{"title":"First Editions","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"sole-survivor-by-maurice-gee-589p","title":"Sole survivor by Maurice Gee","description":"\u003cp\u003e[This book] brings Maurice Gee's ... family chronicle up to the present day. The career of Duggie Plum (as ruthless in politics as in sex) is relayed to us ... by his journalist cousin, Raymond Sole. Raymond - known to his family as Raymong and to his enemies as R. Sole - sharpens the story of his own doomed marriage against that of his relationship to Duggie: the charged, competitive, love-hate relationship between a man of action and a man of words.--Back cover.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41795854336074,"sku":"589p","price":10.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/589p_42e870e4-5d9b-4503-bb09-a17eff37144e.jpg?v=1764148309"},{"product_id":"paddys-puzzle-a-novel-by-fiona-kidman-57aa","title":"Paddy's Puzzle: A novel by Fiona Kidman","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn a strange old building known as Paddy's Puzzle, Clara Bentley endures the fear of war, and waits for her lover, Ambrose, a black American soldier. She is also waiting for the culmination of her illness and for her sister to whom she dreads having to explain her new life in the Puzzle.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41795876454474,"sku":"57aa","price":10.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/57aa_1_7b205b27-7c50-44e8-aa42-63d0c58a0ef5.jpg?v=1764149207"},{"product_id":"getting-through-and-other-stories-by-margaret-sutherland-68j","title":"Getting Through: and other stories by Margaret Sutherland","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41795903848522,"sku":"68j","price":8.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/68j_1_62f6847f-e16f-4b7f-8dfe-2faf022a6721.jpg?v=1764150267"},{"product_id":"hot-water-sailor-by-denis-glover-88e","title":"Hot Water Sailor by Denis Glover","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41795963781194,"sku":"88e","price":11.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/88e.jpg?v=1770243353"},{"product_id":"getting-to-know-the-general-the-story-of-an-involvement-by-graham-greene-544d","title":"Getting to Know the General: The Story of an Involvement by Graham Greene","description":"\u003cp\u003eGreene, Graham. Getting to Know the General. First Edition. London, The Bodley Head, 1984. 14.5 cm x 22 cm. 223 pages. Original Hardcover with original dustjacket in protective collector's mylar. Excellent condition with only very minor signs of external wear. In August 1981 my bag was packed for my fifth visit to Panama when the news came to me over the telephone of the death of General Omar Torrijos Herrera, my friend and host. . . At that moment the idea came to me to write a short personal memoir. . . of a man I had grown to love over those five years' GETTING TO KNOW THE GENERAL is Graham Greene's account of a five-year personal involvement with Omar Torrijos, ruler of Panama from 1968-81 and Sergeant Chuchu, one of the few men in the National Guard whom the General trusted completely. It is a fascinating tribute to an inspirational politician in the vital period of his country's history, and to an unusual and enduring friendship. (Amazon)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41796019781706,"sku":"544d","price":13.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/544d_d2dde88c-96a3-4a36-831b-79d5de623b5b.jpg?v=1765232046"},{"product_id":"great-days-in-new-zealand-writing-by-alan-mulgan-4073au","title":"Great Days in New Zealand Writing by Alan Mulgan","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41796334846026,"sku":"4073au","price":11.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/4073au_60f924ab-92d0-473d-83b7-337267bce9ef.jpg?v=1765491378"},{"product_id":"athmani-by-r-browne-4631d","title":"Athmani by R. Browne","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41796361715786,"sku":"4631d","price":12.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/4631d_47422004-d52d-4662-84f5-21d9936da15d.jpg?v=1764160378"},{"product_id":"first-light-by-p-ackroyd-4570r","title":"First Light by P. Ackroyd","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41796361814090,"sku":"4570r","price":12.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/4570r_801e8112-9e8e-4f55-8ae6-756ff837480c.jpg?v=1764160379"},{"product_id":"sara-dane-by-catherine-gaskin-4496m","title":"Sara Dane by Catherine Gaskin","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41796361846858,"sku":"4496m","price":12.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/Book-Express-No-Image-Main_69376c7c-3fc4-41cd-9316-d7f4d62b3a0a.png?v=1764160381"},{"product_id":"thanks-to-the-saint-by-l-charteris-4640i","title":"Thanks To The Saint by L. Charteris","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41796362862666,"sku":"4640i","price":17.