THE COMPLETE TALKING HEADS

ALAN BENNETT - DIARIES

Classic memoirs from the acclaimed English actor author playwright and screenwriter Alan Bennett is one of the country's most celebrated and best-loved authors. This unmissable collection of diaries and memoirs brings together for the first time Telling Tales Diaries: 1980-1990 the autobiographical section of Untold Stories which covers the period 1997-2004 and Keeping On Keeping On: The Diaries 2005-2014. In his earliest collection of diaries Alan Bennett offers a fascinating insight into his life in the eighties working on location for his early films and enjoying life at home in Camden. In the diaries of Untold Stories he enjoys the simple pleasures of nature and wonders about the state of religion and politics at the end of the twentieth century. In Keeping On Keeping On he looks back at a busy decade that saw him write four highly acclaimed plays reflects on his life with his partner Rupert Thomas and considers his lately found status as 'kindly cosy and essentially harmless'. Telling Tales meanwhile provides ten childhood snapshots and reminiscences about his early years-charting his development from a schoolboy in Leeds to a doubtful agnostic teen as well as his undergraduate life at the University of Oxford. With wit wisdom sharp social commentary and perceptive impressions Alan Bennett's memoirs and diaries are a joy to discover and a delight to hear again. For those who want to listen to Alan Bennett read Untold Stories in its complete form Alan Bennett: Untold Stories is also available from BBC Audio.

HOUSE ARREST: PANDEMIC DIARIES

A year in and out of lockdown as experienced by Alan Bennett. The diary takes us from the filming of Talking Heads to thoughts on Boris Johnson, from his father's short-lived craze for family fishing trips, to stair lifts, junk shops of old, having a haircut, and encounters on the local park bench. A lyrical afterword describes the journey home to Yorkshire from King's Cross station via fish and chips on Quebec Street, past childhood landmarks of Leeds, through Coniston Cold, over the infant River Aire, and on.

THE LADY IN THE VAN

The story of an eccentric woman who lives in a van and her friendship with the author;

A LIFE LIKE OTHER PEOPLE'S

Alan Bennett's poignant family memoir offers a portrait of his parents' marriage, recalling his own Leeds childhood. He also tells with great wit and measured sentimentality of the lives, loves and deaths of his unforgettable aunties Kathleen and Myra.

TALKING HEADS 2

Six compassionate and acutely observed monologues dealing with life's disappointments in the author's inimitable style.

TELLING TALES

A volume of ten autobiographical tales, dealing with Bennett's childhood and upbringing in Leeds during the 1940s. It focuses on his relationship with his parents, revealing how his family shaped one of Britain's best-loved writers.

THE UNCOMMON READER

When the Queen, in pursuit of her wandering corgis, stumbles upon a mobile library she feels duty bound to borrow a book. Aided by Norman, a young man from the palace kitchen who frequents the library, Bennett describes the Queen's transformation as she discovers the liberating pleasures of the written word.

WRITING HOME

The author's diaries, reviews and reminiscences from 1980-1990 give an amusing and revealing portrait of one of England's leading playwrights. It also includes the true story of Mary Shepherd, a homeless tramp who took up residence in his garden and stayed for fifteen years.