Showing titles in Entertainment & Celebrities

Actress Uzo Aduba - known for Emmy-winning roles in Orange Is the New Black and Mrs. America - grew up in one of the few Black families in a white Massachusetts suburb. But she and her siblings were also grounded by a fierce sense of belonging and worth that stemmed from their mother's powerful vision for her children, and by their connection to generations of family in Nigeria. The alchemy of being out of place yet driven by fearless conviction powered Uzo to success - and fuels her intimate and inspiring memoir.

As Jenny Lawson’s hundreds of thousands of fans know, she suffers from depression. In Broken, she explores her experimental treatment of transcranial magnetic stimulation with brutal honesty. But also with brutal humour. Jenny discusses the frustration of dealing with her insurance company in ‘An Open Letter to My Insurance Company’, which should be an anthem for anyone who has ever had to call their insurance company to try and get a claim covered.

The first book in 25 years from Jerry Seinfeld features his best work across five decades in comedy. Since his first performance at the legendary New York nightclub Catch a Rising Star as a 21-year-old student in autumn of 1975, Jerry Seinfeld has written his own material and saved everything.

lerie Harper is finally ready to tell her story. In this, her first memoir, the beloved and award-winning television actress reflects on the role that made her famous -Rhoda Morgenstern on the groundbreaking series The Mary Tyler Moore Show and on the spin-off show Rhoda - and the pressures of helming her own sitcom, Valerie.

As a woman used to traveling and living the high life in Bangkok, Leanne Shirtliffe recognized the constant fodder for humor while pregnant with twins in Asia's sin city. But in spite of deep-fried bug cuisine and nurses who cover newborn bassinets with plastic wrap, Shirtliffe manages to keep her babies alive for a year with help from a Coca-Cola deliveryman, several waitresses, and a bra factory. Then she and her husband return home to the isolation of North American suburbia.

On March 17, 2005, Spamalot debuted on Broadway to rapturous reviews for its star-studded creative team, including creators Eric Idle and John Du Prez, director Mike Nichols, and stars Hank Azaria, David Hyde Pierce, Sara Ramirez, Tim Curry, and more. But long before the show was the toast of Broadway and the winner of three Tony Awards, it was an idea threatening to fizzle before it could find its way into existence. Now, Eric Idle shares original journal entries and raw email exchanges, revealing the sometimes bumpy, always entertaining, path to the show’s unforgettable run.

A misfit kid at the best of times, Mishka Shubaly had his world shattered when, in a 24-hour span in 1992, he survived a mass shooting on his school's campus then learned that his parents were getting divorced. His father, a prominent rocket scientist, abandoned the family, and their home was lost to foreclosure. Shubaly swore to avenge the wrongs against his mother but instead plunged into a magnificently toxic love affair with alcohol.

This laugh-out-loud memoir takes listeners backstage and inside the writers’ room of one of America’s best-loved shows. With more than 17 million viewers and more than 70 Emmy nominations—including two wins for best comedy—Everybody Loves Raymond reigned supreme in television comedy for almost a decade.

In That Time of Year, Garrison Keillor looks back on his life and recounts how a Brethren boy with writerly ambitions grew up in a small town on the Mississippi in the 1950s and, seeing three good friends die young, turned to comedy and radio. Through a series of unreasonable lucky breaks, he founded A Prairie Home Companion and put himself in line for a good life, including mistakes, regrets, and a few medical adventures.

Maya Angelou's six volumes of autobiography are a testament to the talents and resilience of this extraordinary writer. Loving the world, she also knows its cruelty. As a Black woman she has known discrimination and extreme poverty, but also hope, joy, achievement, and celebration. In this first volume of her six books of autobiography, Maya Angelou beautifully evokes her childhood with her grandmother in the American south of the 1930s. She learns the power of the white folks at the other end of town and suffers the terrible trauma of rape by her mother's lover.

