The #1 Sunday Times bestseller from 'the most influential public intellectual in the Western world right now' (New York Times) - now in paperback. How should we live properly in a world of chaos and uncertainty? Jordan Peterson has helped millions of people, young and old, men and women, aim at a life of responsibility and meaning. Now he can help you.…
'Far from being the pious injunction of a Utopian dreamer, the command to love one's enemy is an absolute necessity for our survival' Advocating love as strength and non-violence as the most powerful weapon there is, these sermons and writings from the heart of the civil rights movement show Martin Luther King's rhetorical power at its most fiery and uplifting.…
Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook…
The iconic bassist and co-founder of the Red Hot Chili Peppers tells his fascinating origin story, complete with all the dizzying highs and the gutter lows you'd want from an LA street rat turned world famous rock star. Michael Peter Balzary was born in Melbourne, Australia, on October 16, 1962. His more famous stage name, Flea, and his wild ride…
Eva was arrested by the Nazis on her fifteenth birthday and sent to Auschwitz. Her survival depended on endless strokes of luck, her own determination and the love and protection of her mother Fritzi, who was deported with her. When Auschwitz was liberated, Eva and Fritzi began the long journey home. They searched desperately for Eva's father and brother, from…
Having been found guilty of adultery, Hester Prynne is forced to wear an embroidered scarlet letter A as a punishment for her sin. While her vengeful husband embarks on a quest to discover the identity of her lover, she is left to face the consequences of her infidelity and find a place for herself and her illegitimate child in the…
'Drawing on exclusive access to key players and two billion digital words and images Ross left behind, New York Times bestselling author Nick Bilton offers a tale filled with twists and turns, lucky breaks and unbelievable close calls. It’s a story of the boy next door’s ambition gone criminal, spurred on by the clash between the new world of libertarian-leaning,…
Gandhi's non-violent struggles against racism, violence, and colonialism in South Africa and India had brought him to such a level of notoriety, adulation that when asked to write an autobiography midway through his career, he took it as an opportunity to explain himself. He feared the enthusiasm for his ideas tended to exceed a deeper understanding of his quest for…
'June, 1942: I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.' In Amsterdam, in the summer of 1942, the Nazis forced teenager Anne Frank and her family into hiding. For over two years, they, another…
An intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir by the former First Lady of the United States In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America - the first African-American to serve in that role - she helped…
*A younger reader's edition of the number-one bestselling memoir by former first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama. With a new introduction from Mrs Obama herself* What's important is our story, our whole story, including those moments when we feel a little vulnerable . . . Michelle Robinson started life sharing a bedroom with her older brother Craig, in…
What was it like to be Elvis Presley? What did it feel like when impossible fame made him its prisoner? As the world’s first rock star there was no one to tell him what to expect, no one with whom he could share the burden of being himself – of being Elvis. On the outside he was all charm, sex…
ohn Lennon was a rock star, a school clown, a writer, a wit, an iconoclast, a sometime peace activist and finally an eccentric millionaire. He was also a Beatle – his plain-speaking and impudent rejection of authority catching, and eloquently articulating, the group’s moment in history. Chronicling a famously troubled life, Being John Lennon analyses the contradictions in the singer-songwriter’s…
There was life before the fall. 1989 was a year of astonishing and rapid change: the fall of the Berlin Wall marked the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and an end to an entire way of life for millions of people behind the Iron Curtain. Bloc Life collects first hand testimony of the people who lived in East Germany, Czechoslovakia and…
Now, having secured access to the remaining band members and those who were closest to Freddie from childhood to death, Lesley-Ann has written the most in-depth account of one of music's best loved and most complex figures. Meticulously researched, sympathetic, unsensationalised, the book focuses on the period in the 1980s when Queen began to fragment, before their Live Aid performance…
‘Entrancing . . . This book allows us to observed not just the nimble-mouthed elf of his previous work, but a man in his seventh decade expunging his darker secrets and contemplating mortality . . . The brilliance of David Sedaris’s writing is that his very essence, his aura, seeps through the pages of his books like an intoxicating cloud,…
I’m standing on the red railway car that sits abandoned next to the barn. The wind soars, whipping my hair across my face and pushing a chill down the open neck of my shirt. The gales are strong this close to the mountain, as if the peak itself is exhaling. Down below, the valley is peaceful, undisturbed. Meanwhile our farm…
By the author of the acclaimed bestsellers Benjamin Franklin and Steve Jobs, this is the definitive biography of Albert Einstein. How did his mind work? What made him a genius? Isaacson’s biography shows how his scientific imagination sprang from the rebellious nature of his personality. His fascinating story is a testament to the connection between creativity and freedom. Based on…
Veteran technology journalist Ashlee Vance offers an unprecedented look into the remarkable life of the most daring entrepreneur of our time. Elon Musk paints a portrait of a complex man who has renewed American industry and sparked new levels of innovation—from PayPal to Tesla, SpaceX, and SolarCity—overcoming hardship, earning billions, and making plenty of enemies along the way.
