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The One Before
By Juan Saer, Roanne Kantor. 1976
The most important Argentinian writer since Borges --The IndependentThe One Before is a triptych of sorts consisting of…
a series of short pieces--called Arguments --and two longer stories-- Half-Erased and The One Before --all of which revolve around the ideas of exile and memory Many of the characters who populate Juan Jos Saer s other novels appear here including Tomatis ngel Leto and Washington Noriega who appear in La Grande Scars and The Sixty-Five Years of Washington all of which are available from Open LetterThe Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture
By Glen Weldon. 2016
A witty, intelligent cultural history from NPR book critic Glen Weldon explains Batman's rises and falls throughout the ages--and what…
his story tells us about ourselves.Since his creation, Batman has been many things: a two-fisted detective; a planet-hopping gadabout; a campy Pop-art sensation; a pointy-eared master spy; and a grim and gritty ninja of the urban night. For more than three quarters of a century, he has cycled from a figure of darkness to one of lightness and back again; he's a bat-shaped Rorschach inkblot who takes on the various meanings our changing culture projects onto him. How we perceive Batman's character, whether he's delivering dire threats in a raspy Christian Bale growl or trading blithely homoerotic double-entendres with partner Robin on the comics page, speaks to who we are and how we wish to be seen by the world. It's this endlessly mutable quality that has made him so enduring. And it's Batman's fundamental nerdiness--his gadgets, his obsession, his oath, even his lack of superpowers--that uniquely resonates with his fans who feel a fiercely protective love for the character. Today, fueled by the internet, that breed of passion for elements of popular culture is everywhere. Which is what makes Batman the perfect lens through which to understand geek culture, its current popularity, and social significance. In The Caped Crusade, with humor and insight, Glen Weldon, book critic for NPR and author of Superman: The Unauthorized Biography, lays out Batman's seventy-eight-year cultural history and shows how he has helped make us who we are today and why his legacy remains so strong.He was sleeping with his mother
By G G Vega, Corina Gîțu. 2015
This book is a brief history of my own experience as a child, at the age of five, in 1968,…
in a remote, hostile, difficult region between the borders of Brazil and Bolivia, in a small village, on the edge of the river Paraguay, on the territory of the Republic of Paraguay, in South America, where I was born, and spent most of my childhood. The purpose of this book is to help you understand that in spite of the distant, inaccessible, and all difficulties in my country, God has taken me, He cared for me, helped me, and has raised me as person, and I also attribute it to the love and dedication of my parents, their respect for family, love for their children, and a genuine, simple and humble, but sincere faith in God.The Education of a Poker Player
By James Mcmanus. 2015
"In writing about poker Jim McManus has managed to write about everything, and it's glorious."--David SedarisNew York Times-bestselling author James…
McManus offers up a collection of seven stories narrated by Vincent Killeen, an Irish Catholic altar boy, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Persuaded at age eight by his grandmother that entering the priesthood will guarantee salvation for every member of his family, Vince eagerly commits to attending a Jesuit seminary for high school. As the meaning of a vow of celibacy becomes clearer to him, however, and he is exposed to the irresistible temptations of poker and girls, life as a seminarian begins to seem less appealing. These autobiographical stories are enlightening and evocative, providing keen, often humorous insight into Catholicism, faith, celibacy and its opposite, as well as America's--and increasingly the world's--favorite card game.James McManus has been called "poker's Shakespeare." He is the New York Times-bestselling author of Positively Fifth Street: Murderers, Cheetahs, and Binion's World Series of Poker and Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker, among others. He has been the poker columnist for the New York Times and currently writes the history column for CardPlayer. His work has also appeared in Harper's, The Believer, Paris Review, Esquire, and in Best American anthologies for poetry, sports writing, science and nature, and magazine writing. He has spoken about poker at Yale, Harvard, Google, Goldman Sachs, and on numerous media outlets, and is the recipient of the Peter Lisagor Award for Sports Journalism and fellowships from the Guggenheim and Rockefeller foundations, among other awards. He teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.Happy New Year! and Other Stories (Dover Thrift Editions)
