Gavin Stevens, the wise and forbearing student of crime and the folk ways of Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, plays the major role in these six stories of violence.  In each, Stevens’ sharp insights and ingenious detection uncover the underlying motives.

From National Book Award-winning, New York Times-bestselling author Louise Erdrich, a profound and enchanting new novel: a richly imagined world “where butchers sing like angels.” Having survived World War I, Fidelis Waldvogel returns to his quiet German village and marries the pregnant widow of his best friend, killed in action. With a suitcase full of sausages and a master butcher's precious knife set, Fidelis sets out for America. In Argus, North Dakota, he builds a business, a home for his family—which includes Eva and four sons—and a singing club consisting of the best voices in town. When the Old World meets the New—in the person of Delphine Watzka—the great adventure of Fidelis's life begins. Delphine meets Eva and is enchanted. She meets Fidelis, and the ground trembles. These momentous encounters will determine the course of Delphine's life, and the trajectory of this brilliant novel.

The relationship between a daring young chamois hunter from the remote Bernese Oberland and a prosperous miller’s daughter living in the comfortable French-speaking Swiss canton of Vaud plays out a complex of themes, such as the instinctive life versus rational civilization and the role of early experience in shaping personal destiny, in this dark and affecting Hans Christian Andersen adult novella. In the terrifying Ice Virgin and her eerie minions, with their implacable hatred of mankind, we get a glimpse of the fairy tale Andersen. But The Ice Virgin, the most disturbing, ambitious, and searching of all of Andersen’s narratives, is also a thoroughly absorbing story of the real world. Andersen here is writing about a world he saw as something of a paradigm of the human condition, and this lies behind the story’s multilayered complexity. This splendid new translation by Paul Binding and his erudite and comprehensive afterword together make a compelling case for just why The Ice Virgin deserves to be placed in the first rank of world literature.

The Enchanted Type-Writer is a collection of short stories by the American author John Kendrick Bangs, written in 1899 in the style that has become known as Bangsian fantasy. Bangs attributes many of the stories to the late (and invisible) James Boswell, who has become an editor for a newspaper in Hades, and who communicates with the author by means of an old typewriter. The fantasy stories in this book are part of the author's Hades series, named for the stories' setting.

Four hilarious and provocative stories from Boccaccio's Decameron, featuring cuckolded husbands, cross-dressing wives and very bad priests. Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375). Boccaccio's Decameron is available in Penguin Classics in both a complete and selected edition.

TO understand this story you will have to believe in the Greater Gods—Love and Youth, for example, and Adventure and Coincidence; also in the trusting heart of woman and the deceitful spirit of man. You will have to reconcile yourself to the fact that though daily you go to London by the nine-seven, returning by the five-fifteen, and have your accustomed meals at eight, one, and half-past six, there are those who take neither trains nor meals regularly. That, while nothing on earth ever happens to you, there really are on earth people to whom things do happen. Nor is the possibility of such happenings wholly a matter of the independent income—the income for which you do not work. It is a matter of the individual soul. I knew a man whose parents had placed him in that paralyzing sort of situation which is symbolized by the regular trains and the regular meals.

A young man searches for meaning, creates art, and grapples with fame as he traverses the stomping grounds of the Beat Generation—from Mexico City to Manhattan—in Jack Kerouac’s semi-autobiographical novel This urgently paced yet deeply introspective novel closely tracks On the Road author Jack Kerouac’s own life. Jack Duluoz journeys from the Cascade Mountains to San Francisco, Mexico City, New York, and Tangier. While working as a fire lookout on Desolation Peak in the Cascades, Duluoz contemplates his inner void and the distressing isolation brought on by his youthful sense of adventure. In Tangier he suffers a similar feeling of desperation during an opium overdose, and in Mexico City he meets up with a morphine-addicted philosopher and seeks an antidote to his solitude in a whorehouse. As in Kerouac’s other novels, Desolation Angels features a lively cast of pseudonymous versions of his fellow Beat poets, including William S. Burroughs (as Bull Hubbard), Neal Cassady (as Cody Pomeray), and Allen Ginsberg (as Irwin Garden). Duluoz draws readers into the trials and tribulations of these literary iconoclasts—from drug-fueled writing frenzies and alcoholic self-realizations to frenetic international road trips and tumultuous love affairs. Achieving literary success comes with its own consequences though, as Duluoz and his friends must face the scrutiny that comes with rising to the national stage.

