Masochism is out and feminism is in, Jews are out and Germans are in, race is out and gender is in, and everyone's fighting (and rewriting) for a piece of the pie. Jewish director Jim Minsk disappears during a trip to the South. Black playwright Ian Ball writes the all-female play Reckless Eyeballing in hopes of getting off the "sex-list." Preeminent playwright Jack Brashford, claiming the Jews stole all his black material, decides to write about Armenians. In the background, an unknown assailant dubbed the "Flower Phantom" runs loose through the city shaving heads of prominent black feminists (to the secret delight of black men).In this hilarious, devastating, but also deeply sympathetic novel, Ishmael Reed turns characters on the backs, sides, tops and bottoms to expose the multiple hypocrisies at the heart of American culture. Views: 10
Read this classic romance by New York Times bestselling author Penny Jordan, now available for the first time in e-book! Previously published as Capable of Feeling in 1986. Claiming his convenient bride! Jon Phillips needs a wife in name only to help care for his niece and nephew, and his beautiful employee Sophy already loves the children as if they were her own. So it isn't hard for Sophy to agree to what seems like the perfect convenient arrangement. But in sharing a roof together, Sophy becomes increasingly aware of her husband and her desire to make their marriage real in every sense. Can she ever be more than his untouched bride? Views: 10
Ithkar, site of the Temple of the Three Lordly Ones and the scene of an annual celebration, is the setting for a rich collection of fantasy tales by Lin Carter, Andre Norton, Nancy Springer, Morgan Llywelyn, C.J. Cherryh, and other masters of the genre Views: 10
Simon Winchester, struck by a sudden need to discover exactly what was left of the British Empire, set out across the globe to visit the far-flung islands that are all that remain of what once made Britain great. He traveled 100,000 miles back and forth, from Antarctica to the Caribbean, from the Mediterranean to the Far East, to capture a last glint of imperial glory.His adventures in these distant and forgotten ends of the earth make compelling, often funny reading and tell a story most of us had thought was over: a tale of the last outposts in Britain's imperial career and those who keep the flag flying.With a new introduction, this updated edition tells us what has happened to these extraordinary places while the author's been away.About the AuthorSimon Winchester was born and educated in England, has lived in Africa, Ireland, India and China, and now lives in US. He was a foreign correspondent for 30 years and now contributes to a variety of American and British magazines and newspapers. Hismost recent books have been the two international bestsellers, The Surgeon of Crowthorne and The Map that Changed the World. His new book, Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded is published in June 2002. From AudioFileSimon Winchester travels to the far reaches of the British Empire. Winchester reads his own sometimes oddball tales. He tells of a cricket match on St. Helena in which a fielder falls off the edge and thus is "retired, dead." On Ascension Island, an island so small it was considered a ship--the H.M.S. ASCENSION--any baby born was considered born at sea. Winchester's nicely modulated voice is perfect for reading this history/travelogue. He is engaging while narrating the history and perpetually amused at the quirks of keeping the Empire alive no matter the discomfort. The production concludes with an interview in which Winchester discusses his delight at discovering that readers share his fascination with geology. A.B. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine Views: 9
‘Fable, intellectual thriller, Gothic extravaganza, symbolist conundrum . . . a true work of art’ Sunday Independent Is there a numerical solution to the quest for the meaning of life? A brilliant reworking of the classic Dr Faustus theme, Mefisto focuses on the mathematically gifted Gabriel Swan, who seeks a numerical solution to his quest for order and meaning in life. ‘Mefisto renders all superlatives woefully inadequate . . . Undisputed master of language, the laconic pause and the blackly comic, Banville is a supreme stylist . . . He is a magician . . . Another expectedly astonishing and very daring display from this richly, almost wickedly, gifted artist’ Time Out ‘An excellent novel, beautifully written. The sort of thing you have to read more than once – wonderful stuff’ Punch ‘Few writers in Ireland today can arouse such expectation by the advent of a new novel . . . A profound beauty of words displayed by their lover . . . Banville’s great enterprise does not falter . . . read Mefisto straight through; it deserves it’ Irish TimesReviewA novel of virtuosic scope, written in a style as pristine as the rarefied mountain air atop the Brocken. --The New York TimesIntense, cerebral, linguistically inventive. --Cleveland Plain Dealer About the AuthorJohn Banville was born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1945. He is the author of fourteen previous novels including The Sea, which won the 2005 Man Booker Prize. He has received a literary award from the Lannan Foundation. He lives in Dublin. Views: 9
The superbly crafted stories collected in Alistair MacLeod's As Birds Bring Forth the Sun and Other Stories depict men and women acting out their “own peculiar mortality” against the haunting landscape of Cape Breton Island. In a voice at once elegiac and life-affirming, MacLeod describes a vital present inhabited by the unquiet spirits of a Highland past, invoking memory and myth to celebrate the continuity of the generations even in the midst of unremitting change.His second collection, As Birds Bring Forth the Sun and Other Stories confirms MacLeod's international reputation as a storyteller of rare talent and inspiration. Views: 9
He was Tige, born of the desert winds, raised as a slave and winning his freedom by weaving a special kind of magic with a warrior's skill. Now he was an almost legendary sword-dancer, ready to take on any challenge—if the price was right...or if the woman pretty enough. She was Del, born of ice and storm, trained by the greatest of Northern sword masters. Now, her ritual training completed and steeped in the special magic of her own runesword, she had come South in search of the young brother stolen five years before. But even Del could not master all the dangers of the deadly Punja alone. And meeting Del, Tiger could not turn back from the most intriguing challenge he'd ever faced—the challenge of a magical, mysterious sword-dancer of the North... Views: 8
The night before his final exams, a semi-alcoholic teenager packs up his gear and disappears into the woods. Totally unprepared for bush life, he nearly dies until he meets someone else who has her own reasons to hide. Views: 8
The definitive version of Lorca’s masterpiece, in language that is as alive and molten today as was the original.”John AshberyNewly translated for the first time in ten years, Federico García Lorca’s Poet in New York is an astonishing depiction of a tumultuous metropolis that changed the course of poetic expression in both Spain and the Americas. Written during Lorca’s nine months at Columbia University at the beginning of the Great Depression, Poet in New York is widely considered one of the most important books Lorca produced. This influential collection portrays a New York City populated with poverty, racism, social turbulence, and solitudea New York intoxicating in its vitality and beauty. After the tragedy of September 11, 2001, poets Pablo Medina and Mark Statman were struck by how closely this seventy-year-old work spoke to the atmosphere of New York. They were compelled to create a new English version... Views: 8
When they met for a weekend on Lammerty Island, none of the guests believed in the existence of an evil psychic force. But then they found a mysterious book with a cast of characters exactly mirroring their group--and foretelling their deaths by appalling, supernatural means. Views: 7
Desire Provoked is an amusing look at modern living, while also a meditation on fatherhood, marriage and ambition. The cartographer protagonist of the novel, Sam Adams, can't seem to map out his own life while he maps everything else for a living. Views: 7
