Most Popular Books by David GILMOUR

Unlike France and England, Spain has not been dominated by its capital, and the focus of its history shifts from city to city over the centuries, illuminating different features of the country''s past. Toledo, Cordoba, Seville and Madrid have at various times managed to establish a political and cultural supremacy, Cadiz and Barcelona dominated the economy in the 18th and 19th centuries. Salanca housed one of the great universities of medieval Europe while Santiago became the second religious centre of Christendom. In CITIES OF SPAIN David Gilmour takes us on a journey from Visigothic kingdom and the Cordoban caliphate to the Madrid of today. The portrait of these cities both now and in the heyday reveal both their spirit and their significance, and allowed the reader an intimate view of one of Europe''s most fascinating and intriguing countries.

From a Governor General’s Award–winning author comes a heart-rending novel about family, children and the end of life. Over the course of one Saturday night, a man and his half-sister meet at her request to spend the evening preparing for her assisted death. They drink and reminisce fondly, sadly, amusingly about their lives and especially her children, both of whom have led dramatic and profoundly different lives. Extraordinary is a powerful consideration of assisted suicide, but it is also a story about family—about how brothers and sisters turn out so differently; about how little, in fact, turns out the way we expect. In the end, this is a novel about the extraordinary business of being alive, and it may well be David Gilmour’s very best work of fiction to date.

A warmly witty account of the three years a man spent teaching life lessons to his high school dropout son by showing him the world''s best (and occasionally worst) films. At the start of this brilliantly unconventional family memoir, David Gilmour is an unemployed movie critic trying to convince his fifteen-year-old son Jesse to do his homework. When he realizes Jesse is beginning to view learning as a loathsome chore, he offers his son an unconventional deal: Jesse could drop out of school, not work, not pay rent - but he must watch three movies a week of his father''s choosing. Week by week, side by side, father and son watched everything from True Romance to Rosemary''s Baby to Showgirls, and films by Akira Kurosawa, Martin Scorsese, Brian DePalma, Billy Wilder, among others. The movies got them talking about Jesse''s life and his own romantic dramas, with mercurial girlfriends, heart-wrenching breakups, and the kind of obsessive yearning usually seen only in movies. Through their film club, father and son discussed girls, music, work, drugs, money, love, and friendship - and their own lives changed in surprising ways.

Like a tourist visiting his own life, David Gilmour’s narrator journeys in time to reexamine those critical moments that created him. He revisits the terrible hurt of a first love, the shock of a parent’s suicide, the trauma of a best friend’s bizarre dissembling, and the pain and humiliation of unrelenting jealousy, among other rites of passage. Set within an episodic narrative arc stories about the profound effect of Tolstoy, of the Beatles, of the cult of celebrity, of the delusion of drugs, and of the literary life on the winding road of the narrator’s progress. This compelling and deeply interesting picaresque novel is a creative tour de force from the hand of one of our master storytellers. The Perfect Order of Things breaks new fictional ground and is an astonishing story of a life lived fully and with breathtaking passion. David Gilmour is a novelist who has earned critical praise from literary figures as diverse as William Burroughs and Northrop Frye, and from publications as different as the New York Times to People magazine. The author of six novels, he also hosted the award-winning Gilmour on the Arts. In 2005, his novel A Perfect Night to Go to China won the Governor General’s Award for Fiction. His next book, The Film Club, was a finalist for the 2008 Charles Taylor Prize. It became an international bestseller, and has sold over 200,000 copies in Germany and over 100,000 copies in Brazil. He lives in Toronto with his wife.

An exhilarating novel of erotic and psychotic extremes from one of Canada’s best fiction writers. Everyone would agree that Darius Halloway was the most civilized of men, a professor of French literature, a connoisseur of ideas and women and wine, a perfect guest at life’s dinner party. Darius himself would have agreed, until Emma, waifish and insatiable,walks out the door, leaving her empty clothes hangers rattling in his closet. For a little while, it’s not so bad. He thinks she must come back, and other women find his melancholy quite compelling. But then the sparrows of insomnia start picking at the inside of his skull. Life’s little aggravating moments seem to require him to seek direct retaliation. Soon all his smoothness and cleverness is directed toward wreaking the most elaborate revenge… and getting away with it. Until the ultimate retaliation arises, and there he is, in the most damning of situations, with his nerves on fire and his heart in his throat…finally not thinking of Emma. From the Hardcover edition.

