An eminently poetic book, Langrishe, Go Down (Higgins's first novel) traces the fall of the Langrishes—a once wealthy, highly respected Irish family—through the lives of their four daughters, especially the youngest, Imogen, whose love affair with a self-centered German scholar resonates throughout the book. Their relationship, told in lush, erotic, and occasionally melancholic prose, comes to represent not only the invasion and decline of this insular family, but the decline of Ireland and Western Europe as a whole in the years preceding World War II. In the tradition of great Irish writing, Higgins's prose is a direct descendent from that of James Joyce and Samuel Beckett, and nowhere else in his mastery of the language as evident as in Langrishe, Go Down, which the Irish Times applauded as "the best Irish novel since At Swim-Two-Birds and the novels of Beckett." Views: 76
President Timothy Kegan is assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Philadelphia; a single shooter is caught and convicted. Fourteen years later, the slain President’s brother, Nick, hears a deathbed confession that upends everything he thought he knew about his brother’s death. In a desperate rush to find the real killer, Nick must navigate the murky waters of a conspiracy that involves the CIA, oil barons, the police force, movie stars, and people at the highest level of government. A gripping political thriller, this book contains disturbing echoes of the Kennedy Assassination. Rife with political intrigue, it addresses many mysteries that remain unsolved in the real life JFK case—and it’s sure to keep you turning pages. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Richard Condon (1915-1996) is a political novelist from New York who wrote over 26 satirical thrillers throughout a prolific career—dealing with themes of political corruption, greed, and abuse of power. Before his career as a novelist, Condon served in the US Merchant Marines and later became a Hollywood publicist, agent, and advertising writer. Condon’s best-selling works include The Manchurian Candidate and the Prizzi series, dealing with the life of a crime family in New York. The Manchurian Candidate was made into a movie twice, once in 1962 and again in 2004. The 1962 movie starred Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury, who was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for her role.From the Publisher7 1.5-hour cassettes About the AuthorRichard Condon was born in New York City and worked in the movie business for twenty years before he started writing novels. In addition to THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE his bestsellers include PRIZZI'S HONOR. He died in 1996. Views: 76
Published posthumously in 1976, these stories include some familiar characters and scenarios, as well as an uncharacteristic vignette portraying urban hooligans.The title story, 'The Yellow Meads of Asphodel', looks at the apparently stagnant lives of a brother and sister, both in their forties, who live together in the country house left to them by their parents. Their lives are uprooted, however, when one of them falls in love.Two loved characters are revisited. Uncle Silas in 'Loss of Pride', where Silas recounts how he and his friends dealt with an obnoxious braggart and womanizer; and in 'The Proposal', published shortly after Bates's death, the story continues Bates's entertaining tales of Miss Shuttleworth.In 'The Lap of Luxury', a year after the end of war, two former pilots, Maxie and Roger, revisit France to trace Maxie's escape route from a prisoner of war camp. They separate, and Roger is taken in by a lovely, rich widow. But after... Views: 76
In the near future humanity has tired of its miserable life so much that a fanatical government decides to give earth back to nature. While all around Dominick Priest humanity is either commiting suicide or being killed by fanatics, the hero struggles overland toward his home village, not really knowing what awaits him there. Views: 75
“Worshipped, hated, envied, exploited - who are they, these rock stars?Read Diary of a Rock ’n’ Roll Star and your idols will never seem the same...”So ran the back cover text of the original edition of this seminal music book. First published in 1974, it was probably the first ever rock autobiography, and is now regarded as a classic.The book documents Matt the Hoople’s 1972 American tour and strips away the glittering facade of the 70’s rock star lifestyle, where hopes and dreams equate, in reality, with poverty and discomfort.This brutally honest account introduces the reader to the managers, promoters, hangers-on and fans, as well as Hunter’s personal friends David Bowie, Keith Moon and Frank Zappa.Ian Hunter joined Mott the Hoople in 1969, and acclaimed albums and powerful live shows followed, with ‘All The Way From Memphis’ and Bowie’s ‘All The Young Dudes’ being notable high points, before Mott split in 1974. After working with Mick Ronson, Hunter nows enjoys a successful solo career. He lives in Connecticut USA.This best-selling tile is universally acclaimed as one of the most outstanding and essential music books ever written. Views: 75
Judge Dee, the master detective of seventh-century China, sets out to solve a puzzling double murder and discovers complex passions lurking beneath the placid surface of academic life. A mild-mannered student is rumored to have been slain by a fox-demon, while a young dancer meets her death as she dresses to perform for the magistrate's illustrious dinner guests—an obese Zen monk revered for his calligraphy, a beautiful poetess accused of murder, and the past president of the imperial academy.
