than others. Essential reading in the so-called 'post-truth' era, this book will transform the way you engage with the world.

Robin Ince has a good life. As a successful comedian, presenter, and writer, he's got a job that you are probably jealous of. So, why did he find himself stuck on a train platform in rural Northumberland, swearing maniacally, punching his own leg, vowing never to do stand-up again? Was he having an existential crisis? He didn't know. But he wanted to find out. Insightful, witty, and often just plain weird, this book charts his journey to discover why he's made the choices he did in life, and what makes us who we are. Why did Robin become a comedian? Why did you become an accountant (sorry)? Why are we like we are? Informed by interviews with a bevy of neuroscientists, comedians, psychologists and doctors, Robin looks back on his life and turns his comedic observational skills on himself - exploring the key psychological we all ask ourselves. How does our childhood shape our life choices? Do we all have a need to perform? Are we more than our brains? Is failing good for us? Did our parents f*&k us up? A primer to psychology and neuroscience without the textbooks, this fascinating book will amuse, inform, and give you an invaluable insight into yourself (and Robin), while also treating you to his hilarious musings on the human condition.

'History as you've never seen it before.' Dan Snow 'A wonderful, eclectic and entertaining history of everything, full of fascinating, surprising stories.' Suzannah Lipscomb Did you know that the history of the beard is connected to the Crimean War; that the history of paperclips is all about the Stasi; and that the history of bubbles is all about the French Revolution? And who knew that Heinrich Himmler, Tutankhamun and the history of needlework are linked to napalm and Victorian orphans? In Histories of the Unexpected, Sam Willis and James Daybell lead us on a journey of discovery that tackles some of the greatest historical themes - from the Tudors to the Second World War, from the Roman Empire to the Victorians - but via entirely unexpected subjects. By taking this revolutionary approach, they not only present a new way of thinking about the past, but also reveal the everyday world around us as never before.

From Murdoch's media empire to Trump's 'fake news', John Lloyd explodes the myths and misinformation of the Post-Truth age, providing a panoramic overview of the state of journalism as it faces the biggest crisis of its history. Is journalism in jeopardy? How can the press respond to the threats of social media, fake news and an increasing hostility towards journalists? And are we really in the post-truth age?John Lloyd answers these questions and more in this panoramic survey of the global news media. Journeying from Putin's Russia to Trump's America, from Saudi Arabia to Israel, from Mexico to China, Lloyd shows how the power of investigative journalism matters now more than ever. With passion and expertise, Lloyd argues that a free world is only possible with a free press, and offers fascinating insight into the responsibilities of a profession - perhaps the only one left - that can truly hold power to account.