Books for The Contrarian

Cary Grant’s Suit: Nine Movies That Made Me the Wreck I Am Today – Signed Copy
Cary Grant’s Suit: Nine Movies That Made Me the Wreck I Am Today – Signed Copy

Todd McEwen

Todd McEwen grew up in Southern California. As the son of relatively normal people, he had no in with Hollywood, a mere thirteen miles away, try as he might. This is a kid who loved the movies so much, he got up at 4.30 in the morning to watch Laurel and Hardy. A kid who made his father project 8mm cartoons onto the family’s dining room curtains so they could be slowly parted, just like at a real cinema. A guy who based his philosophy of life on Captain Nemo, and has watched Chinatown over sixty times. So far.

Cary Grant’s Suit: Nine Movies That Made Me the Wreck I Am Today
Cary Grant’s Suit: Nine Movies That Made Me the Wreck I Am Today

Todd McEwen

Todd McEwen grew up in Southern California. As the son of relatively normal people, he had no in with Hollywood, a mere thirteen miles away, try as he might. This is a kid who loved the movies so much, he got up at 4.30 in the morning to watch Laurel and Hardy. A kid who made his father project 8mm cartoons onto the family’s dining room curtains so they could be slowly parted, just like at a real cinema. A guy who based his philosophy of life on Captain Nemo, and has watched Chinatown over sixty times. So far.

Confessions of a Heretic (revised edition)
Confessions of a Heretic (revised edition)

Roger Scruton Douglas Murray

A collection of twelve provocative essays by the philosopher and political thinker Roger Scruton. Each ‘confession’ reveals an aspect of the author’s thinking that his critics would probably have advised him to keep to himself. This diverse collection includes essays on art, music, architecture, government, social media, and culture.

Bah Humbug!
Bah Humbug!

A humorous collection for all those who find themselves weary of tinsel and the Christmas merry-go-round.

Escape The Family
Escape The Family

Three provocative reads that offer a brief respite from the burden of family at Christmas-time.

Denial: The Unspeakable Truth
Denial: The Unspeakable Truth

Keith Kahn-Harris

The Holocaust never happened. The planet isn’t warming. Vaccines cause autism. There is no such thing as AIDS. The Earth is flat. Kahn-Harris sets out not just to unpick denialists’ arguments, but to investigate what lies behind them. The conclusions he reaches are disturbing and uncomfortable.

On Christmas: A Seasonal Anthology
On Christmas: A Seasonal Anthology

Gyles Brandreth

A seasonal anthology of Christmas-themed writings to savour during the highs and lows of Christmas Day, introduced by Gyles Brandreth. This delightful book offers a diverse array of classic and contemporary writers who have expressed their thoughts about Christmas over the centuries – with joy, nostalgia, grumpiness, and dazzling wit.

On Christmas: A Seasonal Anthology – Signed Copy
On Christmas: A Seasonal Anthology – Signed Copy

Gyles Brandreth

A seasonal anthology of Christmas-themed writings to savour during the highs and lows of Christmas Day, introduced by Gyles Brandreth. This delightful book offers a diverse array of classic and contemporary writers who have expressed their thoughts about Christmas over the centuries – with joy, nostalgia, grumpiness, and dazzling wit.

Smoke
Smoke

John Berger Selçuk Demirel

John Berger, art critic, novelist and long-time smoker, joins forces again with Turkish writer and illustrator Selçuk Demirel. This charming pictorial essay reflects on the cultural implications of smoking, and suggests, through a series of brilliantly inventive illustrations, that society’s attitude to smoke is both paradoxical and intolerant.

Drawn From Life: Selected Essays of Michel de Montaigne
Drawn From Life: Selected Essays of Michel de Montaigne

Michel de Montaigne Tim Parks

The essays of Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, the 16th-century French philosopher, are an obvious addition to the Notting Hill Editions ‘Classic Collection’ due to the masterful balance of intellectual knowledge and personal story-telling conveyed in his writing. He popularised the genre of the essay form, coining the term from the French verb ‘essayer’, translated literally as attempts or trials. This selection is introduced by Tim Parks and is from the M A Creech translation.

Alchemy: Writers on Truth, Lies and Fiction
Alchemy: Writers on Truth, Lies and Fiction

Iain Sinclair

We live in a world of docu-drama, in which the ‘real life’ story is held in higher regard than fiction. Where does that leave the imagination? Five writers grapple with reality and fiction, and the alchemical process of turning life into art.

Grumbling at Large: Selected Essays of J. B. Priestley
Grumbling at Large: Selected Essays of J. B. Priestley

J. B. Priestley Valerie Grove

A delightful selection of Priestley’s essays, drawing on five decades of his writing. Priestley defined the essay as a ‘prose masterpiece in miniature’ and understood that to perfect the form, the essayist had to stand ‘naked and shivering’ in the very first sentence.

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