Met die “groot vyf” wolkekrabbers in die stadskern wysig Hannes van der Merwe saam met ander, in die jare sestig en sewentig, die luglyn van Kaapstad: die Naspers-gebou, die Cartwright-hoekgebou, die uitbreiding aan die kantore van die Kaaplandse Provinsiale Administrasie se gebou, die Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank en die Kaapstadse Burgersentrum (vandag die Unistad-hoofkantoor). Maar Hannes van der Merwe is veel meer as bloot argitek. Hy was jare lank betrokke by die Kaaplandse Raad vir die Uitvoerende Kunste en die Raad van Trustees van die Suid-Afrikaanse Kunsmuseum en het selfs op sy dag ’n bietjie toneel gespeel. Een van die boeiendste fasette van sy lewe is sy vriendskap met belangrike skrywers en joernaliste – Boerneef, D.J. Opperman, Piet Cillie en Izak de Villiers – waaroor daar in hierdie boek meer vertel word.

Howard Feldman was a high-flying commodity trader, living a seemingly perfect life, with a perfect wife and perfect children, in an unbelievably perfect world. His tie was Hermes and belt Ferragamo (until the Hermes belt with the H became the item of choice), suits were Boss or Armani (little else would do unless it is custom made, but only in London and not by the tailors in Hong Kong as everyone knew that they aren’t up to par). Shoes were Prada. Rolex was passe unless it was the Daytona. IWC was always acceptable, Hublot - too in your face, Cartier worked and Panerai said “I have class, have money and I am aware of the latest trends”. Ties needed to be skinny, unless you were not. Louis Vuitton luggage was “showy” unless plain black. Tumi roll-on, in black, with the briefcase that slides over the handle was a pre-requisite. Check-in baggage is embarrassing and very un-cool even though you have more weight allowance than God…But then this “King of Chrome” gets attacked. And attacked again. Then he gets sick. His business folds. And his carry-on baggage simply gets too heavy to hold. As Howard unpacks his bags – both literal and metaphorical – he unravels all the “perfect” banners he has raised to the world, his family, his community and himself. He measures their value against a new benchmark of success, and reconsiders his life’s travels from Zug to Zimbabwe, New York to Tel Aviv. Returning home to South Africa, he discovers not just the meaning of home, family and friendship, but also himself.

The New York Times" bestseller--a harrowing and hysterical memoir by the two-time Emmy Award-winning actress from the hit television show 3rd Rock from the Sun."
""It felt like I was speeding on the Autobahn toward hell, trapped inside a DeLorean with no brakes. And even if I "could" ""somehow stop, I'd still be screwed, because there's no way I'd ever be able to figure out how to open those insane, cocaine-designed doors."""
"Actress Kristen Johnston has written her first book, a surprisingly raw and triumphant memoir that is outrageous, moving, sweet, tragic, and heartbreakingly honest. "Guts" is a true achievement--a memoir that manages to be as frank and revealing as Augusten Burroughs, yet as hilarious and witty as David Sedaris. Johnston takes us on a journey so truthful and relatable, so remarkably fresh, it promises to stay with you for a long, long time.

You will find a real life, gritty account of drug addiction in the pages of Rocks – One Man’s Climb from Drugs to Dreams.

Set in the leafy suburbs of Joburg in the 90s, and at the height of the Johannesburg Rave Culture, this book brings to life the agonising heartache of the drug addicted Marco Broccardo, and that of his family members including the dirty details of the daily life of an addict – the close encounters with the law, moments of insanity and rock bottom desperation. But amidst all the despair, there is a moment of liberation and hope. Hope that addiction can be beaten through the right decisions and the over-arching idea of love.

This book will take you on a journey – from the despair of being rock bottom to the elation of the mountain-tops of Kilimanjaro.