“The Black Arrow” is what every book about the Middle Ages should be and more, with suspense, action, disguises, escapes, and of course, the occasional love scene. Robert Louis Stevenson lived in the mid-1800s, and is renowned for his many works, including Treasure Island, Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Kidnapped. The Black Arrow, written originally for a magazine, was written after Stevenson’s recovery from a serious illness and published right after Treasure Island. Dick Shelton, a boy of sixteen, is quickly thrust into the conflict of the War of the Roses. He battles against almost any kind of evil - bloodthirsty pirates, a murderous priest, and even his own legal guardian - Sir Daniel Brackley. Through the whole book Dick strives to become a knight and rescue his true love. Although most likely the least known of Stevenson’s great adventure novels, “The Black Arrow” is the best in the eyes of many.

This Book which has 50 differently titled Poems , is actually volume 3 of the Book titled - 1 God ( 522 pages ) .A ramification of the innumerable Omnipotent fragrances of life that I , Nikhil Parekh , have smelt by the grace of God - I'm grateful to him for enlightening me about his chapters of invincible creation and considering me worthy enough to describe his unparalleled splendor , in a few words and in the shape of this book . A salient tribute to his undefeated power . The compilation of poems depicts the Omniscient Creator in his infinite unconquerable shapes and forms . Goes to irrefutably prove that there is just one Creator , you choose to call him by whatever name - and for everyone one of us till the time we live . This book is a perpetual dedication to Almighty Lord . It quintessentially portrays the splendor of the Almighty Creator in his infinite forms . Goes to victoriously prove at every step , that no matter how hard the devil tries to annihilate the planet - an inconspicuous tap of the Lord's finger makes him crumble to his very last non - existent frigid roots . Poems depicting the ' Omnipotent ' glory of the Creator in an infinite forms that the poet could ever conceive . Natural and uninhibited outpourings of the heart these poems transport the reader into a world of spirituality and magnificence of Godhead . Every poetic piece shows Parekh's unparalleled love for the Almighty and immortalizes the Omnipresent aura of the Lord in a boundless ways and shapes . This spiritually enriched compendium of poems is for all those who've timelessly admired the miraculous prowesses and powers of God at each stage of their lives . Those who've lived each instant of their lives worshipping his Omniscient grace irrespective of the most murderous hell descending around . The poetic imagery brilliantly transcends over every inhibition of caste , creed , color and religion and goes to perpetually prove that all living beings are one and blessed in his fathomless sacrosanct light of truth . The poems depict Parekh's oneness in mind , body and spirit with the Creator .

An essential compendium of James Baldwin’s most powerful nonfiction work, calling on us “to end the racial nightmare, and achieve our country.”Personal and prophetic, these essays uncover what it means to live in a racist American society with insights that feel as fresh today as they did over the 4 decades in which he composed them. Longtime Baldwin fans and especially those just discovering his genius will appreciate this essential collection of his great nonfiction writing, available for the first time in affordable paperback. Along with 46 additional pieces, it includes the full text of dozens of famous essays from such books as:· Notes of a Native Son· Nobody Knows My Name· The Fire Next Time· No Name in the Street· The Devil Finds WorkThis collection provides the perfect entrée into Baldwin’s prescient...

A collection of poems by Oscar Wilde.

The epic fantasy novel that defined the genre, now in one volumeAs the youngest son of a king, Ralph of Upmeads is expected to forsake adventure for the safety of home. But the call of the Well at the World's End is too powerful to resist, and Ralph disobeys his parents in order to seek out his true destiny in its magical waters. The journey is long and arduous as the well lies on the far side of a distant mountain range and the lands beyond Upmeads are full of treacherous characters. With the help of a beautiful maiden and an ancient hermit, Ralph completes his quest and raises the cup of immortality and wisdom to his lips. The question is, what will he do with his newfound powers? Widely recognized as the forerunner to modern fantasy, The Well at the World's End is a magnificent tale of romance and adventure and a major influence on the works of J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure...

Awakening tells the story of Barsch, Alza, Kingston and Maloch, four incredible individuals brought together by unusual circumstances. They will cross deserts, escape exploding cities and face dangerous madmen in order to discover truth. Pasts will be revealed, personalities will be twisted and minds will be broken. Humanity might not survive their failure, or their success...The Chronicles of New Eden – Awakening tells the story of Barsch La Tergan, an ordinary teenager who wakes up to find that his world has gone to ruin. Setting out to discover the truth, he encounters three unforgettable companions: Alza, a mysterious young woman; Kingston, a hermit with a dark past; and Maloch, a robot who has begun to question his purpose. Together they will discover the truth. Together they will decide the fate of humanity.Together they will change the world.

In The Sound acclaimed poet David Mason collects his best shorter work of the past forty years, including lyrics like "Song of the Powers" and darkly brilliant narratives "The Collector's Tale" and "The Country I Remember," which Anthony Hecht called "a welcome addition to the best that is now being written by American poets." A poet of love and history and nature, Mason forges a language that can reconnect us to the world.