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The Failure is a picaresque novel set in Los Angeles about two guys who conceive and badly execute a plan… to rob a Korean check-cashing store in order to finance the prototype for an impossibly ridiculous Internet application James Greer one of the nimblest and most multilayered American fiction writers has with his latest novel The Failure pulled off a sublime and shivery-smooth literary hat-trick-cum-emotional-gotcha I defy anyone to come up with an equation to explain how this book s first impression as a ridiculously clever funny crime story can gradually disclose a metanovel built from far more encyclopedic scratch only to reveal upon its conclusion a central overriding thought so heartfelt literally it trembles your lower lip This is one stunning piece of work --Dennis Cooper author of Ugly Man James Greer s The Failure is such an unqualified success both in conception and execution that I have grave doubts he actually wrote it --Steven SoderberghJames Greer is the author of the novel Artificial Light Akashic Books which won a California Book Award for Best Debut Novel and the nonfiction book Guided By Voices A Brief History Grove Press a biography of the band for which he once played bass guitar He is currently working with director Steven Soderbergh on a rock musical about Cleopatra starring Catherine Zeta-Jones He lives in Los Angeles
Evoking William Faulkner and Cormac McCarthy Meno s suspenseful mordantly incisive many-layered tale can also be read… as an equine Moby-Dick As he tracks the bewildering seismic shifts under way in America Meno celebrates everyday marvels including the hard-proven love between grandfather and grandson --Booklist Starred review Faulkner-ian epic for the contemporary age Meno draws on the grave themes and austere styles of writers like Cormac McCarthy and Daniel Woodrell to offer a mix of biblical allegories tinder-dry prose and noble characters trying to survive in a wretched world The novel s prose is marvelous is its spare convincing grit while the story s themes of family redemption sacrifice and faith echo the plays of Sam Shepard at times A grandiose atmospheric portrait of Middle America in all its damaged glory --Kirkus Reviews The latest by Meno is a compelling mash-up of magic and the absurd with the grittiness of a world inhabited by punks thieves and losers as a grandfather and his grandson take a road trip through 1990s rural America in search of their stolen horse This is a provocative reflection on the lives of the disenfranchised in the waning days of the 20th century with a bittersweet resolution that will resonate with readers --Publishers Weekly Winner of the Discover Great New Writers Award and the Nelson Algren Award among other honors Meno can be entertainingly outr This story of a man and his grandfather hunting for their stolen horse is also affecting --Library Journal Barbara Hoffert s Prepub Alert Marvel and a Wonder is such a tender love story The love of an irascible grandfather for his baffling grandson the love for a mysterious horse the love for a country that no longer seems to love us back Joe Meno writes with poise and wit and stunning amounts of empathy What a beautiful story What a lovely book --Victor LaValle author of The Devil in Silver Both sprawling and intimate Marvel and a Wonder is a vivid portrait of Heartland America and infuses its array of characters with humor empathy and insight I ve long been an admirer of Joe Meno s work and this is his most ambitious book yet --Dan Chaon author of Await Your ReplyPraise for Joe Meno A beguiling and slyly disquieting storyteller Meno transforms wintery Chicago into a wondrous crystallization of countless dreams and tragedies while telling the stories of two derailed young artists poignant and funny --Kansas City Star on Office Girl The wisest most humane and transcendent novel on the contemporary family since The Corrections A marvelous book --Irvine Welsh on The Great PerhapsMarvel and a Wonder is a darkly mesmerizing epic and literary page-turner set at the end of the twentieth century In summer 1995 Jim Falls a Korean War vet struggles to raise his sixteen-year-old grandson Quentin on a farm in southern Indiana In July they receive a mysterious gift--a beautiful quarter horse--which upends the balance of their difficult lives The horse s appearance catches the attention of a pair of troubled meth-dealing brothers and after a violent altercation the horse is stolen and sold Grandfather and grandson must travel the landscape of the bleak heartland to reclaim the animal and to confront the ruthless party that has taken possession of it Along the way both will be forced to face the misperceptions and tragedies of their past Evoking the writing of William Faulkner and Denis Johnson this brilliant deeply moving work explores the harrowing often beautiful marvels of a nation challenged by its own beliefs Ambitious expansive and laden with suspense Marvel and a Wonder presents an unforgettable pair of protagonists at the beginning of one America and the end of another