A compilation of the subversive, important and entertaining writer of Hunter S. Thompson - renowned American writer of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas 'It would not do to be found in the desert under these circumstances: firing wildly into the cactus from a car full of drugs...' Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone showcases the evolution of the writer of Fear and…
The story of a man whose music changed the world. Farrokh Bulsara was a young boy who loved music and was known for being quiet and kind, even when people made fun of his unusual teeth. Farrokh grew up to be Freddie Mercury, an incredible musician who could command audiences with his charisma and talent, and who would one day…
'All my life my Stradivarius had been waiting for me, as I had been waiting for her . . .' At 7 years old Min Kym was a prodigy, the youngest ever pupil at the Purcell School of Music. At 11 she won her first international prize. She worked with many violins, waiting for the day she would play 'the…
The story of a girl who is changing the world. Greta Thunberg is an activist best known for calling attention to the devastating effects of climate change on our planet. A bold voice even against people that want to silence her, Greta has become a source of inspiration for millions of people who want to work towards tackling the climate…
WINNER OF THE BAILEYS PRIZE BEST OF THE BEST Winner of the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction 2007, this is a heartbreaking, exquisitely written literary masterpiece Ugwu, a boy from a poor village, works as a houseboy for a university professor. Olanna, a young woman, has abandoned her life of privilege in Lagos to live with her charismatic new lover,…
Hellhound on His Trail is the story of two very different men whose lives catastrophically interweaved over the course of some nine months in the late 1960s: one was a thief and con man called James Earl Ray, the other one of the greatest American figures of the twentieth century, Martin Luther King Jr. Hampton Sides follows in Ray's footsteps…
From a former marine and Yale Law School graduate, a powerful account of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town that offers a broader, probing look at the struggles of America’s white working class Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis—that of white working-class Americans. The decline of this group, a demographic of…
ehind the glamour ‘What will you do?’ ‘Oh, hell, I’ll write a novel about writing the screenplay and making the movie.’ ‘What are you going to call it?’ ‘Hollywood.’ Henry Chinaski has a penchant for booze, women and horse-racing. On his precarious journey from poet to screenwriter he encounters a host of well-known stars and lays bare the absurdity and…
The PERFECT GIFT for that superhero, saint, figure of worship or, if none of those apply, your plain dear old dad. 'Shawn has set up his own firework display in the garden. "Those big displays are rubbish," he tells his son. "You can't see a thing." When Shawn's son has seen the firework, they will go back indoors. Fireworks are…
THE PERFECT GIFT for the lonely, the deluded and the desperate. __________________________________ It is Barney and Leigh's wedding day. They have certainly come a long way from their first date. They have learned to supress their personalities and pretend they want the same things, so they will be able to put up with each other for several years. Everyone is…
The PERFECT GIFT for that special grandparent you know so well and love with all your heart but whom you haven't got a clue what to get her for a present. Not a bloody clue. _______________________________________ Grandparents are versatile. They are babysitters, weather forecasters, mother's helpers, sweet collectors, child-minders, knitwear suppliers, au pairs, curators of G-plan furniture and providers of…
The handy guide to the HUSBAND makes the PERFECT GIFT for any long-suffering wife or prospective bride to give to their beloved husband. ____________________ 'The wife likes to read romantic fiction. The books are a fantasy and an escape for her. The husband does not waste his time on silly stories. He likes to read books about things that really…
THE PERFECT GIFT for people who ride their Harleys to work while wearing guyliner and winklepickers, even in freezing temperatures. __________________________________ Jason's mid-life crisis started one Sunday morning in B&Q when he spotted a tub of boat varnish. 'I will never own a boat,' he thought to himself. Jason has never wanted to own a boat. But now, not owning…
The PERFECT GIFT for Mum would be to let her take the day off while you do everything for her. Why not get her this book instead? ---------------- This is mum. A mum has two very important jobs to do. One is to look after her children. The other is to do everything else as well. ---------------- Now Lyndsay's little…
The PERFECT GIFT for your long-suffering wife or prospective bride. Or, for any fool of a husband or seriously deluded groom-to-be who hasn't yet understood what he's signed up for. -------------------- Tina is getting married. It is the best day of her life. Next year, she will claim that becoming a mother was the best day of her life, but only…
