pistache (pis-tash): a friendly spoof or parody of another's work. [Deriv uncertain. Possibly a cross between pastiche and p**stake.]
From Thomas Hardy's football report to Dan Brown's visit to the cash dispenser, the work of the great and the not-so-great is here sent up with little hope of coming down.
Most of these pieces began their life on Radio Four's The Write Stuff, but have been retooled for the printed page. Others, such as Martin Amis's first day at Hogwarts, have been written specially for this collection.
Philip Larkin's Lines in Celebration of the Queen Mother's 115th Birthday, first banned, then cut by the BBC, appears in its entirety for the first time.
This is not a book for the faint-hearted or the downstairs lavatory. It is a book for the bedside table of someone you cannot live without. Views: 814
Paul Rayment is on the threshold of a comfortable old age when a calamitous cycling accident results in the amputation of a leg. Humiliated, his body truncated, his life circumscribed, he turns away from his friends.
He hires a nurse named Marijana, with whom he has a European childhood in common: hers in Croatia, his in France. Tactfully and efficiently she ministers to his needs. But his feelings for her, and for her handsome teenage son, are complicated by the sudden arrival on his doorstep of the celebrated Australian novelist Elizabeth Costello, who threatens to take over the direction of his life and the affairs of his heart. Views: 814
James Moody wants nothing more than to rebuild a quiet life in the living world with his resurrected girlfriend Karla. But she has given up on life and would rather she and James exist as free souls in the after lands. When Karla disappears, James, despair restored, regains his ability to pass to the now war-torn and turbulent after lands as he searches for Karla across the realms of the dead.James Moody has grown weary of the after lands, and wants nothing more than to rebuild a quiet life in the living world with his resurrected girlfriend Karla. He only wishes Karla felt the same. But she has long given up on life and yearns only to build a future with James as Freesouls in the Liminality.James' bliss prevents him from joining her on her frequent excursions to the after-realm. But then horrible things start happening to their friends in the UK. James remains blocked until one morning Karla disappears out of the blue.Despair restored, he can once again travel to the Liminality, where he discovers that the Seraph overlords of Penult have launched an all-out campaign to drive all rebel souls back where they 'belong' in the tunnels of Root. James joins the resistance while again being forced to search for Karla across two realms. Views: 814
Joyce Carol Oates’s Wonderland Quartet comprises four remarkable novels that explore social class in America and the inner lives of young Americans. Spanning from the Great Depression to the turbulent Vietnam War era, Wonderland is the epic account of Jesse Vogel, a boy who emerged from a family tragedy with his life spared but his world torn apart. Orphaned after watching his father murder his entire family, Jesse embarks on a personal odyssey that takes him from a Dickensian foster home to college and graduate school to the pinnacle of the medical profession. As an adult, Jesse must summon the strength to reach across the “generation gap” and rescue his endangered teenaged daughter, who has fallen into the drug-infused 1960s counterculture.
Hailed by Library Journal as “the greatest of Oates’s novels,” Wonderland is the capstone of a magnificent literary excursion that plunges beneath the glossy surface of American life.
Wonderland is the final novel in Joyce Carol Oates’s Wonderland Quartet. The books that complete this acclaimed series, A Garden of Earthly Delights, Expensive People, and them, are also available from the Modern Library.
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From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 814
Ellie Simmons lost the love of her life, her husband Daniel. And now, two years later, baby Daniel is born -- a clone of the man she lost.But human cloning is illegal, and Ellie must be very, very careful. . . .Logan woke up with a big problem.He’s extremely dead.No one from his former life seems able to see or hear him, making his afterlife little more than a miserable nightmare. That is, until the day of his funeral, when the bitterly sarcastic Zoe, a friend from his childhood, starts calling him out at his own wake. Now his only chance at moving on means dealing with his sordid past—and the girl he never really got over. Views: 813
With gusts of wind fanning it roughly, the flame rose fast. Harrigan made other journeys to the rotten stump and wrenched away great chunks of bark and wood. He came back and piled them on the fire. It towered high, the upper tongues twisting among the branches of the tree. They laid Kate Malone between the windbreak and the fire. In a short time her trembling ceased; she turned her face to the blaze and slept. Views: 813
First English publication of a recently rediscovered novella by one of the greatest European writers
One seemingly ordinary evening, Eduard Saxberger arrives home to find the fulfilment of a long-forgotten wish in his sitting room: a visitor has come to tell him that the youth of Vienna have discovered his poetic genius. Saxberger has written nothing for thirty years, yet he now realises that he is more than merely an Unremarkable Civil Servant, after all: a Venerable Poet, for whom Late Fame is inevitable – if, that is, his new acolytes are to be believed…
Arthur Schnitzler was one of the most admired, provocative European writers of the twentieth century. The Nazis attempted to burn all of his work, but his archive was miraculously saved, and with it, Late Fame. Never published before, it is a treasure, a perfect satire of literary self-regard and charlatanism.
