'David Katz's in-depth portrayal of his genius is to be commended and is an essential addition to any serious music fan's collection' David Rodigan MBE OD 'For the complete picture of this musical genius you can't get better than David Katz's People Funny Boy - if you're into Scratch, it's essential' Don Letts Arguably the most influential force in Jamaican music, Lee Perry brought Bob Marley to international stardom and has since collaborated with artists such as Sir Paul McCartney, The Clash and The Beastie Boys. The book delves behind the myth of Perry to give a fuller examination of his life and work through extensive interviews with family members, fellow artists, friends, lovers, enemies, as well as the man himself to present a complex portrait of a unique soul driven by unseen spiritual forces. This revised and expanded edition has been thoroughly updated and completely overhauled to render a more nuanced, accurate and accessible read, with new information on Perry's later years, including his Grammy Award, cessation of herb smoking and final passing, as well as previously unpublished information about his early life, his unique relationship with Marley, and his fabled Black Ark studio.

"The most sensational, perpetual teenager in the world.” —Jim Henson "To know him was to love him, and we do." —Mark Hamill Funny Boy: The Richard Hunt Biography tells the life story of a gifted performer whose gleeful irreverence, sharp wit and generous spirit inspired millions. Richard Hunt was one of the original main five performers in the Muppet troupe. He brought to life an impressive range of characters on The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock and various Muppet movies, everyone from eager gofer Scooter to elderly heckler Statler, groovy girl Janice to freaked-out lab helper Beaker, even early versions of Miss Piggy and Elmo. Hunt also acted, directed and mentored the next generation of performers. His accomplishments are all the more remarkable in that he crammed them all into only 40 years. Richard Hunt was just 18 years old when he joined Jim Henson’s company, where his edgy humor quickly helped launch the Muppets into international stardom. Hunt lived large, savoring life’s delights, amassing a vivid, disparate community of friends. Even when the AIDS epidemic wrought its devastation, claiming the love of Hunt’s life and threatening his own life, he showed an extraordinary sense of resilience, openness and joy. Hunt’s story exemplifies how to follow your passion, foster your talents, adapt to life’s surprises, genuinely connect with everyone from glitzy celebrities to gruff cab drivers – and have a hell of a lot of fun along the way.

DIVDIVA special four-in-one edition of Dan Gutman’s hilarious and delightful Funny Boy series/divDIV In Funny Boy Meets the Airsick Alien from Andromeda, Funny Boy—a smart-aleck from the planet Crouton with the galaxy’s best sense of humor—shoots his brother with a spitball, and his parents strap him into a spaceship and blast him to Earth. Things get strange right away. A planet-gobbling alien is about to attack his new home, and Funny Boy doesn’t have any weapons besides a talking dog and a razor-sharp wit./divDIV In Funny Boy Versus the Bubble-Brained Barbers from the Big Bang, Funny Boy, just like Superman, has mastered the powers he gained when he landed on Earth. He’s not super strong or super fast, but his super sense of humor lets him crack jokes faster than a speeding bullet. Now he must face the least hilarious thing in the universe: the first day of school. As he tries to fit in among his human peers, Funny Boy learns that three intergalactic barbers have come to steal every strand of hair on Earth. He’ll have to dust off his freshest material to stop them, because everybody knows there’s nothing funny about a bad haircut./divDIV In Funny Boy Takes on the Chit-Chatting Cheeses from Chattanooga, the nation’s cattle have gotten too smart for their own good. Tired of letting humans steal their milk, American cows have gone on strike. This is trouble for anybody who likes cheese. Funny Boy is mourning the cheese shortage when five giant cheeses fall on Wisconsin, and then begin to talk. The cheeses are aliens from the faraway planet Chattanooga, and they have come to stop the shortage. The country’s woe is ended, but something about the aliens’ story stinks worse than month-old Muenster. It will take Funny Boy and his galactic sense of humor to curdle these curds before America starts to spoil./divDIV And in Funny Boy Meets the Dumbbell Dentist from Deimos (with Dangerous Dental Decay), Funny Boy’s super-powered sense of humor has won him the love of his life: Tupper Camembert. But this riddle-flinging superhero’s work is far from over. When the president of the United States is summoned for a cleaning with Dr. Denny the dentist, he knows something is wrong—he doesn’t even have an appointment! This is a job for Funny Boy, who must once again use every joke in his arsenal to destroy the evil dentist villain and his hygienist henchmen./div/div

