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By Archie Superstars. 2024
By Lawrence Block. 2020
Four decades ago, Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Lawrence Block introduced the world to one of his most beloved…
and enduring creations: Bernie Rhodenbarr, the clever, nimble-fingered star of novels such as Burglars Can't Be Choosers, The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling, and The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons. Called "the Heifetz of the picklock" by the New York Times, Bernie has stolen not only antiques, stamp collections, and priceless works of art but also millions of readers' hearts. Now, for all those craving more adventures of their favorite bookseller-by-day and burglar-by-night, The Burglar in Short Order for the first time ever collects all of Bernie's short-form appearances in one complete volume. From the story in which a prototype of Bernie first appeared ("A Bad Night For Burglars") to his appearances in Playboy and (maybe? It's kinda complicated) Cosmopolitan...from an essay discussing Bernie's misadventures in Hollywood (how in the world did Whoopi Goldberg ever get cast?) to a piece commissioned by a European publisher for a tourist guide to New York...you'll find every published story, article, and standalone excerpt Bernie has ever appeared in—plus two new, unpublished pieces: an introduction discussing the character's colorful origins and an afterword in which the author, contemplating retirement, comes face to face with his own creation. In all of mystery fiction, there has never been a character like Bernie—and in this, his dozenth book, he demonstrates all the charm and wit and kleptophilic ingenuity that has made two generations of readers welcome their favorite burglar into their homesBy Bill Schorr, Ralph Smith. 2013
Gunther Grizzwell is your average family bear, with a wife and kids, a day job, and a bottomless appetite for…
anything from roadkill to the occasional forest hiker. This e-book only collection of Grizzwells comics follows Gunther, his wife, Flora, and his kids, Tucker and Fauna, on their daily exploits both in and out of the home. We see Gunther’s well-intentioned attempts at imparting fatherly wisdom, Tucker and Fauna’s clever schemes for avoiding homework, and Flora’s heroic efforts at preserving order amid her family’s various misadventures. Clever and sharply drawn, The Grizzwells is a funny and unpredictable spin on the traditional family comic strip—with bite. Created by award-winning artist Bill Schorr, it has been in syndication nationally for more than twenty years.By Archie Superstars. 2024
Jump back to the Bronze Age with America's Sweethearts, Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge, as the pair were both best…
friends and raging rivals in the Spectacular Seventies!Continue the 80+ year celebration of Archie Comics with this special retrospective collection! Betty & Veronica shined bright in the 1970s when their standalone title proved to be interesting, hilarious and unforgettable -- and their fashion was always top-notch! "Decades" features some of the iconic stories that cemented their lasting imprint on the world.By Uche Okonkwo. 2024
“Steady-handed and gut-punching. I’m in awe.”—NoViolet Bulawayo An Oprah Daily Most Anticipated Book of 2024 A searing, unflinching collection of…
stories set in Nigeria that explores themes of community expectations, familial strife, and the struggle for survival. A teenage girl from a poor family is dazzled by her rich, vivacious friend, but as the friend’s behavior grows unstable and dangerous, she must decide whether to cover for her or risk telling the truth to get her the help she needs. A young woman and her mother bask in the envy of their neighbors when the woman receives an offer of marriage from the family of a doctor living in Belgium—though when the offer fails to materialize, that envy threatens to turn vicious, pitting them both against their community. And a lonely daughter finds herself wandering a village in eastern Nigeria in an ill-fated quest, struggling to come to terms with her mother’s mental illness. In ten vivid, evocative stories set in contemporary Nigeria, Uche Okonkwo’s A Kind of Madness unravels the tensions between mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, best friends, siblings, and more, marking the arrival of an extraordinary new talent in fiction and inviting us all to consider the question: why is it that the people and places we hold closest are so often the ones that drive us to madness?By Alan Pickard. 2024