This is an account of a year in the life of Peter Berry, an ordinary man living in a sleepy Suffolk village. Happily married and running a successful business, Peter's life changes when, at the age of fifty, he is given a terminal diagnosis of early-onset dementia. Since that day, he has learned to live with his very own 'dementia monster'. From depression and suicide attempts through to his determination to confront his dementia, Peter has embarked on a series of challenges to show that 'life isn't over with dementia, it's just a little different'. Peter has now raised thousands of pounds for dementia charities, cycling hundreds of miles in his quest to show that life is always worth living. When Peter meets Deb, recently retired, they embark on regular cycle rides and, as their friendship grows, Deb is able to look at her own life through the lens of Peter's dementia. In 'Slow Puncture', Peter tells the world what it is really like to live with a terminal condition and Deb learns to enjoy each day more fully. With a foreword by best-selling author Wendy Mitchell, author of 'Somebody I Used to Know', this is an inspirational look at both living in the present and coping with dementia.

An absorbing, original, and ambitious work of reportage from the acclaimed New Yorker correspondent

During the past decade, Peter Hessler has persistently illuminated worlds both foreign and familiar--ranging from China, where he served as The New Yorker's correspondent from 2000 to 2007, to southwestern Colorado, where he lived for four years. Strange Stones is an engaging, thought-provoking collection of Hessler's best pieces, showcasing his range as a storyteller and his gift for writing as both native and knowledgeable outsider. From a taste test between two rat restaurants in South China to a profile of Yao Ming to the moving story of a small-town pharmacist, these pieces are bound by subtle but meaningful ideas: the strength of local traditions, the surprising overlap between cultures, and the powerful lessons drawn from individuals who straddle different worlds.

Full of unforgettable figures and an unrelenting spirit of adventure, Strange Stones is a dazzling display of the powerful storytelling, shrewd cultural insight, and warm sense of humor that are the trademarks of Peter Hessler's work.

Pennsylvania, first home of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, has a tradition of political progress. However, along with the good, the political playground of Pennsylvania has also seen the brazenly bad behavior of its political leaders. For over twenty-five years, political columnist John Baer has had a front-row seat to the foibles and follies of the Keystone State's political system. Baer takes readers through his memories of covering state politics for the last quarter century, from Democratic governor Milton Shapp's short-lived run for president--in which he finished behind "no preference" in the Florida primary--to highlights of some of the game-changing campaign missteps and maneuvers that moved administrations in and out of the capital. With a delightfully gruff wit, Baer gives readers a behind-the-scenes view of the politics and personalities that have passed through Harrisburg.

THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER 'A vital book about dying. Awe-inspiring and exquisite. Obligatory reading for the living' Nigella Lawson At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade's training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, the next he was a patient struggling to live. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi's transformation from a medical student asking what makes a virtuous and meaningful life into a neurosurgeon working in the core of human identity - the brain - and finally into a patient and a new father. What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when when life is catastrophically interrupted? What does it mean to have a child as your own life fades away? Paul Kalanithi died while working on this profoundly moving book, yet his words live on as a guide to us all. When Breath Becomes Air is a life-affirming reflection on facing our mortality and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a gifted writer who became both. SHORTLISTED FOR THE WELLCOME BOOK PRIZE 2017

Arguably the best chef of his generation, and now a global superstar, over the course of his career Gordon Ramsay has built a restaurant empire, from Singapore to Las Vegas and from Bordeaux to Dubai. But alongside the new openings, tucked away in a quiet street in Chelsea in London is the jewel in Gordon's crown - Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. With its tiny dining room, the restaurant which Gordon opened 25 years ago has a legendary reputation and has been awarded 3 Michelin stars for the past 15 years.

Restaurant Gordon Ramsay: A Story of Excellence is an exclusive look behind the scenes at one of the best restaurants in the world, and captures the constantly evolving quest for culinary perfection as Gordon and his brilliant team challenge themselves to stay ahead of the game in the ever competitive world of fine dining.

Capturing the attention to detail that goes into each dish as they balance the best seasonal ingredients and flavors, set against the rich tapestry of restaurant life the book is a fascinating insight into the magical and rare experience of eating at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay.

