No one in the twentieth century used language with the same precision and wit as Noel Coward. In his plays, his verse, his song lyrics, stories and in everyday life, he chose his words to uniquely stylish and truthful effect. This affectionate portrait of Coward's life includes not only his best-loved witticisms and lyrics, but also excerpts from private papers and hidden gems from unpublished material. Barry Day Delves into the whole range of Coward's talents, as well as his thoughts on a wide variety of subjects - including the theatre, England, the Arts, religion, love and death - all the while giving insights into the man himself.

This collection brings together three of Coward's most important screenplays - In Which We Serve (1942), Brief Encounter (1945) and The Astonished Heart (1950). The collection features the shooting scripts for each film alongside contextual notes for each play, and a general introduction, by Barry Day. In Which We Serve earned Coward an Academy Honorary Award in 1943 as well as the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film. The film remains a classic of wartime British cinema. Brief Encounter, the most famous screenplay in this collection, is based on Coward's 1936 one-act play Still Life. It remains one of the greatest love stories of all time, coming second in a British Film Institute poll of the top 100 British films. The Astonished Heart tells the story of a psychiatrist's growing obsession for a good-time girl and the resulting tragedy this leads to. This collection features a foreword by Laurence Kardish, Senior Curator Emeritus, Film, at New York's MoMA, and an eight-page black and white plate section of production stills.

Despite her prolific output, ageless writer and wit Dorothy Parker (1893-1967) never penned an autobiography (although if she had, she said that it would have been titled Mongrel). Combing through her stories, poems, articles, reviews, correspondence, and even her rare journalism and song lyrics, editor Barry Day has selected and arranged passages that describe her life and its preoccupations-urban living, the theater and cinema, the battle of the sexes, and death by dissipation. Best known for her scathing pieces for the New Yorker and her membership in the Algonquin Round Table ("The greatest collection of unsaleable wit in America."), Parker filled her work with a unique mix of fearlessness, melancholy, savvy, and hope. In Dorothy Parker, the irrepressible writer addresses: her early career writing for magazines; her championing of social causes such as integration; and the obsession with suicide that became another drama ("Scratch an actor...and you'll find an actress."), literature ("This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.") and much more.

The Complete Verse of Noel Coward brings together the three volumes of verse produced during his lifetime together with previously unpublished material for the very first time. For the legions of fans of The Master, this definitive collection of Coward's verse writings will prove irresistible. 'Throughout most of the years of my life, since approximately 1908, I have derived a considerable amount of private pleasure from writing verse . . . It is an inherent instinct in the English character.' Beginning with his youthful verse experiments, The Complete Verse arranges in themed chapters Coward's prolific public and personal verse writings. Chapters bring together his verse on a wide variety of subjects including war, the theatre, love, friends, travel, and God and the infinite. It features the satirical 'cod-pieces' - Chelsea Buns and Spangled Unicorn - and the verse collected in the 1967 volume Not Yet the Dodo. But alongside these are the verses sent to friends and family over many years, in letters, memos and cables, which paint a vivid portrait of his more private life and are published here for the first time. With a linking commentary by editor Barry Day and sprinkled with illustrations throughout, The Complete Verse offers to Coward readers further enjoyment and appreciation of his wit, insatiable interest in people and skilful rendering of his public and private lives.

Based on Barry Day's book, Love, Noel: The Letters and Songs of Noel Coward is the dramatic staging of the letters and correspondence of the playwright, director, actor, composer, and singer. Coward's letters span several decades and give you insight to some of his closest relationships with everyone from George Bernard Shaw to Edna Ferber, from the Queen Mother to his own mother, and of course, his constant collaborator, Gertrude Lawrence. A loving portrait of one

There are many revelatory passages about the personal and professional lives of Sherlock Holmes spread throughout the array of Doyle's works. This work has arranged them like a biography in quotes of the personal life and public career of the famous detective.

