The first night after Caroline moves into her fantastic new San Francisco apartment, she realizes she's gaining an intimate knowledge of her new neighbor's nocturnal adventures. Thanks to paper-thin walls and the guy's athletic prowess, she can hear not just his bed banging against the wall but the ecstatic response of what seems (as loud night after loud night goes by) like an endless parade of women. And since Caroline is currently on a self-imposed dating hiatus, and her neighbor is clearly lethally attractive to women, she finds her fantasies keep her awake even longer than the noise. So when the wallbanging threatens to literally bounce her out of bed, Caroline, clad in sexual frustration and a pink baby-doll nightie, confronts Simon Parker, her heard-but-never-seen neighbor. The tension between them is as thick as the walls are thin, and the results just as mixed. Suddenly, Caroline is finding she may have discovered a whole new definition of neighborly... In a delicious mix of silly and steamy, Alice Clayton dishes out a hot and hilarious tale of exasperation at first sight...

“The idea of verse, of poetry, has always, during forty years spent working primarily in prose, stood at my elbow, as a standing invitation to the highest kind of verbal exercise—the most satisfying, the most archaic, the most elusive of critical control.  In hotel rooms and airplanes, on beaches and Sundays, at junctures of personal happiness or its opposite, poetry has comforted me with its hope of permanence, its packaging of flux.”                 Thus John Updike writes in introducing his Collected Poems.  The earliest poems here date from 1953, when Updike was twenty-one, and the last were written after he turned sixty.  Almost all of those published in his five previous collections are included, with some revisions.  Arranged in chronological order, the poems constitute, as he says, “the thread backside of my life’s fading tapestry.”  An ample set of notes at the back of the book discusses some of the hidden threads, and expatiates upon a number of fine points.                 Nature—tenderly intricate, ruthlessly impervious—is a constant and ambiguous presence in these poems, along with the social observation one would expect in a novelist.  No occasion is too modest or too daily to excite metaphysical wonder, or to provoke a lyrical ingenuity of language.  Yet even the wittiest of the poems are rooted to the ground of experience and fact.  “Seven Odes to Seven Natural Processes” attempt to explicate the physical world with a directness seldom attempted in poetry.  Several longer poems—“Leaving Church Early,” “Midpoint”—use autobiography to proclaim the basic strangeness of existence.

In this masterpiece about freedom, feminism, and destiny, Printz Honor author A.S. King tells the epic story of a girl coping with devastating loss at long last--a girl who has no idea that the future needs her, and that the present needs her even more. Graduating from high school is a time of limitless possibilities--but not for Glory, who has no plan for what's next. Her mother committed suicide when Glory was only four years old, and she's never stopped wondering if she will eventually go the same way...until a transformative night when she begins to experience an astonishing new power to see a person's infinite past and future. From ancient ancestors to many generations forward, Glory is bombarded with visions--and what she sees ahead of her is terrifying: A tyrannical new leader raises an army. Women's rights disappear. A violent second civil war breaks out. And young girls vanish daily, sold off or interned in camps. Glory makes it her mission to record everything she sees, hoping her notes will somehow make a difference. She may not see a future for herself, but she'll do anything to make sure this one doesn't come to pass.

