From an emerging master of short fiction and one of Canada's most distinctive voices, a collection of stories as heartbreaking as those of Lorrie Moore and as hilariously off-kilter as something out of McSweeney's.In Better Living through Plastic Explosives, Zsuzsi Gartner delivers a powerful second dose of the lacerating satire that marked her acclaimed debut, All the Anxious Girls on Earth, but with even greater depth and darker humour. Whether she casts her eye on evolution and modern manhood when an upscale cul-de-sac is thrown into chaos after a redneck moves into the neighbourhood, international adoption, war photography, real estate, the movie industry, motivational speakers, or terrorism, Gartner filets the righteous and the ridiculous with dexterity in equal, glorious measure. These stories ruthlessly expose our most secret desires, and allow us to snort with laughter at the grotesque world we'd live in if we all got what we wanted.
Djian's five novels have won acclaim in Europe, and the present one was a bestseller later adapted into an offbeat film. It's not likely, however, that this tedious and melodramatic on-the-road novel of the most formless kind will have much impact here. The story revolves around the love affair between a drifter with an unpublished novel to his credit and a beautiful girl with itchy feet who, for no discernible reason (Djian doesn't seem to believe in reasons), goes from such eccentricities as pouring paint over a car and torching a house to self-destructive madness. Her passion-driven lover follows ...
On India's south-western coast, between Goa and Calicut, lies Kittur – a small, nondescript every town. Aravind Adiga acts as our guide to the town, mapping overlapping lives of Kittur's residents. Here, an illiterate Muslim boy working at the train station finds himself tempted by an Islamic terrorist; a bookseller is arrested for selling a copy of "The Satanic Verses"; a rich, spoiled, half-caste student decides to explode a bomb in school; a sexologist has to find a cure for a young boy who may have AIDS. What emerges is the moral biography of an Indian town and a group portrait of ordinary Indians in a time of extraordinary transformation, over the seven-year period between the assassinations of Prime Minister Gandhi and her son Rajiv. Keenly observed and finely detailed, "Between the Assassinations" is a triumph of voice and imagination.
New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult and her teenage daughter present their first-ever novel for teens, filled with romance, adventure, and humor.What happens when happily ever after.isn't?Delilah is a bit of a loner who prefers spending her time in the school library with her head in a book – one book in particular. Between the Lines may be a fairy tale, but it feels real. Prince Oliver is brave, adventurous, and loving. He really speaks to Delilah.And then one day Oliver actually speaks to her. Turns out, Oliver is more than a ...
The school year is almost at an end, and the chocolate sale is past history. But no one at Trinity School can forget The Chocolate War.Devious Archie Costello, commander of the secret school organizationcalled the Virgils, stall has some torturous assignments to hand out before he graduates. In spite of this pleasure, Archie is troubled by his right-hand man, Obie, who has started to move away from the Virgils. Luckily Archie knows his stooges will fix that. But won't Archie be shocked when he discovers the surprise Obie has waiting for him?And there are surprises waiting for others. The time for revenge has come to those boys who secretly suffered the trials of Trinity. The fuse is set for the final explosion. Who will survive?
Anna zosta?a pocz?ta, by zosta? dawczyni? szpiku dla swej siostry, Kate. Nigdy nie kwestionowa?a tej roli, cho? musi ?y? tak, jakby by?a ci??ko chora.Ma dopiero trzyna?cie lat, a ju? przesz?a niezliczone zabiegi operacyjne, by jej starsza siostra mia?a szans? wyleczy? si? z bia?aczki. Jak wi?kszo?? nastolatk?w, Anna zastanawia si?, kim jest; inaczej jednak ni? przeci?tna nastolatka ma pouk?adane ?ycie: istnieje w?a?ciwie wy??cznie jako dope?nienie siostry. Dlatego podejmuje decyzj?, kt?ra zagrozi jej rodzinie i prawdopodobnie b?dzie mie? fatalne konsekwencje ...
