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The Complete Short Stories Of Ernest Hemingway: The Finca Vigia Edition
by Ernest HemingwayThe complete, authoritative collection of Ernest Hemingway's short fiction, including classic stories like "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," and "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber," along with seven previously unpublished stories.In this definitive collection of the Nobel Prize-winning author&’s short stories, readers will delight in Hemingway&’s most beloved classics such as "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," "Hills Like White Elephants," and "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," and will discover seven new tales published for the first time in this collection, totaling in sixty stories. This collection demonstrates Hemingway&’s ability to write beautiful prose for each distinct story, with plots that range from experiences of World War II to beautifully touching moments between a father and son. For Hemingway fans, The Complete Short Stories is an invaluable treasury.
Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner
by Judy Melinek T.J. Mitchell“Fun…and full of smart science. Fans of CSI—the real kind—will want to read it” (The Washington Post): A young forensic pathologist’s “rookie season” as a NYC medical examiner, and the hair-raising cases that shaped her as a physician and human being.Just two months before the September 11 terrorist attacks, Dr. Judy Melinek began her training as a New York City forensic pathologist. While her husband and their toddler held down the home front, Judy threw herself into the fascinating world of death investigation—performing autopsies, investigating death scenes, counseling grieving relatives. Working Stiff chronicles Judy’s two years of training, taking readers behind the police tape of some of the most harrowing deaths in the Big Apple, including a firsthand account of the events of September 11, the subsequent anthrax bio-terrorism attack, and the disastrous crash of American Airlines Flight 587. An unvarnished portrait of the daily life of medical examiners—complete with grisly anecdotes, chilling crime scenes, and a welcome dose of gallows humor—Working Stiff offers a glimpse into the daily life of one of America’s most arduous professions, and the unexpected challenges of shuttling between the domains of the living and the dead. The body never lies—and through the murders, accidents, and suicides that land on her table, Dr. Melinek lays bare the truth behind the glamorized depictions of autopsy work on television to reveal the secret story of the real morgue. “Haunting and illuminating...the stories from her average workdays…transfix the reader with their demonstration that medical science can diagnose and console long after the heartbeat stops” (The New York Times).
Red War: A Mitch Rapp Novel (A Mitch Rapp Novel #17)
by Kyle Mills Vince FlynnThis instant #1 New York Times bestseller and &“modern techno-thriller&” (New York Journal of Books) follows covert operative Mitch Rapp in a terrifying race to stop Russia&’s gravely ill leader from starting a full-scale war with NATO.When Russian president Maxim Krupin discovers that he has inoperable brain cancer, he&’s determined to cling to power. His first task is to kill or imprison any countrymen threatening him. But when his illness becomes increasingly serious, he decides on a dramatic diversion—war with the West. Upon learning of Krupin&’s condition, CIA director Irene Kennedy understands that the US is facing an opponent who has nothing to lose. The only way to avoid a confrontation that could leave millions dead is to send Mitch Rapp to Russia under impossibly dangerous orders. With the Kremlin&’s entire security apparatus hunting him, he must find and kill a man many have deemed the most powerful in the world. The fate of the free world hangs in the balance in this &“timely, explosive novel that shows yet again why Mitch Rapp is the best hero the thriller genre has to offer&” (The Real Book Spy).
The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power
by Daniel YerginWinner of the Pulitzer Prize and hailed as &“the best history of oil ever written&” by Business Week, Daniel Yergin&’s &“spellbinding…irresistible&” (The New York Times) account of the global pursuit of oil, money, and power addresses the ongoing energy crisis. Now with an epilogue that speaks directly to the current energy crisis, The Prize recounts the panoramic history of the world&’s most important resource—oil. Daniel Yergin&’s timeless book chronicles the struggle for wealth and power that has surrounded oil for decades and that continues to fuel global rivalries, shake the world economy, and transform the destiny of men and nations. This updated edition categorically proves the unwavering significance of oil throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first by tracing economic and political clashes over precious &“black gold.&” With his far-reaching insight and in-depth research, Yergin is uniquely positioned to address the present battle over energy which undoubtedly ranks as one of the most vital issues of our time. The canvas of his narrative history is enormous—from the drilling of the first well in Pennsylvania through two great world wars to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Operation Desert Storm, and both the Iraq War and current climate change. The definitive work on the subject of oil, The Prize is a book of extraordinary breadth, riveting excitement, and great value—crucial to our understanding of world politics and the economy today—and tomorrow.
