Praise for The Swing Voter of Staten Island:FROM KIRKUS REVIEWS:Having first dazzled Weird-Lit ultra-hipsters with The Fuck-Up in 1997, Nersesian (Unlubricated, 2004, etc.) rounds out a busy decade with a dystopian epic.Combining sci-fi space/time-warping, Unabomber-style political ranting and an overall air of goose-bump paranoia, this is one turbo-charged trip through a version of the 1980s no one could love. A gumbo of Weather Underground, S.L.A. and Black Panther droogies take over New York City in the '70s, splashing dirty bombs helter-skelter. Manhattan basically kaput, the federal government designates a former "military simulation city," a radioactive desert outside Vegas, as the New New York. The geographic layout's a convincing copy, but landmark names are corrupted: "Vampire Stake Building," "Onion Square," "Rock & Filler Center." And the Gangs of New York rule, with the Boroughs divided between Piggers (or We the Peoplers) and Crappers (All Created Equalers), political parties at mutual knifepoint. Into this bedlam drops protagonist Uli, a Manchurian Candidate knock-off programmed by mysterious nefarious forces to assassinate Dropt, a rival candidate to Pigger Mayor Shub. Hizzonner spouts masterful Orwellian jive ("He's intractable in a business that requires a lot of tractoring!"), and the citizens, when not overdosing on creepy new drugs, fantasize returning to the real Manhattan. But much to the fury of Abbie Hoffman and Allen Ginsberg, Ronald Reagan is running for re-election. If Staten Island's borough president allies with the national Democrats and Reagan loses, nobody gets to go back, because it's only budget-crunching Ronnie who wants to deep-six the fake New York. The loony-tune plot merely serves as a launch pad for Nersesian's meditations on Vietnam-era military insanity, big-city frenzy and the Tower of Babel capacities of language.A sharp, strange read: Imagine William Burroughs and Philip K. Dick sharing a needle."FROM PUBLISHERS WEEKLY:Nersesian has carved out his niche with novels like The Fuck-Up and Unlubricated about New Yorkers trapped in their own ugly lives. His sixth is similarly sordid but uncharacteristically fantastical. Over the course of a week in a counterfactual 1980, amnesiac protagonist Uli must navigate a reproduction of New York City built in Nevada after the original was destroyed. He quickly learns that the city is divided into territories run by Piggers and Crappers (“political parties, or gangs”) and he has been programmed to assassinate the Crapper candidate for mayor. Manhattan and Brooklyn belong to Crappers, the Bronx and Queens are held by Piggers; Staten Island is independent, and thus constitutes the swing vote in the mayoral and--more importantly--presidential elections. “Rescue City” consists of smaller, cheaper versions of the original: bridges are made of rotten boards, famous landmarks are redubbed corrupt versions of their real names (e.g., Rock and Filler Center for Rockefeller Center and Onion Square for Union Square), and the East River suffers from a clogged drain. Uli mingles with a wide array of desperate characters while trying to uncover his identity and determine what, if anything, he should be fighting for. Nersesian's novel is exceptionally bleak and bewildering, and his fans would expect nothing less.Up until now, Arthur Nersesian’s six novels (including The Fuck-Up, MTV/Pocket Books, which has sold over 100,000 copies) have focused on the tragicomedy of fin de siècle New York City. Now, in his boldest novel yet, he has broken through into a new landscape that at once fuses the real with the surreal, the psychological with the psychedelic. Actual characters from the 1960s and 1970s—Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, Daniel Ellsberg, and the Berrigan Brothers—are but a few of the folks who populate this alternate version of American history.The Swing Voter of Staten Island takes place over the course of a week in November 1981. Uli, suffering from amnesia, finds himself on a mission, but isn’t quite sure what it is, who sent him, or even who he is. He ventures across the perilous wilds of New York City, through abandoned neighborhoods and burned-out battlefields. But Uli soon awakens to the awful fact that this isn’t New York City at all. He is a key player in a strange, alternate history of both his city and country.Uli has found himself trapped in New York, Nevada, isolated in the center of an impenetrable desert—where the US military was able to transform one of its “military situation cities” into a temporary refuge center, designed to resemble New York. While battling to make sense of his surroundings, Uli slowly remembers who he is and his own culpability in creating the current situation.Arthur Nersesian is the author of six novels, including the smash hit The Fuck-Up (MTV/Pocket Books), Chinese Takeout (HarperCollins), Manhattan Loverboy (Akashic Books), Suicide Casanova (Akashic Books), and dogrun (MTV/Pocket Books). He lives in New York City. Views: 64
SUMMARY: Serving up murderous munchies at a church potluck social wouldn't win any popularity contests, as Jackie Hoffner discovered. Someone had laced the casserole she brought with poisonous mushrooms... and the deadly dish had fellow churchgoer and town fussbudget Alice Farmer pushing up daisies. Now the gossip-hungry townsfolk suspected Jackie of foul play. To prove her innocence, she decided to conduct her own murder investigation, and Trooper Dennis Walsh's helpful efforts and boy-next-door charm were welcome. Meanwhile, the town's mysterious poisoner seemed to have more victims in mind.... Views: 64