The New York Times bestseller based on the Oscar nominated documentary film In June 1979, the writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin embarked on a project to tell the story of America through the lives of three of his murdered friends: Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. He died before it could be completed. In his…
Iggy Pop’s life has been one of extraordinary highs and terrifying lows. Infamous for his wild ways, he is also a towering figure of the rock scene – hugely influential, charismatic and provocative. Every ‘mad, bad, dangerous to know’ rock star owes a debt to him, and the stories of his shocking behaviour are legendary. But Iggy Pop is also,…
Ayaan Hirsi Ali is one of today's most admired and controversial political figures. She burst into international headlines following the murder of Theo van Gogh by an Islamist who threatened she would be next. An international bestseller, her life story Infidel shows the coming of age of this elegant, distinguished -- and sometimes reviled -- political superstar and champion of…
In April 1992 Chris McCandles, a young man from a well-to-do family, hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness. He had given all his savings to charity, abandoned his car and posessions, burnt all the money in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a hunter…
Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild examines true story of Chris McCandless, a young man, who in 1992 walked deep into the Alaskan wilderness and whose SOS note and emaciated corpse were found four months later, internationally bestselling author Jon Krakauer explores the obsession which leads some people to explore the outer limits of self, leave civilization behind and seek enlightenment…
The definitive book on iconic cult hero Jeff Buckley, the singer who made just one record but inspired a generation of rock musicians. Written by his manager Dave Lory, Jeff Buckleyincludes interviews with others who worked closely with him who have never spoken before. For the first time since Jeff Buckley’s untimely death on May 29, 1997, his manager Dave…
Don DeLillo's extraordinary Libra is a brilliant reimagining of the events and people surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Concentrating on the lives of Lee Harvey Oswald, some rogue former spooks unhappy with Kennedy's presidency, and Nicholas Branch, a CIA archivist, trying to make sense of or draw inferences from the mass of information after the assassination, Libra presents an unapologeticly provocative…
'I am reduced to a thing that wants Virginia. I composed a beautiful letter to you in the sleepless nightmare hours of the night, and it has all gone. I just miss you...' At a dinner party in 1922, Virginia Woolf met the renowned author, aristocrat - and sapphist - Vita Sackville-West. Virginia wrote in her diary that she didn't…
Malala Yousafzai lived in Pakistan where she was one of the best students in her class. But then a group of Islamist extremists called the Taliban came and a war began. Then, one day, two men from the Taliban shot Malala on the bus home from school. Penguin Readers is a series of popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking…
Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Between 1942 and 1945 Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Based on his own experience and the experiences of others he treated later.
After The Second World War, Czeslaw Milosz was exiled for many years from his home country of Poland. In Native Realm, he evokes that homeland and his years away from it; how it nurtured him and how its divisions and destruction shaped a generation. Exploring such diverse memories as a Soviet officer drinking tea with his little finger sticking out, or…
Beginning in 1967, Bukowski wrote the column "Notes of A Dirty Old Man" for the underground newspaper Open City. Perennially drunk, broke and in search of a woman, Bukowski takes on the guise of a wise fool as he ventures through America's seedy lowlife. Peopled by Kerouac, Burroughs and other much less salubrious characters, his exploits provoke humour and despair,…
Henry Chinaski is a lowlife loser with a hand-to-mouth existence. His menial post office day job supports a life of beer, one-night stands and racetracks. Lurid, uncompromising and hilarious, Post Office is a landmark in American literature, and over 1 million copies have been sold worldwide. The new edition is augmented with an anecdotal introduction by the modern Welsh cult-literary author, Niall…
Legendarily reticent, perverse and misleading, Prince is one of the few remaining 80s superstars who still, perhaps, remains unexplained. Now a firm fixture in the pop canon, where such classics as 'Purple Rain', 'Sign o' the Times' and 'Parade' regularly feature in Best Ever Album polls, Prince is still, as he ever was, an enigma. His live performances are legendary…
'Hilarious, subversive, sharp without being lethal, and loving without an ounce of sentiment, Shirley Jackson's more-or-less autobiographical account of life as a mother of four and faculty wife (and brilliant writer) is an eternal, comic joy' Amy Bloom 'Our new house was waiting for us, eager, expectant, and empty' Shirley Jackson skewered the trials of domestic life in 1950s America…