A Beautiful Mind (Shooting Script Ser.)
by Sylvia Nasar**Also an Academy Award–winning film starring Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly—directed by Ron Howard** The powerful, dramatic biography of math genius John Nash, who overcame serious mental illness and schizophrenia to win the Nobel Prize.“How could you, a mathematician, believe that extraterrestrials were sending you messages?” the visitor from Harvard asked the West Virginian with the movie-star looks and Olympian manner. “Because the ideas I had about supernatural beings came to me the same way my mathematical ideas did,” came the answer. “So I took them seriously.” Thus begins the true story of John Nash, the mathematical genius who was a legend by age thirty when he slipped into madness, and who—thanks to the selflessness of a beautiful woman and the loyalty of the mathematics community—emerged after decades of ghostlike existence to win a Nobel Prize for triggering the game theory revolution. The inspiration for an Academy Award–winning movie, Sylvia Nasar’s now-classic biography is a drama about the mystery of the human mind, triumph over adversity, and the healing power of love.
Weird Black Girls: Stories
by Elwin CotmanBelletrist Book Club Pick From Philip K. Dick Award finalist Elwin Cotman, an irresistibly unnerving collection of stories that explore the anxieties of living while Black—a high-wire act of literary-fantastical hybrid fiction.A rural town finds itself under the authoritarian sway of a tree that punishes children. A pair of old friends navigate their fraught history as strange happenings escalate in a Mexican restaurant. A pair of narcissistic friends wreak havoc on an activist community. An aloof young man finds himself living through his lover&’s memories. And a day of LARPing takes a cosmic turn. In each of the seven stories in this collection, characters pursue their obsessions on paths to glory and destruction while around them their worlds twist and warp, oscillating between reality and impossibility. On display throughout is Cotman&’s ability to reveal truths about the human experience—about friendship, love, betrayal, bitterness—through whimsy, horror, and fantasy. Elegiac in tone, imaginative and humorous in their execution, the character-driven stories in Weird Black Girls challenge, incite, and entertain.
The Sugar Camp Quilt: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel (The Elm Creek Quilts #7)
by Jennifer ChiaveriniThe New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini blends danger, courage, and romance in this novel of antebellum America in the beloved Elm Creek Quilts series.Set in Creek&’s Crossing, Pennsylvania, in the years leading up to the Civil War, the novel follows Dorothea Granger&’s passage from innocence to wisdom against the harrowing backdrop of the American struggle over slavery. She discovers that a quilt she has stitched for her uncle Jacob with five unusual patterns of his own design contains hidden clues to guide runaway slaves along the Underground Railroad. The heroic journey she undertakes leads to revelations about her own courage and resourcefulness—newfound qualities that may win her the heart of the best man she has ever known.
Code Red: A Mitch Rapp Novel by Kyle Mills (A Mitch Rapp Novel #22)
by Kyle Mills Vince FlynnThe #1 New York Times bestselling series continues as Mitch Rapp faces off with Russia in this high-octane installment that is &“ripped straight from next week&’s headlines&” (The Real Book Spy).Mitch Rapp hates owing anyone a favor—especially when it&’s the world&’s most powerful crime lord. But when Damian Losa calls, Mitch is honor bound to answer. The Syrian government has created a highly addictive new narcotic that it plans to distribute throughout Europe. It&’s a major threat to Losa&’s business and he&’s determined to stop it by any means necessary. Rapp is the perfect choice for the mission. Not only does he have extensive experience operating in the Middle East, but he&’s also entirely expendable. As he crosses into war-torn Syria, Rapp quickly discovers a shocking truth. The new drug isn&’t being produced by Damascus to prop up the government&’s collapsing finances. Instead, it was created by Russia&’s asymmetrical warfare unit as a weapon against the West. With far more than Damian Losa&’s interests at stake, Rapp devises a desperate plan that forces him and his team onto a battlefield where the United States is virtually powerless, and allegiances shift almost hourly. Further, if Russia uncovers their plot, it will set off a confrontation between the two countries that could change the course of history in this &“bullet train to high adventure&” (Townhall).