Tw?rczo?? Jerzego Pilcha nie wymaga specjalnej rekomendacji. W swojej ksi??ce Pilch rejestruje r??norodno?? ?ycia spo?eczno-obyczajowego wsp??czesnej Polski, ??cz?c swe obserwacje z nostalgiczno-ironicznymi wspomnieniami z okresu dzieci?stwa i m?odo?ci. Oryginalno?? obserwacji, humor i sarkazm, b?yskotliwe paradoksy i groteska to dodatkowe atuty autobiograficznej prozy Pilcha. Jerzy Pilch wybitny prozaik, autor Monologu z lisiej jamy (1996), zbioru opowiada? pt. Wyznania tw?rcy pok?tnej literatury erotycznej (1988), powie?ci Spis cudzo?o?nic (1993), Tysi?c spokojnych miast (1998), felieton?w opublikowanych w zbiorach Rozpacz z powodu utraty furmanki (1994) oraz Tezy o g?upocie, piciu i umieraniu (1997), kt?re znalaz?y si? w si?demce najlepszych ksi??ek roku, nominowanych do Nagrody NIKE 98.
Akcja Bia?ej gardenii rozpoczyna si? pod koniec II wojny ?wiatowej w wiosce na granicy chi?sko-rosyjskiej. Ksi??ka opisuje histori? matki i c?rki, rozdzielonych wojenn? zawieruch?. W Harbinie, schronieniu dla rodzin, kt?re uciek?y z Rosji po upadku caratu, Alina Koz?owa musi podj?? rozdzieraj?c? serce decyzj?, dotycz?c? ?ycia lub ?mierci swojego jedynego dziecka, c?rki Ani. Bia?a gardenia to ksi??ka o zderzeniu kultur r??nych kontynent?w. Jej bohater?w spotkamy zar?wno w nocnych klubach Szanghaju, jak i w surowej Rosji radzieckiej lat sze??dziesi?tych XX wieku, w najtrudniejszym okresie zimnej wojny, na samotnej wyspie Pacyfiku i w powojennej Australii. Matka i c?rka musz? si? przygotowa? na wiele po?wi?ce?, ale czy cena przetrwania nie jest zbyt wysoka? I, przede wszystkim, czy jeszcze si? kiedy? odnajd?? Mnogo?? przyg?d przeplatanych licznymi faktami historycznymi owocuje znakomit? opowie?ci? o t?sknocie i wybaczaniu.
When Billy, a handsome, unpretentious, stuttering young able-seaman, is falsely accused of inciting mutiny, he lashes out, kills his accuser and is condemned to die. Written in allusive and beautiful prose, many-layered, resonant with ideas and meanings, Billy Budd has inspired drama, films and opera and continues to elude interpretation.The main theme of the novel, however, is generally considered to be the vulnerability of innocence in a fallen world. Billy, a victim of one man's unnatural hatred, is the embodiment of goodness destroyed by evil, but as "the criminal pays the penalty of his crime", a greater justice comes into play.The original source for this text has not been identified. The text has been checked for italics against Harrison Hayford and Merton M. Sealts, Jr., eds, Billy Budd: Sailor (An Inside Narrative) (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962).
Відверта історія розкутого життя молодої кінорежисерки Тріші Торнберг, яка знімає провокативне кіно. У вільний час Тріша розважається в колі друзів, і розваги їхні з погляду пересічного громадянина досить нестандартні, навіть скандальні, її черговий фільм забороняє цензура, однак відбуваються підпільні покази, і картина Тріші здобуває премію престижного Венеційського кінофестивалю. Під час вручення кінопремії на неї чинить замах маніяк. Із жахом Тріша розуміє, що це – один з її колишніх коханців...
