Nicola Barker Ordine dei libri

"Charles, a forty-year-old boutique teddy bear maker and wearer of ironic t-shirts, is trying - and failing - to sell his small, characterless house in Llandudno. His estate agent Avigail, whose name is definitely not Abigail, is trying - in vain - to rein in Charles's most unhelpful eccentricities, especially his repeated recounting to prospective buyers of a failed burglary that took place twelve years ago. When Wang Shu and her daughter Ying Yue view the house, Wang Shu is mysteriously struck by a falling oyster shell - the first in a series of seemingly innocuous events distort the reality of the characters' lives and cause them to question their very existence. As religious epiphanies bump up against declarations of love, the characters begin to sabotage the fictional world they inhabit, causing our entire understanding of the book - and of the boundaries between fiction and real life - to be radically upended."--Publisher

Humor and tragedy intertwine in this collection, where characters navigate the complexities of love, independence, and fulfillment. Nicola Barker's storytelling captures the nuanced struggles of her protagonists, offering a poignant exploration of their desires and challenges. Each narrative reveals the intricacies of human relationships and the quest for personal happiness, making for a compelling read.

No book Nicola Barker writes is remotely like a book by anyone else, which is one of the many reasons to celebrate her . Also, no two books by Nicola Barker are doing remotely the same thing, which is another. So you never quite know what you're in for. And H(A)PPY , even by her own extravagant standards, is very strange indeed ... Barker has always been a visionary writer - visionary in style, with past and present interpenetrating in dream and hallucination . But her interest in religious visions and theology here comes to the fore ... As I say, Barker is not remotely like any other writer. With its typographical jiggering about (words really do change colour, and some pages have blocks of identical text or no text at all), and its favouring of symbols and ideas over characters, setting and story, it's more like a poem or artwork than a novel. Still, it's quite something . I'm just not sure what. Sam Leith Literary Review

'Extremely ambitious' Financial Times 'An imaginative tour de force ... She really is a genius' Guardian 'A delight' New Statesman FROM THE MAN BOOKER-SHORTLISTED AUTHOR NICOLA BARKER To the world he is Sri Ramakrishna - godly avatar, esteemed spiritual master, beloved guru. To temple owner, Rani Rashmoni, he is the Brahmin fated to defy tradition. But to Hriday, his nephew and long-time caretaker, he is just Uncle - maddening, bewildering Uncle, prone to entering trances at the most inconvenient of times, known to perform dangerous acts of self-effacement, who must be vigilantly safeguarded not only against jealous enemies but also against that most treasured yet insidious of sulphur-rich vegetables- the cauliflower.

Many horses will, at some point during their lives, suffer hoof problems which, in extreme cases, can cause permanent lameness. So why should oustandingly healthy, hardworking feet be a relative rarity? Performance Hoof, Performance Horse explores the idea that, given the right conditions, healthy hooves are not difficult to maintain and neither do they need much in the way of human intervention, and that the unshod or 'barefoot' horse can be tough, strong and sure-footed. The book offers practical advice on how best to work with a horse with compromised feet in terms of nutrition, surfaces and exercise in order to restore its hooves to optimum condition.

The book explores David Blaine's provocative 44-day endurance stunt in a Perspex box by the Thames, delving into the surrounding chaos and public reaction. It captures the intense emotions and societal commentary generated by the event, highlighting themes of obsession, spectacle, and the blurred lines between art and endurance. Through vivid descriptions, it examines the impact of fame and the complexity of human behavior in the face of extreme challenges, revealing the darker undercurrents of public fascination with illusion and performance.

"The Cauliflower" by Barker is a vibrant historical biographical novel that blends humor and creativity. It explores the life of Sri Ramakrishna through the eyes of his devoted nephew, Hriday, capturing the complexity of relationships and traditions. The narrative is inventive, comic, and irreverent, showcasing Barker's literary brilliance.

To the world he is Sri Ramakrishna - godly avatar, esteemed spiritual master, beloved guru. To Rani Rashmoni, he is the Brahmin fated to defy tradition. But to Hriday, his nephew and long-time caretaker, he is just Uncle - maddening, bewildering Uncle, prone to entering trances at the most inconvenient of times.

A new novel of the pre-Olympic moment from the Booker-shortlisted author of ‘Darkmans’, Nicola Barker. 'There was a rat in the bath', Gene explains. 'It's a long story, but basically I fished it out and was carrying around by the tail, not quite sure how to dispose of it, when I managed to barge in on this woman having a genital tattoo'. 2006 is a foreign country; they do things differently there. Tiger Woods' reputation is entirely untarnished and the English Defence League does not exist yet. Storm-clouds of a different kind are gathering above the bar of Luton's less than exclusive Thistle Hotel. Among those caught up in the unfolding drama are a man who's had cancer seven times, a woman priest with an unruly fringe, the troubled family of a notorious local fascist, an interfering barmaid with three E's at A-level but a PhD in bullshit, and a free-thinking Muslim sex therapist and his considerably more pious wife. But at the heart of every intrigue and the bottom of every mystery is the repugnantly charismatic figure of Stuart Ransom – a golfer in free-fall. Nicola Barker's ‘The Yips’ is at once a historical novel of the pre-Twitter moment, the filthiest state-of-the-nation novel since Martin Amis' ‘Money’ and the most flamboyant piece of comic fiction ever to be set in Luton.

A groundbreaking novel by a leading comic writer, recognized as one of Granta's Best of Young British Writers 2003.