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Grandmother's Tale and Selected Stories
Par R. K. Narayan. 1994
"It is not too much to compare Mr. Narayan to Chekhov." -The New York TimesThere is no better introduction to…
R.K. Narayan than this remarkable collection of stories celebrating work that spans five decades. Characters include a storyteller whose magical source of tales dries up, a love-stricken husband who is told by astrologers he must sleep with a prostitute to save his dying wife, a pampered child who discovers that his beloved uncle may be an impostor or even a murderer. Standing supreme amid this rich assortment of stories is the title novella. Told by the narrator's grandmother, the tale recounts the adventures of her mother, married at seven and then abandoned, who crosses the subcontinent to extract her husband from the hands of his new wife. Her courage is immense and her will implacable -- but once her mission is completed, her independence vanishes. Gentle irony, wryly drawn characters, and themes at once Indian and universal mark these humane stories, which firmly establish Narayan as one of the world's preeminant storytellers.Adverbs: A Novel
Par Daniel Handler. 2006
Hello.I am Daniel Handler, the author of this book. Did you know that authors often write the summaries that appear…
on their book's dust jacket? You might want to think about that the next time you read something like, "A dazzling page-turner, this novel shows an internationally acclaimed storyteller at the height of his astonishing powers."Adverbs is a novel about love -- a bunch of different people, in and out of different kinds of love. At the start of the novel, Andrea is in love with David -- or maybe it's Joe -- who instead falls in love with Peter in a taxi. At the end of the novel, it's Joe who's in the taxi, falling in love with Andrea, although it might not be Andrea, or in any case it might not be the same Andrea, as Andrea is a very common name. So is Allison, who is married to Adrian in the middle of the novel, although in the middle of the ocean she considers a fling with Keith and also with Steve, whom she meets in an automobile, unless it's not the same Allison who meets the Snow Queen in a casino, or the same Steve who meets Eddie in the middle of the forest. . . . It might sound confusing, but that's love, and as the author -- me -- says, "It is not the nouns. The miracle is the adverbs, the way things are done." This novel is about people trying to find love in the ways it is done before the volcano erupts and the miracle ends. Yes, there's a volcano in the novel. In my opinion a volcano automatically makes a story more interesting.Cruisin': A Short Story
Par Sarah Mlynowski. 2009
From the critically acclaimed author of Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) and the Magic in Manhattan series…
comes a fun short story about taking the plunge on the high seas, where not everything is what it seems.Kristin is ready to take the next step. . . . The only problem is she hasn't found the right guy to take it with her. That's why she agreed to go on the ominously named Cruise to Nowhere with her best friend, Liz. There are plenty of cute guys on the ship to choose from if only Kristin can work up the nerve—and stop worrying about the reports in the tabloids that passengers on cruises have been mysteriously disappearing and that someone suspects it has to do with . . . vampires.Epic Reads Impulse is a digital imprint with new releases each month.Limbo, and Other Places I Have Lived: Short Stories
Par Lily Tuck. 2002
In an elegant and penetrating first short-story collection, Limbo, and Other Places I Have Lived, Lily Tuck's characters travel to…
unknown, exotic places and, while there, find themselves deeply immersed in observation -- of the natives, the local customs, the foreign landscape -- in an effort to discern some elemental truth about who they themselves are. Instead, these women meet with disorientation, confusion; they are disappointed by the people closest to them -- lovers, husbands, family members. Finally, they arrive at the sometimes heartbreaking but ultimately optimistic realization that the answers they seek lie not in other people or places but within themselves. Limbo, and Other Places I Have Lived is a brilliant collection from a writer of exceptional poise and insight.The Artist of Disappearance: Three Novellas
Par Anita Desai. 2011
Finalist for the Pen/Faulkner Award for Fiction&“The excellent strength [the novellas] share is a gracefulness and dreamlike sonority, reminiscent of…
