Jacob Mast is for the most part a content man, happy and proud of what his life's work has accomplished. And yet, his thoughts sometimes plague him with doubt. WARNING: This book contains descriptions of an unsettling nature and may not be appropriate for all readers.(This selection is also available in: The Empty House, assorted stories)Story excerpt:“Let the earth cause grass to shoot forth,” Jacob recited quietly to himself, “and vegetation to bear seed, and fruit trees to yield fruit according to kind…” He paused, considering the implications of the words to follow, before continuing, “…the seed of which is contained within, and upon the earth.”Reflecting further upon the Biblical message, Jacob Mast leaned back and felt the sharp table edge press ever more insistently against his spine as he sat with his eyes closed and considered the years, as well the fruits of his labor. He remembered the first time he’d come to explore this place, and how the first time he heard them the words “Genesee Valley” spoke to his mind of Genesis—and so seemed, given his quest and disposition, to suggest the possibility of finding and restoring a lost Eden. Views: 770
David Sedaris tells all in a book that is, literally, a lifetime in the making.
For forty years, David Sedaris has kept a diary in which he records everything that captures his attention-overheard comments, salacious gossip, soap opera plot twists, secrets confided by total strangers. These observations are the source code for his finest work, and through them he has honed his cunning, surprising sentences.
Now, Sedaris shares his private writings with the world. Theft by Finding, the first of two volumes, is the story of how a drug-abusing dropout with a weakness for the International House of Pancakes and a chronic inability to hold down a real job became one of the funniest people on the planet.
Written with a sharp eye and ear for the bizarre, the beautiful, and the uncomfortable, and with a generosity of spirit that even a misanthropic sense of humor can't fully disguise, Theft By Finding proves that Sedaris is one of our great modern observers. It's a potent reminder that when you're as perceptive and curious as Sedaris, there's no such thing as a boring day. Views: 770
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Olive Kitteridge offers profound insights into the human condition – its conflicts, its tragedies and joys, and the endurance it requires.
At times stern, at other times patient, at times perceptive, at other times in sad denial, Olive Kitteridge, a retired schoolteacher, deplores the changes in her little town of Crosby, Maine, and in the world at large, but she doesn’t always recognize the changes in those around her: a lounge musician haunted by a past romance; a former student who has lost the will to live; Olive’s own adult child, who feels tyrannized by her irrational sensitivities; and her husband, Henry, who finds his loyalty to his marriage both a blessing and a curse.
As the townspeople grapple with their problems, mild and dire, Olive is brought to a deeper understanding of herself and her life – sometimes painfully, but always with ruthless honesty. Olive Kitteridge offers profound insights into the human condition – its conflicts, its tragedies and joys, and the endurance it requires. Views: 769
A tragic fantasy tale that will hopefully drive home the point: that communication is of foremost importance in all relationships.Sixfold is an all-writer-voted journal. All writers who upload their manuscripts vote to select the highest-voted $1000 prize-winning manuscripts and all the short stories and poetry published in each issue.In Sixfold Fiction Summer 2015: Paul Heinz | I, Monster Absolom J. Hagg | Someplace South, Anywhere Warm Valerie Cumming | Among These Very Trees Jenny Belardi | The Girl in the Leather-Bound Notebook Chris Belden | Private "I" Lindsay Mohlere | Last Cast at Indian Falls Lora Hilty | Some Terrible Beauty Katherine Enggass | Ghost Floor Lee Houck | Real as Life Benjamin Schachtman | Gomorrah Kelsey Tressler | The Chrysalis Center Luke de Castro | Funeral for Max and Greta L. L. Babb | The Religion of the Rich Julie Zuckerman | The Book of Jeremiah Views: 769
A First Shot Fired: Part Five and April installments of Tin Universe Daily all for the low price of FREE!! Plus this month bonus 8 page comic book script story from the unpublished Tin Universe archives.Looking out from the cliff top the day after the dark event, the search for something to cling to goes on. The answer was there yesterday, does it still remain, through all the destruction that rained down? Belief in something small is often the biggest tool to carry and while others succumb to the night that falls in the middle of the day, hidden high at the top of the cliff could be the one thing that everyone is looking for.This was written a long time ago, back in 2001. It is about depression and in the darkest of times trying to cling on to hope, even when everything is hopeless, and inexplicably dark that you can feel no escape. Views: 769
M. R. James is widely regarded as the father of the modern ghost story, and his tales have influenced horror writers from H. P. Lovecraft to Stephen King. First published in the early 1900s, they have never been out of print, and are recognized as classics of the genre. This collection contains some of his most chilling tales, including A View from a Hill, Rats, A School Story, The Ash Tree, and The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance. Read by BAFTA and Emmy-award winning actor Derek Jacobi, and with haunting and evocative music, these tales cannot fail to send a shiver down your spine. Views: 768
AN ANCHOR PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
From the Nobel Prize laureate and author of the acclaimed Cairo Trilogy, a beguiling and artfully compact novel set in Sadat's Egypt.
