Publisher: Oscar Wilde
A House of Pomegranates is a collection of whimisical short stories by Oscar Wilde. This collections includes the following tales: The Young King, The Birthday of the Infanta, The Fisherman and his Soul, and The Star-child. Readers of all ages will be delighted by these fanciful tales.
Uriah Derick D’Arcy seems to all intents to be a literary pseudonym. Why no-one would want to take ownership of this story from its first publication in 1819 has been the subject of several conjectures. The only settled agreement is that it was written by a man and from there the trail runs cold until it was reprinted in 1845 and attributed to Robert C. Sands. But modern opinion now suggests that the true author was his fellow Columbia graduate Richard Varick Dey, a theologian, who’s religious career caused him to distance himself from the creation, in those socially difficult times, of this remarkable story. In many respects it was far ahead of its time both in the construction and structure of its story, as an early tale of vampires and, of course, its damnation of slavery.Show book
Collins brings the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, to English language learners. Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time and in any language. Now Collins has adapted her famous detective novels for English language learners. These carefully abridged versions are shorter with the language targeted at learners of English. The Leonides family live together in a large and crooked house in a wealthy London suburb. When the elderly millionaire Aristide Leonides is murdered with a fatal injection, the family reluctantly suspect his glamorous, young second wife. Charles Hayward, who is engaged to the late millionaire’s granddaughter, observes the family closely and makes a terrible and shocking discovery…Show book
After battling the tempestuous sea, four men in a boat finally spy land. But will the process of getting to the land be their undoing? Based upon Crane’s experience of surviving a shipwreck when traveling to Cuba, The Open Boat is an excellent example of literary Naturalism. H.G. Wells considered it “the crown of all [Crane’s] work”.Show book
This tragicomic novel set in sixteenth-century Jamaica is a “gusty, boisterous, [and] entertaining . . . slice of historical fiction” (Alan Cheuse, NPR, All Things Considered). Winner of the 2014 Townsend Prize for Fiction A fortune-seeking band of ragtag sailors travel aboard the Santa Inez, a Spanish vessel bound for the newly discovered West Indies. She is an unusual explorer for her day, carrying no provisions for the settlers and no seed for planting crops, and manned by vain, arrogant men looking for gold in Jamaica. The crew expects to make landfall in paradise after over a month at sea. Meanwhile, the timid, innocent Arawaks—who walk around stark naked without embarrassment and who venerate their own customs and worship their own gods—think these newcomers must have come from heaven. The ensuing entanglement of culture, custom, and beliefs makes for a “comic, tragic, bawdy, sad, and provocative” novel (Library Journal). “Darkly irreverent . . . With a sharp tongue, Winkler, a native of Jamaica, deftly imbues this blackly funny satire with an exposé of colonialism’s avarice and futility.” —Publishers Weekly “Well-written . . . Winkler’s descriptions of sea and sky as seen from a sailing ship, and of the physical beauty of Jamaica, are spot-on and breathtaking.” —Historical Novel Review “A thoroughly engaging adventure story from a renowned Jamaican author, sure to enchant readers who treasure a fabulous tale exquisitely rendered.” —Library Journal “Every country (if she’s lucky) gets the Mark Twain she deserves, and Winkler is ours.” —Marlon James, author of Black Leopard, Red WolfShow book
If reading most short story collections is like canoeing gently down a tranquil and picturesque river, then reading Spencer Gordon's Cosmo is like riding a jetski over Niagara Falls with Leonard Cohen whispering in your ear. You'll join Matthew McConaughey as he drives naked across the desert in a surreal dark night of the soul. You'll meet a young wrestling fan half-nelsoned by circumstances and a sister's best intentions. You'll hear a Miley Cyrus admirer defend his passion in a 3,000-word sentence. You'll watch an aging porn star don a grotesque dinosaur costume to film the sex scene of his life. Through ten incendiary and mercurial stories, Cosmo will take you on a wild ride over the churning waters of pop culture and the malaise of our solitary existence.Show book
The sailing vessel Albatross went down in a White Squall in 1961. The young man at the helm that fateful day, now in his seventies, meets Breeze in Pelican Bay. Together they set out to revisit the scene and allow for a final reckoning. Modern-day pirates interrupt their quest. They will be made to pay.Meanwhile, a pesky private detective resurfaces, threatening to reveal dark secrets. Breeze devises a plan to take care of the pirates and his nemesis at the same time. He is forced to race against time as a statewide Coronavirus lockdown looms.Show book