"...he could imagine the Dust spiraling in corners, plotting en masse an elaborate offensive upon those who sought seclusion from the outside Universe. The Dust: it was older than Time, bound by its allegiance to the Tangible—to the very Physical Substance of creation— to make pointed attacks fueled by conspiracy upon its bitter rival, the amorphously-composed Intangible Will.." (p.202)"...and as the other cell doors swung open and inmates filed out to make their way to the Yard, Bunnu now envisioned them: these surly gray fibrous masses beyond his door, in the spaces between walls, trolling the depths of the building itself—hunched, faceless amalgamations of loosely-configured men, leaking abrasive Matter upon the hard surface of the floors when even the slightest breeze whistled through their cavernous bristled epidermis. He imagined them: these husky, ashen Beings, scurrying in droves through damp, uninviting corridors, nestled back against the wall, lingering behind corners, lying in wait for even the smallest squeak of his door hinge, so that they may swarm inward upon him and the bristles that comprised them could unravel and twirl in his direction, skimming from ceiling to floor, scraping against the walls and curving in through the crevice to creep along the shivering mass of cells upon his exterior and cover the body whole. His hand would freeze upon the door knob and be shattered to splinters of flesh as he, in defiance of this coarse invasion, struggled to break free of their grip: to no avail. Gray fibers covered with loose granules of cosmic dust—similar in consistency to incense ash—would plunge through every orifice in search of alveoli to stop the breathing at its source. He would then be flooded with this strange, granular matter and made to respire by proxy as the invading agent would not allow him the benefit of self-respiration, as it was too selfish and far less efficient than the sort of respiration that could be achieved through mutual means.Bunnu shivered as he broke into a cold sweat.The very anticipation of this process was, for him, horrifying, for he could imagine the Dust spiraling in corners, plotting en masse an elaborate offensive upon those who sought seclusion from the outside Universe. The Dust: it was older than Time, bound by its allegiance to the Tangible—to the very Physical Substance of creation— to make pointed attacks fueled by conspiracy upon its bitter rival, the amorphously-composed Intangible Will. This conflict, too, was older than time: one that had always existed and one that continues perpetually between the abstractions of Tangible Form and those of Intangible Will, the two locked in eternal combat for they could know no other state than to oppose the infringement of each upon the confines of the other. The tangible, however, was more resolved—more given to complicity—for without this, there was no hope of overcoming the tenacity of something so refined. Accordingly, there were many natures to such Dust, many inclinations that Bunnu was impelled to delineate—for the sake of convenience—by arbitrary color. For example, red dust, though it wasn’t truly red, came as a result of an incredible shift in gravitational force, perhaps from an explosion of a vast star in a distant galaxy. The particles of dust traveled and accumulated through void, attracting each to the other by sheer weight of their micro-gravities as they fused with hot gas to form masses, which would loom in stasis for many billions of years and later crumble to their constituents in vast explosions, sending each particle off again upon its own distinct immaculate trajectory. These particles carry with them their memories in aggregation of them with their associates and of their associates with their collection of foregone associates, allowing them by means of interconnecting social networks to seek old members of former almae matres (i.e. one particle of red dust recognizes another that he had once been fused together with to form a rock on the surface of a distant planet and seeks to relive old glories together. The particle, in question, however, is wedged between the teeth of a beached whale, and thus the alliance-seeking granule, must seek to merge with the whale itself in order for this reunion to become a reality)..."-p. 202-204, Don't Forget to Breathe

In Monterey, on the California coast, Sweet Thursday is what they call the day after Lousy Wednesday, which is one of those days that are just naturally bad. Returning to the scene of *Cannery Row*, the weedy lots and junk heaps and flophouses of Monterey, John Steinbeck once more brings to life the denizens of a netherworld of laughter and tears from Fauna, new headmistress of the local brothel, to Hazel, a bum whose mother must have wanted a daughter.

When Celia Sands arrives at a remote Italian villa to star in the first performance of a deceased playwright's masterpiece, she is instantly drawn to the mysteries surrounding the play -- and to her compelling, compassionate employer.

Lizzie hasn't realised that she's dead yet. She can't understand why everyone is ignoring her when all she wants is a little sympathy. She has been in an accident, after all. Next day at work, she meets two spirits who've been sent to break the news.

This collection includes all of the works from Harrison's eight previous volumes of poetry, including the renowned Letters to Yesenin, The Theory and Practice of Rivers, and After Ikkyu, together with new poems. 6 line drawings.

A Collection of flash fiction. During 2014 I entered a few writing contests, and submitted to many events.Collected Stories from Contests and Events 2014A Collection of flash fiction.During 2014 I entered a few writing contests, and submitted to many events.Here you will find all my submissions from the year including the prize-winning story Julie's Problem. Some are humorous, some serious, a few might come as a surprise to anyone who has read my Flashes of Light collections.

Tom Wolfe, the master social novelist of our time, the spot-on chronicler of all things contemporary and cultural, presents a sensational new novel about life, love, and learning--or the lack of it--amid today's American colleges. Our story unfolds at fictional Dupont University: those Olympian halls of scholarship housing the cream of America's youth, the roseate Gothic spires and manicured lawns suffused with tradition . . . Or so it appears to beautiful, brilliant Charlotte Simmons, a sheltered freshman from North Carolina. But Charlotte soon learns, to her mounting dismay, that for the upper-crust coeds of Dupont, sex, cool, and kegs trump academic achievement every time. As Charlotte encounters the paragons of Dupont's privileged elite--her roommate, Beverly, a Groton-educated Brahmin in lusty pursuit of lacrosse players; Jojo Johanssen, the only white starting player on Dupont's godlike basketball team, whose position is threatened by a hotshot black freshman from the projects; the Young Turk of Saint Ray fraternity, Hoyt Thorpe, whose heady sense of entitlement and social domination is clinched by his accidental brawl with a bodyguard for the governor of California; and Adam Geller, one of the Millennial Mutants who run the university's "independent" newspaper and who consider themselves the last bastion of intellectual endeavor on the sex-crazed, jock-obsessed campus--she is seduced by the heady glamour of acceptance, betraying both her values and upbringing before she grasps the power of being different--and the exotic allure of her own innocence. With his trademark satirical wit and famously sharp eye for telling detail, Wolfe's I Am Charlotte Simmons draws on extensive observations at campuses across the country to immortalize the early-21st-century college-going experience.