Trinie Dalton s voice is so charming in these stories and they fly right by so it takes a… little time to realize how deftly she is talking about death and sex and fear and love and fur and slumber parties how lightly she touches upon heaviness making an imprint so gentle you don t know it s there until later when the story floats back up in your memory light as a butterfly or a blood-oil lilypad in the bath --Aimee Bender Trinie Dalton is as radically original a young writer as I ve ever come across a post-punk post-apocalyptic post-everything sensibility casting spells of willed innocence against the powers of darkness she knows terrifyingly well --David Gates These charming stories vibrate with innocence and awe Trinie Dalton is an effortless purveyor of wonder strangeness and love She is a writer of high spirits and unguarded vision and this debut collection is an absolute pleasure to read --Ben Marcus In Wide Eyed a wonderfully eccentric and vibrant collection Trinie Dalton showcases her ability to put a fresh spin on the world leading the reader into places never explored--sometimes dreamlike sometimes nightmarish always riveting Her vision is wholly unique and memorable --Jill McCorkleIn Trinie Dalton s tweaked vision of reality psychic communications between herself and Mick Jagger The Flaming Lips Marc Bolan Lou Reed and Pavement are daily occurrences Animals also populate this book beavers hamsters salamanders black widows owls llamas bats and many more are characters who befriend the narrator This collection of stories is told by a woman compelled to divulge her secrets fantasies and obsessions with native Californian animals glam rock icons and horror movies among other things With a setting rooted in urban Los Angeles but colored by mythic tales of beauty borrowed from medieval times Shakespeare and Grimm s fairy tales Wide Eyed makes the difficulties of surviving in a contemporary American city more palatable by showing the reader that magic and escape is always possible Stories include Hummingbird Moonshine in which the narrator s frustrated hunt for authentic religion in botanicas and science books culminates in a spiritual connection made with a hummingbird In Oceanic she resolves to marry a manatee after a drunken pre-party for her best friend s wedding In Tiles four vignettes about bloody accidents in tiled bathrooms intermingle with scenes from Dalton s favorite scary movies Featuring oddball prose in the traditions of Dalton s literary heroes--Denton Welch Robert Walser and Jane Bowles--these stories have a dreamy imaginative quality that reveal a peculiar state of mental ecstasy To be inside the mind of Trinie Dalton is to be escorted into bliss
A graphic memoir about the treatment of mental illness treating mental illness as a commodity and the often… unavoidable choice between sanity and happiness In her early twenties in New York City diagnosed with bipolar disorder Rachel Lindsay takes a job in advertising in order to secure healthcare coverage for her treatment But work takes a strange turn when she is promoted onto the Pfizer account and suddenly finds herself on the other side of the curtain developing ads for an antidepressant drug She is the audience of the work she s been pouring over and it highlights just how unhappy and trapped she feels stuck in an endless cycle of treatment insurance and medication Overwhelmed by the stress of her professional life and the self-scrutiny it inspires she begins to destabilize and while in the midst of a crushing job search her mania takes hold Her altered mindset yields a simple solution to quit her job and pursue life as an artist an identity she had abandoned in exchange for medical treatment When her parents intervene she finds herself hospitalized against her will and stripped of the control she felt she had finally reclaimed Over the course of her two weeks in the ward she struggles in the midst of doctors nurses patients and endless rules to find a path out of the hospital and this cycle of treatment One where she can live the life she wants finding freedom and autonomy without sacrificing her dreams in order to stay well
<P>Hairstyles of the Damned is an honest, true-life depiction of growing up punk on Chicago's south side: a study in… the demons of racial intolerance, Catholic school conformism, and class repression. <P>It is the story of the riotous exploits of Brian, a high school burnout, and his best friend, Gretchen, a punk rock girl fond of brawling. <P>Based on the actual events surrounding a Chicago high school's segregated prom, this work of fiction unflinchingly pursues the truth in discovering what it means to be your own person.
A wild journey to the East narrated by a writer who is “without equal in the literature of our time”… (Jorge Luis Borges) Henri Michaux (1899–1984), the great French poet and painter, set out as a young man to see the Far East. Traveling from India to the Himalayas, and on to China and Japan, Michaux voices his vivid impressions, cutting opinions, and curious insights: he has no trouble speaking his mind. Part fanciful travelogue and part exploration of culture, A Barbarian in Asia is presented here in its original translation by Sylvia Beach, the famous American-born bookseller in Paris.
