The Fortress of Solitude is the story of Dylan Ebdus growingup white and motherless in downtown Brooklyn in the 1970s. It's aneighborhood where the entertainments include muggings along withgames of stoopball. In that world, Dylan has one friend, a blackteenager, also motherless, named Mingus Rude. As Lethem follows theknitting and unraveling of their friendship, he creates anoverwhelmingly rich and emotionally gripping canvas of race andclass, superheros, gentrification, funk, hip-hop, graffiti tagging,loyalty, and memory. The Fortress of Solitude" "is the first greaturban coming of age novel to appear in years.
On the eve of the Globe's production of "Hamlet,"Shakespearean scholar Kate Shelton is given what is claimed to bethe Bard's long-lost work. When a killer decides to stagetheatrical murders as flesh-and-blood realities, Shelton mustdecipher a string of clues before anyone else dies.
The Spartans is a compelling narrative that explores theculture and civilization of the most famous "warrior people": theSpartans of ancient Greece, by the world's leading expert in thefield. Sparta has often been described as the original Utopia--aremarkably evolved society whose warrior heroes were forbidden anyother trade, profession, or business. As a people, the Spartanswere the living exemplars of such core values as duty, discipline,the nobility of arms in a cause worth dying for, sacrificing theindividual for the greater good of the community (illustrated bytheir role in the battle of Thermopylae), and the triumph of willover seemingly insuperable obstacles--qualities that today arefrequently believed to signify the ultimate heroism. Paul Cartledgeis the distinguished scholar and historian who has long been seenas the leading international authority on ancient Sparta. He tracesthe evolution of Spartan society--the culture and the people, aswell as the tremendous influence they had on their worl
Twenty years ago, a boy named Jack Sawyer travelled to aparallel universe called The Territories to save his mother and herTerritories "twinner" from a premature and agonizing death thatwould have brought cataclysm to the other world. Now Jack is aretired Los Angeles homicide detective living in the nearlynonexistent hamlet of Tamarack, WI. He has no recollection of hisadventures in the Territories and was compelled to leave the policeforce when an odd, happenstance event threatened to awaken thosememories. When a series of gruesome murders occur in westernWisconsin that are reminiscent of those committed several decadesearlier by a real-life madman named Albert Fish, the killer isdubbed "The Fisherman" and Jack's buddy, the local chief of police,begs Jack to help his inexperienced force find him. But is thismerely the work of a disturbed individual, or has a mysterious andmalignant force been unleashed in this quiet town? What causesJack's inexplicable waking dreams, if that is what they are, ofrobins' eggs
In his latest work, Antony Beevor—bestselling author of Stalingrad and The Fall of Berlin 1945 and one of ourmost respected historians of World War II— brings us the true,little-known story of a family torn apart by revolution and war.Olga Chekhova, a stunning Russian beauty, was the niece ofplaywright Anton Chekhov and a famous Nazi-era film actress who wasclosely associated with Hitler. After fleeing Bolshevik Moscow forBerlin in 1920, she was recruited by her composer brother Lev tobecome a Soviet spy—a career she spent her entire postwar lifedenying. The riveting story of how Olga and her family survived theRussian Revolution, the rise of Hitler, the Stalinist Terror, andthe Second World War becomes, in Beevor’s hands, a breathtakingtale of survival in a merciless age.
Shimamura is tired of the bustling city.He takes the trainthrough the snow to the mountains of the west coast of Japan tomeet with a geisha he believes he loves.Beautiful and innocent,Komako is tightly bound by the rules of a rural geisha and lives alife of servitude and seclusion that is alien to Shimamura - theirlove offers no freedom to either of them. Snow Country is both delicate and subtle,reflecting in Kawabata'sexact, lyrical writing the unspoken love and the understatedpassion of the young Japanese couple.