By Curt Leviant, Sholom Aleichem. 1995
One of the most beloved and prolific writers of Yiddish literature, Sholom Aleichem (1859–1916) produced a wealth of wonderful stories…
that combine traditional Jewish oral humor with Western literary tradition. For years a living legend, he wrote enduring gems of fiction, eleven of which are included in this entertaining collection.The master storyteller brilliantly recaptures the joy and tribulations of Jewish life in such tales as "Geese," "At the Doctor's," "Three Widows," "The Passover Eve Vagabonds," "On America," "Someone to Envy," "Three Calendars," "The Ruined Passover," the title story, and two others. Introduced and ably translated by Curt Leviant, these tales sparkle with wit, wisdom, and a warm humanity that will appeal to a wide audience of readers, especially those with an interest in Jewish cultural life.Lui dormiva con la mamma
By G G Vega, Elisabetta Pinzarrone. 2014
Anno 1968, Repubblica del Paraguay, breve storia di famiglia. La storia narrata è ambientata in una regione del mio Paese…
segnata da dure storie di guerra,luogo in cui sono nato, e il libro narra di una tappa importante della mia famiglia, vissuta in quella parte inospitale dell'America del Sud.Bloody Mary: A Novel
By Sharon Solwitz. 2003
After her debut with the widely praised stories in Blood and Milk, Sharon Solwitz offers us her first, darkly radiant,…
full-length novel. Bloody Mary, which takes its title from the childhood game, tells the story of socially adept, 12-year-old Hadley and her protective mother. They live a privileged life in the Chicago neighborhood of Lakeview, but soon find themselves in a state of chaos and flux.Writing with her signature, edgy prose and ironic humor, Solwitz demonstrates that happiness "isn't our birthright" and that "we have to work for it and even then we can't be sure." We are led to consider our own degree of complicity in the hard times that seem to fall from nowhere."A flair for dark comedy and the ability to turn on a dime are prized qualities for these unpredictable characters; time and again, their intrepid investigations lead them into uncharted territory where bizarre dramatic action seems to be the only possible move. Solwitz's fine-toothed examinations of complex emotional states are dead on...."--The New York Times Book Review Sharon Solwitz's first collection of stories, Blood and Milk, won the 1998 Carl Sandburg Prize from Friends of the Chicago Public Library, the prize for adult fiction from the Society of Midland Authors, and was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. Her short stories, published in such magazines as TriQuarterly, Mademoiselle, and Ploughshares, have won numerous awards, including the Pushcart Prize, the Katherine Anne Porter Prize, and grants and fellowships from the Illinois Arts Council. Currently, along with her husband, poet Barry Silesky, she has worked as fiction editor of Another Chicago Magazine. She teaches fiction at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana.The Greatest Stories of Robert Louis Stevenson: Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Suicide Club, The Body Snatcher, and Other Short Stories
By Herman Graf, Robert Louis Stevenson. 2018
The Best Short Works of One of English Literature’s Most Masterful Storytellers Collected in a Single Volume Known mostly for…
his seminal full-length works, such as the famous classics Treasure Island and Kidnapped, Robert Louis Stevenson’s masterful short fiction is often overshadowed. Now these pioneering works in the English short story tradition are presented here, collected in a single volume. Including the beloved novella "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," which G. K. Chesterton called “a double triumph,” and “The Merry Men,” as well as stories like “The Suicide Club” and “The Rajah’s Diamond” from the acclaimed 1882 collection New Arabian Nights, The Greatest Stories of Robert Louis Stevenson immerses you in Stevenson’s extraordinary worlds—thrilling tales of pure adventure and suspense, glorious evocations of the beauty of the Scottish countryside, and characters painted with the same vigor and energy as his most well-known creations. Showcasing his brilliant and lucid prose, his dramatic skill, and his perfect sense of pace that made him a celebrity during his time and a landmark author in the history of English literature, Stevenson’s enduring stories continue to capture the imagination of the contemporary reader and rightly belong to popular mythology today.The Things We Don't Do
