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The Big Over Easy
''The Big Over Easy'' is a 2005 novel written by Jasper Fforde. It features Detective Inspector Jack Spratt and his assistant, Sergeant Mary Mary. It is set in an alternate reality similar to that of his previous books: ''The Eyre Affair'', ''Lost in a Good Book'', ''The Well of Lost Plots'' and ''Something Rotten''. According to Fforde, ''The Big Over Easy'' is the result of the book ''Caversham Heights'' featured in ''The Well of Lost Plots'' and includes a possible cameo appearance of the author's heroine Thursday Next, thus verifying this claim. The book was the first novel Fforde wrote, however, he failed in its publication. It was massively re-written following the success of the Thursday Next novels. A follow-up, entitled '' The Fourth Bear'', was published in July 2006. The book is satirical, based on many nursery rhymes, fables, and the like. The main character Jack Spratt is based on Jack Sprat, and the secondary character is Mary Mary, both from nursery rhymes. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hodder & Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint (trade name), imprint of Hachette (publisher), Hachette. History Early history The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged 14, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publisher for the Congregational church, Congregational Union. In 1861 the firm became Jackson, Walford and Hodder; but in 1868 Jackson and Walford retired, and Thomas Wilberforce Stoughton joined the firm, creating Hodder & Stoughton. Hodder & Stoughton published both religious and secular works, and its religious list contained some progressive titles. These included George Adam Smith, George Adam Smith's ''Isaiah'' for its ''Expositor’s Bible'' series, which was one of the earliest texts to identify multiple authorship in the Book of Isaiah. There was also a sympathetic ''Life of Francis of Assisi, St Francis'' by Paul Sabatier (theologian), Paul Sabatier, a French Protestant pastor. Matthew Hodder ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle and one of the best known in the English-speaking world. He is typically portrayed as an anthropomorphic egg, though he is not explicitly described as such. The first recorded versions of the rhyme date from late eighteenth-century England and the tune from 1870 in James William Elliott's ''National Nursery Rhymes and Nursery Songs''. Its origins are obscure, and several theories have been advanced to suggest original meanings. Humpty Dumpty was popularized in the United States on Broadway by actor George L. Fox in the pantomime musical ''Humpty Dumpty''. The show ran from 1868 to 1869, for a total of 483 performances, becoming the longest-running Broadway show until it was surpassed in 1881 by ''Hazel Kirke''. As a character and literary allusion, Humpty Dumpty has appeared or been referred to in many works of literature and popular culture, particularly English author Lewis Carroll's 1871 b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Audiobook
An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in schools and public libraries and to a lesser extent in music shops since the 1930s. Many spoken word albums were made prior to the age of cassettes, compact discs, and downloadable audio, often of poetry and plays rather than books. It was not until the 1980s that the medium began to attract book retailers, and then book retailers started displaying audiobooks on bookshelves rather than in separate displays. Etymology The term "talking book" came into being in the 1930s with government programs designed for blind readers, while the term "audiobook" came into use during the 1970s when audiocassettes began to replace phonograph records. In 1994, the Audio Publishers Association established the term "audiobook" as the industry standard. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Guttridge
Peter Guttridge (born in Burnley, Lancashire) is an English novelist and critic. Life He was educated at Burnley Grammar School, the University of Oxford and the University of Nottingham. He is a former Director of the Brighton Literature Festival and remains a regular chairperson at major UK book festivals. In 2014 he established Books By The Beach, the Scarborough Book Festival, which runs each April, and remained director until 2018. A freelance journalist for twenty years, specialising in literature and film, he has interviewed numerous writers from around the world and many high-profile actors and film directors. He has also written about astanga vinyasa yoga. He was the Observer newspaper’s crime fiction critic 1999-2011. Between 1996 and 2005 he wrote an award-winning series of satirical crime novels featuring a yoga-obsessed journalist, Nick Madrid, and his tough-as-nails sidekick, Bridget Frost. His latest publications are the non-comic Brighton crime trilogy: ''T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. History Origins The first issue, published on 4 December 1791 by W.S. Bourne, was the world's first Sunday newspaper. Believing that the paper would be a means of wealth, Bourne instead soon found himself facing debts of nearly £1,600. Though early editions purported editorial independence, Bourne attempted to cut his losses and sell the title to the government. When this failed, Bourne's brother (a wealthy businessman) made an offer to the government, which also refused to buy the paper but agreed to subsidise it in return for influence over its editorial content. As a result, the paper soon took a strong line against radicals such as Thomas Paine, Francis Burdett and Joseph Priestley. 19th century In 180 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rub-a-dub-dub