The groundbreaking #1 bestseller is sure to turn nightly bedtime battles into a loving and special end-of-day ritual. This child-tested,… parent-approved story uses an innovative technique that brings a calm end to any child’s day.<P><P> Do you struggle with getting your child to fall asleep?<P> Join parents all over the world who have embraced The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep as their new nightly routine.<P> When Roger can’t fall asleep, Mommy Rabbit takes him to see Uncle Yawn, who knows just what to do. Children will join Roger on his journey and be lulled to sleep alongside their new friend.<P> Carl-Johan Forssén Ehrlin’s simple story uses a unique and distinct language pattern that will help your child relax and fall asleep—at bedtime or naptime.<P> Reclaim bedtime today!
<P>Aged 15, Jordan Bone got into a car with friends. She would never walk again. Paralysed from the chest down,… her life was changed forever. Becoming depressed and feeling like life wasn't worth living, these weren't the teenage years that Jordan had envisaged. <P>However, slowly but surely, she began to get herself out of the darkness. With a little help from the internet, Jordan started to embrace positive thinking and embarked on a personal journey to get her confidence - and her life - back. Eleven years on from the accident, Jordan creates her own beauty tutorials on YouTube and has a range of successful brand partnerships. She has reclaimed her life and her independence and now wants to share her inspirational story with others and is telling it through different aspects of beauty. This isn't a book about looking good on the surface, this is a story of inner strength, believing in yourself and finding motivation when you feel like all hope is gone.
Lauded as the “Queen of Lesbian Pulp” for her landmark novels of the 1950s, Ann Bannon defined lesbian fiction for… the pre-Stonewall generation. Following the release of Cleis Press’s new editions of Beebo Brinker and Odd Girl Out, I Am a Woman finds sorority sister Laura Landon leaving college heartbreak behind and embracing Greenwich Village’s lesbian bohemia. This edition includes a new introduction by the author.
A New York Times Notable BookIn the unrelenting cold and bitter winter of upstate New York, Jack and his wife,… Fanny, are trying to cope with the desperate sorrow they feel over the death of their young daughter. The loss forms a chasm in their relationship as Jack, a sardonic Vietnam vet, looks for a way to heal them both.Then, in a nearby town, a fourteen-year-old girl disappears somewhere between her home and church. Though she is just one of the hundreds of children who vanish every year in America, Jack turns all his attention to this little girl. For finding what has become of this child could be Jack's salvation--if he can just get to her in time. . . .From the Trade Paperback edition.
Internationally acclaimed as a playwright, screen-writer, comic and sardonic commentator on the endless gaffs, absurdities and the profound and painful… misunderstandings that continue to characterize social interactions between aboriginal and non-aboriginal peoples, Taylor's stories in Fearless Warriors are a full frontal assault on stereotypes of all kinds and an edifying affirmation of humanity unlike anything else in fiction.
'Brims with laughs, love, family and friendship. You will love this heartwarming read!' Trisha Ashley. Meet the Reading Group: six… women in the seaside village of Little Sanderton come together every month to share their love of reading. No topic is off-limits: books, family, love and loss . . . and don't forget the glass of red!Grace knows that the holiday season is going to be different this year. No turkey, no tinsel, no gorgeously wrapped gifts under the tree . . . how on earth is she going to break it to her little boys that Christmas is effectively cancelled? And can she bear to tell anyone her embarrassing secret? Enter the Reading Group: Grace's life might have turned upside down but there's no problem they can't solve.
The celebrated author of Montana 1948 (over 400,000 copies sold) returns to the American West in this riveting tale of… familial love and its unexpected consequences.Dalton, North Dakota. It's September 1951: years since George and Margaret Blackledge lost their son James when he was thrown from a horse; months since his widow Lorna took off with their only grandson and married Donnie Weboy. Margaret is steadfast, resolved to find and retrieve her grandson Jimmy - the one person in this world keeping James's memory alive - while George, a retired sheriff, is none too eager to stir up trouble. Unable to sway his wife from her mission, George takes to the road with Margaret by his side, traveling through the Dakota badlands to Gladstone, Montana. When Margaret tries to convince Lorna to return home to North Dakota and bring little Jimmy with her, the Blackledges find themselves entangled with the entire Weboy clan, who are determined not to give up the boy without a fight. From the author who brought us Montana 1948, Let Him Go is pitch-perfect, gutsy, and unwavering. Larry Watson is at his storytelling finest in this unforgettable return to the American West.
