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From the master of STORY, DIALOGUE, and CHARACTER, ACTION offers writers the keys to powerful storytelling. ACTION explores the ways that a modern-day writer can successfully tell an action story that stands apart from all others. In collaboration with former co-host of The Story Toolkit, Bassim El-Wakil, legendary story lecturer Robert McKee guides writers to award-winning originality by analysing the action genre, highlighting the challenges and, more importantly, showing how to master the demands of plot creation through innovation and ingenuity. ACTION is a must-have addition to the McKee storytelling oeuvre.

Over the past sixty years the writings of Jean-Paul Sartre have probably been more influential in the West than those of any other philosopher and literary figure. In his theoretical writings, Sartre laid the foundation for an original doctrine of Existentialism. His concern, however, was to relate his theory to human response and the practical demands of living. To achieve this, he carried his philosophical concepts into his novels and plays, and there subjected them to the test of imagined experience. His uniqueness lies in the success with which he demonstrated the utility of Existentialist doctrine while creating, at the same time, works of the highest literary merit. Thus Sartre became the populariser of his own literary thought. Originally delivered as a lecture in Paris in 1945, "Existentialism and Humanism" is Jean-Paul Sartre's seminal defence of Existentialism as a doctrine true to Humanism, as opposed to a purely nihilistic creed, and a plan for its practical application to everyday human life.This exploration of one of the central tenets of his philosophical thought has become the essential introduction to his work, and a fundamental text for all students of philosophy.

Structure is Character. Characters are what they do. Story events impact the characters and the characters impact events. Actions and reactions create revelation and insight, opening the door to a meaningful emotional experience for the audience. Story is what elevates a film, a novel, a play, or teleplay, transforming a good work into a great one. Movie-making in particular is a collaborative endeavour - requiring great skill and talent by the entire cast, crew and creative team - but the screenwriter is the only original artist on a film. Everyone else - the actors, directors, cameramen, production designers, editors, special effects wizards and so on - are interpretive artists, trying to bring alive the world, the events and the characters that the writer has invented and created. Robert McKee's STORY is a comprehensive and superbly organized exploration of all elements, from the basics to advanced concepts. It is a practical course, presenting new perspectives on the craft of storytelling, not just for the screenwriter but for the novelist, playwright, journalist and non-fiction writers of all types.

Nevin Nollop left the islanders of Nollop with the treasured legacy of his pangram the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. But as the letters begin to crumble on the monumental inscription, the island's council forbids the use of the lost letters and silence threatens Ella and her family.

"Canute began by being a Bad King on the advice of his Courtiers, who informed him (owing to a misunderstanding of the Rule Britannia) that the King of England was entitled to sit on the sea without getting wet." 1066 And All That is a book that has itself become part of our history. The authors made the claim that "All the History you can remember is in the Book" and, for most of us, they were probably right. But it is their own unique interpretation of events that has made the book a classic; an uproarious satire on textbook history and our confused recollections of it: "The first date in English History is 55 BC, in which year Julius Caesar (the memorable Roman Emperor) landed, like all other successful invaders of these islands, at Thanet. This was in the Olden Days, when the Romans were top nation on account of their classical education, etc."

A collection of linked stories narrated by a recovering alcoholic and heroin addict, "Jesus' Son" is a disturbing portrayal of loneliness and hope. He travels through an American underworld of burnt-out sports stars, hospital waiting rooms, doomed relationships and senseless violence.

Shifu, You'll Do Anything for a Laugh is a collection of eight compelling short stories written over the past twenty years: surrealistic political fables, ghost stories, tales of failed and perverse love, and stories about the destructive effects of superstition and ignorance. These stories capture the current concerns of the Chinese: lack of income, famine, and the devastating effects of the one-child policy. One particular get-rich-quick scheme involves an unemployed man who decides to convert an abandoned bus into a venue for private trysts which will enable him to charge lovers by the hour.

From 'The Lumberjack Song' to 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life', the Fairly Incomplete & Rather Badly Illustrated Monty Python Songbook does pretty much what it says on the cover, collecting up the cream of the Python team's musical output, from the four TV series and the various feature films. Included are such gems as 'Eric the Half-a - Bee', 'Sit on My Face and Tell Me That You Love Me', 'Bruces' Philosophers Song', 'Oliver Cromwell', 'The Knights of the Round Table', 'Christmas in Heaven', 'All Things Dull & Ugly', 'Every Sperm is Sacred', and 'Isn't it Awfully Nice to Have a Penis', amongst many others, all arranged with music for the piano and accompanied by Terry Gilliam's incomparable cartoons; Reissue of a classic Monty Python humour title; Original edition sold 10,000 copies; Arranged for Piano; Ilustrated by Terry Gilliam; With a foreword by 'Elvis Presley', and complete instructions on how to play the piano

