In preparing this volume the author has been guided by his own platform experience extending over twelve years. During that time he has given hundreds of public recitals before audiences of almost every description, and in all parts of the country. It may not be considered presumptuous, therefore, for him to offer some practical suggestions on the art of entertaining and holding an audience, and to indicate certain selections which he has found have in themselves the elements of success. The "encore fiend," as he is sometimes called, is so ubiquitous and insistent that no speaker or reader can afford to ignore him, and, indeed, must prepare for him in advance. To find material that will satisfy him in one or in a dozen of the ordinary books of selections is an almost impossible task. It is only too obvious that many compilations of the kind are put together by persons who have had little or no practical platform experience. In an attempt to remedy this defect this volume has been prepared. Views: 463
A street in New Haven. A line of people, blocks long, more closely packed than the rush-hour subways of the good old times. Poynter has been on the line since before dawn, as are thousands of others, pressed together, waiting their turns at the window to present their individual petitions. His is for more space—a notion so preposterous that when it is discovered it shocks, reverberates down the line, almost triggering violent reactions. In front of Poynter, so tightly jammed against him that he can see no more than the side of her face, is a girl petitioning to change her job. And, locked together in this fearful proximity, they talk, explore their predicaments, and perhaps fall in love. My Petition for More Space chills by its glimpse of a world grown so crowded that dissent is an inconceivable crime and acquiescence the law of survival. Feelings of hope and fear, desire, anger, frustration erupt sporadically, sparked by the friction of numbers. Call it... Views: 463
The Man Booker Prize-winning author takes the pulse of modern Ireland with a masterful new collection of stories.
Roddy Doyle has earned a devoted following for his wry wit, his uncanny ear, and his ability to fully capture the hearts of his characters. Bullfighting, his second collection of stories, offers a series of bittersweet takes on men and middle-age, revealing a panorama of Ireland today. Moving from classrooms to local pubs to bullrings, these tales feature an array of men taking stock and reliving past glories, each concerned with loss in different ways--of their place in the world, of their power, their virility, health, and love.
"Recuperation" follows a man as he sets off on his daily prescribed walk around his neighborhood, the sights triggering recollections of his family and his younger days. In "Animals," George recalls caring for his children's many pets and his heartfelt effort to spare them grief when they died or disappeared. The title story, "Bullfighting," captures the mixture of bravado and helplessness of four friends who go off to Spain on holiday.
Sharply observed, funny, and moving, these thirteen stories present a new vision of contemporary Ireland, of its woes and triumphs, and middle- aged men trying to break out of the routines of their lives. Views: 463
A swashbuckling adventure story that reveals for the first time how Diego de la Vega became the masked man we all know so well Born in southern California late in the eighteenth century, Diego de la Vega is a child of two worlds. His father is an aristocratic Spanish military man turned landowner; his mother, a Shoshone warrior. At the age of sixteen, Diego is sent to Spain, a country chafing under the corruption of Napoleonic rule. He soon joins La Justicia, a secret underground resistance movement devoted to helping the powerless and the poor. Between the New World and the Old, the persona of Zorro is formed, a great hero is born, and the legend begins. After many adventures -- duels at dawn, fierce battles with pirates at sea, and impossible rescues -- Diego de la Vega, a.k.a. Zorro, returns to America to reclaim the hacienda on which he was raised and to seek justice for all who cannot fight for it themselves. Views: 463
Welcome to Ben Rehder's Blanco County, Texas, where the right to bear arms is about to go very, very wrong…in Gun Shy The National Weapons Alliance rally in support of every American's right to bear arms is meant to garner huge publicity. And the host of the event is none other than the NWA's newest spokesman, handsome country superstar Mitch Campbell. What nobody suspects is that the Stetson-wearing, gun-toting, bull-riding Campbell is a fraud. He's really Norman Kleinschmidt, a pill-popping, snowboarding, former rock-and-roller from Vermont. To Campbell's dismay, someone from his past is about to make that secret a big, big problem. Meanwhile, when an illegal immigrant is killed in a questionable hunting accident just days before the rally, local game warden John Marlin starts to poke around. It's not long before an astonishing series of events threatens to bring down the very carefully marketed Mitch Campbell, and maybe the NWA along with him.From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. Straight-shooter Rehder sends up players on both sides of the gun control debate in his fifth Blanco County mystery (after 2005's Guilt Trip), a humorous, intelligent take on a serious issue. John Marlin, a sure-footed game warden and Texas peace officer, doesn't believe in blaming guns instead of criminals for crime, but his views on Second Amendment rights are tested by a National Weapons Alliance (NWA) rally, planned for July 4 at the ranch of country and western superstar Mitch Campbell. Addled by 'shrooms, Mitch accidentally kills a Mexican gardener and turns to the smarmy NWA Texas chapter president, Dale Stubbs, for help covering up the crime. Meanwhile, SNATCH (Society of Nonviolent Americans to Control Handguns) plans a protest of the NWA rally. Subplots include NWA applicant Red O'Brien's ill-conceived schemes to sell a ditty to Mitch Campbell and former sitcom star Sabrina Nash's quest to prevent the release of the convict who years earlier shot her young son to death. This satire packs firepower and poignant surprises. (May) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistBlanco County, Texas, game warden John Marlin takes on the pro-gun lobby in the fourth installment of this increasingly popular (and increasingly enjoyable) series. The latest big-name spokesman for the National Weapons Alliance has a big secret: he ain't who he says he is. And when someone threatens to blow the secret, all manner of mayhem ensures, including murder. With this novel, the Marlin series has completed the transition from light mystery to no-holds-barred madcap comedy crime fiction (a la Westlake or Hiaasen). David PittCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Views: 462