Rory loved listening to stories and he always remembered the ones that Daddy read to him at bedtime. He wanted…
to know where stories came from. And he told Daddy that one day he would like to write stories. And that was why he couldn’t wait to start reading himself. Rory didn’t think that he would ever get tired of stories!By George Singleton. 2006
Take a darkly hilarious trip through a South Carolina town with the &“unchallenged king of the comic Southern short story&”…
(The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). &“Usually stories about small, quirky, southern towns are full of adorable, quirky characters that share their unusual philosophies with us and teach us how to enjoy life (think Forrest Gump or even Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil). Gruel may be small, southern, and quirky, but it is also as miserable as its name sounds. The inhabitants are miserable. Even people from as far away as New York who happen to stop by Gruel are miserable . . . Fortunately, the writing is good enough that the misery becomes somehow enjoyable.&” —Booklist &“George Singleton is a madman. He&’s also one of the most talented American writers the South has turned out in decades.&” —The Post and CourierBy Cathy Day. 2005
Over a half century, a small Indiana town hosts a circus troupe during the off-seasons in linked stories “as graceful…
as any acrobat’s high-wire act” (San Francisco Chronicle).A Story Prize FinalistFrom 1884 to 1939, the Great Porter Circus made the unlikely choice to winter in an Indiana town called Lima, a place that feels as classic as Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, and as wondrous as a first trip to the Big Top. In Lima, an elephant can change the course of a man's life—or the manner of his death. Jennie Dixianna entices men with her dazzling Spin of Death and keeps them in line with secrets locked in a cedar box. The lonely wife of the show’s manager has each room of her house painted like a sideshow banner, indulging her desperate passion for a young painter. And a former clown seeks consolation from his loveless marriage in his post-circus job at Clown Alley Cleaners. In this collection of linked stories spanning decades, Cathy Day follows the circus people into their everyday lives and brings the greatest show on earth to the page.“[An] exquisite story collection.” —The Washington Post“Often funny, always graceful, and rich with a mix of historical and imaginative detail.” —Tim O’Brien, author of The Things They Carried“Sublimely imaginative and affecting.” —The Boston GlobeBy Christopher Coake. 2015
Short fiction about love in the face of mortal threats, in a prize-winning collection by the author of You Came…
Back. In this extraordinary collection of short fiction, characters wrestle with the moments in life that test us most deeply, in ways both dramatic and subtle. In &“We&’re in Trouble,&” a woman is asked to end her dying husband&’s suffering. In &“Abandon,&” a troubled young man must risk jail to do right by the only woman he has ever loved. And &“In the Event&” shows a young musician&’s all-night vigil after he loses his best friends and is suddenly left as the guardian of their three-year-old son. From a wife waiting for news of her husband&’s latest death-defying climb to a sheriff thrown into turmoil after his close friend enacts a horrifying murder-suicide, this &“uncanny, clear-eyed [and] wildly engaging&” story collection was awarded the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize (Entertainment Weekly).By Italo Calvino. 1983
A charming portrait of one man&’s dreams and schemes, by &“the greatest Italian writer of the twentieth century&” (The Guardian).…
In this enchanting book of linked stories, Italo Calvino charts the disastrous schemes of an Italian peasant, an unskilled worker in a drab northern industrial city in the 1950s and &’60s, struggling to reconcile his old country habits with his current urban life. Marcovaldo has a practiced eye for spotting natural beauty and an unquenchable longing for the unspoiled rural world of his imagination. Much to the continuing puzzlement of his wife, his children, his boss, and his neighbors, he chases his dreams and gives rein to his fantasies, whether it&’s sleeping in the great outdoors on a park bench, following a stray cat, or trying to catch wasps. Unfortunately, the results are never quite what he anticipates. Spanning from the 1950s to the 1960s, the twenty stories in Marcovaldo are alternately comic and melancholy, farce and fantasy. Throughout, Calvino&’s unassuming masterpiece &“conveys the sensuous, tangible qualities of life&” (The New York Times).By Jennifer Weiner. 2004
