На английском языке.

Ever found yourself talking about a book you've never actually read, or felt you ought to have more to say about literature or philosophy? Then this blagger's guide to the classics is a must. Chock-full of strategies to make a little learning go a long way - such as cultivating the faintly absurd persona of someone who only reads literature written east of the Alps, or better still someone with opinions about books no one else has heard of - it is designed to hone the skills and boost the con-trick arsenal of any would-be bluffer in a university interview, at a dinner party or on a date. When it comes to romancing someone bookish, though, Hitchings shows some qualms, prefacing his advice with the cautionary question: "should you really be going out, even speculatively, with someone who's overtly literary, if you are not?" And, as he rightly remarks, "the final irony is that in setting out to stimulate the skill advertised in its title, this slim volume may actually, instead of providing the means of avoiding books, inspire people to devour them.

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На английском языке.

"It is the second book in the 'Adrian Mole' series, following on from 'The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾'. It focuses on the worries and regrets of a teenage aspiring intellectual.

The book is written in a diary style and set in 1982 through to mid-1983. Notable events in this volume are the breakup and later reconciliation of Adrian and Pandora, Adrian's attempt to run away from home and subsequent breakdown, the birth of his sister Rosie Mole, and Adrian's general worry about his O levels and nuclear war.
Adrian Mole is an outsider who feels the reason he can't quite fit in with 'regular' society is that he is an intellectual. Evidence from his diary entries include a precocious interest in literature, in left-wing politics, a desire to have his own poetry show on the BBC, his dislike of Margaret Thatcher and his frequent critiques of his less-refined schoolmates and family. Adrian's dysfunctional family, as in The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, is one of the focal points of the book.

Although portrayed as somewhat vain and self-centred, Adrian is the only friend and frequent caretaker of the OAP Bert Baxter, and also shows a great deal of concern and compassion for the misfortunes of his parents and respect for the authority of his grandmother".

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На английском языке. Аннотация:

"Using the credit card and identity of a handcuff salesman, professional failure Tyndale Corbett arrives in Miami for a law enforcement conference to discover the joys of luxury hotels and above all the delight of being someone else, someone successful. Feeling his previous lack of success might be due to insufficient ambition, Tyndale decides on a new money-making scheme. He will up the ante substantially and exponentially, and pretend to be someone really important and successful—God. His mission to convince the citizenry of Miami that he is, despite appearances, the Supreme Being, results in him taking over the Church of the Heavily Armed Christ. His duties there involve him in forming a private army, hiring call girls, trafficking coke, issuing death threats, beating off church-jackers, and sorting out (as almightily as possible) various problems his parishioners are having with pets. All the while he is working on his grand project, the clincher miracle—dying and coming back to life."

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На английском языке. Аннотация:

"A daring, deeply affecting third novel by the author of A Home at the End of the World and Flesh and Blood.

In The Hours, Michael Cunningham, widely praised as one of the most gifted writers of his generation, draws inventively on the life and work of Virginia Woolf to tell the story of a group of contemporary characters struggling with the conflicting claims of love and inheritance, hope and despair. The narrative of Woolf's last days before her suicide early in World War II counterpoints the fictional stories of Samuel, a famous poet whose life has been shadowed by his talented and troubled mother, and his lifelong friend Clarissa, who strives to forge a balanced and rewarding life in spite of the demands of friends, lovers, and family.

Passionate, profound, and deeply moving, this is Cunningham's most remarkable achievement to date."

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На английском языке. Аннотация:

"This anthology brings together a stimulating and entertaining collection of works from the confident and creative period of 1660-1700. The literature of this time is by turns refined, poignant, and brash. Alongside major works such as Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel and Mac Flecknoe, printed in their entirety, is a substantial group of lyrics by Rochester, while Milton's Paradise Lost provides a running commentary on the Restoration scene. Scurrilous satires and pamphlets, diaries, theatrical prologues, translations and striking work by women poets and autobiographers illustrate the period in politics, religion, philosophy and in attitudes to town and country, love and friendship.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more."

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На английском языке. Аннотация:

"Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective…but there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.

Since its publication, Stephen Chbosky’s haunting debut novel has received critical acclaim, provoked discussion and debate, grown into a cult phenomenon with over three million copies in print, spent over one year at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, and inspired a major motion picture starring Logan Lerman and Emma Watson.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a story about what it’s like to travel that strange course through the uncharted territory of high school. The world of first dates, family dramas, and new friends. Of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Of those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up."

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На английском языке. Аннотация:

"Richard Cook's Jazz Encyclopedia" is not merely an A-Z guide to the artists and bands who have shaped jazz, but it also tracks the history of jazz and its changing styles. This is a wonderfully accessible work. Richard Cook's passion for jazz and his strongly held opinions make this the liveliest and most trenchantly witty encyclopedia you'll have read. Whether you're trying to find out why Louis Armstrong was called Satchmo (his nickname as a kid was Satchelmouth), what bebop is, or the difference between Gil Evans and Bill Evans - this book has all the answers."

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На английском языке. Аннотация:

"Over the past three decades, Tom Waits has achieved the kind of top-shelf cult status most artists only dream about. In his varied career, he has acted alongside Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, and Lily Tomlin; his songs have been covered by artists as diverse as Bruce Springsteen, Sarah McLachlan, the Eagles, and the Ramones; he's won two Grammys, a Golden Globe, and been nominated for an Oscar; he's coined unforgettable phrases like "better a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy" and "champagne for my real friends, real pain for my sham friends"; and he's made anyone who's ever listened to his music just that much cooler. Here is Tom Waits in all his mischievous splendor. From a New Yorker "Talk of the Town" in 1976 to an interview by Terry Gilliam in 1999; from album reviews by Luc Sante and David Fricke to conversations with Elvis Costello and Roberto Benigni; from a recent profile in GQ to "20 Questions" in Playboy and reviews of Waits's acclaimed new album, Real Gone, this is the must-have book for every fan of the artist Beck has described as a "luminary," and for music fans everywhere".

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Автор книги прослеживает и анализирует противоречивые художественные, идеологические и политические условия указанного периода, при которых американское современное искусство стало доминирующим на мировой арт-сцене. Издание на английском языке.

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На английском языке. Аннотация:

"It has been a while since I have read a book as richly sown with beauty . . . A remarkable work, remarkable for the precision and vitality of its perceptions and for the successful intricacy of its prose." —James Wood, The New Yorker

A visionary novel by "one of the most talented writers of his generation"—The Times Literary Supplement

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

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