Anton Chekhov wrote that "narrative is my legal wife and drama a flamboyant, rowdy, impudent, exhausting mistress." At a time when the Russian stage was dominated by farces, formulaic melodramas, and vaudevilles, Chekhov created plays that focused on characters grappling with moral questions. His works baffled his audiences, but his sensitive explorations of love, loss, and time as well as his portrayal of complex characters and ambiguities, revolutionized the theater with an exhilarating new form of drama.This volume includes new translations, full explanatory notes, a chronology, suggestions for further reading, and a glossary, as well as an introduction by eminent Chekhov scholar Richard Gilman. Views: 50
How does it feel to be never allowed to die? In his classic début novel, Gordon Burn takes Britain's biggest selling vocalist of the 1950s and turns her story into an equation of celebrity and murder. Fictional characters jostle for space with real life stars - from John Lennon to Doris Day and Sammy Davis Jnr - as Burn, in a breathtaking act of appropriation, reinvents the popular culture of the post-war years. As beautifully written as it is disturbing, Alma Cogan remains a stingingly relevant exploration of the sad, dark underside of fame. 'An extraordinary, unprecedented novel. Audacious, innovative and totally compelling.' William Boyd Views: 50
Shortlisted for the Australian/Vogel Literary Award and the FALS Colin Roderick Award. Smithy is a retired shearer turned vineyard worker. He's sober now after a lifetime of drinking, and starting to see the world with new eyes. But he still has to deal with the past, and his feelings of guilt, regret, nostalgia and loss. It is in his attempts to help Charlotte, a young woman in a desperate situation, that Smithy ultimately seeks his redemption. Jeremy Chambers' remarkable debut novel is a mesmerising observation of men, women and country. The Vintage and the Gleaning has an authentic music, filled with beauty, brutality and sadness. 'One of the most irresistible novels I've read in a long time. The writing is powerful, challenging and utterly authentic. I feel as if I've been waiting for years to read this strangely beguiling book.' Alex Miller Views: 50
Someone is bushwhacking athletes preparing for the Winter Olympics. Soon, a winter whiteout and a madman’s gang of mercenaries cut Whistler Mountain off from the rest of the world. Bent
on a bloody vendetta, Mephisto sets his sights on Chief Superintendent
DeClercq. His plan includes assassinating those closest to the Mountie.
And that's just the start of his doomsday scheme. To stop the
megalomaniac, Special X psycho-hunters (and the reader) must solve two
whodunits, two howdunits, two locked room puzzles, and a dying message. Let the games begin! Views: 50
Science Fiction. 6979 words long. First published in IF, November 1966 Views: 50
EDITORIAL REVIEW: ***The *New York Times *bestselling author and master of medical suspense delivers another shocker of a thriller filled with insider details and a terrifying psychopath *Four murders. Three accidents. Two suicides. One left… THE LAST SURGEON **Michael Palmer’s latest novel pits a flawed doctor against a ruthless psychopath, who has made murder his art form. Dr. Nick Garrity, a vet suffering from PTSD—post traumatic stress disorder—spends his days and nights dispensing medical treatment from a mobile clinic to the homeless and disenfranchised in D.C. and Baltimore. In addition, he is constantly on the lookout for his war buddy Umberto Vasquez, who was plucked from the streets by the military four years ago for a secret mission and has not been seen since. Psych nurse Gillian Coates wants to find her sister’s killer. She does not believe that Belle Coates, an ICU nurse, took her own life, even though every bit of evidence indicates that she did—every bit save one. Belle has left Gillian a subtle clue that connects her with Nick Garrity. Together, Nick and Gillian determine that one-by-one, each of those in the operating room for a fatally botched case is dying. Their discoveries pit them against genius Franz Koller--the highly-paid master of the “non-kill”—the art of murder that does not look like murder. As Doctor and nurse move closer to finding the terrifying secret behind these killings, Koller has been given a new directive: his mission will not be complete until Gillian Coates and Garrity, the last surgeon, are dead. Views: 50
A hilariously honest look at the misadventures of teenage dating.Alan Macklin is your average 17-year-old guy with a simple goal. He wants to get a girl. But trial and error has made one thing perfectly clear: when it comes to the opposite sex, Alan keeps on striking out. Repeatedly. And painfully. He knows he needs help. His friend Jeremy proves useless, so he turns to someone who might actually have some good advice.Maggie Macpherson has lots of goals for herself, including a career in law or psychology or both, but she needs some cash to reach them. Alan becomes the perfect client for her new consulting business: a desperate guy with a simple objective and deep pockets. For a fee, she takes on the Alan project and coaches him from girl to girl, base to base.With Maggie's guidance Alan comically builds his dating experience until he's convinced he can get along without her coaching. But soon he's washed up on the romantic shores, dumped by the woman of... Views: 50