Something old, something new, something borrowed...something blacker than the darkest night. Antiques dealer (and witch) Cosmo Saville adores his new husband, but his little white lies—and some very black magic—are about to bring his fairytale romance to an end. Someone is killing San Francisco's spellcasters—and the only person Cosmo can turn to—the man who so recently swore to love and cherish him—isn't taking his phone calls. The only magic Police Commissioner John Joseph Galbraith believes in is true love. Discovering he's married to a witch—a witch with something alarmingly like magical powers—is nearly as bad as discovering the man he loved tricked and deceived him. John shoulders the pain of betrayal and packs his bags. But when he learns Cosmo is in the crosshairs of a mysterious and murderous plot, he knows he must do everything in in his mortal power to protect him. Till Death do... Views: 462
In this delightful short story, enterprising actress and amateur sleuth Isobel Spice faces down a theater ghost to learn the truth behind an actor’s mysterious death during a performance of Gilbert & Sullivan’s gothic operetta "Ruddigore."A Poem by D. D. which was inspired by the photo that it accompanies. The verse is not what I expected when i typed the first line and title. The poem evolved as i wrote it, which is how most of my poems are written. My first thought when I typed the first line was of remembering a love or a happier time, While it did end up with the remembrance of a love, the poem that you see is as written and unmodified, and from my heart. Must be Pride Month helped it along.D. D. Views: 462
This harrowing tale of a young girl in the slums is a searing portrayal of turn-of-the-century New York, and Stephen Crane's most innovative work. Published in 1893, when the author was just twenty-one, it broke new ground with its vivid characters, its brutal naturalism, and its empathic rendering of the lives of the poor. It remains both powerful, severe, and harshly comic (in Alfred Kazin's words) and a masterpiece of modern American prose.
This edition includes Maggie and George's Mother, Crane's other Bowery tales, and the most comprehensive available selection of Crane's New York journalism. All texts in this volume are presented in their definitive versions. Views: 462
The Swiss writer Robert Walser is one of the quiet geniuses of twentieth-century literature. Largely self-taught and altogether indifferent to worldly success, Walser wrote a range of short stories, essays, as well as four novels, of which Jakob von Gunten is widely recognized as the finest. The book is a young man's inquisitive and irreverent account of life in what turns out to be the most uncanny of schools. It is the work of an outsider artist, a writer of uncompromising originality and disconcerting humor, whose beautiful sentences have the simplicity and strangeness of a painting by Henri Rousseau. Views: 462
Baby, It’s Cold Outside…Foreman Pete Sawyer loves working for Taryn Maroney, owner of the Crimson Clouds guest ranch. She’s the sexiest cowgirl he’s met. Unfortunately, getting chummy with the boss could cost him his heart and his job. But when a Christmastime blizzard traps them together, good intentions take a holiday… Views: 462
When confronted by raging fires or deadly accidents, volunteer fireman Taylor McAden feels compelled to take terrifying risks to save lives. But there is one leap of faith Taylor can't bring himself to make: he can't fall in love. For all his adult years, Taylor has sought out women who need to be rescued, women he leaves as soon as their crisis is over and the relationship starts to become truly intimate. When a raging storm hits his small Southern town, single mother Denise Holton’s car skids off the road. The young mom is with her four-year-old son Kyle, a boy with severe learning disabilities and for whom she has sacrificed everything. Taylor McAden finds her unconscious and bleeding, but does not find Kyle. When Denise wakes, the chilling truth becomes clear to both of them: Kyle is gone. During the search for Kyle, the connection between Taylor and Denise takes root. Taylor doesn't know that this rescue will be different from all the others, demanding far more than raw physical courage. It will lead him to the possibility of his own rescue from a life lived without love and will require him to open doors to his past that were slammed shut by pain. This rescue will dare him to live life to the fullest by daring to love.
*Did You Know?---
The Rescue was the first novel by Nicholas Sparks to debut at # 1 on the New York Times bestseller List?
In the process of writing this novel, Nicholas struggled with severe writer's block?
The main character was named for the producer of the film versions of Message in a Bottle and A Walk to Remember?* Views: 462
At last! A zesty, exuberant follow-up to the wildly popular How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, full of Julia Alvarez's keen observations and tender affection for her characters.
The Garcia Girls are back, most notably Yolanda, or Yo, who has grown up to be a writer. In the process, she has managed to get kicked out of college, break more than a few hearts, have her own heart broken many times, return for extended visits to the Dominican Republic her family fled when she was a child, and marry three times. She has also infuriated her entire family by publishing the intimate details of their lives as fiction.
This brilliant novel is a full and true exploration of a woman's soul, a meditation on the writing life, and a lyrical account of the immigrant's search for identity and a place in the world. !Yo!'s bright colors, zesty dialogue, warm feeling, and genuine insight could only come from the palette of Julia Alvarez.
Description from Penguin Group. Views: 462
