In the days before his fortieth birthday, London-based journalist Jasper Rees trades his pen for a French horn that has been gathering dust in the attic for more than twenty-two years, and, on a lark, plays it at the annual festival of the British Horn Society. 
Despite an embarrassingly poor performance, the experience inspires Rees to embark on a daunting, bizarre, and ultimately winning journey: to return to the festival in one year's time and play a Mozart concerto—solo—to a large paying audience.
A Devil to Play is the true story of an unlikely midlife crisis spent conquering sixteen feet of wrapped brass tubing widely regarded as the most difficult instrument to master, as well as the most treacherous to play in public. It is the history of man's first musical instrument, a compelling journey that moves from the walls of Jericho to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, from the hunting fields of France to the heart of Hollywood. And it is the account of one man's mounting musical obsession, told with pitch-perfect wit and an undeniable charm—an endearing, inspiring tale of perseverance and achievement, relayed masterfully, one side-splittingly off-key note at a time.

A Devil to Play: One Man's Year-Long Quest to Master the Orchestra's Most Difficult Instrument

Rees, Jasper

Humor & Entertainment

Harper

In the days before his fortieth birthday, London-based journalist Jasper Rees traded his pen for a French horn that had been gathering dust in the attic for more than twenty-two years and, on a lark, played it at the annual festival of the British Horn Society. Despite an embarrassingly poor performance, the experience inspired Rees to embark on a daunting, bizarre, and ultimately winning journey: to return to the festival in one year's time and play a Mozart concerto—solo—to a large paying audience. A Devil to Play is the true story of an unlikely midlife crisis spent conquering eighteen feet of wrapped brass tubing widely regarded as the most difficult instrument in the world to master—an endearing, inspiring tale of perseverance and achievement, relayed masterfully, one side-splittingly off-key note at a time.

Harper-perennial

At the beginning of the last century, reaching the South Pole was the greatest terrestrial journey left to man. By the spring of 1912, the race was over—Robert Falcon Scott was dead and Roald Amundsen, the victor, was on his way home. Ever since, a debate has raged over whether Scott was an arrogant incompetent or whether he was the victim of bad luck. This book attempts to answer the question by re-running the race. Two teams, among the world’s greatest adventurers, will be equipped entirely in the style of the original expeditions. The difference will be that both teams will start at the same time and from points within ten kilometers of each other. Now, for the first time, it will be possible to see whether it was luck or judgment that led Amundsen to victory and Scott to his death.

Blizzard-Race To The Pole

Science & Math

Fiennes, Sir Ranulph

Earth Sciences

BBC Physical Audio

She was a woman with a dream. Nobody believed in her talent. But nothing could stop her. . .
 This is the true story of FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS Now the basis of a major motion picture starring Academy Award--winning actress Meryl Streep
 She had no pitch, no rhythm, and no tone. Still, Florence Foster Jenkins (Streep) became one of America’s best-known sopranos. Born in 1868, Florence was a talented young pianist whose wealthy father refused to let her continue her musical studies in Europe. In retaliation, Florence eloped with Dr. Frank Jenkins, a man twice her age, and moved to New York. But when her father died and left her a large sum of money, Florence finally had a chance to pursue her one true passion: Singing. But first she would have to learn how to become a great singer.
 Years of lessons and a chance meeting with St. Clair Bayfield (Hugh Grant), who would become her manager and common-law husband, would help launch Florence’s career and entry into New York’s prestigious classical musical societies, culminating in her giving a recital, at the age of seventy-six, at Carnegie Hall. This is story of a woman who was not afraid to recreate herself into the person she wished to become―and achieve her own version of the American Dream.

Florence Foster Jenkins: The biography that inspired the critically-acclaimed film

Martin, Nicholas

St. Martin's: Griffin

'There was none like her before and there's been none like her since' Dawn French\nIn the five years since Victoria Wood's death, one great sadness has been the realisation that we will never again be surprised by new material from her.\nBut as part of the research for Let's Do It, the critically acclaimed Sunday Times bestseller, her official biographer Jasper Rees uncovered a treasure chest of unseen work. From her first piece of comic prose, for the school magazine, through to material written for the great TV shows of her maturity, this joyful hoard of unreleased material spans nearly half a century.\nVictoria Wood: Unseen on TV is a unique and intimate insight into the working of an irreplaceable genius of comedy.\nFrom the first to the last, here are sketches, songs and stand-up monologues that no one else could have written, which will make you laugh in the way that only she could.\n'He was a lovely man he had a lovely gap between his two front teeth. I specially noticed it cos he had a mushy pea stuck in it. He said can I take you home I said hang on I haven't finished my Tizer. So, we get home he says can I come in for a coffee. I said I haven't got any coffee but you can come in for a Horlicks if you don't mind sucking your own lumps.'\nPraise for Let's Do It:\n'Rees pulls off the trick of writing a brilliant tribute while also - somehow, almost - bringing Victoria Wood back to life in all her complicated glory.' Guardian\n'An immersive, authoritative book' Spectator\n'Impeccable' Daily Telegraph\n'A must-read' Daily Mirror\n'A joy' Daily Mail

