One of the most entertaining of the Abbey books. Rykie, a free-spirited young relative of staid Joan's, comes to live at the manor, shocking self-righteous Joy, Joan, and Jen. Views: 49
Former Earthman Tarl Cabot is now a powerful Tarnsman of the brutal and caste-bound planet of Gor, also known as Counter-Earth. He embarks on an adventure in the dangerous and mysterious wilderness of Gor, pitting his warrior's skills against those of treacherous outlaws, bandits, and fighters. Three different women are working to bring change to Tarl's far-from-peaceful life on Gor: Talena, his onetime queen and first love; Elizabeth, his brave fighting partner; and the Amazonian Verna, chief of the fierce and wild panther women. As Tarl journeys through the wilderness, the fates of these three remarkable women will finally be decided.Rediscover this brilliantly imagined world where men are masters and women live to serve their every desire. Views: 49
After the first flowering of the Terran Empire, which has grown increasingly decadent and corrupt, other civilizations in the galaxy threaten to take over the Terran's worlds. In this scenario steps the debonair, tough and pessimistic Dominic Flandry, half-Hans Solo, half-James Bond and a hero for the ages! Views: 49
Paul Scott had come all the way from Oklahoma seeking Alonzo Finch, who was responsible for the death of one of Paul's twin brothers and the disappearance of the other under a cloud. His path led him to a Mormon settlement in Utah, where he was offered a job pitching hay by the man who ran the trading post; and that in turn led him to a saloon called the Lone Chance, where he finally cornered his quarry.However, because Paul knew he would never learn all the answers to what had happened in the past without Finch's help, and also because he wanted Finch legally tried, he had to suppress his natural desire for vengeance and refuse the invitation to a shoot-out. Views: 49
Dorothy Uhnak's no-holds-barred memoir about her life as one of New York's finestThe original policewoman, Dorothy Uhnak was the first to write a procedural novel with a female cop as the protagonist. But before she turned her talents to fiction, Uhnak was a detective with the New York Transit Police. Policewoman chronicles her fourteen years on the force, where she was decorated twice for bravery. This insider's view of law enforcement takes you behind the scenes into a city that was a no-man's land of corruption, drugs, and violence. Uhnak recounts the hurdles facing a female cop during New York's tumultuous 1950s and '60s, and the difficult adjustment to a new way of life once she gets her badge. She takes readers from firearms training to homicide scenes to interrogation rooms where detectives extract confessions. As gritty and relentless as Uhnak's novels, Policewoman is a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the last, spellbinding page is turned. Views: 49
This collection of Alan Bennett's work includes his first play and West End hit, Forty Years On, as well as Getting On, Habeus Corpus, and Enjoy. Forty Years On 'Alan Bennett's most gloriously funny play ... a brilliant, youthful perception of a nation in decline, as seen through the eyes of a home-grown school play ... a classic.' Daily Mail Getting On Winner of the Evening Standard Best Comedy Award in 1971, Getting on is an account of a middle-aged Labour MP, so self-absorbed that he remains blind to the fact that his wife is having an affair with the handyman, his mother-in-law in dying, his son is getting ready to leave home, his best friend thinks him a fool and that to everyone who comes into contact with him he is a self-esteeming joke. Habeus Corpus 'After two elegiac comedies about the decline of old England, Mr Bennett has now written a gorgeously vulgar but densely plotted facre that is a downright celebration of sex and the human body ... a combination of hurtling action... Views: 49
Life is a Dream by Pedro Calderon de la Barca Classic Drama Translated by Edward Fitzgerald Life Is a Dream is a Spanish-language play by Pedro Calderon de la Barca. First published in 1635 (or possibly in early 1636), it is a philosophical allegory regarding the human situation and the mystery of life. The play has been described as "the supreme example of Spanish Golden Age drama." The story focuses on the fictional Segismundo, Prince of Poland, who has been imprisoned in a tower by his father, King Basilio, following a dire prophecy that the prince would bring disaster to the country and death to the King. Basilio briefly frees Segismundo, but when the prince goes on a rampage, the king imprisons him again, persuading him that it was all a dream. Pedro Calderon de la Barca was born in Madrid, January 17, 1600, of good family. He was educated at the Jesuit College in Madrid and at the University of Salamanca; and a doubtful tradition says that he began to write plays at the age of thirteen. His literary activity was interrupted for ten years, 1625-1635, by military service in Italy and the Low Countries, and again for a year or more in Catalonia. In 1637 he became a Knight of the Order of Santiago, and in 1651 he entered the priesthood, rising to the dignity of Superior of the Brotherhood of San Pedro in Madrid. He held various offices in the court of Philip IV, who rewarded his services with pensions, and had his plays produced with great splendor. He died May 5, 1681. At the time when Calderon began to compose for the stage, the Spanish drama was at its height. Lope de Vega, the most prolific and, with Calderon, the greatest, of Spanish dramatists, was still alive; and by his applause gave encouragement to the beginner whose fame was to rival his own. The national type of drama which Lope had established was maintained in its essential characteristics by Calderon, and he produced abundant specimens of all its varieties. Of regular plays he has left a hundred and twenty; of "Autos Sacramentales," the peculiar Spanish allegorical development of the medieval mystery, we have seventy-three; besides a considerable number of farces. The dominant motives in Calderon's dramas are characteristically national: fervid loyalty to Church and King, and a sense of honor heightened almost to the point of the fantastic. Though his plays are laid in a great variety of scenes and ages, the sentiment and the characters remain essentially Spanish; and this intensely local quality has probably lessened the vogue of Calderon in other countries. In the construction and conduct of his plots he showed great skill, yet the ingenuity expended in the management of the story did not restrain the fiery emotion and opulent imagination which mark his finest speeches and give them a lyric quality which some critics regard as his greatest distinction. Views: 49
