{"title":"A A Gill","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"previous-convictions-book-a-a-gill-9781416572497","title":"Previous Convictions","description":"Critic, essayist and cultural savant A.A. Gill is probably the most widely read columnist in Britain. His books \u003ci\u003eThe Angry Island\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eA.A. Gill is away\u003c\/i\u003e have found delighted fans in America as well, and sparked a loyal following. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e His new book of travel essays, \u003ci\u003ePrevious Convictions, \u003c\/i\u003e ranges from Gill's nearby domestic locales of Glastonbury and the English countryside to Haiti, Guatemala, Pakistan and exotic, dangerous, downtown Manhattan. In this collection of notes from the corners of the globe, and sometimes from the edge of sanity, he confesses about his travels far and wide, The more I see of the world, the less I think I understand. Familiarity breeds even more astonishment. The world just gets wider and deeper and weirder. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e These pieces are wickedly funny, sometimes pointedly -- even purposely -- critical of many cultures and traditions, and always edifying and enchanting. As an adventurer and as a writer, Gill never disappoints; while he may take others to task for their customs, habits, idiosyncrasies and plain bad taste, his own indefatigable curiosity keeps him going back again and again for more, and provides us with spectacular entertainment along the way.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":55021238845813,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":55021239075189,"sku":"NIN9781416572497","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0810\/6996\/5613\/files\/141657249X.jpg?v=1739220469"},{"product_id":"angry-island-book-a-a-gill-9781416531753","title":"The Angry Island","description":"\u003cb\u003eThink of England, and anger hardly springs to mind as its primary national characteristic. Yet in \u003ci\u003eThe Angry Island, \u003c\/i\u003e A. A. Gill argues that, in fact, it is plain old fury that is the wellspring for England's accomplishments.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The default setting of England is anger. The English are naturally, congenitally, collectively and singularly livid much of the time. They're incensed, incandescent, splenetic, prickly, touchy, and fractious. They can be mildly annoyed, really annoyed and, most scarily, not remotely annoyed. They sit apart on their half of a damply disappointing little island, nursing and picking at their irritations. The English itch inside their own skins. They feel foreign in their own country and run naked through their own heads. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Perhaps aware that they're living on top of a keg of fulminating fury, the English have, throughout their history, come up with hundreds of ingenious and bizarre ways to diffuse anger or transform it into something benign. Good manners and queues, cul-de-sacs and garden sheds, and almost every game ever invented from tennis to bridge. They've built things, discovered stuff, made puddings, written hymns and novels, and for people who don't like to talk much, they have come up with the most minutely nuanced and replete language ever spoken -- just so there'll be no misunderstandings. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Angry Island\u003c\/i\u003e by turns attacks and praises the English, bringing up numerous points of debate for Anglophiles and anyone who wonders about the origins of national identity. This book hunts down the causes and the results of being the Angry Island.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":55021260439925,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":55021261160821,"sku":"NIN9781416531753","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0810\/6996\/5613\/files\/1416531750.jpg?v=1739220697"}],"url":"https:\/\/stage.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-a-a-gill.oembed","provider":"World of Books Staging","version":"1.0","type":"link"}