Showing results by publisher "Penguin Audio" in Entertainment & Celebrities

Beethoven by Oxford Professor Laura Tunbridge cuts through the noise in a refreshing way. Each chapter focuses on a period of his life, a piece of music and a revealing theme, from family to friends, from heroism to liberty. It's a winning combination of rich biographical detail, insight into the music and surprising new angles, all of which can transform how you listen to his works. We discover, for example, Beethoven's oddly modern talent for self-promotion, how he was influenced by factors from European wars to instrument building and how he was heard by contemporaries.

By turns hilarious, revelatory, and desperately sad, here is the autobiography of the man whose successes, such as "Hello Dolly!", "Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em" and "The Phantom of the Opera" have made him a national institution. The story of the true identity of his father, which is behind this book's title, leads into an evocative depiction of his tender childhood years.

In her new memoir, No Walls and the Recurring Dream, Ani DiFranco recounts her early life from a place of hard-won wisdom, combining personal expression, the power of music, feminism, political activism, storytelling, philanthropy, entrepreneurship, and much more into an inspiring whole. In these frank, honest, passionate, and often funny stories is the tale of one woman's eventful and radical journey to the age of 30.

Neil Young is a singular figure in the history of rock and pop culture generally in the last four decades. Reflective, insightful, and disarmingly honest, in Waging Heavy Peace he writes about his life and career. From his youth in Canada to his crazy journey out to California, through Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, & Nash, to his massively successful solo career and his reemergence as the patron saint of grunge on to his role today as one of the last uncompromised and uncompromising survivors of rock & roll - this is Neil’s story told in his own words.

Norman Wisdom's early years could easily have come straight from the pages of a Dickens novel. Left by their frightened mother and ill-treated by a brutal father, Norman and his brother were forced to fend for themselves, sleeping rough in London and stealing food to survive. This is a rags to riches tale of the man Charlie Chaplin said would take his mantle and who went on to make millions laugh around the world for over five decades.

In a career that has spanned more than 60 years, Robert Wagner has witnessed the twilight of the Golden Age of Hollywood and the rise of television, becoming a beloved star in both media. During that time he became acquainted, both professionally and socially, with the remarkable women who were the greatest screen personalities of their day. I Loved Her in the Movies is his intimate and revealing account of the charisma of these women on film, why they became stars, and more.

A powerful memoir from the late former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. With the same directness that defined his career in public service, Rumsfeld's memoir is filled with previously undisclosed details and insights about the Bush administration, 9/11, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It also features Rumsfeld's unique and often surprising observations on eight decades of history. Both a fascinating narrative and an unprecedented glimpse into history, Known and Unknown captures the legacy of one of the most influential men in public service.

In the summer of 1980, 10 years after the break-up of The Beatles, Lennon signed with a new label and hired a top producer to recruit the best session musicians, ready to record new music for the first time in years. They were awestruck when Lennon dashed off '(Just Like) Starting Over'. Lennon was back in peak form, with his best songwriting since 'Imagine'. Even before Lennon left The Beatles, becoming a solo artist and making a life with Yoko Ono in New York City, Mark David Chapman had become obsessed with murdering his former hero.

Peter Ackroyd's insightful new biography positions Shakespeare in the close context of his world. In this way, Ackroyd not only richly conjures up the texture of Shakespeare's life, but also imparts an amazing amount of vivid, interesting material about place, period and background. Walk with Ackroyd through sixteenth century London and Stratford as he uncovers the intimate circumstances of Shakespeare's life.

At the March on Washington, Josephine Baker reflected on her life and her legacy. She had spent decades as one of the most successful entertainers in the world, but, she told the crowd, 'I was a devil in other countries, and I was a little devil in America, too'. Inspired by these words, Hanif Abdurraqib has written a stirring meditation on Black performance in the modern age, in which culture, history and his own lived experience collide.

