Bruce Robinson

LONGLISTED FOR THE SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION A book like no other - the tale of a gripping quest to discover the identity of history's most notorious murderer and a literary high-wire act from the legendary writer and director of Withnail and I. For over a hundred years, 'the mystery of Jack the Ripper' has been a source of unparalleled fascination and horror, spawning an army of obsessive theorists, and endless volumes purporting finally to reveal the identity of the brutal murderer who terrorised Victorian England. But what if there was never really any 'mystery' at all? What if the Ripper was always hiding in plain sight, deliberately leaving a trail of clues to his identity for anyone who cared to look, while cynically mocking those who were supposedly attempting to bring him to justice? In THEY ALL LOVE JACK, the award-winning film director and screenwriter Bruce Robinson exposes the cover-up that enabled one of history's most notorious serial killers to remain at large. More than twelve years in the writing, this is much more than a radical reinterpretation of the Jack the Ripper legend, and an enthralling hunt for the killer. A literary high-wire act reminiscent of Tom Wolfe or Hunter S. Thompson, it is an expressionistic journey through the cesspools of late-Victorian society, a phantasmagoria of highly placed villains, hypocrites and institutionalised corruption. Polemic, forensic investigation, panoramic portrait of an age, underpinned by deep scholarship and delivered in Robinson's inimitably vivid and scabrous prose, THEY ALL LOVE JACK is an absolutely riveting and unique book, demolishing the theories of generations of self-appointed experts - the so-called 'Ripperologists' - to make clear, at last, who really did it; and more importantly, how he managed to get away with it for so long.

When an elephant arrives - unannounced and totally unexpected - in the village square, no one knows what it is. But everyone is prepared to make a wild guess. Could it be a train? Or a fire engine or even something for collecting rubbish? It is all down to the persistence of one little boy called Eric that eventually ensures that the identity of the elephant is deduced - and the poor thing is given a name. This is a funny, unusual and very whimsical picture book. Praise for "Obvious Elephant": "one of the year''s most delightful picture books" - "Financial Times", December 2000. "I''d call it One Hundred Percent Pleasure." - "Observer Review", December 2000. "A completely enchanting and thought provoking tale." - "The Guardian", November 2000.

Novela de carácter autobiográfico, en la que Bruce Robinson nos ofrece un retrato de infancia en la dura Inglaterra de los 50. La crítica ha valorado la brillantez de su lenguaje y la facilidad de Robinson para arrancarnos una sonrisa en las situaciones mas dramaticas de una novela plagada de escenas memorables. Imprescindible para entender por que toda una generacion de ingleses celebro la llegada de los felices 60.Es la Inglaterra gris de los años cincuenta. Thomas Penman vive en Broadstairs, un pueblecito del condado de Kent, tiene trece años y esta a punto de entrar en la adolescencia. En su casa y el colegio las cosas no son faciles. Solo su abuelo Walter, veterano de la Primera Guerra Mundial, que colecciona revistas pornograficas y se comunica en Morse, parece comprenderle. Es la historia de una familia disfuncional. Un libro sobre un niño y su abuelo, la vida y la muerte, el sexo y el odio, la comida de perro y el cancer. Es tambien un libro sobre pornografia, codigo Morse, pubertad, secretos, Dios y rencor. Es un libro sobre el amor.