Victoria Wood Unseen on TV

Biographies & Memoirs

WOOD, Victoria

Arts & Literature

Trapeze

Victoria Wood: The Authorised Biography

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER\nA Times, Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Radio Times, Daily Herald and FT Book of the Year\n'I was born with a warped sense of humour and when I was carried home from being born it was Coronation Day and so I was called Victoria but you are not supposed to know who wrote this anyway it is about time I unleashed my pent-up emotions in a bitter comment on the state of our society but it's not quite me so I think I shall write a heart-warming story with laughter behind the tears and tears behind the laughter which means hysterics to you Philistines...' 
From 'Pardon?' by Vicky Wood, Aged 14. Bury Grammar School (Girls) Magazine, 1967\nIn her passport Victoria Wood listed her occupation as 'entertainer' - and in stand-up and sketches, songs and sitcom, musicals and dramas, she became the greatest entertainer of the age. Those things that might have held her back - her lonely childhood, her crippling shyness and above all the disadvantage of being a woman in a male-run industry - she turned to her advantage to make extraordinary comedy about ordinary people living ordinary lives in ordinary bodies. She wasn't fond of the term, but Victoria Wood truly was a national treasure - and her loss is still keenly felt.\nVictoria had plenty of stories still to tell when she died in 2016, and one of those was her own autobiography. 'I will do it one day,' she told the author and journalist Jasper Rees. 'It would be about my childhood, about my first few years in showbusiness, which were really interesting and would make a really nice story.'\nThat sadly never came to pass, so Victoria's estate has asked Jasper Rees, who interviewed her more than anyone else, to tell her extraordinary story in full. He has been granted complete and exclusive access to Victoria's rich archive of personal and professional material, and has conducted over 200 interviews with her family, friends and colleagues - among them Victoria's children, her sisters, her ex-husband Geoffrey Durham, Julie Walters, Celia Imrie, Dawn French, Anne Reid, Imelda Staunton and many more.\nWhat emerges is a portrait of a true pioneer who spoke to her audience like no one before or since.

Let's Do It: The Authorised Biography of Victoria Wood

In the years since his arrival at Highbury, Arsene Wenger has made Arsenal FC double double winners and transformed the reputation of English football in general. Jasper Rees has been granted access to Wenger's friends and family, players and rival managers, to write the untold story behind this deeply private man. He follows him from childhood in Alsace, through his stints as a journeyman player, to his days as a coach at Nancy, Monaco, Grampus Eight and finally Arsenal, where with his revolutionary ideas about man-management, psychology, diet and fitness, he has turned a team of old English crocks, young French misfits and a Dutch master or two into one of the most sublime footballing teams ever seen.

Wenger : The Making of a Manager

Sports & Outdoors

Biographies

Short Books

In the six years since his arrival at Highbury, Arsene Wenger has made Arsenal FC double Double winners and transformed the reputation of English football in general. Jasper Rees has been granted unprecedented access to Wenger's friends and family, players, and rival managers to write the untold story behind this deeply private man. He follows him from childhood in Alsace, through his period as a journeyman player, to his days as a coach at Nancy, Monaco, Grampus Eight, and finally Arsenal. A surprise appointment at Highbury at the time, Wenger has since converted millions of sceptics to his way of thinking. His revolutionary ideas about management, psychology, diet, and fitness have turned a team of old English crocks, young French misfits, and a Dutch master or two into one of the most sublime footballing teams ever seen.

Wenger: The Making of a Legend

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Rees, Jasper. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Rees, Jasper

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Rees, Jasper. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

A Devil to Play: One Man's Year-Long Quest to Master the Orchestra's Most Difficult Instrument

A Devil to Play: One Man's Year-Long Quest to Master the Orchestra's Most Difficult Instrument

Blizzard-Race To The Pole

Florence Foster Jenkins: The biography that inspired the critically-acclaimed film

Victoria Wood Unseen on TV

Victoria Wood: The Authorised Biography

Let's Do It: The Authorised Biography of Victoria Wood

Wenger : The Making of a Manager

Wenger: The Making of a Legend