Other books that might interest you

• 

  Self-Portrait with Ghost - Short...

  Meng Jin

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  “A knockout short story collection...Each one of these 10 dizzyingly immersive stories offers up a heady and visceral portrait of what ails us, from isolation and self-doubt, to unrequited love and regret over what might have been, to what it means to be (and to be considered) an American."" -- San Francisco Chronicle 
  Meng Jin’s critically acclaimed debut novel, Little Gods, was praised as “spectacular and emotionally polyphonic (Omar El-Akkad, BookPage), “powerful” (Washington Post), and “meticulously observed, daringly imagined” (Claire Messud). Now Jin turns her considerable talents to short fiction, in ten thematically linked stories. 
  Written during the turbulent years of the Trump administration and the first year of the pandemic, these stories explore intimacy and isolation, coming-of-age and coming to terms with the repercussions of past mistakes, fraying relationships and surprising moments of connection. Moving between San Francisco and China, and from unsparing realism to genre-bending delight, Self-Portrait with Ghost considers what it means to live in an age of heightened self-consciousness, seemingly endless access to knowledge, and little actual power. 
  Page-turning, thought-provoking, and wholly unique, Self-Portrait with Ghost further establishes Meng Jin as a writer who “reminds us that possible explanations in our universe are as varied as the beings who populate it” (Paris Review).

  Show book

• 

  At Danceteria and Other Stories

  Philip Dean Walker

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Caught in their last moment of decadent obliviousness, the characters in At Danceteria are so blinded by the strobe lights they can’t see what’s waiting in the shadows. While fictional, each of the collection’s seven stories, set at the dawn of the AIDS crisis, takes as their inspiration a real event: Halston and Liza reliving the Studio 54 glory days; Freddie Mercury Roman Holiday-ing Princess Di to a drag show; the Reagan White House rolling out the red carpet for Rock Hudson; a man-on-the-street with main character energy; Jackie Kennedy at a leather bar; a serenading Sylvester; and Keith Haring’s 26th birthday party… hosted by Madonna. Deftly balancing incisive wit and nostalgic melancholy, Walker paints a neon picture of the past, turning queer legends – both lore and people – into vivid reality.

  Show book

• 

  10 Masterpieces you have to read...

  George Orwell, Charles Dickens,...

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  This Audiobook contains the following works :1. 1984 by George Orwell Start at Chapters 12. Animal Farm  by George OrwellSt art at Chapters 263. The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason Start at Chapters 364. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court  by Mark Twain Start at Chapters 555. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens Start at Chapters 1006. Persuasion by Jane Austen Start at Chapters 1537. The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft Start at Chapters 1778. The Law of Success by Napoleon Hill   Start at Chapters 1809. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde Start at Chapters 21110. The Professor by Charlotte Brontë Start at Chapters 232

  Show book

• 

  At Christmas Time - From their...

  Anton Chekhov

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was born on 29th January 1860 in Taganrog, on the south coast of Russia.  
  His family life was difficult; his father was strict and over-bearing but his mother was a passionate story-teller, a subject Chekhov warmed to. As he later said; ‘our talents we got from our father, but our soul from our mother’.  
  At school Chekhov was distinctly average. At 16 his father mis-managed his finances and was declared bankrupt. His family fled to Moscow. Chekhov remained and eked out a living by various means, including writing and selling short sketches to newspapers, to finish his schooling. That completed and with a scholarship to Moscow University obtained he rejoined his family. 
  He was able to help support them by selling satirical sketches and vignettes of Russian lifestyles and gradually obtained further commissions. In 1884, he qualified as a physician and, although it earned him little, he often treated the poor for free, he was fond of saying ‘Medicine is my lawful wife, and literature is my mistress.’ 
  His own health was now an issue as he began to cough up blood, a symptom of tuberculosis.  Despite this his writing success enabled him to move the family into more comfortable accommodation.  
  Chekhov wrote over 500 short stories which included many, many classics including ‘The Kiss’ and ‘The Lady with a Dog’.  His collection ‘At Dusk’ won him the coveted Pushkin Prize when was only 26.  
  He was also a major playwright beginning with the huge success of ‘Ivanov’ in 1887.   
  In 1892 Chekhov bought a country estate north of Moscow. Here his medical skills and money helped the peasants tackle outbreaks of cholera and bouts of famine. He also built three schools, a fire station and a clinic.  It left him with less time for writing but the interactions with real people gained him detailed knowledge about the peasantry and their living conditions for his stories.  
  His most famous work, ‘The Seagull’ was received disastrously at its premiere in St Petersburg. It was later restaged in Moscow to highlight its psychological aspects and was a huge success. It led to ‘Uncle Vanya’, ‘The Three Sisters’ and ‘The Cherry Orchard’.  
  Chekhov suffered a major lung hemorrhage in 1897 while visiting Moscow. A formal diagnosis confirmed tuberculosis and the doctors ordered changes to his lifestyle.  
  Despite a dread of weddings the elusive literary bachelor quietly married the actress Olga Knipper, whom he had met at rehearsals for ‘The Seagull’, on 25th May 1901. 
  By May 1904 with his tuberculosis worsening and death imminent he set off for the German town of Badenweiler writing cheerful, witty letters to his family and assuring them his health was improving.  
  On 15th July 1904 Anton Chekhov died at Badenweiler.  He was 44.

  Show book

• 

  The Hanging Stranger

  Philip K. Dick

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Step into a chilling reality with The Hanging Stranger by Philip K. Dick—a gripping tale of paranoia, conformity, and the terrifying truths hidden in plain sight. When Ed Loyce notices something disturbingly out of place in his small town, he's plunged into a nightmare where no one else seems to care. Is he losing his mind, or has the world itself gone mad? This thought-provoking audiobook blends psychological horror with dystopian suspense, keeping you on edge until the very last word. Perfect for fans of dark science fiction and mind-bending thrillers. Listen now and uncover the stranger hanging in the shadows.

  Show book

• 

  Seeking Fortune Elsewhere - Stories

  Sindya Bhanoo

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  These intimate stories of South Indian immigrants and the families they left behind center women's lives and ask how women both claim and surrender power—a stunning debut collection from an O. Henry Prize winner 
   
   
   
  Traveling from Pittsburgh to Eastern Washington to Tamil Nadu, these stories about dislocation and dissonance see immigrants and their families confront the costs of leaving and staying, identifying sublime symmetries in lives growing apart. 
   
   
   
  In "Malliga Homes," selected by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie for an O. Henry Prize, a widow in a retirement community glimpses her future while waiting for her daughter to visit from America. In "No. 16 Model House Road," a woman long subordinate to her husband makes a choice of her own after she inherits a house. In "Nature Exchange," a mother grieving in the wake of a school shooting finds an unusual obsession. In "A Life in America," a professor finds himself accused of having exploited his graduate students. 
   
   
   
  Sindya Bhanoo's haunting stories show us how immigrants' paths, and the paths of those they leave behind, are never simple. Bhanoo takes us along on their complicated journeys where regret, hope, and triumph appear in disguise.

  Show book