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Tales of the Greek Heroes (Film Tie-in)
by Roger Lancelyn GreenExplore the real Greek myths behind Percy Jackson's story - he's not the first Perseus to have run into trouble with the gods . . .These are the mysterious and exciting legends of the gods and heroes in Ancient Greece, from the adventures of Perseus, the labours of Heracles, the voyage of Jason and the Argonauts, to Odysseus and the Trojan wars.Introduced with wit and humour by Rick Riordan, creator of the highly successful Percy Jackson series.
Young Mr. Keefe
by Stephen BirminghamAn ambitious young man seeks his fortune in 1950s California in this New York Times–bestselling author&’s classic novel of love and disillusionment. As the heir apparent to his family&’s mercantile empire, Jimmy Keefe is guaranteed a bright future. But the recent college graduate is determined to liberate himself from his old money New England home. He leaves Connecticut behind for the dream of California. However, when his hasty marriage suddenly falls apart, Jimmy finds himself alone in Sacramento. Yet there are those who seem to have everything Jimmy desires. His friends from back East, Claire and Blazer Gates, now host lavish parties in their opulent, glass-walled San Francisco penthouse. But the closer Jimmy gets to Claire and Blazer&’s shimmering life on a hill, the more he becomes embroiled in their sordid—and increasingly scandalous—affairs.
The Autobiography of Mark Twain: Deluxe Modern Classic
by Mark Twain“A book filled with richness of humor and tragedy of disappointment and triumph, of sweetness and bitterness, and all in that unsurpassed American prose.”—New York Herald Tribune Book ReviewMark Twain was a figure larger than life: massive in talent, eruptive in temperament, unpredictable in his actions. He crafted stories of heroism, adventure, tragedy, and comedy that reflected the changing America of the time, and he tells his own story with the same flair he brought to his fiction. Writing this autobiography on his deathbed, Twain vowed to be “free and frank and unembarrassed” in the recounting of his life and his experiences.With an introduction by noted scholar Charles Neider, and featuring sixteen pages of photographs, this edition was the first to arrange Twain's autobiographical writings in chronological order, and it presents a man who was more than a match for the expanding America of riverboats, gold rushes, and the vast westward movement that provided the material for his beloved novels.
Barbara Greer
by Stephen BirminghamFrom the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Our Crowd comes this suspenseful novel of a suburban marriage—and the betrayal that threatens to tear it apart. Barbara Greer is the blue-chip product of an old money Connecticut family. But she leaves the world of New England society behind when she marries Carson, a solidly middle-class salesman from the Pennsylvania town her family has always owned. Her new suburban life in Locustville is peaceful, quaint, and terribly dull. Barbara has suddenly become another bored housewife longing for a little intrigue. But on a trip back home, she finds more than she bargained for . . . In his acclaimed social histories, Stephen Birmingham offered a revealing view into the rarefied world of America&’s upper classes. Now he brings his eye for human drama and telling detail to this intimate portrait of a woman caught between two worlds.
Houseboat in the Woods
by Gladys Baker BondA family-loving homebody -- that is Trilby Scott, age eleven. And that is all she wants to be. (Except maybe something of an artist -- she does like to draw.) Her chief interest is in her baby brother, especially his safety: he is just at the age to get into everything. Between him and her reckless older brother, who is always looking for excitement, she has never a calm, nor a dull, moment. The great upset of her life comes when the family moves out to a wild part of Idaho. The big country seems so formidable and anything but homelike -- until she discovers on the beach of a mountain lake a houseboat that looks like Noah's Ark!
America's Secret Aristocracy: The Families that Built the United States
by Stephen BirminghamAn &“entertaining and perceptive&” history of America&’s most exclusive families, from the Brahmins of New England to the Grandees of California (The Washington Post). America has always been a constitutionally classless society, yet an American aristocracy emerged anyway—a private club whose members run in the same circles and observe the same unwritten rules. Here, renowned social historian Stephen Birmingham reveals the inner workings of this aristocracy. He identifies which families in which cities have always mattered, and how they&’ve defined America.America&’s Secret Aristocracy offers an inside look at the estates, marriages, and financial empires of America&’s most powerful families—from the Randolphs of Virginia and the Roosevelts of New York to the Carillos and Ortegas of California. With countless anecdotes about our nation&’s elite, including interviews with their modern-day descendants, Birmingham presents colorful portraits that capture the true definition, essence, and customs of America&’s aristocracy.
