Upon returning to Pomegranate City, Quin discovers that his father has disappeared, taking with him knowledge that is precious to his government and leaving behind a very dangerous new Door. As he sets out on his journey to find his father, Quin hopes that he hasn't stumbled onto a problem so big he cannot even begin to solve it.Gish Heart is in trouble. At 35, her small public relations firm has dwindled to nothing. She has a mortgage, a car, debt and a penchant for independence. Now, she is forced to seek work in the "real world," say what she's "supposed" to say and do what she's "supposed" to do. She is not pleased. What's more, she's pretty sure she's falling for her recruiter, a friend from college and a sympathetic listening ear. Views: 431
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a short story by American author Washington Irving, contained in his collection of 34 essays and short stories entitled The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. Written while Irving was living abroad in Birmingham, England, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" was first published in 1820. Along with Irving\'s companion piece "Rip Van Winkle", "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is among the earliest examples of American fiction with enduring popularity. Views: 428
Though raised Catholic, in the early 1950s Jack Kerouac became fascinated with Buddhism, an interest that would have a profound impact on his ideas of spirituality and their expression in his writing from Mexico City Blues to The Dharma Bums. Published for the first time in book form, Wake Up is Kerouac's retelling of the story of Prince Siddhartha Gautama, who as a young man abandoned his wealthy family and comfortable home for a lifelong search for Enlightenment. As a compendium of the teachings of the Buddha, Wake Up is a profound meditation on the nature of life, desire, wisdom, and suffering. Distilled from a wide variety of canonical scriptures, Wake Up serves as both a concise primer on the concepts of Buddhism and as an insightful and deeply personal document of Kerouac's evolving beliefs. It is the work of a devoted spiritual follower of the Buddha who also happened to be one of the twentieth century's most influential novelists. Wake Up: A Life of the Buddha will be essential reading for the legions of Jack Kerouac fans and for anyone who is curious about the spiritual principles of one of the world's great religions. Views: 427
I wrote this short story (1987) for a class in creative writing at the University of Colorado. It is the most autobiographical story I've ever told. It's sort of a compilation of events from my own life with some alterations of family composition. I know it's difficult to believe, but I've known kids who were even more naive at eleven than I was. How things have changed in sixty years.As the bull ran, his huge pink testicles swung from side to side like the clapper of a bell. The year was 1952 and eleven year old Michael was standing in the dirt yard in front of the house with the milk barn off to his left, looking across the corral into Mr Olson's field where the Holstein bull followed a heifer in a half run, his nose at her tail. Michael's father had called his attention to the bull and heifer and had then disappeared into the barn where he was working on the milking machines. His father was sometimes like that, calling Michael's attention to something disgusting and then laughing while Michael watched. But Michael was fascinated with what the bull was doing even though he was ashamed of himself for continuing to watch. He didn't like to cater to his father's more base tendencies. As Michael watched, the heifer slowed and the bull jumped easily with his front hooves, placing his chin on her rump, elevating his chest and mounting her. His hind legs, now carrying his full load, struggled to keep up. The patch of scraggly hair and hide that hung from the center of his belly puckered and out came a thin pointed shaft, so red and dripping wet that Michael thought at first that it was bleeding, and the trembling end of it bent down like it was broken. The shaft was shooting out, hitting her rear end, then off to the side along her hip, lashing around like a whip, until it found the right spot and disappeared inside. Michael thought it must hurt the cow to have that thing in her but then realized that she was running with him not from him, that she was really helping him. But it is so long, he thought, what could it be doing inside her? He visualized it inside her wrapping around her intestines, nudging her organs. Why wouldn't that hurt? He thought of the bull's raw looking shaft and how sensitive it must be, how warm it must be inside that heifer. While Michael was thinking, the bull's front hooves dangled about her shoulders, and his knotty head stared straight ahead, bulging eyes drilling holes in the sky as his huge hips churned.Michael swallowed deeply, looked down at his black-cloth tennis shoes, then raised his dark brown eyes and looked across the pasture to the green fields of cotton and corn. He heard the screen door slam and turned to see his mother, with her apron on, watching him through a frown, her hands on her hips. He didn't understand what the bull and cow were doing, but he knew there was something indecent about it. His mother was making sure he knew. He felt wedged between his father and mother. He would set Michael up, and she would chop him down. Why wouldn't they talk to him about these things? he wondered, as he brushed curly blond hair out of his eyes. First it was the two dogs that got hooked together some how and couldn't get loose. His father had simply laughed and walked away. Michael had tried to talk to his mother about it, but she just shut him up and fell into a mad silence. And now this silent disapproval over the bull and heifer. Why did his mother just stand there like that? Why didn't she say something? Why didn't his father say something?*Michael sat in a chair at the kitchen table with his right leg folded under him, constructing a totem pole for his class on North American Indians, an orange and white striped cat named Tiger sleeping in his lap. He was alone in the house with his mother, and he like that. She switched off the static coming from the small Philco radio and leaned against the sink as she hummed "Just a Closer Walk With Thee," peeling and slicing potatoes into a large glass bowl. It was dark outside, and through the house walls, Michael heard the deep hum of the vacuum pump, the machine that sucked milk from the cow's teats, coming from the milk barn. Through the night air, the hum alternated from high to low pitch. Michael felt comforted by this pulsing heartbeat from the barn. Views: 419
