"Everything that's happened in this goddam country in the last fifty years has happened in, on, around, with or near a car."Herman Mack is set to devour a 1971 Ford Maverick, bumper to bumper, half a pound a day, in half-ounce cubes, for a paying audience in the ballroom of the largest hotel in Jacksonville, Florida. His junkyard operating blue collar family isn't having it, but the whole car-crazed country pours in to watch the first bite - and the first "pass" - and if the deals can get signed, and the bomb threats don't pan out, and everything that's exploitable gets exploited, and the entree can be kept sanitary, and the hotel prostitute can apply the ointment, then ... Then the grand sideshow stunt could just pass into legend. Doctors are consulted. TV cameras are brought in, set to broadcast coast-to-coast and beyond. A blowtorch cuts off a piece of the bumper. And it's served up to the ultimate consumer. Money, pride, celebrity, dreams - a myth in the making - are all on the line. Herman Mack grew up cleaning, fixing, selling, salvaging, wrecking, living and breathing cars. But can he really eat one? In Car, the acclaimed author of A Feast of Snakes totals America's all-consuming love affair with the automobile -- purveying his grotesque and farcical iconoclasm in typically Crewsian fashion -- with knife, fork and bared teeth."This book is exceedingly funny, indeed painfully so ... Car has flash after flash of genuine brilliance." -The New York Times Book Review Views: 343
First published in 1941, Walter Farley's best-selling novel for young readers is the triumphant tale of a boy and a wild horse. From Alec Ramsay and the Black's first meeting on an ill-fated ship to their adventures on a desert island and their eventual rescue, this beloved story will hold the rapt attention of readers new and old.
This book has been selected as a Common Core State Standards Text Exemplar (Grades 4-5, Stories) in Appendix B.
From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 343
When Bess Marvin purchased an expensive bottle of Oriental perfume, she never expected to stumble into a mystery. Now Bess, Nancy, George, and their new friend Jo are out to unravel the secrets of a mysterious conspiracy, a secretive cult, and a ring of counterfeiters in The Secret of Red Gate Farm. Views: 343
A wonderful collection of surreal stories from French master Emile Zola given a fresh new translation. Zola is best known for his novels Nana and Germinal.
The Flood, along with the complementary stories presented here, the celebrated Blood and Three Wars, is a fascinating example of Zola experimenting with surrealist styles, in a departure from the dark realism for which he is more commonly known. The eternal theme of man versus nature writ large, it is a timely reminder of our fragility and impermanence before the unyielding elements.
Louis Roubien has much to be thankful for. Now an old man, the head of a large family, his many hard years of work on the land have transformed him from a peasant farmer into a prosperous and satisfied freeholder, distributing his largesse among his relatives and the local community. But with success has come hubris, and when the rains, hitherto a harbinger of plenty, come, and the banks of the River Garonne swell and burst, Roubien sees everything for which he has striven swept away by the raging waters of the flood. His livelihood taken from him in one fell blow, it remains to be seen whether Roubien will at least be left his life, and the lives of those he holds dear. Views: 343
Includes the title story, in which a thieving vagrant takes on a young apprentice; "Twenty-six Men and A Girl," in which wretched bakery workers destroy their only source of joy; and "Makar Chudra." Views: 342
Mary Stuart was condemned for high treason and executed at the age of forty-four. Held captive for twenty years by England's Elizabeth I-Mary Queen of Scots, Queen of France and a claimant to the throne of England was embroiled in the power struggles that shook the foundations of Renaissance Europe from the moment of her birth to her death. With all the rigour of a scientist and the passion of an artist, Zweig has skillfully sketched a period full of political turmoil, as well as the fascinating character of Mary Stuart. Views: 342
The Next Great War begins, and soon all Europe is involved. The war lasts a year - and then the women, robbed of husbands and sweethearts and sons, grow doubtful of the benefits of military policy, and begin to think that victory will come too late to do them any good. But what can they do? A remedy was discovered by Aristophanes about 2350 years ago. It is re-discovered and re-applied. And it is again successful. This is an Aristophanic comedy, and takes some Aristophanic liberties. It is satirical when the author pleases and when he cares to be serious he is very serious indeed. There is no monotony. The story shifts from realism to wild burlesque; from earnest appeal to uproarious extravagance. The final scenes are in Edinburgh. Aristophanes made his insurgent women seize the Acropolis - here they take possession of Edinburgh Castle, as tall an eminence, and hold it against the infuriated men. The fight for the Castle is the culminating incident in a vigorous and many-sided... Views: 341
Book Three of Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea CycleDarkness threatens to overtake Earthsea: the world and its wizards are losing their magic. Despite being wearied with age, Ged Sparrowhawk -- Archmage, wizard, and dragonlord -- embarks on a daring, treacherous journey, accompanied by Enlad's young Prince Arren, to discover the reasons behind this devastating pattern of loss. Together they will sail to the farthest reaches of their world -- even beyond the realm of death -- as they seek to restore magic to a land desperately thirsty for it.With millions of copies sold worldwide, Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle has earned a treasured place on the shelves of fantasy lovers everywhere, alongside the works of such beloved authors as J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. Views: 341
Louis Rosen and his partners sell people--ingeniously designed, historically authentic simulacra of personages such as Edwin M. Stanton and Abraham Lincoln. The problem is that the only prospective buyer is a rapacious billionaire whose plans for the simulacra could land Louis in jail. Then there's the added complication that someone--or something--like Abraham Lincoln may not want to be sold.
