Writing

An extract from the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of A Long Way Down,
Nick Hornby's hilarious bestseller about strangers and secrets, now a major motion picture starring Rosamund Pike and Pierce Brosnan. 

'Can I explain why I wanted to jump off the top of a tower block?'

For disgraced TV presenter Martin Sharp the answer's pretty simple: he has, in his own words, 'pissed his life away'. And on New Year's Eve, he's going to end it all ... But not, as it happens, alone. Because first single-mum Maureen, then eighteen-year-old Jess and lastly American rock-god JJ turn up and crash Martin's private party. They've stolen his idea - but brought their own reasons.

Yet it's hard to jump when you've got an audience queuing impatiently behind you. A few heated words and some slices of cold pizza later and these four strangers are suddenly allies. But is their unlikely friendship a good enough reason to carry on living?

Read by Nicky Henson, Pauline Mclynn, Beattie Edmondson and Christopher Ragland.

Nick Hornby: A Long Way Down (Audiobook extract) Read by Pauline McLynn

Swizzle your ears for some of the finest, most fantastic first words every written, spoken and dreamt. Stay tuned for more extracts from Roald Dahl’s best loved children’s stories and if you like what you hear then visit the Apple App. Store to download the Audiobooks App for free!
With fantastic features including free access to the first chapter of every title, in–app purchase to continue the story and the ability to stream the audiobooks, the Roald Dahl Audiobooks App is available from the App Store on iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore.


Roald Dahl: Boy read by Dan Stevens

Michael Lewis, the Master of the Big Story, is back with Flash Boys

If you thought Wall Street was about alpha males standing in trading pits hollering at each other, think again. That world is dead.

Now, the world's money is traded by computer code, inside black boxes in heavily guarded buildings. Even the experts entrusted with your cash don't know what's happening to it. And the very few who do aren't about to tell - because they're making a killing.

This is a market that's rigged, out of control and out of sight; a market in which the chief need is for speed; and in which traders would sell their grandmothers for a microsecond. Blink, and you'll miss it.

In Flash Boys, Michael Lewis tells the explosive story of how one group of ingenious oddballs and misfits set out to expose what was going on. It's the story of what it's like to declare war on some of the richest and most powerful people in the world. It's about taking on an entire system. And it's about the madness that has taken hold of the financial markets today.

You won't believe it until you've read it.

'I read Michael Lewis for the same reasons I watch Tiger Woods. I'll never play like that. But it's good to be reminded every now and again what genius looks like' - Malcolm Gladwell

'Probably the best current writer in America' - Tom Wolfe

Michael Lewis was born in New Orleans and educated at Princeton University and the London School of Economics. He has written several books including the New York Times bestsellers Liar's Poker, widely considered the book that defined Wall Street during the 1980s, Boomerang and The Big Short, 'probably the single best piece of financial journalism ever written' (Reuters). Lewis is contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and also writes for Vanity Fair and Portfolio magazine.

You can buy the ebook <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/flash-boys/id822026099?mt=11">here</a>

Michael Lewis: Flash Boys (Audiobook extract) Read by Dylan Baker

This May, Pelican’s back!
 
What was this iconically blue bird all about? What did it publish? And most importantly, why do we need it today? 
 
We have the imprint’s editor Laura Stickney to tell us why we’re bringing back Pelican. We speak to our in-house designer Matthew Young, who has been a part of bringing Pelicans alive on the page, in bookshops and online. And finally, we fly off to the Bristol Festival of Ideas, to hear the economist Ha-Joon Chang. Enjoy.
 
Pelicans are now in stores around the world. Visit pelicanbooks.com to read the first chapters of the first five titles for free.


The Penguin Podcast: Pelican Books

This summer we're hitting the road with #penguinjourneys, and the Penguin Podcast is coming along for the ride. The wonderful Clare Balding, author of My Animals and Other Family and new book Walking Home (out this autumn), introduces this jet-setting episode. 

We have also teamed up with our friends at Rough Guides to give you top travel tips for each continent along the way. Head over to http://www.roughguides.com/ for more summer travel inspiration and join us on Twitter for an #askapenguin #penguinjourneys special with the expert travel team at Rough Guides on the 8th August. 