The Last Man: A Novel (A Mitch Rapp Novel #13)
by Vince Flynn#1 New York Times bestselling author Vince Flynn &“has never been better&” (The Providence Journal) in this high-octane thriller following Mitch Rapp as he searches for a missing CIA asset, whose disappearance puts Rapp&’s own life at risk.Joe Rickman has spent the last eight years running the CIA&’s clandestine operations in Afghanistan, working with every disreputable figure in the Islamic Republic. When he suddenly goes missing, the initial assumption is kidnapping, but Mitch Rapp knows certain things about his old friend that gives him pause. When he&’s ordered to find Rickman, no matter the cost, Rapp knows his mission will be an exceptionally dangerous one. With the Taliban, Iran, Pakistan, and Russia all vying for a piece of the war-torn state and the FBI dispatching their own special agent to investigate, Rapp is facing his most difficult assignment yet. With white-knuckled twists and turns, The Last Man proves once again that Vince Flynn &“is a master—maybe the master—of thrillers in which the pages seem to turn themselves&” (Book Reporter).
Lessons from Madame Chic: 20 Stylish Secrets I Learned While Living in Paris
by Jennifer L. ScottInspired by Paris, this lighthearted and deceptively wise contemporary memoir serves as a guidebook for women on the path to adulthood, sophistication, and style, perfect for any woman looking to lead a more fulfilling, passionate, and artful life.Paris may be the City of Light, but for many it is also the City of Transformation. When Jennifer Scott arrived in Paris as an exchange student from California, she had little idea she would become an avid fan of French fashion, lifestyle, and sophistication. Used to a casual life back home, in Paris she was hosted by a woman she calls “Madame Chic,” mistress of a grand apartment in the Sixteenth Arrondissement. Madame Chic mentors Jennifer in the art of living, with elegance and an impeccably French less-is-more philosophy. Three-course meals prepared by the well-dressed Madame Chic (her neat clothes covered by an apron, of course) lure Jennifer from her usual habit of frequent snacks, junk food, sweatpants, and TV. Additional time spent with “Madame Bohemienne,” a charming single mother who passionately embraces Parisian joie de vivre, introduces readers to another facet of behind-closed-doors Parisian life. While Francophiles will appreciate this memoir of a young woman’s adventure abroad, others who may not know much about France will thrill to the surprisingly do-able (yet chic!) hair and makeup lessons, plus tips on how to create a capsule wardrobe with just ten useful core pieces. Each chapter of Lessons from Madame Chic reveals the valuable secrets Jennifer learned while under Madame Chic’s tutelage—tips you can master no matter where you live or the size of your budget. Embracing the classically French aesthetic of quality over quantity, aspiring Parisiennes will learn the art of eating (deprive yourself not; snacking is not chic), fashion (buy the best you can afford), grooming (le no-makeup look), among other tips. From entertaining to decor, you will gain insights on how to cultivate old-fashioned sophistication while living an active, modern life. Lessons from Madame Chic is the essential handbook for a woman that wants to look good, live well, and enjoy that Parisian je ne sais quoi in her own arrondissement.