Butterfly of Dinard
by Eugenio MontaleThe great poet Eugenio Montale was also a remarkable writer of prose whose stories appeared regularly in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. Butterfly of Dinard is a collection of fifty of those stories, pieces about &“silly and trivial things which are at the same time important,&” whose sprightliness, subtle irony, and conversational ease defy the limits of traditional fiction. Taken together, they form a sort of autobiographical novel, evoking people, objects, and animals dear to the poet, while simultaneously shedding light on the social, cultural, and political events of the day. The book begins with Montale&’s childhood in Liguria and goes on to explore his adult life in pre-Fascist Florence and the onset of Fascism. The last part of the book, focusing on his final years in Milan, forms what Jonathan Galassi in his introduction calls &“a mosaic self-portrait of the writer himself, a bumbling yet proud, memory-obsessed Chaplinesque antihero, who sees himself as the only surviving, if unwilling, witness to a disappearing world.&” The stories were first published in book form in 1956; Montale added further stories to subsequent editions, culminating in the final 1973 edition. Butterfly of Dinard is the first complete translation of this edition and includes five stories never before translated into English.
Confessions of an Art Addict
by Peggy GuggenheimA patron of art since the 1930s, Peggy Guggenheim, in a candid self-portrait, provides an insider's view of the early days of modern art, with revealing accounts of her eccentric wealthy family, her personal and professional relationships, and often surprising portrayals of the artists themselvesPeggy Guggenheim was born into affluence and a lavish lifestyle. Bored with her seemingly "pedestrian" life in New York, she headed for Europe in 1921, where she woudl sow the seeds for a future as one of modern art's most important and influential figures.In the midst of Europe's avant-garde circles, she reveled in her love affairs with prominent artists and also became a serious collector. Her Guggenheim Jeune gallery in London brought figures such as Brancusi, Cocteau, Kandinsky, and Arp to the forefront of the art scene. Later, her New York gallery would launch the careers of Jackson Pollock and Robert Motherwell, among others.In her own inimitable and bawdy style, Peggy Guggenheim gives us an insider's glimpse into the modern art world with intimate, often surprising portrayals of its most significant players. Candid, clever, and always entertaining, here is a memoir that captures a valuable chapter in the history of modern art, as well as the spirit of one of its greatest advocates.
The New-Old Land of Israel (Routledge Revivals)
by Norman Bentwich *Deceased*First published in 1960, The New-Old Land of Israel deals particularly with the excavations which have amazingly enlarged our knowledge of Bible times. The unique quality of the Bible land of Israel is that it has the thrill of a rich historic past, an ardent, bustling present and an exciting, incalculable future. It is the purpose of this book to give to the reader that thrill, to describe the historical places which have been excavated by the archaeologists and link the past with the present.It starts with a survey of Palestine archaeology in the last hundred years, and a brief history of Jerusalem through the ages. Then it gives an account of the modern big town by the sea, Tel Aviv- Jaffa, and the ancient Roman town by the sea, Caesarea; of the Philistine city of Askalon and a biblical fortress of Judaea which are again populous: of Beersheba, the home of the patriarchs Abraham and Isaac, and now a teeming modern town which grows by thousands every year, and of a Eilat, a port of King Solomon and today of Israel to the Red Sea. This is an important read for scholars and researchers of archaeology, history of Israel, Middle East history and history in general.
The Rise And Fall of Athens: Nine Greek Lives
by PlutarchPlutarch traces the fortunes of Athens through nine lives - from Theseus, its founder, to Lysander, its Spartan conqueror - in this seminal workWhat makes a leader? For Plutarch the answer lay not in great victories, but in moral strengths. In these nine biographies, taken from his Parallel Lives, Plutarch illustrates the rise and fall of Athens through nine lives, from the legendary days of Theseus, the city's founder, through Solon, Themistocles, Aristides, Cimon, Pericles, Nicias and Alcibiades, to the razing of its walls by Lysander. Plutarch ultimately held the weaknesses of its leaders responsible for the city's fall. His work is invaluable for its imaginative reconstruction of the past, and profound insights into human life and achievement. This edition of Ian Scott-Kilvert's seminal translation, fully revised with a new introduction and notes by John Marincola, now also contains Plutarch's attack on the first historian, 'On the Malice of Herodotus'.
