Penguin Specials are designed to fill a gap. Written to be read over a long commute or a short journey, they are original and exclusively in digital form. This is a poignant novella from Anita Brookner.'I rather hope I shall die at the hairdresser's, for they are bound to know what to do. At least that is what I tell myself.'Solitude is a familiar burden for Elizabeth Warner. She lives in a basement flat near Victoria and leaves the house only to go shopping and to have her hair done - until a chance encounter at the hairdresser's brings unexpected change. At the Hairdresser's is a deeply moving, unflinchingly observed story about trust and betrayal by one of the greatest writers of contemporary fiction. Views: 32
When Archie goes in search of his missing son, Arden, in the Spanish Canary Islands, he stumbles upon a higher mission: to save his ailing fourteen-year-old granddaughter, Ella. Using a portal-jumping device called the Tillastrion, Archie and a strange creature, a Bangol named Zeno, are transported—along with a cruise ship full of people, including Ella and her mother, Tessa—to a magnificent yet terrifying island in another realm, a place called Jarr-Wya, where Archie hopes to locate Ella's cure. On Jarr-Wya, the Bangols battle the Olearons—creatures made of fire—and the evil Millia sands for control of Jarr-Wya. When Ella is captured by the Bangols, her wit and resourcefulness emerge as she fights against all odds, and against all manner of creatures, to survive. Meanwhile, Tessa, must confront her long-buried secrets, broken marriage, and a confusing new love triangle, all while navigating the mysterious island in search of her daughter. And unbeknownst... Views: 30
The collected fiction of "one of the most original imaginations in modern Europe" (Cynthia Ozick) Bruno Schulz's untimely death at the hands of a Nazi stands as one of the great losses to modern literature. During his lifetime, his work found little critical regard, but word of his remarkable talents gradually won him an international readership. This volume brings together his complete fiction, including three short stories and his final surviving work, Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass. Illustrated with Schulz's original drawings, this edition beautifully showcases the distinctive surrealist vision of one of the twentieth century's most gifted and influential writers. Views: 29
Gertrude Stein wanted Ida to be known in two ways: as a novel about a woman in the age of celebrity culture and as a text with its own story to tell. With the publication of this workshop edition of Ida, we have the novel exactly as it was published in 1941, and we also have the full record of its creation. Logan Esdale offers informative critical commentary and judiciously selected archival materials to illuminate Stein's experience of authorship from the novel's beginning in early summer 1937, through the various drafts and negotiations with her publisher, to the reviews that greeted the book's publication. Stein's careful and systematic preservation of all Ida-related materials for her archive at the Yale University Library was a conscious decision, and an invitation for us to study the complexity of her creative process. Ida, a character reportedly inspired by Wallis Simpson, the infamous Duchess of Windsor, is someone who becomes well known for being well known. In the novel, a mature Stein explores the significance of being well known to others and the effect that has on where we live and who we love. She offers an engaging picture of Ida's adventures in the world of identity, as well as a fascinating reflection on her own career as a famous personality.Review"Esdale’s innovative approach results in an enriching contribution to Stein scholarship. [...] Highly recommended." – Linda Simon, Choice"Stein constructs a cubist portrait or skewed biography of Ida [and her] contradictory desires—wanting a home, needing to escape; wanting to be known and not. [...] [T]here’s a bounty of tension and release [and] [r]elease from textual and narrative tension comes, in part, through Stein’s remarkable voice. [...] The editor, Logan Esdale, has written an excellent introduction (and notes throughout) containing necessary biographical and textual information." — Lynne Tillman, The New York Times Book Review“The strangest book I read [when I was young] was Ida, by Gertrude Stein, which my mom gave to me without much fanfare. This must have been when I was in high school. It’s an odd book, with a telescoping narrator and that new-brain prose of Stein’s. My first encounter with very simple sentences looted of sense. I loved it.” — Ben Marcus, weirdfictionreview.com From the Back Cover"Step by difficult step Logan Esdale slowly entered Stein's domain where she alone had made decisions working on Ida, composing her novel and figuring out what to do with Ida and how. Esdale's book now becomes a handbook, a new approach to Stein scholarship, and authorship, based on Stein's own archive. He wanted to discover for himself and to show us how she worked as she did." -- Ulla Dydo, author of *Gertrude Stein: The Language That Rises, 1923-1934*"For those brave souls who undertake to read and teach that strangest of short novels in British and American literature, Gertrude Stein's Ida, Logan Esdale's edition is the indispensable text. It is a major contribution to the scholarship and the interpretation of Gertrude Stein's literary art. Esdale brilliantly sets forth the history and the world of Ida, its universe of discourse. If only I'd had Esdale's text when I was supposing what Ida said." -- Neil Schmitz, author of Of Huck and Alice: Humorous Writing in American Literature Views: 29
It's tough enough defining your identity--imagine if your father was a rock legend.Blanche Kelly's dad is a famous indie rock icon, but not many people at the private school she attends on scholarship know this. Her father left when she was in the first grade, and she can't quite forgive her mom for not understanding that an artist like her dad needs the time and space to connect to his muse.When Blanche creates an all-girl rock band, their sound captures a wide audience and the band is invited to compete at the Coachella Music Festival. Blanche feels this could be the perfect time for a reunion with her father. Won't he be proud to hear her band? Won't he be happy to get to know his only daughter?Author Barbara Hall sensitively explores the expectations between parents and teens, as well as the value of learning about your past to make your own future.From the Hardcover edition. Views: 27
Painter, musician, journalist, essayist, playwright, and composer, Alberto Savinio was one of the most gifted and singular Italian writers of the twentieth century. Italian critics rank him alongside Pirandello, Calvino and Sciascia, but he is hardly known to American readers. He was the younger brother of Giorgio De Chirico, and Andre Breton said that the whole Modernist enterprise might be found in the work of these two brothers.Savinio composed five operas and more than forty books. A friend of Apollinaire, figures on the scene during Savinio's artistic and literary career included Picasso, Cocteau, Max Jacob and Fernand Leger. As the translator says, his writing, like his panting, moves easily from the everyday to the fantastic. Attempts to define it as 'surrealist' are too limiting. It is free in spirit, profoundly intelligent, and beautifully controlled in style."The stories collected in Signor Dido are his last works, one story being sent to its... Views: 27
Jackson Pollack was killed on August 11th, 1956 in a violent car accident in Springs, NY. But who was the dead girl in the backseat? In this thrilling historical fiction set in the heady art world of the 1950s Hamptons, hardboiled NYC detectives Juanita and Brian Fitzgerald will sacrifice their summer vacation to solve the mystery. Views: 27
Mike, aged 16 finds that the sleepy town where he has been brought up is small and boring. Then his father, who he hasn’t seen for 13 years unexpectedly gets in touch, and the next three weeks that he stays with him change everything. His first experiences with girls, and his first trip abroad show him how exciting growing up can be. And his discovery that his father is gay forces him to change his views about sex - and about the ‘grown up’ world in general. Full of the insights about childhood and adolescence that we have come to expect from David Rees, this new novel sensitively and humourously describes how it feels to be a boy on the edge of adulthood. Views: 27
