内容简介

A huge international bestseller, this ambitious novel plumbsthe depths of our shared humanity to offer up a breathtakinginsight into life, love, and literature itself. A major hit inGermany that went on to become one of Europe’s biggest literaryblockbusters in the last five years, Night Train to Lisbon is anastonishing novel, a compelling exploration of consciousness, thepossibility of truly understanding another person, and the abilityof language to define our very selves. Raimund Gregorius is a Latinteacher at a Swiss college who one day -- after a chance encounterwith a mysterious Portuguese woman -- abandons his old life tostart a new one. He takes the night train to Lisbon and carrieswith him a book by Amadeu de Prado, a (fictional) Portuguese doctorand essayist whose writings explore the ideas of loneliness,mortality, death, friendship, love, and loyalty. Gregorius becomesobsessed by what he reads and restlessly struggles to comprehendthe life of the author. His investigations lead him all over

Hailed as a classic upon its first publication in 1934, TheValleys of the Assassins firmly established Freya Stark as oneof her generation's most intrepid explorers. The book chroniclesher travels into Luristan, the mountainous terrain nestled betweenIraq and present-day Iran, often with only a single guide and on ashoestring budget. Stark writes engagingly of the nomadic peoples who inhabit theregion's valleys and brings to life the stories of the ancientkingdoms of the Middle East, including that of the Lords of Alamut,a band of hashish-eating terrorists whose stronghold in the ElburzMountains Stark was the first to document for the RoyalGeographical Society. Her account is at once a highly readabletravel narrative and a richly drawn, sympathetic portrait of apeople told from their own compelling point of view. This edition includes a new Introduction by Jane FletcherGeniesse, Stark's biographer.

A gargantuan, mind-altering comedy about the Pursuit ofHappiness in America Set in an addicts' halfway house and a tennisacademy, and featuring the most endearingly screwed-up family tocome along in recent fiction, Infinite Jest explores essentialquestions about what entertainment is and why it has come to sodominate our lives; about how our desire for entertainment affectsour need to connect with other people; and about what the pleasureswe choose say about who we are. Equal parts philosophical quest andscrewball comedy, Infinite Jest bends every rule of fiction withoutsacrificing for a moment its own entertainment value. It is anexuberant, uniquely American exploration of the passions that makeus human - and one of those rare books that renew the idea of whata novel can do.

A look at the events surrounding the incarceration of nativeAmerican activist Leonard Peltier elucidates the traditional Indianconcept of the sacred inviolability of the earth and presents newevidence supporting Peltier's claims of innocence, arguing for anew trial. Reprint.

"Drinking a toast to the visible world, his impendingdisappearance from it be damned." That's how John Updike describesan elderly character in his remarkable final collection. He mighthave been talking about himself. In My Father's Tears, Updikerevisits his people, places, and themes--Americans in suburbs,cities, and small towns grappling with faith and infidelity--invivid portraits of the aged, people for whom the past has becomeparamount. My Father's Tears is a superb set of tales that is avital and unforgettable farewell.

In the eighth installment of Alexander McCall Smith's endlesslyenjoyable, bestselling series, the judicious Precious Ramotswecomes to discover what is true, stable, and genuine in anever-shifting world. There is rarely a dull moment in the life ofPrecious Ramotswe, and on Zebra Drive and Tlokweng Road manychanges are afoot. Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni wants be put in charge of acase involving an errant husband, and Mma Makutsi is consideringleaving the agency, taking her near perfect score on the BotswanaSecretarial College typing exam with her. Meanwhile, Mma Ramotswehas been asked to investigate a series of unexpected deaths at thehospital in Mochudi. Along the way, she encounters other trickymysteries, and once again displays her undying love for Botswana, acountry of which she is justly proud.

This blood-and-thunder tale, lifelike and thoroughly cynical, certainly carries the ring of authenticity ... a great triumph.' - Independent The exciting thriller that has Westminster buzzing. Here is a political thriller writer with a marvellous inside track knowledge of government.' - Daily Express It has pace, a beguiling authenticity and a cast of Achilles heels.' - Daily Telegraph What a brilliant creation F.U. is.' - Sunday Telegraph

More than twenty-five years after the groundbreaking movie "StarWars: A New Hope" first hit the silver screen, "Star Wars" remainsone of the most beloved sagas ever told. Together, the threeoriginal "Star Wars" movies-"A New Hope," "The Empire StrikesBack," and "Return of the Jedi"-told one epic: a heroic tale ofinnocence lost and wisdom gained, of downfall and redemption, ofthe never-ending fight between the forces of good and evil. Readthe story of the movies-all three in one trade paperback volume-andrediscover the wonder of the legend that begins: "A long time ago,in a galaxy far, far away . . ."Luke Skywalker lived and worked onhis uncle's farm on the remote planet of Tatooine, but he yearnedto travel beyond the farthest reaches of the universe to distant,alien worlds. Then Luke intercepted a cryptic message from abeautiful, captive princess . . . and found himself catapulted intothe adventure of a lifetime. Luke Skywalker, proud Princess Leia,and headstrong Han Solo . . . merciless Darth Vader, wise Ob