"Rub-A-Dub-Dub" is an English language nursery rhyme first published at the end of the 18th century in volume two of Hook's ''Christmas Box'' under the title "Dub a dub dub" rather than "Rub a dub dub". It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 3101. Lyrics This rhyme exists in many variations. Among those current today is: Rub-a-dub-dub, Three men in a tub, And who do you think they be? The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, And all of them out to sea. Origins and meaning The earliest versions of this rhyme published differ significantly in their wording. Dating back to the 14th century,Chris RobertsLibrarian at Lambeth College, London; interviewed on NPR in 2005/ref> the original rhyme makes reference to maids in a "tub" – a fairground attraction similar to a modern peep show. The rhyme is of a type calling out otherwise respectable people for disrespectable actions, in this case, ogling naked ladies – the maids. The nonsense "Rub-a-dub-dub" develops a phonetic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack The Giant Killer
"Jack the Giant Killer" is a Cornish fairy tale and legend about a young adult who slays a number of bad giants during King Arthur's reign. The tale is characterised by violence, gore and blood-letting. Giants are prominent in Cornish folklore, Breton mythology and Welsh Bardic lore. Some parallels to elements and incidents in Norse mythology have been detected in the tale, and the trappings of Jack's last adventure with the Giant Galigantus suggest parallels with French and Breton fairy tales such as Bluebeard. Jack's belt is similar to the belt in "The Valiant Little Tailor", and his magical sword, shoes, cap, and cloak are similar to those owned by Tom Thumb or those found in Welsh and Norse mythology. Jack and his tale are rarely referenced in English literature prior to the eighteenth century (there is an allusion to Jack the Giant Killer in Shakespeare's ''King Lear'', where in Act 3, one character, Edgar, in his feigned madness, cries, "Fie, foh, and fum,/ I smell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Spratt
"Jack Sprat" (or "Jack Spratt") is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19479. Rhyme The most common modern version of the rhyme is: Origins The name "Jack Sprat" was used of people of small stature in the 16th century. This rhyme was an English proverb from at least the mid-17th century. It appeared in John Clarke's collection of sayings in 1639 in the form: As with many nursery rhymes, "Jack Sprat" may have originated as a satire on a public figure: history writer Linda Alchin suggests that Jack was King Charles I, who was left "lean" when parliament denied him taxation, but with his queen Henrietta Maria he was free to "lick the platter clean" after he dissolved parliament—Charles was a notably short man. An alternative explanation comes from the popular Robin Hood legend, applying it to the disliked King John and his greedy queen Isabella. The saying entered the canon of English nursery rhymes when it was printed in ''Mother ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ford Zephyr
The Ford Zephyr is an executive car manufactured by Ford of Britain from 1950 until 1972. The Zephyr and its luxury variants, the Ford Zodiac and Ford Executive, were the largest passenger cars in the British Ford range from 1950 until their replacement by the Consul and Granada models in 1972. Initially, the four-cylinder version was named Ford Consul, but from 1962, both four- and six-cylinder versions were named Zephyr. History The Mark I Ford Consul and Zephyr models were first displayed at the Earls Court Motor Show in 1950. They were the first mass-produced British cars to use the MacPherson strut independent front suspension, which is widely used today. Production began with the Consul on 1 January 1951. The Mark I model ran until 1956. From April 1956, the Mark II Consul, Zephyr, and Zodiac went on sale and were known as the Three Graces. The Mark II range was popular, and finished its run in 1962, when from April that year the Mark III Zephyr 4, Zephyr 6, and Zodiac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom, Tom, The Piper's Son
"Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son" is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19621. Lyrics Modern versions of the rhyme include: :Tom, Tom, the piper's son, :Stole a pig, and away did run; :The pig was eat :And Tom was beat, :And Tom went r "which sent him"crying r "roaring", or "howling", in some versions:Down the street.I. Opie and P. Opie, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes'' (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), pp. 408-11. The 'pig' mentioned in the song is almost certainly not a live animal but rather a kind of pastry, often made with an apple filling, smaller than a pie. And the meaning of the rhyme involves a naughty boy named Tom whose father was a piper, and he steals the "pig", eats it, and after his father (or someone else) physically chastises him, Tom cries all the way down the street. Another version of the rhyme is: :Tom, Tom, the piper's son, :Stole a pig, and away he run. :Tom run here, :Tom run there, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wee Willie Winkie
"Wee Willie Winkie" is a Scottish nursery rhyme whose titular figure has become popular as a personification of sleep. The poem was written by William Miller and titled "Willie Winkie", first published in '' Whistle-binkie: Stories for the Fireside'' in 1841. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13711. Lyrics The original text of 1841 in Scots, and a paraphrased version for English-language readers (from 1844) are below: Origins and meaning The poem was written by William Miller (1810–1872), first printed in ''Whistle-binkie: Stories for the Fireside'' in 1841 and re-printed in ''Whistle-Binkie; a Collection of Songs for the Social Circle'' published in 1873. In Jacobite songs Willie Winkie referred to King William III of England, one example being "The Last Will and Testament of Willie winkie" but it seems likely that Miller was simply using the name rather than writing a Jacobite satire. Such was the popularity of Wee Willie Winkie that the character has becom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