Memorial Day: Separation Of Power, Executive Power, And Memorial Day (A Mitch Rapp Novel #7)
by Vince FlynnWhen the CIA receives word about an upcoming terrorist attack, they immediately look towards their superagent Mitch Rapp to do whatever it takes to protect American lives in this &“page-flipping extravaganza&” (Publishers Weekly) from the #1 New York Times bestselling author Vince Flynn.Just as Washington, DC, prepares for a grand Memorial Day tribute to the veterans of World War II, the CIA receives intelligence about a potential major terrorist attack. Racing to Afghanistan, Mitch Rapp leads a commando raid on an Al-Qaeda stronghold in a remote border village—and defuses plans for a nuclear strike on the nation&’s capital. But Rapp knows, in the face of a new kind of enemy, nothing is what it seems—and it&’s up to him alone to avert a disaster of unimaginable proportions.
A Quiet Life: A Novel
by Ethan JoellaFrom the author of A Little Hope—a Read with Jenna Bonus Pick—comes another &“heartwarming, character-driven&” (Booklist) life-affirming novel about three individuals whose lives intersect in unforeseen ways.Set in a close-knit suburb in the grip of winter, A Quiet Life follows three people grappling with loss and finding a tender wisdom in their grief. Chuck Ayers used to look forward to nothing so much as his annual trip to Hilton Head with his wife, Cat—that yearly taste of relaxation they&’d become accustomed to after a lifetime of working and raising two children. Now, just months after Cat&’s death, Chuck finds that he can&’t let go of her belongings—her favorite towel, the sketchbooks in her desk drawer—as he struggles to pack for a trip he can&’t imagine taking without her. Ella Burke delivers morning newspapers and works at a bridal shop to fill her days while she anxiously awaits news—any piece of information—about her missing daughter. Ella adjusts to life in a new apartment and answers every call on her phone, hoping her daughter will reach out. After the sudden death of her father, Kirsten Bonato set aside her veterinary school aspirations, finding comfort in the steady routine of working at an animal shelter. But as time passes, old dreams and new romantic interests begin to surface—and Kirsten finds herself at another crossroads. In this beautiful and profoundly moving novel, three parallel narratives converge in poignant and unexpected ways, as each character bravely presses onward, trying to recover something they have lost. Emotionally riveting and infused with hope, &“the soothing tone and warm worldview of this grown-up bedtime story will be good for what ails you&” (Kirkus Reviews).
Sin Killer: The Berrybender Narratives, Book 1 (Berrybender Narratives Ser. #1)
by Larry McMurtryFrom Pulitzer Prize–winning author Larry McMurtry comes the first in a four-volume epic journey through the early American frontier, featuring the Berrybender family, English nobility adrift in the American West in the 1830s.It is 1830, and the Berrybender family—rich, aristocratic, English, and hopelessly out of place—is on its way up the Missouri River to see the untamed West as it begins to open up. Lord and Lady Berrybender have abandoned their home in England to broaden the horizons for themselves and their three children. With irascible determination—and a great deal of outright chaos—the party experiences both the awesome majesty and brutal savagery of the unexplored land, from buffalo stampedes and natural disasters to Indian raids and encounters with frontiersmen and trappers, explorers, pioneers, and one part-time preacher known as "the Sin Killer." Sin Killer, the strong, silent Westerner, captures the heart of the strong-willed, beautiful Berrybender daughter, Tasmin. But their fast developing relationship can only bring more trouble for the Berrybender's. Packed with breathtaking adventure, charming romance, and a sense of humor stretching clear over the horizon, Sin Killer is a truly unique view of the West that could only come from the boundless skill and imagination of Larry McMurtry.
