The Fifth and Final Book of the Hidden Gem SeriesIn the three years since ending things with both Oro Records and Tyler Chase, Gemma Hunter has shied away from the public eye, spending every waking hour on reinventing her career and image with her fashion line, The Court.But completely immersing herself in work has left her in the dark with some of the people she’s loved most. When she finally emerges from the safety of her studio space, Gemma is met with a barrage of changes that make it impossible to leave her chaotic past behind and start over.Appr. 95,000 Words Views: 23
These are mind games: A dark novella and six short stories of psychological strife are included in this short story collection by the author of Self-help for Stoners and Bigger Than Jesus. Enjoy the twists and turns on this fun ride. Views: 22
Part 6 of Summer Flings – a fun, flirty and laugh out loud rom com series of short stories. Instead of hitting the designer shops with her friends, Ciara's all about proving Florence can be enjoyed on a budget – and she isn't talking about the sexy Italians Elle and Gem pick up for the duration! One-on-one with Zack is getting too intense so she plans a grape-squishing trip to a vineyard hoping to leave her problems back in the city. Of course her doomed affair is the least of her worries when her friendship with his cousin is on the line. The ideal summer treat for those relaxing days soaking up the sun! Views: 19
Review"[James Agee's words] are so indelibly etched someplace inside of me that I couldn't reach to rub them out even if I wanted to. And I never want to." -Steve Earle, from the Introduction "The work of a writer whose power with English words can make you gasp." -Alfred Kazin, "The New York Times Book Review"" It is, in the full sense, poetry. . . . The language of the book, at once luminous and discreet . . . remains in the mind."-"The New Republic"" Wonderfully alive." -"The New Yorker" From the PublisherJames Agee's Pulitzer Prize-winning A Death In The Family is the powerful, moving story of a universal human situation. It tells of a loving and closely-knit family--and of their great courage when tragedy changes senselessly and suddenly the lives of those who are left behind."Maturely and masterfully, Agee accomplished a book which touches one deeply and which no reader will forget." -- New York Herald Tribune Book Review Views: 18
A car mechanic turned internationally acclaimed opera star, Alfie Boe has taken Broadway by storm, conquered the West End and has won the hearts of the nation.The first official bad boy of opera, this is the story of his life - the ups and the downs, from finding fame to losing his father - and of his love affair with music.A story not typical of most musical stars, Alfie's dreams of singing only became a reality when fate intervened in the form of a stranger: he was training as a car mechanic when a customer overheard him singing and told him about a London audition. Alfie tried out, got the part and has never looked back.Celebrated worldwide and lauded by Baz Luhrman and Cameron Mackintosh as the best tenor we've produced in a generation, for the first time, he will grant his millions of fans an intimate glimpse into the life of the man they adore. Views: 17
From the bestselling author of Assassination Vacation and Unfamiliar Fishes, a humorous and insightful account of the Revolutionary War hero Marquis de Lafayette—the one Frenchman we could all agree on—and an insightful portrait of a nation's idealism and its reality. On August 16, 1824, an elderly French gentlemen sailed into New York Harbor and giddy Americans were there to welcome him. Or, rather, to welcome him back. It had been thirty years since the Revolutionary War hero the Marquis de Lafayette had last set foot in the United States, and he was so beloved that 80,000 people showed up to cheer for him. The entire population of New York at the time was 120,000. Lafayette's arrival in 1824 coincided with one of the most contentious presidential elections in American history, Congress had just fought its first epic battle over slavery, and the threat of a Civil War loomed. But Lafayette, belonging to neither North nor South, to no... Views: 17
Amazon.com ReviewAnyone who has ever gamely tried and failed to absorb, enjoy, and--especially--understand the complex works of Schoenberg, Mahler, Strauss, or even Philip Glass will allow themselves a wry smile reading New Yorker music critic Alex Ross's outstanding The Rest Is Noise. Not only does Ross manage to give historical, biographical, and social context to 20th-century pieces both major and minor, he brings the scores alive in language that's accessible and dramatic.Take Ross's description of Schoenberg's Second Quartet, "in which he hesitates at a crossroads, contemplating various paths forming in front of him. The first movement, written the previous year, still uses a fairly conventional late-Romantic language. The second movement, by contrast, is a hallucinatory Scherzo, unlike any other music at the time. It contains fragments of the folk song 'Ach, du lieber Augustin'--the same tune that held Freudian significance for Mahler. For Schoenberg, the song seems to represent a bygone world disintegrating; the crucial line is 'Alles ist hin' (all is lost). The movement ends in a fearsome sequence of four-note figures, which are made up of fourths separated by a tritone. In them may be discerned traces of the bifurcated scale that begins Salome. But there is no longer a sense of tonalities colliding. Instead, the very concept of a chord is dissolving into a matrix of intervals."Armed with such a detailed aural roadmap, even a troglodyte--or a heavy metal fan--can explore these pivotal works anew. But it's not all crashing cymbals, honking tubas, and somber Germans stroking their chins. Ross also presents the human dramas (affairs, wars, etc.) behind these sweeping compositions while managing, against the odds, to discuss C-major triads, pentatonic scales, and B-flat dominant sevenths without making our eyes glaze over. And he draws a direct link between the Beatles and Sibelius. It's no surprise that the New York Times named The Rest Is Noise one of the 10 Best Books of 2007. Music nerds have found their most articulate valedictorian. --Kim HughesFrom Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. Ross, the classical music critic for the New Yorker, leads a whirlwind tour from the Viennese premiere of Richard Strauss's Salome in 1906 to minimalist Steve Reich's downtown Manhattan apartment. The wide-ranging historical material is organized in thematic essays grounded in personalities and places, in a disarmingly comprehensive style reminiscent of historian Otto Friedrich. Thus, composers who led dramatic lives—such as Shostakovich's struggles under the Soviet regime—make for gripping reading, but Ross treats each composer with equal gravitas. The real strength of this study, however, lies in his detailed musical analysis, teasing out—in precise but readily accessible language—the notes that link Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story to Arnold Schoenberg's avant-garde compositions or hint at a connection between Sibelius and John Coltrane. Among the many notable passages, a close reading of Benjamin Britten's opera Peter Grimes stands out for its masterful blend of artistic and biographical insight. Readers new to classical music will quickly seek out the recordings Ross recommends, especially the works by less prominent composers, and even avid fans will find themselves hearing familiar favorites with new ears. (Oct.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Part 4 of Summer Flings – a fun, flirty and laugh out loud rom com series of short stories. Who needs fun when you can chill out in a stunning villa in Santorini all week and be pampered in every way possible? Ciara does. After an unfortunate wardrobe faux par, challenging her friends to jet ski racing, and hooking up with an unexpected visitor, Ciara's all about sex on the beach... the yacht... in the sea – wherever and whenever really! And she's not alone. It's the perfect fling in theory, but what happens when their Greek adventure comes to an end? The ideal summer treat for those relaxing days soaking up the sun! Views: 11
