Editorial: Diwan
Characters in From Madid to Heaven unexpectedly find themselves in impossible circumstances. In fourteen short stories, set between Iberia and North Africa, they come nevertheless to face the strange possibility that when nothing is possible, everything may suddenly be possible.
Shusaku Endo (1923-1996), widely considered one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century, is known for his historical novels, which masterfully probe the encounters between the cultures and religions of East and West from a Japanese Catholic perspective. A salient and curious theme in his work is the unique image of a maternal God, and a concomitant sense of loss and longing for maternal love. Confronting the Shadows, the semiautobiographical novella discovered at the Endo Museum in Nagasaki in 2020, is the author's most personal work and constitutes the interpretive key to his entire oeuvre. Translated into English here for the first time, it tells the story of Suguro, an aspiring novelist who was separated from his mother after his parents' divorce. Desperate to understand the woman his mother was, he sets out to retrace her footsteps, only to find himself face to face with his own demons. Accompanying the novella are five stories; exploring complex truths in uncomplicated prose, each tale discloses the intricacies of the sacred feminine and the apprehensions and joys of familial love. Endo once again beams bright light on the hidden corners of the human heart in this intimate and remarkable new collection.Ver libro
Black Mare Books presents twelve twisted tales from Artemis Greenleaf, Holly Dey, and A.B. Richards. In this Santa’s sack of Christmas yarns, you’ll find an array of monsters of all stripes. You may want to keep a lookout for a possibly rabid coyote when you stop to play with a dolly. Perhaps enjoy a little shopping before you head into the woods to fell a Christmas tree? Or maybe you’ve wanted to go on a holiday cruise? And whatever you do, don’t look a gift bear in the mouth. And be warned: it’s best to let sleeping babies lie.Ver libro
Arthur Morrison was born on November 1st, 1863, in Poplar, in the East End of London. From the age of 8, after the death of his father, he was brought up, along with two siblings, by his mother, Jane. Morrison spent his youth in the East End. In 1879 he began as an office boy in the Architect's Department of the London School Board and, in his spare time, visited used bookstores in Whitechapel Road. He first published, a humorous poem, in the magazine Cycling in 1880. In 1885 Morrison began writing for The Globe newspaper. In 1886, he switched to the People's Palace, in Mile End and, in 1888, published the Cockney Corner collection, about life in Soho, Whitechapel, Bow Street and other areas of London. By 1889 he was an editor at the Palace Journal, reprinting some earlier sketches, and writing commentaries on books and articles on the life of the London poor. By 1890 he was back at The Globe and published ‘The Shadows Around Us’, a supernatural collection of stories. Also at this time he began to develop a keen interest in Japanese Art. In October 1891 his short story A Street appeared in Macmillan's Magazine. The following year he married Elizabeth Thatcher and then befriended publisher and poet William Ernest Henley for whom he wrote stories of working-class life in Henley's National Observer between 1892-94. In 1894 came his first detective story featuring Martin Hewitt, described as "a low-key, realistic, lower-class answer to Sherlock Holmes”. Morrison published A Child of the Jago in 1896 swiftly followed by The Adventures of Martin Hewitt. In 1897 Morrison wrote seven stories about Horace Dorrington, a deeply corrupt private detective, described as "a cheerfully unrepentant sociopath who is willing to stoop to theft, blackmail, fraud or cold-blooded murder to make a dishonest penny." To London Town, the final part of a trilogy including Tales of Mean Streets and A Child of the Jago was published in 1899. Following on came a wide spectrum of works, including novels, short stories and one act plays. In 1911 he published his authoritative work Japanese Painters, illustrated with art from his own collection. Although he retired from journalistic work in 1913 he continued to write about Art. In his last decades Morrison served as a special constable, and reported on the first Zeppelin raid on London. Tragically in 1921 his son, Guy, who had survived the war, died of malaria. The Royal Society of Literature elected him as a member in 1924 and to its Council in 1935. In 1930 he moved to Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire. Here he wrote the short story collection Fiddle o' Dreams and More. Arthur Morrison died on the 4th December 1945. He was 82 years.Ver libro
In a quiet Southern town where time drifts as slowly as the heat, Jim Powell has earned a name—and not a flattering one. They call him a “Jelly-Bean.” A man who idles. A man who watches life pass him by. Once tied to a respected family, Jim now lingers on the edges of society—haunting garages, street corners, and pool halls—until one unexpected invitation pulls him into a world he no longer belongs to. At a glittering country club party, beneath soft lights and the hum of music, Jim comes face to face with everything he’s lost… and everything he never had. At the center of it all is Nancy Lamar—radiant, reckless, and utterly out of reach. For one fleeting night, chance and courage collide. But by morning, everything has changed. Written in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s signature early style, The Jelly-Bean is a quiet, piercing portrait of class, longing, and the moment a man sees himself clearly for the first time. A story of drifting youth, sudden awakening, and the cost of standing still.Ver libro
Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was born on August 5th, 1850 near Dieppe in France. Maupassant’s early life was badly torn when at age 11 (his younger brother Hervé was then five) his mother, Laure, a headstrong and independent-minded woman, risked social disgrace in order to obtain a legal separation from her husband. After the separation, Laure kept custody of her two boys. With the father now forcibly absent, Laure became the most influential and important figure in the young boy's life. Maupassant’s education was such that he rebelled against religion and other societal norms but a developing friendship with Gustave Flaubert began to turn his mind towards creativity and writing. After graduation he volunteered for the Franco-Prussian war. With its end he moved to Paris to work as a clerk in the Navy Department. Gustave Flaubert now took him under his wing. Acting as a literary guardian to him, he guided the eager Maupassant to debuts in journalism and literature. For Maupassant these were exciting times and the awakening of his creative talents and ambitions. In 1880 he published what is considered his first great work, ‘Boule de Suif’, (translated as as ‘Dumpling’, ‘Butterball’, ‘Ball of Fat’, or ‘Ball of Lard’) which met with a success that was both instant and overwhelming. Flaubert at once acknowledged that it was ‘a masterpiece that will endure.’ Maupassant had used his talents and experiences in the war to create something unique. This decade from 1880 to 1891 was to be the most pivotal of his career. With an audience now made available by the success of ‘Boule de Suif’ Maupassant organised himself to work methodically and relentlessly to produce between two and four volumes of work a year. The melding of his talents and business sense and the continual hunger of sources for his works made him wealthy. In his later years he developed a desire for solitude, an obsession for self-preservation, and a fear of death as well as a paranoia of persecution caused by the syphilis he had contracted in his youth. On January 2nd, 1892, Maupassant tried to commit suicide by cutting his throat. Unsuccessful he was committed to the private asylum of Esprit Blanche at Passy, in Paris. It was here on July 6th, 1893 that Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant died at the age of only 42.Ver libro
The town of Superior, Ohio, certainly was living up to its name! In what was undoubtedly the most spectacular feat of the century, it simply picked itself up one night and rose two full miles above Earth! Radio messages stated simply that Superior had seceded from Earth. But Don Cort, stranded on that rising town, was beginning to suspect that nothing was simple about Superior except its citizens. Calmly they accepted their rise in the world as being due to one of their local townspeople, a crackpot professor. But after a couple of weeks of floating around, it began to be obvious that the professor had no idea how to get them down. So then it was up to Cort: either find a way to anchor Superior, or spend the rest of his days on the smallest—and the nuttiest—planet in the galaxy! (Summary From The Book)Ver libro