A true story of one of the world's strangest plants and humanity's oddest obsessions: the orchid, brought to book by the author, traveller and self-confessed orchid obsessive. From the Orinoco River to the hothouses of Kew, and the clandestine nurseries of Europe to the peat bogs of Minnesota, this is a dark and humorous tale of orchid smugglers, ice-cream makers and visionary breeders; of courruption, murder and moths with 12-inch tongues; and of the vicious, bizarre world of international plant politics and the wide range of gentle people whose overriding passion is the cultivation of these beautiful, fragile flowers.

THE TERRIBLE RAIN, a companion volume to Brian Gardner's anthology of the poetry of the First World War, UP THE LINE TO DEATH (978 0 413 59570 6), has established itself as a classic collection of poetry of the Second World War. From the outbreak of war, through the Blitz, to fighting on land, sea and in the air, the poems mirror each phase of action in every theatre from the front line to the Home Front. An outstanding record of the time, the volume includes poems by W. H. Auden, William Plomer, Edith Sitwell, Louis MacNeice, Stephen Spender, Dylan Thomas, Keith Douglas, Laurie Lee and many others.

An anthology of the poetry of World War I, this collection is more concerned with the War than with poetry, and as such it is a book with a theme. There are 72 poets represented here - including Wilfred Owen - of whom 21 died in action. Many of the poems have notes and introductions.

This is a collection of sporting prints lampooning the work of expert draughtsmen such as Stubbs, Rowlandson, Fernley and Pollard. Thelwell, the creator of the cartoon character Penelope, has a superb eye for detail and for the relationship between humans and animals.

An omnibus edition of Hegley's performance poems, "The Brother-in-Law and Other Animals", together with two of his most popular books, "Can I Come Down Now Dad?" and "These Were Your Father's".

October 1999 marked the 30th anniversay of the first broadcast of Monty Python's Flying Circus on BBC television. This book contains the scripts of all 23 episodes from the first and second series.

The first feature film by the Monty Python team is a mock heroic tale set in medieval Britain with lots of silly things going on besides. In a series of sketches and animations, the Pythons recount scenes from the Grail legend in which the knights forsake their chorus line can-can dancing in Camelot for a higher aim. Typically, the Pythons set-up a 'historical' tale which is really a take on the modern world. Memorable scenes, like Graham Chapman's King Arthur battling with John Cleese's Black Knight until the latter is reduced limb by limb down to a speaking stump of a torso, capture both the hilarity and grotesque nature of brutality. In scene after scene King Arthur's men are led a merry chase through the countryside, encountering life on many different social levels. This screenplay edition contains just the script and is supplemented by stills from the film.

When The Life of Brian was first released in 1979 it was hailed by most as Monty Python's finest parody and denounced by a few as the most blasphemous film of all time. With its unforgettable song, 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life', and its infinitely quotable script The Life of Brian has since gone on to become an enduring cult classic.

The subversive songs of mathematics teacher Tom Lehrer, the sardonic piano-wielding fugitive from Harvard, have corrupted generations of Americans since he first began recording and performing in the 1950s. His uniquely depraved wit has been forced again on an unsuspecting public via 'Tomfoolery', the stage revue based on his ever-trenchant observation of the American scene, spawned in London in 1980 and which has since spread to many other Lehrer-speaking countries. This new songbook, with old favourites unavailable for years as well as never-before-published songs, is the most comprehensive ever assembled. It contains the words, tunes, piano accompaniments, and guitar chords for these thirty-four classics: The Irish Ballad, Fight Fiercely Harvard!,Be Prepared, The Old Dope Peddler, The Wild West Is Where I Want to Be, I Wanna Go Back to Dixie, Lobachevsky, The Hunting Song, I Hold Your Hand in Mine, My Home Town, L-Y, When You Are Old and Gray, The Wiener Schnitzel Waltz, Poisoning Pigeons in the Park, A Christmas Carol, Bright College Days, In Old Mexico, She's My Girl, The Elements, The Masochism Tango, National Brotherhood Week, MLF Lullaby, The Folk Song Army, Smut, Send the Marines, New Math, Pollution, So Long Mom, Who's Next?, Wernher Von Braun, We Will All Go Together When We Go, I Got It from Agnes, Silent E and The Vatican Rag.