Lawrence Chaney is a testament to the strength that comes from drag. Lawrence (Drag) Queen of Scots celebrates the little boy learning to sew at age seven and his journey to taking the UK by storm. From growing up as the gay class clown and being bullied to finding an outlet in performance and drag, celebrating both his outer curves and inner beauty. The book will showcase valuable life lessons and tricks of the trade, all told in Chaney's trademark charming style and will resonate with anyone who holds dreams and aspirations that are bigger than the town they grew up in.

Random House presents the audiobook edition of Secrets for the Mad by dodie, read by dodie, Joshua Edwards, Hazel Hayes, Jack Howard, Daniel J. Layton, Sammy Paul, Benjamin Redwood and Rebecca Fortuin. A lot of my worst fears have come true - fears that felt so big I could barely hold them in my head. I was convinced that when they happened, the world would end. But the world didn't end. In fact, it pushed on and demanded to keep spinning through all sorts of mayhem, and I got through it.

At seven years old, Min Kym was a prodigy, the youngest ever pupil at the Purcell School of Music. At 11 she won her first international prize. She worked with many violins, waiting for the day she would play 'the one'. At 21 she found it: a rare 1696 Stradivarius, perfectly suited to her build and temperament. Her career soared. She recorded the Brahms concerto, and a world tour was planned. Then, in a train station café, her violin was stolen. In an instant her world collapsed. She descended into a terrifying limbo land, unable to play another note.

As the Sixties came to a close, Paul McCartney was faced with the daunting prospect of being a solo artist for the first time. Wings’ ascension to the top of the charts with classic albums including Band on the Run, Venus and Mars and At the Speed of Sound, along with the band’s stadium-filling live shows, would prove to critics and fans that not all great acts are impossible to follow. Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run is a rousing, stereophonic celebration of the songs, collaborations and performances that would shape the soundtrack of the late 20th century.

Molly-Mae is no stranger to the limelight, having found fame on TV and online. But behind the polished exterior, there is a young girl with a unique story. It's the Molly not everyone gets to see. In Becoming Molly-Mae, she unravels herself completely for the first time to open up about how she nurtured her creativity from a young age, took ownership of her body image, battle self-doubt and built a happy life. Along the way, she shares the moments, relationships and life lessons that have made her who she is.

A personal and revealing look at the last 10 years of John Lennon’s life and his partnership with Yoko Ono, written by the friend who knew them best, publicist and music industry insider Elliot Mintz. From the moment he interviewed Yoko Ono on his late night radio show in September 1971, Elliot Mintz’s life would never the same again. That phone call would lead him to an intense and revealing friendship with Yoko and her husband, John Lennon, until John’s untimely death in 1980, and beyond, to the present day.

Heiress to the nearly 40-billion-dollar L’Oréal fortune, Liliane Bettencourt was the world’s richest woman and the 14th wealthiest person. But her gilded life took a dark yet fascinating turn in the past decade. At 94, she was embroiled in what has been called the Bettencourt Affair, a scandal that dominated the headlines in France. Why? It’s a tangled web of hidden secrets, divided loyalties, frayed relationships, and fractured families, set in the most romantic city - and involving the most glamorous industry - in the world.

For the first time, comedian Jack Dee reveals the highs and lows of his early life and disastrous day jobs. You don't just wake up jaundiced and bitter; it's taken Jack years of dedication and commitment to brew his unique cocktail of disillusionment and bile. What turned this once optimistic young man into a grumpy middle-aged git? Was it working in an artificial-leg factory?

Sir Peter Ustinov's beautifully crafted autobiography is told with exquisite wit and insight. From his birth in April 1921, it spans his extraordinary career as actor, playwright, film star, and director, confirming his early belief that he is 'irrevocably betrothed to laughter'. Ustinov's renowned gift for mimicry is exploited to the full in Dear Me. Eccentric relatives, school masters, sergeant majors, and manic Hollywood moguls are all brought unforgettably to life.

'Think of this memoir as a Christmas special in book form, from someone who has been involved in a few of those and understands a bit about the concept. But a Christmas special very much like Only Fools and Horses, in the sense that the stories will be always heading outwards, ranging far and wide and well beyond the traditional festive gags involving giblets left in turkeys.