Publisher: e-artnow
History of English Humor in 2 volumes is a study by British author A. G. K. L'Estrange in which he surveys the history of humor from ancient days to modern times, focusing on English comedy and wit. The author makes a distinction between humor and the ludicrous and follows the development of humor throughout the ages.
Framton Nuttel pays an unannounced call on Mrs. Sappleton and finds himself in the midst of a macabre spectacle which is not as it seems. Hector Hugh Munro’s genius storytelling at its best.Show book
A swirling, psychedelic, bleakly funny fugue by the Booker-shortlisted author of The Butcher Boy and Breakfast on Pluto Una Fogarty, suffering from dementia in a seaside nursing home, would be all alone without her brother Dan, whose epic free-verse monologue tells their family story. Exile from Ireland and immigrant life in England. Their mother’s trials as a call girl. Young Una’s search for love in a seemingly haunted hippie squat, and the two-timing Scottish stoner poet she’ll never get over. Now she sits outside in the sun as her memories unspool from Dan’s mouth and his own role in the tale grows ever stranger— and more sinister. A swirling, psychedelic, bleakly funny fugue, Patrick McCabe’s epic reinvention of the verse novel combines Modernist fragmentation and Beat spontaneity with Irish folklore, then douses it in whiskey and sets it on fire. Drinking song and punk libretto, ancient as myth and wholly original, Poguemahone is the devastating telling of one family’s history—and the forces, seen and unseen, that make their fate.Show book
These charming adventures of the 19th century French brigadier by the creator of Sherlock Holms are “unjustly forgotten tales by a great master” (Michael Chabon). Though Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is best known for his immortal character Sherlock Holmes, his tales of comic adventure featuring Brigadier Etienne Gerard, a French cavalry officer in the tine of the Napoleonic Wars, were equally beloved in their day. An old man who has retired in Paris, Gerard now recounts his escapades of younger days. In Napoleon’s service, he fights battles, breaks hearts, and confounds the English all across Europe. This volume collects all of Doyle’s Brigadier Gerard stories, originally published in The Strand Magazine between 1894 and 1903. In The Complete Brigadier Gerard Stories “you will find adventure, action, romance, love and self-sacrifice, hair's-breadth escape and reckless courage, gallantry, panache and a droll, backhand humor that rivals that of P.G. Wodehouse. You will also find yourself, even more than with the celebrated stories of Holmes and Watson, in the hands of an indisputable artist. For more than any other adventure stories I know, these stories have a power to move the reader… unjustly forgotten tales by a great master" (Michael Chabon for NPR's You Must Read This). "The Brigadier Gerard stories display all the narrative gusto of Doyle's more famous Sherlock Holmes, together with an irresistible warmth and humor."—Philip PullmanShow book
Reunited, and it feels so bad…“A flat-out funny read” about a friendship gone off the rails from the New York Times-bestselling author (Cosmopolitan). Amy Sherman has a two-bedroom Manhattan apartment, a job as a publicity director at a major publishing house, and a romantic life that’s…well, two out of three isn’t bad. She's come a long way from playing second fiddle to spotlight-hogging blond bombshell Tara Messer, her former best friend. In fact, she's even recovered from walking in on her fiancé and her frenemy in the bedroom, just before her wedding. Or so she thought. Tara, now married to the man who broke Amy's heart, has made a career put of being positively perfect. And she's waltzing back into Amy's life on mile-long legs, with a life so Simply Beautiful it got its own book deal—and Amy gets tapped to be its publicist. Unable to swallow it all, Amy spits out a tiny little lie. She's engaged. To a handsome, famous mystery writer. Who hates her. If Amy could just get him to play along with the farce, she may survive publishing Tara’s book. But let's not feel so sorry for Amy yet. A dual perspective, laugh-out-loud funny tale of betrayal, forgiveness, and finding new love, Best Enemies proves that no one knows you quite like a best friend. “Smart-alecky…outrageous.” —Houston Chronicle “Highly entertaining.”—Booklist “Fabulous fun.”—Publishers WeeklyShow book
Spencer Quinn's Bark to the Future continues the adventurous New York Times and USA Today bestselling series that Stephen King calls “without a doubt the most original mystery series currently available.”When Chet the dog, “the most lovable narrator in all of crime fiction” (Boston Globe), and his human partner, PI Bernie Little, are approached by a down-andout older man with a cardboard sign at an exit ramp, Bernie is shocked to discover the man is a former teammate from his high school baseball team. Chet and Bernie take Rocket out for a good meal, and later, Bernie investigates Rocket’s past, trying to figure out what exactly went wrong.Then, Rocket goes suspiciously missing. With his former teammate likely in danger, Bernie goes back to his old high school for answers, where much that he remembers turns out not to be true—and there are powerful and dangerous people not happy with the questions Bernie is asking.Bernie soon learns that he misunderstood much about his high school years—and now, Chet and Bernie are plunged into a dangerous case where the past isn’t dead and the future could be fatal.Show book