Lost Between Houses is about a turbulent year in the life of Simon Albright, a fifteen-year-old private school boy struggling to be his sophisticated mother''s best friend, the rebel his girlfriend adores and the son his father respects. Which is a hard act to pull off when your mother is distracted, your girlfriend too beautiful and your father in and out of a mental institution. Lost Between Houses unfolds with mingled sarcasm, grief and awe, and grips the reader until its startling climax. From the Hardcover edition.

“[An] elegant biography” of the British statesman’s accomplished and controversial life and career: “A fast-moving, entertaining and finely written story” (Simon Schama, The New Yorker). George Nathaniel Curzon’s controversial life in public service stretched from the high noon of his country’s empire to the traumatized years following World War I. As Viceroy of India under Queen Victoria and Foreign Secretary under King George V, the obsessive Lord Curzon left his unmistakable mark on the era. David Gilmour’s award-winning book—with a new foreword by the author—is a brilliant assessment of Curzon’s character and achievements, offering a richly dramatic account of the infamous long vendettas, the turbulent friendships, and the passionate, risky love affairs that complicated and enriched his life. Born into the ruling class of what was then the world’s greatest power, Curzon was a fervent believer in British imperialism who spent his life proving he was fit for the task. Often seen as arrogant and tempestuous, he was loathed as much as he was adored, his work disparaged as much as it was admired. In Gilmour’s well-rounded appraisal, Curzon emerges as a complex, tragic figure, a gifted leader who saw his imperial world overshadowed at the dawn of democracy. “A Superb New Biography . . . A Tragic Story, Brilliantly Told.” —Andrew Roberts, Literary Review

A history of the British administration in South Asia during the reign of Queen Victoria profiles the India Civil Service and the society they attempted to build in the region, explaining how officers and their families were expected to fulfill a wide range of roles.

One of The Economist''s Books of the Year A provocative, entertaining account of Italy''s diverse riches, its hopes and dreams, its past and present Did Garibaldi do Italy a disservice when he helped its disparate parts achieve unity? Was the goal of political unification a mistake? The question is asked and answered in a number of ways in The Pursuit of Italy, an engaging, original consideration of the many histories that contribute to the brilliance—and weakness—of Italy today. David Gilmour''s wonderfully readable exploration of Italian life over the centuries is filled with provocative anecdotes as well as personal observations, and is peopled by the great figures of the Italian past—from Cicero and Virgil to the controversial politicians of the twentieth century. His wise account of the Risorgimento debunks the nationalistic myths that surround it, though he paints a sympathetic portrait of Giuseppe Verdi, a beloved hero of the era. Gilmour shows that the glory of Italy has always lain in its regions, with their distinctive art, civic cultures, identities, and cuisines. Italy''s inhabitants identified themselves not as Italians but as Tuscans and Venetians, Sicilians and Lombards, Neapolitans and Genoese. Italy''s strength and culture still come from its regions rather than from its misconceived, mishandled notion of a unified nation.

BACK ON TUESDAY is the savagely funny story of Eugene H., a failed, womanizing writer from Toronto. After a nasty flare-up with his ex-wife, he snatches their five-year-old daughter from school and flees to Jamaica. Over the next eighteen hours he muddles over his life, fumes, plots, drinks rum, regrets, reminisces, encounters a young woman with grey eyes, a coffin maker, a black Napoleon on his motorcycle…and a host of other creatures from the Jamaican night.

Winner of the 2005 Governor General’s Award for Fiction This astonishing novel - unlike anything Gilmour has ever written before - begins with every parent’s worst nightmare: the disappearance of a child. A father makes a casual error of judgement one evening and leaves his six-year-old son alone for fifteen minutes. When he returns the child is gone and three lives are changed forever. Has the boy been kidnapped? Spirited out of the country? Is he dead? The story that unfolds is told by the novel’s narrator, a television host named Roman, who searches for his son through the city and through the underworld of dreams and tries to bring him back. Pursued by an unshakeable conviction that his son is speaking directly to him, Roman begins to enter a haunting relationship with the missing child and his own conscience. In the meantime, his behaviour becomes increasingly erratic and he is rejected by his grieving and angry wife, eventually fired from his job, and shadowed by a persistent policeman who thinks Roman is hiding the child. Written in the clear, elegant prose Gilmour is known for, A Perfect Night to Go to China is a completely absorbing and original work of fiction. It sets up a harrowing premise and doesn’t let up until the last surprising page.