“Eleven marvelous short stories” by the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of The Summer Place and Mrs. Everything (Entertainment Weekly).In…
these tender and often hilarious stories by Jennifer Weiner, we meet Marlie Davidow, home alone with her new baby late one Friday night when she wanders onto her ex’s online wedding registry and wonders where she’d be if she’d wound up with the guy not taken. We stumble on Bruce Guberman, liquored-up and ready for anything on the night of his best friend’s bachelor party, until stealing his girlfriend’s tiny rat terrier becomes more complicated than he’d planned. We find Jessica Norton listing her beloved New York City apartment in the hope of winning her broker’s heart. And we follow an unlikely friendship between two very different new mothers, and the choices that bring them together—and pull them apart.From a teenager coming to terms with her father’s disappearance to a widow accepting two young women into her home, these stories demonstrate Weiner’s amazing ability to find hope and humor, longing and love in the hidden corners of our common experiences.“Utterly readable.” —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette“Another delightful example of Jennifer Weiner’s tender way with words and emotions.” —Harper’s Bazaar“Very, very funny.” —Philadelphia Inquirer“Puts Weiner on the map as one of her generation’s best literary voices.” —The Boston HeraldBy Louis Auchincloss. 1987
Twelve stories contemplating destiny and detailing the life of Manhattan’s upper class over the course of one hundred years, from…
the author of Honorable Men.It’s only twelve miles long and two miles wide, but it has more money for its area, more history packed into its relatively brief settlement, and more emotional and intellectual energy coursing through its streets than any other place on earth. Manhattan is the setting for all of Louis Auchincloss’s fiction, and it is the stage on which those New Yorkers whose roots go down to its bedrock play out the drama of their lives.From the turn of the century to our present urban follies, these stories follow the fortunes of the socially secure and powerful as they try to cope with the changes shaped by the momentous events and growing anxieties of recent decades. Taken together, the tales weave a larger pattern of human strengths and foibles that bemuses the mind and touches the heart.The elegant prose, crystalline dialogue, immense insight into the mores, preoccupations, and afflictions of the rich, and the connoisseur’s sense of both art and life that are characteristic of Auchincloss—all are here, but with a depth of passion and irony exceeding anything he has accomplished in the past.Praise for Skinny Island“Many of Auchincloss’ wealthy and Waspy protagonists, caught in such fine conflict, find it difficult to defend their dwindling kind or, conversely, to rebel against their confining values . . . . With this, his 40th book, Auchincloss has yet to exhaust his art, or his loyal readers.” —Kirkuks ReviewsBy Heinrich Kleist. 1978
In The Marquise of O-, a virtuous widow finds herself unaccountably pregnant. And although the baffled Marquise has no idea…
when this happened, she must prove her innocence to her doubting family and discover whether the perpetrator is an assailant or lover. Michael Kohlhaas depicts an honourable man who feels compelled to violate the law in his search for justice, while other tales explore the singular realm of the uncanny, such as The Beggarwoman of Locarno, in which an old woman's ghost drives a heartless nobleman to madness, and St Cecilia, which portrays four brothers possessed by an uncontrollable religious mania. The stories collected in this volume reflect the preoccupations of Heinrich von Kleist (1777-1811) with the deceptiveness of human nature and the unpredictability of the physical world.By Su Tong. 2008
The madwoman was wearing a white velvet cheongsam. Standing on the bridge, she revelled in her own faded splendour. Normal…
people pay no attention to madwomen, but one woman from Shaoxing stayed on the bridge that afternoon to talk to this one; what was she coveting?Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection Madwoman on the Bridge.By Su Tong. 2008
Set during the fall-out of the Cultural Revolution, these bizarre and delicate stories capture the collision of the old China…
