Life Satire

*BERYL AND FRED IN SPAIN now available, containing this book plus Beryl, Fred and a Dog called Ted at a reduced price.* Beryl and Fred Pedley, doyens of the Spanish travelling scene since the publication of Fred’s poignant memoir of their maiden voyage with their faithful dog Ted, are hitting the road in Vernon the camper van once again. Ted, sadly, is no longer with us, but in his place we meet Cheryl, a remarkably talented cat and the author of this volume. After selling their unwanted cottage on the Isle of Lewis, we follow their journey to the isolated village of Puebla de Don ...

We’ve all met them—the self-declared gurus, the self-taught “experts,” the confidently oblivious office heroes, and the life coaches whose biggest accomplishment is remembering their Instagram password. In I Have No Idea What I’m Doing, we shine a painfully bright spotlight on twenty gloriously unqualified characters who charge boldly into the world, armed with buzzwords, blind faith, and absolutely no clue. From clueless consultants to motivational speakers who can’t find the stage, this book celebrates the gloriously chaotic people who remind us all that sometimes the only ...

Jenlena and her best friend Daphne are two humanities grads in their early 20s, trying to find their way in a society that has just eradicated all animals for the safety of humanity. In the post-fauna world, Jenlena transforms from an aspiring poet to a gig worker, capitalizing on other people’s grief by selling house plants that have come to replace pets and cosplaying as dogs for pay. Meanwhile Daphne, a once-promising student, flounders in a deep depression, smoking weed and ditching work to hang out with her once famous, now canceled boyfriend.

A gritty, occasionally raunchy, darkly disturbing satire set in the green and leafy suburbs of the City of Sheffield and the Wybourn council housing estate. Freddie is the bigoted, misogynistic patriarch of the Robinson clan, and is twice married, twice divorced. He has been unemployed for almost thirty years and is still claiming incapacity benefits…but the winds of change are blowing through the Department of Work and Pensions, and the council estate too. Over the course of one weekend in April, skeletons are dragged from closed cupboards, dark secrets unearthed and this dysfunctional ...

The witty, mischievous and supremely artful Fay Weldon announces on the first page of The Hearts and Lives of Men that she has written a love story and give away its ending - happy. It is a love story, though, with all the obstacles, both devilish and divine - a tale of innocence corrupted and selfishness reformed. Helen Lally is 22, the stunning daughter of an impoverished artist whose fame and fortune will soon be made. Woe to her for catching the eye of Clifford Wexford, a 35-year-old art dealer, rapaciously ambitious, eminently eligible and careless of all lives but his town.

How does a man addicted to routine - a man who flosses his teeth before love-making - cope with the chaos of everyday life? With the loss of his son, the departure of his wife and the arrival of Muriel, a dog trainer from the Meow-Bow dog clinic, Macon's attempts at ordinary life are tragically and comically undone. A heartfelt novel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Amateur Marriage and Breathing Lessons, now available as an audiobook.

The spoiled son of a Spanish nobleman, Don Juan Belvidero cannot wait for the moment to claim the family wealth and title for himself. His father calls to his death-bed to inform him that he is in possession of a magic, death-defying potion. If the son will only rub the liquid on his dead body, the father will come back to life. Don Juan assures his father that he will resurrect him, but will he keep his promise or betray the old man?

Satire master Robert Urban ups the ante in his most recent book sharing his unique perspective about life, love and of course a little cheddar biscuit we all love. Filled with deep thoughts juxtaposed by one-liners, hysterical anecdotes, tangential thoughts and edgy, absurd humor this book is meant to give people who don't take themselves too seriously a rapid fire delivery of humor in only the way Robert can.

For the past 13 years, as England became an increasingly unhappy and fearful place, Prince Charles has been living quietly on a bleak council estate with his wife and love of his life, Camilla. He enjoys gardening and poultry keeping while Camilla spends her days doing as little as possible. But life is about to change.

Newlywed Rosie has grown disenchanted with NYC. Inspired by Instagram ads, she starts thirsting for a rural life upstate—one full of beauty and authenticity. She just needs to convince her tech-bro husband, Jordan, of her vision for the future. Willing to do anything for Rosie’s happiness, Jordan signs on, and they offer—well above asking price—on a beautiful, historic fixer-upper in the Hudson Valley. But when Jordan suddenly loses his job, the couple is forced to rent out the property’s dilapidated outbuilding. There’s no heat, it’s overrun with mold, and nothing works.