A major new biography of Rudyard Kipling Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) was a unique figure in British history, a great writer as well as an imperial icon whose life trajectory matched that of the British Empire from its zenith to its final decades. Kipling was in his early twenties when his first stories about Anglo-Indian life vaulted him into celebrity. He went on to be awarded the Nobel Prize, and to add more phrases to the language than any man since Shakespeare, but his conservative views and advocacy of imperialism damaged his critical reputation -- while at the same time making him all the more popular with a general readership. By the time he died, the man who incarnated an era for millions was almost forgotten, and new generations must come to terms in their own way with his enduring but mysterious powers. Previous works on Kipling have focused exclusively on his writing and on his domestic life. Here, the distinguished biographer David Gilmour not only explains how and why Kipling wrote, but also explores the themes of his complicated life, his ideas, his relationships, and his views on the Empire and the future. Gilmour is the first writer to explore Kipling''s public role, his influence on the way Britons saw themselves and their Empire. His fascinating new book, based on extensive research (especially in the underexplored archives of the United States), is a groundbreaking study of a great and misunderstood writer.

In his first two novels David Gilmour took a candid look at romantic and carnal love. With this newest work he makes a surprising departure and turns his attention to a different kind of love. "He was a bad dog that needed killing." That''s how the grisly death of Pascal Charleville was described to police after a weekend visit at the country estate of Harrow Winncup took a nasty turn. Few people were surprised: Harrow had been courting tragedy for years. He was a bright, beautiful boy with a penchant for strong booze and drugs; he also had the unfortunate fate of being the only son to a very wicked mother. Also at the house that weekend was Christian Blackwood. He and Harrow grew up together, went to Paris together, drank together, went out with girls together, and decided what to do with Pascal Charleville''s body together. An Affair with the Moon is ultimately the story of their relationship--and its astonishing aftermath. It is a story of how one friend turned the others tragedy into his advanta≥ it is a story of friendship, but it is also a story of revenge.

In 1957, Giuseppe Tomasi, Prince of Lampedusa, the last member of a great Sicilian family, died childless, impoverished and unknown, leaving behind him the recently completed manuscript of a novel. The following year the novel, THE LEOPARD, was published to great acclaim. For a quarter of a century Italian and foreign scholars were denied access to the reclusive writer''s papers until, following a meeting with Lampedusa''s adopted son, David Gilmour succeeded in gaining permission to work in the writer''s last home in Sicily. There, and in the nearby ruin of the Palazzo Lampedusa, he found many letters, diaries, notebooks and photographs which had not seen the light of day since Lampedusa''s death. In THE LAST LEOPARD, David Gilmour brings to life not only an enigmatic writer of genius, but the vibrant Sicily and Italy of his youth, the Europe of the inter-war years and the slow, careful distillation of an undoubted masterpiece.

Bix has it all: a failed marriage, a faltering career as a speechwriter, a drinking problem (not to mention the pills) and a wayward eye for the women. The last thing he needs is trouble named Holly, which is, of course, exactly what he gets -- briefly. His only assets are his daughter Zoey and an excruciating (and excruciatingly funny) sense of who he is, which becomes his path to redemption from the erotic rollercoaster that is this impressive and un-put-downable novel.

An immersive portrait of the lives of the British in India, from the seventeenth century to Independence Who of the British went to India, and why? We know about Kipling and Forster, Orwell and Scott, but what of the youthful forestry official, the enterprising boxwallah, the fervid missionary? What motivated them to travel halfway around the globe, what lives did they lead when they got there, and what did they think about it all? Full of spirited, illuminating anecdotes drawn from long-forgotten memoirs, correspondence, and government documents, The British in India weaves a rich tapestry of the everyday experiences of the Britons who found themselves in “the jewel in the crown” of the British Empire. David Gilmour captures the substance and texture of their work, home, and social lives, and illustrates how these transformed across the several centuries of British presence and rule in the subcontinent, from the East India Company’s first trading station in 1615 to the twilight of the Raj and Partition and Independence in 1947. He takes us through remote hill stations, bustling coastal ports, opulent palaces, regimented cantonments, and dense jungles, revealing the country as seen through British eyes, and wittily reveling in all the particular concerns and contradictions that were a consequence of that limited perspective. The British in India is a breathtaking accomplishment, a vivid and balanced history written with brio, elegance, and erudition.

This book covers the history of the Palestinian people, with particular emphasis on the causes of their exodus. It was originally published in 1980 and was updated in 1982, shortly after the Israeli invasion of the Lebanon. After a brief historical review of the region, there is a description of the gradual emergence of a Palestinian national identity during the twentieth century and an analysis of the 1948 War, which followed the establishment of the State of Israel. The author discusses the situation of the refugees and the Palestinians who remained in Israel, as well as the role of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). After discussing the 1967 War, the book covers Israeli policy towards the occupied territories. Finally, there are chapters on the Palestine Liberation Organization and its relationship with Arab States, focusing on Lebanon. The author concludes with an analysis of the attitudes of the international community towards the Palestinian refugees. He argues for the creation of a Palestinian State based on the West Bank and Gaza.

