Did my heart love till now?Forswear it, sight!For I ne'er saw true beauty till tonight.-Romeo and JulietAntony and Cleopatra, Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Priscilla Beaulieu, John Lennon and Yoko Ono-while we're familiar with all of these people as individuals, we also associate them with the grand, sometimes fiery passion they shared with their partners. And the Rest Is History is an intriguing look at how these iconoclastic lovers first crossed paths, whether it was through fate, setups, or blind luck. From angry sparks flying to love at first sight, the meetings shared in this book give us a look at what makes that one great love. Views: 64
The first English translation of the self-proclaimed “Viscount” Emilio Lascano Tegui — a friend of Picasso and Apollinaire, and a larger-than-life eccentric in his own right—On Elegance While Sleeping is the deliciously macabre novel, part Maldoror and part Dorian Gray , that established its author’s reputation as a renegade hero of Argentine literature. It tells the story, in the form of a surreal diary, of a lonely, syphilitic French soldier, who — after too many brothels and disappointments — returns from Africa longing for a world with more elegance. He promptly falls in love with a goat, and recalls the time, after a childhood illness, when his hair fell out and grew back orange — a phenomenon his doctor attributed to the cultivation of carrots in a neighboring town. Disturbing, provocative, and mesmerizing, On Elegance While Sleeping charts the decline of a man unraveling due to his own oversensitivity — and drifting closer and closer to committing a murder. Views: 64
THE DOOR IS OPEN . . . For young widow Ellen Wood, her Victorian home is a refuge—a place to feel safe with her eleven-year-old son, Charlie. But when money grows so tight that Ellen could lose the house, her sister, Hannah, makes a radical suggestion . . . rent out some of the rooms. Soon Ellen has three lodgers: Sabine, a German coworker of Hannah’s, recently separated from her husband; Allegra, an eccentric but wise novelist; and Matt, an up-and-coming young journalist in search of his voice, who has just landed a plum job in London. Ellen thinks three strangers are the last complication she needs, but they make her realize just how isolated she has become. Their presence exposes a secret she’s been keeping hidden, as well as a conflict with her sister that is both shocking and revealing. And while a love affair with a younger man seems like a fantasy powered by her imagination, Ellen can’t deny her deep connection to Matt, or the changes he inspires in her and her relationship with Charlie. Outside her home’s sheltering walls lies a world of opportunity as well as danger. Now that she’s had the courage to open the door, does Ellen dare step through? Views: 64
Forewords Book of the Year, Kirkus Indie Best Lister, IBA and USA Book News finalist. It's the age-old tale: Boy meets girl. Boy stalks girl. Girl already has a stalker. Boy becomes her stalker-stalker. We've seen it all before, many times, but this time it's different. If only slightly. Gomez is eternally bewildered by the ease with which others navigate the world. He’s never had much luck with women, or jobs, or anything really. Even gravity seems to pull on him a little harder than it does on others. But when he enters a medical trial and a super sexy research assistant falls for him, he thinks his luck has changed – even if that assistant has trouble expressing herself in terms outside the realm of science. But when one of the trial participants turns up dead and another goes missing, Gomez begins to fear for his life. No longer sure whom he can trust and which of his experiences are actually real and which merely drug induced delusions, he decides to go underground and work out a devious plan. "Extremely witty and clever writing that contains keen insights into human nature." --California Chronicle "Challenges the way we think about, and interact with, the world around us." --Kirkus Discoveries "The antics in this book will leave the reader laughing. Graham Parke is a genius." --Readers Favorite "A quick and unputdownable read that flies in the face of reason, and smashes against the wall of detective novels. It's a Coens Brothers' film formatted in book form." --Book Review "A very funny book; a veritable page turner of nonstop laughs. Buy a copy and find out for yourself!" --Reader Views ReviewMuch of the richness of this book lies in its jocular conversational bantering and some extremely witty and clever writing. --Book Pleasures, March 4, 2010 Extremely witty and clever writing that contains keen insights into human nature. --California Chronicle The antics in this book will leave the reader laughing. Graham Parke is a genius. --Readers Favorite A quick and unputdownable read that flies in the face of reason, and smashes against the wall of detective novels. It's a Coens Brothers' film formatted in book form. --Book Review A very funny book; a veritable page turner of nonstop laughs. Buy a copy and find out for yourself! --Reader Views From the Inside FlapRead an article about a group of mathematicians who developed a financial model to accurately compare apples and oranges. I was stunned. Never thought I'd see the day. Preliminary indications are that the model allows any two kinds of fruit to be compared, although guava still causes minor rounding errors. Further testing is ongoing. -- Gomez Porter, blogspace entry Chapter 1. I haven't been sleeping well. There's this strange sound coming from the apartment below at approximately 4:22 a.m. It's a sound I've never heard before and I can only describe it in terms of other sounds that might combine to be mostly identical: it sounds like my neighbor is stir-frying hamsters in a large enameled wok. And let me tell you, that kind of sound messes with your ability to drift away peacefully. Wide awake, I decide to get up to do some writing. They asked me to keep a blog. They told me to be meticulous and exact in reporting my experiences. Leave nothing out, they said, no matter how mundane or unimportant it seems. You see, I'm in this drug trail and I have no idea what kind of drug I'm on. It could be a nervous system depressant, an anti-psychotic, or just a simple pain reliever. I really have no way of knowing what kind of experiences would constitute effects or side effects. So, to be safe on the safe side, I create a new blog entry whenever something strange happens, then I upload it through the clinic's online portal. Let them sift through the mess to decide what's relevant and what's not. What's out of the ordinary and what's to be expected. Just write down everything, they said. So, here goes... Views: 64
Love knows no limits… Briony considers herself easy to please. All she wants is a Dominant who’s wickedly creative and completely devoted to conquering her—and only her—with joy. She has everything she wants until her Dom takes on another girl. Bri delights in fantasy role play, inventive toys and bondage at Hell Mary’s BDSM club, but she doesn’t do poly. Now she’s on the hunt for a new play partner who’ll give her exactly what she needs. A little flirtation with Hell Mary’s Dungeon Monitor is just the thing to ease her back into circulation—except the hardass wrapped in khaki treats her like she needs protection. Behind his imperturbable DM mask, Chris has eyes only for Bri. It’s his job to make sure things don’t get out of control at the club. Despite her bravado, Bri’s broken heart is like a target painted on her back. She needs to learn some things on her own, but when a private scene goes too far, he can’t wait any longer to step in—and show her she doesn’t need fancy trappings. His body is more than enough. Warning: this title features kink and imaginative sex in a variety of forms—scalding hot, kinda lukewarm, and juuuust right. Reminders to breathe are clearly marked. Ignore them at your peril. Views: 64