The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy: and the Path to a Shared American Future
by Robert P. JonesA New York Times Bestseller Taking the story of white supremacy in America back to 1493, and examining contemporary communities in Mississippi, Minnesota, and Oklahoma for models of racial repair, The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy is &“full of urgency and insight&” (The New York Times) as it helps chart a new course toward a genuinely pluralistic democracy.Beginning with contemporary efforts to reckon with the legacy of white supremacy in America, Jones returns to the fateful year when a little-known church doctrine emerged that shaped the way five centuries of European Christians would understand the &“discovered&” world and the people who populated it. Along the way, he shows us the connections between Emmett Till and the Spanish conquistador Hernando De Soto in the Mississippi Delta, between the lynching of three Black circus workers in Duluth and the mass execution of thirty-eight Dakota men in Makato, and between the murder of 300 African Americans during the burning of Black Wall Street in Tulsa and the Trail of Tears. From this vantage point, Jones offers a &“revelatory…searing, stirring outline&” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) of how the enslavement of Africans was not America&’s original sin but, rather, the continuation of acts of genocide and dispossession flowing from the first European contact with Native Americans. These deeds were justified by people who embraced the 15th-century Doctrine of Discovery: the belief that God had designated all territory not inhabited or controlled by Christians as their new promised land. This &“blistering, bracing, and brave&” (Michael Eric Dyson) reframing of American origins explains how the founders of the United States could build the philosophical framework for a democratic society on a foundation of mass racial violence—and why this paradox survives today in the form of white Christian nationalism. Through stories of people navigating these contradictions in three communities, Jones illuminates the possibility of a new American future in which we finally fulfill the promise of a pluralistic democracy.
The Lost Quilter: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel (The Elm Creek Quilts #14)
by Jennifer ChiaveriniMaster Quilter Sylvia Bergstrom Compson treasures an antique quilt called by three names -- Birds in the Air, after its pattern; the Runaway Quilt, after the woman who sewed it; and the Elm Creek Quilt, after the place to which its maker longed to return. That quilter was Joanna, a fugitive slave who traveled by the Underground Railroad to reach safe haven in 1859 at Elm Creek Farm. Though Joanna's freedom proved short-lived -- she was forcibly returned by slave catchers to Josiah Chester's plantation in Virginia -- she left the Bergstrom family a most precious gift, her son. Hans and Anneke Bergstrom, along with maiden aunt Gerda, raised the boy as their own, and the secret of his identity died with their generation. Now it falls to Sylvia -- drawing upon Gerda's diary and Joanna's quilt -- to connect Joanna's past to present-day Elm Creek Manor. Just as Joanna could not have foreseen that, generations later, her quilt would become the subject of so much speculation and wonder, Sylvia and her friends never could have imagined the events Joanna witnessed in her lifetime. Punished for her escape by being sold off to her master's brother in Edisto Island, South Carolina, Joanna grieves over the loss of her son and resolves to run again, to reunite with him someday in the free North. Farther south than she has ever been, she nevertheless finds allies, friends, and even love in the slave quarter of Oak Grove, a cotton plantation where her skill with needle and thread soon becomes highly prized. Through hardship and deprivation, Joanna dreams of freedom and returning to Elm Creek Farm. Determined to remember each landmark on the route north, Joanna pieces a quilt of scraps left over from the household sewing, concealing clues within the meticulous stitches. Later, in service as a seamstress to the new bride of a Confederate officer, Joanna moves on to Charleston, where secrets she keeps will affect the fate of a nation, and her abilities and courage enable her to aid the country and the people she loves most. The knowledge that scraps can be pieced and sewn into simple lines -- beautiful both in and of themselves and also for what they represent and what they can accomplish -- carries Joanna through dark days. Sustaining herself and her family through ingenuity and art during the Civil War and into Reconstruction, Joanna leaves behind a remarkable artistic legacy that, at last, allows Sylvia to discover the fate of the long-lost quilter.
