Vanity of Duluoz: An Adventurous Education, 1935-46

Originally subtitled "An Adventurous Education, 1935-1946," Vanity of Duluoz is a key volume in Jack Kerouac's lifework, the series of autobiographical novels he referred to as The Legend of Duluoz. With the same tender humor and intoxicating wordplay he brought to his masterpieces On the Road and The Dharma Bums, Kerouac takes his alter ego from the football fields of small-town New England to the playing fields and classrooms of Horace Mann and Columbia, out to sea on a merchant freighter plying the sub-infested waters of the North Atlantic during World War II, and back to New York, where his friends are the writers who would one day become known as the Beat generation and where he published his first novel. Written in 1967 from the vantage point of the psychedelic sixties, Vanity of Duluoz gives a fascinating portrait of the young Kerouac, dedicated and disciplined in his determination from an early age to be an important American writer.
Views: 730

The Barn

The Barn is an old fashioned scary story about two brothers who find their usual playspot now is home to something else, something terrible.The PA is a humourous short story about the world post-apocalypse (PA). It is 1182 words.
Views: 730

The Zimmermann Telegram

The Proud Tower, the Pulitzer Prize–winning The Guns of August, and The Zimmermann Telegram comprise Barbara W. Tuchman’s classic histories of the First World War era   In January 1917, the war in Europe was, at best, a tragic standoff. Britain knew that all was lost unless the United States joined the war, but President Wilson was unshakable in his neutrality. At just this moment, a crack team of British decoders in a quiet office known as Room 40 intercepted a document that would change history. The Zimmermann telegram was a top-secret message to the president of Mexico, inviting him to join Germany and Japan in an invasion of the United States. How Britain managed to inform the American government without revealing that the German codes had been broken makes for an incredible story of espionage and intrigue as only Barbara W. Tuchman could tell it. Praise for The Zimmermann Telegram “A true, lucid thriller . . . a tremendous tale of hushed and unhushed uproars in the linked fields of war and diplomacy . . . Tuchman makes the most of it with a creative writer’s sense of drama and a scholar’s obeisance to the evidence.”—The New York Times   “The tale has most of the ingredients of an Eric Ambler spy thriller.”—Saturday Review**
Views: 725

Wessex Tales: "Schelin's Daughter" (Story 14)

The Norman knight Schelin (from whom the village of Shilling Okeford or Shillingstone takes its name) was awarded the manor of Okeford for his service to King William at the Battle of Hastings. Schelin holds the richest agricultural land in Dorset, but he still has a problem. His daughter would rather get herself to a nunnery than marry well. A Saxon wise woman’s potions are called for. (c.1085)This is a collection of over 250 poems that altogether seeks to reflect man as both the poet and the actor who handles the helm of his own affairs, on a timed cruise, down his very own banked personal river. Using his abilities to compose and steer his poetic story, faring only as suitably as his capabilities and fate enables him.The essence of poetry is in its use of eloquent apt words to convey the poet’s exact thoughts, as they are felt or experienced by him. Like it is the actor’s ability to apply specific skills to portray a scripted character reveals a story, it is likewise the poet's grant to create the content and set the beauty of the words.If the soul is scripted, if the mind can think, if the heart does feel and the body is specific; then every individual distinctively roams on a course throughout their lives that can be manipulated to fit their own different experience, but not actually change it. For the poet mans the helm, and the cruise is his composed poem.
Views: 723

The Awesome Tales of Awesomeness

Prepare to be bombarded by laughter!!!!! The Awesome Tales of Awesomeness is a hilarious, witty collection of children's stories. From a dragon who turns from his evil ways to open up a chicken joint to a burglar robbing a safe, only to find a stash of nachos inside, these stories will definately make you laugh out loud! This book is a must-read for all ages!An assassin foiled, a wicked step-brother beaten at his own game, Growing pains of the young and old, a woman’s desperate attempt to escape an undesirable relationship, a man’s struggle with a relationship lost, a not so victorious battle with a big fish, a lineman’s war duty, and a poignant mermaid’s tale. In this collection of short stories there’s something for everyone, including romance, suspense, comedy, history, drama and fantasy, showcasing eleven of Bluewood Publishing’s established authors and offering a taste of their creative delights to tempt the reader’s appetite.
Views: 723

