Released by Louisiana State University Press in 1980, A Confederacy of Dunces is nothing short of a publishing phenomenon. Rejected by countless publishers and submitted by the author's mother years after his suicide, the book won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Today there are almost two million copies in print worldwide in eighteen languages. Now, for the first time, John Kennedy Toole's comic masterpiece is available in a large print edition. Toole's lunatic and sage novel introduces one of the most memorable characters in American literature, Ignatius Reilly, whom Walker Percy dubs "slob extraordinaire, a mad Oliver Hardy, a fat Don Quixote, a perverse Thomas Aquinas rolled into one." Set in New Orleans, A confederacy of Dunces outswifts Swift, one of whose essays gives the book its title. As its characters burst into life, they leave the region and literature forever changed by their presence-Ignatius and his mother; Miss Trixie, the octogenarian assistant accountant at Levi Pants; inept, wan Patrolman Mancuso; Darlene, the Bourbon Street stripper with a penchant for poultry; Jones the jivecat in spaceage dark glasses. Included here is the introduction that writer and New Orleans resident Andrei Codrescu composed for the book's twentieth anniversary. Set in oversized type for ease in reading, the large print edition will gratify both first-timers seeking to discover this modern-day classic and longtime afficionados wishing to reread a favorite novel. Views: 53
With his critically acclaimed first novel, Jonathan Miles was widely praised as a comic genius "after something bigger" (David Ulin, Los Angeles Times) whose fiction was "not just philosophically but emotionally rewarding" (Richard Russo, New York Times Book Review, front cover).Now, in his much anticipated second novel, Want Not, Miles takes a giant leap forward with this highly inventive and corrosively funny story of our times, a three-pronged tale of human excess that sifts through the detritus of several disparate lives—lost loves, blown chances, countless words and deeds misdirected or misunderstood—all conjoined in their come-hell-or-high-water search for fulfillment.As the novel opens on Thanksgiving Day, readers are telescoped into three different worlds in various states of disrepair—a young freegan couple living off the grid in New York City; a once-prominent linguist, sacked at midlife by the dissolution of his marriage... Views: 53
Four all-new stories of romance, passion, and magic... "Ever After" by Nora Roberts"Catch a Falling Star" by Jill Gregory"The Curse of Castle Clough" by Ruth Ryan Langan"Starry, Starry Night" by Marianne Willman Views: 53
A girl and a baby. A priest and a poacher. A savage pursuit through the landscape of a changing rural England. When a teenage girl abducts a child, a local priest and poacher are called upon to retrieve them. Chased through the Cumbrian mountains of a distant past, the girl fights starvation and the elements, encountering the hermits, farmers and hunters who occupy the remote hillside communities along the way. Like an American Southern Gothic tale set against the violent beauty of Northern England, BEASTINGS is a sparse and poetic novel about morality, motherhood and corruption. Views: 53
When Southern belle Ellie McBride moves her twins from Vertigo, Tennessee to New York City, they wouldn’t dream of leaving behind the family pig Rumpy. But the posh hotel where Ellie has found work (and living space) has “No Pets” writ large on its portal. So hiding Rumpy from the hotel staff—especially the ultra-carnivorous hotel chef, who would like nothing better than to transform their pet into pork roast—becomes imperative. Can a talented, sensitive pig survive the claustrophobic, neurotic stresses of life in the Big Apple? Can the McBride twins keep their precious pet from becoming the chef’s favorite entree? Get ready for a wonderful ride as master storyteller Jimmy Buffett takes readers on a brilliantly funny romp through Manhattan and beyond. From spoiled rock stars to highly caffeinated football coaches, Buffett's satirical view of American culture never ceases to bite and delight. Views: 53
After his daughter has been kidnapped, Robert must work with an enemy to get Madison home safely. Robert and Leah have many problems and aren’t sure how to solve them. The kidnapping of their daughter. The condition in which Madison will be if she is found. The custody battle with the family over their biological daughter. And the upcoming fight with heavyweight champion Abel Kennedy. Will it all be too much for Leah and Robert to handle? Will depression claim Leah once again? Can Robert focus on training for his last fight with Abel Kennedy, or is it all too much for him? Does he fight like hell for what he wants, or does he let it all slip away? Views: 53
Mystery/Crime. 75487 words long. First published in 1990 Views: 53
Hugh Provan was a Modernist hero. A dreamer, a Socialist, a man of the people, he led Scotland's towerblock programme after the war. Now he lies on a bed on the eighteenth floor. The times have changed. His flats are coming down. The idealism he learned from his mother is gone. And even as his breath goes out he clings to the old ways. His wife sings her Scots ballads to soothe him, yet his final months are plagued by memory and loss, by a bitter sense of his family and his country, who could not live up to the houses he built for them. Meanwhile the corruption hearings bring their hammer down on the past. Hugh's grandson, Jamie, comes home to watch over his dying mentor. The old man's final months bring Jamie to see what is best and worst in the past that haunts them all, and he sees the fears of his own life unravel in the land that bred him. He tells the story of his own family - a tale of pride and delusion, of nationality and strong drink, of Catholic faith and the end of the ol... Views: 53
SUMMARY:He is a brilliant maths professor with a peculiar problem - ever since a traumatic head injury seventeen years ago, he has lived with only eighty minutes of short-term memory. She is a sensitive but astute young housekeeper who is entrusted to take care of him. Each morning, as the Professor and the Housekeeper are reintroduced to one another, a strange, beautiful relationship blossoms between them. The Professor may not remember what he had for breakfast, but his mind is still alive with elegant equations from the past. He devises clever maths riddles - based on her shoe size or her birthday - and the numbers reveal a sheltering and poetic world to both the Housekeeper and her ten-year-old son. With each new equation, the three lost souls forge an affection more mysterious than imaginary numbers, and a bond that runs deeper than memory. Views: 53
Three powerful novels by bestselling author Alice Walker—beginning with her Pulitzer Prize–winning The Color Purple—that speak to the African experience in America. The Color Purple is Walker's stunning, Pulitzer Prize–winning novel of courage in the face of oppression. Celie grows up in rural Georgia, navigating a childhood of ceaseless abuse. Not only is she poor and despised by the society around her, she's badly treated by her family. As a teenager she begins writing letters directly to God in an attempt to transcend a life that often seems too much to bear. Her letters span twenty years and record a journey of self-discovery and empowerment through the guiding light of a few strong women and her own implacable will to find harmony with herself and her home. In The Temple of My Familiar, Celie and Shug from The Color Purple follow the lives of a brilliant cast of characters, all dealing in... Views: 53