Transfer of Power (A Mitch Rapp Novel #3)
by Vince FlynnThis &“roller-coaster, edge-of-your-seat thriller&” (Star-Tribune, Minneapolis) in the #1 New York Times bestselling Mitch Rapp series follows the CIA&’s top operative as he must stop a massacre in Washington, DC, and save the president before terrorists reach the White House. The stately calm of a Washington morning is shattered when a group of terrorists descends, killing dozens and taking nearly one hundred hostages as they try to infiltrate the White House. The Secret Service immediately evacuates the president to an underground bunker—and while officials argue over how best to negotiate with the enemy, Mitch Rapp, the CIA&’s top counterterrorism operative, moves stealthily among the hidden corridors and secret passageways of the nation&’s capital to save the hostages before the terrorists reach the president. But there&’s someone waiting in the wings, someone within the Washington elite, who is determined to see Rapp&’s rescue mission fail. With heart-pounding thrills and feverish pacing, Transfer of Power &“mixes in a spicy broth of brutal terrorists, heroic commandos, and enough secret-agent hijinks to keep the confrontation bubbling until its flag-raising end&” (Publishers Weekly).
Department of Temporal Investigations: The Collectors (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
by Christopher L. BennettAn all-new Star Trek e-novella featuring the Department of Temporal Investigations!The dedicated agents of the Federation Department of Temporal Investigations have their work cut out for them protecting the course of history from the dangers of time travel. But the galaxy is littered with artifacts that, in the wrong hands, could threaten reality. One of the DTI's most crucial jobs is to track down these objects and lock them safely away in the Federation’s most secret and secure facility. When Agents Lucsly and Dulmur bring home an alien obelisk of incredible power, they are challenged by a 31st-century temporal agent who insists they surrender the mysterious artifact to her. But before they know it, the three agents are pulled into a corrupted future torn apart by a violent temporal war. While their DTI colleagues attempt to track them down, Lucsly and Dulmur must restore temporal peace by setting off on an epic journey through the ages, with the future of the galaxy hanging in the balance...
The Book of Killowen
by Erin Hart“Hart combines powerful insights into human nature and pristine prose with history and archeology in her stellar fourth crime novel” (Publishers Weekly) about an ancient volume of philosophical heresy that provides a motive for murder.After a year away from working in the field, archaeologist Cormac Maguire and pathologist Nora Gavin are back in the bogs, investigating a ninth-century body found buried in the trunk of a car. They discover that the ancient corpse is not alone—pinned beneath it is the body of Benedict Kavanagh, missing for mere months and familiar to television viewers as a philosopher who enjoyed destroying his opponents in debate. Both men were viciously murdered, but centuries apart—so how did they end up buried together in the bog? While on the case, Cormac and Nora lodge at Killowen, a nearby artists’ colony, organic farm, and sanctuary for eccentric souls. Digging deeper into the older crime, they become entangled in high-stakes intrigue encompassing Kavanagh’s death while surrounded by suspects in his ghastly murder. It seems that everyone at Killowen has some secret to protect. Set in modern-day Ireland, The Book of Killowen reveals a new twist on the power of language—and on the eternal mysteries of good and evil.
First In His Class: A Biography Of Bill Clinton
by David MaranissWho exactly is Bill Clinton, and why was he, of all the brilliant and ambitious men in his generation, the first in his class to reach the White House?Drawing on hundreds of letters, documents, and interviews, David Maraniss explores the evolution of the personality of our forty-second president from his youth in Arkansas to his 1991 announcement that he would run for the nation's highest office. In this richly textured and balanced biography, Maraniss reveals a complex man full of great flaws and great talents. First in His Class is the definitive book on Bill Clinton.
