The Grass Arena

The Grass Arena PDF Author: John Healy
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0141889497
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
John Healy's The Grass Arena describes with unflinching honesty his experiences of addiction, his escape through learning to play chess in prison, and his ongoing search for peace of mind. In his searing autobiography Healy describes his fifteen years living rough in London without state aid, when begging carried an automatic three-year prison sentence and vagrant alcoholics prowled the parks and streets in search of drink or prey. When not united in their common aim of acquiring alcohol, winos sometimes murdered one another over prostitutes or a bottle, or the begging of money. Few modern writers have managed to match Healy's power to refine from the brutal destructive condition of the chronic alcoholic a story so compelling it is beyond comparison. 'Sober and precise, grotesque, violent, sad, charming and hilarious all at once' Literary Review 'Beside it, a book like Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London seems a rather inaccurate tourist guide' Colin MacCabe

The Grass Arena

The Grass Arena PDF Author: John Healy
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0141889497
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Get Book Here

Book Description
John Healy's The Grass Arena describes with unflinching honesty his experiences of addiction, his escape through learning to play chess in prison, and his ongoing search for peace of mind. In his searing autobiography Healy describes his fifteen years living rough in London without state aid, when begging carried an automatic three-year prison sentence and vagrant alcoholics prowled the parks and streets in search of drink or prey. When not united in their common aim of acquiring alcohol, winos sometimes murdered one another over prostitutes or a bottle, or the begging of money. Few modern writers have managed to match Healy's power to refine from the brutal destructive condition of the chronic alcoholic a story so compelling it is beyond comparison. 'Sober and precise, grotesque, violent, sad, charming and hilarious all at once' Literary Review 'Beside it, a book like Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London seems a rather inaccurate tourist guide' Colin MacCabe

Arena

Arena PDF Author: Holly Jennings
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0698406931
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
A fast-paced and gripping near-future science fiction debut about the gritty world of competitive gaming... Every week, Kali Ling fights to the death on national TV. She’s died hundreds of times. And it never gets easier... The RAGE tournaments—the Virtual Gaming League’s elite competition where the best gamers in the world compete in a no-holds-barred fight to the digital death. Every bloody kill is broadcast to millions. Every player is a modern gladiator—leading a life of ultimate fame, responsible only for entertaining the masses. And though their weapons and armor are digital, the pain is real. Chosen to be the first female captain in RAGE tournament history, Kali Ling is at the top of the world—until one of her teammates overdoses. Now, she must confront the truth about the tournament. Because it is much more than a game—and even in the real world, not everything is as it seems. The VGL hides dark secrets. And the only way to change the rules is to fight from the inside...

Coffeehouse Chess Tactics

Coffeehouse Chess Tactics PDF Author: John Healy
Publisher: New In Chess
ISBN: 9056915355
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 137

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Book Description
In 1988, his autobiography ?The Grass Arena? catapulted John Healy to worldwide literary fame. That harrowing tale described how Healy by discovering chess, escaped alcoholism, violence and crime. Many fans have wondered how Healy did as a chess player. In this book Healy uses over a hundred of his own games to show how unusual tactics or defensive motifs can turn the tide in any position. Along with the games the author describes in eloquent but brutal language the beautiful, sometimes terrible world of chess. The prologue ?Blood Sport? is a fine piece of vintage Healy non-fiction. A must-buy book for chess lovers, tactics buffs and Healy fans.

The Grass Arena

The Grass Arena PDF Author: John Healy
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780571151707
Category : Alcoholics
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description


Chess Behind Bars

Chess Behind Bars PDF Author: Carl Portman
Publisher: Quality Chess
ISBN: 9781784830328
Category : Chess
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
Chess Behind Bars offers a guide to chess in prisons that will instruct and entertain regardless of your situation. It covers almost every aspect of chess imaginable - from the rules to chess history, from puzzles to famous games, and even some tips for improvement. It is a smorgasbord of chess, seen from an unusual angle.