The English Farmhouse and Cottage (Routledge Revivals)
by M. W. BarleyFirst published in 1961, The English Farmhouse and Cottage brings together the evidence collected by those who have studied vanished buildings by excavation, and also examined surviving houses with a gentler instrument, the measuring tape. A change is taking place in the attitude towards the old buildings of the countryside. Into the place of the sentimentalist in search of the picturesque and the architect looking for a style have stepped the local historian and the archaeologist. Mr. Barley has built up a picture of the English countryman and his housing needs. He is concerned particularly with the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries since they were the most formative period in the evolution of the modern house.This book is an essential tool in the hands of those who wish to pursue, whether as tourists or as students, an important and fascinating aspect of the history of Rural England.
Nobody Knows My Name: Notes Of A Native Son / Nobody Knows My Name / The Fire Next Time / No Name In The Street / The Devil Finds Work (Vintage International #1)
by James BaldwinFrom one of the most brilliant writers and thinkers of the twentieth century comes a collection of "passionate, probing, controversial" essays (The Atlantic) on topics ranging from race relations in the United States to the role of the writer in society.Told with Baldwin's characteristically unflinching honesty, this &“splendid book&” (The New York Times) offers illuminating, deeply felt essays along with personal accounts of Richard Wright, Norman Mailer and other writers. &“James Baldwin is a skillful writer, a man of fine intelligence and a true companion in the desire to make life human. To take a cue from his title, we had better learn his name.&” —The New York Times
The Secret Sign
by Gladys MalvernThe handsome and popular young actor, Stephanus, was to make the secret sign during his performance at Senator Decius’s banquet. The sign was the sign of the cross, secret in ancient Rome because the pagans feared and fought these Christians who wanted to destroy the old gods. To Stephanus the sign was merely an amusing part of his monologue. He did not realize it meant something vastly more important to Valeria, the Senator’s lovely daughter, whom he, as an ex-slave, could love but never hope to marry. The sign takes on a new meaning for Stephanus when Valeria is imprisoned as a Christian and sentenced to death. Even her noble father cannot gain a pardon from cruel Nero. But Stephanus is determined to rescue her. Carefully he studies the regime at Mamertine Prison, and carefully he plans his last and greatest performance as an actor. This is a richly peopled story of ancient Rome: the life of the aristocrats, the teachings in the catacombs, the terrible fire that swept the beautiful city, and the terrible suspicions and hates that swept it too. This is also a love story: the love of a young man and woman, and, larger than that, the love of the new brotherhood for mankind and their God.
The Tower of Love
by Stephen BirminghamBack at his family&’s New England estate, a man finds a second chance at love—and a devastating truth—in this novel by the author of Young Mr. Keefe. At thirty-one years of age, Hugh Carey has ended both his marriage and his advertising partnership. With his life at loose ends, he&’s returned to the family home in Connecticut—that imposing castle built by his grandfather—to take stock and start over. His mother is only too happy to offer her counsel, as she does for Hugh&’s sister Patsy. But her reputation as the most effective woman since Lady MacBeth is well earned. Also delighted to have Hugh back is Edrita Everett Smith. She&’s the girl next door—and the one who got away. As Hugh and Edrita reconnect, it seems that little has changed, and their old romance is ready to blossom again. But in this quiet, well-heeled suburb, nothing is as simple as it seems. As buried jealousies come to light and new schemes are hatched, Hugh will learn what it truly takes to forge his own path.
Designed To Live In (Routledge Revivals)
by Elisabeth BeazleyOriginally published in 1962, this book traces the main influences behind modern design in domestic architecture. It does so against the context of the effect each new dwelling has on its environment and the effect its design has on those in the surrounding (and often older, historic) housing stock. Diverse influences such as the bye-law street and Le Corbusier’s Ville Radieuse are discussed, while the ideas bearing on the individual private house range from those of the early nineteenth century villa builders to Frank Lloyd Wright’s prairie houses and the work of Mies van der Rohe. The book closes with a detailed discussion of the problems and possibilities of domestic design in house-building in the late 20th Century
Perfume and Pain: A Novel
by Anna Dorn&“Perceptive and witty—like a Sally Rooney novel set in Southern California.&” —Star Tribune (Minneapolis) &“It&’s this author&’s best work yet. A Sapphic roller-coaster ride.&” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) A controversial LA author attempts to revive her career and finally find true love in this hilarious nod to 1950s lesbian pulp fiction.Having recently moved both herself and her formidable perfume bottle collection into a tiny bungalow in Los Angeles, mid-list author Astrid Dahl finds herself back in the Zoom writer&’s group she cofounded, Sapphic Scribes, after an incident that leaves her and her career lightly canceled. But she temporarily forgets all that by throwing herself into a few sexy distractions—like Ivy, a grad student researching 1950s lesbian pulp who smells like metallic orchids, or her new neighbor, Penelope, who smells like patchouli. Penelope, a painter living off Urban Outfitters settlement money, immediately ingratiates herself in Astrid&’s life, bonding with her best friends and family, just as Astrid and Ivy begin to date in person. Astrid feels judged and threatened by Penelope, a responsible older vegan, but also finds her irresistibly sexy. When Astrid receives an unexpected call from her agent with the news that actress and influencer Kat Gold wants to adapt her previous novel for TV, Astrid finally has a chance to resurrect her waning career. But the pressure causes Astrid&’s worst vice to rear its head—the Patricia Highsmith, a blend of Adderall, alcohol, and cigarettes—and results in blackouts and a disturbing series of events. Unapologetically feminine yet ribald, steamy yet hilarious, Anna Dorn has crafted an exquisite homage to the lesbian pulp of yore, reclaiming it for our internet and celebrity-obsessed world. With notes of Southern California citrus and sultry smokiness, Perfume and Pain is a satirical romp through Hollywood and lesbian melodrama.
