THE ROUGH GUIDE TO LAOS is the most comprehensive handbook to one of Southeast Asia's least-known destinations. Features include: Detailed coverage of all the sights, from the Buddhist temples of Louang Phabang to the French colonial architecture of Vientiane. Up-to the-minute listings of the best places to eat and stay. Practical guidance on exploring the remote northern hill villages, navigating the Mekong River and elephant-back trekking in the jungle. Lively and informed accounts of Laos's history, culture, ethnic minorities and wildlife. Full-colour photos and more than 30 maps.

An unforgettable portrait of France’s legendary chef, and the sophisticated, unforgiving world of French gastronomy Bernard Loiseau was one of only twenty-five French chefs to hold Europe’s highest culinary award, three stars in the Michelin Red Guide, and only the second chef to be personally awarded the Legion of Honor by a head of state. Despite such triumphs, he shocked the culinary world by taking his own life in February 2003. TheGaultMillau guidebook had recently dropped its ratings of Loiseau’s restaurant, and rumors swirled that he was on the verge of losing a Michelin star (a prediction that proved to be inaccurate). Journalist Rudolph Chelminski, who befriended Loiseau three decades ago and followed his rise to the pinnacle of French restaurateurs, now gives us a rare tour of this hallowed culinary realm. The Perfectionist is the story of a daydreaming teenager who worked his way up from complete obscurity to owning three famous restaurants in Paris and rebuilding La Côte d’Or, transforming a century-old inn and restaurant that had lost all of its Michelin stars into a luxurious destination restaurant and hotel. He started a line of culinary products with his name on them, appeared regularly on television and in the press, and had a beautiful, intelligent wife and three young children he adored—Bernard Loiseau seemed to have it all. An unvarnished glimpse inside an echelon filled with competition, culture wars, and impossibly high standards, The Perfectionist vividly depicts a man whose energy and enthusiasm won the hearts of staff and clientele, while self-doubt and cut-throat critics took their toll.

An electrifying novel of blood, vengeance, and international intrigue from the New York Times–bestselling author of The Eagle Has Landed. As a high-powered Wall Street lawyer, Sarah Talbot believed her world was comfortable and secure—until her beloved stepson was found dead of a drug overdose in Paris. Her initial grief is compounded when she learns that his body was used to transport heroin by an unstoppable European cartel. Trained by British SAS, Irish-born Sean Egan has no problem killing whenever and wherever someone has to die. Dealing with death is second nature to him. So when his sister’s drug-poisoned corpse is found floating in the Thames, he knows it’s not an accident—it’s murder. Bonded by their shared loss, Egan and Talbot come together, vow to find those responsible, and make them pay. Pursuing an enemy known only as “Mr. Smith” and hunted by a master assassin, they cannot imagine the truth they will uncover—and the dangers they will face. All they know is that they cannot stop until they have their revenge—no matter the cost. For over fifty years, Jack Higgins, author of The Midnight Bell, Rain on the Dead, and other bestsellers, has thrilled millions around the world with his lighting-paced novels of international action, suspense, and spy craft. Filled with engaging heroes, implacable villains, and action that draws readers in like a classic honey trap, Higgins’s novels remain the high-water mark of thriller excellence.

From Hollywood B-movies to Hollywood classics, A Night at the Movies invents what "might have happened" in these Saturday afternoon matinees. Mad scientists, vampires, cowboys, dance-men, Chaplin, and Bogart, all flit across Robert Coover's riotously funny screen, doing things and uttering lines that are as shocking to them as they are funny to the reader. As Coover's Program announces, you will get Coming Attractions, The Weekly Serial, Adventure, Comedy, Romance, and more, but turned upside-down and inside-out.

A “lyrical, impassioned” document of the intimate relationship between the two authors that was first disclosed in Henry and June (Booklist). This exchange of letters between the two controversial writers—Anaïs Nin, renowned for her candid and personal diaries, and Henry Miller, author of Tropic of Cancer—paints a portrait of more than two decades in their complex relationship as it moves through periods of passion, friendship, estrangement, and reconciliation. “The letters may disturb some with their intimacy, but they will impress others with their fragrant expression of devotion to art.” —Booklist “A portrait of Miller and Nin more rounded than any previously provided by critics, friends, and biographers.” —Chicago Tribune Edited and with an introduction by Gunther Stuhlmann