Kate Gray takes an unblinking look at bullying in her debut novel, Carry the Sky. It's 1983 at an elite… Delaware boarding school. Taylor Alta, the new rowing coach, arrives reeling from the death of the woman she loved. Physics teacher Jack Song, the only Asian American on campus, struggles with his personal code of honor when he gets too close to a student. These two young, lonely teachers narrate the story of a strange and brilliant thirteen-year-old boy who draws atomic mushroom clouds on his notebook, pings through the corridors like a pinball, and develops a crush on an older girl with secrets of her own. Carry the Sky sings a brave and honest anthem about what it means to be different in a world of uniformity.
This is the untold story of the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa, told by a woman who lived it. It… is the story of the ordinary women of South Africa who, forced to scratch a living from the land, still found the strength to ask for respect and, in the process, made a revolution.
This delightful read-aloud story for children uses parenting author Vicki Lansky's lovable unisex character, KoKo Bear, to show that toilet… training is only a part of the larger process of growing up. Both boys and girls can identify with young KoKo's growing ability to learn just how nice dry diapers can be. Told through a fun and pleasurable story, KoKo helps children understand all the issues of potty training--what to expect and what's expected.Color illustrations on each page add warmth to the simple story that children can easily understand and convey the family's happiness with KoKo's success and their patience with accidents and hesitations.Every page contains read-aloud text in large type for the child as well as a box containing two or three practical tips in smaller type for the parent. Each tip provides helpful information on how to assess, respond and deal with a toddlers's predictable behavior during the often long period of time that training can take.
Cheeta the Chimp was just a baby in 1932 when he was snatched from the jungle of Liberia by the… great animal importer Henry Trefflich. That same year, Cheeta appeared in Tarzan the Ape Man, and in 1934 in Tarzan and His Mate, in which he famously stole clothes from a naked Maureen O'Sullivan, who was dripping wet from an underwater swimming scene with Johnny Weissmuller. Other Tarzan films followed, and later roles with Bela Lugosi in the 1950s. Cheeta finally retired from the big screen after the 1967 film Doctor Dolittle with Rex Harrison, whose finger he accidentally bit backstage while being offered a placatory banana. Cheeta now lives in Palm Springs, where, at age seventy-seven, he is by far the oldest living chimpanzee ever recorded.
Super Black places the appearance of black superheroes alongside broad and sweeping cultural trends in American politics and pop culture,… which reveals how black superheroes are not disposable pop products, but rather a fascinating racial phenomenon through which futuristic expressions and fantastic visions of black racial identity and symbolic political meaning are presented. Adilifu Nama sees the value—and finds new avenues for exploring racial identity—in black superheroes who are often dismissed as sidekicks, imitators of established white heroes, or are accused of having no role outside of blaxploitation film contexts. Nama examines seminal black comic book superheroes such as Black Panther, Black Lightning, Storm, Luke Cage, Blade, the Falcon, Nubia, and others, some of whom also appear on the small and large screens, as well as how the imaginary black superhero has come to life in the image of President Barack Obama. Super Black explores how black superheroes are a powerful source of racial meaning, narrative, and imagination in American society that express a myriad of racial assumptions, political perspectives, and fantastic (re)imaginings of black identity. The book also demonstrates how these figures overtly represent or implicitly signify social discourse and accepted wisdom concerning notions of racial reciprocity, equality, forgiveness, and ultimately, racial justice.
The fifth installment in the epic six-volume My Struggle cycle is here, highly anticipated by Karl Ove Knausgaard's dedicated fan… club--and the first in the cycle to be published separately in Canada.The young Karl Ove moves to Bergen to attend the Writing Academy. It turns out to be a huge disappointment: he wants so much, knows so little, and achieves nothing. His contemporaries have their manuscripts accepted and make their debuts while he begins to feel the best he can do is to write about literature. With no apparent reason to feel hopeful, he continues his exploration of and love for books and reading. Gradually his writing changes; his relationship with the world around him changes too. This becomes a novel about new, strong friendships and a serious relationship that transforms him until the novel reaches the existential pivotal point: his father dies, Karl Ove makes his debut as a writer and everything disintegrates. He flees to Sweden, to avoid family and friends.