Now a Major Motion Picture Here is the Trainspotting crew ten years further down the line: still scheming, still scamming, still fighting for the first-class seats as the train careens at high velocity with derailment looming around the next corner. In this world, even the cons get conned. Sick Boy and Renton jockey for top dog, and out-of-jail and in-for-revenge Begbie is on the loose. But it’s drug-addled Spud who may be creating the most trouble.

Spanning the 1950s to the 70s, the plays capture the rebellious mood of a post-war generation growing up to a backdrop of James Dean, Elvis, sharp-suited glamour, hope and despair. John Byrne takes the slab room he worked in and makes it pure theatre: the scams, the dreams, the aloof but gorgeous girl, the despair of life back home, the obligatory tormenting of the office 'weed', and the mandatory boy chat and pranks all help the day to pass. Phil and Spanky explode onto the stage in a classic vaudeville double-act. Now considered one of Scotland's defining literary works of the twentieth century, the Slab Boys Trilogy premiered at the Traverse back in the late 1970s and early 80s taking Scotland, then Britain, and then Broadway quickly by storm.

This is the essential guide for anyone interested in film. Now in its second edition, the text has been completely revised and expanded to meet the needs of today's students and film enthusiasts. Some 150 key genres, movements, theories and production terms are explained and analyzed with depth and clarity. Entries include:* auteur theory* Blaxploitation* British New Wave* feminist film theory* intertextuality* method acting* pornography* Third World Cinema* Vampire movies.

"The best book ever written by man or woman...deserves to sell more copies than the Bible."--Rebel, Inc.

‘Back to his violent best...dark, gruesome and captivating’ Esquire The most terrifying character from Trainspotting returns. Jim Francis has finally found the perfect life – and is now unrecognisable, even to himself. A successful painter and sculptor, he lives quietly with his wife, Melanie, and their two young daughters, in an affluent beach town in California. Some say he’s a fake and a con man, while others see him as a genuine visionary. But Francis has a very dark past, with another identity and a very different set of values. When he crosses the Atlantic to his native Scotland, for the funeral of a murdered son he barely knew, his old Edinburgh community expects him to take bloody revenge. But as he confronts his previous life, all those friends and enemies – and, most alarmingly, his former self – Francis seems to have other ideas. When Melanie discovers something gruesome in California, which indicates that her husband’s violent past might also be his psychotic present, things start to go very bad, very quickly. The Blade Artist is an elegant, electrifying novel – ultra violent but curiously redemptive – and it marks the return of one of modern fiction’s most infamous, terrifying characters, the incendiary Francis Begbie from Trainspotting.

Lotti Coates lives in the shadow of a genius: her father George is a brilliant and celebrated Australian painter. When Lotti meets the outcast waif Kyla at a suburban Canberra school, two worlds are set to collide. Slowly Kyla is drawn into the orbit of the Coates family. Or is it the other way around? As Lotti and Kyla navigate their way towards adulthood, dark secrets start to unravel, with devastating consequences … We Were Never Friends is a story of friendship, the pursuit of a creative life and the legacies we leave behind. Praise for We Were Never Friends by Margaret Bearman ‘This intelligent, subtle novel is a complex study of family dynamics, class divides, adolescent pecking orders, and the murky moral landscapes of artistic practice and inspiration.’ —Kerryn Goldsworthy, The Sydney Morning Herald ‘Margaret Bearman’s intimate, unsettling novel of family dysfunction perfectly captures the ambivalent passions of girlhood while offering an incisive critique of the cult of artistic genius. Sharp and subtle at the same time, refusing any easy certainties, We Were Never Friends is a haunting portrait of the human capacity for cruelty and love in equal measure.’ —Kirsten Tranter, bestselling author of The Legacy ‘A compelling and authentic journey into the heart of an Australian family. What is art? What’s true courage? I could not put it down.’ —Melissa Ashley, bestselling author of The Birdman’s Wife