writers like Jhumpa Lahiri and W.G. Sebald, wherein strange evolutions of solitary lives are the rule, and readers are held by the stately, hypnotic dignity of the voice that tells them.&” – San Francisco ChronicleSet in modern India, these three novellas move beyond the cities to places still haunted by the past, and to characters who are, each in their own way, masters of self-effacement. An unnamed government official is called upon to inspect a faded mansion of forgotten treasures where he discovers a surprise "relic." A translator blurs the line between writer and translator, and in so doing risks unraveling her desires and achievements. In the title novella, a hermit hidden away in the woods with a secret is discovered by a film crew, which compels him to withdraw even further until he magically disappears . . . Rich and evocative, remarkable in their clarity and sensuous in their telling, these novellas remind us of the extraordinary yet delicate power of this pre-eminent writer. &“Desai, at her best, offers enchanting, subtle, and deeply observed portraits of layered characters trapped between worlds.&” – Daily Beast&“Lingers in the memory the same way these landscapes and people of India prove impossible to forget.&” – Boston GlobeTranslator Translated: A Novella
Par Anita Desai. 2011
Distraught by her own lack of accomplishment -- especially in comparison to that of a childhood rival who has become…
a famous and successful publisher -- a middle-aged woman has the opportunity of a lifetime: to translate the work of an unknown literary star and, in the process, impress the woman she most admires.The Museum of Final Journeys: A Novella
Par Anita Desai. 2011
Disappointed by his professional and social position, an entitled and officious junior civil servant imagines that his life will change…
when a mysterious old man promises to lead him to a museum filled with priceless treasures.In this very special anthology of beautifully poetic short stories, thirty distinguished authors and illustrators explore the unique and varied…
meanings of home. Their touching words and magnificent art affirm the importance—and joy—of having a place to call one’s own.Culturally diverse, multi-representative, and socially inclusive, this book is nourishment for the young soul.At a time when displacement and homelessness remain painfully present in our society, this classic anthology is indispensable. The distinguished contributors to this collection include:Franz BrandenbergMimi BrodskyLucille CliftonVirginia HamiltonJamake HighwaterKarla KuskinMyra Cohn LivingstonLiz RosenbergCynthia RylantJon ScieszkaLaurence YepJane YolenArthur YorinksAlikiKaren BarbourPat CummingsLisa DesiminiLeo and Diane DillonRichard EgielskiSheila HamanakaJames MarshallJerry PinkneyVladimir RadunskyJames RansomeAminah RobinsonMarc SimontLane SmithMary SzilagyiVera B. WilliamsHome can be. . .playing on the stoop of your building,sitting in your grandmother’s kitchen,or hiding under your back porch stairs.Screen Tests: Stories and Other Writing
Par Kate Zambreno. 2019
Best Book of 2019: Nylon, Domino, Bustle, Book Riot, Buzzfeed, Vol. 1 BrooklynA new work equal parts observational micro-fiction and…
cultural criticism reflecting on the dailiness of life as a woman and writer, on fame and failure, aging and art, from the acclaimed author of Heroines, Green Girl, and O Fallen Angel.In the first half of Kate Zambreno’s astoundingly original collection Screen Tests, the narrator regales us with incisive and witty swatches from a life lived inside a brilliant mind, meditating on aging and vanity, fame and failure, writing and writers, along with portraits of everyone from Susan Sontag to Amal Clooney, Maurice Blanchot to Louise Brooks. The series of essays that follow, on figures central to Zambreno’s thinking, including Kathy Acker, David Wojnarowicz, and Barbara Loden, are manifestoes about art, that ingeniously intersect and chime with the stories that came before them."If Thomas Bernhard's and Fleur Jaeggy's work had a charming, slightly misanthropic baby—with Diane Arbus as nanny—it would be Screen Tests. Kate Zambreno turns her precise and meditative pen toward a series of short fictions that are anything but small. The result is a very funny, utterly original look at cultural figures and tropes and what it means to be a human looking at humans.”—Amber Sparks“In Screen Tests, a voice who both is and is not the author picks up a thread and follows it wherever it leads, leaping from one thread to another without quite letting go, creating a delicate and ephemeral and wonderful portrait of how a particular mind functions. Call them stories (after Lydia Davis), reports (after Gerald Murnane), or screen tests (inventing a new genre altogether like Antoine Volodine). These are marvelously fugitive pieces, carefully composed while giving the impression of being effortless, with a quite lovely Calvino-esque lightness, that are a joy to try to keep up with.”—Brian EvensonThe Topiary Garden
