Lionel Asbo - a very violent but not very successful criminal - has always looked out for his nephew, Desmond Pepperdine. He gives him fatherly advice and introduces him to the joys of Internet porn. Des, on the other hand, desires nothing more than books, a girl to love and to steer clear Uncle Li's psychotic pitbulls, Joe and Jeff.

Blends autobiography and fiction to describe the inner life of a writer evolving from precocious public school boy to Cambridge drop-out at large in London's Bohemia.

Kingbitter, an editor at a publishing house on the verge of closure, believes himself to have been the closest friend of a celebrated writer and Auschwitz survivor, B, who recently committed suicide. Amongst the papers, Kingbitter finds a play entitled Liquidation that predicts the behaviour of B's ex-wife, his mistress and Kingbitter himself.

We love to concoct stories from food but what about making food from some of our favourite stories? This book answers this question.

'This brilliant collection of essays should be a feast for his admirers, as well as for those who approach his dazzling oeuvre for the first time-Calvino is not only constantly and supremely intelligent; he is constantly and supremely faithful to his narrative imagination' Guardian

It's 1899 and a young girl is abandoned in London by her feckless family. But Jane Stretch is no ordinary girl, and Mr Swift is no ordinary doctor. Jane does her best to keep up with the doctor, her twisted bones throbbing, as they hurry past the markets, stage doors and side shows to appointments in certain boarding houses across town.

In 1914 they had been eleven years old; three little girls at St Agatha's, a day school on the South Coast. Fifty years later, Dinah, beautiful as ever, advertises in the national newspapers to find the other two - Clare, now established with a successful business, and Sheila, a married woman, glossy, chic and correct.

A NEW TRANSLATION BY MICHAEL MORPURGO, AUTHOR OF WAR HORSEIf a little fellow comes along, if he laughs, if he has golden hair, and if he never answers questions, then you will know who he is.