'I loved every page of this funny, warm, delightful novel!' LIANE MORIARTY 'A smart, funny novel about love, marriage and family.' Weekend Australian 'With sharply observed characters and comic set-pieces to make you laugh out loud, Dinner with the Schnabels is great fun to read and casts a more mature and acerbic eye on modern masculinity.' Sydney Morning Herald, Fiction Pick of the Week You can marry into them, but can you ever really be one of them? A novel about marriage, love and family. Things haven't gone well for Simon Larsen lately. He adores his wife, Tansy, and his children, but since his business failed and he lost the family home, he can't seem to get off the couch. His larger-than-life in-laws, the Schnabels - Tansy's mother, sister and brother - won't get off his case. To keep everyone happy, Simon needs to do one little job: he has a week to landscape a friend's backyard for an important Schnabel family event. But as the week progresses, Simon is derailed by the arrival of an unexpected house guest. Then he discovers Tansy is harbouring a secret. As his world spins out of control, who can Simon really count on when the chips are down? Life with the Schnabels is messy, chaotic and joyful, and Dinner with the Schnabels is as heartwarming as it is outrageously funny. Praise for Dinner with the Schnabels: 'Laughs all the way . . . a charmer of a book.' Daily Telegraph 'Dinner with the Schnabels is a contemporary comic masterpiece. Practically every page boasts lines redolent of humour, wit and sarcasm that will make you snigger if not laugh out loud.' ArtsHub 'Hilarious.' The Bookshelf (ABC Radio) 'Terrific . . . Dinner with the Schnabels is warm and quintessentially Australian yet extensively engaging.' Sydney Arts Guide 'Told with great humour and pathos. It is a tonic and a delight.' PIP WILLIAMS, author of The Dictionary of Lost Words 'Just delightful . . . a modern comedy of manners that pokes affectionate fun at contemporary Australia - all with Toni's trademark warmth, sensitivity and tenderness. I am pressing it into the hands of everyone I know.' KATE FORSYTH 'Toni Jordan at her finest - brilliantly observed and highly entertaining. I inhaled her words then snorted them out laughing!' JOANNA NELL 'Smart, tender, wise and hilarious. This is a dinner I didn't want to leave.' KATHRYN HEYMAN 'A modern Melbourne Oscar Wilde comedy of family conundrums, perfect for David Nicholls and Beth O'Leary fans!' DANIELLE BINKS 'As heartwarming as it is outrageously funny.' Herald Sun 'A sparkling, clever novel . . . Toni Jordan is at her best here, rivalling Liane Moriarty (a fan) with her comic skewering of social mores, pacy plot, sharp characterisations and sly questioning of contemporary values' In Daily 'The only criticism I could possibly level at this novel is that it was near-impossible to put down . . . Dinner with the Schnabels is a 5-star read for sure. Run, don't walk.' The AU Review 'This delicious story about family will be Jordan's most-loved novel yet . . . Dinner with the Schnabels just makes my life feel easier - it makes me feel seen.' Readings 'Once again proving why Jordan is one of this country's most exceptional writers.' Better Reading

Get the lowdown on the best fiction ever written. Over 230 of the world’s greatest novels are covered, from Quixote (1614) to Orhan Pamuk’s Snow (2002), with fascinating information about their plots and their authors – and suggestions for what to read next. The guide comes complete with recommendations of the best editions and translations for every genre from the most enticing crime and punishment to love, sex, heroes and anti-heroes, not to mention all the classics of comedy and satire, horror and mystery and many other literary genres. With feature boxes on experimental novels, female novelists, short reviews of interesting film and TV adaptations, and information on how the novel began, this guide will point you to all the classic literature you’ll ever need.

Have you ever thought to yourself whether Minority Report would have been vastly improved it it had been set in Wolverhampton? Now a Major Film, the first novel by J.D.Thomas goes at least a third of the way toward answering that question. Marcus Govey is a feckless divorcee with an incontinent spaniel and a terrifying ability. In a comic tale that takes in not one but two M6 service stations, Marcus, his spaniel and his next door neighbour display almost wilful incompetence in their attempts to put that ability to use.It's Google-driven sleuthing, it's a masterclass in tea-making. It's how NOT to be a superhero in South Staffordshire.

Roger Ebert wrote the first film review that director Martin Scorsese ever received - for 1967's I Call First, later renamed Who's That Knocking at My Door - creating a lasting bond that made him one of Scorsese's most appreciative and perceptive commentators. Scorsese by Ebert offers the first record of America's most respected film critic's en...