Arthur Schnitzler (b. 1862 in Vienna) was one of the most influential European writers of the twentieth century, perhaps best known here for his novellas Dream Story and Fräulein Else. He qualified as a doctor but was increasingly driven to a career in writing, resulting in several celebrated plays, novellas and novels which explore the great existential subjects of the modern age: relationships, love, sex, ageing and death. Because his work dealt with subjects considered taboo, he frequently attracted the hostility of the authorities, consequently losing his position as Chief Medic in the Reserve Army and being tried for disorderly conduct. Schnitzler was close friends with Stefan Zweig and Sigmund Freud, who both admired him greatly, and a member of the 'Young Vienna' circle of writers who regularly met at a café nicknamed 'Café Megalomania' - the very same clique and café he satirises so deliciously in Late Fame. Schnitzler died in 1931.
Pushkin Press also publishes his novellas Fräulein Else, Dying and Casanova's Return to Venice. Views: 813
Two plays—hilarious and searing in equal measure—by one of our most essential and original authors
In his poetry, short stories, novels, and plays, Denis Johnson has explored the story of America—especially of the West, land of self-made men and self-perpetuating myths—with a searing honesty and genuine sympathy. In these two plays, written in verse both hypnotic and clear, he confirms his position as one of our great verbal stylists, and a literary conscience for our times.
Purvis’s seven reverse-chronological scenes catalog the fall and rise of Melvin Purvis, the G-man who brought down John Dillinger and Charles Arthur “Pretty Boy” Floyd. Johnson takes us from Washington’s backrooms to a Midwestern cornfield, dramatizing the seductive allure of power and our own human capacity for both pettiness and grace. In Soul of A Whore, a lively cast of characters—faith healers, pimps, strippers, actual demons—converges, with unexpected hilarity, as Bess Cassandra awaits execution for the murder of her infant daughter.
In these furiously entertaining, occasionally terrifying works, Denis Johnson chronicles and questions America’s myths, heroes, and everyday realities with verve and elegance, proving once again that he is at the height of his linguistic and insightful powers. Views: 813
Laiturilla hän istui penkille, jolle äiti ei ollut istunut. Metro oli syöksynyt asemalle saman tien. Äiti oli viskannut penkin alle kengät ja käsilaukun, sitten hän oli ollut poissa.
Sofi Oksasen uutuusromaani on maaginen kertomus Normasta, joka joutuu vaaraan harvinaisten ominaisuuksiensa vuoksi. Norma kietoutuu petoksen ja paranoian verkkoon, josta hänen on pyristeltävä irti. Views: 813
44 SCOTLAND STREET - Book 2
The residents and neighbors of 44 Scotland Street and the city of Edinburgh come to vivid life in these gently satirical, wonderfully perceptive serial novels, featuring six-year-old Bertie, a remarkably precocious boy—just ask his mother.
Back are all our favorite denizens of a Georgian townhouse in Edinburgh. Bertie the immensely talented six year old is now enrolled in kindergarten, and much to his dismay, has been clad in pink overalls for his first day of class. Bruce has lost his job as a surveyor, and between admiring glances in the mirror, is contemplating becoming a wine merchant. Pat is embarking on a new life at Edinburgh University and perhaps on a new relationship, courtesy of Domenica, her witty and worldly-wise neighbor. McCall Smith has much in store for them as the brief spell of glorious summer sunshine gives way to fall a season cursed with more traditionally Scottish weather.
Full of McCall Smith’s gentle humor and sympathy for his characters, Espresso Tales is also an affectionate portrait of a city and its people who, in the author’s own words, “make it one of the most vibrant and interesting places in the world.”
