I’m a writer (‘natch) and work with my fabulous wife, Susan McLennan. We’re winners of two regional Emmy awards and have created and/or written television shows for PBS, Disney, BBC, and CBC. I’ve always gravitated toward characters who really get put through the physical and emotional ringer. If they’re enduring an outlandish pile-on of hardships, I’m with them all the way. I’m not sure what this says about me, but what I love is how these hard done by characters find ways to turn things around and stagger to victory, often when all seems lost–not by magic, not by divine intervention, but thanks to some unseen force inside themselves.
This is my favourite Dr. Seuss book (sorry, Horton!). Our hero is… um, maybea bear? Anyway, he’s carefree, young, and lives in the Valley of Vung. Pretty idyllic, yes? Until it’s not. Poor guy gets attacked by creatures determined to bite off his body parts. Fortunately, a chap in a one-wheeler-wubble shows up (I love it when that happens) and offers to take him to Solla Sollew, “Where they never have problems, at least very few.” What follows is a hero’s journey crammed with no end of near-death experiences culminating in him finally reaching utopia to discover…he can’t get in. He’s been resilient all along, but it’s here he excels and decides to go home and face his problems head-on. Sure, he brings a club. But, well, different times…
As our hero struggles to reach the city of Solla Sollew, where they never have troubles, at least very few, we realise that it's better to face up to life's problems than to try to run away from them!
With his unique combination of hilarious stories, zany pictures and riotous rhymes, Dr. Seuss has been delighting young children and helping them learn to read for over fifty years. Creator of the wonderfully anarchic Cat in the Hat, and ranked among the UK's top ten favourite children's authors, Dr. Seuss is a global best-seller, with over 650 million books sold worldwide.…
I love this book. It shocked me as a teenager. Shocked me. As a teenager! It was suggested to me by my father. I never looked at him the same way after that… The endless humiliations that Wilt endures are outrageous. In everybook in the Wilt series, something terrible happens to his penis. In this book it ends up reluctantly attached to a rubber sex doll… I’ll wait here while you reread that line. Wilt is overlooked and abused by everyone, but when he’s arrested for the murder of his wife (who is very much alive) his resilience is a thing of comic beauty–in that 1970’s English style. If you like your comedy Python-esque and filthy then you and I will be book club friends forever. Call me!
La más famosa novela de Tom Sharpe, en la que el autor no deja títere con cabeza. El protagonista, Henry Wilt, encadenado a un empleo demencial como profesor en un politécnico, acaba de ver postergado su ascenso una vez más. Mientras, las cosas no marchan mejor en casa, donde su maciza esposa, Eva, se entrega a imprevisibles arrebatos de entusiasmo por la meditación trascendental, el yoga o la última novedad recién olfateada. Wilt, que se siente impotente con respecto a su empleo, no vacila en entregarse a fantasías cada vez más asesinas y concretas acerca de su mujer, con la…
London, 1795 (the starting point in this book, for the current location and time, please check your phone). Ned Rise is a put-upon rogue whose life has been filled with personal catastrophes and several brushes with death. After being falsely accused of murder (because that’s how it goes when you’re Ned) he finds himself condemned to the malarial jungles of Africa, and providing free labour for the real-life Scottish explorer Mungo Park. Their fatal journey down the Niger River makes his days on the squalid streets of London look like a picnic, and Ned Rise proves to be more level-headed and resilient than the famous Scottish adventurer. T.C. Boyle is one of my favourite authors, and the creative energy and scathing social commentary in this fantastic book never lets up.
Set in 1795, "Water Music" is the rambunctious account of two men's wild adventures through the gutters of London and the Scottish Highlands to their unlikely meeting in darkest Africa.
“What the American public wants in the theater is a tragedy with a happy ending.”