By Nick Caistor, Lorenza Garcia, Andrés Neuman. 2014
"Good readers will find something that can be found only in great literature, the kind written by real poets, a…
literature that dares to venture into the dark with open eyes and that keeps its eyes open no matter what . . . . The literature of the twenty-first century will belong to Neuman and a few of his blood brothers."--Roberto BolañoPlayful, philosophizing, and gloriously unpredictable, Andrés Neuman's short stories consider love, lechery, history, mortality, family secrets, therapy, Borges, mysterious underwear, translators, and storytelling itself.Here a relationship turns on a line drawn in the sand; an analyst treats a patient who believes he's the real analyst; a discovery in a secondhand shop takes on a cruel significance; a man decides to go to work naked one day. In these small scenes and brief moments Neuman confounds our expectations with dazzling sleight of hand.With a variety of forms and styles, Neuman opens up the possibilities for fiction, calling to mind other greats of Latin American letters, such as Cortázar, Bolaño, and Bioy Casares. Intellectually stimulating and told with a voice that is wry, questioning, sometimes mordantly funny, yet always generously humane, The Things We Don't Do confirms Neuman's place as one of the most dynamic authors writing today. Andrés Neuman was born in Buenos Aires, but grew up and lives in Spain. He was included in Granta's "Young Spanish-Language Novelists" issue and is the author of almost twenty works, two of which--Traveler of the Century and Talking to Ourselves--have been translated into English. Traveler of the Century won the Alfaguara Prize, the National Critics Prize, was longlisted for the 2013 Best Translated Book Award, and was shortlisted for the 2013 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the 2014 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.The Education of a Poker Player
By James McManus. 2015
"In writing about poker Jim McManus has managed to write about everything, and it's glorious."—David SedarisNew York Times-bestselling author James…
McManus offers up a collection of seven stories narrated by Vincent Killeen, an Irish Catholic altar boy, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Persuaded at age eight by his grandmother that entering the priesthood will guarantee salvation for every member of his family, Vince eagerly commits to attending a Jesuit seminary for high school. As the meaning of a vow of celibacy becomes clearer to him, however, and he is exposed to the irresistible temptations of poker and girls, life as a seminarian begins to seem less appealing. These autobiographical stories are enlightening and evocative, providing keen, often humorous insight into Catholicism, faith, celibacy and its opposite, as well as America's—and increasingly the world's—favorite card game.James McManus has been called "poker's Shakespeare." He is the New York Times-bestselling author of Positively Fifth Street: Murderers, Cheetahs, and Binion's World Series of Poker and Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker, among others. He has been the poker columnist for the New York Times and currently writes the history column for CardPlayer. His work has also appeared in Harper's, The Believer, Paris Review, Esquire, and in Best American anthologies for poetry, sports writing, science and nature, and magazine writing. He has spoken about poker at Yale, Harvard, Google, Goldman Sachs, and on numerous media outlets, and is the recipient of the Peter Lisagor Award for Sports Journalism and fellowships from the Guggenheim and Rockefeller foundations, among other awards. He teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.Informe Tapia
By Marcelo Mellado Suazo. 2019
Nueva edición revisada de la gran novela de Marcelo Mellado Leopoldo Tapia, maestro de educación básica y poeta con aficiones…