"[Mahfouz] is not only a Hugo and a Dickens, but also a Galsworthy, Zola and a Jules Romain."--Edward Said
The time is 1981, Anwar al-Sadat is president, and Egypt is lurching into the modern world. Set against this backdrop, The Day the Leader Was Killed relates the tale of a middle-class Cairene family. Rich with irony and infused with political undertones, the story is narrated alternately by the pious and mischievous family patriarch Muhtashimi Zayed, his hapless grandson Elwan, and Elwan's headstrong and beautiful fiancee Randa. The novel reaches its climax with the assassination of Sadat on October 6, 1981, an event around which the fictional plot is skillfully woven.
The Day the Leader Was Killed brings us the essence of Mahfouz's genius and is further proof that he has, in the words of the Nobel citation, "formed an Arabic narrative art that applies to all mankind."
From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 766
The family thought they'd moved into their dream house... they found that they may have prematurely moved into their own tombs. The spiders that populate this residence are unlike any that have come before. They're dangerous, they're smart, and there's a lot of them.The world looks to the Moon when in full and it is known the Mare Gods look back. A new Moon frightens the true believers who worry whether the gods have abandoned them and whether they will ever return. Storms are attributed to angry gods. Peace and prosperity means the gods are pleased. Humans understand precious little about how great, or how feeble, control over the course of events they have.When the Five of the Mare determine to fight one another for control of their realm, and ours, humanity will be forced to choose sides and hope to survive the war.If she had her way, Audrey Reynolds would stay as far away from the conflict as possible. A believer, but by no means devout, Audrey spent a lifetime wondering why the gods failed her in her time of need. These are her stories and how she comes to grips with Nubium, the god of justice, and his quest to restore peace among the gods. Views: 766
Joyce Carol Oates is one of the most prominent writers of her generation, and she is fearless when exploring the most disturbing corners of human nature. In Evil Eye, Oates offers four chilling tales of love gone horribly wrong, showing the lengths people will go to find love, keep it, and sometimes end it.
In "Evil Eye," we meet Mariana, the young 4th wife of a prominent intellectual. When her husband's brazen first wife visits one night, Mariana learns a terrible secret that threatens her marriage and sanity. In "So Near, Anytime, Always," shy teenager Lizbeth meets Desmond, a charming boy who offers this introverted girl the first sparks of young romance. Yet just as their relationship begins to blossom, Lizbeth realizes that beneath Desmond's perfect façade lies a dark soul that could wreak havoc on Lizbeth and her loved ones. In "The Execution," spoiled college student Bart Hansen has planned the perfect, brutal crime to get back at his parents for their years of condescension. Yet what he didn't plan for is a mother whose love is more resilent than he could have ever imagined, who threatens to derail his carefully laid-out plans. Views: 766
Liz is a librarian becoming disillusioned with her career. As she navigates another day of apathetic public service, she notices a Machine of Death slip left behind as a bookmark by a patron, labeled "Lightning." Liz doesn't know if the bookmark is a piece of someone's past or a warning for the future. Whose bookmark is it, and does Liz want to meet a doomed patron?More information about the Machine of Death concept can be found on the About page of "machine of death dot net." Essentially, there is a machine that predicts the cause of death of its user, printed on a slip of paper. This story operates on that premise. Views: 765
One of the most provocative and original voices in contemporary literature, Chinua Achebe here considers the place of literature and art in our society in a collection of essays spanning his best writing and lectures from the last twenty-three years. For Achebe, overcoming goes hand in hand with eradicating the destructive effects of racism and injustice in Western society. He reveals the impediments that still stand in the way of open, equal dialogue between Africans and Europeans, between blacks and whites, but also instills us with hope that they will soon be overcome.From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 764