A balanced account of game changes, conflicts and ambitions. The fall from popular grace of the previously adulated brother of the heir to the British throne as a consequence of his marriage to a beautiful and dynamic Hollywood starlet of colour makes for fascinating listening in best-selling royal author Lady Colin Campbell's balanced account. Lady Colin knows her royal history and psychology, and as the first seven years of her adult life were spent in the USA, she has a foot in both the American and British camps.

If it can happen in show business, it’s happened to Jon Cryer. Now he’s opening up for the first time and sharing his behind-the-scenes stories in a warmly endearing, sharply observed, and frankly funny look at life in Hollywood. In 1986, Jon Cryer won over America as Molly Ringwald’s loyal and lovable best friend, Duckie, in the cult classic Pretty in Pink in a role that set the tone for his three-decade-long career in Hollywood. He went on to establish himself as one of the most talented comedic actors in the business.

Who volunteers? Why? What are you willing to do? This title presents the hilarious, heartwarming adventures of a volunteering cynic. Do the feel-good rewards commensurate with the time and effort involved? When Seb Hunter accidentally picks up the phone to a charity Fundraiser one day, he faces a moment of reckoning. It isn't so much that he lacks a social conscience; but he can no longer assuage it by buying the odd copy of the Big Issue and eating Fairtrade chocolate.

When children’s TV programme Teletubbies first aired in 1997, no one expected the cult status it would achieve. Propelled by a unique blend of educational theory, child psychology and linguistics, the show went on to air in 45 languages in 120 countries, win multiple BAFTA Awards, and achieve viewing figures of three billion a year. In a memoir as lively and funny as the programme itself, Nikky Smedley lifts the curtain on what it was like to be a Teletubby and takes us behind the magical scenes of a global phenomenon.

Billions of you have watched their videos, and millions of you have followed them on social media. So here we go: it's time to back up, because YouTube superstars The Sidemen are finally here in audiobook form, and they're dishing the dirt on each other as well as the YouTuabe universe. The guys are behind the mic, and it’s about to get messy.

Dame Joan Collins has always believed one should retain some mystery in life, and hide a knowing smile behind one's shoulder pads. In her new book, she returns in dazzling form to share her most memorable moments from her eclectic and vibrant life, in and out of the limelight. Taking us on a spectacular journey from her early years as a young starlet in Hollywood to stamping her stilettos in Dynasty; from the glittering heights of Saint Tropez to the busy Oscars season in LA over the years. Joan writes movingly about her adventures.

Star of stage, screen and television, and one of only two people to be awarded two Knighthoods, Sir Derek Jacobi is one of Britain’s most distinguished actors. ‘If you want to be an actor, don’t. If you need to be an actor, do.’ The world of theatre could not have been further from Derek’s childhood: an only child, born in Leytonstone, London. With his father a department store manager father and his mother a secretary, his was very much a working class background.

Acclaimed biographer Donald Spoto explores the roots of Hitchcock’s obsessions - with food, murder, and idealized love, among others - and traces the origins of his incomparable, bizarre genius, from his childhood and education to the golden years of his career. Based on interviews with his writers, actors, and longtime associates, and on exhaustive research, The Dark Side of Genius is the definitive biography of Alfred Hitchcock.

No Shame is a very funny, candid and emotional ride of a memoir by one of our most beloved comedians. The working-class son of a coach driver and the youngest member of the Noel Coward Society, Tom Allen grew up in '90s suburbia as the eternal outsider. In these hilarious, honest and heart-breaking stories Tom recalls observations on childhood, his adolescence, the family he still lives with and his attempts to come out and negotiate the gay dating scene. They are written with his trademark caustic wit and warmth, and will entertain, surprise and move you in equal measure.

In these sparkling, funny, and heartwarming memories of more than 50 years in the entertainment business, Paul Nicholas is where he’s always been: center stage. He’s costarred with theatrical legends, sung with David Bowie, topped the pop charts and TV ratings, made Hollywood movies, and was the first Jesus Christ Superstar on the London stage—the best ever according to the show’s co-creator, Sir Tim Rice.