Fiery naturist Paige, wins a holiday karaoke contest and together with her singing partner and upper-class Jack they form a naturist band. However, Paige's insistence that the Bare Necessities remain true to her naturist ideals causes friction with her bandmates, their struggling agent, a Christian pressure group, the Police and their families, until Jack has choose between his old life or Paige.This is an edition of my book The Bare Necessities with almost every swear word removed, as requested by a reader! Fiery, young naturist, Paige, wins a karaoke contest on holiday, and together with her new singing partner they enlist the help of upper-class Jack to form a group and record their first album. However, Paige's insistence that the Bare Necessities remain true to her naturist ideals causes friction with her band mates, their venues, their struggling agent, a Christian pressure group, a failed newspaper editor, the Police and eventually their families until Jack has choose between his old life and Paige.As much about naturism as it is about romance, will Paige manage to convince the least-suited person to her to break free from his parents, and can society cope with the most outrageous band since the Sex Pistols?Join the determined Paige on the vocals, the calm and voluptuous Claire on the guitar and the relaxed Jack on the keyboard, as the three teenagers upset the media and take the music industry by storm, with a little help from failing agent Andre and Jack's wild Aunt Lucinda.The book is around 100 scenes aggregated into chapters to make it easy to pick up and put down, or when the reader is likely to be interrupted (e.g. public transport) Views: 416
"His life...ended when he was nine and the nuns of St. Louis de France Parochial School were at his bedside to take down his dying words because they'd heard his astonishing revelations of heaven delivered in catechism on no more encouragement than it was his turn to speak...."
Unique among Jack Kerouac's novels, Visions of Gerard focuses on the scenes and sensations of childhood—the wisdom, anguish, intensity, innocence, evil, insight, suffering, delight, and shock—as they were revealed in the short tragic-happy life of his saintly brother, Gerard. Set in Kerouac's hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts, it is an unsettling, beautiful, and sad exploration of the meaning and precariousness of existence. Views: 416
When a priceless native artifact is stolen and those guarding it are mysteriously murdered, the United States government turns to the one team who always catches the bad guy - Brady Carmichael and the poodle of mass destruction, Fifi.From the pen of KJ Hannah Greenberg comes this chapbook of new poetry. Fun, insightful, and lyrical, Fluid and Crystallized focuses primarily on challenging and, only secondarily, on pleasing. This chapbook uses words’ color and texture to provoke interpersonal mindfulness. “Risk,” not “peace,” makes these pages heuristically valuable.What’s more, Fluid and Crystallized, tries to cheer on, to shepherd, and to whisper softly not only about success, but also about failure. This collection shares cautions as well as an appreciation of the scenery.About the Author:KJ Hannah Greenberg, who only pretends at being indomitable, tramps across literary genres and giggles in her sleep. She worries less, however, about linguistic beasts that roam at dusk than about bold fiends that smile and gulp up writers during broad daylight.In the beginning there were Watercolors, 1979, a musical, and Conversations on Communication Ethics, 1991, essays. Following a tour of duty in academia and then decades dedicated to parenting, there are: Oblivious to the Obvious: Wishfully Mindful Parenting, French Creek Press, 2010, essays, A Bank Robber’s Bad Luck with His Ex-Girlfriend, Unbound CONTENT, 2011, poetry, and Don’t Pet the Sweaty Things, Bards & Sages Publishing, 2012, short fictions. In the future, there will be, b’eH: Supernal Factors, 2012, poetry, The Nexus of the Sun, Moon and Mother, 2013, essays, and Oh Your Goodness!, 2013, essays.https://kjhannahgreenberg.net/"Such a galloping, rollicking poet she is. She rolls words from denotation to connotationright through to playful upsetting of conventional usage carts."--Deirdre Kessler, poet and award-winning author of the Brupp series. Views: 414
Cinderella meets the grown-up world of greed, corruption, and power. The last eligible heir to the Gurun dynasty has a terrible choice to make: follow her heart & marry the knight who has always loved her or marry a cruel and power-hungry political rival in hopes of securing the future for her family. The fate of planet Beinan hangs in the balance as Anlei makes her fateful choice.Cinderella meets the grown-up world of greed, corruption, and power.The last eligible heir to the Gurun dynasty has a terrible choice to make: follow her heart and marry the knight who has always loved her or marry a cruel and power-hungry political rival in hopes of securing the future for her family. Young and innocent, what is a princess to do? The fate of planet Beinan hangs in the balance as the great succession crisis threatens all Princess Anlei holds dear in this romantic prequel to “The Ghosts of the Past.” Views: 408
For centuries, small towns were the hub of family life. Generation after generation stayed close to their roots. Friends and neighbors were for a lifetime. A life with good neighbors and great friends is better than wealth. This is a story of a town that was strong. It is one of many that know the value of Community.For centuries, small towns were the hub of family life. Generation after generation stayed close to their roots. Friends and neighbors were for a lifetime. As jobs and money moved into the big city many people followed. During economic slumps, businesses often folded. More people moved away and the breakdown continued. But some held on, supporting one another and refusing to give up. They know that a life with good neighbors and great friends is better than wealth. This is a story of a town that was strong. It is one of many that know the value of Community. Views: 405
A Place in the Country is W. G. Sebald’s meditation on the six artists and writers who shaped his creative mind—and the last of this great writer’s major works to be translated into English.
