The First Man

      Albert Camus
     The First Man

The unfinished manuscript of The First Man was discovered in the wreckage of car accident in which Camus died in 1960. Although it was not published for over thirty years, it was an instant bestseller when it finally appeared in 1994. The 'first man' is Jacques Cormery, whose poverty-stricken childhood in Algiers is made bearable by his love for his silent and illiterate mother, and by the teacher who transforms his view of the world. The most autobiographical of Camus's novels, it gives profound insights into his life and the powerful themes underlying his work.

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    More Notes of a Dirty Old Man: The Uncollected Columns

      Charles Bukowski
     More Notes of a Dirty Old Man: The Uncollected Columns

After toiling in obscurity for years, Charles Bukowski suddenly found fame in 1967 with his autobiographical newspaper column, "Notes of a Dirty Old Man," and a book of that name in 1969. He continued writing this column, in one form or another, through the mid-1980s. "More Notes of a Dirty Old Man" gathers many uncollected gems from the column's twenty-year run. Drawn from ephemeral underground publications, these stories and essays haven't been seen in decades, making "More" a valuable addition to Bukowski's oeuvre. Filled with his usual obsessions--sex, booze, gambling--"More" features Bukowski's offbeat insights into politics and literature, his tortured, violent relationships with women, and his lurid escapades on the poetry reading circuit. Highlighting his versatility, the book ranges from thinly veiled autobiography to purely fictional tales of dysfunctional suburbanites, disgraced politicians, and down-and-out sports promoters, climaxing with a long, hilarious adventure among French filmmakers, "My Friend the Gambler," based on his experiences making the movie "Barfly." From his lowly days at the post office through his later literary fame, "More" follows the entire arc of Bukowski's colorful career. Edited by Bukowski scholar David Stephen Calonne, "More Notes of a Dirty Old Man" features an afterword outlining the history of the column and its effect on the author's creative development. Born in Andernach, Germany in 1920, Charles Bukowski came to California at age three and spent most of his life in Los Angeles. He died in San Pedro, California, on March 9, 1994.

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    The Heiress of Santorini

      Angel Sefer
     The Heiress of Santorini

An unexpected threat... When insurance manager Alexandra Stewart is assigned to the Imperial Resorts Corporation account and has to travel to the island of Santorini, she's worried about keeping the promise she made to her late father. Alexandra swore to keep her real identity a secret and to stay away from her maternal grandfather, a Greek billionaire who lives on the island. However, what Alexandra thought was fate is actually a plot to bring her home. An undeniable attraction... The new assignment embeds Alexandra in a deadly game of vengeance and greed that threatens to destroy her grandfather's empire. The only one she can turn to for help is Mark Taylor, the seductively handsome Managing Director of the corporation. Mark is torn between his intense attraction to Alexandra and his promise to her grandfather to guard the secret that could destroy the entire Vassiliou family. His puzzling behavior infuriates Alexandra, but it can't quell her desire. A startling revelation... Will Alexandra be able to trust Mark when he has already lied to her once? Will Mark be able to convince Alexandra he's not the enemy? And when the time comes, will he be able to confess the truth to her?

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    The Porcupine of Truth

      Bill Konigsberg
     The Porcupine of Truth

The author of OPENLY STRAIGHT returns with an epic road trip involving family history, gay history, the girlfriend our hero can't have, the grandfather he never knew, and the Porcupine of Truth. Carson Smith is resigned to spending his summer in Billings, Montana, helping his mom take care of his father, a dying alcoholic he doesn't really know. Then he meets Aisha Stinson, a beautiful girl who has run away from her difficult family, and Pastor John Logan, who's long held a secret regarding Carson's grandfather, who disappeared without warning or explanation thirty years before. Together, Carson and Aisha embark on an epic road trip to find the answers that might save Carson's dad, restore his fragmented family, and discover the "Porcupine of Truth" in all of their lives.