What secrets does the town dam hold? Paul just wanted a job, he ended up getting more than he bargained for.Jenette Wilkinson is encouraged by her grandfather to make a trip to Europe to discover her northern heritage. She visits a small town in Norway to see a Viking longboat for herself and has a strange reaction when she touches its hull. On a tour she is taken partway up the mountain that dominates the landscape and when she decides, against her better judgement, to revisit its slopes, more takes place than she ever thought possible.Somehow, she is thrown into a nineth century Viking world and struggles with a new culture and identity. Only time will tell whether she is able to adapt as flashbacks of her previous life continue to pose problems.Finally forced to flee the situation, her final decision will have a bearing on the ancestor she had been hoping to find. Views: 764
Six stories from the Eclective, six accounts of Celtic things. There's more than one way to go Green.Six stories from the Eclective, six accounts of Celtic things. There's more than one way to go Green.Irish Kiss by Shéa MacLeodMorgan Bailey, vampire Hunter, thought finding a Leprechaun's missing pot of gold would be easy. She couldn't have been more wrong.The Luck of the Irish Brigade by M. Edward McNallyThe Irish are fighting themselves, only because there are no other worthy opponents.Song of the Banshee by Heather Marie AdkinsBelinda has a job to do, but a dying man’s grandson may be a big problem. It’s a hard world for a lonely banshee.The Red Veil of Vengeance by Jack WallenVlad Kurvail is back and, as usual, he's pissed. This time his cold vengeance is served up to the Irish. Will their luck hold out?Zombies Eat Leprechauns by P.J. JonesWhen a zombie curse infects the Fairytale Kingdom, Lucky the Leprechaun needs the help of an idiot dragon slayer and a cross-dressing dragon to escape. Can he make it out with his pot of gold, or will Lucky's luck run out?Five Shamrocks by Alan NayesAfter her husband dies on St. Patrick's Day, life goes on for Mattie O'Malley. Views: 763
Imagine two separate minds existing in one body from even before birth. What trials and troubles would such a dual intellect in a single body go through as an infant, as a pre-schooler, in high school?Imagine what might happen if such a person were to appear in criminal court. Now, suppose the charge was murder?Multiple personalities have been well documented and studied. Protocols for re-unification have been published in many journals. Half a Mind is about a case where there can be no unification, and places those two consciousnesses into a legal situation of a murder trial. Here we explore some of the conundrums that would arise, including trial procedure, swearing in, giving testimony, witness protection, admissibility of evidence and more. I think you'll find this fertile ground for a situation that could very well happen in real life, though it sounds far fetched. Views: 762
On the continent of Triska, a sect is at work to release a violent dragon from an ancient prison. To forewarn Triska of this threat, the gods send down a prophecy: the only hope to stop the release of the dragon lies in Princess Josephine. Supported by Matthias, wizard from the east, Josephine embarks on a journey that tests her loyalties and reveals a far greater threat lies beyond the horizon.On the world of Erithia and the war - weary continent of Triska, an ancient sect is at work. Its aim: to release a violent, malevolent dragon known as Sikaris from its ancient prison. If freed, the creature will rain death and destruction on to the nations of the world on a scale not seen for hundreds of years.To forewarn the world of this impending threat, the gods send down a prophecy: the only hope to stop the release of the dragon lies in a young princess, Josephine of Aralia, who alone can wield a power strong enough stop Sikaris from being freed. But it is an untamed ability Josephine has fought hard to suppress, after she killed her mother in an uncontrolled outburst. It is a power she hates more than anything.Intercepting the prophecy, Mahalia - secretive and controlling land of wizards - send one of their most promising men, Matthias Greenwald, to persuade Josephine to embrace her power to reseal the dragon's prison before it is too late. But not all is as it seems with Matthias and if Josephine’s task were not hard enough, the sect has also learned of the prophecy and has unleashed forces to stop them from succeeding, including an insane assassin with a personal vendetta, determined to kill Josephine at all costs. Together Josephine and Matthias must embark on a journey that tests their beliefs and loyalties, throws trust into question and leads them to discover that a far greater threat lies just beyond the horizon. Views: 762
