BOOKS
floating women and lotus flowers of the Sensō-ji temple in Japan, painted in the year 645, to the religious iconography of places of worship from Vienna to Istanbul. It also explores the statements that such ceilings make about the times in which they were created.
Deryn Rees-Jones Paula Rego Tames & Hudson, HB, £85, 9780500021378 Up-to-date monograph on the powerful work of Paula Rego, with 350 reproductions of artworks from the whole span of her career. Published ahead of a major retro- spective at Tate Britain in 2021.
Biography & memoirs
Previews New Titles: Non-fiction
Andrea Corr Barefoot Pilgrimage HarperCollins, 17th, HB, £12.99, 9780008321307 This memoir by the lead singer of The Corrs is “in part, an exercise in coming to terms with and making sense of life and mortality; in part, a reflec- tion on an unlikely journey with her siblings through the music industry; in part, a meditation on family, on music and on creativity; and, in part, a shout-out for love and for hope.”
Ranulph Fiennes Armed & Dangerous Simon & Schuster, 17th, HB, £20, 9781471156618 In his latest memoir, Fiennes reflects on how his drive to succeed was influenced and shaped by the military, from his lieutenant-colonel father, who was killed during the Second World War, to his own time in the Army and the SAS. He also charts the evolution of the elite solider over the centuries.
Writing with “extraordi- nary wit, generosity and courage”, she reveals her own life of drama, tragedy and courage, with “wonderful wit and extraordinary resilience”.
opinions on the state of the nation, journalism and the media.
Paul Hendrickson Plagued by Fire: The Dreams and Furies of Frank Lloyd Wright Bodley Head, 24th, HB, £25, 9781847923103 The award-winning US author of Hemingway’s Boat and Sons of Mississippi with an “illuminating and path- breaking” biography of Frank Lloyd Wright which will “change the way we understand the life, mind and work of the celebrated architect”. This year marks the 60th anni- versary of his death.
Brett Anderson Afternoons with the Blinds Drawn Little Brown, 3rd, HB, £18.99, 9781408711842 In his second volume of memoirs, the follow-up to the acclaimed Coal Black Mornings, Anderson reflects on the Suede years, and the band’s trajectory, from emerging in the indie scene in the 1990s to creating some of the era’s most revered songs and albums. He also “unflinchingly explores his relationship with addiction”.
Biography & memoirs
Mark “Billy” Billingham The Hard Way: Adapt, Survive and Win Simon & Schuster, 31st, HB, £20, 9781471186738
One to Watch
With 17 years in the SAS, a life as body- guard to stars such as Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, and now a starring role in Channel 4’s “Who Dares Wins”,
Billingham is a highly decorated veteran with a reputation for excellence, honestly and integrity. In this memoir, he reveals his tough upbringing in Birmingham, where he left school at 11 and ran with gangs until he was almost killed in a knife fight. Then he discovered the British armed forces, which would be the making of him. Obvious appeal for fans of his comrades Ant Middleton, Jason Fox and Ollie Ollerton.
Anne Glenconner A Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown Hodder, 17th, HB, £20, 9781529359060 The remarkable life of a lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret, who was also a maid of honour at the Queen’s Coronation and is set to be a character in “The Crown” this autumn.
John Humphrys A Day Like Today: Memoirs Collins, 3rd, HB, £20, 9780007415571 “Candid and trenchant” first memoir by the veteran broadcaster, published to mark his retirement from the BBC. It covers his Cardiff childhood, his life as a journalist covering Watergate and apartheid South Africa, his time presenting BBC’s “Nine O’Clock News”, as well as his 33 years holding politi- cians to account on Radio 4’s “Today”. We also get Humphrys’ forceful
Mitchell S Jackson Survival Math Dialogue, 10th, HB, £18.99, 9780349701332 This memoir from a prize- winning US author comes garlanded with praise from the likes of Cheryl Strayed and Piper Kerman, author of Orange is the New Black. It takes its title from the calculations Mitchell and his family made in order to stay safe in their community, a small black neighbourhood in Portland, Oregon, blighted by drugs, violence, poverty and government neglect. “A personal reckoning and a vital addition to the national conversation about race.”
Norman Jay Mr Good Times Dialogue, 3rd, HB, £20, 9780349700656 This biography of the DJ and musical pioneer is the enthralling story of a black kid growing up in a largely white working- class world, who took the music of Black America, gave it a London twist, and forged a hugely successful career as a trailblazing DJ and broad- caster. To be launched at the Notting Hill Carnival.
Alexander Lebedev Hunt the Banker:
History
Dan Carlin Hardcore History: Tough Answers
to History’s Biggest Questions Collins, 31st, HB, £20, 9780008340926
One to Watch
Award-winning podcast “Hardcore History” has been downloaded more than 100 million times, and is lauded for its blend of high drama, enthral-
ling narration and “The Twilight Zone”-style twists, all achieved by its creator Carlin using noth- ing but his own voice. In his first book, he tackles some thorny and intriguing what-ifs, from whether tough times make for tougher people, comparing parenting techniques from history in the process; to what we really mean by “progress” in a society; to how we modern people, totally reliant as we are on the electrical grid, would cope if power was lost and never fully restored.
32 12th July 2019
The Confessions of a Russian Ex-Oligarch Quiller, HB, £20, 9781846893032 Lebedev is best known as the proprietor of the Evening Standard and Independent newspapers. This is his “wry and humorous” memoir of his hair-raising experi- ences as someone who aspires to show that an honest banker is not an oxymoron. In the process he reveals corruption scandals, dodgy multi- billion-dollar deals and contract killings.
This third and final volume of Moore’s biography covers Thatcher’s last period in office and her combative retirement. It includes the fall of the Berlin Wall, which she fought for, and the rise of the modern EU, which she feared. It lays bare her growing quarrels with colleagues and reveals the truth about her political assassination.
Hisham Matar A Month in Siena Viking, 17th, HB, £12.99, 9780241409503 Shortly after completing his book The Return, the Pulitzer Prize-winning US writer spent a month in Siena. It proved to be an extraordinary period: an immersion in art, a consideration of grief and violence, and an intimate encounter with the city and its inhabitants. This short book looks back on this time, contemplating the relationship between art and the human condition.
Charles Moore Margaret Thatcher: The Authorised Biography, Volume Three—Herself Alone Allen Lane, 3rd, HB, £30, 9780241324745
Jim Naughtie On the Road: Adventures from Nixon to Trump Simon & Schuster, 17th, £20, 9781471177415 The author and BBC broadcaster on the coun- try that has fascinated him and drawn him across the Atlantic for half a century. In looking at the US, from Presidents Nixon through to Trump, he tells the story of a country that is “grap- pling with a dream. What has it come to mean in the new century, and who do Americans now think they are?”
Cole Porter, Dominic McHugh & Cliff Eisen (eds) The Letters of Cole Porter Yale, HB, £25, 9780300219272 Edited with a lively contex- tual commentary, this classy collection is the first major biographical work on Cole Porter in almost 20 years, and marks the first publication of his
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