Par Janni Howker. 1993
One of the most remarkable short stories in Janni Howker's BADGER ON THE BARGE is THE TOPIARY GARDEN, currently under…
option for filming It is the evocative, timeless story of Sally Beck, and the circumstances which led her to become Jack, the gardener's boy, working amongst the topiary bushes of a great country house garden. This powerful story has such impact for readers of any age that we are publishing it in a separate edition, with specially commissioned full colour paintings by Anthony BrowneToo Hot to Handle: True Stories as Told to Madame B
Par Ann Summers. 2007
Ten women reveal all to our mysterious hostess, Madame B. Nothing is out of bounds and passion is pushed to…
its very limit. Under Offer - Sally just can't keep her eyes off the hot estate agent. By the third apartment, Sally can't control her lust any longer and makes him an offer he can't refuse...Backstage Pass - Everyone knows him, the rock star who regularly tops the charts. Ali just has to have him, and blags a backstage pass...Executive Decision - It's the career chance of a lifetime. PA to a gorgeous, jet-setting executive. Amanda wants the job - and him - so badly. Then he asks if she has any 'extra services' to offer. Shopaholic - Zoe's bored with her look. So when a friend recommends personal shopper and stylist Maria, she books in for a session. Maria knows just how to make Zoe feel fabulous - and it all kicks off in the changing room.Coming Up Roses - Kara can't face a day in the office and calls in sick. That's when she notices two attractive gardeners working outside her apartment window. It's hot, they're sweating. So Kara invites them both in for a shower...Filthy Rich - At a salsa club, Jen and Mike meet an older, wealthy couple, who invite them back to their mansion. The place is a millionaire's paradise - acres of land, and a sexy outdoor jacuzzi...Double Fantasy - Identical twins and flatmates Gilly and Annie secretly share their men. So when fit delivery guy Rob turns up with a washing machine, Gilly has her fun on top of it - and then lets Annie take over. Curtain Raiser - Cathy's boyfriend confesses he's always wanted to try a seedy peep show. She's not so sure. But once they're inside the cubicle, Cathy can't get enough.Tunnel Vision - She spots him at check-in, and he's sitting opposite her in first class. He passes her a mobile number. She texts. He texts. And things get steamy...Father Figure - Jane's always fancied her ex-boyfriend's dad. Then she bumps into him at a taxi rank. They share a cab, but they don't even make it indoors...With private indulgences stripped bare for all to see, Too Hot to Handle ensures that nothing remains a secret any more.Three Tales from the Arabian Nights
Par Malcolm Lyons. 2008
Once upon a time, the name Baghdad conjured up visions of the most magical, romantic city on earth, where flying…
carpets carried noble thieves off on wonderful adventures, and vicious viziers and beautiful princesses mingled with wily peasants and powerful genies. This is the world of the Arabian Nights, a magnificent collection of ancient tales from Arabia, India, and Persia. The tales—often stories within stories—are told by the sultana Scheherazade, who relates them as entertainments for her jealous and murderous husband, hoping to keep him amused and herself alive. Three fantastic tales have been chosen from our new translation to introduce readers to the delights of Arabian Nights: 'Ali Baba and the forty thieves killed by the slave girl' is a well-known and well-loved classic, placed alongside the equally enchanting 'Judar and his brothers' and 'Ma'rus the cobbler'.Three Japanese Short Stories (Penguin Modern)
Par Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Kafu Nagai, Chiyo Uno. 2018
'Oh the cruelty of time, that destroys all things!'Beguiling, strange and hair-raising tales from early 20th century Japan: Nagai's Behind…
the Prison, Uno's Closet LLB and Akutagawa's deeply macabre General Kim. Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York's underground scene to the farthest reaches of outer space.Things We Say in the Dark
Par Kirsty Logan. 2019
'Gripping . . . You won't put it down' Sunday TelegraphA shocking collection of dark stories, ranging from chilling contemporary…