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/Book-Express-No-Image-Main_b5e9973d-8fa7-473c-8d7b-d15c380d6db9.png?v=1764160383"},{"product_id":"proof-by-d-francis-4640au","title":"Proof by D. Francis","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41796362895434,"sku":"4640au","price":54.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/4640au_101f49af-67c3-4338-bd02-bcb462237fd3.jpg?v=1764160384"},{"product_id":"mantissa-by-j-fowles-4576ad","title":"Mantissa by J. Fowles","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41796362960970,"sku":"4576ad","price":17.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/4576ad_ff857d50-5306-4e98-86c4-13a4b0b1f01d.jpg?v=1764160385"},{"product_id":"the-prince-buys-the-manor-by-e-huxley-4564ca","title":"The Prince Buys The Manor by E. Huxley","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41796362993738,"sku":"4564ca","price":12.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/Book-Express-No-Image-Main_7778e48f-b7e8-4631-a4ae-9904f7ac72ee.png?v=1764160387"},{"product_id":"cold-shoulder-by-l-la-plante-4577af","title":"Cold Shoulder by L. La Plante","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41796363026506,"sku":"4577af","price":10.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/4577af_85155c65-3ed9-4d5e-8d3a-e0e789c71da1.jpg?v=1764160388"},{"product_id":"the-cape-cod-lighter-by-j-ohara-4572al","title":"The Cape Cod Lighter by J. O'Hara","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41796363157578,"sku":"4572al","price":12.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/Book-Express-No-Image-Main_a3fd815b-71d4-4f83-9e2f-a84d4b5ac073.png?v=1764160390"},{"product_id":"circle-of-squares-by-bill-turner-4592r","title":"Circle Of Squares by Bill Turner","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41796363518026,"sku":"4592r","price":14.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/Book-Express-No-Image-Main_8b451ca0-4fbf-4068-9a25-99506957f4a9.png?v=1764160404"},{"product_id":"glasgow-poets-past-and-present-by-edwin-morgan-4595am","title":"Glasgow Poets Past And Present by Edwin Morgan","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41796363550794,"sku":"4595am","price":12.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/Book-Express-No-Image-Main_8676263f-2bc8-4ba7-a8b6-5be994df058a.png?v=1764160406"},{"product_id":"the-sands-of-kalahari-by-w-mulvihill-3018ai","title":"The sands of kalahari by W. Mulvihill","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41796379115594,"sku":"3018ai","price":12.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/3018ai.jpg?v=1783488169"},{"product_id":"rubicon-by-agnar-mykle-3007b","title":"Rubicon by Agnar Mykle","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41796379213898,"sku":"3007b","price":9.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/3007b.jpg?v=1783056934"},{"product_id":"footfall-by-brian-turner-1000u","title":"Footfall by Brian Turner","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41809348526154,"sku":"1000u","price":15.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}]},{"product_id":"tough-customer-by-sandra-brown-9aa","title":"Tough Customer by Sandra Brown","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41809351409738,"sku":"9aa","price":20.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/9aa_c5531334-c664-4cd3-b37d-13b261daba02.jpg?v=1765479916"},{"product_id":"fort-of-silence-by-helen-foley-1007h","title":"Fort of Silence by Helen Foley","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41809356685386,"sku":"1007h","price":11.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/1007h.jpg?v=1765571622"},{"product_id":"the-moors-last-sigh-by-salman-rushdie-25p","title":"The Moor's Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie","description":"\u003cp\u003eFront board is split at join to spine. dj chipped.  'Mine is the story of the fall from grace of a high-born crossbreed - me, Moraes Zogoiby, called 'Moor', for most of my life the only heir to the spice-trade-'n'-big-business millions of the da Gama-Zogoiby dynasty of Cochin - and of my banishment by my mother Aurora, née da Gama, most illustrious of our modern artists.' It began with the watery disappearance of Great-Grandfather Francisco, swallowed by the bustling lagoon lapping his island mansion; and with the catastrophic family conflict that followed, an epic battle that led to torched cashew orchards, smoldering cardamom groves, and murders. Thus was a family divided, not just by greed and secrets, but by chalk lines drawn across floors, like frontiers, and spice-sacks piled up across courtyards, as though they were defences.  (Years later, Bombay would also go up in flames, victim of its own fatal divisions.) Once a year, high above massed festival crowds, her white hair flying in long loose exclamations, her ankles a-jingle with silver bell-bracelets, Aurora would dance her rebellion against India's immense perversity. And, in magical charcoal and oils, she tried to heal what-could-not-be-kept-whole, laying bare, on gallery walls, the secrets of her family and times. From the Paradise of Aurora's legendary salon to his omnipotent father's sky-garden atop a towering glass high-rise built by invisible men, the Moor's breathless story unfolds his family's often grotesque but compulsively moving fortunes, and the tragicomic transformations wrought by love. Surpassing even the imaginative brilliance of Midnight's Children, The Moor's Last Sigh is spectacularly ambitious, funny, satirical and compassionate. It is a love song to a vanishing world, but also its last hurrah.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41809371267146,"sku":"25p","price":11.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/25p.jpg?v=1764164295"},{"product_id":"a-royal-duty-by-paul-burrell-27y","title":"A Royal Duty by Paul Burrell","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41809372381258,"sku":"27y","price":12.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/27y.jpg?v=1764164332"},{"product_id":"tom-swift-and-his-flying-lab-by-victor-appleton-ii-26ae","title":"Tom Swift and His Flying Lab by Victor Appleton II","description":"\u003cp\u003eTom Swift - boy genius - outsmarts evil scientists, solves confounding mysteries, and builds incredible rocket ships, atomic energy plants, submarines, airplanes, robots, and mind-boggling inventions for the good of mankind! Join Tom as he journeys to the unknown and faces new challenges in - TOM SWIFT AND HIS FLYING LAB\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41809373167690,"sku":"26ae","price":47.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/Book-Express-No-Image-Main_4170564e-657d-4c18-ba75-4cfa68a71e40.png?v=1764164349"},{"product_id":"flashman-at-the-charge-by-george-macdonald-fraser-26m","title":"Flashman at the Charge by George MacDonald Fraser","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe fourth volume of memoirs in which Harry Flashman confronts destiny with Lord Cardigan and the Light Brigade. Part of the FLASHMAN series, comprising FLASHMAN, ROYAL FLASH and FLASH FOR FREEDOM, which explores the successful though scandalous later career of the bully in TOM BROWN'S SCHOOL DAYS.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41809373265994,"sku":"26m","price":17.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/26m.jpg?v=1764164352"},{"product_id":"the-inverted-forest-by-john-dalton-28y","title":"The Inverted Forest by John Dalton","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41809373757514,"sku":"28y","price":12.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/28y.jpg?v=1764164374"},{"product_id":"yellow-brick-war-by-danielle-paige-34af","title":"Yellow Brick War by Danielle Paige","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41809376477258,"sku":"34af","price":11.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/34af.jpg?v=1764164472"},{"product_id":"a-star-called-henry-by-roddy-doyle-35m","title":"A Star Called Henry by Roddy Doyle","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Born in the slums of Dublin in 1901, his father a one-legged whorehouse bouncer and settler of scores, Henry Smart has to grow up fast. By the time he can walk he's out robbing, begging, often cold, always hungry, but a prince of the streets. At fourteen, already six foot two, Henry's in the General Post Office on Easter Monday 1916, a soldier in the Irish Citizen Army, fighting for freedom. A year later he's ready to die for Ireland again, a rebel, a Fenian and soon, a killer. With his father's wooden leg as his weapon, Henry becomes a republican legend - one of Michael Collins' boys, a cop killer, an assassin on a stolen bike.' Inside cover commentary.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41809377591370,"sku":"35m","price":12.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/35m_ae030106-f6c1-40cc-b6c7-db7b5c55ab11.jpg?v=1765482724"},{"product_id":"the-scapegoat-by-daphne-du-maurier-36h","title":"The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier","description":"\u003cp\u003ePrice clipped. Very badly foxed. dj chipped and spine tanned with several stains on front. Owner's name on flyleaf. Bookseller's stamp on front endpaper.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41809377886282,"sku":"36h","price":22.