Best of
Modern

1982

They Tore Out My Heart and Stomped That Sucker Flat


Lewis Grizzard - 1982
    Without skipping a beat, one of America's favorite humorists, the late Lewis Grizzard, tells of the early stirrings of his wayward heart in the backseat of a '57 Chevy and the ominous murmurings that led him at age thirty-five to major surgery and the real answer to his question, "How much is this going to hurt?" In the process he discovers all the ways a heart can break. Young love. Three marriages. His father's death. And why his entire future suddenly depended on a little pig. He tells the truth -- the whole truth -- the kind that has readers laughing through their tears. United Press International said, "It makes you feel good to know a person can face the tubes, wires, knives and needles of major heart surgery and make you laugh about it -- hilarious!"

The Magic Army


Leslie Thomas - 1982
    The invasion of Occupied Europe. This army, mainly Americans, British and Canadians, most of whom had no experience of battle, was to be transported across the English Channel. No one knew how. This is the story of the American "occupation" of a wide district of South Devon to permit realistic war games. Its characters range from the Generals Eisenhower and Montgomery to the village simpleton. The Magic Army is an impressively moving, often very funny novel, which recreates the astonishing operation which preceded the Allied landing in France.

China: Alive in the Bitter Sea


Fox Butterfield - 1982
    Penetrates the soul of this intricate and mysterious nation.

Our Man Weston


Gordon Korman - 1982
    Tom tries to stop his twin brother, a bumbling amateur detective, from tracking down a possible spy at a Canadian resort hotel where the brothers are employed for the summer.

D'Apres Tout: Poems by Jean Follain


Heather McHugh - 1982
    The description for this book, D'Apres Tout: Poems by Jean Follain, will be forthcoming.