Most unusually among major painters, Vincent van Gogh (1853-90) was also an accomplished writer. His letters provide both a unique self-portrait and a vivid picture of the contemporary cultural scene. Van Gogh emerges as a complex but captivating personality, struggling with utter integrity to fulfil his artistic destiny. This major new edition, which is based on an entirely new translation, reinstating a large number of passages omitted from earlier editions, is expressly designed to reveal his inner journey as much as the outward facts of his life. It includes complete letters wherever possible, linked with brief passages of connecting narrative and showing all the pen-and-ink sketches that originally went with them. Despite the familiar image of Van Gogh as an antisocial madman who died a martyr to his art, his troubled life was rich in friendships and generous passions. In his letters we discover the humanitarian and religious causes he embraced, his fascination with the French Revolution, his striving for God and for ethical ideals, his desperate courtship of his cousin, Kee Vos, and his largely unsuccessful search for love. All of this, suggests De Leeuw, demolishes some of the myths surrounding Van Gogh and his career but brings hint before us as a flesh-and-blood human being, an individual of immense pathos and spiritual depth. Perhaps even more moving, these letters illuminate his constant conflicts as a painter, torn between realism, symbolism and abstraction; between landscape and portraiture; between his desire to depict peasant life and the exciting diversions of the city; between his uncanny versatility as a sketcher and his ideal of the full-scale finished tableau. SinceVan Gogh received little feedback from the public, he wrote at length to friends, fellow artists and his family, above all to his brother Theo, the Parisian art dealer, who was his confidant and mainstay. Along with his intense powers of visual imagination, Vincent brought to the

Caroline Flack's frank and hugely entertaining memoir. In December 2014, Caroline danced her way into the nation's hearts when she raised the BBC's coveted Strictly Come DancingGlitterball. Known for her throaty laugh, edgy humour and quick-fire wit, showcased on some of Britain's most popular reality TV shows, she was thrust into the mainstream, hosting ITV's flagship talent show, The X Factor, with Olly Murs. In Storm in a C Cup, Caroline reveals the laughter and pain behind the TV persona, from a sheltered Norfolk childhood shared with her twin sister, through her madcap student days, to the challenging career ladder leading to eventual TV success, not forgetting its dark shadow, when intrusive media attention turned the dream into a nightmare. She takes us behind the cameras at some of TV's most successful reality shows, including the tensions, stresses and unlikely friendships of the three-month adventure that was Strictly. Caroline wears her heart on her sleeve, documenting her joys and heartbreaks with the humour, resilience and unflinching emotional honesty that made her of one of television's most popular celebrities.

'The "Fever Pitch" of telly.' Scotland on Sunday 'Like Linus' blanket in Charlie Brown, like breast fixations among men in their fifties, television can become an embarrassing addiction.' But for most of us, sitting in our living rooms looking for an excuse not to talk to each other of a Thursday night, a million million miles away from moon landings and Cold War tension and Third World famine, it is this addiction to a queer little flickering box in the corner that has shaped our lives since the late 1950s.

Patti Smith was a poet, a punk prophet, a feminist icon, a living work of art and the first woman rock-outsider to come from the New York underground and become a star. From her confused and religious upbringing to her early days as a poet, punk and rock 'n' roller, Patti Smith redefined the role of artist, writer and female performer. This major biography will rightly place Patti Smith as a central figure in late twentieth century popular culture. Cited by musicians young and old as a major influence, Patti Smith is as fascinating an individual as she is a great artist. From a religious childhood in South Jersey she escaped to New York swearing she would become famous. Acting as muse first to Richard Mapplethorpe and then Sam Shepherd, Patti began her career as a performance poet and rock writer. She soon became the first punk rockstar mixing her distinct voice and poetry with rock and roll music. Yet in 1979 she gave it all up to live with her husband in quiet, suburban Detroit until he died an alcoholic in 1994. As well as placing Patti Smith at the centre of the New York underground that included, amongst others, Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Blondie, Jim Carrol and William Burroughs, Victor Bockris's biography investigates the private world behind the celebrity - the confused childhood, the piss factory, torturous relationship with men, the secretive retreat to Detroit and the slow and historic comeback in 1995 as Patti returns to her rightful place as a central character and icon of 20th century popular culture and the queen of the New York Underground.

For more than a quarter century, Al Pacino has spoken freely and deeply with acclaimed journalist and bestselling author Lawrence Grobel on subjects as diverse as childhood, acting, and fatherhood. Here, for the first time, are the complete conversations and shared observations between the actor and the writer; the result is an intimate and revealing look at one of the most accomplished, and private, artists in the world.

Pacino grew up sharing a three-room apartment in the Bronx with nine people in what he describes as his "New York Huckleberry Finn" childhood. Raised mostly by his grandparents and his mother, Pacino began drinking at age thirteen. Shortly after he was admitted to the renowned High School for Performing Arts, his classmates nicknamed him "Marlon," after Marlon Brando, even though Pacino didn't know who Brando was. Renowned acting coach Charlie Laughton saw Pacino when he was nineteen in the stairwell of a Bronx tenement, and the first words out of Laughton's mouth were "You are going to be a star." And so began a fabled, lifelong friendship that nurtured Al through years of not knowing where his next meal would come from until finally -- at age twenty-six -- he landed his first salaried acting job.