In this novel, adapted by the author for easier reading by German learners, a young girl struggles with young love, bulimia, and adolescent self-acceptance. The novel has been a success with adolescent and young adult readers. The accompanying "Suggestion for Lesson Plans" offers photocopiable worksheets and teaching tips for classroom use.
Paha Sapa, a young Sioux warrior, first encounters General George Armstrong Custer as Custer lies dying on the battlefield at Little Bighorn. He believes?as do the holy men of his tribe?that the legendary general's ghost entered him at that moment and will remain with him until Sapa convinces him to leave.In BLACK HILLS, Dan Simmons weaves the stories of Paha Sapa and Custer together seamlessly, depicting a violent and tumultuous time in the history of Native Americans and the United States Army. Haunted by the voice of the general his people called "Long Hair," Paha Sapa lives a long life, driven by a dramatic vision he experiences in the Black Hills that are his tribe's homeland. As an explosives worker on the massive Mount Rushmore project, he may finally be rid of his ghosts?on the very day FDR comes to South Dakota to dedicate the Jefferson face.
A non fiction bookElif Shafak is the most popular woman writer in Turkey today. In her lyrical and deeply-personal book, Black Milk, she writes of the struggle between art and motherhood.Shafak tells of an imaginary “harem of small finger women” or tiny “Thumbelinas” who live within her and vie for dominance. All of her “finger women” are manifestations of different aspects of Shafak’s own personality struggling for control, as she wrestles with her decision to become a mother.The book was written after the birth of Shafak’s first child and long bout of post-partum depression. In the book, Shafak examines her own feelings and career against those of Sylvia Plath, Zelda Fitzgerald, Virginia Woolf, Ayn Rand, Simone de Beauvoir, and other female writers of note. Black Milk is original, humorous, and insightful – a must-read for all women who have ever felt the pull of more than one path. На английском языке
‘A lively and original talent’ – Sunday Times‘Harris is at her best when detailing the sensual pleasures of taste and smell. As chocoholics stand advised to stock up on some of their favourite bars before biting into Chocolat, so boozers everywhere should get a couple of bottles in before opening Blackberry Wine’ – Helen Falconer, Guardian‘Joanne Harris has the gift of conveying her delight in the sensuous pleasures of food, wine, scent and plants… [Blackberry Wine] has all the appeal of a velvety scented glass of vintage wine’ – Lizzie Buchan, Daily Mail‘If Joanne Harris didn’...
En esta extraordinaria novela, Ricardo Piglia se confirma, incontestablemente, como uno de los escritores mayores en lengua espa?ola de nuestro tiempo.Tony Dur?n, un extra?o forastero, nacido en Puerto Rico, educado como un americano en Nueva Jersey, fue asesinado a comienzos de los a?os setenta en un pueblo de la provincia de Buenos Aires. Antes de morir, Tony ha sido el centro de la atenci?n de todos, el admirado, vigilado, diferente pero tambi?n el fascinante. Hab?a llegado siguiendo a las bellas hermanas Belladona, las gemelas Ada y Sof?a, hijas de ...
It's 2:15 A.M. and the phone is ringing. Jolted awake, Polly stares wide-eyed at it. She is certain it must be bad news because no one with good news calls at that hour. A wrong number, maybe. But more likely it's the Bug, the stalker who has been harassing her for ages. But as Polly reaches for the phone, the one thing she cannot imagine, the one thing she doesn't remotely expect, is the voice on the other end of the line. Her very own blast from the past… "Don't freak out," the voice says. "It's Jack." And so ...
Soon after she returns to Bleak House, Esther decides to go to London to see Mr. Guppy. First, she visits Caddy and Prince Turveydrop. Taken aback by Esther's scarred face, Guppy emphatically retracts his former marriage proposal to Esther. Esther obtains from him a promise to "relinquish all idea of . . . serving me." She no longer needs Guppy's assistance in helping her learn her real identity, and Guppy's presence could possibly endanger her attempt to be secret about what she has learned from Lady Dedlock.
