At age thirty-two, there was still no sign of Russell's talent as a movie director--until all these disjointed efforts of his youth fell into place after an unnerving but ultimately successful interview with the BBC for a position with the ground-breaking television film program Monitor. The show made Russell's career. Thirty years and fifty films later, Ken Russell looks back on a life filled with more than its share of highs and lows--a direct consequence of his inability to do anything in moderation. Written in the flowing, intercutting style of his films, this autobiography peels back the layers to explore the core Ken Russell. This is a man not instantly known on the streets as the director of the latest action sequel...but as a playful, sometimes serious, always inventive expander of the cinematic realm.

Beethoven Confidential started life as a play that was developed into a screenplay for a film starring Jodie Foster and Glenda Jackson, with Anthony Hopkins as the deaf musical genius Ludwig von Beethoven. It tells the story of the rivalry between two would-be biographers in the quest for the so-called "Immortal Beloved"—Beethoven's secret love. Personal friends of Beethoven, the biographers become pitted against each other in a race to reveal the mysterious lover. The film was never made but the mystery is solved in this novel about the great composer. It is a story that Ken Russell considers to be one of the most bizarre and compelling detective yarns of all time. Johannes Brahms was renowned for his three B's—beer, beard, and belly. Tradition has it that Brahms died a confirmed bachelor and a respected pillar of society who liked nothing better than a pint in the evening and a walk through the Black Forest at weekends. But what of his sex life? According to Ken Russell, "Brahms probably knew more about sex than any composer before or since." The evidence is in the music: for sheer sensuality try the inner movements of his Third Symphony, or the opening of his First Symphony ("tell me if that doesn't have balls") or a section in the Fourth that can only be described as "the sex act set to music." But the composer’s early life tells us more. Born in the red-light district of Hamburg, Brahms spent his formative years playing piano in city brothels. Brahms Gets Laid investigates his close association with insane genius Robert Schumann and his even closer relationship with the psychologically disturbed Clara Schumann and her daughters.

This "novel biography" focuses a literary rather than camera lens on the private lives of Elgar and Delius --with no holds barred! In these new novel-biograhies Ken Russell reinvents the quintessentially English Edward Elgar (1857-1934) and Frederick Delius (1862-1934) for the printed page. Here the two musicians' --both provincial lads --come alive in a new way in biographical novels that are revealing yet boisterously entertaining --occasionally outrageous and iconoclastic. In Elgar: The Erotic Variation, Russell explodes his own myth of offering the last word on his subject. Here the man emerges from Victorian morality complete with mistresses and muses in the form of the women who captivated his soul, including his childhood sweetheart Helen Weaver and the emancipated headmistress Rosa Burley. Delius: A Moment with Venus is largely based on the recollections of the composer's amanuensis, Eric Fenby, who became a friend of the author during the making of the Monitor drama-documentary. Some of the extra-marital material in this novel was unknown to Russell when he made his film, but the baptism of Frederick Delius the Yorkshireman --as "Fritz" --is the hilarious starting point for the revelations about the secret life of this cantankerous old pagan genius.

With a foreword by Melvyn Bragg. The updated autobiography of Britain's most controversial film director. Moving with astonishing assurance through time and space, Russell recreates his life in a series of interconnected episodes: his 30s childhood in Southampton, his first sexual experience (watching Disney's Pinocchio), his schooldays at the Nautical College, Pangbourne and early careers in the Merchant Marines and the Royal Air Force. Full of marvellously funny anecdotes and fascinating insights, this is a remarkable autobiography.

IQ tests are now encountered in recruitment for the government, the armed forces, education, industry and commerce.Test Your IQ contains 400 IQ test questions written and compiled by IQ-test experts, complete with a guide to assessing individual performance. Working through the questions can help anyone improve their vocabulary and develop powers of calculation and logical reasoning.By studying the different types of test, and recognizing the different types of question, readers can improve their test scores and increase their IQ rating.Test your IQ is invaluable to those who have to take an IQ test, but it's also great fun for anyone who likes to stretch their mind for their own entertainment.

Discover through exercises whether you are right- or left- brained. Learn what this means, and how it affects your personality, your intelligence, and the way you solve everyday problems.This book will train you to:* Evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, construct a personal evaluation of exactly how your brain works, and build a personalised workout for a balanced brain using the illustrated exercises in the book.* Monitor the progress you have made towards balancing your brain.* Reevaluate your balanced brain with pointers, principles and advice that applies to the sorts of problems you encounter every day.

In this ground-breaking book, acclaimed film director Ken Russell unpacks the creative insights, technique, know-how and sheer determination that have enabled him to realise on screen more than fifty diverse and yet intensely personal films. Drawing on his parallel experiences of producing, screenwriting and editing - as well as his favourite (and some unfavoured) movies by other directors - Russell places the role of the director as auteur within the context of film-making as a collaborative enterprise. As a bonus, Russell offers critical insights into his vision and intentions in several of his own movies, including an exclusive focus on his most recent film.

A brand new collection of powerful psychometric and intelligence tests Psychometric testing has become a standard tool of the trade among recruiters in today's hypercompetitive job marketplace. Now, from the wiseguys behind the bestselling IQ Workout series, here are forty new tests designed to gauge and sharpen your mental powers, assess your personality traits, identify your aptitudes, and reveal your strengths and weaknesses. Each test offers a minimum of twenty to twenty-five questions. Using a point system that enables you to calibrate your personality traits, the personality tests examine thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in various situations. The IQ tests assess verbal comprehension, numeracy, logic, and spatial reasoning, and feature a scoring system and in-depth answers that provide instant feedback on performance. A fun and informative way to assess personality and intelligence, More Psychometric Testing also is an indispensable resource for job seekers and career builders. Philip Carter (Mirfield, West Yorkshire, UK) and Ken Russell (Havant, West Sussex, UK) are the UK MENSA Puzzle Editors. Together they have coauthored over 100 books on all aspects of testing, puzzles, and crosswords.

Do you see yourself as a bit of an IQ wizard? Do you want to stretch your mental powers even further? Then this book is for you! Containing hundreds of logic puzzles, mind-benders, mathematical teasers and conundrums, Discover Your IQ Potential is the perfect way to challenge your IQ skills. Compiled by two of MENSA's leading puzzle editors, this collection of 500 puzzles is a must-have for all those serious about using their grey matter to its full potential. So get started, work your way through and watch with amazement as your IQ soars to exceptional heights!