A high-concept new thriller from the internationally acclaimed Dean Koontz about a young man who owes his life to a heart transplant ! but confronts an imminent and far darker death At 34 Ryan Perry suddenly finds himself on a waiting list for a heart transplant. Although he keeps working and looks fit, his condition is deteriorating. Nevertheless, Ryan manages to remain upbeat, and his reward is well deserved. He receives a new heart, and the transplant is a success. One year later, Ryan has never felt better. Except for ! troubles connected to the heart. His new, fine, healthy, feel-good heart. It began with gifts from an unkown person, a feeling of being watched. Someone, not Ryan, transfers $100,000 from his bank account to the cardiology department of a local hospital -- how is this possible? Becoming more watchful himself, Ryan more than once glimpses a mysterious woman whom he tries to follow, but she is too circumspect even for the detective he hires to follow her. He has nothing to take to the police
In Lonely on the Mountain, Louis L'Amour's solitary wanderingSackett brothers make a stand together--to save one of their own.The rare letters Tell Sackett received always had trouble inside.And the terse note from his cousin Logan is no exception. Loganfaces starvation or a hanging if Tell can't drive a herd of cattlefrom Kansas to British Columbia before winter. To get to Logan, hemust brave prairie fires, buffalo stampedes, and Sioux war parties.But worse trouble waits, for a mysterious enemy shadows Sackett'severy move across the Dakotas and the Canadian Rockies. TellSackett has never abandoned another Sackett in need. He will bringaid to Logan--or die trying.
Jill Taylor was a 37-year-old Harvard-trained brain scientistwhen a blood vessel exploded in her brain. Through the eyes of acurious scientist, she watched her mind deteriorate whereby shecould not walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life.Because of her understanding of the brain, her respect for thecells in her body, and an amazing mother, Jill completelyrecovered. In My Stroke of Insight, she shares her recommendationsfor recovery and the insight she gained into the unique functionsof the two halves of her brain. When she lost the skills of herleft brain, her consciousness shifted away from normal realitywhere she felt "at one with the universe." Taylor helps others notonly rebuild their brains from trauma, but helps those of us withnormal brains better understand how we can consciously influencethe neural circuitry underlying what we think, how we feel and howwe react to life's circumstances.
"An uproarious, sprawling masterpiece by a grand Yiddishstoryteller." -O, The Oprah Magazine Translated in full for the first time, one hundred years afterits original publication, the acclaimed epic love story set in thecolorful world of the Yiddish theater. Wandering Stars spans tenyears and two continents, relating the adventures of Reizel andLeibel, young shtetl dwellers in late nineteenth-century Russia whofall under the spell of a traveling acting company. Together theyrun away from home to become entertainers themselves, and then tourseparately around Europe, ultimately reuniting in New York.Wandering Stars is an engrossing romance, a great New York story,and an anthem for the magic of the theater.
Deep in the Hausruck Mountains of Austria, there is a remotehideaway--the fortress-like nerve center of an ominous movement,the Brotherhood of the Watch. American agent Harry Latham haspenetrated the movement, a neo-Nazi organization that was born inthe days after the Third Reich's defeat and whose deadly tentacleshave spread to the United States and beyond. Now, after three yearsin deep cover, and on the eve of his most spectacular success,Harry Latham has disappeared. Drew Latham, Special Officer forConsular Operations in Paris, is frantic to discover his olderbrother's fate. But when he receives the sudden good news thatHarry has surfaced, gut-twisting doubts arise. Has Harry's coverbeen blown? And if so, why has the Brotherhood of the Watch let himlive? For Harry Latham has emerged with an explosive list: thesecret supporters of the movement, among them some of thehighest-ranking officials in the United States and its allies,names synonymous with honorable service to their nations. It is adocument that c
Roland the Gunfighter and his two companions continue thequest for the tower at the portal of all the worlds...in this thirdvolume in the epic that continues to dominate the bestsellerlists.
The Stephen King Amusement Park - an unnerving experience, with rides every which way to hell . . . and a few to glory. A solitary finger pokes out of a drain. Novelty teeth turn predatory. The Nevada desert swallows a Cadillac. Meanwhile, the legend of Castle Rock returns . . . and grows on you. What does it all mean? What else could it mean? Stephen King is here with a powerful collection of stories - a vast, many-chambered cave of a volume. The long reach of Stephen King's imagination will take you on a roller coaster to places you've never been before. You will lose sleep. But Stephen King, writing to beat the devil, will do your dreaming for you.
