The acclaimed author of To the End of the Land now gives us a searing short novel about the life of a standup comic as revealed in the course of one evening's performance—comedy that will lean inexorably toward tragedy. In a little dive in a small Israeli city, Dov Greenstein, a comedian a bit past his prime, is doing a night of standup. In the audience is a district court justice, Avishai Lazar, whom Dov knew as a boy, along with a few others who remember Dov as the awkward, scrawny kid who walked on his hands to confound the neighborhood bullies. Gradually, teetering between hilarity and hysteria, Dov's patter becomes a kind of memoir, taking us back into the terrors of his childhood—his beautiful flower of a mother, a Holocaust survivor in need of constant monitoring; his punishing father, a striver who had little understanding of his creative son. Finally, recalling his week at a military camp for youth—where Lazar witnessed what became the...

From Publishers WeeklyIn this entertaining third installment to his Paul West series, British journalist Clarke sets his acerbic sights on America. Paul, an ex-pat Brit running a tearoom in Paris, commits a grievous crime when he presents English menus at his tearoom. The Ministry of Culture slaps him with a massive fine, and a broke Paul returns to London and accepts a position with Visitor Resources: Britain to represent his home country in a global tourism contest. So, with his Parisian girlfriend in tow, Paul heads for America, picks up an embarrassingly decorated Mini Cooper in New York and heads to Boston, Miami, New Orleans, Las Vegas and Los Angeles in an effort to win the prize. Trouble follows, of course, and what makes the transcontinental romp so much fun is Clarke's sarcastic sendup of each city, embellishing the traditional stereotypes of each with a dry, jaded Brit wit. (The magazines found in a Louisiana home include Sniper's Gazette, Drive-by Weekly, Firing Squad Monthly. Standard stuff.) Peripheral characters add even more color to the madcap story, and while not all of Clarke's stabs at the states hit their marks, the ones that do are sublime. (May) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review“Clarke works his humor in a frantic, colorful choreography of mayhem, like Busby Berkeley conducting Harold Lloyd. Amusing travelogue from an engaging narrator who never lets a little bad news mess with his joie de vivre.”   —Kirkus Reviews“Sublime. In this entertaining third installment to his Paul West series, British journalist Clarke sets his acerbic sights on America. What makes the transcontinental romp sp much fun is Clarke’s sarcastic sendup of each city, embellishing the traditional stereotypes of each with a dry, jaded Brit wit. Peripheral characters add even more volor to the madcap story.”—Publishers Weekly

In this haunting, bracing new collection, Dan Chaon shares stories of men, women, and children who live far outside the American Dream, while wondering which decision, which path, or which accident brought them to this place. Chaon mines the psychological landscape of his characters to dazzling effect. Each story radiates with sharp humor, mystery, wonder, and startling compassion. Among the Missing lingers in the mind through its subtle grace and power of language.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Fast on the heels of her #1 Essence bestseller, Addicted, Zane steams our reading glasses with this smart and seductive novel depicting the volatile, sensual escapades of two unforgettable pairs of lover. A national bestselling author and formerly a self-published phenomenon, Zane ushers readers into an exhilarating world that is rich with original, fresh characters. There's Tempest, barren from a botched abortion, who is a dedicated counselor at a teen pregnancy center. She unexpectedly falls head over heeels in love with Geren, a man who brags constantly about his desire to have a house fulll of babies. As their relationship blossoms, Tempest is anxiety-ridden over her secret infertility, only to be astonished when she discovers that Geren has a huge secret of his own -- which will take her life in directions she never imagined. To add to the drama, there's Tempest's best friend, Janessa, and her cheating boyfriend, Dvonté. Just as Janessa decides to give...

The new novel from the author of The Russian Concubine and Shadows on the Nile The Bahamas, 1943. Hoping to escape her turbulent past, twenty-three-year-old Dodie Wyatt has fled to Nassau. But the world is at war, and one night the peaceful life she has created for herself is shattered when she discovers a man dying in an alleyway... Ella Stanford is married to a powerful diplomat who's been appointed to keep the Duke of Windsor far from his Nazi friends in Germany. And in this city now teeming with danger, Ella has her own secrets—ones that threaten to tear apart her safe and ordered life... When Ella's world collides with Dodie's, they find themselves caught in the spiral of violence and greed ripping through Nassau. But Dodie falls deeply in love with a mysterious American stranger on the island, and together they fight to uncover the truth behind the bloodshed, while struggling to keep each other alive in this perilous new...

Richly imagined and as irresistible as its magical setting, Carnevale evokes the three great loves of the painter Cecilia Cornaro: Casanova, Byron and La Serenissima herself.

With the public eye fixed on the governor's new Missing Persons Task Force, Detective Evie Blackwell and her new partner, David, are under pressure to produce results. While they investigate two missing-persons cases in Chicago, Evie and David's conviction that justice is truly possible for all will be tested to the limit.

Alex "Skinnybones" Frankovitch is about to become a huge star--in his very own TV commercial! But Alex's big plans for stardom go terribly wrong. Are Alex's days as a Big Celebrity over?From the Trade Paperback edition.