The funniest alien in the universe lands on the galaxy’s weirdest planet: Earth On the planet Crouton, kids never have to straighten their rooms or make their own beds. That’s because their rooms aren’t crooked, and when they need beds, they just buy them. It’s a pretty neat place. But when Funny Boy—a Croutonian smart-aleck with the galaxy’s best sense of humor—shoots his brother with a spitball, his parents strap him into a spaceship and blast him to Earth. Things get strange from the minute his spaceship crash-lands in the underwear factory. A planet-gobbling alien is about to attack his new home, and Funny Boy doesn’t have any weapons besides a talking dog and a razor-sharp wit. But there is good news: Something about Earth’s atmosphere has made Funny Boy even funnier. His job is to crack the jokes, but he needs somebody to turn the pages. So get to it! Earth won’t save itself! This ebook features an illustrated biography of Dan Gutman including rare images from the author’s personal collection. Funny Boy Meets the Airsick Alien from Andromeda is the 1st book in Funny Boy, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

'An extraordinarily powerful, deeply moving novel' Amitav Ghosh NOW A MAJOR FILM ON NETFLIX In the world of his large family - affluent Tamils living in Colombo - Arjie is an oddity, a 'funny boy' who prefers dressing as a girl to playing cricket with his brother. But as Arjie comes to terms with his own homo-sexuality and with the racism of the society in which he lives, Sri Lanka is plunged into civil war as fighting between the army and the Tamil Tigers gradually begins to encroach on the family's comfortable life. Sporadic acts of violence flare into full scale riots and lead, ultimately, to tragedy. Written in clear, simple prose, Shyam Selvadurai's first novel is masterly in its mingling of the personal and political. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY NEEL MUKHERJEE

Funny Boy faces his biggest threat yet—a plaque attack! Funny Boy’s super-powered sense of humor has saved the world from airsick aliens, bubble-brained barbers, and a chain of chitchatting cheeses. It’s even won him the love of his life: Tupper Camembert. But this riddle-flinging superhero’s work is far from over. When the president of the United States is summoned for a cleaning with Dr. Denny the dentist, he knows something is wrong—he doesn’t even have an appointment! This is a job for Funny Boy, who must once again use every joke in his arsenal to destroy the evil dentist villain and his hygienist henchmen. But does Funny Boy know enough dentist jokes to save the planet from an invasion of plaque? This ebook features an illustrated biography of Dan Gutman including rare images from the author’s personal collection. Funny Boy Meets the Dumbbell Dentist from Deimos (with Dangerous Dental Decay) is the 4th book in Funny Boy, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Exiled on Earth, Funny Boy must save his new planet from an evil haircut Never spit spitballs at your brother. That’s the lesson Funny Boy learned on his last day on the planet Crouton, when his parents strapped him to a rocket and shot him to Earth as punishment for misbehaving. But just like Superman, this exiled Croutonian gained powers when he landed on the new world. He’s not super strong, super fast, or super stylish, but his super sense of humor lets him crack jokes faster than a speeding bullet, and leap over boring situations with a single pun. But now he must face the least hilarious thing in the universe: the first day of school. As he tries to fit in among his human peers, Funny Boy learns that three intergalactic barbers have come to steal every strand of hair on Earth. He’ll have to dust off his freshest material to stop them, because everybody knows there’s nothing funny about a bad haircut. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Dan Gutman including rare images from the author’s personal collection. Funny Boy Versus the Bubble-Brained Barbers from the Big Bang is the 2nd book in Funny Boy, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

When America’s cows go on strike, a gang of interstellar cheeses land on Earth The nation’s cattle have gotten too smart for their own good. Tired of letting humans steal their milk, American cows have gone on strike. This is great news for every kid who hates drinking his milk, but trouble for anybody who likes cheese. Funny Boy—a joke-telling superhero who was sent to Earth from the planet Crouton—is mourning the cheese shortage when five giant cheeses fall on Wisconsin, squashing an unlucky farmer named George Gouda. That alone would be weird enough, but the cheeses also talk. The cheeses are aliens from the faraway planet Chattanooga, and they have come to stop the cheese shortage. The country’s woe is ended, but something about the aliens’ story stinks worse than month-old Muenster. It will take Funny Boy and his galactic sense of humor to curdle these curds before America starts to spoil. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Dan Gutman including rare images from the author’s personal collection. Funny Boy Takes on the Chit-Chatting Cheeses from Chattanooga is the 3rd book in Funny Boy, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

