{"title":"Roger Lewis","description":"\u003cp\u003eRoger Lewis crafts compelling works within the \u003cem\u003eBiography \u0026amp; Memoir\u003c\/em\u003e genre, delving into complex lives with remarkable insight. His books offer a richly detailed and often unconventional look at intriguing figures, blending narrative depth with a literary sensibility.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eReaders can expect evocative storytelling that explores the nuances of human experience, from the quirks of celebrated personalities to the intimate layers beneath public personas. Lewis’s writing balances wit and seriousness, making each biography a thoughtful and engaging journey.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-life-and-death-of-peter-sellers-by-roger-lewis-9781529446753","title":"The Life and Death of Peter Sellers","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA fascinating, tragic and instructive story, vividly told\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eSunday Telegraph\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRoger Lewis, in his no-holds-barred biography, exposes a Peter Sellers the world little knows. Recognised as the greatest British comic since Charlie Chaplin, Sellers was the grand master of fifty-five films - from \u003cem\u003eDr. Strangelove\u003c\/em\u003e, to \u003cem\u003eBeing There\u003c\/em\u003e and the \u003cem\u003ePink Panther\u003c\/em\u003e hits.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut shadowing his phenomenal career was a history of increasingly bizarre behaviour involving psychotic violence, compulsive promiscuity, drug abuse and humiliating self-destructive obsessions with people including Princess Margaret, Sophia Loren, Liza Minnelli and each of his four wives (Ann Hayes, Britt Ekland, Miranda Quarry and Lynne Frederick). He alternately showered his wives and children with gifts and then threatened to kill them. Sellers' fluidity as an actor made for a terrifying madness that grew like a slow metastasising cancer throughout his adult life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Life and Death of Peter Sellers\u003c\/em\u003e concludes with his premature death at the age of 54, 'sick at heart and alone in those sunless hotel rooms', so recoiled from intimacy that no one really knew him anymore.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePRAISE FOR \u003cem\u003eThe Life and Death of Peter Sellers\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'It is a mad book - but then the subject is a madman. I love Lewis's passion ... I recommend it' \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Reinventing the genre as well as reassessing its subject with formidable intelligence, this book is a remarkable achievement' \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLiterary Review\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46735676637420,"sku":"9781529446753","price":80.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/14889253482732.jpg?v=1755261475"},{"product_id":"erotic-vagrancy-by-roger-lewis-9780857381743","title":"Erotic Vagrancy","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'The book of the year' \u003cem\u003eSUNDAY TIMES\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'One of the very best biographies I have ever read' STEPHEN FRY\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'A hot thunderstorm of a book' DAVID HARE\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'I've never read anything like it!' RICHARD E GRANT\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eErotic Vagrancy\u003c\/em\u003e gave me a week of pure joy' CRAIG BROWN\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'Unputdownable' TONY PALMER\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'A genius writer' LYNN BARBER\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE . . . ONE OF THE GREAT READING EXPERIENCES OF MY LIFE' MARINA HYDE\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA TOP 25 BEST BOOK OF 2023 \u003cem\u003e(INDEPENDENT)\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAN \u003cem\u003eOBSERVER\u003c\/em\u003e BOOK OF THE YEAR\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA \u003cem\u003eSUNDAY TIMES\u003c\/em\u003e BOOK OF THE YEAR\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThirteen years in the writing, \u003cem\u003eErotic Vagrancy\u003c\/em\u003e doesn't only surpass every other biography of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton yet to appear. This rich, vital and passionately articulated book, which is as extravagant and wayward as its two subjects, is also about celebrity, creativity, being flawed, being brilliant, sexuality, the intermingling of a low and a highbrow existence, pride, insecurity, attraction and repulsion, and devilry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWe see Taylor the child actress exchanging dogs and horses for husbands. We see Burton emerging from the mists and brimstone of Wales to be the greatest theatrical animal of his generation. The pair come together in Rome during the making of \u003cem\u003eCleopatra\u003c\/em\u003e, which gives Lewis the opportunity for a major farcical set-piece. We then enter a world of jewels and private jets, vodka, yachts and furs - the splendid vulgarity of the Sixties, where the narrative of Taylor and Burton becomes a Pop Art story.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThen, inevitably, it all goes wrong, with alcoholism, violence, recrimination and divorce (twice) - with Burton, whom Lewis depicts as a Faustus figure, damned by fame, dead at fifty-eight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eStephen Fry has said, 'It is one of the very best biographies I have ever read. One of the best books about fame, desire, Hollywood, and mid-to-late twentieth-century culture ever written. Inside which, brilliant, hilarious and sensitive insights on all manner of subjects fizz and froth. Magnificent, terrible, tragic, triumphant.'\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46832865345772,"sku":"9780857381743","price":29.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/6742963482493.jpg?v=1758417255"},{"product_id":"the-life-and-death-of-peter-sellers-by-roger-lewis-9781529444025","title":"The Life and Death of Peter Sellers","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A fascinating, tragic and instructive story, vividly told' \u003ci\u003eSunday Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRoger Lewis, in his no-holds-barred biography, exposes a Peter Sellers the world little knows. Recognised as the greatest British comic since Charlie Chaplin, Sellers was the grand master of fifty-five films – from \u003ci\u003eDr. Strangelove\u003c\/i\u003e, to \u003ci\u003eBeing There\u003c\/i\u003e and the \u003ci\u003ePink Panther\u003c\/i\u003e hits.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut shadowing his phenomenal career was a history of increasingly bizarre behaviour involving psychotic violence, compulsive promiscuity, drug abuse and humiliating self-destructive obsessions with people including Princess Margaret, Sophia Loren, Liza Minnelli and each of his four wives (Ann Hayes, Britt Ekland, Miranda Quarry and Lynne Frederick). He alternately showered his wives and children with gifts and then threatened to kill them. Sellers' fluidity as an actor made for a terrifying madness that grew like a slow metastasising cancer throughout his adult life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Life and Death of Peter Sellers\u003c\/i\u003e concludes with his premature death at the age of 54, 'sick at heart and alone in those sunless hotel rooms', so recoiled from intimacy that no one really knew him anymore.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePRAISE FOR \u003ci\u003eThe Life and Death of Peter Sellers\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'It is a mad book – but then the subject is a madman. I love Lewis's passion ... 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