Drawing on the Yoruba folk tradition, Amos Tutuola's tales combine the resonance of universal myth with reflections on a range of human vagaries. The leading characters of Pauper, Brawler and Slanderer are all forced to embark on journeys of no return, leading to incidents and adventures in classic Tutuola style. There is a ploughing competition for the hand of the beautiful Popondoro, and the reign of Pauper and Slanderer in the town of women is inevitably brief. This is Tutuola at his most vivid and funny, at his wisest and most imaginative. Views: 11
Maybe the Moon, Armistead Maupin's first novel since ending his bestselling Tales of the City series, is the audaciously original chronicle of Cadence Roth -- Hollywood actress, singer, iconoclast and former Guiness Book record holder as the world's shortest woman. All of 31 inches tall, Cady is a true survivor in a town where -- as she says -- "you can die of encouragement." Her early starring role as a lovable elf in an immensely popular American film proved a major disappointment, since moviegoers never saw the face behind the stifling rubber suit she was required to wear. Now, after a decade of hollow promises from the Industry, she is reduced to performing at birthday parties and bat mitzvahs as she waits for the miracle that will finally make her a star. As clear-eyed as it is charming, Maybe the Moon is a modern parable about the mythology of the movies and the toll it exacts from it participants on both sides of the screen. Views: 11
Newbery Medal winner Karen Hesse's Civil War diary, A LIGHT IN THE STORM, is now back in print with a beautiful new cover!In 1861, Amelia Martin's father is stripped of his post as a ship's captain when he is caught harboring the leader of a slave rebellion. Now he is an assistant lighthouse keeper on Fenwick Island, off the coast of Delaware — a state wedged between the North and the South, just as Amelia is wedged between her warring parents. Amelia's mother blames her abolitionist husband for their living conditions, which she claims are taking a toll on her health. Amelia observes her mother's hate and her father's admiration for Abraham Lincoln.But slavery is the deeper issue separating the two sides. As the Civil War rages on, Amelia slowly learns that she cannot stop the fighting, but by keeping watch in the lighthouse each day, lighting the lamps, cleaning the glass, and rescuing victims of Atlantic storms, she can still make a difference. Views: 11
Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Bill Pronzini debuts a thrilling western with expert storytelling and a mysterious hero who will appeal to Pronzini's Nameless fans.Not all the folks who roamed the Old West were cowhands, rustlers, or cardsharps. And they certainly weren’t all heroes.Give-a-Damn Jones, a free-spirited itinerant typographer, hates his nickname almost as much as the rumors spread about him. He’s a kind soul who keeps finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.That’s what happened in Box Elder, a small Montana town. Tensions are running high, and anything (or anyone) could be the fuse to ignite them: a recently released convict trying to prove his innocence, a prominent cattleman who craves respect at any cost, a wily traveling dentist at odds with a violent local blacksmith, or a firebrand of an editor who is determined to unlock the town’s secrets.Jones walks into the middle of it all, and this time, he may be the hero that this town needs.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.**ReviewPraise for Bill Pronzini“One of the best in the mystery-suspense field.”―The Washington Post Book World“[Nameless] is the classic private-eye hero pared down to the bone; he has no identity except for his detective work…He is a remarkable creation.”―Chicago Sun-Times“The best rock ‘n’ roll songs are two minutes fifty seconds long, and the best short detective novels are written by Bill Pronzini. In both genres you are drawn in immediately, have a lot of fun, and when it’s over, you look ahead to the next time.”―The Boston Globe“The reader’s involvement with Nameless and his problems continues to increase in intensity, making the series succeed on an emotional level rare in the field.”―Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine“The Nameless Detective novels are a thinking reader’s detective series.”―Chicago Sun-Times“There is no living writer whose work more faithfully embodies the spirit of classic private-eye fiction than Bill Pronzini’s. [It is] classy, classy noir storytelling.”―The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)About the Author
Bill Pronzini has been nominated for or won every prize offered to crime fiction writers, including the 2008 Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. He lives in California with his wife, crime novelist Marcia Muller. Views: 11