of vanished dynasties, with communism and today's tiger economy.The mad woman on the bridge wears a historical gown which she refuses to take off. In the height of summer she stands madly on the bridge. Until a young female doctor, bewitched by the beauty of the mad woman's dress, plots to take it from her, with tragic consequences.By M C Scott. 2011
With the Dumnonii defeat of the Second Legion the Celtic victory is complete. But Hywell, Cunomar and Valerius must still…
find the lost Eagle of the Second and prevent Rome from attempting another attack. To prevent further conflict the Emperor Nero must be overthrown and replaced by someone of their choosing.Part of the Storycuts series.By Ann Summers. 2007
In this second collection of sexy secrets as told to hostess Madame B, we discover a world of delicious and…
dangerous delights. No fantasy is too extreme, no indulgence or scenario off limits.Velvet Underground - an everyday Tube journey takes an erotic turn for a young womanDigits - the telephone provides the ultimate release for two strangersThe Magic Toyshop - a mysterious saleswoman opens a young customer's eyes to new pleasures Buckle My Shoe - Nick is an unashamed foot fetishist; but has he met his match?Hard Cell - the prisoner/guard relationship is taken to extremes of passionStatuesque - Englishwoman Kelly enjoys a very special midnight feast while on a cooking holiday in ItalyThe Lure of the Greasepaint - best friends Jade and Tania get closer than they ever expected as extras in an orgy sceneFourplay - on a second honeymoon in the Seychelles, Alex and Jessica meet attractive Australian couple Laura and Brad, and have a holiday they will never forgetThe Sinner - when her car breaks down, a reporter seeks shelter at a monastery, where she meets the shy Brother Michael...Rockstar 2 - model Anna Lamb and her rockstar boyfriend Joey love taking sexual risks in public, and at a masked club for the rich and famous they show everyone else what they're missing.With private indulgences stripped bare for all to see, Madame B's White Hot & Wild Whispers ensures that nothing remains a secret any more.By Rudyard Kipling. 2011
Rudyard Kipling is one of the most magical storytellers in the English language. This new selection brings together the best…
of his short writings, following the development of his work over fifty years. They take us from the harsh, cruel, vividly realized world of the 'Indian' stories that made his name, through the experimental modernism of his middle period to the highly-wrought subtleties of his later pieces. Including the tale of insanity and empire, 'The Man Who Would Be King', the high-spirited 'The Village that Voted the Earth Was Flat', the fable of childhood cruelty and revenge 'Baa Baa, Black Sheep', the menacing psychological study 'Mary Postgate' and the ambiguous portrayal of grief and mourning in 'The Gardener', here are stories of criminals, ghosts, femmes fatales, madness and murder.Fall in love with Jilly Cooper, one of Britain's most popular authors, in this wonderful collection of upbeat and hilarious…
short stories. Fans of Jojo Moyes, Marian Keyes, Dolly Alderton and Jane Fallon will love this perfect dose of escapism - guaranteed to have you laughing out loud!'The Jane Austen of our time' -- Harpers and Queen'I've read this book before and it never fails to delight me' -- ***** Reader review'Love it' -- ***** Reader review'Utterly fabulous' -- ***** Reader review'Charming' -- ***** Reader review'A real treat from start to finish' -- ***** Reader review**************************************************************************************From an author who has endeared herself to millions of readers and bewitched them all, comes a sparkling collection of love stories that are both moving and funny.As well as Lisa, we meet Hester, Julia, Helen and Caroline, and a host of other devastating girls, falling in and out of love, finding, losing (and often finding again sometimes in the most unexpected places) the men of their dreams.Lisa & Co could only have been written by the unique Jilly Cooper.By Edgar Allan Poe. 2008
In 'The Masque of the Red Death' and other tales of gothic horror, Edgar Allan Poe writes as no one…
else ever has of creeping, mounting terrors, of malevolent tormentors and of a mind's own sickening madness Outside the abbey's armoured walls, the common poor are ravaged by a grisly pestilence known as the 'Red Death', while within, safe and untroubled, the happy Prince Prospero hosts lavish entertainments. But, in their immodest comfort, the Prince and his guests are not as safe as they hope from the horrors of the outside world ...