Triumph never

This item is sold brand new. It is ordered on demand from our supplier and is usually dispatched within 24 hours Shirley Zinn¿s story is one of determination, courage, and triumph over incredible adversity. Born and raised on the Cape Flats, Shirley never allowed her past to dictate her future. She proved that the typical story of a girl from the Cape Flats ¿ that of gangsterism, alcoholism and teenage pregnancy ¿ didn¿t have to be her story. Instead she relentlessly pursued her own goals and forged an impressive academic career even when she faced significant odds. And when she¿d done that, she set out to conquer the world of business. Shirley is a formidable woman with an amazing story to tell. She has risen to the top of the pile in both academic and business circles, and yet she has retained great humanity and empathy in the face of great personal tragedy. Her story has lessons for us all ¿ whether we are ordinary or extraordinary, whether we work in business, in government, or at home. Shirley¿s story will inspire you and show you that it is possible to achieve your goals, if you are prepared to swim upstream and be single-minded in getting where you want to be. Features Summary Shirley Zinn’s story is one of determination, courage, and triumph over incredible adversity. Born and raised on the Cape Flats, Shirley never allowed her past to dictate her future... Author Shirley Zinn Publisher Knowledge Resources Publishing Pty Ltd Release date 20151128 Pages 150 ISBN 1-86922-589-9 ISBN 13 978-1-86922-589-6

This item is sold brand new. It is ordered on demand from our supplier and is usually dispatched within 7 - 11 working days SUNDAY TIMES MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEARROUGH TRADE BOOK OF THE YEARMOJO BOOK OF THE YEARIn 1975, Viv Albertine was obsessed with music but it never occurred to her she could be in a band as she couldn't play an instrument and she'd never seen a girl play electric guitar.A year later, she was the guitarist in the hugely influential all-girl band the Slits, who fearlessly took on the male-dominated music scene and became part of a movement that changed music.A raw, thrilling story of life on the frontiers and a candid account of Viv's life post-punk - taking in a career in film, the pain of IVF, illness and divorce and the triumph of making music again - Clothes Music Boys is a remarkable memoir. Features Summary In 1975, Viv Albertine was obsessed with music but it never occurred to her she could be in a band as she couldn't play an instrument and she'd never seen a girl play electric guitar... Author Viv Albertine Publisher Faber and Faber Release date 20151217 Pages 432 ISBN 0-571-32828-8 ISBN 13 978-0-571-32828-4

This item is sold brand new. It is ordered on demand from our supplier and is usually dispatched within 7 - 11 working days "The beauty of sky, music, and the belief in 'extraordinary things' triumph in this whimsical and magical tale" ("Publishers Weekly") about a girl in search of her past who discovers a secret rooftop world in Paris. Everyone thinks that Sophie is an orphan. True, there were no other recorded female survivors from the shipwreck that left baby Sophie floating in the English Channel in a cello case, but Sophie remembers seeing her mother wave for help. Her guardian tells her it is almost impossible that her mother is still alive--but "almost impossible" means "still possible." And you should never ignore a possible. So when the Welfare Agency writes to her guardian, threatening to send Sophie to an orphanage, they takes matters into their own hands and flee to Paris to look for Sophie's mother, starting with the only clue they have--the address of the cello maker. Evading the French authorities, she meets Matteo and his network of rooftoppers--urchins who live in the hidden spaces above the city. Together they scour the city in a search for Sophie's mother--but can they find her before Sophie is caught and sent back to London? Or, more importantly, before she loses hope? Phillip Pullman, author of the His Dark Materials series, calls "Rooftoppers ""the work of a writer with an utterly distinctive voice and a wild imagination." Features Summary "The beauty of sky, music, and the belief in 'extraordinary things' triumph in this whimsical and magical tale" ("Publishers Weekly") about a girl in search of her past who discovers a secret rooftop world in Paris... Author Katherine Rundell (Author), Terry Fan (Illustrator) Publisher Simon & SchusterBooks for Young Readers Release date 20140603 Pages 277 ISBN 1-4424-9059-4 ISBN 13 978-1-4424-9059-8

This item is sold brand new. It is ordered on demand from our supplier and is usually dispatched within 7 - 12 working days 'Look for your sister after each dive. Never forget. If you see her, you are safe.' Hana and her little sister Emi are part of an island community of haenyeo, women who make their living from diving deep into the sea off the southernmost tip of Korea. One day Hana sees a Japanese soldier heading for where Emi is guarding the day's catch on the beach. Her mother has told her again and again never to be caught alone with one. Terrified for her sister, Hana swims as hard as she can for the shore. So begins the story of two sisters suddenly and violently separated by war. Switch-backing between Hana in 1943 and Emi as an old woman today, White Chrysanthemum takes us into a dark and devastating corner of history. But pulling us back into the light are two women whose love for one another is strong enough to triumph over the evils of war. A riveting, immersive read in the vein of The Kite Runner and Memoirs of a Geisha. Features Summary If you see her, you are safe.'Hana and her little sister Emi are part of an island community of haenyeo, women who make their living from diving deep into the sea off the southernmost tip of Korea... Author Mary Lynn Bracht Publisher Chatto and Windus Release date 20180116 Pages 320 ISBN 1-78474-144-2 ISBN 13 978-1-78474-144-0

