The book is all about Adrian Healey and his progress through life as a prolific liar. Stephen Fry, for those who have not heard of him, is hilarious in both writing and real life and this semi-autobiographical novel of his first twenty years is vividly detailed and, although perhaps a bit sketchy with flashbacks, is a delightful comic romp about a kid who coasts through life unscathed because of his immense skill at lying and defrauding others.
Comic Business situates Aristophanic comedy in the context of competitive (re)performance culture in 5th- and 4th-century Greece. It seeks to illuminate how the dazzling busyness of Aristophanic comedy is the creation of a carefully manipulating craftsman trying to outdo his rivals in the fierce competition of the dramatic festivals. Theoretically informed by theatre semiotics and frame-based models of conceptualizing the theatrical event, it analyses in a number of case studies how theatrical resources of all kinds are utilized in order to generate theatrical meaning as well as capture and sustain audience interest.
A girl. An iguana. An island. And e-mail. Meet Nim--a modern-day Robinson Crusoe! She can chop down bananas with a machete, climb tall palm trees, and start a fire with a piece of glass. So she's not afraid when her scientist dad sails off to study plankton for three days, leaving her alone on their island. Besides, it's not as if no one's looking after her--she's got a sea lion to mother her and an iguana for comic relief. She also has an interesting new e-mail pal. But when her father's cell-phone calls stop coming and disaster seems near, Nim has to be stronger and braver than she's ever been before. And she'll need all her friends to help her.