This edition includes more than 40 pieces of art, all originally selected by W. G. Sebald.
This extraordinary collection of interlinked essays about place, memory, and creativity captures the inner worlds of five authors and one painter. In his masterly and mysterious style—part critical essay, part memoir—Sebald weaves their lives and art with his own migrations and rise in the literary world.
Here are people gifted with talent and courage yet in some cases cursed by fragile and unstable natures, working in countries inhospitable or even hostile to them. Jean-Jacques Rousseau is conjured on the verge of physical and mental exhaustion, hiding from his detractors on the island of St. Pierre, where two centuries later Sebald took rooms adjacent to his. Eighteenth-century author Johann Peter Hebel is remembered for his exquisite and delicate nature writing, expressing the eternal balance of both the outside world and human emotions. Writer Gottfried Keller, best known for his 1850 novel Green Henry, is praised for his prescient insights into a Germany where “the gap between self-interest and the common good was growing ever wider.”
Sebald compassionately re-creates the ordeals of Eduard Mörike, the nineteenth-century German poet beset by mood swings, depression, and fainting spells in an increasingly shallow society, and Robert Walser, the institutionalized author whose nearly indecipherable scrawls seemed an attempt to “duck down below the level of language and obliterate himself” (and whose physical appearance and year of death mirrored those of Sebald’s grandfather). Finally, Sebald spies a cognizance of death’s inevitability in painter Jan Peter Tripp’s lovingly exact reproductions of life.
Featuring the same kinds of suggestive and unexplained illustrations that appear in his masterworks Austerlitz and The Rings of Saturn, and translated by Sebald’s colleague Jo Catling, A Place in the Country is Sebald’s unforgettable self-portrait as seen through the experiences of others, a glimpse of his own ghosts alongside those of the men who influenced him. It is an essential addition to his stunning body of work.
Praise for A Place in the Country
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“Measured, solemn, sardonic . . . hypnotic . . . [W. G. Sebald’s] books, which he made out of classics, remain classics for now.”—Joshua Cohen, The New York Times Book Review***
“In Sebald’s writing, everything is connected, everything webbed together by the unseen threads of history, or chance, or fate, or death. The scholarly craft of gathering scattered sources and weaving them into a coherent whole is transformed here into something beautiful and unsettling, elevated into an art of the uncanny—an art that was, in the end, Sebald’s strange and inscrutable gift.”—Slate
“Magnificent . . . The multiple layers surrounding each essay are seamless to the point of imperceptibility.”—New York Daily News
“Sebald’s most tender and jovial book.” —The Nation **
“Reading [A Place in the Country is] like going for a walk with a beautifully talented, deeply passionate novelist from Mars.”—*New York*
From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 404
In this dark comedy series, a Jewish brother and sister sneak back into time with their uncle’s time machine and accidentally kill Hitler. They are delighted until they get back to the present and see the awful and odd things that have happened as a result, they find they have no choice, they must save HitlerIn this dark comedy series, a Jewish brother and sister sneak back into time with their uncle’s time machine and accidentally kill Hitler. They are delighted until they get back to the present and see the awful and odd things that have happened as a result, and each time they go back and try and fix things, reality get progressively worse, until they find they have no choice, they must save Hitler. This first book in the series chronicles their trip back in time when they kill Hitler and the awful result when they return to present day New York. You also get to meet a group of scientists who are working on an array of humanity killing projects, from zombies to contacting aliens, and the creation of a cat-dog. Views: 403