(This title is available on demand: expected date of dispatch will be 4-7 working days once ordered) Shalom Auslander was raised with a terrified respect for God. Even as he grew up, defying and eventually being cast out of his community, he could not find his way to a life in which he wasn't locked in a daily struggle with Him. Foreskin's Lament is a rich and fascinating portrait of a man grappling with his faith, his family and his community. Bracing and witty...Never, frankly, can there have been a more blasphemous book...Foreskin's Lament somehow expresses the ideas of Richard Dawkins in the tone of David Sedaris. You can read it for the humour, you can read it as reportage into a secretive and bizarre world, you can read it as a personal tale of triumph over adversity, or you can just read it for the misery. It doesn't really matter. But do read it' William Sutcliffe, Independent on Sunday One of the funniest books I've ever read, killingly so' Hilary Spurling, Observer Exceptional...very, very funny' Time Out Painfully poignant and hilariously noir' Jewish Chronicle By turns hilarious and devastating...Few books are laugh-out-loud funny. This one is' Naomi Alderman, Sunday Times America's hottest, funniest, most controversial young Jewish memoirist...blackly hilarious, groundbreaking' The Times Format:Paperback Pages:320

Book in great condition   ****   Last Days in Cloud Cuckooland is Boynton's account of the final gasps of white culture on the continent, from the flight of the Belgian refugees from the Congo in 1960 through the first years of Nelson Mandela's presidency in South Africa. In a series of graphic accounts of the human dramas marking this disorderly retreat, he illuminates the complexity and ambiguity of the role of the whites in Africa. They "were never a unified gang of coldhearted supremacists," he writes, "any more than the blacks in Africa have been a saintly group of idealists and altruists." It is an evocative story, and as it unfolds the author is drawn toward a controversial conclusion. If the white colonials did a rather poor job of making Africa work, he argues, then their African successors have done considerably worse. "It was in Africa that my identity was forged," Boynton writes. "Somewhere amid the rapid dismemberment of colonial rule, the wars, and the triumph of black nationalism, I became a white African, and will remain so for the rest of my life, wherever I live." But he will probably not live in Africa, which has been changed forever. *N.B.*  If you buy more than one book from me on the same day you only pay R 6 extra postage for each of the additional books - See what else I have to offer, it might just be worth your while.             

Half Empty by David Rakoff, 2010 Hardcover, 240 pages Published 2010 by Doubleday (first published 2010) The inimitably witty David Rakoff, New York Times bestselling author of Don’t Get Too Comfortable, defends the commonsensical notion that you should always assume the worst, because you’ll never be disappointed. In this deeply funny (and, no kidding, wise and poignant) book, Rakoff examines the realities of our sunny,  gosh¬ everyone-can-be-a-star contemporary culture and finds that, pretty much as a universal rule, the best is not yet to come, adversity will triumph, justice will not be served, and your dreams won’t come true. The book ranges from the personal to the universal, combining stories from Rakoff’s reporting and accounts of his own experi¬ences: the moment when being a tiny child no longer meant adults found him charming but instead meant other children found him a fun target; the perfect late evening in Manhattan when he was young and the city seemed to brim with such pos¬sibility that the street shimmered in the moonlight—as he drew closer he realized the streets actually flickered with rats in a feeding frenzy. He also weaves in his usual brand Oscar Wilde–worthy cultural criticism (the tragedy of Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, for instance). Whether he’s lacerating the musical Rent for its cutesy depic¬tion of AIDS or dealing with personal tragedy, his sharp obser¬vations and humorist’s flair for the absurd will have you positively reveling in the power of negativity.(less)

