Matthew Parris

Trauma, Success and the Origins of Greatness

Fracture

'He's 100% political herpes. Back in six months whatever you do. Or three days, like last time.' Camilla Long on Nigel Farage 'You're as ugly as a salad.' Bulgarian insult 'I'm going to beat him so bad he'll need a shoehorn to put his hat on.' Muhammed Ali There's no pleasure like a perfectly turned put-down (when it's directed at somebody else, of course) but Matthew Parris's Scorn is sharply different from the standard collections. Here are the funniest, sharpest, rudest and most devastating insults in history, from ancient Roman graffiti to the battlefields of Twitter. Drawing on bile from such masters as Dorothy Parker, Elizabeth I, Donald Trump, Groucho Marx, Princess Anne, Winston Churchill, Nigel Farage, Mae West and Alastair Campbell - which form an exchange between voices down the ages - Scorn shows that abuse can be an art form. This collection includes extended literary invective as well as short verbal shin-kicks. Encompassing literature, art, politics, showbiz, marriage, gender, nationality and religion, Matthew Parris's sublime collection is the perfect companion for the festive season, whether you're searching for the perfect elegant riposte, the rudest polite letter ever written, or a brutal verbal sledgehammer.

The Wittiest and Wickedest Insults in Human History

Scorn

A Times Biography of the Year 'I learned a lot reading this ... the strength of Fracture is that it is very much like a cracking radio script: entertaining and easy to digest' Spectator Ada Lovelace. Frederick Douglass. Vladimir Lenin. Marie Curie. Frieda Kahlo. Carl Jung. Tupac Shakur. All geniuses who changed the world in ways that still influence our lives today. And all men and women who experienced, in childhood, trauma so severe that it should have broken them completely. While presenting Great Lives on Radio 4, Matthew Parris noticed a trend in the lives of the exceptional people the programme covered: many of them had been marked by extreme trauma and deprivation. They seemed to have succeeded not only in spite of their backgrounds, but perhaps even because of them. As Matthew Parris brings each individual's story to life in this original and compelling study, it becomes clear that we must rethink the origins of success, as well as the legacy of trauma.

Stories of How Great Lives Take Root in Trauma

The Spanish Ambassador's Suitcase is a hilarious new collection of diplomatic tales by Matthew Parris and Andrew Bryson Heard the one about the Spanish Ambassador who arrived in the scorching Saharan desert fully suited and with a mysteriously enormous suitcase? Or the horse they gave Prime Minister John Major in Turkmenistan - which hapless embassy officials had to rescue from the clutches of the Moscow railway? These and other 'funnies', as they are known in Whitehall, are included in Matthew Parris' and and Adnrew Bryson's glorious new volume of not so diplomatic writing, which accompanies a new BBC Radio 4 series is a follow up to their acclaimed collection of ambassadors' final despatches, Parting Shots. Drawn from Freedom of Information requests and previously overlooked Valedictories these startling despatches throw a revealing light on how the British have viewed the world - and, unwittingly perhaps, on how the world has viewed the British. Praise for Parting Shots: 'Parting Shots is unbuttoned, indiscreet and very funny' Yorkshire Post 'Fascinating, if sometimes uncomfortable, reading' Financial Times 'Very funny' Guardian After working in the Foreign Office then serving as a Conservative MP, Matthew Parris joined The Times in 1988. He writes two weekly columns for The Times and one for the Spectator, and in 2011 won the Best Columnist Award at the British Press awards. His acclaimed autobiography Chance Witness was published by Penguin in 2003. He is a frequent broadcaster. Andrew Bryson is a radio journalist working in the BBC's Business and Economic Unit. He frequently works as a producer on Radio 4's Today programme and on Radio 5 Live.

Stories from the Diplomatic Bag

The Spanish Ambassador's Suitcase

"Walking in the Pyrenees one spring morning, Matthew Parris stumbled upon a magnificent ruined mansion standing on the edge of a line of huge cliffs. Later he was to discover that parts of the house dated back to the thirteenth century, though it had not been completed until 1559; and that it had survived two massive earthquakes before falling into disrepair and finally being abandoned in the early 1950s. A few years later, seduced by 'one of those foolish challenges that grip us in middle life', Parris bought the house, L'Avenc, and set about restoring it to its full glory. This book chronicles it all: the original discovery, the attempts to discover its history and the long effortful years trying to bring it back to life in the face of scepticism from family, friends and Catalan neighbours. The original edition ... was published in 2005, when renovations were a work in progress: this new edition triumphantly records all that has happened since"--Publisher's description.

A Castle in Spain

In this surprising and eccentric autobiography from a former Conservative MP, Matthew Parris writes of his personal and political life with equal candour. With a First from Cambridge and the possibility of working for the Foreign Office, he decided instead to apply to be an apprentice diesel-fitter with London Transport. He was rejected and so turned to a life in politics. He has worked with Margaret Thatcher, Chris Patten, Tony Blair and Michael Portillo, and his observations of political lifeand those who move within it are truly fascinating. This colourful memoir is an account of a young life already well lived.

An Outsider's Life in Politics

Chance Witness

Phil Mason

It is amazing how often politicians’ most public words come back to haunt them. George W. Bush once quipped, “I have opinions of my own—strong opinions—but I don’t always agree with them,” while Richard Nixon famously called the funeral of President Georges Pompidou “a great day for France.” This priceless treasure trove of verbal blunders, indiscretions, regrettable promises, about-turns, deceptions, lies, and just plain stupidity highlights the very best political missteps of all time. Ranging across the centuries and the globe, this salutary and hugely funny book is completely up-to-date with all the immortal lines our leaders have made into classics.

Matthew Parris

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