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/36h_1.jpg?v=1764164521"},{"product_id":"magician-of-hoad-by-margaret-mahy-42r","title":"Magician of Hoad by Margaret Mahy","description":"\u003cp\u003eForced from home, twelve-year old Heriot's unwilling steps lead him to Diamond, first city of the Hoadara. Forced to serve as the King's magician, Heriot is isolated within the walls of Diamond, until he finds Cayley, a wild, ambiguous rat-of-the-city. Two lonely souls forge an unlikely friendship in the shadows of the city both are forced to call home. But when children become adults, childish games become deadly serious and when incipient madness erupts in chilling violence, Heriot is forced to explore the very heart of his magic. Suggested level: secondary.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41809382211658,"sku":"42r","price":13.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/42r_d9743616-9e3d-4508-84a9-fb13901a5f15.jpg?v=1765282210"},{"product_id":"faces-in-the-water-by-janet-frame-55b","title":"Faces in the Water by Janet Frame","description":"\u003cp\u003eI was now an established citizen with little hope of returning across the frontier; I was in the crazy world, separated now by more than locked doors and barred windows from the people who called themselves sane.'When Janet Frame's doctor suggested that she write about her traumatic experiences in mental institutions in order to free herself from them, the result was Faces in the Water, a powerful and poignant novel. Istina Mavet descends through increasingly desolate wards, with the threat of leucotomy ever present. As she observes her fellow patients, long dismissed by hospital staff, with humour and compassion, she reveals her original and questing mind. --Publisher's description.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41809399087178,"sku":"55b","price":36.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/55b_80e295a7-f4da-46de-a05a-2da3e7f59f12.jpg?v=1775027115"},{"product_id":"matat-by-malcolm-mcconnell-56r","title":"Matat by Malcolm McConnell","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41809401020490,"sku":"56r","price":26.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/56r_1.jpg?v=1764165148"},{"product_id":"jack-of-spies-by-david-downing-67g","title":"Jack of Spies by David Downing","description":"\u003cp\u003eFIRST IN A STUNNING NEW WW1 SPY SERIES FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE BESTSELLING 'STATION' NOVELSJack McColl is a globe-trotting salesman for a luxury car firm. He is also a part-time spy for the fledgling Secret Service on the eve of the First World War, doing London's bidding wherever internal or external enemies threaten the security of the British Empire. As 1913 ends he is in China, checking out the German naval base at Tsingtao between automobile demonstrations in Peking and Shanghai.Caitlin Hanley is a young Irish-American journalist with the sort of views that most British men would find dangerously advanced. McColl is no exception, but once captivated he finds himself unwilling to give her up -- even when Caitlin's radical politics and family connections threaten to compromise his undeclared career as a spy.Then the pair become involved in a plot that threatens the Empire in its hour of greatest need . . .\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41809413308490,"sku":"67g","price":12.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/67g_1.jpg?v=1764165364"},{"product_id":"gentleman-jim-by-raymond-briggs-191aa","title":"Gentleman Jim by Raymond Briggs","description":"\u003cp\u003eA graphic novel classic from one of the world's best-known cartoonists Gentleman Jim is the story of Jim Bloggs, an imaginative toilet cleaner who, dissatisfied with his station in life, devotes his time to envisioning a world beyond it. His walls are lined with books like Out in the Silver West, The Boys' Book of Pirates, and Executive Opportunities, which provide fodder for his ruminations on career change. Encouraged by his wife, who is also eager to incorporate more adventure into her life, Jim sets out to bring these dreams to fruition by accumulating various accoutrements, only to discover that the life of an executive, an artist, or a cowboy is more complicated and costly than it appears. Jim's childlike understanding of the world that surrounds him is enhanced by Raymond Briggs's subtle and inventive illustrations. Fantasies are portrayed as organic clouds that move between and overlap outlined panels of his reality, and myopic Jim is drawn smaller and softer than the policemen and bureaucrats interested in impeding his search for adventure. As he begins to infringe more seriously on the law, the city workers and their speech boxes become increasingly angular, much like the rigid rules and regulations restricting his sincere quest. With this playful style, Briggs expertly transforms common feelings of inadequacy into an endearing and enjoyable experience that speaks across generations, concluding with an optimistic implication that even a misfortunate outcome can be better than no change at all. This classic novel, originally published in 1980, is presented by Drawn \u0026amp; Quarterly in a new edition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41809554538570,"sku":"191aa","price":28.