A Short Walk from Harrods


Book Description

_______________ 'The autobiography comes full circle - appropriately enough, because this is a book in which people come to terms with the past, make peace with inner demons, learn to say goodbye to loved ones and become sensitive, caring human beings' - The Independent _______________ First published in 1993, A Short Walk from Harrods is volume six of Dirk Bogarde's best-selling memoirs. Forced to return to London because of his manager and his partner's rapidly deteriorating health, Bogarde learned to re-adapt to life in the west London neighbourhoods that groomed him as an aspiring young actor. With his fame fading and his descent into old age, the entire process had become rather difficult to endure. He writes of stalking the streets like an 'apologetic turtle' and avoiding society, announcing that he would, from then on, only do 'matinees' because he is too tired to go out in the evenings. Although this memoir finds Bogarde at his most vulnerable, he retains the lucidity and charm that makes his writing so enjoyable. As ever, he expresses a deep sentimentality that ensures no detail goes unnoticed or unfelt.




An Orderly Man


Book Description

________________ 'Absorbing... his gift for dialogue is exceptional' - The Observer ________________ First published in 1983, An Orderly Man is volume three of Dirk Bogarde's best-selling memoirs. After completing work on Visconti's Death in Venice, the celebrated actor seeks a refuge from 20 years of 'continual motion'. This dream of a peaceful retreat materialises itself in the form of a neglected farmhouse in the South of France. However, before he is rewarded with the calm he craves, he is forced to endure the relative evils of dying olive trees and the rampaging mistral. In this pursuit of the tranquil, Bogarde manages to portray the simplest of issues in the most delicate and humane way. This volume also covers the years in which Dirk Bogarde gave some of his finest acting performances and began his career as a gifted writer, imposing order on a rich and varied life.




Ever, Dirk


Book Description

"Dirk Bogarde (1921-1999) was known principally as the star of more than sixty films and a critically acclaimed author. To a privileged few, however, he was a prolific, stimulating and treasured correspondent." "This selection of his letters opens as he and his companion Anthony Forwood start a new life on the Continent, from where Bogarde writes extensively to - among others - the director Joseph Losey, the critic Dilys Powell, the publisher Norah Smallwood, and the authors Penelope Mortimer and Kathleen Tynan. In more than one case, we have an insight into 'a kind of love affair without the carnality' - the description he gave to his epistolary relationship with the American 'Mrs X', which was the basis of his eighth bestseller, A Particular Friendship (1989)." "Collected here, his letters represent an alternative autobiography, covering three decades. On display are the qualities familiar to those who knew the private Bogarde: acute observation, a laser-like intelligence, an easily-provoked waspishness, an aversion to the politically correct, a directness which could wound and offend, a robust compassion for the needy, a relish for the striking metaphor, and a catastrophic disdain for correct spelling and punctuation. As clouds gather over the Provencal idyll, forcing a return to London, his confidences grow more and more poignant. But the incisive humour survives."--BOOK JACKET.




A Gentle Occupation


Book Description

First published in 1980, this tells of how in the the uneasy aftermath of war, a group of ordinary, civilised people on an island off Java face the legacy of hatred and corruption left by the Japanese occupation. With sudden and violent death ever present, they seize their moments of happiness and try above all else to stay alive until the opportunity for release arrives. Selfishness, sex, greed, fear, revenge, all play their part; so too do the finer instincts of love, loyalty and concern, for people have a way of both hurting and caring for one another. Men and women, soldiers and civilians, Europeans and Asians - Dirk Bogarde brings each of them alive through his marvellously witty dialogue and penetrating sense of character. At times gloriously funny, never sitting in judgement, he portrays their fallible, complex humanity as the thin skin of conventional behaviour, tautened in the corrosive atmosphere of the East Indies, gradually begins to split. As compelling as it is enjoyable to read, Dirk Bogarde's novel is both a delightful comedy of manners and an incisive study of people under pressure. From beginning to end it is original, and unmistakably true to life. A Gentle Occupation is a story about survival, and the price that has to be paid for it.




There's a Spider in This Book


Book Description

There's a spider in this book. Are you brave enough to take a look?Eric the spider can't understand why people scream and run away from him. He only wants to say hello. But Fluffy the cat wants to eat Eric, so he's hiding. It's up to the reader to find Eric on every spread and maybe finally catch a glimpse of him with the surprise lift-the-flap ending!A funny and engaging story written by internationally bestselling author, Claire Freedman, and brought to life by Mike Byrne's hilarious and colourful illustrations.




Snakes and Ladders


Book Description

An account of the English actor's life from his trials in an army training camp to his challenging role as Von Aschenbach in the film 'Death in Venice'. He also tells of friends and relatives who helped him on the way to success.




For the Time Being


Book Description

_______________ 'Such a companionable writer you just don't want to let him go' - The Times _______________ First published in 1998, For the Time Being brings together Dirk Bogarde's published work outside of his novels and autobiographies. In 1988, Dirk Bogarde returned from two idyllic decades in France to live in England, due to his partner's serious illness. Shortly afterwards, the then literary editor of the Daily Telegraph, admiring the 'lucid frankness' of Bogarde's memoirs, invited him to review some books for the newspaper. This collection includes the famous article 'A Short Walk from Harrods', which Bogarde wrote for the Independent on Sunday soon after returning to London. In it he describes what it feels like to walk among familiar ghosts and to dine with those he considers 'the living dead'. A momentous review of three Holocaust books is accompanied by an article in which he describes the extraordinary postbag he received from its readers. In another piece which had a profound impact, he gives forceful vent to his support for euthanasia. It stands as a testimony to a wonderfully varied life, a wide range of interests and sympathies, and a remarkable gift for writing.




Dirk Bogarde


Book Description

'Biographies only tend to be definitive until the next one comes along, but there's no danger of Coldstream's erudite, moving analysis ever being superseded' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY. As an actor Dirk Bogarde was a Rank contract artist and matinee idol who became a giant of the intellectual cinema, working on films such as Death in Venice, The Servant and Providence. Fiercely protective of his privacy, and that of his partner of 40 years, he left England in the 1960s to live abroad, where he carved a second career for himself as a bestselling author. Although Bogarde destroyed many of his papers, John Coldstream has had unique access to his personal archives and to friends and family who knew him well. The result is a fascinating biography of a complex and intriguing personality.




Oops-a-Daisy!


Book Description

With Mama's warm, steady gaze and patient smile, she conveys to readers that parents are with their children every step of the way---even when those steps may be tentative. And, in the book's final pages, when Daisy finally hops, skips and jumps, the happiness that radiates from the tip of her floppy ears to the bottoms of her paws proves that persistence really does pay off.




Eat London


Book Description

London is a city brimful of culinary possibilities, from lively markets to Michelin-starred restaurants. This third edition of Eat London is completely revised and updated, with entries highlighting the very best food stops not to be missed on a tour of London in 14 chapters. This is much more than a restaurant guide - it is a book all about food and the people who make, sell and care about it. From the best fish and chip shops of East London to haute cuisine and artisan food stores in Mayfair, every entry has been assessed for quality, originality, convivial ambience and consistency. Also featured are recipes from some of the capital's favourite restaurants including A. Wong, Balthazar, Morito and The Palomar. Special photography by Lisa Linder illustrates the wonderful food and everyday streetlife of the city.