ferroviarias, recibe la misión de preparar un reporte sobre el acoso del que estaría siendo víctima -por parte de oscuros funcionarios públicos- la Asociación de Poetas de la Cuenca del Maipo, liderada por un tal Badilla o Padilla. El pormenorizado relato de este mundo, de las jergas en que se comunican sus personajes y de los modos en que operan, hace de Informe Tapia un fresco incomparable de un cierto Chile que bien podría ser Chile entero. Publicada originalmente hace quince años, esta novela es una pieza señera en el proyecto literario de Mellado, enfocado perspicazmente en la pequeñez humana -en particular la que puede surgir en el mundo burocrático y cultural-, pero siempre atento a la comicidad y la singularidad que son su correlato objetivo, de manera que la grisura no es aquí la tónica, sino más bien cierto tono carnavalesco, paródico, hilarante.Señoras que se empotraron en el siglo XIX
By Cristina Domenech. 2019
¿Dónde están las lesbianas en el siglo XIX? Este flash ensayo forma parte del celebrado libro Señoras que se empotraron…
hace mucho, en el que se presenta a mujeres que, de un modo u otro, desafiaron las convenciones sociales a través de expresar abiertamente su sexualidad. En este caso, hallamos una selección de algunas de las señoras que amaron a otras mujeres en el siglo XIX, entre las cuales podríamos destacar a Anne Lister y sus diarios codificados, a la actriz Charlotte Cushman o a la anarquista Marie Equi, que luchó por los derechos de obreros, mujeres y el colectivo LGTBQ. Así pues, a través de esta brillante recopilación de señoras que se empotraron, queda claro que, tal como la misma autora afirma, «la historia es mucho menos heterosexual de lo que nos pensamos».James Herriot's Dog Stories
By James Herriot. 1986
From the Book Jacket "[Herriot has the] ability to touch readers with his stories of pets and their eccentric owners…
and to bring them into the harshly beautiful world of the Yorkshire dales." -Chicago Tribune "FIFTY TOUCHING AND MEMORABLE DOG STORIES FROM THE VETERINARIAN AND MASTER STORYTELLER OF YORKSHIRE . . . AN EXTRA SPECIAL TREAT!" -Kirkus Reviews "Herriot's real gift lies in keeping us intrigued with his human and dog characters . . . Herriot teaches us how unpredictable and joyous life can be." -San Francisco Chronicle "James Herriot has become one of America's most beloved storytellers." -Times-Dispatch (Richmond, VA)Rescue Me: An uplifting romantic comedy perfect for dog-lovers
By Sarra Manning. 2021
Margot doesn't have time for love.Will is afraid to love.And neither of them are expecting to fall in love with…
Blossom: a gentle Staffy with a tragic past, a belly made for rubbing and a head the size of a football.After their first meeting at the rescue centre, both Margot and Will want to adopt Blossom so reluctantly agree to share custody. But Will's obsession for micro-managing and clear-cut boundaries and Margot's need to smother Blossom with affection, means that soon they have a very confused and badly behaved dog on their hands.Can they put their differences aside to become successful "co-pawrents" and maybe even friends? And meanwhile, does Blossom have plans of her own?The Slaughterman's Daughter: Winner of the Wingate Prize 2021
By Yaniv Iczkovits. 2020
A SUNDAY TIMES MUST READS PICK"Boundless imagination and a vibrant style . . . a heroine of unforgettable grit" DAVID…
GROSSMAN"A story of great beauty and surprise" GARY SHTEYNGARTThe townsfolk of Motal, an isolated, godforsaken town in the Pale of Settlement, are shocked when Fanny Keismann - devoted wife, mother of five, and celebrated cheese-maker - leaves her home at two hours past midnight and vanishes into the night.True, the husbands of Motal have been vanishing for years, but a wife and mother? Whoever heard of such a thing. What on earth possessed her?Could it have anything to do with Fanny's missing brother-in-law, who left her sister almost a year ago and ran away to Minsk, abandoning their family to destitution and despair?Or could Fanny have been lured away by Zizek Breshov, the mysterious ferryman on the Yaselda river, who, in a strange twist of events, seems to have disappeared on the same night?Surely there can be no link between Fanny and the peculiar roadside murder on the way to Telekhany, which has left Colonel Piotr Novak, head of the Russian secret police, scratching his head. Surely a crime like that could have nothing to do with Fanny Keismann, however the people of Motal might mutter about her reputation as a vilde chaya, a wild animal . . .Surely not.Translated from the Hebrew by Orr ScharfIguana Boy vs. The 30 Second Thief: Book 2 (Iguana Boy #2)