Cat's Cradle (S.F. MASTERWORKS #70)
by Kurt VonnegutOne of America's greatest writers gives us his unique perspective on our fears of nuclear annihilationExperiment.Told with deadpan humour and bitter irony, Kurt Vonnegut's cult tale of global destruction preys on our deepest fears of witnessing Armageddon and, worse still, surviving it.Solution.Dr Felix Hoenikker, one of the founding fathers of the atomic bomb, has left a deadly legacy to the world. For he is the inventor of ice-nine, a lethal chemical capable of freezing the entire planet. The search for its whereabouts leads to Hoenikker's three eccentric children, to a crazed dictator in the Caribbean, to madness. Felix Hoenikker's death-wish comes true when his last, fatal, gift to mankind brings about an end that, for all of us, is nigh.
In the American Grain (Second Edition)
by William Carlos WilliamsA new edition of William Carlos Williams’ loving and groundbreaking book about American history, with a new introduction by Rick Moody. Although admired by D. H. Lawrence, this modern classic went generally unnoticed during the years after its publication in 1925. Yet it is “a fundamental book, essential if one proposes to come to terms with American literature” (Times Literary Supplement). William Carlos Williams was not a historian, but he was fascinated by the texture of American history. Beginning with Columbus’s discovery of the Indies and moving on through Sir Walter Raleigh, Cotton Mather, Daniel Boone, George Washington, Ben Franklin, Aaron Burr, Edgar Allan Poe, and Abraham Lincoln, Williams found in the fabric of familiar episodes new shades of meaning and configurations of character. He brought a poetic imagination to the task of reconstructing a live tradition for Americans, and what results is one of the finest works of prose to have been penned by any writer of the twentieth century.
Pecos Crossing: Two Complete Novels Of The American West
by Elmer KeltonJohnny Fristo and Speck Quitman, young, hard-working cowboys from Fort Concho, Texas, have worked six months--at $20 a month--on the Devil's River. Their boss, a hawk-faced cow trader named Larramore, reneges on the money he owes the boys and sneaks out of the cow camp and heads for San Angelo.Fristo is tall and thin, his mind a hundred miles away; Quitman is short, bandy-legged, and "bedazzled by the flash of cards and the slosh of whiskey." The two are as different as sun and moon but are inseparable—and now they have a mission: find Larramore and extract the money he owes them.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Thrilling Cities: Fourteen Cities Seen Through the Eyes of Ian Fleming, the Creator of James Bond
by Ian FlemingA CAPTIVATING JOURNEY AROUND THE WORLD FROM THE CREATOR OF JAMES BONDIan Fleming’s world travels and interests, as well as his journalism and wartime experiences, lent authority to everything he wrote. In 1959, the Sunday Times commissioned Fleming to write a series of dispatches from the world’s most beguiling locales. The result was Thrilling Cities, a masterpiece of well-observed travelogue that stands ably alongside the author’s Bond canon.From Hong Kong to Honolulu, New York to Naples, he left the bright main streets for the back alleys, abandoning tourist sites in favor of underground haunts, and mingling with celebrities, gangsters and geishas. The result is a series of vivid snapshots of a mysterious, vanished world from a twentieth century Western perspective.Just like his most famous fictional creation, Ian Fleming was a well-traveled man of the world who knew where to go to find excitement, adventure…and danger. In Thrilling Cities, he takes us along on a journey of international intrigue worthy of James Bond.