Hog and Hominy: Soul Food From Africa to America

Frederick Douglass Opie deconstructs and compares the foodways of people of African descent throughout the Americas, interprets the health legacies of black culinary traditions, and explains the concept of soul itself, revealing soul food to be an amalgamation of West and Central African social and cultural influences as well as the adaptations blacks made to the conditions of slavery and freedom in the Americas. Sampling from travel accounts, periodicals, government reports on food and diet, and interviews with more than thirty people born before 1945, Opie reconstructs an interrelated history of Moorish influence on the Iberian Peninsula, the African slave trade, slavery in the Americas, the emergence of Jim Crow, the Great Migration, the Great Depression, and the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. His grassroots approach reveals the global origins of soul food, the forces that shaped its development, and the distinctive cultural collaborations that occurred among Africans, Asians, Europeans, and Americans throughout history. Opie shows how food can be an indicator of social position, a site of community building and cultural identity, and a juncture at which different cultural traditions can develop and impact the collective health of a community.
Views: 721

How to Be a Perfect Girl

Valentina Hunter's parents think they've just hit the jackpot; when her mother invents a product that makes her family millionaires overnight, they buy a new house and new cars, and enroll their daughter in the ultra-exclusive Palm Lake private school. The school comes with an excellent resume; more Palm Lake graduates go on to the Ivy League than any other private school in the area, ninety percent of them start college with at least a year’s worth of Advanced Placement credits, and they earn more perfect ACT scores per capita than the students at any other high school. Valentina’s mother and father are ecstatic, but Val doesn’t share the sentiment; she would rather go to the local public school with all her middle school friends. Events only increase her desire, as Valentina quickly finds herself embroiled in bitter social battles and hostile vendettas, leaving her to question whether she’ll even be able to survive the first month.
Views: 718

The Necroshine

Alvilda, an Elvish sorcerous, travels with a Necromancer's soul imprisoned within her own. The Necromancer know it's only escape is through her death. So he hatches a plan to free himself as she makes her way through a dense forest.Ash Magazine is a magazine dedicated to exposing people to unknown writers and artists.Ash Magazine Issue 2 has art and stories byAndrew DimitrovNikole KlinkhammerTony GillTammie PainterEartha ForestWill SchmitzDevon AmatoBrett CihonPatrick LogonElizabeth J. SparenbergJazzMinh MooreErin KassidyKayla HimmelbergerNicholas UtkeAllison WildeAdam RobertsAnna PalmerAsh Magazine is published byLord HaywireAsh Magazine Issue 2 was edited by Jenn Waterman
Views: 714

Songs from a Suitcase

Stories and poems of unusual lives, strange occurrences and off-beat travel.Grandpa Jesse shows young May a magical world on the other side of a rope bridge. This story was written for a “favorite mythical world” flash fiction contest.
Views: 713

Elbies - part 1

Aliens have arrived, and they're going to kill most of us - but it's for our own good.(First 2 months of Robbie Taylor's 250 Word Project)Cal Minkowski is just a computer nerd at the Department of Justice until he encounters an alien at his friendly local game shop and invites her to game night at his place. Over the months that she plays with his group, her people negotiate the demise of 95% of the human population on Earth - so that they can bring the rest of humanity onto their level of evolution.Soon, Cal will take that next step in evolution, and ascend to a god-like state. But for now, he must struggle with being left behind, LB'd - an Elbie.ELBIES is the inaugural 250 Word Project, an attempt to create a novel in public, 250 words a day - and 250 words ONLY. Every two months, the story so far will be collected and sold for a buck - until the completion and release of the novel on August 14th of each year, when the collections will be taken offline and the full novel will be available for $3.99. Part 1 of each novel will be free for download so that readers can see how the story begins.
Views: 710

The Charade

What if someone tells you that you can actually play games on LOVE? What if True Love is just a fantasy and a fairy tale? I bet this is one of the most controversial book ever. You're truly going to find crazy philosophies here. Enjoy!Dana Bowman’s ex-husband, Colby, comes across a form Dana filled out for a contest. The phenomena/psychic society showcases any aspiring psychics who care to predict events in the coming year. Colby knows Dana won’t remember to send in the form, she never does. He reads her answers, laughs at the predictions, and figures her answers are as good as anyone else’s at guessing what will happen in the coming year. One year later, surprise! Dana wins prizes amounting to a whopping $50,000. To collect, she must appear in Los Angeles with the well-known psychics who sponsored the contest. Adam Knight, a publicist from LA, is elected to meet Dana, take her to all required appearances, including a television show. At home, Colby and their daughters, Mitzi and Kayci, watch their now-famous mother and wonder who will accompany her to Paris. Jealousy colors Colby's thoughts and actions, at least initially. Perhaps Colby can convince her to re-marry so he can accompany her to Paris and start winning back her love. Will he get to Dana in time before she invites someone else…say, Adam Knight?(Contains sexual love scenes)
Views: 710