Sinéad O'Connor's voice and trademark shaved head made her famous by the age of twenty-one. Her landmark recording of Prince's Nothing Compares 2 U made her a global icon. She outraged millions when she tore up a photograph of Pope John Paul II on American television. Unapologetic and impossible to ignore, she called out hypocrisy wherever she saw it, and has done…
Since the release of her first, career-defining solo album Little Earthquakes, Tori Amos has been one of the music industry’s most enduring and ingenious artists. From her unnerving depiction of sexual assault in “Me and a Gun” to her post-9/11 album Scarlet’s Walk to her latest album Native Invader, her work has never shied away from intermingling the personal with the political. Amos began…
The most beautiful and powerful of Milosz's poems from across his writing life This selection brings together the most beautiful and powerful of Czeslaw Milosz's poems, spanning his writing life. In verses such as 'Café' he considers the upheaval, revolutions and two world wars that he had witnessed, while 'My Faithful Mother Tongue' reflects the loyalty he felt to his…
Winner of the Tata Literature Live First Book Award for Non-Fiction 2020 Shortlisted for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year Award 2021 'A fabulous piece of writing... I recommend it unreservedly' William Dalrymple 'A brilliant book' Christina Lamb One of the first things I was told when I arrived in Kabul was never to walk... When journalist Taran…
Shah of Shahs depicts the final years of the Shah in Iran, and is a compelling meditation on the nature of revolution and the devastating results of fear. Here, Kapuscinski describes the tyrannical monarch, who, despite his cruel oppression of the Iranian people, sees himself as the father of a nation, who can turn a backward country into a great…
New in the critically acclaimed Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the incredible life of Simone de Beauvoir, the great French philosopher and mother of feminism. When Simone de Beauvoir was a little girl, her father would proudly boast that she had the brain of a man - whatever that meant. But later, after years of studying, Simone would write…
A ROUGH TRADE AND MOJO BOOK OF THE YEAR From the back of the van to the front of the bar, from the hotel room to the emergency room, Mark Lanegan takes us back to the sinister, needle-ridden streets of Seattle, to an alternative music scene that was simultaneously bursting with creativity and saturated with drugs. He tracks the tumultuous rise and…
WINNER OF THE 2020 PULITZER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY Selected as a Book of the Year 2019 by the SPECTATOR, TELEGRAPH, NEW STATESMAN and FINANCIAL TIMES 'Definitive and delightful' Stephen Fry 'There can be no doubting the brilliance - the sheer explanatory vigour - of Moser's biography... a triumph of the virtues of seriousness and truth-telling that Susan Sontag espoused' New Stateman The definitive portrait of one…
Stephen Hawking was a very famous scientist whose ideas changed the world. He studied space and time and taught people about the universe. Stephen was often very ill and his life was not easy, but it was extraordinary. Penguin Readers is a series of popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction written for learners of English as a foreign…
Inspired by D.H. Lawrence, Chekhov and Hemingway, Bukowski's writing is passionate, extreme and has attracted a cult following, while his life was as weird and wild as the tales he wrote. This collection of short stories gives an insight into the dark, dangerous lowlife of Los Angeles that Bukowski inhabited. From prostitutes to classical music, Bukowski ingeniously mixes high and…
Written in Paris in the early 1950s, this book created instant controversy in its analysis of modern society that had allowed itself to be hypnotized by socio-political doctrines, and to accept totalitarian terror on the strength of a hypothetical future.
Nick Cave was born in Australia in 1957. He moved to London with his band The Birthday Party in 1990 and four years later he formed The Bad Seeds, with whom he has made 15 studio albums. In recent years he has made two albums with his other band, Grinderman. In 1999 he curated and directed the Meltdown Festival at…
Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl is an inspiring and tragic account of an ordinary life lived in extraordinary circumstances that has enthralled readers for generations. This Penguin Classics edition is edited by Otto H. Frank and Mirjam Pressler, translated by Susan Massotty, and includes an introduction by Elie Wiesel, author of Night. 'June, 1942: I hope I…
'We, the black and the white, deeply need each other here if we are really to become a nation' James Baldwin's impassioned plea to 'end the racial nightmare' in America was a bestseller when it appeared in 1963, galvanising a nation and giving voice to the emerging civil rights movement. Told in the form of two intensely personal 'letters', The Fire…
