{"title":"Clive James","description":"\u003cp\u003eClive James offers a rich tapestry of writing that spans \u003cem\u003eBiography \u0026amp; Memoir\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eScience \u0026amp; Nature\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eArts \u0026amp; Culture\u003c\/em\u003e. His works reveal a distinctive voice that blends sharp wit with profound insight, inviting readers to explore the complexities of life, art, and the natural world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom reflective essays to evocative poetry, James’s books such as \u003cstrong\u003eSomewhere Becoming Rain\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eThe Fire of Joy\u003c\/strong\u003e immerse the reader in eloquent observations and heartfelt storytelling. His writing is both intellectually stimulating and emotionally resonant, perfect for those who appreciate thoughtful, cultured literature.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"play-all-by-clive-james-9780300229707","title":"Play All","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA world-renowned media and cultural critic offers an insightful analysis of serial TV drama and the modern art of the small screen\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTelevision and TV viewing are not what they once were—and that’s a good thing, according to award-winning author and critic Clive James. Since serving as a television columnist for the \u003ci\u003eLondon Observer\u003c\/i\u003e from 1972 to 1982, James has witnessed a radical change in content, format, and programming, and in the very manner in which TV is watched.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003ePlay All\u003c\/i\u003e, he examines this unique cultural revolution, providing a brilliant, eminently entertaining analysis of many of the medium’s most notable twenty-first-century accomplishments and their not always subtle impact on modern society—including such acclaimed serial dramas as \u003ci\u003eBreaking Bad\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe West Wing\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMad Men\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Sopranos\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as the comedy \u003ci\u003e30 Rock\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith intelligence and wit, James explores a television landscape expanded by cable and broadband and profoundly altered by the advent of Netflix, Amazon, and other “cord-cutting” platforms that have helped to usher in a golden age of unabashed binge-watching.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46854762987756,"sku":"9780300229707","price":23.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/83e9d4b780f6702f202ec288762d0aa9.jpg?v=1759265351"},{"product_id":"latest-readings-by-clive-james-9780300223552","title":"Latest Readings","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAn esteemed literary critic shares his final musings on books, his children, and his own impending death\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn 2010, Clive James was diagnosed with terminal leukaemia. Deciding that “if you don’t know the exact moment when the lights will go out, you might as well read until they do,” James moved his library to his house in Cambridge, where he would “live, read, and perhaps even write.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eJames is the award-winning author of dozens of works of literary criticism, poetry, and history, and this volume contains his reflections on what may well be his last reading list. A look at some of James’s old favourites as well as some of his recent discoveries, this book also offers a revealing look at the author himself, sharing his evocative musings on literature and family, and on living and dying.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs thoughtful and erudite as the works of Alberto Manguel, and as moving and inspiring as Randy Pausch’s \u003cem\u003eThe Last Lecture\u003c\/em\u003e and Will Schwalbe’s \u003cem\u003eThe End of Your Life Book Club\u003c\/em\u003e, this valediction to James’s lifelong engagement with the written word is a captivating valentine from one of the great literary minds of our time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46855799767276,"sku":"9780300223552","price":25.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/24233263482294.jpg?v=1759278161"},{"product_id":"the-fire-of-joy-by-clive-james-9781529042108","title":"The Fire of Joy","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eClive James read, learned and recited poetry aloud for most of his life. In this book, completed just before his death, he offers a selection of his favourite poems and a personal commentary on each.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn the last months of his life, his vision impaired by surgery and unable to read, Clive James explored the treasure-house of his mind: the poems he knew best, so good that he didn't just remember them, he found them impossible to forget. \u003cem\u003eThe Fire of Joy\u003c\/em\u003e is the record of this final journey of recollection and celebration. Enthralled by poetry all his life, James knew hundreds of poems by heart. In offering this selection of his favourites, a succession of poems from the sixteenth century to the present, his aim is to inspire you to discover and to learn, and perhaps even to speak poetry aloud.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn his highly personal anthology, James offers a commentary on each of the eighty or so poems: sometimes a historical or critical note on the poem or its author, sometimes a technical point about the poem's construction from someone who was himself a poet, sometimes a personal anecdote about the role the poem played in his own life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhether you're familiar with a poem or not—whether you're familiar with poetry in general or not—these chatty, unpretentious, often tender mini-essays convey the joy of James's enthusiasm and the benefit of his knowledge. His urgent wish was to share with a new generation what he himself had loved. This is a book to be read cover to cover or dipped into: either way, it generously opens up a world for our delight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"The Distribution and Logistics Company (TDLC)","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47599429026028,"sku":"9781529042108","price":21.