Envy - The Seculary of a Wandering Jew (Book 1)

In the grand tradition of historical fictional biographies by Robert Graves (I, Claudius), Marguerite Yourcenar (Memories of Hadrian) and Gore Vidal (Julian), THE SECULARY OF A WANDERING JEW - ENVY, brings to light the story of an outsider fated to roam through the ages under the shadows of History.I was a man of my time - a doting father, a devout Jew, a diligent worker, a patriot, or so I believed. But I was destined to be a man for all Time, an immortal.“Who is the man the soldiers are dragging, father?” asked the youngster.“A preacher, I believe.”“But they’re calling him a king, father.” “They’re mocking him, son.”So did I, when I came across this obscure prophet on his way to martyrdom — an encounter that would mold my destiny, force me to question my beliefs, and uproot me from all that I cared for.More than 20 centuries after my birth, I have decided to chronicle my life into a diary — or as I call it, a seculary — of my long haunting existence. You’ll come to know why.Through these journals you are invited to accompany me on an epic journey of an envied, ageless man. An ostracized man, persecuted as the living proof of the divinity of a messiah in whom I never believed. In these pages you will meet some of the protagonists of the age, the ideals and the morality of the times, and learn the real truth behind events that would forever change the fabric of civilization, the very essence of what we are today.
Views: 706

The Poisoned Ground

CORPORATE GREED. CORRUPTION. PLAGUE.All was well for the southern city of Nanli -- until a mysterious plague filled the city with fear and agony. Duty bound to discover the cause, Lady Abbess Cara races against time to find a cure only to be caught up in a dangerous conspiracy that may claim her life and the lives of billions for generations to come.It's a quiet day at the Redneck Detective Agency and Twila Taunton is just sitting chewing the fat with her receptionist, LaMercy Howard.A phone call comes in. It's Twila's cousin, Ena."You'll never guess what's going on at the school," she says. "There's a gator in the kids' playground.""So did they call Deputy Billy-Bob?" Twila says."They can't get him, he's out of town.""Okay. I'll go over there and see what I can do," Twila says. She picks up her keys. Her dog, Scratch is at her heels as she takes the porch steps two at a time and heads for her truck...
Views: 703

The Glow

It's 2004 in America and Quentin Ross does not elect to visit Chile with his new girlfriend for spring break. Instead he finds himself criss-crossing the country with his roommate and with fellow travelers of various persuasions. However, it is through Olivia Dupree that Quentin might wonder about the narrowness of his own perspective in this novella with picaresque and coming-of-age elements.Quentin Ross is twenty-one years old and approaching the end of his college years. His (nominal) girlfriend Marcela is decidedly out of his pay grade on the scale of life ambition. In lieu of visiting her family for spring break, he crosses from one side to the other of 2004 America, with all of the anti-turmoil that implies. There are the regressive jokes and diatribes of Kjell as well as the adderall-induced conniving and philosophizing of Carson. But it is truly through Olivia Dupree, vivacious and tormented, worldly and aesthetic, that Quentin might wonder about the narrowness of his own perspective.The Glow touches on the nature of responsibility, relationships, redemption, and repetition. It contains historical, picaresque, coming-of-age, and romantic elements, and it is the first work of Dan Bryan.
Views: 703

The Town and the City: A Novel

A quintessential American family is pulled apart by war and the rapidly changing tides of society in Jack Kerouac’s captivating first novel Published seven years before his iconic On the Road, Jack Kerouac’s debut novel follows the experiences of one family as they navigate the seismic cultural shifts following World War II. Inspired by Kerouac’s own New England youth, the eight Martin children enjoy an idyllic upbringing in a small Massachusetts mill-town. Middle son Peter, a budding intellectual and promising athlete, most strongly feels the lure of the future. When war breaks out, the siblings’ lives are interrupted by military service; their parents must sell their house after the family business goes bankrupt; and Peter, eager to see the world, voyages overseas as a Merchant Marine. After returning home, Peter is drawn to the kinetic energy of New York City and the progressive, bohemian ideas springing from its denizen young poets, writers, and artists. His new friends are fictionalized versions of Kerouac’s contemporaries: Allen Ginsberg (as Leon Levinsky), Lucien Carr (as Kenneth Wood), and William Burroughs (as Will Dennison), and other members of the Beat Generation. Seen by Peter’s parents as hoodlums and junkies, the Beats challenge conventional American ideas of everything from authority and religion to marriage and domestic life.
Views: 700