A three-novel anthology that wallows in dark, twisted humour, sexual obsession and the latent violence of the male animal. Book 1: Looking For Sarah Jane Smith Marty's living in a Welsh town he hates, doing a job he's lost interest in and so bored he can't even be bothered with sex. But a new life beckons in Australia. It's also a chance to get away from his stupid mates, the loveable loser John and the ultra-macho Wasp Boy. Maybe he'll even meet an exquisite girl like his Doctor Who heroine, Sarah Jane Smith, and live happily ever after… Looking for Sarah Jane Smith – For anyone who suspects life's a bit rubbish. Part road trip and part celebration of idiotic male friendship, Looking for Sarah Jane Smith is sure to strike a chord with those who appreciate Withnail & I, Peep Show and Bill Hicks. '...if there's one thing that stands out about this, it's how bloody funny it is. I actually packed Looking for Sarah Jane Smith for a long-haul flight and such a page-turner did it prove to be that I finished it within a couple of hours.' - Living Abroad Magazine '...A bitter, crude, but funny book... These boys are not particularly likeable, but their story is raw, honest, unsophisticated and rooted in bittersweet reality.' - Post Newspapers 'An agreeably raucous novel that touches on Dr Who and men behaving badly. Its strong language and adult scenes make it the perfect Christmas gift for that impressionable nephew.' - The West Australian Book 2: Girls Like Funny Boys Part coming of age story, part exploration of the maddening nature of dreams, Girls Like Funny Boys is a potent mix of sexual obsession, guilt and fame. "Gina crouched, resting on her haunches to continue the conversation. Her legs were too far apart. There was a hole in her black tights just above the left knee. Johnny felt a hot urge to poke a finger in it. He wished she'd leave him alone. He wished she wasn't wearing tights. He stared at her lopsided mouth and the way her fat lower lip jutted out. It was so red it bordered on purple, the colour of strawberries on the turn." Meet Johnny Goodwin. He's grown up in a quiet Brisbane suburb with loving parents, a faithful dog and an unrequited yearning for his teenage sweetheart, Angie Everson. Now in his last year at school, he's finally caught her eye by starring in a teacher-baiting pantomime. Dreams are already taking shape of a career in entertainment, perhaps with Angie by his side. All he's got to do is pass his exams, get to uni and keep away from Gina Wood, that weird girl who once let him touch her… 'Girls Like Funny Boys wasn't what I expected - and that's simply not fair as Dave Franklin's not meant to be writing to a formula. But I really didn't expect to find this as engaging, involving and quite as emotional as I did. I loved Johnny, rode the waves of his life every step of the way. Most of all I just loved this book.' - Australian Crime Fiction Book 3: To Dare A Future A van driver with abduction and murder on his mind. An eleven-year-old girl snatched on her way home from ballet. A tortured reporter, happy to use her death and the terrifying reign of a child killer to help make his name… To Dare A Future – We all have black thoughts. It's just some of us act on them. 'Don't let the rather bland title put you off – this is an impressive read, spiced with ethical dilemmas as well as earthy dialogue and humour.' – Sunday Times

Part coming of age story and part exploration of the maddening nature of dreams, Girls Like Funny Boys is a potent mix of sexual obsession, guilt and fame. 'Gina crouched, resting on her haunches to continue the conversation. Her legs were too far apart. There was a hole in her black tights just above the left knee. Johnny felt a hot urge to poke a finger in it. He wished she'd leave him alone. He wished she wasn't wearing tights. He stared at her lopsided mouth and the way her fat lower lip jutted out. It was so red it bordered on purple, the colour of strawberries on the turn.' Meet Johnny Goodwin. He's grown up in a quiet Brisbane suburb with loving parents, a faithful dog and an unrequited yearning for his teenage sweetheart, Angie Everson. Now in his last year at school, he's finally caught her eye by starring in a teacher-baiting pantomime. Dreams are already taking shape of a career in entertainment, perhaps with Angie by his side. And all he's got to do is pass his exams, get to uni and keep away from Gina Wood, that weird girl who once let him touch her… "Girls Like Funny Boys wasn't what I expected - and that's simply not fair as Dave Franklin's not meant to be writing to a formula. But I really didn't expect to find this as engaging, involving and emotional as I did. I loved Johnny, rode the waves of his life every step of the way. I laughed out loud at points and found myself sniffing back tears at others... Most of all I just loved this book." - Australian Crime Fiction Length: 115,000 words.