This book will remind you why you love reading. Thestories included in Andrew Hood's sophomore collectionare messy, beautiful, gross, funny, personal. The Cloaca isa train wreck of awesomeness. It's your high school gymcoach, drunk and dishing dirt on all the other teacherson the cross-town bus—a stomach-turning spectaclethat'll make you laugh out loud now, feel bad later. Youwon't be able to put this book down or look away for anInstant. Views: 72
Phin Chase was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now he's witness to a murder, and he must run fast and far to escape the Sleepers--the secretive, powerful organization responsible for the crime. With only his own wits to rely on, Phin hops a train to flee his small town. But there's a mysterious man on his trail--a man with a horse that tracks like a bloodhound. He could be working for the Sleepers . . . or he could be working against them. But Phin can't risk finding out. Even if Phin manages to turn the tables on his pursuer, neither hunter nor quarry can imagine what will happen when they inevitably collide. Views: 72
When the paths of a runaway teenage boy, an old hobo, and a rich girl intersect in an abandoned train yard, each carries their own personal baggage. Over early mornings, long walks, and cheap coffee they discover, no matter how big or small, that it is the simple gifts in life that really make a difference. This special reissue of a bestselling and award-winning Australian classic is a life-affirming look at humanity, generosity, and love. Views: 72
The 1995 Booker Prize finalist finally back in print. Alan Hollinghurst's hypnotic and exquisitely written novel tells the story of Edward Manners, a disaffected 33-year-old who leaves England to earn his living as a language tutor in a Flemish city. Almost immediately he falls in love with one of his pupils, but can only console himself with other, illicit affairs. With this novel, Hollinghurst exposes us fearlessly to the consequences of unfulfillable, annihilating desire. Views: 72
The essays, reviews, memoirs and other writings collected here for the first time conjure up one of the great critical imaginations of our time. Grouped into four sections (Art and Poetry; Autobiography and Travel; Literature; and Religion, Politics and Philosophy), they demonstrate the wide range of Muriel Spark's knowledge and interests, and throw into relief the people, places and ideas that inspired her throughout her life as a working writer. The book includes perceptive essays on literary figures including the Brontës, Robert Frost, T. S. Eliot and Robert Louis Stevenson; engaging accounts of visits to John Masefield, Edith Sitwell, and Louis MacNeice's home (in the absence of its owner); and reflections on the sermons of Cardinal Newman and the Old Testament book of Job as perennially rich sources of spiritual nourishment. The novelist's eye for the telling detail is evident in portraits of the cities – Venice, Rome, Ravenna, Istanbul – which Muriel... Views: 72
The Cross of Redemption is a revelation by an American literary master: a gathering of essays, articles, polemics, reviews, and interviews that have never before appeared in book form.James Baldwin was one of the most brilliant and provocative literary figures of the past century, renowned for his fierce engagement with issues haunting our common history. In The Cross of Redemption we have Baldwin discoursing on, among other subjects, the possibility of an African-American president and what it might mean; the hypocrisy of American religious fundamentalism; the black church in America; the trials and tribulations of black nationalism; anti-Semitism; the blues and boxing; Russian literary masters; and the role of the writer in our society.Prophetic and bracing, The Cross of Redemption is a welcome and important addition to the works of a cosmopolitan and canonical American writer who still has much to teach us about race, democracy, and personal and national identity. As Michael Ondaatje has remarked, “If van Gogh was our nineteenth-century artist-saint, Baldwin [was] our twentieth-century one.”From the Hardcover edition. Views: 71
An unscrupulous antiques dealer asks a murderous favor of an old friend In the city of Pittsburgh, Amos Speer is the king of antiques, and as heir apparent to his international empire, Earl Sommers is his prince. But Sommers is keen-eyed, ruthless, and not above cheating to stay on top. He steals from the company whenever he gets the chance, and has a standing invitation to Mrs. Speer's bed. But when old man Speer turns on his former protégé, doing everything he can to drive him out of the business, Sommers's thoughts turn to something truly priceless: revenge. An old friend appears at Sommers's doorstep, stinking of whiskey and intending to kill himself. Before he does, Sommers persuades him to undertake one last job: getting rid of Amos Speer. It should be the perfect crime—but Sommers is about to learn there's no such thing as a simple murder. Views: 71