El último Gatopardo es la primera biografía sobre Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (1896-1957) que aporta la extensa documentación personal que fue celosamente custodiada por su viuda durante más de un cuarto de siglo. Con estos y otros papeles hallados casi al azar en las ruinas del Palazzo Lampedusa y el testimonio directo de sus allegados, David Gilmour ha elaborado una obra documentada y amena en la que describe la vida de Lampedusa desde su niñez en el Palermo de la Belle Époque hasta su muerte a los sesenta años en una clínica romana, y rastrea en los lugares en que vivió, aquellos que le inspiraron los escenarios que utilizaría en su obra. Su novela El Gatopardo no fue publicada hasta un año después de su muerte, y desde entonces se suceden las reediciones y traducciones de la que ha sido considerada una de las mejores obras narrativas del siglo XX.

Jenny is fourteen when she moves from her mom''s house in Florida to her dad''s in New York. It''s hard starting over -- new family, new school, new friends. Then Jenny meets Pete McCaffrey, the mysterious boy next door. Stay away from him, everyone warns her, he''s trouble. He''s already got a girlfriend. And he deals drugs. But Jenny needs someone to lean on, so she ignores their advice. Pretty soon, Pete''s hooked on Jenny. And Jenny is hooked on drugs. She knows she''s in over her head. The question is, can she get out?

De laatste telg uit een adellijk Schots geslacht wil trouw zijn aan de oude familietradities, maar toch ook deel uitmaken van de moderne twintigste eeuwse wereld.

Eram tempos difíceis para David Gilmour: sem trabalho fixo, com o dinheiro curto e o filho de 15 anos colecionando reprovações em todas as matérias do ensino médio. Diante da desorientação e da infelicidade desse filho-problema, o pai faz uma oferta fora dos padrões: o garoto poderia sair da escola — e ficar sem trabalhar e sem pagar aluguel — desde que assistisse semanalmente a três filmes escolhidos pelo pai. Com essa aposta diferente na recuperação e na formação de um rapaz que está “perdido”, formaram o clube do filme. Semana a semana, lado a lado, pai e filho viam e discutiam o melhor (e, ocasionalmente, o pior) do cinema: de A Doce Vida (o clássico de Federico Fellini) a Instinto Selvagem (o thriller sensual estrelado por Sharon Stone); de Os Reis do Iê, Iê, Iê (hit cinematográfico da Beatlemania) a O Iluminado (interpretação primorosa de Jack Nicholson, dirigido por Stanley Kubrick); de O Poderoso Chefão (um dos integrantes das listas de “melhores filmes de todos os tempos”) a Amores Expressos (cult romântico e contemporâneo do chinês Wong Kar-Way). Essas sessões os mantinham em constante diálogo — sobre mulheres, música, dor de cotovelo, trabalho, drogas, amor, amizade —, e abriam as portas para o universo interior do adolescente, num momento em que os pais geralmente as encontram fechadas. David Gilmour, crítico de cinema e escritor premiado, oferece uma percepção singular sobre filmes, roteiros, diretores e atores inesquecíveis ao relatar essa vivência com olho clínico e muita sinceridade. O autor emociona ao colocar os leitores diante da descoberta da vida adulta pelos olhos de um jovem e dos dilemas da adolescência administrados por um pai muito presente. Nas palavras de Gilmour: “É um exemplo do que o cinema é capaz, de como os filmes podem vencer suas defesas e realmente atingir seu coração.”

Guitarskole.

Explains the causes of the civil war in Lebanon, describes the ideologies of the major factions, and examines the results of foreign intervention

Há coisas que só podem ser compreendidas quando vividas uma segunda vez... Um escritor parte numa viagem rumo ao próprio passado. Ele vagueia pelas ruas de Paris, de Toronto, de uma cidadezinha praiana da Jamaica. Lá, estão o internato, uma roda-gigante girando na noite; uma casinha de campo caindo aos pedaços, lugares onde foi feliz e triste, na maioria das vezes desesperado, buscando um sentido para sua vida. Ele reencontra as pessoas, as conversas, os sonhos e as paixões, memórias que tinham se perdido no tempo e agora voltavam para que ele as visse com novos olhos, estes bem abertos para o que não conseguiu enxergar quando as viveu pela primeira vez.