The heroine of this love story is Madelene Burden. Lonely and disillusioned despite her upper-crust London existence, she's a modern-day sleeping beauty drowsing gently in an alcoholic stupor. But the prince whose kiss brings her to life is not tall, dark, and handsome. He's a short, dark, 300-pound ape named Erasmus. The victim of a smuggling attempt gone awry, Erasmus is brought to Madelene's home; her husband, Adam, a distinguished behavioral scientist, believes the ape's sophisticated intelligence renders him more human than animal. If he is right, Erasmus would be a most lucrative addition to Adam's new zoo. But Madelene is determined to save Erasmus from a series of inhumane tests that would rob the ape of the very qualities that makes him so un-apelike. Pursuing this goal with all the energy she had previously reserved for her drinking, Madelene's compassion turns to passion and woman and beast escape and fall in love. But Erasmus has come to England with a purpose that eventually forces the couple to face the world they have sought to flee.Enthralling readers with the same taut prose, enigmatic characters, thrilling suspense, and satirical humor that drove Smilla to the top of bestseller lists across the country, Peter Hoeg offers a daring and imaginative fable that poses searching questions about the nature of romance, freedom and humanity. Above all, it is a love story as erotically charged and emotionally powerful as any you will ever read.

An unconventional woman trapped in a conventional marriage, Martha Quest struggles to maintain her dignity and her sanity through the misunderstandings, frustrations, infidelities, and degrading violence of a failing marriage. Finally, she must make the heartbreaking choice of whether to sacrifice her child as she turns her back on marriage and security. A Proper Marriage is the second novel in Doris Lessing's classic Children of Violence series of novels, each a masterpiece on its own right, and, taken together, an incisive and all-encompassing vision of our world in the twentieth century.

An NYRB Classics Original Stefan Zweig was particularly drawn to the novella, and Confusion, a rigorous and yet transporting dramatization of the conflict between the heart and the mind, is among his supreme achievements in the form. A young man who is rapidly going to the dogs in Berlin is packed off by his father to a university in a sleepy provincial town. There a brilliant lecture awakens in him a wild passion for learning—as well as a peculiarly intense fascination with the graying professor who gave the talk. The student grows close to the professor, be­coming a regular visitor to the apartment he shares with his much younger wife. He takes it upon himself to urge his teacher to finish the great work of scholarship that he has been laboring at for years and even offers to help him in any way he can. The professor welcomes the young man’s attentions, at least on some days. On others, he rages without apparent reason or turns away from his disciple with cold scorn. The young man is baffled, wounded. He cannot understand. But the wife understands. She understands perfectly. And one way or another she will help him to understand too.

Following his acclaimed Atlantic and The Men Who United the States, New York Times bestselling author Simon Winchester offers an enthralling biography of the Pacific Ocean and its role in the modern world, exploring our relationship with this imposing force of nature. As the Mediterranean shaped the classical world, and the Atlantic connected Europe to the New World, the Pacific Ocean defines our tomorrow. With China on the rise, so, too, are the American cities of the West coast, including Seattle, San Francisco, and the long cluster of towns down the Silicon Valley. Today, the Pacific is ascendant. Its geological history has long transformed us—tremendous earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis—but its human history, from a Western perspective, is quite young, beginning with Magellan’s sixteenth-century circumnavigation. It is a natural wonder whose most fascinating history is currently being made. In telling the story of the Pacific, Simon Winchester takes us from the Bering Strait to Cape Horn, the Yangtze River to the Panama Canal, and to the many small islands and archipelagos that lie in between. He observes the fall of a dictator in Manila, visits aboriginals in northern Queensland, and is jailed in Tierra del Fuego, the land at the end of the world. His journey encompasses a trip down the Alaska Highway, a stop at the isolated Pitcairn Islands, a trek across South Korea and a glimpse of its mysterious northern neighbor. Winchester’s personal experience is vast and his storytelling second to none. And his historical understanding of the region is formidable, making Pacific a paean to this magnificent sea of beauty, myth, and imagination that is transforming our lives.

Lunch Hour is a fun and occasionally terrifying collection of flash fiction shorts. With a variety of choices, there is a little something for everyone. This volume contains; Crazy Thoughts, Framed by the Cat, The Card, A Breath Away, Rainy Day in Purgatory, Scotophobia, Empty Seat, The Jump Off, Flames of Passion, Weapon of Choice.Each tale is a quick read that will leave you hungry for more.If you've ever wondered what made Gruff gruff, read his tragic tale of lust and betrayal here.Origins: Gruff explored the origins of one of the most beloved characters introduced in Equivocal Destines, book 1 of the Upheaving Nidola epic fantasy series.