The Treasures of Noel Coward is a celebration of the life and work of this legendary figure, still a household name today, nearly 40 years after his death. Lord Louis Mountbatten said at Noel's 70th birthday: "There are probably greater painters than Noel, greater novelists than Noel, greater librettists, greater composers of music, greater singers, greater dancers, greater comedians, greater tragedians, greater stage producers, greater film directors, greater cabaret artists, greater TV stars. If there are, they are twelve different people. Only one man combined all twelve labels - "The Master". As a songwriter (words and music) he rivals Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and Stephen Sondheim, as a playwright his output exceeded that of Somerset Maughm (and his work is revived more often) and as an influential cultural figure he has no rival - Noel Coward is simply unique and this book tells the fascinating story of how the boy from the London suburbs conquered the world with his wit, charm and - as he modestly put it himself - star quality.

Lavishly illustrated and annotated, this first and definitive collection of letters to and from Coward provides a divine portrait of an age, from the Blitz to the Ritz and beyond.
The incomparable Noel Coward loved to correspond with friends, enemies, the famous and infamous, the talented and the powerful, including Virginia Woolf, Winston Churchill, Greta Garbo, Laurence Olivier, Katharine Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich, Lawrence of Arabia, Somerset Maugham, and many more. Granted unlimited access to the Coward archive, Barry Day presents many never-published letters and has unearthed new, startling evidence of Coward's wartime work as a spy. Along with 191 rare photographs, these letters bring to life the people and events that shaped the twentieth century--and a remarkable man who made his own indelible mark at the heart of it.

This collection brings together three of Coward's most important screenplays - In Which We Serve (1942), Brief Encounter (1945) and The Astonished Heart (1950). The collection features the shooting scripts for each film alongside contextual notes for each play, and a general introduction, by Barry Day. In Which We Serve earned Coward an Academy Honorary Award in 1943 as well as the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film. The film remains a classic of wartime British cinema. Brief Encounter, the most famous screenplay in this collection, is based on Coward's 1936 one-act play Still Life. It remains one of the greatest love stories of all time, coming second in a British Film Institute poll of the top 100 British films. The Astonished Heart tells the story of a psychiatrist's growing obsession for a good-time girl and the resulting tragedy this leads to. This collection features a foreword by Laurence Kardish, Senior Curator Emeritus, Film, at New York's MoMA, and an eight-page black and white plate section of production stills.

'In my time I have said some noteworthy and exceptionally memorable things' Nol Coward.

A delightful and revealing collection of quotations from the master wordsmith, Nol Coward. In his plays, verse, song lyrics, stories and everyday life, he chose his words to uniquely stylish and truthful effect.

This insightful portrait includes not only his best-loved witticisms, "bons mots "and lyrics but also excerpts from his private papers and hidden gems from unpublished material. Barry Day delves into the whole range of Coward's talents, as well as his thoughts on theatre, England, the Arts, religion, life and the man himself. "In His Own Words "displays the usual frivolity, and a surprising capacity for depth and compassion.

The World of Raymond Chandler" shows how Chandler precariously balanced the values of a classical English education against those of a fast-evolving America during the years before the Great War; how he adopted Los Angeles as his home after WWI, with Hollywood in turn adopting him (and adapting his works); how his detective hero and alter ego Philip Marlowe evolved over the years; and, above all, what it is to be a writer, and in particular one writing in the other language of hardboiled fiction.

Acclaimed biographer and historian Barry Day deftly interweaves images and text, using quotations from Chandler s novels, short stories, letters, and interviews, to craft a unique portrait of the mystery writer s life and times.

December 1999 marks the 100th anniversary of Noel Coward's birth; this book tells the story of his life in his own words - and Noel Coward used words in a way that rivalled Oscar Wilde. The witticisms and truthful insights cascaded from him throughout his life - in his plays, musicals, and in his own diaries and speeches. Barry Day, with the full co-operation of the Noel Coward estate, has gathered together highlights of Coward's wit and wisdom, and linked them together to tell the story of his life. Chapters include his early days ("Why Must the Show Go On?"), his love of England ("Mad Dogs and Englishmen"), and his last, celebrated years ("The Party's Over Now"). The book is illustrated with cartoons and caricatures of Coward.