For two months every winter, when Pacific storms make landfall, Oahu's paradisical North Shore turns into a fiery hell. Its population more than triples as mainlanders, Brazilians, Australians, and Europeans transform the normally sleepy shore into a lawless, violent, drug-addled, and adrenaline-soaked mecca where fearless men paddle into thirty-foot waves breaking over a razor-sharp reef. And when the sun goes down, the true danger comes out as drug money, fights, murder, and extortion rule the surfing underworld. The North Shore during winter is downright dangerous but also exhilarating, and Chas Smith paints a true picture of what it feels like to be in the middle of it all. Welcome to Paradise, Now Go to Hell is both a breathtaking and wildly funny tale of beauty, wickedness, and the unyielding allure of ocean waves in all their glory.

Elise se eens briljante man raak aggressief en vergeetagtig, en tree heeltemal anders op as wat sy hom ken. Sy het ’n vae vermoede wat skort, maar uiteindelik word haar ergste vrese bewaarheid: haar geliefde man het Alzheimer se siekte. Hy vra haar in ’n oomblik van helderheid om tot die einde na hom om te sien, wat sy doen. Elise vertel hierdie intieme en aangrypende verhaal met deernis vir haar man en elke persoon wat aan alzheimers ly. Sy gee ook praktiese raad vir die versorgers van mense met alzheimers en tekens waarna mens moet oplet.

Following her internationally bestselling book The Good Women of China, Xinran has written one of the most powerful accounts of the lives of Chinese women. She has gained entrance to the most pained, secret chambers in the hearts of Chinese mothers--students, successful businesswomen, midwives, peasants--who, whether as a consequence of the single-child policy, destructive age-old traditions, or hideous economic necessity, have given up their daughters. Xinran beautifully portrays the "extra-birth guerrillas" who travel the roads and the railways, evading the system, trying to hold on to more than one baby; naive young girl students who have made life-wrecking mistakes; the "pebble mother" on the banks of the Yangtze River still looking into the depths for her stolen daughter; peasant women rejected by their families because they can't produce a male heir; and Little Snow, the orphaned baby fostered by Xinran but confiscated by the state.
For parents of adopted Chinese children and for the children themselves, this is an indispensable, powerful, and intensely moving book. Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother is powered by love and by heartbreak and will stay with readers long after they have turned the final page.

Laat jou terugvoer na die jare van inbly-naweke, studentepret, huis-toe-verlang en troospakkies beskuit onder die enkelbed.

Koshuis, saamgestel deur Erns Grundling van Elders-faam, bevat heerlike lekkerlees-vertellings, komies, verspot én roerend, oor die koshuislewe – op skool én universiteit, selfs oorsee – deur ’n verskeidenheid bydraers, insluitend reisskrywer Dana Snyman, geliefde Weg!-joernalis en -aanbieder Toast Coetzer, akteur en komediant Schalk Bezuidenhout, Huisgenoot-redakteur Yvonne Beyers, oudredakteur van Die Burger Bun Booyens, bekroonde romansiers Harry Kalmer en Kerneels Breytenbach, skrywers en joernaliste soos Celesté Fritze, Theunis Strydom, Leroux Schoeman, Marnus Hattingh en Pieter van Zyl, en vele meer.

Skink ’n koppie koffie, onthou weer die liedjie wat gespeel het toe jy by jou eerste huisdans gesoen is, en laat die jare terugrol!

My father, Ike Cox, had a lifetime of horse dealing. He had three horsemeat shops during WW2, travelling to all the horse fairs in Britain, hand-slapping horse dealing. I am Ikea s son Doug, and in 1963 my father and me travelled to Appleby Fair in Westmorland by horse-drawn Romany gypsy vardi with a four-wheel wagon and flat cart, with many gallowers tied behind, all for sale. We had a hundred miles to travel, meeting up with many gypsies and travellers on our way. I write our story in the year 2014, telling of how everything was in those distant, bygone years; of our gypsy encampments and our gallowers climbing the steep hills of picturesque Yorkshire Dales. Telling of how it all was on Dealersa Corner and Fair Hill, with many hand-slapping horse deals. Washing the gallowers in the River Eden next to the White CafA (c) and in the evening horse dealing continuing on in the pubs in Appleby village. Singing, clog dancing on the street, bare-knuckle fighting, a trotting race at dawn on the main road on and down at Appleby trotting track. We had a trotter called Half Lug and a big gamble took place. Did she win? Oh for the love of Appleby Fair! We will be back next year on the second Tuesday and Wednesday of June. My story is to the memory of my father, Ike Cox. A 400 page Hardback with my full colour glossy sketches.

