Cet auteur ne se considère pas principalement comme un écrivain, mais plutôt comme quelqu'un qui voit les histoires comme un moyen de donner un sens à l'expérience humaine. Son œuvre explore l'espace entre les personnes, la manière dont nous naviguons et remplissons ce vide, en particulier face à l'adversité. Infusés d'humour, ses récits sondent les complexités de la nature humaine et le désir inné de se définir comme bon ou gentil. Son écriture aborde souvent des thèmes fondamentaux tels que la vie, la mort et la lutte pour l'autodéfinition.
It is 1989 and Community Care is about to reboot the industry of psychiatry. In a soon-to-be-closed asylum a bruised nurse, Adam Sands, is feeling less like a purveyor of kindness and more like a concentration camp guard with every passing drink. Years later, Adam has got used to the quiet life when his past finds him. Maybe this time he can do some good.
A personal reflection on the crucial turning points in the history of music, from BBC broadcaster and musician Mark Radcliffe
Gabriel Bell is a grumpy 44―year old web journalist irritated by the accumulating disappointments in life. He and his girlfriend Ellie want to start a family, but Gabriel has so few sperm he can name them and knit them flippers. So it's IVF, which is expensive. Losing his job was bad enough, but getting run over and waking up to find himself in a therapy group run by angels really annoys him.In Gabriel's group are a professional killer and his last victim, as well as the woman whose car put Gabriel and herself in a coma. From this therapeutic community, just below Heaven, they can see the lives of those they have left behind and how they cope. Will the one hit wonder resurrect his Eighties band for a reunion tour? And can Ellie and her friends retrieve what they need from Gabriel's body, so that she at least can finish what they started?If the group do well in the therapy they may be allowed to pass into Heaven, or go back to Earth to finish their lives. If not, it's Hell. Or worse, more therapy.
BBC Radio broadcaster Mark Radcliffe looks back at the soundtrack of his lifetime, choosing one single that defined each of his years
Approaching 50, Mark Radcliffe decided to write about his life, most importantly, his time in music. But crucially, he only wanted to write about the most interesting days and not the dull ones in between. With predictable good taste, Mark takes his title from the Kinks' song and has written an entertaining, funny book worthy of such a pedigree. Mark's family life is covered by "The Day My Mother Hit Me With a Golf Club," his school life by "The Day I Ruined a Perfectly Good Suit" and "The Day I Got My First Guitar;" through his epiphany of the power of music in "The Day I Met the Band Who Changed My Life" and his starstruck meeting with childhood hero, David Bowie. Many other stars are covered too, for example in "The Day I Went to Kate Bush's House for Cheese Flan," and "The Day Mick Jagger Was Taller Than Me." He's very funny when recounting his days working at the BBC in 1980s and 1990s (how, when bored, he and colleagues invented a fictional department), winning Stars in Their Eyes as Shane MacGowan, and so on. Yet, among the laughter are more sober days, such as the one when he learned John Peel had died. A brief history of both one man's life and his love affair with music, this uniquely entertaining memoir will appeal not just to music fans but to connoisseurs of British popular culture.
Set in the vibrant world of folk music, this novel blends humor with heartfelt moments, showcasing the lives and relationships of its characters. The story captures the essence of creativity and camaraderie among musicians, revealing the challenges and triumphs they face. Through witty dialogue and engaging storytelling, the author, a beloved radio broadcaster, brings to life the joys of music and community, making it a delightful read for fans of both fiction and folk culture.
Combining his trademark humour with his eye for the ridiculous, Radio 1's Mark Radcliffe recalls his less-than-glittering rock career in a succession of bands. Interwoven with the musical disasters is the rites-of passage story of a grammar school boy.
A collection of frequently absurd and surprisingly moving short stories, featuring ordinary people with superpowers that none of them would have chosen. A woman who can speak with cats, a boy who can bring dead spiders back to life, a healer hiding with charlatans (and drummers) in a hippie commune, a man who retreats into invisibility, a man struggling with the pressure of being born of immaculate conception... Superpowers is a collection of stories about people who find themselves burdened with remarkable gifts that they neither chose nor know what to do with. With a cast of characters from the margins that are at once ordinary, hidden, lonely and somehow heroic, these stories are about playing the hand you are dealt even if you don't know what game it is you are playing.
If you could save the life of a loved one by trading in years of your own life, how many years would you give? How many lives could you save? Would you know when to stop?