By James Bishop. 2018
One boy. One disappointing superpower. Can Dylan and his bunch of hyper iguanas make a lasting impression on the superhero…
collective, run by Ron Strongman, or will he be laughed out of town?He might have the lamest superpower ever but Dylan, AKA Iguana Boy, has proven himself worthy enough to be accepted into the superhero collective. Dylan is excited and his iguanas are hyper. Recipe for success, RIGHT?Iguana Boy and his team of iguanas eagerly await their orders to SAVE THE WORLD. But CEO of the Superhero Collective Ron Strongman doesn't have time for lowly superheroes. Dylan will have to find his own way to get to the top, or else he will be saving silly cats from trees FOREVER. When a new villain is causing chaos across London, Dylan can't believe his luck... this is his chance. Can Iguana Boy bring Repeat Offender to justice ... In 30 seconds or less!Cicada
By Shaun Tan. 2018
A stunning picture book for anyone who has ever felt unappreciated, from Shaun Tan, Academy Award winner and winner of…
the Kate Greenaway Medal 2020. Cicada work in tall building.Data entry clerk. Seventeen year.No sick day. No mistake.Tok Tok Tok!Cicada works in an office, dutifully working day after day for unappreciative bosses and being bullied by his co-workers. But one day, something truly extraordinary happens . . . A story for anyone who has ever felt unappreciated, overlooked or overworked but dreams of magic, from Australia's most acclaimed picture book creator, and first BAME winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal. This is Shaun Tan's first author-illustrator book in five years, and his most important and moving fable since The Arrival.Bee a Good Human: A Pollinators' Guide to a Better Life
By Ali Beckman. 2021
Combining inspiration, humor, and entomology, Instagram artist Ali Beckman (@SoFlyTaxidermy) is the internet's go-to gal for bug-related content that makes…
you a happier human. Beckman's witty comics, which use actual insects in everyday situations, illustrate the importance of pollinators as well as body positivity and mental health awareness. Using creatures that are donated, purchased, or found dead to create amusing cartoons, Bee a Good Human highlights the integral role of insects in our environment while also demonstrating we all have a part to play in this world. Beyond bugs, Beckman's art speaks to the value of self-love as she shares a narrative of growth and finding confidence within.Bee a Good Human features the best of Beckman's @SoFlyTaxidermy Instagram art. With 106 color illustrations, many of which have never appeared online, this gift of a book will make you consider the bigger picture—and laugh a little too.The Nanny and the Iceberg: A Novel
By Ariel Dorfman. 1999
Conceived the night of Che Guevara's burial in 1967, Gabriel McKenzie is inextricably bound up in the history and politics…
of his native Chile. Twenty-four years on, and still a virgin, Gabriel returns from Manhattan exile to confront his legacy: a Don Juan father and a country preparing for the five-hundredth anniversary of America's "discovery." Into Gabriel's quest for manhood and identity enter one iceberg, a faithful if eccentric nanny, and a whole host of fantastical characters.The Tongue's Blood Does Not Run Dry: Algerian Stories
By Tegan Raleigh, Assia Djebar. 1997
What happens when catastrophe becomes an everyday occurrence? Each of the seven stories in Assia Djebar's The Tongue's Blood Does…
Not Run Dry reaches into the void where normal and impossible realities coexist. All the stories were written in 1995 and 1996--a time when, by official accounts, some two hundred thousand Algerians were killed in Islamist assassinations and government army reprisals. Each story grew from a real conversation on the streets of Paris between the author and fellow Algerians about what was happening in their native land.Contemporary events are joined on the page by classical themes in Arab literature, whether in the form of Berber texts sung by the women of the Mzab or the tales from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The Tongue's Blood Does Not Run Dry beautifully explores the conflicting realities of the role of women in the Arab world. With renowned and unparalleled skill, Assia Djebar gives voice to her longing for a world she has put behind her.