A Best Book of 2021 by NPR and Esquire From Kliph Nesteroff, "the human encyclopedia of comedy" (VICE), comes the important and underappreciated story of Native Americans and comedy.It was one of the most reliable jokes in Charlie Hill's stand-up routine: "My people are from Wisconsin. We used to be from New York. We had a little real estate problem." In We Had a Little Real Estate Problem, acclaimed comedy historian Kliph Nesteroff focuses on one of comedy's most significant and little-known stories: how, despite having been denied representation in the entertainment industry, Native Americans have influenced and advanced the art form. The account begins in the late 1880s, when Native Americans were forced to tour in wild west shows as an alternative to prison. (One modern comedian said it was as "if a Guantanamo detainee suddenly had to appear on X-Factor.") This is followed by a detailed look at the life and work of seminal figures such as Cherokee humorist Will Rogers and Hill, who in the 1970s was the first Native American comedian to appear The Tonight Show. Also profiled are several contemporary comedians, including Jonny Roberts, a social worker from the Red Lake Nation who drives five hours to the closest comedy club to pursue his stand-up dreams; Kiowa-Apache comic Adrianne Chalepah, who formed the touring group the Native Ladies of Comedy; and the 1491s, a sketch troupe whose satire is smashing stereotypes to critical acclaim. As Ryan Red Corn, the Osage member of the 1491s, says: "The American narrative dictates that Indians are supposed to be sad. It's not really true and it's not indicative of the community experience itself...Laughter and joy is very much a part of Native culture." Featuring dozens of original interviews and the exhaustive research that is Nesteroff's trademark, We Had a Little Real Estate Problem is a powerful tribute to a neglected legacy.

'We often can't find the right words to express the unique depth and complicated beauty of what friendship really is because we've spent so much time heroising romantic love. This book is an attempt to fill that gap.' Growing up, Elizabeth wanted to make everyone like her. Lacking friends at school, she grew up to believe that quantity equalled quality. Having lots of friends meant you were loved, popular and safe. She was determined to become a Good Friend. And, in many ways, she did. But in adulthood she slowly realised that it was often to the detriment of her own boundaries and mental health. Then, when a global pandemic hit in 2020, she was one of thousands of people forced to reassess what friendship really meant to them - with the crisis came a dawning realisation: her truest friends were not the ones she had been spending most time with. Why was this? Could she rebalance it? Was there such thing as...too many friends? And was she the friend she thought she was? In Friendaholic, Elizabeth unpacks the significance and evolution of friendship. From exploring her own personal friendships and the distinct importance of each of them in her life, to the unique and powerful insights of others across the globe, Elizabeth asks why there isn't a language that can express its crucial influence on our world. From ghosting to frenemies, to social media and communication styles, to the impact of seismic life events, Elizabeth leaves no stone unturned. Friendaholic is the book you buy for the people you love but it's also the book you read to become a better friend to yourself.

Thomas Henry Morgan was born into a musical mining family at end of the nineteenth century. At twelve he followed his father down the pit, and at sixteen fought as a boy soldier in the First World War. Adding to the astonishing fact that more boys under eighteen (like Tom) were serving at the end of 1915, than in the entire force Wellington took to Waterloo! Serving as a Colour Sergeant in the Second, he was captured in North Africa at the fall of Tobruk imprisoned with some top ranking generals in Castello di Vincigliata near Florence. He escaped but later captured and transported to Stalag VIIA in Bavaria where he met the actor Derek Bond. Pre-war he wrote the music to the Welsh standard a Wea ll keep a Welcomea and posta "war sang in the chorus of Idloes Owena s fledgling Welsh National Opera Company. Another WNO artist Mollie Hair Russell, one-time principal dancer and soprano, recalled Tom fifty years later as a a big, rugged, handsome mana |great fun to work witha . He summed up his own philosophy as: a Life aina t all yer wants but, ita s all yer a aves, Stick a geranium in yer a at and be a appya