Now settle down and listen to the amazing journeys and the audiobooks we've matched them to. Let us know where your #penguinjourneys are taking you this summer, and what books you're taking with you, over on Twitter and Facebook. 

You can pre-order Clare's new book, Walking Home here: http://www.clarebalding.co.uk/news/walking-home-my-family-and-other-rambles and you can buy all the books featured in the campaign over on iTunes (opens in iTunes): http://po.st/PenguinJourneysiTunes

Keep up with all our travels this summer and follow the #penguinjourneys board over on Pinterest: http://po.st/PJpins

Join the #penguinjourneys discussion on Penguin Facebook and Twitter:

https://www.facebook.com/penguinbooks

https://twitter.com/PenguinUKBooks

Happy travels listener!

The Penguin Podcast: Penguin Journeys feat. Clare Balding, Gruff Rhys and a Roald Dahl short story

Funny Girl is the story of a popular 1960s tv comedy series. The writers, Tony and Bill, comedy obsessives, who each harbour a secret. The Oxbridge-educated director, Dennis, who loves his job but hates his marriage. The male star Clive, who feels he's destined for better things. And most of all Sophie Straw, once Barbara Parker,  Miss Blackpool 1964, who's changed her name and abandoned her old life because she just wants to make people laugh, like her heroine Lucille Ball of I Love Lucy fame.

Nick Hornby's new novel is about popular culture, youth and old age, fame, class and teamwork. It offers a wonderfully captivating portrait of youthful exuberance and creativity, and of a period when both were suddenly allowed to flourish.

This title will be available to buy from 6th November 2014. An audiobook edition of this title, read by Emma Fielding is also available to buy on Audible and iTunes.

Nick Hornby Interview

In this edition of the Faber Podcast we talk to Australian novelist and long-time New York resident Peter Carey. His new book Amnesia is the story of a young female hacker - Gaby - whose Angel Worm virus creates havoc in the Australian prison system, and consequently also in the US, making her Public Enemy Number One. This 30-minute interview covers everything from US/Australian relations (especially post-1975 and America's role in the removal of the Gough Whitlam government), new forms of protest, activism and hacking, and those rumours that Carey was asked to ghost-write the Julian Assange story.

Peter Carey: Amnesia

This week on the Penguin Podcast we’ll be exploring how we remember information, things that have happened and even poetry through memory.  

The Penguin Podcast: Memory feat. Colm Toibin, Jeremy Paxman and Fiona Shaw

"I began my literary career with short stories," A.L. Kennedy wrote recently. "I banged together my first anthology … and a publisher actually inflicted it on a waiting world." Since the publication of that first collection in 1990, Kennedy has produced five more – her most recent, All the Rage, published earlier this year – and six novels, including the Costa Prize-winning Day. The Sunday Telegraph has called Kennedy "one of the most brilliant writers of her generation" and her prose has been described in the Observer as “pure, full of tenderness and courage". In conversation with Paula Johnson, who runs the RSL's prizes, Kennedy reads from her work, and explores the craft of the short story. The V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize is awarded for the best unpublished short story of the year. After the announcement and presentation of the V.S. Pritchett Prize for 2014, the winning entry will be read by its author.

We are grateful to ALCS for supporting this event, to Christopher and Jennie Bland for sponsoring the V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize, and to Prospect for publishing the winning entry.

A.L. Kennedy on the craft of the short story

Exclusive listen of the new thriller from bestselling author and creator of Netflix's Fool Me Once, Harlan Coben. Narrated by Steven Weber.

Think Twice by Harlan Coben - EXCLUSIVE CLIP

Alan Bennett reads five much-loved stories by Kenneth Grahame, Lewis Carroll and AA Milne.

Alan Bennett’s distinctive readings of these cherished children’s stories have become classics in their own right. Portraying each character in his own inimitable fashion, his delightfully expressive voice perfectly conveys the sparkling humour, charm and magic of these timeless tales.

The Wind in the Willows tells the classic story of Ratty, Mole, Badger and Toad (of Toad Hall) and their waterside adventures.