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    Letters of Anton Chekhov to His Family and Friends

      Anton Chekhov
     Letters of Anton Chekhov to His Family and Friends

How is this book unique? Font adjustments & biography included Unabridged (100% Original content) Illustrated About Letters of Anton Chekhov to His Family and Friends by Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904 was a Russian playwright and short story writer, who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short fiction in history. His career as a playwright produced four classics and his short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics. Along with Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg, Chekhov is often referred to as one of the three seminal figures in the birth of early modernism in the theatre. Chekhov practiced as a medical doctor throughout most of his literary career: "Medicine is my lawful wife", he once said, "and literature is my mistress." Chekhov renounced the theatre after the reception of The Seagull in 1896, but the play was revived to acclaim in 1898 by Konstantin Stanislavski's Moscow Art Theatre, which subsequently also produced Chekhov's Uncle Vanya and premiered his last two plays, Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard. These four works present a challenge to the acting ensemble as well as to audiences, because in place of conventional action Chekhov offers a "theatre of mood" and a "submerged life in the text". Chekhov had at first written stories only for financial gain, but as his artistic ambition grew, he made formal innovations which have influenced the evolution of the modern short story. He made no apologies for the difficulties this posed to readers, insisting that the role of an artist was to ask questions, not to answer them.

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    Kick, Push

      Jay McLean
     Kick, Push

An alternate cover edition can be found here. There’s a single defining moment within every skater. It lasts only a second. Two if you're good. Three if you’re really good. It’s the moment you’re in the air, your board somewhere beneath you, and nothing but wind surrounds you. It’s the feeling of being airborne. The sixteen-year-old version of me would’ve said it was the greatest feeling in the world. Then at seventeen, I had my son. And every single second became a defining moment. Even the ones that consisted of heartbreak when his mother left us. Seventeen. Single. Dad. That’s what my life became. Yet, every day, I managed to find that feeling of being airborne. Or at least I convinced myself I did. But I lied—to myself and to everyone around me. Until she showed up; Tanned skin, raven dark hair, and eyes the color of emeralds. You know what sucks about being in the air? Coming down from the high. Sometimes you land on the board and nail the trick. Then kick, push, and coast away. Other times you fall. You fall hard. And those are the times when it’s not as easy to get back up, dust off your pads and try again. Especially when the girl with the emerald eyes becomes your drug... And you become her poison.

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    Five Smooth Stones

      Ann Fairbairn
     Five Smooth Stones

David Champlin is a black man born into poverty in Depression-era New Orleans who achieves great success and then sacrifices everything to lead his people in the difficult, day-by-day struggle of the civil rights movement. Sara Kent is the beloved and vital white girl who loved David from the moment she first saw him, but they struggle over David's belief that a marriage for them would not be right in the violent world he had to confront. First published in 1966, this epic has become one of the most loved American bestsellers.

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    Far From the Tree

      Robin Benway
     Far From the Tree

A contemporary novel about three adopted siblings who find each other at just the right moment. Being the middle child has its ups and downs. But for Grace, an only child who was adopted at birth, discovering that she is a middle child is a different ride altogether. After putting her own baby up for adoption, she goes looking for her biological family, including— Maya, her loudmouthed younger bio sister, who has a lot to say about their newfound family ties. Having grown up the snarky brunette in a house full of chipper redheads, she’s quick to search for traces of herself among these not-quite-strangers. And when her adopted family’s long-buried problems begin to explode to the surface, Maya can’t help but wonder where exactly it is that she belongs. And Joaquin, their stoic older bio brother, who has no interest in bonding over their shared biological mother. After seventeen years in the foster care system, he’s learned that there are no heroes, and secrets and fears are best kept close to the vest, where they can’t hurt anyone but him.

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    The Zero

      Jess Walter
     The Zero

What's left of a place when you take the ground away? Answer: The Zero. Brian Remy has no idea how he got here. It's been only five days since his city was attacked, and Remy is experiencing gaps in his life--as if he were a stone skipping across water. He has a self-inflicted gunshot wound he doesn't remember inflicting. His son wears a black armband and refuses to acknowledge that Remy is still alive. He seems to be going blind. He has a beautiful new girlfriend whose name he doesn't know. And his old partner in the police department, who may well be the only person crazier than Remy, has just gotten his picture on a box of First Responder cereal. And these are the good things in Brian Remy's life. While smoke still hangs over the city, Remy is recruited by a mysterious government agency that is assigned to gather all of the paper that was scattered in the attacks. As he slowly begins to realize that he's working for a shadowy operation, Remy stumbles across a dangerous plot, and soon realizes he's got to track down the most elusive target of them all--himself. And the only way to do that is to return to that place where everything started falling apart.

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    Masters of the Shadowlands 8 - If only

      Cherise Sinclair
     Masters of the Shadowlands 8 - If only

After the last fiasco, Sally gives up. She’ll never find a Dom of her own. Instead the computer whizz is job hunting in between bending the law--just a bit--to unearth the bastards who’d enslaved her friends. The clueless cops and Feds obviously need help. FBI special agents Galen and Vance have waited to play with Sally for a long time. When the mischievous submissive returns to the exclusive Shadowlands BDSM club after an ugly relationship, the experienced co-tops are pleased. Realizing she’s suppressing her emotions, the powerful Doms push her--only to find that her sassiness conceals a scarred and vulnerable heart.Shaken by the unexpected emotional exposure, Sally flees the demanding Masters and the Shadowlands.Both Galen and Vance have reasons not to seek a long-term submissive, but when a brutal attack by her ex-Dom sends Sally into their home, the two agents are driven to protect her. To help her. To take her under command. Falling in love isn’t in the plans. But as the little imp brings light into their lives, they begin to want more...until they discover she’s hacked into an organization that delights in burning people alive.

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    The Capture of the Earl of Glencrae

      Stephanie Laurens
     The Capture of the Earl of Glencrae

“Laurens’s lush sensuality takes my breath away!”—Lisa KleypasStephanie Laurens fans simply cannot get enough of the Cynsters—the New York Times bestselling author’s wickedly seductive family of sexy rogues and headstrong young ladies. With The Capture of the Earl of Glencrae, Laurens’s enthralling historical romance miniseries featuring the Cynster Brides comes to a wild and satisfying conclusion—as lovely, determined Angelica Cynster recognizes her ideal match across a candlelit ballroom…only to find herself suddenly kidnapped by the man, spirited off to the Scottish Highlands, and engaged to be married! Review“Absolutely rompalicious, THE CAPTURE OF THE EARL OF GLENCRAE, the third and final novel in best-selling author Stephanie Laurens’ CYNSTER SISTERS trilogy, is a passion-filled, witty historical romance that will keep you enthralled from the very first page.” (Romance Review Junkies) “Laurens has created another incredible series connected to the Cynsters and Bastion Club. The marvelous adventure story is wrapped in an exciting plot built around a dynamic hero and a heroine whose depth of emotion reaches out to touch the reader on every level. Superb!” Romantic Times, Top Pick! (Romantic Times BOOKclub) Review“Absolutely rompalicious, THE CAPTURE OF THE EARL OF GLENCRAE, the third and final novel in best-selling author Stephanie Laurens’ CYNSTER SISTERS trilogy, is a passion-filled, witty historical romance that will keep you enthralled from the very first page.” (Romance Review Junkies ) “Laurens has created another incredible series connected to the Cynsters and Bastion Club. The marvelous adventure story is wrapped in an exciting plot built around a dynamic hero and a heroine whose depth of emotion reaches out to touch the reader on every level. Superb!” Romantic Times, Top Pick! (Romantic Times BOOKclub )

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    1601: Conversation as it was by the Social Fireside in the Time of the Tudors

      Mark Twain
     1601: Conversation as it was by the Social Fireside in the Time of the Tudors

Conversation, as it was by the Social Fireside, in the Time of the Tudors. or simply 1601 is the title of a short risque squib by Mark Twain, first published anonymously in 1880, and finally acknowledged by the author in 1906. Written as an extract from the diary of one of Queen Elizabeth I’s ladies-in-waiting, the pamphlet purports to record a conversation between Elizabeth and several famous writers of the day. The topics discussed are entirely scatological, notably farting and sex.

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