From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 813
Welcome to New York City's Upper East Side where my friends and I live, and go to school, and play, and sleep - sometimes with each other.We all live in huge apartments with our own bedrooms and bathrooms and phone lines.We're smart, we've inherited classic good looks, we have fantastic clothes, and we know how to party... Continuing the #1 New York Times bestselling series about the provocative lives of New York City's most prestigious private school young adults. Sharp wit, intriguing characters, and high stakes melodrama drive the action of this addictive series that have made Gossip Girl the lit world's coveted "it" girl. Views: 813
Tumultuous times are upon the world now known as the Four Lands. Users of magic are in conflict with proponents of science. The dwindling Druid order is threatened with extinction. A sinister politician has used treachery and murder to rise as prime minister of the mighty Federation. Meanwhile, poring through a long-forgotten diary, the young Druid Aphenglow Elessedil has stumbled upon the secret account of an Elven girl’s heartbreak and the shocking truth about the vanished Elfstones, which once warded the lands and kept evil at bay. But never has a little knowledge been so very dangerous—as Aphenglow quickly learns when she’s set upon by assassins. Yet there can be no turning back from the road to which fate has steered her. Whoever captures the Elfstones and their untold powers will surely hold the advantage in the devastating clash to come. Views: 813
The story of the Spanish Armada, sent crashing to destruction in stormy seas by English battleships, is one of the most famous & popular of British history. Philip II of Spain's crusade to conquer Protestant England was the culmination of an undeclared war between the two nations which had simmered for years. The dramatic destruction of the Spanish fleet by Howard, Drake & their men ensured that England kept her political & religious freedom--but it wasn't the end of the story. This history places the Spanish Armada in its true context, as the most spectacular of Spain's continued attempts to return England to Catholicism, first thru friendship, then by marriage, finally through war. It explains that the 1588 battle was only one in a series of Spanish naval campaigns against England--it wasn't until the 17th century that peace was fully assured. Winston Graham, author of the Poldark novels, brings all his gifts as a storyteller to this fascinating work, making the momentous sea battles come to life & telling a tale of human hostility & passions. Views: 813
Alice Ellis is a Midwestern refugee living in Manhattan. Still recovering from a painful divorce, she depends on the companionship and camaraderie of tightly knit circle of friends. At the center of this circle is a rock band struggling to navigate New York’s erratic music scene, and an apartment/practice space with approximately fifty key-holders. One sunny day, Alice enters the apartment and finds two of the band members shot dead. As the double-murder sends waves of shock through their lives, this group of friends begins to unravel, and dangerous secrets are revealed one by one. When Alice begins to notice things amiss in her own apartment, the tension breaks out as it occurs to her that she is not the only person with a key, and she may not get a chance to change the locks.
Jane Smiley applies her distinctive rendering of time, place, and the enigmatic intricacies of personal relationships to the twists and turns of suspense. The result is a brilliant literary thriller that will keep readers guessing up to its final, shocking conclusion.
From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 813
Internationally acclaimed, New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy, and Paranormal Romance, S.E. Smith, brings another action, adventure, and suspense-filled story to transport readers out of this world!
Two warriors—one mission: Survival….
Sergi Lazaroff is a weapons expert and a member of the Russian FSB, also known as the Federal Security Service Bureau—a nice term for his true profession as a spy. Assigned to the Project Gliese 581g exploration team, his job was supposed to be simple—find out what was in space, retrieve the technology, and return home with it, if possible. When he wakes up on an alien planet, Sergi knows the last part of his mission will be impossible. Instead, he must use his military training and skills to survive in a world where he doesn’t know the rules.
La’Rue Gant’s search for the mysterious occupant of the pod that landed on the assassins’ planet of Turbinta quickly turns into a game of predator versus prey. She found what she was looking for—and discovers that the ancient legends may be true when the tables are unexpectedly turned, and she becomes the hunted. What she doesn’t expect is the powerful reaction she has to this man from another world.
When word reaches them that another member of the Gliese’s crew was found, Sergi and La’Rue embark on a mission to save that crew member at any cost. Caught in the middle of an alien civil war, two fighters from vastly different backgrounds must come together to fight for the survival of the Knights of the Gallant Order, even as the Legion forces close in around them. Can they slip through the traps set up to snare them, or will the Legion Director finally capture not one, but two of the prophesied ancient Knights of the Gallant Order? Views: 813