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781529042108-the-fire-of-joy.jpg?v=1777978215"},{"product_id":"somewhere-becoming-rain-by-clive-james-9781529028850","title":"Somewhere Becoming Rain","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA love letter from one of the world's most critically acclaimed writers to one of its most cherished poets.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eClive James was a life-long admirer of the work of Philip Larkin. \u003cem\u003eSomewhere Becoming Rain\u003c\/em\u003e gathers all of James's writing on this towering literary figure of the twentieth century, together with extra material now published for the first time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe greatness of Larkin's poetry continues to be obscured by the opprobrium attaching to his personal life and his private opinions. James writes about Larkin's poems, his novels, his jazz and literary criticism; he also considers the two major biographies, Larkin's letters and even his portrayal on stage in order to chart the extreme and, he argues, largely misguided equivocations about Larkin's reputation in the years since his death.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThrough this joyous and perceptive book, Larkin's genius is delineated and celebrated. James argues that Larkin's poems, adored by discriminating readers for over half a century, could only have been the product of his reticent, diffident, flawed, and all-too-human personality.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Macmillan Publishers New Zealand Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48244156301548,"sku":"9781529028850","price":24.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781529028850-somewhere-becoming-rain-1.jpg?v=1787993937"},{"product_id":"the-fire-of-joy-by-clive-james-9781529042085","title":"The Fire of Joy","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEssentially, this is Clive James' desert island poems: a selection of his favourite verse and a personal commentary on each.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Fire of Joy\u003c\/em\u003e was the final book Clive James completed before his death in 2019. It takes its title from the French expression \u003cem\u003eFeu de Joie\u003c\/em\u003e, which refers to a military celebration when all the riflemen of a regiment fire one shot after another in a wave of continuous sound: it is a reminder that the regiment's collective power relies on the individual, and vice versa.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this book, James has chosen a succession of English poems, exploding in sequence from Chaucer to the present day; they tell the story of someone writing something wonderful, and someone else coming along, reading it, and feeling impelled to write something even more wonderful. After a lifetime, these are the poems James found so good that he remembered them despite himself. In offering them to you, the main purpose of this book is to provide ammunition that will satisfy your urge to discover, learn and declaim verse.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs well as his selection of poems, James offers a commentary on each: whether this is a biographical, historical or critical introduction to the poem, or a more personal anecdote about the role a particular poem has played in James's life, these mini essays provide the joy of James's enthusiasm and the benefit of his knowledge. Full of the flashing fires of poems you will not be able to forget, this book will ignite your passion and leave you with a contagious crackle rattling in your ears.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Macmillan Publishers New Zealand Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48244567539948,"sku":"9781529042085","price":55.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781529042085-the-fire-of-joy-1.jpg?v=1788002105"},{"product_id":"the-river-in-the-sky-by-clive-james-9781509887248","title":"The River in the Sky","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eOne of the most important and influential writers of our time\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style: normal;\"\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eClive James has been close to death for several years, and he has written about the experience in a series of deeply moving poems. In \u003cem\u003eSentenced to Life\u003c\/em\u003e, he was clear-sighted as he faced the end, honest about his regrets. In \u003cem\u003eInjury Time\u003c\/em\u003e, he wrote about living well in the time remaining, focusing our attention on the joys of family and art, and celebrating the immediate beauty of the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAt the opening of \u003cem\u003eThe River in the Sky\u003c\/em\u003e, a book-length poem, we find James in ill health but high spirits. Although his body traps him in his Cambridge house, his mind is free to roam.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe River in the Sky\u003c\/em\u003e takes us on a grand tour of \"the fragile treasures of his life\". Animated by powerful recollections, James presents a flowing stream of vivid images. He moves from emotionally resonant personal moments, such as listening to jazz records with his future wife, to unforgettable encounters with all kinds of culture: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony sits alongside YouTube's vast cosmopolis.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs ever with James, he shares his passions with enormous generosity, making brilliant and original connections, and fearlessly tackling the biggest questions: the meaning of life and how to live it. In the end, what emerges from this autobiographical epic is a soaring work of exceptional depth and overwhelming feeling, a new marvel for the modern age.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Macmillan Publishers New Zealand Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48244676493548,"sku":"9781509887248","price":24.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781509887248-the-river-in-the-sky-1.jpg?v=1788008998"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.pro\/collections\/clive-james.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}