Is an electronic Lincoln any less alive than his creators? Is a machine that cares and suffers inferior to the woman Louis loves--a borderline psychopath who does neither? With irresistible momentum, intelligence, and wit, Philip K. Dick creates an arresting techno-thriller that suggests a marriage of Bladerunner and Barbarians at the Gate.
From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 341
O. Henry is the knight of the shop-girl and the waitress; of the wandering, homeless tramp; of poverty-stricken young married folk; of hundreds of lonely human beings who live within the dirty, gloomy wall of two-dollar-a-week boarding house rooms - of the great mass of humanity not included in the "four hundred", the everyday men and women of New York's East Side.
The Four Million contains O. Henry's best and most characteristic work: the famous Gift of the Magi, the moving story of a young couple who sacrifice their most prized possessions to buy Christmas presents for each other; Soapy, the brilliant tale of a tramp who desperately attempts to break the law in order to be sent to prison so that he will have a home for the winter months; An Unfinished Story, which is a stern reproval of the employer who underpays his shop-girls - and many others. Unforgettable stories - humorous, poignant, penetrating - by "the most widely discussed and most popular short story writer of his generation."
(from the back cover) Views: 341
Katherine and Michael meet at a New Year's Eve party. They're attracted to each other, they grow to love each other. And once they've decided their love is forever, they make love.
It's the beginning of an intense and exclusive relationship, with a future all planned. Until Katherine's parents insist that she and Michael put their love to the test with a summer apart...
Forever is written for an older age group than Judy Blume's other novels for children. It caused a storm of controversy when it was first published because of its explicit sexual content. Views: 341
Siblings Julian, Dick, and Anne have come to Kirrin to spend the remainder of a school holiday with their tomboy cousin, George, and her dog, Timmy. When a mysterious girl arrives at Kirrin Cottage in the middle of the night, George and her cousins are thrilled. Berta is an American girl trying to elude kidnappers, and the Kirrin Household has been asked to protect and disguise her. Berta cuts her hair, dons boys' clothes, and is transformed into the handsome Lesley – and the Five are on constantly lookout for potential kidnappers. Will the disguise be successful, or will Berta be recognised and find herself in danger? Views: 341
Set at the Jolly Roger, a posh vacation resort for the rich and famous on the southern coast of England, Evil Under the Sun is one of Agatha Christie’s most intriguing mysteries. When a gorgeous young bride is brutally strangled to death on the beach, only Hercule Poirot can sift through the secrets that shroud each of the guests and unravel the macabre mystery at this playground by the sea. Views: 340
The body of a woman is found in the cloister of Abbesses College. Views: 339
Sally Jordan is a Honolulu heiress who is forced to sell a valuable set of pearls. The pearls are sold to Wall Street financier P.J. Madden through a local jeweler named Alexander Eden. The plan is to deliver the pearls to Madden in New York City. Charlie Chan and the jeweler's son Bob are selected to make the delivery. Charlie and Bob learn that there has been a change of plans and the pearls will now be taken to Madden's ranch in the California desert. Charlie is suspicious and decides to send Bob ahead to the ranch without the pearls while he arrives later disguised as a Chinese cook. After arriving at the ranch, Bob and Charlie find a very nervous P.J. Madden, a bilingual parrot and evidence of a possible murder. The only thing lacking is a corpse. Because of the odd circumstances at the ranch, Charlie decides it is wiser to solve the mystery of the suspected killing before handing over the pearls. While Charlie and bob stall for time, Madden's caretaker Louie Wong is murdered and the parrot dies of arsenic poisoning. THE CHINESE PARROT was produced as a silent film by Universal in 1926 with the role of Chan played by Kamiyama Sojin, a Japanese actor. George Kuwa, another Japanese actor, was cast as Louie Wong. Views: 339