fairytales to disturbing supernatural fiction.Alone in a remote house in Iceland a woman is unnerved by her isolation; another can only find respite from the clinging ghost that follows her by submerging herself in an overgrown pool. Couples wrestle with a lack of connection to their children; a schoolgirl becomes obsessed with the female anatomical models in a museum; and a cheery account of child's day out is undercut by chilling footnotes.These dark tales explore women's fears with electrifying honesty and invention and speak to one another about female bodies, domestic claustrophobia, desire and violence. 'A brilliant collection of stories . . . All will burrow their way into your brain and not let go' Stylist'Shimmers with menace . . . Fans of Angela Carter and Shirley Jackson take note' i NewspaperKIRSTY LOGAN WAS SELECTED AS ONE OF BRITAIN'S TEN MOST OUTSTANDING LGBTQ WRITERS by Val McDermid for the International Literature Showcase in 2019Thieves (Storycuts)
Par Su Tong. 2008
Tan Feng was my one and only friend in Sichuan. He was the same age as me: about eight or…
nine. Tan Feng's family lived next door to us, and their other kids were all girls, so you can imagine how they spoiled their only boy. They really adored him, but they didn't know what he got up to. Tan Feng stole things.Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection Madwoman on the Bridge.'They'
Par Rudyard Kipling. 2011
'Of a sudden I realized that he was in the grip of some almost overpowering fear.'Rudyard Kipling is best known…
for his novels and poetry, but his short stories reveal a far more sinister and macabre side to his imagination. In these three chilling and psychologically penetrating tales, Kipling portrays hauntings, loss, madness, terrible secrets and the darkness that lies within the human heart.This book includes 'They', Mary Postgate and The Gardener.Ten
Par Andrej Longo. 2007
The Mafia and the Ten Commandments meet in these interlinked short stories about the undebelly of Naples. Ten uncovers the…
raw heart of a city, telling the stories of ordinary people forced to make extraordinary compromises in a place permeated by crime.We encounter a son who finds that he is capable of a terrible act when faced with his mother’s suffering 'because someone had to do it'; a girl whose only outlet for the horrors of an adult’s abuse is to confide in a stuffed toy; an ancient nightclub singer whose ambition has led him to become a drug tester for a Mafia boss; and Ray-Ban who, during a night of mayhem with his friends, manages to steal the wrong car and pays dearly for it. Each comes to life with painful precision in the hands of Andrej Longo – their fears, regrets, energy and grace. In direct and sometimes brutally raw prose, he conjures a searing new vision of Naples. With the lightest of brush strokes, Longo builds a vivid portrait of a city, its people, and their dreams of escape.Tales of the Pacific (Penguin Modern Classics)
Par Jack London. 1989
If you know London primarily through novels like WHITE FANG, these stories will provide a new perspective. Full of intriguing…
characters and snippets of pidgin, they also highlight London's concern with social issues.Tales of the Marvellous and News of the Strange
Par Anonymous Anonymous. 2014
On the shrouded corpse hung a tablet of green topaz with the inscription: 'I am Shaddad the Great. I conquered…
a thousand cities; a thousand white elephants were collected for me; I lived for a thousand years and my kingdom covered both east and west, but when death came to me nothing of all that I had gathered was of any avail. You who see me take heed: for Time is not to be trusted.'Dating from at least a millennium ago, these are the earliest known Arabic short stories, surviving in a single, ragged manuscript in a library in Istanbul. Some found their way into The Arabian Nights but most have never been read in English before. Tales of the Marvellous and News of the Strange has monsters, lost princes, jewels beyond price, a princess turned into a gazelle, sword-wielding statues and shocking reversals of fortune.Tales of the Jazz Age (Collins Classics Ser. #Vol. 1)
Par F. Scott Fitzgerald. 1966
'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' sees a baby born in 1860 begin life as an old man and then…
age backwards. F. Scott Fitzgerald hinted at this kind of inversion when he called his era 'a generation grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken'. Perhaps nowhere in American fiction has this 'Lost Generation' been more vividly preserved than in Fitzgerald's short fiction. Spanning the early twentieth-century American landscape, this collection captures, with Fitzgerald's signature blend of enchantment and disillusionment, America during the Jazz Age.