Grobel and Pacino leave few stones unturned, touching on the times when Pacino played piano in jazz clubs until four a.m. before showing up on the set of Scarecrow a few hours later for a full day's work; when he ate Valium like candy at the Academy Awards; and when he realized he had been in a long pattern of work and drink.

As the pivotal character in "The Godfather" trilogy and the cult classic "Scarface," Pacino has enshrined himself in film history. He's worked with most of Hollywood's brightest luminaries such as Francis Ford Coppola, Sidney Lumet, Michael Mann, Norman Jewison, Brian De Palma, Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Gene Hackman, Sean Penn, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hilary Swank, and Robin Williams, among many others. He was nominated for eight Academy Awards before winning the Oscar for Best Actor for his role in "Scent of a Woman." Pacino still seems to prefer his work onstage to film and, if he's moved by a script or play, is quick to take parts in independent productions.

"Al Pacino" is an intensely personal window into the life of an artist concerned more with the process of his art than with the fruits of his labor, a creative genius at the peak of his artistic powers who, after all these years, still longs to grow and learn more about his craft. And, for now, it's as close to a memoir as we're likely to get.

The Clangers memorably spoke in a language played on swannee whistles. No one expected them to have scripts. But they did. Within an ancient barn nestled in the heart of the Kent countryside, Smallfilms founders Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin created one of the most beloved BBC children's series of the twentieth century: Clangers. Clangers: The Complete Scripts 1969-1974 is the ultimate compendium of scripts from the original two series of the show in one lavishly illustrated volume. These previously unseen scripts sit alongside original writing from Daniel Postgate - son of the original creator Oliver Postgate - exploring the inspiration for and lasting cultural impact of the show, new and historical photographs, Peter's original illustrations, Oliver's handwritten musical notations and more. The joyful revelation that the Clangers' often colourful words were scripted in English brings an exciting new dimension to the Smallfilms legacy.

Brother and sister Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn enjoyed a rare bond: they were intimate companions and theirs was one of the most significant musical relationships of the 19th century. They shared and commented on each other's compositions, each highly appreciative of the other but also offering frank, critical advice. Their travels produced some great music - Felix's best loved works, the Hebrides Overture and the Scottish Symphony, were inspired by his 1829 visit to Scotland, whilst Fanny's innovative piano cycle Das Jahr was a musical response to the tour of Italy she made in 1839-40. Combining letters and sketches with an accompanying narrative describing their journeys, this is a wonderful celebration of the two Mendelssohns and a portrait of Scotland and Italy of the time as seen through the eyes of two of the Romantic movement's most acclaimed composers.

Die weeklikse rubriek in Rapport, “Hanlie Retief gesels met” , is iets waarna baie lesers elke Sondag uitsien en heel eerste lees. Aanhangers weet haar onderhoude is pittig, op die man af en baie vermaaklik.

Hanlie Retief vra die vrae aan die nuusmakers wat almal brand om te vra. Sy is bekend daarvoor dat sy haar soos ’n verkleurmannetjie kan aanpas by die aard van die onderhoud. Met deernis skets sy misdaadslagoffers se stories en kuier ewe gemaklik saam met Karen Zoid. Hanlie Retief Gesels Met 2 bevat 50 van Hanlie se beste onderhoude wat sy tussen 2011 en 2018 gevoer het: dié waaroor mense lank gepraat het, dié wat mense kwaad gemaak het, laat lag of inspireer het.

Steve Hofmeyr, Rolene Strauss, Tim Noakes, Piet Byleveld en Thuli Mandosela is van die onderhoude wat opgeneem is in hierdie boek.

'Easily the year's best Hollywood biog.' Independent on Sunday 'Ball Of Fire reveals all about house- wife superstar Lucille Ball. She made the top-rated TV show in America before her husband's serial adulteries practically sunk it.' Sunday Herald To viewers all over the world, Lucille Ball remains the ultimate screwball housewife, getting in and out of outlandish scrapes with hilarous finesse. But Stefan Kanfer's biography looks behind the image, tracing Ball's comedic genius to its beginnings in a lonely childhood in upstate New York. She yearned to make people laugh, to attain stardom and love. Then a Cuban bandleader called Desi came into her life to make her wealthy and famous -- and nearly destroyed her in the process. Kanfer chronicles the runaway success of I Love Lucy, the fiery marriage and eventual split from Desi, and Ball's struggle to manage both a business empire and her own rebellious children. 'A wonderful and poignant book . . . Kanfer portays Lucille Ball as insatiably anxious and insecure, a woman whose search for a father-figure would only ever find the unlikely and unholdable Desi . . . Kanfer pulls no punches over Lucy the pain in the neck but he gives a superb picture of how she and Desi changed television.' David Thomson