Biography Humor

There are fears that this Christmas could see the start of a double-dip recession, or worse still a double-dip-with-misery-sprinkles and f**k-where’s-my-job?-sauce. Why not chuckle into the howling void as taloned fingers reach up to consume you with Frankie Boyle’s new book, Work! Consume! Die! A no-holds-barred tour de force of comic writing, Work! Consume! Die! is Frankie Boyle at his brutal, taboo-busting best.

Considering herself unsuitable for any other contribution to the war effort, Monica Dickens opts for nursing, imagining herself gliding through the wards, serene in a pure white halo cap. On enrolment, however, she is promptly stripped of all illusions. Intelligent and headstrong, Monica struggles to submit to the iron rule of the Matron and toils over the mountains of menial work that are a trainee's lot. But there are friends among the staff and patients, night-time escapades to dances with dashing army men and her secret writing project to keep her going.

We all make mistakes in life from which we draw valuable lessons. I, on the other hand, cannot seem to learn my lessons the normal way. I must mess up spectacularly, sometimes multiple times, for my thick skull to allow a lesson to pass through it. This book is a reflection on some of the lessons my brain somehow held on to and the crazy, funny, and outright stupid situations that led to these lessons learned.

Who is Rampaging Roy Slaven? An Australian icon, a raconteur, an athlete of unsurpassable - and some may say improbable - sporting feats. Whether it was riding Rooting King to another Melbourne Cup victory, commentating the Olympics or hobnobbing with the country's upper crust, Rampaging Roy Slaven has lived an extraordinary life.

These personal essays have been called poignant, humorous, and mercifully short. Life’s adventures as seen through the eyes of a child and grownup. They have won contests, been published in books and newspapers, and performed at Jonathon Timpanelli's famous Open Mics at Shakespeare Bookstore in New York City.

‘I never once attended a Sunday morning church service in Stanford. There was always the feeling that they weren’t aimed at families like ours.’ Pam Ayres was the sixth child in a hard-up family who lived in a council house, her parents’ generation were harrowed by the war. Yet they lived by the green in the village of Stanford in the Vale, where everything you needed was within walking distance and the sound of motorcars was rarely heard.

When they first spotted the 1878 stone farmhouse that was to become the site of their bed and breakfast business, David and Norma Collis had no idea just how special the house was. A surprise family connection and many serendipitous moments made each day an adventure. From quirky neighbours to Bruce Trail hikers and even occasional visits from the Canadian military, their business brought hundreds of guests through the front door, each with a special and unique story to tell.

In 1978, Kim "Howard" Johnson ran away to join the circus - Monty Python's Flying Circus, that is. The Pythons converged on Tunisia to film their timeless classic Life of Brian, and Howard found himself in the thick of it, doubling for nearly all the Pythons, playing more roles in the film than John Cleese, and managing to ruin only one shot. He became the unit journalist, substitute still photographer, Roman soldier, peasant, near-stalker, and, ultimately, friend and confidant of the comedy legends.

Single and Sixty is a poignant, honest and funny look at one woman's quest to survive and then thrive after divorce later in life. Janie J writes like a friend who is willing to give you self-help advice in the form of sharing her own foibles and failings. This isn't a self-improvement book. It simply shows you how one woman applied herself toward motivating herself, building relationships, building back her self-esteem, and even finding a bit of spiritual awakening.

For the first time, comedian Jack Dee reveals the highs and lows of his early life and disastrous day jobs. You don't just wake up jaundiced and bitter; it's taken Jack years of dedication and commitment to brew his unique cocktail of disillusionment and bile. What turned this once optimistic young man into a grumpy middle-aged git? Was it working in an artificial-leg factory?

Brit Happens chronicles Mullinger’s lifetime of adventures, from his beginnings as a shy and nervous kid collecting comedy records at the neighborhood video store, to rising through the ranks of GQ magazine and meeting his personal idols Jerry Seinfeld and Paul McCartney, to imagining the possibility of another life in Canada. From the highs and lows of London to beginning anew in New Brunswick, Brit Happens tells gut-busting stories of success and failure and the unpredictable grind of stand-up comedy.

In his The Dark Side series, Andy Thompson gives us a taste of the dark sense of humor paramedics use as a coping mechanism; here he packs laugh-out-loud moments into every word as he recalls health care professionals' encounters with the weirdest of behavior, hilarious misunderstandings, and cringingly embarrassing episodes.

In The Texas Spirit David M. Smith has written a series of spirited and insightful essays about the chemical industry, events and personalities in his life, and his views on trends in the national economy and other aspects of American life that concern him.

In Destined for Destiny, "George W. Bush" offers listeners an intimate, plainspoken, and sometimes articulate look at the character-shaping achievements that led to his inevitable rise to the office of president of the United States. Written from the heart, not from the brain, this definitive autobiography takes listeners on a journey through the 43rd president's life.

Billy, the ground-breaking biography of the nation's favourite iconoclast, gave millions of readers a fascinating insight into the personal and professional life of the genius that is Billy Connolly. Now, in the sequel to that best-selling book, the award-winning Pamela Stephenson celebrates life with the Scottish beastie as he hits the big six-oh.

From poignant to bizarre, the "writers" of these 25 letters are a diverse group with the strangest requests. The cleverly written songs are even funnier than the letters.

At the start of 2021 Richard Herring was diagnosed with testicular cancer. For a man whose output includes a stand-up tour titled Talking Cock and who regularly interrogates our attitudes towards masculinity, it was a diagnosis that came with additional layers of complexity. Mixing Rich's personal story alongside what defines masculinity and 'maleness' in society, Can I Have My Ball Back? is not your typical cancer memoir. Whether they're nuts, or bollocks, or gonads, or family jewels, Rich unpicks the tangle of emotions around his own testing times.

So you thought adulthood would mean a high-flying career and a luxury lifestyle but instead have ended up with a Lycra-based wardrobe and a deep fear of what lies at the bottom of the ball-pit in soft play? Join comedian Sophie McCartney as she voyages deep into the uncharted territories of mating, birthing, feral offspring, mums overdoing it at the watering hole and the perilous viper’s nest of the school WhatsApp group.

“Understated” and “tasteful” could never be applied to Annie, and that’s just fine with her. A colorful actress with a decades-long career in TV, film, and theater—including a recurring role on Seinfeld and a center-stage spot touring with The Moth—Annie offers her trademark unabashed takes on both everyday and typically taboo topics.

Norman Wisdom's early years could easily have come straight from the pages of a Dickens novel. Left by their frightened mother and ill-treated by a brutal father, Norman and his brother were forced to fend for themselves, sleeping rough in London and stealing food to survive. This is a rags to riches tale of the man Charlie Chaplin said would take his mantle and who went on to make millions laugh around the world for over five decades.