Just What I Always Wanted - Hardcover

Robin Laurance

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1847246168 ISBN 13: 9781847246165

Publisher: Quercus Publishing Plc, 2008

Synopsis

Question: what do Mount Kilimanjaro, a hundred-million-dollar marble mansion, a pair of handcuffs, a jar of walnut jam, the bleeding heart of a dead elk, an incontinent donkey, two Scottish terriers called Negus and Stasi, a fur-lined jockstrap, an attempted blow-job, and the fossilized bowel movement of a turtle have in common? Answer: they have all been offered as birthday presents to some rather famous people (respectively Kaiser Wilhelm I, Mrs William Vanderbilt, Diane Keaton, Josef Stalin, Jack Nicholson, Gerald Durrell, Eva Braun, Leonard Bernstein, William Jefferson Clinton and A.A. Gill). "Just What I Always Wanted!" presents a curiously compelling collection of celebrity birthday gifts from the 16th century to the present day. Calendrically arranged from 1st January to 31st December, it includes at least one birthday boy (or girl) for every day of the year, along with details of the gift given and the often extraordinary story behind it. Quirkily illuminating and endlessly entertaining, "Just What I Always Wanted!" puts the pair of socks, the tie and the box of chocolates firmly back where they belong. From the 40-carat diamond given by Aristotle Onassis to his wife Jackie, to the framed photograph of a vagina given by David Bailey to the photographer Terence Donovan, it is stuffed with gifts that stretch the imagination as well as the wallet.

About this title

About the Author

Robin Laurance is a journalist and photographer. He has worked at the Guardian as a photographer, and on a freelance basis for The Washington Post, The New York Times, Business Week, Newsweek and Forbes. He has contributed both photographs and written material to The Times, the Sunday Times and the Guardian. His most recent book Portrait of Islam (published by Thames & Hudson in 2002) was about the Muslim world.

Review

The often eccentric and bizarre whims of the wealthy always make for good reading - Laurence has certainly done his research and this is one of those little books that sees you turning the pages for just one more glimpse into the wacky world of the well-known - does an admirable job of unwrapping some very curious presents - Manchester Evening News. ... Humorous ... A good present - The Skinny.

Edition details

• Publisher: Quercus Publishing Plc
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1847246168
• ISBN 13: 9781847246165
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 256