When Czechoslovakia relinquishes the Sudetenland to Hitler, the powerful influence of Nazi propaganda sweeps through towns and villages like a sinister vanguard of the Reich's advancing army. A fiercely patriotic secular Jew, Pavel Bauer is helpless to prevent his world from unraveling as first his government, then his business partners, then his neighbors turn their back on his affluent, once-beloved family. Only the Bauers' adoring governess, Marta, sticks by Pavel, his wife, Anneliese, and their little son, Pepik, bound by her deep affection for her employers and friends. But when Marta learns of their impending betrayal at the hands of her lover, Ernst, Pavel's best friend, she is paralyzed by her own fear of discovery—even as the endangered family for whom she cares so deeply struggles with the most difficult decision of their lives.Interwoven with a present-day narrative that gradually reveals the fate of the Bauer family during and after the war, Far to... Views: 11
A fiercely independent divorce lawyer learns the power of family and connection when she receives a cryptic message from her estranged mother in this bittersweet, witty novel from the nationally bestselling author of Someone Else's Love Story and gods in Alabama—an emotionally resonant tale about the endurance of love and the power of stories to shape and transform our lives.Born in Alabama, Paula Vauss spent the first decade of her life on the road with her free-spirited young mother, Kai, an itinerant storyteller who blended Hindu mythology with southern oral tradition to re-invent their history as they roved. But everything, including Paula's birth name Kali Jai, changed when she told a story of her own—one that landed Kai in prison and Paula in foster care. Separated, each holding secrets of her own, the intense bond they once shared was fractured.These days, Paula has reincarnated herself as a tough-as-nails divorce attorney with a successful... Views: 11
"Like fine wine, Gwynne Forster's storytelling skills get better over time. Whatever It Takes is a testament to that. Drama, family struggles, passion and true-to-life characters." —Donna HillLacette Graham's twin sister, Kellie, has been competing with her since they shared a crib. And in thirty-three years, nothing has changed—except success, money, and men have come into play. But when the girls' parents separate, and their grandmother dies, Kellie's selfish manipulating reaches new heights. . .With her mother in the throes of a mid-life crisis, her father and greatest ally out of the house, and her sister out to steal her inheritance, Lacette is truly on her own. Then she meets talented, attractive Douglas Rawlins. There's just one problem: he avoids her like poison. It seems Kellie has embarked on a spree of seduction and greed so clever, even Lacette doesn't suspect she's behind Douglas's odd behavior. But when tragedy strikes, will Kellie... Views: 11
A community devoured by greed, cowardice, and fear. A man persecuted by the ghosts of his painful past. A young woman searching for happiness. In one eventful week, each will face questions of life, death, and power, and each will choose a path. Will they choose good or evil?In the remote village of Viscos — a village too small to be on any map, a place where time seems to stand still — a stranger arrives, carrying with him a backpack containing a notebook and eleven gold bars. He comes searching for the answer to a question that torments him: Are human beings, in essence, good or evil? In welcoming the mysterious foreigner, the whole village becomes an accomplice to his sophisticated plot, which will forever mark their lives.Paulo Coelho's stunning novel explores the timeless struggle between good and evil, and brings to our everyday dilemmas fresh perspective: incentive to master the fear that prevents us from following our dreams, from being different, from truly living. Views: 11
The first novel in six years from a beloved and bestselling Canadian author whose previous work has been shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize and Canada Reads, and has sold to publishers around the world. This powerful new work, about a transgender sex worker in the red-light district of Bombay who is given an unexpected task, is a gripping literary page-turner—difficult and moving, surprising and tender. Anosh Irani's best novel yet, and his first with Knopf Canada.The Parcel's astonishing heart, soul and unforgettable voice is Madhu—born a boy, but a eunuch by choice—who has spent most of her life in a close-knit clan of transgender sex workers in Kamathipura, the notorious red-light district of Bombay. Madhu identifies herself as a "hijra"—a person belonging to the third sex, neither here nor there, man nor woman. Now, at 40, she has moved away from prostitution, her trade since her teens, and is forced to beg to support the... Views: 11
Determined to prove herself to her siblings and her boss, Darlene Cunningham has made a name in the exciting, sometimes dangerous world of criminal law. When Darlene travels to Memphis in pursuit of a witness, the Maryland attorney doesn't expect to be under the surveillance of the rugged Tennessee cop who sets off sensual sparks from the moment they meet.It's a one-two punch straight to his heart when the sultry beauty walks into the house Mike Raines is staking out. He can't let Darlene compromise his investigation. And he can't let her go. His desire is tempting the detective to break a few laws of his own—like the one that says never mix business with pleasure. But how can he resist the passionate woman who has changed his life? And whose love he'll risk any danger to claim? Views: 11
