"Prince Patrick" was a nick name given to me as a child by my family and parent's friends that reflected my attitude and desire to be treated in a manner befitting a little prince. A sign of endearment to humor my natural, idiosyncratic demeanor. I actually never thought of myself as royalty, rather, that I was "special," destined for greatness or to be famous, and should be treated as an incubating celebrity. But just how was I going to become a figure in history? A doctor or scientist that discovered a cure to a hideous disease or condition? An actor/artist that was going to define my generation? Or would I become infamous? Whereas, my innocent "hijinks" would lead to other more serious acts that would get me recognized for the wrong reasons. These stories of my eccentric exploits, told time and time again at family gatherings, have made both family and friends smile, giggle and laugh hysterically, with the words "no he did not" uttered more than once.

'The difficult is what takes a little time; the impossible is what takes a little longer,' said Fridtj of Nansen, who personally repatriated more than 400,000 prisoners of war after World War I and helped save millions of Russians from starvation. Albert Einstein prudently advised, 'Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts' and Cseslaw Milosz warned, 'In a room where people unanimously maintain a conspiracy of silence, one word of truth sounds like a pistol shot.' Since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been the hallmark of genius, but Nobel laureates tend to be more than merely brilliant - their idealism, courage and concern for humanity have also made them sources of inspiration and wisdom. Contrary to the notion that geniuses are absentminded eccentrics, many Nobel laureates have been social activists and political leaders, and some have been polymaths whose interests and talents were diverse, such as Philip Noel-Baker, winner of the 1959 Peace Prize, who ran in three Olympic Games. The quotations here are grouped by such themes as achievement, truth and falsehood, war and conflict, technology, and most have never been anthologised previously.

A light-hearted collection of drawings and rhymes that reflect the complex and multi-faceted nature of the human condition in a humorous manner. || Open our book and savour each page, | Join our Fantabunals on a sunlit stage, | Happily sharing their inner lives - | Feelings of joy, passion and strife. || That's all it is, yet so much more: | A flow of verses and colours galore! | Enter our world of hues and stanzas, | A show just for you, an extravaganza! || Here you might find that you're not alone | In your hopes and dreams or fears and groans, | And in reading our rhymes (strictly no prose!) | May you find a moment of gentle repose.

Trailer-trash superbrain Jim Goad is back with another vituperous observation of humanity and its associated idiocies: a no-holds-barred lambast of every sexual more on the planet.