Other books that might interest you

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  The Way We Live Now

  Anthony Trollope

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  “A wonderful, melodramatic tale-of-the-times, by a master of his craft. It begins in satire and finally resolves into entertaining social comedy.” —The Guardian   A classic satirical novel by the author of the Chronicles of Baretshire series, The Way We Live Now exposes the financial impropriety, greed, and dishonesty that pervaded all aspects of English society at the time it was published, in 1875.   “One of the last examples of the three-volume serialized Victorian novel. If the genre seems nearly as alien to contemporary American readers as the Renaissance epic poem, the world that Trollope portrays is not so remote. Trollope’s London is a satirical distortion of the city that he found upon returning from eighteen months of overseas travel: the luxurious center of a vast empire floating on limitless credit, a society defined entirely by commercial interest, a hothouse of financial speculation and status competition, a place where relationships have become purely transactional. . . . Trollope has the advantage of being unafraid, which gives his social criticism its vivid power. This, he tells us, is what extremely civilized people become when the money gets too big.” —The New Yorker   “Recognized as Trollope’s masterpiece . . . As a savage commentary on mid-Victorian England by a marvelously addictive writer steeped in every aspect of an extraordinary society, it could hardly be bettered.” —The Guardian

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  100 Favourite Scots Words

  Pauline Cairns Speitel

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  affront • baffies • capercailzie • dingie • elderitch first fit • glaikit • hogmanay • jalouse • laldie • mar numpty • onding • pawkie • scunner • thrapple wean • yeukie • and mony mony mair tae whet yer thrapple...
  What is your favourite Scots word?
  Have you heard of a stushie or a stairheid rammy?
  Do you know a numpty who talks a lot of mince?
  For over a decade, The Herald has published the Scottish Language Dictionaries' Scots Word of the Week. This wee book gathers 100 of our favourites, showing the breadth and diversity of the Scots language over time, ranging from lesser-known Older Scots to formal language to contemporary slang. Uncover the surprising origins of well-known words such as numpty and wean, discover unusual ones like onding and gowan, and savour evocative gems like Robert Burns' 'blethering, blustering, drunken blellum'.

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  Hunger Point - A Novel

  Jillian Medoff

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  “[An] unusually honest, painfully funny novel about a tight-knit family’s struggle.”  —Entertainment Weekly"My parents may love me, but I also know they view me as a houseguest who is turning a weekend stay into an all-expense-paid, lifelong residency, and who (to their horror) constantly forgets to flush the toilet and shut off the lights."Twenty-six-year-old Frannie Hunter has just moved back home. Bright, wry, blunt, and irreverent, she invites you to witness her family's unraveling. Her Harvard-bound sister is anorexic, her mother is having an affair, her father is obsessed with the Food Network, and her grandfather wants to plan her wedding (even though she has no fiancé, let alone a steady boyfriend). By turns wickedly funny and heartbreakingly bittersweet, Hunger Point chronicles Frannie's triumph over her own self-destructive tendencies, and offers a powerful exploration of the complex relationships that bind together a contemporary American family. You will never forget Frannie, a "sultry, suburban Holden Caulfield," whom critics have called "the most fully realized character to come along in years," (Paper) nor will you forget Hunger Point, an utterly original novel that stuns with its amazing insights and dazzles with its fresh, distinctive voice.

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  Peace Out Dawg! - Tales from...

  G. B. Trudeau

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  As 9-11 shakes the Doonesbury world, many of its denizens are drawn inexorably toward Ground Zero--Mike to attend a memorial service for a former employer; B.D., reactivated for crowd control and celebrity tourism; Marcia Feinbloom to hit on firefighters; and Zonker to deliver potent fruitcakes to weary rescue workers. Those on the home front are no less affected by events: "I no longer care what Madonna had for breakfast," laments Boopsie, proof positive that Everything Has Changed.Half a world away, in Al-Qaeda Qountry, a burka-clad Roland Hedley is captured by a freelance warlord, then wounded by a can of Spam during a massive friendly food drop. Feyzabad Station Chief Havoc's effort to rescue the downed journalist speaks well for the new, improved CIA, which has somehow managed to parlay its "massive" intelligence failures into cult status on the nation's campuses. How else to explain Jeff Redfern's new internship with "Acme Imports"--and his sudden affinity for shaken-not-stirred libations?Meanwhile, former inside trader Phil Slackmeyer watches from his deathbed as the effort to smoke out evildoers expands to include the entire management team of Enron. Prominent among them is "Jimmy Jack Jumbo" Andrews, head of over 400 Caymans-based businesses, who calls his old friend to ask the question on many an ex-exec's mind: "What's prison like?" And back at the White House pressroom, NPR attack-dog Mark has questions of his own, like, "What time will you be launching the cover-up?" and "Will there be a lunch?" Yes, excavating Enron's smoking crater will be a long and dirty job--even if the president barely knows "Mr. Lay," the disgraced CEO with whom he exchanged 350 letters. As Dubya assures us, "I did not have political relations with that man."

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  Lucky Dog - A Novel

  Mark Barrowcliffe

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  Dave Bartok is not having the best of years. His mother has just died, he is an addicted poker player, and (hugely in debt), his real estate business is sinking, and he doesn't really like his longtime girlfriend. When he gets saddled with an abandoned dog, he doesn't think things can get worse. And then Reg the dog starts talking --and only Dave can hear him.At first Dave thinks he's gone crazy, but he soon realizes he's found his soul mate. Dave and Reg start off on a madcap adventure that will find them tangled up with the mob, involved in an illegal real estate deal, cleaning up at the poker table, and stumbling toward true love.The wisdom of Reg the dog:On couches being chewable because they are actually sausages"It's got a skin, it's got stuffing, what am I not getting here?"On entering a dangerous establishment"Actually, I've changed my mind. There's no atmosphere so menacing it can't be banished by a ham sandwich."On Dave's awful girlfriend"She wants so to be pack leader. She acts as if she's in control when you're there, you defer to her all the time. Would it not be better if she were allowed to go and form her own pack?"On neckties"Every time you put it on you end up going somewhere you don't want to. That's what I call a leash."

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  I Dream in Blue - Life Death and...

  Roger Director

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  I Dream in Blue is television producer Roger Director's up close and personal chronicle of the 2006-2007 seasons spent with Eli Manning, Plaxico Burress, and the rest of the New York Giants, from the first snap of summer camp to the final touchdown of a tumultuous, heart-stopping journey.Throughout it all, Director's got only one end in mind: the Super Bowl. He guts it out with Big Blue, refusing to let anything sideline him—not his fumble-prone television career, not even the strain of occasionally having to act like a responsible husband and father. Along the way, he tells the story of this great sports dynasty's origins and traces its rise to become the heartbeat of New York City and, finally, the world-shocking, Patriots-beating king of pro football. Director was there in Phoenix with his Big Blue heroes as they pulled off the greatest upset in Super Bowl history. In this edition, featuring brand-new chapters that take Giants fans along for the ultimate joy ride, Director continues to dream in blue—and this time watches his dream come true.

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