"Meet Gascoyne, a new breed of hero, a man who spends whole weeks in his car, eats there, sleeps there, and conducts his business - wielding power, pinching pennies, and fostering corruption - by mobile phone as he somehow manages to drive through bumper-to-bumper traffic at fifty miles an hour. But he's found a new preoccupation, hunting down the killer - last seen slithering away from the crime scene in a tree-sloth costume - of his business associate and finding out how the southern California megalopolis has suddenly slipped out of his grasp." A tour de force blending of genres - Alfred Hitchcock, jungle-war novels, science fiction, mad doctor movies, Westerns, James Bond, 18th-century mock epics, Greek tragedy and hardboiled detective stories - first published in 1966, Gascoyne is a hilarious look into a future that looks remarkably like the present.

"Scribbled secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages for yr own joy." Many of Ginsberg's most famous poems. Wake-up nightmares in Lower East Side, musings in public library, across the U.S. in dream auto, drunk in old Havana, brooding in Mayan ruins, sex daydreams on the West Coast, airplane vision of Kansas, lonely in a leafy cottage, lunch hour on Berkeley, beer notations on Skid Row, slinking to Mexico, wrote this last night in Paris, back on Times square dreaming of Times Square, bombed in NY again, loony tunes in the dentist chair, screaming at old poets in South America, aethereal zigzag Poesy in blue hotel room in Peru—a wind-up book of dreams, psalms, journal enigmas & nude minutes from 1953 to 1960 poems scattered in fugitive magazines here collected.

A novel about " the dark byways of crime... taut and menacing..." San Francisco Chronicle. Cover depicts a man with his hand raised to hit a woman smoking a cigarette.  

Mary loved music more than anything else in the world, so she was thrilled to land a job as secretary to a famous musical impresario. Through her job she found herself meeting all sorts of interesting people-Oscar and Anthea Warrender, the composer Marc Bannister-and travelling to glamorous places like Paris and Amsterdam. But it was another matter when she found herself becoming involved with one of her boss's clients, the celebrated opera singer Nicholas Brenner. Mary had always adored him from afar, and soon found him just as adorable in person. But where would that get her? She was in his world, it was true, but not really of it. How could she hope to compete with the sort of woman who really was a part of Nicholas's life-like the beautiful and determined Suzanne Thomas?

THE MAN WHO WAS MAGIC, marks the return of Paul Gallico to those realms of enchantment established by The Snow Goose, The Love of Seven Dolls from which the movie Lili was made, Thomasina, Snowflake, Ludmila, The Small Miracle, and, of course, the famed Mrs. ’Arris series, which have entertained millions of readers. Magic and magicians have fascinated humans down through the ages. With this book the reader will experience vicariously one of man’s oldest wishes to be one with the supernatural, not just a performer pulling rabbits out of hats, but a genuine wizard who can unscramble an egg, or share the miracles of nature with a child. No more unusual and enthralling book has ever come from the pen of this well loved magician of words.

More than four decades after his death, John Steinbeck remains one of the nation's most beloved authors. Yet few know of his career as a journalist who covered world events from the Great Depression to Vietnam. Now, this distinctive collection offers a portrait of the artist as citizen, deeply engaged in the world around him. In addition to the complete text of Steinbeck's last published book, America and Americans, this volume brings together for the first time more than fifty of Steinbeck's finest essays and journalistic pieces on Salinas, Sag Harbor, Arthur Miller, Woody Guthrie, the Vietnam War and more. This edition is edited by Steinbeck scholar Susan Shillinglaw and Steinbeck biographer Jackson J. Benson.**

In the theater, reality and make-believe blend so intimately that Tim Briscoe was convinced that he was playing the role of detective when he stumbled upon the lifeless form of Nellie Brant. But the corpse was real, even though everything and everybody else seemed fictitious. There was the elusive man who wore dark glasses, the actress who chose sudden death as the background for an audition, the ex-silent-film star who stooged on quiz shows for his daily bottle, and Maggie, who loved him but didn't believe in the effect of too many Scotches. This backstage mystery was written by a man who knew the theatrical world inside out. The characters and scenes are as authentic as Variety, as real as a closing notice.

Alec March's grandfather was the owner of an idyllic Connecticut farm that had through the eons become a sanctuary for animals both large and small. This year Alec's annual summer visit was marred by something very, very, different. Like electricity in the air, an overwhelming, powerful, all pervasive FEAR gripped the Lot and all of its inhabitants. Suddenly Alec was called to arms with a motley band of animals to defend a way of life and save the Lot from dark and evil forces. Could a young boy with the aid of a woodchuck, a skunk, a raccoon and a deermouse save the Lot ?**

A Fish Dinner in Memison is a novel centering on the characters of King Mezentius and Fiorinda; much is revealed about the links between principal characters and the separate worlds of the novel, not fully resolved in the other novels in the trilogy. The character of Lessingham is also resolved to its greatest extent in all the novels of the trilogy

Jan Tusar's recital was brought to a discordant end when the violin virtuoso was found dead during intermission. But his unseemly finale was merely an overture to the mysterious doings backstage. Throw in an accompanist playing all the wrong notes and a chorus of suspects singing alibis, and suddenly Tecumseh Fox has to step up the tempo before the killer returns for an encore.

This anthology is a thorough introduction to classic literature for those who have not yet experienced these literary masterworks. For those who have known and loved these works in the past, this is an invitation to reunite with old friends in a fresh new format. From Shakespeare s finesse to Oscar Wilde s wit, this unique collection brings together works as diverse and influential as The Pilgrim s Progress and Othello. As an anthology that invites readers to immerse themselves in the masterpieces of the literary giants, it is must-have addition to any library.From Publishers WeeklySet in an apocalyptic future ending in the year 2100, Shelley's 1826 novel concerns a plague that destroys almost all of humankind. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalThanks to yet another film incarnation, 1818's Frankenstein is again a hot property and may even make the best sellers lists. These two editions mark both ends of the publishing spectrum, with Signet offering the inexpensive movie tie-in version complete with photos from the film and an afterword by Howard Bloom. The California version is the Pennroyal edition, featuring gorgeous illustrations by Barry Moser and an afterword by Joyce Carol Oates. Published in 1826 after the death of her husband and three children, The Last Man is Shelley's dark look at an apocalyptic future.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A Man of Affairs, one of many classic novels from crime writer John D. MacDonald, the beloved author of Cape Fear and the Travis McGee series, is now available as an eBook.Beneath the Bahamas sun rages a titanic power struggle. A mastermind of the dog-eat-dog world of corporate corruption, Mike Dean uses every asset at his disposal - women, liquor, his own personal magnetism - to take businessmen's minds off their troubles, soften their consciences, muddy their good sense, and bend them to his will. But one of his house guests refuses to see things Mike's way. One of them won't be bought. One of them has a mind, and a heart, of his own. And he's determined to beat Mike at his own game. Features a new Introduction by Dean KoontzPraise for John D. MacDonald"The great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller." - Stephen King"My favorite novelist of all time." - Dean Koontz"To diggers a thousand years from now, the works of John D. MacDonald would be a treasure on the order of the tomb of Tutankhamen." - Kurt Vonnegut"A master storyteller, a masterful suspense writer . . . John D. MacDonald is a shining example for all of us in the field. Talk about thebest." - Mary Higgins Clark

The early career of Horatio Hornblower of the British Royal Navy is traced in a series of adventurous episodes. They illustrate the quick thinking, brilliant intuition, and decisiveness characteristic of our hero and leave him with the rank of lieutenant.