The Metal Mountain

The Metal Mountain PDF Author: John Healy
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781901538892
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Fiction. London is a city of ruins and rubble: in fighting against a police state Britain has become almost a police state itself. Rationing is still in place, the black market is thriving, medical shortages have resulted in antibiotics being watered down. Though Britain was possessed of great decency there was a limit to what it might be expected to bear after suffering six years of war. The barbarities of war had changed peoples' attitudes; nobody thought of foreigners in terms of human beings. The Salvation Army were singing of salvation while the kids on the street were singing saucy songs about inn keepers' daughters and German officers that had crossed the line. New arrival seventeen-year old Bridget Kelly dreams of a world where everyone is equal. "There is no cause more dangerous" warns one council official as she sets about the task of trying to make her dream come true. She is courageous and determined and in terrible danger. Her young nephew Michael schemes and plots to win the metal mountain, a gothic edifice, a treacherous Hades, a fabulous kingdom of iron. Meanwhile, his young aunt has come under the scrutiny of the British secret police. Blackmail, betrayal and murder follow. A perverse grand tragedy with an edge of iron. "The skies darken. An urgent, brutal and ultimately tragic resolution is waiting in the railside scrapyard of THE METAL MOUNTAIN.This glittering alp of damage, an unsorted mound heaped from the discarded toys of capitalism, is as potent a symbol for our contemporary confusions as the dust heaps of Dickens. Nature is avenged and Healy has given us a brave sequel, as genuine fiction now, to The Grass Arena."--Iain Sinclair

You Can't Win

You Can't Win PDF Author: Jack Black
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1627932755
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 433

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Book Description
An amazing autobiography of a criminal from a forgotten time in american history. Jack Black was a burgler, safe-cracker, highwayman and petty thief.

The Arena Man

The Arena Man PDF Author: Steve Englehart
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0765325004
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 367

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Book Description
Discovering a Necklace plot to destabilize the U.S. government by using a demonic entity's powers to reawaken terrorist fears, Max August tests his magickal resources and the abilities of companions Pam and Vee to save tens of thousands of spectators in a domed stadium.

The Great Indoors

The Great Indoors PDF Author: Emily Anthes
Publisher: Scientific American / Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 0374716684
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
An Architectural Record Notable Book A fascinating, thought-provoking journey into our built environment Modern humans are an indoor species. We spend 90 percent of our time inside, shuttling between homes and offices, schools and stores, restaurants and gyms. And yet, in many ways, the indoor world remains unexplored territory. For all the time we spend inside buildings, we rarely stop to consider: How do these spaces affect our mental and physical well-being? Our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors? Our productivity, performance, and relationships? In this wide-ranging, character-driven book, science journalist Emily Anthes takes us on an adventure into the buildings in which we spend our days, exploring the profound, and sometimes unexpected, ways that they shape our lives. Drawing on cutting-edge research, she probes the pain-killing power of a well-placed window and examines how the right office layout can expand our social networks. She investigates how room temperature regulates our cognitive performance, how the microbes hiding in our homes influence our immune systems, and how cafeteria design affects what—and how much—we eat. Along the way, Anthes takes readers into an operating room designed to minimize medical errors, a school designed to boost students’ physical fitness, and a prison designed to support inmates’ psychological needs. And she previews the homes of the future, from the high-tech houses that could monitor our health to the 3D-printed structures that might allow us to live on the Moon. The Great Indoors provides a fresh perspective on our most familiar surroundings and a new understanding of the power of architecture and design. It's an argument for thoughtful interventions into the built environment and a story about how to build a better world—one room at a time.

The Arena

The Arena PDF Author: Rafi Kohan
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 1631495135
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Finalist • PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing “An inventive, fast-paced look at what have become our modern shrines in a sports-obsessed society.” —Tom Verducci In this “addictive” (Publishers Weekly) romp, intrepid sportswriter Rafi Kohan finagles access to our most beloved fields to find out just what makes them tick: from old-timer Wrigley, creakily adjusting to the twenty-first century, to the oversized monstrosity of Jerry’s World in Dallas. Investigating harrowing logistics and deeply ingrained traditions, Kohan employs his infectious “wit and style” (Christian Science Monitor) to expose the realities of building and maintaining these commercial cathedrals of sports worship. “Highly compelling” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), The Arena is a must-read for superfans, shameless bandwagoners, athletes, groundskeepers, culture junkies, and anyone who’s ever headed off eagerly to the ballpark to catch a game.