This item is sold brand new. It is ordered on demand from our supplier and is usually dispatched within 7 - 12 working days 'For anyone interested in Lee's legacy, this is a roundhouse kick of a biography' - The Sunday Times 'At last, Bruce Lee has the powerful biography he deserves... It will thrill Lee's fans and fascinate the unfamiliar' - Jonathan Eig, author of Ali: A Life and Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig 'Meticulously researched' - Jimmy McDonough, author of Shakey: Neil Young's Biography and Soul Survivor: A Biography of Al Green 'You won't find a better match for a biographer with his subject than Matthew Polly and Bruce Lee... A definitive biography, told with passion and punch' - Brian Jay Jones, author George Lucas: A Life and Jim Henson: The Biography. More than forty years after Bruce Lee's sudden death at age 32, journalist and author Matthew Polly has written the definitive account of Lee's life. It's also one of the only accounts; incredibly, there has never been an authoritative biography of Lee. Following a decade of research that included conducting more than one hundred interviews with Lee's family, friends, business associates and even the mistress in whose bed Lee died, Polly has constructed a complex, humane portrait of the icon. There are his early years as a child star in Hong Kong cinema; his actor father's struggles with opium addiction and how that turned Bruce into a troublemaking teenager who was kicked out of high school and eventually sent to America to shape up; his beginnings as a martial arts teacher, eventually becoming personal instructor to movie stars like Steve McQueen; his struggles as an Asian-American actor in Hollywood and frustration seeing role after role he auditioned for go to a white actors in eye makeup; his eventual triumph as a leading man; his challenges juggling a sky-rocketing career with his duties as a father and husband; and his shocking end that to this day is still shrouded in mystery. Polly breaks down the myth of Bruce Lee and argues that, contrary to popular belief, he was an ambitious actor who was obsessed with martial arts-not a great kung-fu master who just so happened to make a couple of movies. The book offers an honest look at an impressive yet flawed man whose personal story was even more entertaining and inspiring than any fictional role he played on-screen. Praise for Matthew Polly 'Hypnotic...Tapped Out manages to humanize a sport once demonized as "human cockfighting" by deconstructing the stereotype of the martial-arts tough guy.' - The New York Times 'Tapped Out is a knockout for MMA fans, who will laugh at the intimate portraits Polly sketches of some of the sport's most famous personalities. But it also works for those not familiar with the sport...You won't be disappointed.' - OpposingViews.com 'A delight to read.' - TheFightNerd.com 'Polly's self-deprecation in the painful learning process stands out as much as the witty prose. His delivery is Plimpton-esque.' - ESPN.com 'Smoothly written... Polly has a good eye for characters.' - Publishers Weekly Features Summary The first authoritative biography of film star Bruce Lee, who made martial arts a global phenomenon, bridged the divide between eastern and western cultures... Author Matthew Polly Publisher Simon & Schuster Release date 20180605 Pages 656 ISBN 1-4711-7569-3 ISBN 13 978-1-4711-7569-5

 El Negro was the name given to a southern African man whose body was stolen from his grave in the early 19th century by two respected French naturalists. The body was stuffed in the same way that trophy animals are stuffed and sent to Europe to further the cause of scientific racism and to 'entertain' the public.  It eventually ended up in a glass case in a museum in a small Spanish town. In the 1990s, after a decade of protest and protracted political and diplomatic exchanges, it was finally agreed that the body be repatriated to Botswana.  In October 2000, El Negro was laid to rest in a sombre state burial in Gaborone, capital of Botswana.  It was then that the triumph for Africa turned sour. Although the true identity of the man has never been established, he has come to symbolise all those who were murdered, excavated and stolen from Africa by 19th century explorers and naturalists. In this carefully researched and immensely readable book, Caitlin Davies throws open the debate about what is appropriate in the name of 'science' where human remains are concerned.  In the process, she retraces El Negro's fateful journey to Europe, including a search for the missing grave goods without which it is believed the stolen man cannot rest in peace. Soft cover, very good condition.  The paper is browning a little.

This item is sold brand new. It is ordered on demand from our supplier and is usually dispatched within 7 - 12 working days `Brilliant. Among the best novels I know about the fate of American innocence abroad' Garth Greenwell So. We were Americans abroad. We weren't the doomed travellers in a Paul Bowles novel, and we weren't the idealists or the malarial, religion-damaged burnouts in something by Greene; but we were people far from home nevertheless. Our naivety didn't have political consequences. We had G.P.S. in our smartphones. I don't think we were alcoholics. Our passports were in the same drawer as our collection of international adapters, none of which seemed to fit in Brazilian wall sockets. My husband was in the chrysalis stage of becoming a rich man, and idealism was never my vice. I was ancillary - a word that comes from the Latin for `having the status of a female slave'. That's the sort of thing I know, and it tells you something about how I misspent my education. The term among expats for people like me was `trailing spouse'... `Brutal, dazzling' Daisy Johnson, Guardian `Captivating' Irish Times `Devastating, funny and wise' Garth Greenwell `A triumph' Samantha Harvey `A writer so gifted with language that you forget who you are in the poetry of his prose' Uzodinma Iweala `Magnificent, profound, and true' Elisa Albert `Reminded me in parts of Maggie Nelson. Stunning' Sophie Mackintosh Features Summary `Brilliant. Among the best novels I know about the fate of American innocence abroad' Garth Greenwell Author Ian MacKenzie Publisher Fourth Estate Release date 20180726 Pages 240 ISBN 0-00-829854-8 ISBN 13 978-0-00-829854-8

*SIGNED* The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling Never been read or used. ' When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils... Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?'