Alice in Wonderland sees Alice following a white rabbit down a hole and embarking on a series of adventures with some of the most weird and wonderful characters ever encountered.

Through the Looking Glass continues Alice’s adventures, as she sees another world in the looking glass and wishes she could go there.

In a selection of stories from Winnie-the-Pooh, Pooh goes visiting and gets into a tight place, Eeyore loses a tail, Piglet meets a Heffalump, Eeyore has a birthday, and an ‘expotition’ to the North Pole is mounted. T

he House at Pooh Corner finds Pooh and Piglet building a house for Eeyore, whilst Tigger comes to the forest and has breakfast. Piglet nearly meets the Heffalump again, Pooh invents a new game, and Owl moves house.

Duration: 7 hours 50 mins approx.


Read more at https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1113083/alan-bennett-reads-childhood-classics/#pv49LerKlhMlYSs9.99

Alan Bennett Reads Childhood Classics (BBC Audiobook Extract)

On this episode I chat to author Nate Crowley about ideas - specifically the incubation, hatching and rearing thereof. Lots of discussion of how to generate ideas, how you know when an idea is ready, how to turn an idea into a story, as well as in-depth chat about world-building, good and bad. We go quite deep into a lot of SF, Fantasy and genre chat, but the talk should be accessible for all authors who care about ideas and originality and giving their readers an experience they won't soon forget.

If you enjoy this episode and want to read work by Nate Crowley(as well as supporting him and the podcast) then use the links below:

100 Best Video Games (That Never Existed): https://wordery.com/100-best-video-games-that-never-existed-nate-crawley-9781781086148#oid=1908_1

The Death and Life Of Schneider Wrack: https://wordery.com/the-death-and-life-of-schneider-wrack-nate-crowley-9781781085561#oid=1908_1

We also mention China Mieville's Perdido Street Station: https://wordery.com/perdido-street-station-china-mieville-9780330534239#oid=1908_1

And Lauren Beukes' Zoo City: https://wordery.com/zoo-city-lauren-beukes-9780316267922#=oid1908_1

If you haven't read either, check them out!

Oh, and buy my novel, The Honours: https://wordery.com/the-honours-tim-clare-9781782114765?cTrk#oid=1908_1

Death OF 1000 Cuts - Season 2 Episode 6 - Chat With Nate Crowley

Sick Rap/Trap Beat (Prod.Ahtisham Emcee)
FREE for NON-PROFIT ONLY

Mask on

Sick Rap/Trap Beat | Hard Rap Beat Instrumental 2019 (prod.PaKi BeAtS)

Narrated by Charlie Mackesy.

Brought to you by Penguin.

Discover the universal tale of four unlikely friends that has captured the hearts of readers of all ages, now available in audio.

Charlie Mackesy's mesmerizing debut combines the simplicity of "The Giving Tree", magic of "The Velveteen Rabbit" and the curiosity of "Paddington" - Elisabeth Egan, New York Times

Experience the world of a curious boy, a greedy mole, a wary fox and a wise horse who find themselves together in sometimes difficult terrain, sharing their greatest fears and biggest discoveries about vulnerability, kindness, hope, friendship and love.

Charlie's words and illustrations have brought comfort to many and have been shared online by readers around the world, as well as on t-shirts for Comic Relief, on magazine covers, on street lampposts in lockdown, in school classrooms, local cafés, and hospital ward walls. They've even been used as screensavers for NHS hospital computers in difficult times.

The shared adventures and important conversations between the four friends are full of life lessons that have connected with readers of all ages.

Enjoy the journey of The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse brought to life in audio by its author and illustrator Charlie Mackesy, with a beautiful music score and the real wildlife sounds of rural England.

© Charlie Mackesy 2019 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse - Introduction

Penguin Books publishes blockbusting, prize-winning, celebrated, controversial, heart-warming, thought-provoking and inspiring books by a range of authors from Ali Smith to Zadie Smith, Jeremy Clarkson to Jeremy Paxman and Jamie Oliver to Oliver Goldsmith.

Nick Hornby Interview

Penguin Books UK

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