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/191aa.jpg?v=1764168336"},{"product_id":"the-beaufort-sisters-by-jon-cleary-272aa","title":"The Beaufort Sisters by Jon Cleary","description":"\u003cp\u003eNina, Margaret, Sally and Prue - the four beautiful and spoilt daughters of the richest and most powerful man in Kansas. They took what they wanted and loved whoever they pleased. Their father could buy them anything they desired, but even his wealth could not buy them happiness.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41809597399114,"sku":"272aa","price":13.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/272aa_1.jpg?v=1764169938"},{"product_id":"the-faraway-drums-by-jon-cleary-273l","title":"The Faraway Drums by Jon Cleary","description":"\u003cp\u003e In India in the 1910s, the coronation of King George V as Emperor of India is to take place at the Great Durbar in Delhi. High in the Himalayas Major Clive Franol, soldier turned political agent, hears rumours of a plot to assassinate the King. By the author of Sundowners.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41809597562954,"sku":"273l","price":9.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/273l.jpg?v=1765281830"},{"product_id":"the-rock-by-warren-tute-279af","title":"The Rock by Warren Tute","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41809604116554,"sku":"279af","price":11.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/Book-Express-No-Image-Main_375e056a-e116-4292-aeed-ded61419f7ad.png?v=1764170216"},{"product_id":"never-leave-me-by-harold-robbins-279ai","title":"Never Leave Me by Harold Robbins","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41809604313162,"sku":"279ai","price":18.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/279ai_1.jpg?v=1764170218"},{"product_id":"one-fat-englishman-by-kingsley-amis-279ah","title":"One Fat Englishman by Kingsley Amis","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41809604378698,"sku":"279ah","price":13.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/Book-Express-No-Image-Main_3a3b6912-8649-46ed-9dfa-fbae24e64289.png?v=1764170220"},{"product_id":"seventh-brer-rabbit-book-by-enid-blyton-388af","title":"Seventh Brer Rabbit Book by Enid Blyton","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41809861083210,"sku":"388af","price":33.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/388af_1.jpg?v=1764178328"},{"product_id":"the-king-is-dead-by-jim-lewis-523j","title":"The king is dead by Jim Lewis","description":"\u003cp\u003eCombining elements of a nineteenth-century epic with the intimacy of contemporary storytelling, the author traces the doomed romance between an aide to the governor of Tennessee and a beautiful but ultimately unfaithful woman\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41809878417482,"sku":"523j","price":9.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/523j_1.jpg?v=1764179009"},{"product_id":"book-collecting-a-comprehensive-guide-1995-edition-by-allen-ahearn-patricia-ahearn-649p","title":"Book Collecting : a comprehensive guide, 1995 edition by Allen Ahearn,Patricia Ahearn","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn updated, well-regarded handbook lists the estimated market values of thousands of first editions, including the works of more than five thousand authors, and features a section on prize-winners and a guide to antiquarian book-sellers.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41810456019018,"sku":"649p","price":14.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/649p_1.jpg?v=1764182755"},{"product_id":"the-novels-and-poems-of-charles-kingsley-by-charles-kingsley-717b","title":"The novels and poems of Charles Kingsley by Charles Kingsley","description":"\u003cp\u003eEleven volume set in publishers lidded box. Books are unmarked with no foxing or toning. Text decorations throughout. Publishers blue cloth with heavily gilt decorated spines. The page edges are stained blue to match the cloth. A superb near fine crisp set, the spines are very finely decorated. Housed in the publishers blue gilt lettered cloth covered box. The lid lifts on a cloth hinge. It is rubbed around the edges and with some general staining and marking. the hinge side of the box is marked and slightly bubbled. Still a very good attractive piece of Victorian book production and a great bit of history. The books include The Water Babies, Hereward The Wake, Hypatia, Poems, The Heroes, Yeast, Alton Locke, Two Years Ago (two volumes), \u0026amp; Westward Ho! (two volumes).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41810905858122,"sku":"717b","price":262.