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The Undivided Self

Since the release of his first story collection in 1991, Will Self has been hailed as a master of the short story. Now, for the first time, selected stories from his five highly praised collections will be available in one volume, introduced by Rick Moody. These stories, drawn from The Quantity Theory of Insanity, Gray Area, Tough, Tough Toys for Tough, Tough Boys, Dr. Mukti and Other Tales of Woe, and Liver—plus one story never before published—give us unexpected comic twists, masterful language, and the ordinary colored by the absurd: a man who finds his mother walking in a London suburb ten months after her death; the odd nuances of a drab office worker's daily routine; and a send-up of the British elite that takes place after a carcinogenic fog blankets England. Compared favorably to Nabokov, Pynchon, Gaddis, Ballard, and DeLillo, Will Self is a bold satirist whose selected stories represent some of the best and most outrageous fiction of the last decade.From BooklistDrawing on selections from Self’s five prior short story collections, this volume presents the writer’s 16 most well known stories as well as a previously unpublished one. Readers should be prepared for the onslaught as the author unleashes the full force of his signature style, a manic, precisely worded, and sometimes shocking assault on all the things Self despises. Like fellow Brit Martin Amis, Self sees too clearly and then proceeds to revel in all that is horrible about modern life. Whether it’s the interminable monologues of the fusty anthropologist who spends years studying a tribe whose most discerning feature is that they are boring, in “Understanding the Ur-Bororo,” or the rise and precipitous fall of the drug-dealing brothers who operate in London’s West End in “The Rock of Crack as Big as the Ritz” and “The Nonce Prize,” Self never tires of serving up all that is most depressing about human nature, and he does so in language possessed of such ghastly clarity that there is no escape from his diabolical worldview. As Rick Moody warns in the introduction: “Those who come in search of the traditional humanist epiphany are likely to get a kick in the ass for their trouble.” --Joanne Wilkinson Review“The perfect introduction to the gamut of Self’s darkly comic, verbally dexterous shorter prose. Turning outrageously apt metaphors as few others can, Self could build a career on wit alone. As this outstanding collection amply shows, however, he delivers much more.”—Library Journal“A welcome showcase of short (or shortish) fiction by quirky comic master Self.  Each story is a pleasure. A powerful argument against selflessness, a treat for fans and a grand introduction for those new to the author’s curious view of the universe.”—Kirkus (starred review)
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Heart of Darkness and the Congo Diary

Marlow, a seaman and wanderer, recounts his physical and psychological journey in search of the infamous ivory trader Kurtz. Traveling up river to the heart of the African continent, he gradually becomes obsessed by this enigmatic, wraith-like figure. A haunting and hugely influential Modernist masterpiece, Heart of Darkness explores the limits of human experience as well as the nightmarish realities of imperialism. Part of a major series of new editions of Conrad's most famous works in Penguin Classics, this Enriched eBook contains Conrad's Congo Diary.Enriched eBook Features Editor Timothy S. Hayes provides the following specially commissioned features for this Enriched eBook Classic:FilmographyTelling Africa's Story Today: Recent Films About AfricaContemporary Reviews of Heart of DarknessFurther ReadingCharacter SketchesDiagram of a Typical Congo Steamer, ca. 1890Images of the CongoEnriched eBook NotesThe enriched eBook format invite...
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The Edge of Recall

Tessa Young, an up-and-coming landscape architect who specializes in the design and creation of labyrinths, has immersed herself in the mythological, spiritual, and healing aspects of the elaborate structures. She also is searching for God and hoping to make sense of the nightmares that have plagued her since childhood. When Smith Chandler, an estranged colleague--with whom she'd half fallen in love a dozen times before catching herself every time--calls to propose a project he claims is the opportunity of a lifetime, she reluctantly agrees to check it out. Smith is reconstructing a pre-Revolutionary War abbey for wealthy clients. Among its remarkable features is an overgrown labyrinth. Unable to resist, Tessa accepts his offer to work with him. Soon she is immersed in the project of a lifetime. But one evening, after weeks of work in the labyrinth, Tessa and Smith are attacked. While protecting Tessa, Smith is stabbed, and the nightmare begins...again.
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Tycoon's Valentine Vendetta

A dish best served hotFor take-no-prisoners tycoon Hunter Dolan there was nothing more delicious than payback. Ten years after his passionate nights with Lily Fontaine--and the Fontaines' fatal betrayal of Hunter's family--bitterness still fueled his success. Now he was this close to destroying the Fontaine empire and ultimate victory.Luring Lily back to his bed was the master stroke in his revenge plot; having the socialite bear him the child he'd long been denied would be a just desert.
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Beautiful Boys

Two darkly magical Weetzie Bat stories about the search for self from Francesca Lia Block: Missing Angel Juan and Baby Be-Bop.
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Letters to Penthouse XXIV

Is fidelity overrated? The sexy women and men you’re about to meet in these pages-straight out of the sizzling files of Penthouse magazine-shamelessly say yes, and they have found dozens of delicious ways to practice what they preach. Whether cruising the supermarket or scoring with a stripper, pleasuring the boss or going wild on vacation, getting carnal in the carpool or making a cyber-sex fantasy come true, these cheating hearts are only asking: Are they betraying a trust, or just breaking loose and having a little fun? As every amazing page of every all-real letter will prove, only one thing’s certain-cheating has never felt so good.
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Bony and the Mouse

Three times a killer has struck in Daybreak, a one-pub town in Western Australia. Why should so many people suspect the strange 'bad boy' Tony Carr? Why were the local Aboriginal tribe far away from town at the time of the murders? Inspector Bonaparte finds this small community very tight, till the arrival of a job-seeking bloke by the name of Nat Bonnar...
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Penthouse

WHAT DO WOMEN WANT? To the age-old question, Penthouse has the answer: Great sex—lots of it—in every variation! Here, in these pages, you'll meet women of all ages and from all walks of life, with one thing in common. They're all open to erotic exploration with its infinite possibilities, whether it's having sex on the job, flaunting their charms in public, delighting in dreams and fantasy, yielding to the allure of the fetish, or finding passion with another female. It's girl talk at its most revealing, fabulously uninhibited and totally uncensored! LACE, LEATHER, AND LUST Do good girls do it? Do they ever! And month after month, women who love making love tell how they take every pleasure and shatter every taboo in their very own letters to Penthouse—America's premier forum for thrill-seekers of all sexes. From the first time to the wildest time, from bedroom bouts to public performances, from torrid threesomes to lesbian liaison, from wedding nights to sinful tryst—men (and sometimes women!) everywhere meet their match in wives, bachelorettes, and the girls next door who shamelessly ride the first tremor of desire to an explosion that rocks their world.
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Magic Puppy: Classroom Princess

Kelsey is feeling very frustrated. Her dad's girlfriend's twin daughters are very loud and are always taking over. If only it was just Kelsey and her dad again. But when cute King Charles puppy, Storm, appears suddenly things don't seem quite so bad after all...
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