Jim Davidson – författare

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “The authors bring extreme climbing to life. . . . Perhaps no author can rationalize why some choose to risk their lives . . . for the thrill of conquering a mountain. The Ledge comes perilously close and tells a ripping true story at the same time.”—The Denver Post   In June 1992, best friends Jim Davidson and Mike Price stood atop Washington’s Mount Rainier, celebrating what they hoped would be the first of many milestones in their lives as passionate mountaineers. Then their triumph turned tragic when a cave-in plunged them deep inside a glacial crevasse—the pitch-black, ice-walled hell of every climber’s nightmares.   An avid adventurer since youth, Davidson was a seasoned climber at the time of the Rainier ascent. But the harrowing free fall left him challenged by nature’s grandeur at its most unforgiving. Trapped on a narrow frozen shelf, deep below daylight, he desperately battled crumbling ice, snow that threatened to bury him alive, and crippling fear of the inescapable chasm below—all the while struggling to save his fatally injured friend. Finally, alone, with little equipment and rapidly dwindling hope, he confronted a fateful choice: the certainty of a slow, lonely death or the near impossibility of an agonizing climb for life. A story of heart-stopping adventure, heartfelt friendship, fleeting mortality, and implacable nature, The Ledge chronicles the elation and grief, dizzying heights and punishing depths, of a journey to hard-won wisdom.   “Plunges readers into a dark, icy chasm from which escape seems impossible. Then it reveals the strength it takes to look up, and to start climbing.”—Jim Sheeler, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and author of the National Book Award finalist Final Salute   “How [Davidson] rescued himself is the core of The Ledge, and its most gripping part. The physical effort and will involved are astonishing.”—The Plain Dealer   “A moving portrait of friendship and loss.”—The Wall Street JournalFrom the Trade Paperback edition.

'Lilliput', in this dual biography, is the world of literary magazines in Australia between the 1940s and the 1980s. Here Clem Christesen and Stephen Murray-Smith, of the journals Meanjin and Overland, were determined, driven visionaries. Both were very human—and occasionally bruised—believers in and workers for a better nation. The book ranges from before the Menzies era and the Cold War, through the Whitlam period and beyond to the challenges of the 1980s. It shows how the editors constantly aimed for a culture more liberal, diverse and developed than the one then prevailing. Their publications may have lacked resources and economic return, but they nonetheless possessed authority, regularly providing stimulation for their readers and for the nation.In finely wrought detail, Jim Davidson — the second editor of Meanjin — traces the commitment of Christesen and Murray-Smith to this ambitious cultural project and how it attracted many of the key writers and thinkers of those years. There are pen portraits of many of them, as the reader is taken behind the scenes. Emperors in Lilliput exhibits the enlightened creative spirit animating these journals at their best. It is at once captivating biography and rich social history.

‘I was written out of the family story. This book is my attempt to write myself, and my mother, back into it.’In this singular memoir, historian and biographer Jim Davidson writes about his fraught relationship with his authoritarian and controlling father, whose South African background and time in Papua New Guinea and Fiji prompted his own post-war mini-empire of dominance. A manipulative and emotionally ferocious man, he rejects his son and creates a second family, shutting Jim out and eventually disinheriting him, but never really leaving him alone.Traversing territory across Australia, South Africa, India and London, this beautifully written book tells of a time of crushing conformity, sharply reminding us that some experiences can never be written out of our personal histories.Sales PointsLiterary memoirs of men uncovering the dynamics of their families are popular – e.g. Richard Glover, Tim Elliott in AustraliaIncreased interest in queer memoir, i.e. experiences of people coming out as gay or queer, especially in contexts where acceptance or understanding is limitedJim Davidson writes with a historian’s eye for the personal impact of grand historical forces, and the undercurrents of how powerfully relationships can shape livesReleased for Father’s Day in Australia – an antidote to ads for biographies of sporting heroes

On January 2, 2013, just a day before Jim Davidson was due to enter the Celebrity Big Brother house, he was arrested by Operation Yewtree detectives over alleged sex offenses. A year later, Jim emerged from the 2014 Celebrity Big Brother house, crowned winner by the widest margin in the show''s history. Now, after finally hearing the words "No Further Action," Jim''s turn-around is complete. With all charges dropped and the British public at his back, Jim can finally look back on his year from hell. In No Further Action, Jim reflects on this painful period with the characteristic humor and forthrightness that have delighted his fans over the years. This book is a searingly honest and revealing perspective on the scandal which rocked the country, from one of Britain''s most recognizable comics. Jim''s resurgent popularity is demonstrated perfectly by his upcoming one-month show at the massive Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

On 2 January 2013, just a day before Jim Davidson was due to enter the Celebrity Big Brother house, he found himself behind far more serious locked doors when he was arrested by the Yewtree detectives over alleged sex offences. Twelve months later, the public voted to crown Jim Davidson as the winner of the latest series of Celebrity Big Brother. Finally, with all charges dropped and no further action being taken - and with the public offering him their staunch support - Jim can finally look back on his year from hell. Facing a series of damaging false allegations, Jim was forced to fight, not just for his reputation and his career, but for his freedom too. Mounting legal costs and a deepening sense of injustice saw Jim sink to the lowest point of his career as the Yewtree investigation threatened to ruin him both financially and emotionally. Finally, after months of pain came the words he and his supporters had been waiting to hear: 'No Further Action'. Now, with the public's approval, Jim reflects on this painful period with the regular dose of wit and humour that have made him so successful.Searingly honest, No Further Action pays tribute to those who stood by him and takes a wry look at what life is like under investigation in the public eye.