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/717b_1.jpg?v=1764184350"},{"product_id":"tunc-by-lawrence-durrell-731t","title":"Tunc by Lawrence Durrell","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41810918277194,"sku":"731t","price":13.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/Book-Express-No-Image-Main_29e47e4c-78ef-4709-b5ab-cf923a97688a.png?v=1764184769"},{"product_id":"that-was-the-hour-by-frederick-j-thwaites-1340m","title":"That was the hour by Frederick J. Thwaites","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41812681523274,"sku":"1340m","price":5.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/1340m.jpg?v=1781496288"},{"product_id":"the-hour-glass-girl-by-frank-neate-2321a","title":"The Hour-Glass Girl by Frank Neate","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41813387575370,"sku":"2321a","price":9.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/2321a.jpg?v=1781496220"},{"product_id":"dragons-teeth-by-upton-sinclair-2468m","title":"Dragon's teeth by Upton Sinclair","description":"\u003cp\u003e631 pages. No dj - just rear flap. Name on ffep - to mother with love from John and Peter. The red hard cover binding is in great shape. Pages are bright and clear. There is some slight yellowing on inside front cover and adjacent blank page. Small spot on top edge red gilt.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41813640609866,"sku":"2468m","price":73.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/Book-Express-No-Image-Main_c727e090-ecb6-458f-bed7-791115cb0720.png?v=1764230293"},{"product_id":"the-collected-works-of-billy-the-kid-by-michael-ondaatje-2469l","title":"The Collected Works of Billy the Kid by Michael Ondaatje","description":"\u003cp\u003eNot a story about me through their eyes then. Find the beginning, the slight silver key to unlock it, to dig it out. Here then is a maze to begin, be in. (p. 20)  Funny yet horrifying, improvisational yet highly distilled, unflinchingly violent yet tender and elegiac, Michael Ondaatje's ground-breaking book The Collected Works of Billy the Kid is a highly polished and self-aware lens focused on the era of one of the most mythologized anti-heroes of the American West. This revolutionary collage of poetry and prose, layered with photos, illustrations and clippings, astounded Canada and the world when it was first published in 1969. It earned then-little-known Ondaatje his first of several Governor General's Awards and brazenly challenged the world's notions of history and literature.  Ondaatje's Billy the Kid (aka William H. Bonney \/ Henry McCarty \/ Henry Antrim) is not the cliched dimestore comicbook gunslinger later parodied within the pages of this book. Instead, he is a beautiful and dangerous chimera with a voice: driven and kinetic, he also yearns for blankness and rest. A poet and lover, possessing intelligence and sensory discernment far beyond his life's 21 year allotment, he is also a resolute killer. His friend and nemesis is Sheriff Pat Garrett, who will go on to his own fame (or infamy) for Billy's execution. Himself a web of contradictions, Ondaatje's Garrett is a sane assassin sane assassin sane assassin sane assassin sane assassin sane (p. 29) who has taught himself a language he'll never use and has trained himself to be immune to intoxication. As the hero and anti-hero engage in the counterpoint that will lead to Billy's predetermined death, they are joined by figures both real and imagined, including the homesteaders John and Sallie Chisum, Billy's lover Angela D, and a passel of outlaws and lawmakers. The voices and images meld, joined by Ondaatje's own, in a magnificent polyphonic dream of what it means to feel and think and freely act, knowing this breath is your last and you are about to be trapped by history.  I am here with the range for everything corpuscle muscle hair hands that need the rub of metal those senses that that want to crash things with an axe that listen to deep buried veins in our palms those who move in dreams over your women night near you, every paw, the invisible hooves the mind's invisible blackout the intricate never the body's waiting rut. (p. 72)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41813641166922,"sku":"2469l","price":68.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/2469l.jpg?v=1764230322"},{"product_id":"fun-for-the-secret-seven-by-enid-blyton-2523ab","title":"Fun for the secret seven by Enid Blyton","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41813721546826,"sku":"2523ab","price":12.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/Book-Express-No-Image-Main_58d26253-b558-4cf7-ba68-9c859e60c6ac.png?v=1764231923"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.bookexpress.nz\/collections\/first-editions.oembed?page=26","provider":"Book Express","version":"1.0","type":"link"}