A newborn set of twins, a new apartment, and the ensuing chaos are keeping Ben and Kirsty on their toes, but their challenges don't stop there. Kirsty is an exhausted new mother, and Ben isn't faring much better. On top of that, their communication skills could be better compared to a comedy of errors or a Greek tragedy. The last thing Kirsty needs is for their zany extended family to bring their own issues into the mix, but the problems just keep on coming. It’s just as well that love will always find a way.

This is a carefully curated collection of over 3,500 quotations by nearly 1,500 authors on a broad spectrum of topics, from science and technology, wisdom and folly, society and government, war and peace, to life and death – grouped in 23 chapters. Three main features distinguish this publication from numerous quote collections available in print and online: (i) Selection: By screening out “inspirational” platitudes, mediocre jokes, and discernible nonsense that dominate so many quote publications, this collection includes only the entries that are real pearls of human thought, ...

Eight years have passed and in 2016 many things have changed for the eccentric Trelawney family. In the months leading up to the Brexit referendum, Ayesha, the beautiful, young secret daughter of the late Enyon Trelawney, has married the much older thuggish banker Tomlinson Sleet with whom she has a young daughter, Stella. Ayesha is busy restoring the once broken-down Trelawney Castle in Cornwall, which Sleet has bought, to its former glory, as well as studying art at the Courtauld in London.

Tietam Brown tells the story and speaks in the voice—at once innocent and too knowing for his age—of Antietam (Andy) Brown, named for the great-great-great- grandfather who died on that Civil War battlefield. Andy at seventeen is himself the veteran of a violent boyhood, having been locked up in the Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center for killing a teenager who attempted to rape him. Now, after seven years, he is out, free, at a crossroads, trying to make a fresh start.

Joe Henry was the glue that held his family together. Now, he is dead, and his wife and sons are coming together for one final journey to scatter his ashes. First, however, his loved ones have some things to work out. David, the older son, believes that any minute his life is going to fall apart and everyone he loves will leave him. His brother, Scott, can't shake the belief that at heart, people are inherently rotten. Doris, their mother, just doesn't believe in anything anymore.

Jack Dee is here to help. Too often today the emphasis in psychotherapy is on providing clients with a metaphorical hug when what they so clearly need is good slap, so Jack Dee took the matter into his own hands, and whilst everyone else was baking bread and clearing out their cupboards during lockdown, he retrained online as a psychotherapist. After an incredibly gruelling four hours of study, he got his certificate of completion from The Ruislip College of Advansed Learning (sic).

Eight years ago, I was supposed to marry her. Instead, I destroyed her family and then abandoned her. Broken and hurt, she delivered me a savage blow in return. Naturally, that should have been the end of us. Except that I still want her. Even after all these years, memories of her linger in a mix of pain and desire. And now the sassy girl who once set my world on fire is suddenly in my city, curating art she has no idea that she inspired. Her body still ignites under my touch, but her eyes hold a cold, hard resolve to never re-engage with her family’s arch-enemy. To prove to Sabrina that...

Jack was never “right,” but that’s a lot of what made him magnetic to other people. When he was younger, he was that guy that girls wanted to be around. People were drawn in by him, even later on when there wasn’t much of him left. I never understood that. He never really put a lot of energy into grooming and maintaining relationships with people. I guess when you see someone that is content spending their time alone, it creates a vacuum and people flood in like water choking a storm drain. Even as his deterioration became apparent, people threw him lifelines.

Two husbands secretly agree to a night of passion - with each other's wives; a slighted old man takes an elaborate and chilling revenge on his tormentor; a sculpture comes between a scheming wife and her put-upon husband.... Lust highlights a domestic familiarity always on the edge of something much, much darker.

One minute I'm working in a bookshop and the next minute a vampire decides to kill me. Enter the tall, dark, handsome stranger who’s been hanging around the store lately. He has a deal he says I can’t refuse. I can either a) die or b) become a vampire and Queen of the Wayward. Great choices there, hey? Obviously, I choose option b. So here I am, trying to get used to not only being undead, but to my new royal role where I'm in charge of the Home of Wayward Souls. Yep, any newly dead spirits that are wild, unhappy, and out to cause trouble. All mine.