“After Dark is a streamlined, hushed ensemble piece. …Standing above the common gloom, Murakami detects phosphorescence everywhere, but chiefly in the auras around people, which glow brightest at night and when combined.” The New York Times Book Review A sleek, gripping novel of encounters set in Tokyo during the spooky hours between midnight and dawn, by an internationally renowned literary phenomenon. Murakami’s trademark humor, psychological insight, and grasp of spirit and morality are here distilled with an extraordinary, harmonious mastery. Combining the pyrotechnical genius that made Kafka on the Shore and The Wind-up Bird Chronicle international bestsellers, with a surprising infusion of heart, Murakami has produced one of his most enchanting fictions yet. “Murakami is masterful with symbolism.. . . Night. . . can’t blacken the ever-shifting shutter speeds of Murakami’s cockeyed Kodak.. . . It is straight- ahead jazz with a quiet grace.” The Los Angeles Times
This is knock-out classic horror about the loneliest town offNevada's Interstate 50-and the scariest.
This specially commissioned selection of Conrads matchless short stories includes such favourites as Youth. a modern epic of the sea; The Secret Sharer. a thrilling psychological drama: An Outpost of Progress.a blackly comic prelude to Heart of Darkness; Amy Foster. a moving story of a shipwrecked, alienated Pole: and The Lagoon and Karain. two exotic, exciting Malay tales. II Conde and The Tale are subtle portrayals of bewildered outrage: An Anarchist and The Infomer are sardonic depictions of revolutionaries:and Prince Roman is a tale of magnificent, doomed heroisrn set in Conrads native Poland during the Uprising of 1831. Both those new to Conrads work and those familiar with his novels will delight in this wide-ranging collection.
In Paris for a weekend visit, Elizabeth Bard sat down to lunchwith a handsome Frenchman--and never went home again. Was it love at first sight? Or was it the way her knife slideffortlessly through her pavé au poivre, the steak's pinkjuices puddling into the buttery pepper sauce? LUNCH IN PARIS is amemoir about a young American woman caught up in two passionatelove affairs--one with her new beau, Gwendal, the other with Frenchcuisine. Packing her bags for a new life in the world's mostromantic city, Elizabeth is plunged into a world of bustlingopen-air markets, hipster bistros, and size 2 femmesfatales . She learns to gut her first fish (with a little helpfrom Jane Austen), soothe pangs of homesickness (with the rise of achocolate soufflé) and develops a crush on her local butcher (whobears a striking resemblance to Matt Dillon). Elizabeth finds thatthe deeper she immerses herself in the world of French cuisine, themore Paris itself begins to translate. French culture, shediscovers, is not unlik
In this exciting collection of short stories, Louis L'Amour, thelegendary voice of the American West, celebrates the unique breedof men who worked the great cattle ranches. Men like Dan Regan, whorefused to surrender when trouble came -- Con Fargo, who wouldfight for what was his--despite the odds -- Rowdy Horn, asmall-time rancher with big-time dreams -- Tandy Thayer, too loyalto forget a friend ... Bill Carey, who might have fallen low, butnot low enough to let the likes of Tabat Ryerson ride off with awoman like Jane Conway -- and in the classic title story, DannyLonigan, a hard rider who faced a group of rustlers withoutfear--or mercy.
In 1959 Florence Green, a kindhearted widow with a smallinheritance, risks everything to open a bookshop - the onlybookshop - in the seaside town of Hardborough. By making a successof a business so impractical, she invites the hostility of thetown's less prosperous shopkeepers. By daring to enlarge herneighbors' lives, she crosses Mrs. Gamart, the local arts doyenne.Florence's warehouse leaks, her cellar seeps, and the shop isapparently haunted. Only too late does she begin to suspect thetruth: a town that lacks a bookshop isn't always a town that wantsone.