Masquerade of the Heart (Garden of the Cursed #2)
by Katy Rose PoolCursebreaker Marlow Briggs must deal with the aftermath of her fake romance with one of the most powerful nobles in the illustrious—and deadly—Evergarden society, all while uncovering the mystery behind her mother's disappearance. The city of Caraza sits poised on the edge of chaos—and cursebreaker Marlow Briggs is at the center of a deadly struggle for power. In the tragic aftermath of the Vale-Falcrest wedding, Marlow is spurned by Adrius, who refuses to speak to her and publicly vows to find a noble wife before the year is out. Despite her heartbreak, Marlow is still intent on breaking his compulsion curse. To do so, she’ll have to play loving daughter to the man who cast it—the man who’s hellbent on reshaping Caraza in his own image, no matter the cost. But the closer she gets to her long-lost father, the more Marlow starts to question if he’s really the villain she’s made him out to be. As the lines between enemy and ally blur, Marlow must decide if she’s willing to sacrifice her heart’s desire to save a city that wants her dead. This edge-of-your-seat finale is perfect for fans of Veronica Mars, These Violent Delights, and Chain of Iron.“Nothing short of genius.” —Jennifer Lynn Barnes, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Inheritance Games series, on Garden of the Cursed "A delicious read full of swoony romance." —Tricia Levenseller, New York Times–bestselling author of Blade of Secrets, on Garden of the Cursed
Any Person Is the Only Self: Essays
by Elisa GabbertContagiously curious essays on reading, art, and the life of the mind, from the acclaimed author of The Unreality of Memory. Who are we when we read? When we journal? Are we more ourselves alone or with friends? Right now or in memory? How does time transform us and the art we love? In sixteen dazzling, expansive essays, the acclaimed essayist and poet Elisa Gabbert explores a life lived alongside books of all kinds: dog-eared and destroyed, cherished and discarded, classic and clichėd, familiar and profoundly new. She turns her witty, searching mind to the writers she admires, from Plath to Proust, and the themes that bind them—chance, freedom, envy, ambition, nostalgia, and happiness. She takes us to the strange edges of art and culture, from hair metal to surf movies to party fiction. Any Person Is the Only Self is a love letter to literature and to life, inviting us to think alongside one of our most thrilling and versatile critics.
Devil Is Fine: A Novel
by John Vercher“FULL OF MYSTERY, MAGIC, DARK COMEDY, AND HEART.” ―Deesha Philyaw“AN INTIMATE NOVEL, BY TURNS BRACING AND HILARIOUS.” ―Maurice Carlos Ruffin“PROFOUNDLY MOVING.” ―Ben Fountain“THE NOVEL’S FINAL PAGES WILL LEAVE YOU BREATHLESS.” ―Jonathan EscofferyStill reeling from a sudden tragedy, our biracial narrator receives a letter from an attorney: he has just inherited a plot of land from his estranged white grandfather. He travels to a beach town several hours south of his home with the intention of selling the land immediately and moving on. But upon inspection, what lies beneath the dirt is far more complicated than he ever imagined. In a shocking irony, he is now the Black owner of a former plantation passed down by the men on his white mother’s side of the family.Vercher deftly blurs the lines between real and imagined, past and present, tragedy and humor, and fathers and sons in this story of discovering and reclaiming a painful past. With the wit and rawness of Paul Beatty’s The Sellout, Devil Is Fine is a gripping, surreal, and brilliantly crafted dissection of the legacies we leave behind and those we inherit.
Gretel and the Great War: A Novel
by Adam Ehrlich SachsOne of Lit Hub's most anticipated books of 2024 | One of Bloomberg's nine best books of the summer"Sachs draws from the madcap, darkly comic tradition of postmodern European fiction to reimagine the continent’s catastrophic destiny . . . Like Thomas Bernhard before him, Sachs is a very funny writer unafraid of italics and exclamation marks, which he marshals against the absurdity of the world." —Dustin Illingworth, The New York Times Book Review"Adam Ehrlich Sachs continues to prove he is one of our most daring and original writers." —Camille Bordas, author of How to Behave in a Crowd"Adam Ehrlich Sachs makes books that make their own traditions. This is the highest praise I know, for serious." —Joshua Cohen, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The NetanyahusA lean, seductive, and dazzlingly inventive novel that shows us the dark side of early twentieth-century Vienna. Vienna, 1919. A once-mighty empire has finally come crashing down—and a mysterious young woman, unable to speak, has turned up on the streets. A doctor appeals to the public for information about her past and receives a single response, from a sanatorium patient who claims to be her father. The man reveals only her name: Gretel. But he encloses a bedtime story he asks the doctor to read aloud to her, about an Architect whose radically modern creation has caused a great scandal. The next day a second story arrives, about a Ballet Master who develops a new position of the feet. Twenty-four more stories follow in alphabetical order, about an Immunologist and a Jeweler, a Revolutionary and a Satirist, a Waif and an X-ray Technician and a Zionist. Crossing paths and purposes, their stories interweave until a single picture emerges, that of a decadent, death-obsessed, oversexed empire buzzing with the ideas of Freud and Karl Kraus. There are artists who ape the innocence of children, and scientists who insist that children are anything but innocent . . . And then there’s Gretel’s own mother, who will do whatever it takes to sing onstage at the City Theater. Is it any wonder that this world—soon to vanish anyway in a war to end all wars—was one from which Gretel’s father wished to shelter her?
Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil
by Ananda LimaStrange, intimate, haunted, and hungry—Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil is an intoxicating and surreal fiction debut by award-winning author Ananda Lima. "Remarkable and memorable." —OLIVIE BLAKE • “An astounding new voice.” —ERIC LaROCCA • "I love it so much.” —KELLY LINK • “Trippy, eerie, wry, and always profound.” —JOHN KEENE • “Incredible. Truly wondrous.” —KEVIN WILSON • "Heart-wrenching and wickedly funny." —GWEN KIRBY • “Propulsive, uncanny, and expertly built.” —JULIA FINE At a Halloween party in 1999, a writer slept with the devil. She sees him again and again throughout her life and she writes stories for him about things that are both impossible and true.Lima lures readers into surreal pockets of the United States and Brazil where they’ll find bite-size Americans in vending machines and the ghosts of people who are not dead. Once there, she speaks to modern Brazilian-American immigrant experiences–of ambition, fear, longing, and belonging—and reveals the porousness of storytelling and of the places we call home. With humor, an exquisite imagination, and a voice praised as “singular and wise and fresh” (Cathy Park Hong), Lima joins the literary lineage of Bulgakov and Lispector and the company of writers today like Ted Chiang, Carmen Maria Machado, and Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil includes: “Rapture,” “Ghost Story,” “Tropicália,” “Antropógaga,” “Idle Hands,” “Rent,” “Porcelain,” “Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory,” and “Hasselblad.”A great next read for fans of Carmen Maria Machado's Her Body and Other Parties and V. E. Schwab's The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.Recommended reading by Chicago Review of Books, Electric Literature, The Kenyon Review, and more!At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI
by Madhumita MurgiaShortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Non-FictionA riveting story of what it means to be human in a world changed by artificial intelligence, revealing the perils and inequities of our growing reliance on automated decision-makingOn the surface, a British poet, an UberEats courier in Pittsburgh, an Indian doctor, and a Chinese activist in exile have nothing in common. But they are in fact linked by a profound common experience—unexpected encounters with artificial intelligence. In Code Dependent, Murgia shows how automated systems are reshaping our lives all over the world, from technology that marks children as future criminals, to an app that is helping to give diagnoses to a remote tribal community. AI has already infiltrated our day-to-day, through language-generating chatbots like ChatGPT and social media. But it’s also affecting us in more insidious ways. It touches everything from our interpersonal relationships, to our kids’ education, work, finances, public services, and even our human rights.By highlighting the voices of ordinary people in places far removed from the cozy enclave of Silicon Valley, Code Dependent explores the impact of a set of powerful, flawed, and often-exploitative technologies on individuals, communities, and our wider society. Murgia exposes how AI can strip away our collective and individual sense of agency, and shatter our illusion of free will. The ways in which algorithms and their effects are governed over the coming years will profoundly impact us all. Yet we can’t agree on a common path forward. We cannot decide what preferences and morals we want to encode in these entities—or what controls we may want to impose on them. And thus, we are collectively relinquishing our moral authority to machines.In Code Dependent, Murgia not only sheds light on this chilling phenomenon, but also charts a path of resistance. AI is already changing what it means to be human, in ways large and small, and Murgia reveals what could happen if we fail to reclaim our humanity.