Canongate Books strana 28 z 33

Döstädning, or the art of death cleaning, is a Swedish phenomenon by which the elderly and their families set their affairs in order. Whether it's sorting the family heirlooms from the junk, downsizing to a smaller place, or setting up a system to help you stop misplacing your keys, death cleaning gives us the chance to make the later years of our lives as comfortable and stress-free as possible. Whatever your age, Swedish death cleaning can be used to help you de-clutter your life, and take stock of what's important. Margareta Magnusson has death cleaned for herself and for many others. Radical and joyous, her guide is an invigorating, touching and surprising process that can help you or someone you love immeasurably, and offers the chance to celebrate and reflect on all the tiny joys that make up a long life along the way.

Our relentless drive to create makes us unique among living creatures. What is special about the human brain that enables us to innovate? Why don't cows choreograph dances? Why don't squirrels build elevators to their treetops? Why don't alligators invent speedboats?Weaving together the arts and sciences, neuroscientist David Eagleman and composer Anthony Brandt explore the need for novelty, the simulation of possible futures, and the social components that drive the inventiveness of our species. Taking us on a tour of human creativity from Picasso to concept cars to umbrellas to lunar travel, Brandt and Eagleman explore the cognitive software that generates new ideas, and illuminate the key facets of a creative mentality. Through understanding our ability to innovate - our most profound, mysterious, and deeply human capacity - we can meet the challenge of remaking our constantly shifting world.

In this investigation into loss, losing and being lost, Rebecca Solnit explores the challenges of living with uncertainty. A Field Guide to Getting Lost takes in subjects as eclectic as memory and mapmaking, Hitchcock movies and Renaissance painting. Beautifully written, this book combines memoir, history and philosophy, shedding glittering new light on the way we live now.

BELIEVE IN THE IMPOSSIBLE You are about to read THE TRUE STORY OF FATHER CHRISTMAS If you are one of those people who believe that some things are impossible, you should put this book down right away. (Because this book is FULL of impossible things.) Are you still reading? Good. Then let us begin...

'I loved Fear of Dying. I found it irreverent, funny, tender and very wise and it made me feel more alive' RACHEL JOYCE, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry Vanessa Wonderman is smart, sexy - and sixty. After a lifetime of crazy families, New York high society and playing a soap opera archvillain bitch, she's not ready to give up yet.But life's not so carefree any more. Her parents are dying, her husband's in hospital and her wild-child daughter is pregnant. So when she signs up to a casual encounters site, she's thinking of leaving her wifelife behind - at least for a little bit. However, the most painful parts of your past always have away of surprising you. Will she learn in time how to live, how to love, how to be fearless?

When Ariel Manto uncovers a copy of "The End of Mr Y" in a second-hand bookshop, she can't believe her eyes. She's read about its author before, the outlandish Victorian scientist Thomas Lumas, and this is his most notorious, and rarest, book. It is also believed to hold a curse. Anyone who's ever read it, including Lumas, has disappeared without trace.With "Mr Y" under her arm, Ariel is thrust into an adventure of faith, physics, love, death, and everything in between.Part gothic mystery, part time-travelling love story, "The End of Mr Y" lies somewhere between "Shadow of the Wind" and "Dr Who". Scarlett Thomas sends us on a wild and irresistible quest into our deepest selves and our biggest questions.

Contemporary culture tells us the twentysomething years don't matter. Clinical psychologist Dr Meg Jay argues that this could not be further from the truth. In fact, your twenties are the most defining decade of adulthood. The Defining Decade weaves the latest science of the twentysomething years with real-life stories to show us how work, relationships, personality, social networks, identity and even the brain can change more during this decade than at any other time in adulthood. Smart, compassionate and constructive, The Defining Decade is a practical guide to making the most of the years we cannot afford to miss.

Inspired by the Oscar-nominated Netflix documentary, this is the story of the real Miss Simone. What Happened, Miss Simone? tells the story of incandescent soul singer and Black Power icon Nina Simone, one of the most influential, provocative, and least-understood artists of our time. Drawn from a trove of rare archival footage, audio recordings and interviews (including Simone's remarkable private diaries), this nuanced examination of Nina Simone's life highlights her musical inventiveness and unwavering quest for equality, while laying bare the personal demons that plagued her from the time of her Jim Crow childhood in North Carolina to her self-imposed exile in Liberia and Paris. Harnessing the singular voice of Miss Simone herself and incorporating candid reflections from those who knew her best, including her only daughter, music journalist Alan Light brings us face to face with a legend, examining the very public persona and very private struggles of one of our greatest artists.

In On Love, we see Charles Bukowski reckoning with the complications of love and desire. Alternating between the tough and the tender, the romantic and the gritty, Bukowski exposes the myriad faces of love in the poems collected here - its selfishness and its narcissism, its randomness, its mystery and its misery, and, ultimately, its true joyfulness, endurance and redemptive power. Whether writing about his daughter, his lover, or his work, Bukowski is fiercely honest and reflective, using love as a prism to look at the world and to view his own vulnerable place in it. Memorably moving and, at times, hilarious, On Love reveals Bukowski at his most candid and affecting.

THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FEEL TRULY ALIVE? Aged 24, Matt Haig's world caved in. He could see no way to go on living. This is the true story of how he came through crisis, triumphed over an illness that almost destroyed him and learned to live again. A moving, funny and joyous exploration of how to live better, love better and feel more alive, Reasons to Stay Alive is more than a memoir. It is a book about making the most of your time on earth. "I wrote this book because the oldest cliches remain the truest. Time heals. The bottom of the valley never provides the clearest view. The tunnel does have light at the end of it, even if we haven't been able to see it ...Words, just sometimes, really can set you free."

A cat is only ITSELF,' Bukowski wrote. 'Representative of the strong forces of life that won't let go' A raw and tenderly funny look at the relationship between cats and humans from one of the world's most treasured and transgressive writers 'The cat is the beautiful devil' For Charles Bukowski there was something majestic and elemental about cats. He considered them to be sentient beings, whose searing gaze could penetrate deep into our being. Cats see into us; they are on to something. Funny, moving, tough, and caring, On Cats brings together the acclaimed writer's reflections on these animals he so admired. We also see these creatures at their most ruthless and most resilient: they are fighters, hunters, survivors who command awe and respect as they grip tightly onto the world around them. On Cats gives an illuminating portrait of one very special writer and a lifelong relationship with the animals he considered his most profound teachers.

BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU ...1984 is the year in which it happens. The world is divided into three superstates. In Oceania, the Party's power is absolute. Every action, word, gesture and thought is monitored under the watchful eye of Big Brother and the Thought Police. In the Ministry of Truth, the Party's department for propaganda, Winston Smith's job is to edit the past. Over time, the impulse to escape the machine and live independently takes hold of him and he embarks on a secret and forbidden love affair. As he writes the words 'DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER', his personal rebellion begins ...

NO MORE GAMES. IT'S TIME FOR THE TRUTH 'Unfortunately, I am not the hero in this tale. I am the villain.' DO YOU BELIEVE IN MONOGAMY? Neil Strauss didn't. The New York Times journalist made a name for himself advocating freedom, sex and opportunity as author of The Game -- with intimacy and long-term commitment taking a back seat. That is, until he met the woman who forced him to ask the questions that men and women are asking themselves every day: - Is it natural to be faithful to one person for life? - Do alternatives to monogamy lead to better relationships and greater happiness? - Can you keep passion and romance from fading over time? Strauss set out on a quest for answers. It took him from Viagra-laden free-love orgies to sex addiction clinics, from cutting-edge science labs to modern-day harems, and, most terrifying of all, to his own mother and his family's secrets. What he discovered changed everything he knew about love, sex, relationships and, ultimately, himself. The Truth may have the same effect on you.

James Rhodes' passion for music has been his absolute lifeline. It has been the thread that has held him together through a life that has encompassed pain, conflict and turmoil. Listening to Rachmaninov on a loop as a traumatised teenager or discovering an Adagio by Bach while in a hospital ward - such exquisite miracles of musical genius have helped him survive his demons, and, along with a chance encounter with a stranger, inspired him to become the renowned concert pianist he is today. This is a memoir like no other: unapologetically candid, boldly outspoken and surprisingly funny - James' prose is shot through with an unexpectedly mordant wit, even at the darkest of moments. An impassioned tribute to the therapeutic powers of music, Instrumental also weaves in fascinating facts about how classical music actually works and about the extraordinary lives of some of the great composers. It explains why and how music has the potential to transform all of our lives.

'Ideal for anyone who has ever wondered what on earth to read next' S J WATSON 'Witty, engaging and informative. The sort of book you choose for a friend and end up wanting to keep' RACHEL JOYCE This is a medical handbook, with a difference. Whether you have a stubbed toe or a severe case of the blues, within these pages you'll find a cure in the form of a novel to help ease your pain. You'll also find advice on how to tackle common reading ailments - such as what to do when you feel overwhelmed by the number of books in the world, or you have a tendency to give up halfway through. When read at the right moment, a novel can change your life, and The Novel Cure is an enchanting reminder of that power.

If a man truly desires to write, then he will. Rejection and ridicule will only strengthen him ...There is no losing in writing, it will make your toes laugh as you sleep, it will make you stride like a tiger, it will fire the eye and put you face to face with death. You will die a fighter, you will be honored in hell. The luck of the word. Go with it, send it.' Charles Bukowski was one of our most iconoclastic, raw and riveting writers, one whose stories, poems and novels have left an enduring mark on our culture. On Writing collects Bukowski's reflections and ruminations on the craft he dedicated his life to. Piercing, unsentimental and often hilarious, On Writing is filled not only with memorable lines but also with the author's trademark toughness, leavened with moments of grace, pathos and intimacy. In the previously unpublished letters to editors, friends and fellow writers collected here, Bukowski is brutally frank about the drudgery of work and uncompromising when it comes to the absurdities of life and of art.