"Ibadan" is the third volume in Wole Soyinka's series of memoirs, the sequel to "Ake and Isara". In a mixture of fact and fiction - to protect the innocent and nail the guilty and shape an often intolerable reality - it tells of the coming of age of a writer and political activist; and of a nation's betrayal. Linking national and international events with personal experience across 20 years, from confrontations with French immigration officers and the trauma of being black in Britain, to the direct experience of corruption, ballot-rigging, and power-mongering in his native Nigeria - a period otherwise known as the Penkelemes years - "Ibadan" is an exploration into themes of racism, politics and injustice.

Two years after writing his celebrated childhood autobiography Ake, Wole Soyinka opened a tin box that had belonged to his father. The simple contents of this box provide the fuel for Isara the second instalment of Soyinka's memoirs.

An evocative childhood memoir by the much-loved illustrator of "Winnie the Pooh" and "The Wind in the Willows". In this autobiography, E.H. Shepard describes a classic Victorian childhood. Shepard grew up in the 1880s in Saint John's Wood with his brother and sister. He was surrounded by domestic servants and maiden aunts, in a an age when horse-drawn buses and hansom cabs crowded the streets. Recalling this time with charm and humour, Shepard illustrates these scenes in his own distinctive style.

A celebration of 100 Test matches at Lord's - the home of English cricket. Each of the matches, from the first in 1884 to the hundreth against the West Indies in 2000, is recorded with full scores, analysis and commentary. It also recalls the feats of cricketing greats such as Grace and Gooch.

Norman Thelwell took his first kitten home in a shopping-bag slung from the handlebars of his bicycle at the age of ten. He still has the scars to prove it. "Magnificat" is a comic tribute to the mysterious relationship human beings have long had with the feline species.

An hilarious canine compendium, essential for new and experienced dog owners alike. As all dog owners know, man's best friend is a complex bundle of appetites, instincts, and winsome wiles. Few first-time owners will realize, however, just what a responsibility they are taking on. So Norman Thelwell kindly provided them with this invaluable handbook full of advice on choosing, training, feeding, exercising, and caring for our four-legged friends. It also emphasizes the importance of protecting one's own interests – not to mention those of one's neighbours – for an ill-trained hound will soon develop a healthy disrespect for law and order. Here is a superb cartoon collection designed to give every dog owner a new leash of life in the canine world. From the business of choosing a puppy and the troubles of training to the foibles of different breeds, TOP DOG is an indispensable companion for all fans of man's best friend.

Elizabeth Cook's mesmerising poetic voice weaves the interlocking stories of Achilles and the central figures of his legend into a many-layered exploration of achievement and loss, of choice and inescapable destiny. Born of the sea-nymph Thetis by the mortal King Peleus, hidden as a girl on Skiros until Odysseus discovers him, Achilles becomes the Greeks' greatest warrior at Troy. Into his story come others - among them Hector, Helen, Penthiseleia the Amazon Queen and the centaur Chiron; and finally John Keats, whose writings form the basis of a meditation on identity and shared experience. An unforgettable and deeply moving work of fiction, Achilles also affirms of the story's enduring power to reach across centuries and cultures to the core of our imagination.

Michael Reed is a man going through the motions, numbed by the death of his wife and child. But when events force him to act as if he cares, he begins to find people who - against all expectation - help him through his private labyrinth. Poignant and beautiful, The Name of the World is a tour de force by one of the most astonishing writers at work today.

This elegant book is the definitive historical account of one of the world?s most important and extensive stamp collections, and the monarchs and keepers who have contributed to it.Inaugurated by Queen Victoria, and enlarged by five successive British monarchs, the main body of the Collection came into being under George V, whose passionate and shrewd acquisition of many other private collections has ensured the unique and comprehensive character of his own.The Queen?s Stamps is a story told through the stamps themselves, many of the most famous of which are produced here in full colour, as well as through astonishing anecdotes featuring the kings, queens and courtiers who brought them together. This informative, surprising, highly illustrated volume is written to appeal to the general reader with an interest in Royal history, as well as to the specialist enthusiast.

Provincetown, Cape Cod: the last outpost of civilisation, the end of the earth. In the confused aftermath of a failed suicide attempt, Leonard English – pursuing a vague vision of redemption and an even vaguer offer of employment – finds himself in a Cape resort populated by religious zealots and promiscuous transvestites. Taking a position as a part-time disc jockey-cum-private investigator, he falls hopelessly in love with a beautiful young gay woman. As winter approaches Leonard’s anguish mounts, his search for an elusive artist proves as futile as his desire and his growing obsessions lead to a tragic discovery and unexpected personal satisfaction.