Books


Books

..................A New Book, Now Available "The Appalling Guests" Details here soon....................

Sue Macartney-Snape was born in Tanzania, brought up in Australia and now lives and paints in London. John Julius Norwich calls her a "master of caricature" and says her paintings "illustrate the English social scene more brilliantly and with greater accuracy than those of any other painter working today." For the past six years she has illustrated The Telegraph Magazine's 'Social Stereotypes' column, and selected images appear in her new book "The Embarrassing Parents" (published by John Murray) as well as in her earlier books "Absolutely Typical", Absolutely Typical Too" (published by Methuen RandomHouse) and "The Party Blonde", published by John Murray.


SueMacartney-Snape	Victoria Mather

	'Why can't you just grow up?' chorus the kids on the way home from yet another party at which Dick and Patsy have made an exhibition of themselves, gyrating wildly to La Bamba and clearing the dance floor with their contortions during Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive. Isn't family life cringey? Emotionally exhausting, too, when the eldest daughter is lying upstairs in a sea of damp Kleenex, weeping into her mobile after being dumped by her boyfriend Giles, and son Jamie is upsetting all the family's old Australian friends with his louche behaviour on his gap year in Sydney. It's the book their fans have all been waiting for, Victoria Mather and Sue Macartney-Snape introduce a new cast of deliciously recognizable characters, from Serena the Flirt and her current prey Roderick ('Running the Deutsche Gremlin Bank must be so exciting') to Abigail the Terrible Flatmate, with her cabbage soup diet and greying bras draped across the bath. All hilarious and toe-curlingly sharp. Price £9.99
	Available from Telegraph books Direct Tel: +44 (0)870 155 7222 ISBN 0-7195-6231-7
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Give this book to any friend or enemy. Both will howl over the prose and illustrations that brilliantly nail every last pretension. 'Barbara Amiel' 'Phew! What a relief. Obviously Victoria and Sue are keeping "The Ageing Sports Presenter" up their haute couture sleeves for the moment. Those who are included have once again been drawn and quartered with customary brilliance. 'Desmond Lynam'

You'll recognize them immediately: Hussein the minicab driver with his smelly H-reg Sierra and a wonderful new short cut to Heathrow that takes twice as long as the normal route; Andrew and Leonora, the smug couple, with their helicopter and their brilliantly successful children Nicholas and Flora; steely American businessman Crawford Nemesis III, sent from New York to restructure WorldCorp's London office and given to lecturing his fellow dinner guests on the importance of competitive recreation. And, of course, Tiffany Zeitgeist, the party blonde, who sprang to fame by wearing a fake-fur thong at a film premiere and who now has a weekly tabloid column which she dictates on her mobile. In this new collection of deliciously detailed social caricatures, Victoria Mather and Sue Macartney-Snape have English society, from top to bottom, off to a T. Perfect for the loo or the guest-room. Or slip it into your pocket to read under the table as Crawford drones on.

	Available from Telegraph books Direct Tel: +44 (0)870 155 7222 ISBN 0-7195-6223-6



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	The Eternal Rock Star Jake hangs around with other middle-aged relics of the music industry who look as if their skin has been freeze-dried - a legacy of the glory days of drugs and booze. Nowadays they all play golf together instead of throwing televisions out of hotel bedroom windows and his cred as a serious rocker is only sustained by the succession of progressively younger wives. There are times when Jake thinks the price of fame is too high and wishes he was still plain Colin Gringe back home in the pub in Newcastle.
	Available from Telegraph books Direct Tel: +44 (0)870 155 7222 ISBN 0-413-71790-9