Showing results by publisher "Penguin Random House Australia Audio" in Arts & Entertainment

Raised amid poverty and violence on the poor streets of Melbourne, Vincent Fantauzzo was just a boy when he accepted he would either die very young, become a gangster or end up behind bars. Tormented by a troubled home life and dismissed as a simpleton at school where he struggled to read and write, Vincent projected a violent and frightening persona as a means of self-protection. Inside that tough exterior, however, lived a thoughtful, sensitive and creative boy whose only wish was to be loved - and to one day break free of the intergenerational dysfunction he seemed doomed to inherit.

In her hit Netflix comedy special Baby Cobra, an eight-month pregnant Ali Wong resonated so strongly that she even became a popular Halloween costume. Wong told the world her remarkably unfiltered thoughts on marriage, sex, Asian culture, working women and why you never see new mum comics onstage but you sure see plenty of new dads. The sharp insights and humour are even more personal in this completely original collection.

Using her own experiences as a novelist and the inspiration she's shared as a creative coach, Amie guides you on why we need your art and how you can make it happen - starting with a two-week reset plan to help you kick-start your creative habit. This isn't about writing your great novel in a month or painting a masterpiece in a flurry of inspiration.

Some advice suits certain people more than others. Some advice is...redundant waffle. And Nat's What I Reckon refuses to let it slide! Ya see, Nat's got a loud mouth and a taste for taking the piss out of stuff—it's how he lives, laughs and loves. Now, his target's the tired old life advice he's had enough of: Man up. Good vibes only. No pain no gain. Carpe diem. What a punish! Buckle up for Nat's unrequested take on pushing back against expectations and rolling through life with some laughs and kindness like a real, righteous ratbag!

Growing up in a rambunctious family in Rockhampton, Mary discovered an extraordinary early passion for ballet. Then right at the height of her international career, Mary seemingly disappeared from view, leaving the fans aghast. What could have happened to cause a woman so committed, so talented, to give it all away in a heartbeat? Now, almost 20 years on, fans finally get their answer about what happened next to this inspiring family and learn why it is Mary's turn to tell a truly remarkable tale.

Angus Mooney is in a dark place: the afterlife. His days are spent in aching embarrassment; god, religion, the supernatural—he was wrong about everything. Now, obsessing about the wife he left behind, Gracie, he watches from the other side as she is seduced by his killer, who has stepped seamlessly into Mooney's life. Meanwhile, life after death isn't all it's cracked up to be.

The son of first-generation Tongan immigrants, Hau drew on the legacy of his name (meaning 'King') to become one of the nation's most influential musical artists. But the best stories often come from the humblest beginnings. A promising junior rugby player, Hau decided in his teens to trade in the footy boots for Hammer pants, soaking up every bar and breakbeat of the new sound and culture exploding out of urban America: DJ Kool Herc and LL Cool J, mix-tapes and graffiti, velour Kangols and Beat Street.

All aboard the Scomo Express as our hero pulls back the lid on the life and times of one of history's great leaders and humbly serves up a steaming meat pie of everyman wisdom for the hungering masses. These are the unofficial chronicles of Scotty's first 18 months in his new role as head honcho of the largest marketing firm in the country - the Australian federal government - as it unfolded, completely devoid of any self-aggrandisement, doublespeak, sleight of hand or other dirty shenanigans played by the Opposition.

First as a music writer and then as an editor, promoter, manager, broadcaster, publicist and author, Stuart Coupe has experienced the giddy highs and crushing lows of a life lived in the creative fast lane. Shake Some Action is your backstage pass to his remarkable story, from starting his first magazine at the age of fourteen to hoovering heroic amounts of cocaine before interviewing Boy Dylan (who asked him where he got his drugs from).

The journals of the Nobel Prize-winning author, beautifully illustrated with his own paintings

In a small, desperately poor village in north-east China, a young peasant boy sits at his rickety old school desk, more interested in the birds outside than in Chairman Mao's Red Book and the grand words it contains. But that day, some strange men come to his school - Madame Mao's cultural delegates. They are looking for young peasants to mould into faithful guards of Chairman Mao's great vision for China. This is the true story of how that one moment in time, by the thinnest thread of a chance, changed the course of a small boy's life in ways that are beyond description.

Our struggles as women in the twenty-first century are not new. Some of our most interesting women artists had to eschew all accepted social norms in order to find a life of art. For some, it was catastrophic; for others, a liberation. But how did they view themselves through the prism of their art, and what do we, as modern women, take from their struggle? HER BODY, HER ART looks back to the lives and art of six European modernist women, who literally recast the ways in which women's art could be seen, and asks why they still matter.