In The Clue in the Camera, what starts as a fun trip to San Francisco develops into a dangerous mystery when Nancy exposes the dark secrets of a dead man. Views: 121
Life imitates art in The Lady in the Van, the story of the itinerant Miss Shepherd, who lived in a van in Alan Bennett's driveway from the early1970s until her death in 1989. It is doubtful that Bennett could have made up the eccentric Miss Shepherd if he tried, but his poignant, funny but unsentimental account of their strange relationship is akin to his best fictional screen writing.Bennett concedes that "One seldom was able to do her a good turn without some thoughts of strangulation", but as the plastic bags build up, the years pass by and Miss Shepherd moves into Bennett's driveway, a relationship is established which defines a certain moment in late 20th-century London life which has probably gone forever. The dissenting, liberal, middle-class world of Bennett and his peers comes into hilarious but also telling collision with the world of Miss Shepherd: "there was a gap between our social position and our social obligations. It was in this gap that Miss Shepherd (in her van) was able to live". Bennett recounts Miss Shepherd's bizarre escapades in his inimitable style, from her letter to the Argentinean Embassy at the height of the Falklands War, to her attempts to stand for Parliament and wangle an electric wheelchair out of the Social Services. Beautifully observed, The Lady in the Van is as notable for Bennett's attempts to uncover the enigmatic history of Miss Shepherd, as it is for its amusing account of her eccentric escapades. --Jerry Brotton Views: 120
WE DIDN'T KNOW—WE ONLY BELIEVED—NOW YOU'VE COME BACK
"Does it seem reasonable to you that a Regency continues—into an Emperor's thirtieth year "
"No, m'lord," Shoka said.
"Not to us, either. Not to many of us. We were ready to make that objection—when lord Gitu overran Yijang and Hua.... Assassinations, elsewhere. Hired killers. Bands of mercenaries traveling under imperial orders. The Emperor's seal, and the Regent's orders. How do we stop such a thing How do we prevent it—when every lord able to lead is apprehended, assassinated, when they strip us of men, even boys out of the fields—go to Saukendar, some said. Go to Saukendar. They urged me to send to you. This time he has to listen, they said. But if I had sent—and Ghita had known—you understand—" Reidi gave an uncomfortable twitch of the shoulders. His horse shifted again. "I had no true hope that you'd come. You'd indicated to the villagers—that you had no wish to hear from anyone. That you would refuse any such petitions—"
"You were watching me."
"It's my village, m'lord—as the Regent pointed out to me again and again, and threatened my life should you leave that mountain. Of course the word came to me. I tried to get a messenger down the road to you when I knew you'd left Mon.... We believed you'd come back to deal with Ghita and his partisans."
Shoka felt cold, cold all the way to the bones.
"There are men ready to follow you, lord Saukendar. There are men who've committed their lives to this— We didn't know the hour. We only believed. Now you've come back ..."
At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).
"It's gripping drama, tightly focussed and inexorable as Taizu herself. Read The Paladin and you'll never settle for another ordinary sword-wielding female."
—Faren Miller LOCUS Views: 118
An ALA Notable Children's Book.From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 117
Stuff doesn't know anyone when he first moves to 116th Street. But all of that changes when he meets Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Gloria. Stuff and the gang grow close that eventful year, and nothing is ever like it again. That's the year modern science gets them all in jail; Stuff falls in love and is unfaithful; and Cool Clyde and Fast Sam win the dance contest-almost. Views: 113
In his startling, witty, and inexhaustibly inventive first novelfirst published in 1986 and now reissued as a Grove Press paperbackthe author of Vox and The Fermata uses a one-story escalator ride as the occasion for a dazzling reappraisal of everyday objects and rituals. From the humble milk carton to the act of tying one’s shoes, The Mezzanine at once defamiliarizes the familiar world and endows it with loopy and euphoric poetry. Nicholson Baker’s accounts of the ordinary become extraordinary through his sharp storytelling and his unconventional, conversational style. At first glance, The Mezzanine appears to be a book about nothing. In reality, it is a brilliant celebration of things, simultaneously demonstrating the value of reflection and the importance of everyday human human experiences. Views: 90
Berdan Geanar has had a difficult life. Unsure of himself, and apparently hated by the grandfather he has lived with since the death of his parents, he has no idea of what to do with his life. But when his grandfather abandons him, taking all the family money and the special space suit that should rightly be his, Berdan decides to fight and take back what is rightfully his. Set in the North American Confederacy universe (Probability Broach, Tom Paine Maru), Brightsuit MacBear is a coming-of-age story, an adventure tale, and a rallying cry for defending one’s rights against all odds.** Views: 88
"A TOUR DE FORCE"- *Los Angeles Times"The story of Ivy Rowe, born near the turn of the century in the Virginia Mountain enclave of Sugar Fork, is told completely through letters that Ivy is forever writing family and friends...Lee Smith exhibits her own understanding and affection for the traditions of the Appalachians. She is at home with the down-home speech and ways of her characters. They come vividly to life, and none more so than Ivy, whose voice and heart and humor sustain Fair and Tender Ladies."- Philadelphia Inquirer"Because of Ivy's narrative ability and her zest for living, Fair and Tender Ladies opens for us like a flower with a gloriously unexpected center. There are unforgettable characters...Few readers will be dry-eyed as they watch this extraordinary woman disappear around that last bend in the road."-Chicago Tribune"These beautiful letters...display Ivy's soul up close, the way a just-caught firefly illuminates a jar. So real does she become that it is hard to believe that Ivy did not actually live to write her letters."-USA Today*"This is about a moving a work of literature as has ever been written." ANNIE DILLARD Views: 77
A new BATTLESTAR GALACTICA adventure! SURRENDER THE GALACTICA! Apollo and Starbuck have been chosen to test-run the new SuperViper, the most awesome ship ever created to help wipe thier enemies from space. But the deadliest enemy is among them, as a ruthless traitor plots to destroy the fleet from within. A Cylon assassin is on the loose somewhere on the Galactica—and Boxey is missing! Views: 74
From the author of four bestselling autobiographies and a number of equally successful novels, comes another moving tale. A triumph of innocence over hypocrisy… Alicia Woodman was born into a home that should have been filled with comfort and joy. Her mother Elizabeth was bright and vivacious, Humphrey Woodman was a prosperous businessman. But Alicia was not Humphrey's child and he would have nothing to do with her, and before long Elizabeth, too, turned her back on her daughter. It was left to Polly Ford, widow of a dock labourer, to bring Alicia up, to teach her to say 'Yes, Mama' and to give the child the love she so desperately needed. In a hypocritical society full of thin-lipped disapproval, Alicia would learn that the human spirit can soar over adversity and that, though blood may be thicker than water, love is the most powerful relationship of all… Views: 74
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO REAL AMERICAN HEROES? When Sam rescued Babs Malone from kidnappers, he wasn't being heroic. He planned to deliver Babs to her Los Angeles home, collect the reward money and happily part company with the spoiled, bad-tempered heiress. But the kidnapping wasn't the only threat to Babs. As she and Sam went underground to flush out her enemies, he realized he'd been wrong about her. And for the first time Sam found a reason for heroism -- but no guarantee it would keep them alive. Views: 73