To connect the present crimes with betrayals and adulteries from decades past, the clever judge must visit a high-class brothel and the haunted shrine of the Black Fox. From the moment the young scholar is found dead on the eve of the Autumn Festival, the pace never lets up.
"The China of old, in Mr. van Gulik's skilled hands, comes vividly alive again."—Allen J. Hubin, New York Times Book Review
"If you have not yet discovered Judge Dee, I envy you that initial pleasure. . . . For the magistrate of Poo-yang belongs in that select group headed by Sherlock Holmes."—Robert Kirsch, Los Angeles Times Views: 75
Are there other intelligent beings in the universe?Are some of them watching us, waiting for their chance to take over?Or are they already in control?Disturbing and fascinating answers to these questions can be found in this masterful collection of stories by some of the world’s great writers of science fiction and fantasy. Views: 75
Book DescriptionHe came to the valley of the whispering wind, a man who rode with the caution born of riding long on strange trails in a land untamed and restless with danger. Kilkenny could find no peace in the valley, for he came with a reputation for a lightning draw. Eager gunmen arose like coyotes to test him. One trigger happy victim was a Tetlow. Old man Tetlow was a hard man driven by greed to build a cattle empire. Now he would use every ruthless killer he could hire to fulfill an even more powerful urge -- to destroy Kilkenny. Views: 74
Product DescriptionThe enchanting follow-up to Village School, Miss Read's beloved first novel, Village Diary once again transports us to the picturesque English village of Fairacre. Each chapter describes a month in the life of the village school’s headmistress, Miss Read. As the villagers prepare for their country pageant, Fairacre welcomes many newcomers, such as the headstrong Amy, Mr. Mawne (whom the villagers would like to see the reluctant Miss Read marry), and the earnest new infants' teacher, Miss Jackson.About the AuthorMiss Read is the pseudonym of Mrs. Dora Saint, a former schoolteacher beloved for her novels of English rural life, especially those set in the fictional villages of Thrush Green and Fairacre. The first of these, Village School, was published in 1955, and Miss Read continued to write until her retirement in 1996. In the 1998, she was awarded an MBE, or Member of the Order of the British Empire, for her services to literature. She lives in Berkshire. Views: 74
Epub (reworked)Do you rememberthose old-fashioned snowball paperweights —the round glass ball containing a miniature world of snowmen, or igloos, or perhaps a Santa Claus fixed firmly to one side of the ball—the kind which, when shaken, produced a pleasant flurry of floating flakes to obscure, for a little while, the tiny world so safely encased, so much at the mercy of anyone who wanted to smash it.Imaginesuch a world, immeasurably larger, large enough to have its own interior fixed sun, but a world still finite, whirling freely in space, populated by a full complement of creatures of all kinds. They would be literally inside outside. But they would not know it. Not at first.They would try desperately to find an answer to who they were, what was their universe, what was the purpose of their lives—much as people do on Earth.And when disaster struck—when the hand shook the snowball—they would try desperately hard to survive. And some would find the answer. Views: 74
In Highland Fling—Nancy Mitford’s first novel, published in 1931—a set of completely incompatible and hilariously eccentric characters collide in a Scottish castle, where bright young things play pranks on their stodgy elders until the frothy plot climaxes in ghost sightings and a dramatic fire. Inspired in part by Mitford’s youthful infatuation with a Scottish aristocrat, her story follows young Jane Dacre to a shooting party at Dulloch Castle, where she tramps around a damp and chilly moor on a hunting expedition with formidable Lady Prague, xenophobic General Murgatroyd, one-eyed Admiral Wenceslaus, and an assortment of other ancient and gouty peers of the realm, while falling in love with Albert, a surrealist painter with a mischievous sense of humor. Lighthearted and sparkling with witty banter, Highland Fling was Mitford’s first foray into the delightful fictional world for which the author of The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate later became so celebrated. With an Introduction by Julian Fellowes, creator of Downton Abbey.From AudioFileRosemary Davis reads Nancy Mitford's 1931 novel as if it's a family story. Her familiarity with the characters and events draws the reader into this story of an English artist who meets his future bride while attending a house party in Scotland. Davis's English accent is totally lucid and effective; she moves effortlessly into the recitation of a lengthy Scottish ballad with wonderful clarity. The recitation is one of the many high points in this rounded tale of romance and English class discord. Davis's ability to make serious points without pomposity and to convey Mitford's humor make listening to this tale a joy. D.P.D. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine Views: 74