The Black Dudley is an ancient, remote mansion inhabited by recluse, Colonel Combe, but owned by Waytt Petrie, a young academic who decides to revive his property with a weekend party to which he invites his friends and colleagues. Among the guests is George Abbershaw, a renowned doctor and pathologist who is occasionally summoned by Scotland Yard to help with consulting mysterious deaths. Abbershaw hopes that the leisurely weekend at Black Dudley will help him to get acquainted with red-haired Meggie Oliphant whom he quietly admires. Little does he suspect that instead he will be involved in a series of extraordinary and dangerous incidents which unravel one by one in the gloomy mansion and split the party.It all begins with a seemingly innocent ritual-game, played in Black Dudley for generations, in which a jewelled dagger is passed between the guests in the darkness. The young visitors are intrigued and eager to play, but when the lights are restored it becomes apparent... Views: 49
First published in 1955, The Violent Bear It Away is now a landmark in American literature. It is a dark and absorbing example of the Gothic sensibility and bracing satirical voice that are united in Flannery O'Conner's work. In it, the orphaned Francis Marion Tarwater and his cousins, the schoolteacher Rayber, defy the prophecy of their dead uncle--that Tarwater will become a prophet and will baptize Rayber's young son, Bishop. A series of struggles ensues: Tarwater fights an internal battle against his innate faith and the voices calling him to be a prophet while Rayber tries to draw Tarwater into a more "reasonable" modern world. Both wrestle with the legacy of their dead relatives and lay claim to Bishop's soul.O'Connor observes all this with an astonishing combination of irony and compassion, humor and pathos. The result is a novel whose range and depth reveal a brilliant and innovative writers acutely alert to where the sacred lives and to where it does not.Review"I am sure her books will live on and on in American Literature" --Elizabeth Bishop"There is very little contemporary fiction which touches the level of Flannery O'Connor at her best." --Alan Pryce-Jones, New York Herald TribuneAbout the AuthorFlannery O'Conner was born in Savannah, Georgia in 1925. When she died at the age of thirty-nine, America lost one of its most gifted writers at the height of her power. Views: 49
A PREVIEW of what you will read next time:"Careful, my friend," said Dr. Lewellyn. "What frightens you and your people so much about the desert? Do you fear the terrible storms or do you believe that demons and evil gods live there?"The bird-creature nodded. "The wasteland is evil embodied, Doctor. Many Greens have disappeared there or they have returned insane. Strange things happen that are uncanny to us."Get the whole exciting story in— SECRET MISSION: MOLUK! Views: 49
The last collection of James Bond adventures from Ian Fleming, Octopussy and The Living Daylights features four tales of intrigue that push 007 to the limit and find the secret agent questioning where he can go from there… In “Octopussy,” a former operative in the Second World War must face the consequences of past sins when James Bond knocks on the door of his Caribbean fortress, and in “The Property of a Lady” Bond deciphers the elaborate codes of a Sotheby’s bidding war in order to catch a KGB agent. “007 in New York” takes Bond to the titular city to warn an ex-agent of her boyfriend’s secret KGB affiliation. And “The Living Daylights” sends Bond to Berlin to protect a British agent before an assassin strikes. Published posthumously, Octopussy and The Living Daylights marks Ian Fleming’s final contribution to the legacy of his iconic creation, 007 James Bond.About the AuthorIan Fleming was born in London on May 28, 1908. He was educated at Eton College and later spent a formative period studying languages in Europe. His first job was with Reuters News Agency where a Moscow posting gave him firsthand experience with what would become his literary bete noire—the Soviet Union. During World War II he served as Assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence and played a key role in Allied espionage operations. After the war he worked as foreign manager of the Sunday Times, a job that allowed him to spend two months each year in Jamaica. Here, in 1952, at his home “Goldeneye,” he wrote a book called Casino Royale—and James Bond was born. The first print run sold out within a month. For the next twelve years Fleming produced a novel a year featuring Special Agent 007, the most famous spy of the century. His travels, interests, and wartime experience lent authority to everything he wrote. Raymond Chandler described him as “the most forceful and driving writer of thrillers in England.” Sales soared when President Kennedy named the fifth title, From Russia With Love, one of his favorite books. The Bond novels have sold more than one hundred million copies worldwide, boosted by the hugely successful film franchise that began in 1962 with the release of Dr. No. He married Anne Rothermere in 1952. His story about a magical car, written in 1961 for their only son Caspar, went on to become the well- loved novel and film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Fleming died of heart failure on August 12, 1964, at the age of fifty-six. Views: 49
Movie lovers might recognize Make Room! Make Room! as the basis for the 1973 film Soylent Green, which starred Charlton Heston. While Soylent Green has become a cult classic, fans of the novel have taken issue with its interpretation of what Harrison was really trying to say. Concerned about audiences losing interest, the creators of the film made cannibalism and not overpopulation (as it is in the book) the thematic focus of the story. As a result, fans of the movie and critics alike may want to visit the story in its original unbowdlerized form.Make Room! Make Room! is set in the year 1999 and the world has become a grim and terribly overpopulated place, bleak and foreboding. This sets the premise for Harrison's novel, and fans of his earlier more comic works may be surprised at the seriousness of this novel. Although Harrison's fears did not become a reality for the inhabitants of New York or the rest of the United States, the novel remains nonetheless a gripping,... Views: 49