Bad Characters: Stories
by Jean StaffordThis book displays at their height the wit, sensibility and psychological penetration that distinguish Miss Stafford's work. There are nine stories and a novella. They range in mood from the title story, a comic portrait of a resourceful child-criminal named Lottie Jump, to "The End of a Career," an elegiac and ironic tale of the declining years of a great beauty. In "A Reasonable Facsimile" Dr. Bohrmann, a retired professor philosophy, is unexpectedly rescued from an aggressively boring young house guest. "Cops and Robbers" is a chilling story of childhood horror and lovelessness that revolves around a father's trip to the barber with his five-year-old daughter.Several of the stories have as their common setting Miss Stafford's fiction town of Adams, Colorado—including an amusing saga of a girl's frustrated attempts to find a quiet spot to read ("A Reading Problem"), and two stories of failure ("In the Zoo") and success ("The Liberation") in the effort to escape from one's family. "Caveat Emptor" is a satire on the academic life and sub-life at the Alma Hettrick College for Girls; and in "The Captain's Gift" the sheltered and lavender-scented existence of old Mrs. Ramsey is violated by the reality of war.The major piece in Bad Characters is "A Winter's Tale," a haunting and evocative novella set in Heidelberg just before the outbreak of the war. It is dominated by the diabolic character of Frau Professor Persis Galt. This portrait of a former Bostonian who poses as an excessively devout convert is one of Miss Stafford's most brilliant fictional creations.This collection by Jean Stafford will be warmly welcomed by the many and devoted admirers of her novels and stories. To new readers the work of one of the best writers of our time will come as a joyful discovery.
Facing Retirement: A Guide for the Middle Aged and Elderly (Routledge Library Editions: Aging)
by A Country DoctorOriginally published in 1960 and revised in 1964 the blurb for Facing Retirement read:“Mature men and women are not afraid of advancing years. More and more seek to prepare themselves for retirement so that they may then find all the happiness they can.This phase of life is interesting to a widening circle, and in writing this book it was the author’s aim to discuss readably, simply, and from his experience with his patients, most relevant aspects of these later years. It was a pioneer in its approach: any similar books which may follow, if they help to lessen the burden of the elderly and aged which has to be sustained by the younger generations, must be of the highest importance not only to individuals but to the nation.For nearly thirty years the author of this book has had the medical care of over 2,000 people of all ages in a cluster of villages and hamlets at the foot of the Cotswold Hills. He has been chairman or president of the County Association for the Care of old People since its inception in 1952.”Today it can be read and enjoyed in its historical context.
Public Administration in France (Routledge Revivals)
by F. F. Ridley J. BlondelOriginally published in 1964, this book was an important addition to the growing field of comparative government and administration. This book covers the organisation of the French cabinet, the structure and functions of government departments and of local authorities, the civil service, the police, the judiciary and public enterprise. There are also chapters on economic planning, the administration of social services and of the educational system. The book explains the spirit as well as the mechanism of the French administrative system, the principles that underly it and the wider background against which it is set
Those Harper Women
by Stephen BirminghamFour generations of women grapple with the gilded cage of their family dynasty in this #1 New York Times–bestselling author&’s &“big, bustling novel&” (The New York Times). Meredith Harper made millions in rum before Prohibition ruined the market. When he died, he left behind an estate of such vast wealth that his descendants were set for life—but what sort of life would it be? In Those Harper Women, Stephen Birmingham presents a fictional group portrait of women who pass down both fortunes and misfortunes, who want for nothing save happiness. Across generations, the Harper women seek joy, self-fulfillment, or mere escape from the trappings of their privilege. But through trips to Europe and the Caribbean, through marriage and divorce, the women find themselves returning time and again to the looming shadow of Meredith and his money.
Dune: Deluxe Edition (Dune #1)
by Frank Herbert• DUNE: PART TWO • THE MAJOR MOTION PICTUREDirected by Denis Villeneuve, screenplay by Denis Villeneuve and Jon Spaihts, based on the novel Dune by Frank Herbert • Starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Léa Seydoux, with Stellan Skarsgård, with Charlotte Rampling, and Javier BardemFrank Herbert&’s classic masterpiece—a triumph of the imagination and one of the bestselling science fiction novels of all time.Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of Paul Atreides—who would become known as Muad'Dib—and of a great family's ambition to bring to fruition mankind's most ancient and unattainable dream.A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed the basis of what is undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction.