Publisher: Oregan Publishing
"The Three Strangers" is a short story by Thomas Hardy from 1883. The story is a pastoral history[1] told by an omniscient narrator more than 50 years after the event. The sheep-stealer is a kind of folk hero who stole to survive and escaped by outsmarting his hangman. Casterbridge was the name for Dorchester in Thomas Hardy's Wessex.[2]
There’s only one word to describe Amara’s life: picturesque. From her complacent husband and their cookie-cutter house to her impeccably-timed morning routine, Amara has what appears to be the perfect life. During one of her runs, Amara veers off her set path, leaving her routine and expectations behind. What starts as a search to find a neighborhood cat in the off-limits forest turns into an unexpected adventure filled with countless ups and downs. Designed to listen in one sitting, Pushing the Leaves Aside is an inspiring story of finding your way through the darkness when doing so feels impossible.Show book
Now available in Ecco’s Art of the Story series: a never-before-published collection of stories from a brilliant yet little known African American artist and filmmaker—a contemporary of revered writers including Toni Cade Bambara, Laurie Colwin, Ann Beattie, Amy Hempel, and Grace Paley—whose prescient work has recently resurfaced to wide acclaim. Humorous, poignant, perceptive, and full of grace, Kathleen Collins’s stories masterfully blend the quotidian and the profound in a personal, intimate way, exploring deep, far-reaching issues—race, gender, family, and sexuality—that shape the ordinary moments in our lives. In “The Uncle,” a young girl who idolizes her handsome uncle and his beautiful wife makes a haunting discovery about their lives. In “Only Once,” a woman reminisces about her charming daredevil of a lover and his ultimate—and final—act of foolishness. Collins’s work seamlessly integrates the African-American experience in her characters’ lives, creating rich, devastatingly familiar, full-bodied men, women, and children who transcend the symbolic, penetrating both the reader’s head and heart. Both contemporary and timeless, Whatever Happened to Interracial Love? is a major addition to the literary canon, and is sure to earn Kathleen Collins the widespread recognition she is long overdue. This collection of short stories by Kathleen Collins seamlessly integrates the African-American experience in her characters' lives, creating rich, devastatingly familiar, full-bodied men, women, and children who transcend the symbolic, penetrating both the reader's head and heart. It's a timely addition to the literary canon, exploring deep, far-reaching issues of race, gender, family, and sexuality that shape the ordinary moments in our lives. HarperCollins 2024Show book
In this gritty anthology, fourteen mystery stories show the seedier side of the Wisconsin city beyond beer, butter burgers, and Laverne & Shirley. Akashic Books continues its award-winning series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each book comprises all-new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the respect city. Now, fourteen authors who’ve experienced life in the Cream City share its mysteries in Milwaukee Noir. With stories from: Jane Hamilton, Reed Farrel Coleman, Valerie Laken, Matthew J. Prigge, Shauna Singh Baldwin, Vida Cross, Larry Watson, Frank Wheeler Jr., Derrick Harriell, Christi Clancy, James E. Causey, Mary Thorson, Nick Petrie, and Jennifer Morales. Praise for Milwaukee Noir “Luxuriate in the seedy, wallow in the angry and shiver at the horrors that surely await you around the corner . . . The sheer localness of Milwaukee Noir is superb, and the seediness of many characters here would qualify them for membership in a Tom Waits song.” —Milwaukee Journal Sentinel “A very strong collection of short fiction. . . . A richly textured collection that is, by turns, gripping, thought provoking, and simply entertaining.” —Booklist “The violent, dark stories in this anthology fit the bill perfectly with the intention, as editor Hennessy writes, to be social commentary . . . . Tales by Jane Hamilton and Christi Clancy stand out, evidence that ordinary people can get swept up in hatred, even if they did not start out living with violence, drunkenness, or poverty.” —Library Journal “Milwaukee bookseller and writer Hennessy does justice to the harsher aspects of his hometown in this fine anthology . . . The 14 contributors show that violence is not a prerequisite to crafting a haunting depiction of despair . . . The selections make the different neighborhoods, seedy or otherwise, come to life, even for those who have never set foot in them.” —Publishers Weekly “Fourteen free-wheeling stories document the grit and glory of Milwaukee . . . A nod to Milwaukee’s blue-collar heritage, a frank look at racial disharmony, and a peek at the future make Hennessy’s collection a find for fans of urban noir.” —Kirkus ReviewsShow book
An “addictive volume” of amphetamine stories from William T. Vollmann, Sherman Alexie, and more (Publishers Weekly). Speed is the most American of drugs: twice the productivity at half the cost, and equal opportunity for all. It has reinvented itself many times, from miracle cure to biker-gang scourge and everything in between. It goes by many names: crystal meth, amphetamines, Dexedrine, Benzedrine, Adderall; crank, spizz, chickenscratch, oblivious marching powder, the go-fast. And it crosses all ethnicities, genders, and geographies—from immigrants and heartlanders punching double factory shifts to clandestine border warlords; prostitutes to housewives; Hollywood celebs to the poorest Indian on the rez—and they all have plenty of stories. Here is the first contemporary collection of new short fiction dealing with the drug from an array of today’s most compelling authors. The elements of crime and tweaking, bleary-eyed zombies exist alongside heart-wrenching narratives of everyday people, the American Dream going up in flames, and even some accounts of pure joy. Featuring brand-new stories by: Sherman Alexie, William T. Vollmann, James Franco, Megan Abbott, Jerry Stahl, Beth Lisick, Jess Walter, Scott Phillips, James Greer, Tao Lin, Joseph Mattson, Natalie Diaz, Kenji Jasper, and Rose Bunch.Show book
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a robot in possession of a soul must be in want of a life partner.Nell, Human-5014 and Second Librarian of the Athenaeum, has clung to that truth for twenty revolutions. The human extinction is in its last phases, and her desperate quest to find the recipient of her husband's soul has finally paid off. She has one request, one hope for reconnecting with the man she lost so long ago.Show book
Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923) was a prominent modernist writer of short fiction and a close associate of D. H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf."The Little Girl" is the story of a child with a strict, overbearing Victorian father. When her mother is ill and her father has to look after the little girl alone, she gets to know a different, softer, kinder side of him.A Red Door Consulting production.Show book