Fifteen-year-old Dylan has horrific visions of the last moments of a child's life -- a child who has been abducted, kidnapped, or worse. Dylan gives the police valuable clues that help them to find children's bodies, but she keeps the most personal information about these young victims to herself. Dylan has become used to withholding her sight abilities -- even from her best friend, Pilar -- but the weight of that secret is becoming almost more than she can bear. Then Cate moves into Dylan's mountain town. Enthusiastic and friendly, Cate seems genuinely interested in Dylan, who begins to reveal a bit about herself. But is Cate all that she seems to be? It's not entirely clear...and it takes the disappearance of Pilar's little sister to finally open Dylan's eyes. In a race against time to save a life, and desperate to focus her abilities so that she herself can survive, Dylan is forced to see more clearly than she ever has before. Sight is a powerful and haunting... Views: 64
Take one gorgeous, down-on-his-luck man, add an irresistible, up-for-anything woman. Put them together in a smoldering little town--and watch the temperature rise.Nolie Harper is starting over. And the bustling burg of Bethlehem is as far as the single mother can get from the gossipy one-horse town of Whiskey Creek, Arkansas. All set to claim the twin cabins she just inherited, Nolie discovers she already has a tenant: a scruffy, powerfully built stranger who makes it clear he wants to be left alone. Chase Wilson may be living like a recluse, but he's making her yearn for togetherness--and stirring up the kind of desires that can change a woman's whole outlook on life.Newly sprung from prison for a crime he didn't commit, Chase is liking life alone in his rented cabin just fine. Until the redhead with the lush curves and her young daughter arrive and throw what's left of his life into maddening chaos. With her tantalizing neighborly ways, Nolie is slowly... Views: 64
A New York Times bestselling author reveals how the beautiful, isolated Napa Valley wine region of California exploded into an extraordinary outsized version of the American dream and whose vineyards sparked an unbelievable power struggle between old family stewardship and multinational corporations.Not so long ago, wine was an exclusively European product. Now it is thoroughly American; emblematic of Napa Valley, an area idealized as the epicenter of great wines and foods and a cultural tourist destination. But the romanticized accounts you find about it and its denizens is not what you'll encounter in James Conaway's candid book. Napa at Last Light exposes the often shadowy side of the latter days of Napa Valley—marked by complex personal relationships, immense profits, passionate beliefs, and sometimes desperate struggles to prevail. In the balance hang fortunes and personal relationships made through hard work and, in too many cases,... Views: 64
THE ZONE 7 • KILLING GROUND Major Revell has kept his men together in the face of relentless Soviet attacks. They discover a huge unguarded dump of NATO stores. Employing the supplies, they set about turning the surrounding countryside into a huge killing ground, causing enormous casualties and hoping they can hold out until relieved. SYNOPSIS The Warsaw Pact has been keeping up relentless pressure and the NATO forces, low on ammunition and every manner of stores is in retreat. Time after time Major Revells’ men take casualties but still he keeps the survivors together, inflicting what damage on the enemy he can. By chance they come across a huge NATO supply base, abandoned and left virtually unguarded. Already the skeleton staff have used surplus and condemned ammunition to turn the surrounding countryside into a massive killing ground, Now the Special Combat Force throw themselves into the defence of the vast resources, hoping they can hold out against over whelming enemy strength until help comes. PUBLISHED First NEL Paperback Edition October 1988 First IMPRINT Publication E-Book Edition May 2005 First Revision IMPRINT Publications E-Book Edition April 2007 * * * Mankind’s last war continues in the contaminated strip of European hell known as “The Zone”. But an American major and a British sergeant are sick of retreating. In a huge, abandoned ammunition dump, they prepare their forces to hit the ruthless Russian aggressors—and hit hard! Views: 64
In this engagingly witty, wise, and heartfelt memoir, Martin Short tells the tale of how a showbiz-obsessed kid from Canada transformed himself into one of Hollywood's favorite funnymen, known to his famous peers as the "comedian's comedian."Martin Short takes you on a rich, hilarious, and occasionally heartbreaking ride through his life and times, from his early years in Toronto as a member of the fabled improvisational troupe Second City to the all-American comic big time of Saturday Night Live and memorable roles in movies such as ¡Three Amigos! and Father of the Bride. He reveals how he created his most indelible comedic characters, among them the manic man-child Ed Grimley, the slimy corporate lawyer Nathan Thurm, and the bizarrely insensitive interviewer Jiminy Glick. Throughout, Short freely shares the spotlight with friends, colleagues, and collaborators, including Steve Martin, Tom Hanks, Gilda Radner, Mel Brooks, Nora Ephron, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara,... Views: 64
From a best-selling author, a touching story of a prodigal daughter who learns it's never too late to come home, but will she find acceptance? Views: 64