- William Dean Howell
Not so much the British public, I guess. Years ago, I found this play in the remainder bin of a book store and bought it because I’d enjoyed Sleuth, not realizing there were two Schaffer brother playwrights…who, it turns out, had a major sibling rivalry thing going on. The movie was remarkable but the play really drives home Salieri’s fury at God. Resilience, it turns out can be effectively weaponized: especially when you’re the director of the Italian opera, a court-savvy sneak, and a jealous sidewinder. First on his “to do” list? Seduce Mozart’s wife… But by thoroughly destroying Wolfi, Salieri loses his humanity in the process. There’s always a snag.
0riginating at the National Theatre of Great Britain, Amadeus was the recipient of both the Evening Standard Drama Award and the Theatre Critics Award. In the United States, the play won the coveted Tony Award and went on to become a critically acclaimed major motion picture winning eight Oscars, including Best Picture.
Now, this extraordinary work about the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is available with a new preface by Peter Shaffer and a new introduction by the director of the 1998 Broadway revival, Sir Peter Hall. Amadeus is a must-have for classical music buffs, theatre lovers, and aficionados of…
I’m a total Looney Tunes fan. Okay, the Roadrunner and Coyote were never my go-to toons (I’m more of a Daffy man), but this short story hits the funny bone at just the right angle. The most resilient of all cartoon characters is Wile E. Coyote: Despite getting blown up, run over, and frequently falling off cliffs, he never quits. He’s a silent, comedic antagonist who always has new and creative approaches in his attempts to bag that bird. That said, there was a rather unhealthy reliance on those Acme products that never did him any good… So now he’s doing something about that! Wile E. has filed a product liability suit against the Acme Company. Those malfunctioning rocket sleds ruined his life and he’s seeking $17 million in damages.
Twenty-two side-splitting glimpses into some oddball corners of the American mind from bestselling author Ian Frazier.
The title essay of Coyote v. Acme, Frazier's second collection of humorous essays, imagines the opening statement of an attorney representing cartoon character Wile E. Coyote in a product liability suit against the Acme Company, supplier of unpredictable rocket sleds and faulty spring-powered shoes. Other essays are about Bob Hope's golfing career, a commencement address given by a Satanist college president, a suburban short story attacked by the Germans, the problem of issues versus non-issues, and the theories of revolutionary stand-up comedy from Comrade…
I Got You A Present!follows a heroic mallard (let’s call him Duckie) on his epic quest to get you, the reader, the best birthday present. Ever! But nothing goes right.
The ten-scoop ice cream cone is a disaster to carry, the magic kit disappears (just like magic!), and an apple juice-fueled jetpack still has a few kinks to work out. Poor Duckie ends up in a race against time to show you how much he cares. But in the end, he has nothing… Or maybe there is something here... It’s the thought that counts, amiright? While the book might be about birthdays, it helps kids navigate the difficulties of setbacks and failures while inspiring them to understand what’s really important: friendship and resilience.
I grew up a fan of an evening news segment called “On the Road with Charles Kuralt.” Kuralt spotlighted upbeat, affirmative, sometimes nostalgic stories of people and places he discovered as he traveled across the American landscape. The charming stories he told were only part of the appeal; the freedom and adventure of being on the open road ignited a spark that continues to smolder. Some of my fondest memories from childhood are our annual family road trips, and I still jump at the chance to drive across the country.
Head West in 1865 with two life-long friends looking for adventure and who want to see the wilderness before it disappears. One is a wanderer; the other seeks a home he lost. The people they meet on their journey reflect the diverse events of this time period–settlers, adventure seekers, scientific expeditions, and Indigenous peoples–all of whom shape their lives in significant ways.
This is a story of friendship that casts a different look on a time period which often focuses only on wagon trains or gunslingers.
After four years of adventure in the frontier, Win Avery returns to his hometown on the edge of the prairie and tracks down his childhood friend, Jeb Dawson. Jeb has just lost his parents, and, in his efforts to console him, Win convinces his friend to travel west with him―to see the frontier before it is settled, while it is still unspoiled wilderness.
They embark on a free-spirited adventure, but their journey sidetracks when they befriend Meg Jameson, an accomplished horsewoman, lost on the Nebraska prairie. Traveling together through the Rocky Mountain foothills, they run into Gray Wolf, an Arapaho…
