Weir's back and SUPER weird!And guess what? FiDo the sausage-dog is SUPER weird too. Perfect!Dad's training to become a firefighter, while Weir's busy with Pet Day! Will FiDo and Blockhead freeze-up or find fame?It won't be easy . . . but it will be funny! Views: 26
With Venice: Pure City , Peter Ackroyd is at his most magical and magisterial, presenting a glittering, evocative, fascinating, story-filled portrait of the ultimate city. “Ackroyd provides a history of and meditation on the actual and imaginary Venice in a volume as opulent and paradoxical as the city itself. . . . How Ackroyd deftly catalogues the overabundance of the city’s real and literary tropes and touchstones is itself a kind of tribute to La Serenissima , as Venice is called, and his seductive voice is elegant and elegiac. The resulting book is, like Venice, something rich, labyrinthine and unique that makes itself and its subject both new and necessary.” — Publishers Weekly The Venetians’ language and way of thinking set them aside from the rest of Italy. They are an island people, linked to the sea and to the tides rather than the land. This lat¬est work from the incomparable Peter Ackroyd, like a magic gondola, transports its readers to that sensual and surprising city. His account embraces facts and romance, conjuring up the atmosphere of the canals, bridges, and sunlit squares, the churches and the markets, the festivals and the flowers. He leads us through the history of the city, from the first refugees arriving in the mists of the lagoon in the fourth century to the rise of a great mercantile state and its trading empire, the wars against Napoleon, and the tourist invasions of today. Everything is here: the merchants on the Rialto and the Jews in the ghetto; the glassblowers of Murano; the carnival masks and the sad colonies of lepers; the artists—Bellini, Titian, Tintoretto, Tiepolo. And the ever-present undertone of Venice’s shadowy corners and dead ends, of prisons and punishment, wars and sieges, scandals and seductions. Ackroyd’s Venice: Pure City is a study of Venice much in the vein of his lauded London: The Biography . Like London , Venice is a fluid, writerly exploration organized around a number of themes. History and context are provided in each chapter, but Ackroyd’s portrait of Venice is a particularly novelistic one, both beautiful and rapturous. We could have no better guide—reading Venice: Pure City is, in itself, a glorious journey to the ultimate city. Views: 26
Monty Python, the genius comedy troupe from Britain, single-handedly revolutionized sketch comedy and paved the way for everything from Saturday Night Live to Austin Powers. Now, in their official oral history, founding members John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin take readers behind the scenes in this no-holds-barred look at their lives and unforgettable comic works like "The Spanish Inquisition," "Dead Parrot," Monty Python's Life of Brian, Monty Python and the Holy Grail (inspiration for the hit Broadway musical Spamalot), and many, many more, with never-before-seen photos and rare interviews from friends and collaborators. Views: 26
Joining the ranks of Unbroken, Band of Brothers, and Boys in the Boat, the little-known saga of young German Jews, dubbed The Ritchie Boys, who fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s, came of age in America, and returned to Europe at enormous personal risk as members of the U.S. Army to play a key role in the Allied victory.In 1942, the U.S. Army unleashed one of its greatest secret weapons in the battle to defeat Adolf Hitler: training nearly 2,000 German-born Jews in special interrogation techniques and making use of their mastery of the German language, history, and customs. Known as the Ritchie Boys, they were sent in small, elite teams to join every major combat unit in Europe, where they interrogated German POWs and gathered crucial intelligence that saved American lives and helped win the war. Though they knew what the Nazis would do to them if they were captured, the Ritchie Boys eagerly joined the fight to defeat Hitler. As they did, many of them did not know the... Views: 25
Written by "America's finest essayist" (New Statesman), At Home brings together twenty-four essays on subjects ranging from Henry James to Nancy Reagan, Oscar Wilde to Oliver North, Hollywood to Mongolia. From the leaders and lunacies of contemporary America to reminiscences of his own childhood, whether answering his own critics or excoriating the current state of literature, Gore Vidal is, as always, elegant, incisive, and brilliant. "As provocative and perceptive a social and literary critic as America has today." –Newsweek "[Vidal's] pieces grab one's attention and refuse to let go. At once forthright and mendacious, smart and demented, they're written...with panache, vigor and a caustic, often perverse wit...As a stylist he's almost a national treasure." –Wall Street Journal "I can't think of any writer more certain to have exactly the right opinion on absolutely everything." –Washington... Views: 25
With the lucidity and vividness that characterize all her work, two-time Pulitzer Prize winning historian, Barbara Tuchman, explores the complex relationship of Britain to Palestine that led to the founding of the modern Jewish state--and to many of the problems that plague the Middle East today."Barbara Tuchman is a wise and witty writer, a shrewd observer with a lively command of high drama."PHILADELPHIA INQUIRERFrom the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 25
An accomplished young scientist solves one of the greatest mysteries of evolution: What caused the dramatic explosion of life half a billion years ago? Views: 25
Three brutal killings.
The first murder was a professional job, efficiently carried out by high-price executioners. The second was a torture death, the speciality of men who knew how to prolong agony to extract information.
The third was unplanned, the knife mercifully swift to its victim. And each killing ended the life of a top spy.
Two strange double agents.
The man sold out for money and didn't care who knew about it. The girl was forced into betrayal; she had to choose between treason and satisfying the Red agent's insatiable lust… Views: 25
WHAT IF YOUR WHOLE LIFE WAS A LIE? One Planet. Two Worlds. Population: Human ... 7 billion.Others ... unknown. When 14-year-old Charlie Blake wakes up sweating and gasping for air in the middle of the night, he knows it is happening again. This time he witnesses a brutal murder. He's afraid to tell anyone. No one would believe him ... because it was a dream. Just like the one he had four years ago - the day before his dad died. Charlie doesn't know why this is happening. He would give anything to have an ordinary life. The problem: he doesn't belong in the world he knows as home. He belongs with the others.From the Back CoverHis father opened fire. 'Derkein, shoot!' he yelled.Derkein glanced around the room in panic and confusion. He saw no one but his father. Then he felt a sharp pain in his arm, heard his shirt tear, and cried out. Something warm dribbled down his arm. When he placed his hand on it and drew it back, he saw blood. His father screamed, and he looked up and saw him flying across the room, crashing into a bookshelf that collapsed under him.'Dad!' Derkein sprinted towards him but felt a powerful blow across his chest that sent him flying backwards, and he landed hard on the floor, his gun falling out of his hand. Staggering to his feet, he glanced around for whatever had attacked him but saw nothing. His gaze landed on his father, who was groaning ... and then he was gone. There were no bright lights or loud noise. He had just vanished. About the AuthorAlecia Stone has been in love with anything and everything paranormal for many years. She graduated with a BA in Film & TV and has worked in television for a short period of time before branching out into storytelling. When she isn't writing, she enjoys going to the movies, listening to music, and travelling. Talisman Of El is her first novel. She currently lives in England, UK. Views: 25
