Although fluent in the native language, she quickly finds herself on the outside of every experience. Things happen to her, events transpire, but it is as if the city itself, the performance of life there, eludes her. Setting out to uncover the source of the city’s erosion, she is beset by this other crisis—an ontological crisis—as she struggles to retain a sense of what is happening.Event Factory is the first in a series of novels (also available are the second, The Ravickians; the third, Ana Patova Crosses a Bridge; and the fourth, Houses of Ravicka) that Renee Gladman is writing about the invented city-state of Ravicka, a foreign “other” place fraught with the crises of American urban experience, not least the fundamental problem of how to move through the world at all.

    Channeling her poetic sensibilities into a rich, lucid prose, Alexander tells a love story that is, itself, a story of loss. As she reflects on the beauty of her married life, the trauma resulting from her husband's death, and the solace found in caring for her two teenage sons, Alexander universalizes a very personal quest for meaning and acceptance in the wake of loss. The Light of the World is at once an endlessly compelling memoir and a deeply felt meditation on the blessings of love, family, art, and community. It is also a lyrical celebration of a life well-lived and a paean to the priceless gift of human companionship. For those who have loved and lost, or for anyone who cares what matters most, The Light of the World is required reading.

    The poems in this book are polyphonic: they juxtapose the discourses of science and religion, Hollywood and the occasional psychotic stranger. The title poem, which appears in Best American Poetry 2002, leads off with a "sphinx" asking "Does a road / run its whole length / at once? / Does a creature / curve to meet / itself?" Armantrout's work, with its careful syntax bordering on plain speech and meticulously scored short lines, is always struggling with the problem of consciousness, its blindspots and double-binds. The poems whirl like shifting and scattered pieces of the present moment. They attempt to "make sense" of our lives while acknowledging the depth of our self-deception and deception.

    He has until Thanksgiving to decide if he should be the one to move to Marietta. But could he be happy living in such a small town?The Valentine QuestDustin Decker makes a strategic pact with the prim, bookish Nevada Parker for a multi-day race called The Valentine Quest. But with a kiss, their unlikely alliance turns into something more…and soon racing isn’t the only thing on their minds. As the finish line nears, they must decide if the grand prize is worth more than what they’ve found together…or if one of them will walk away empty handed—and broken hearted.The Chocolate TouchChocolate expert Chantelle Cummings arrives in Marietta, Montana with two goals—sign copies of her new book and research a quaint local chocolate shop. When she meets the gorgeous York Parker passing out chocolate samples, her visit turns sweeter than she ever imagined. But when York learns she’s moving abroad, will the truth harden his heart, or will love pave the way to a sweet future?

    

    

    Never has she met a man like him, and though neither of them knows what the future holds, Aniqa is sure of one thing: Je’Marcus must go. A man always wants that old thang back, though, and when Je’Marcus makes good on his promise to love her to death, Aniqa’s locked in the fight of her life, chasing the kind of love only a boss can give. Linc is a hitta in every sense of the word, and he’ll go to war against anyone that comes for the Carmichael throne, but when he uncovers the ultimate betrayal in his tight-knit circle, he questions whether he should remain loyal to the one person he looks up to—who just might be the biggest snake of them all. No one knocks Linc off his square—he’s the solution before people even realize there’s a problem, but when Aniqa captures his heart like no woman before her, Linc finds himself feeling something he’s spent his whole life running away from—love. Linc’s mind says, “Lord, please save her for me,” but can he make his next move his best and capture Aniqa’s heart? Beautiful is a sophistoratchet beauty that’s always on ten—if you’re knuckin’ then she’s buckin! Fiercely protective of Aniqa, her A-1 from way back, Beautiful’s a rider for hers. They say blood is thicker than water, but when Beautiful rolls up on some shocking news about “family,” will she choose to ride with her family or stay down for her bestie? Aniqa’s still crushin’ while Linc wants to love her down, but will she give in and let Linc put some BOSS up in her life?

    

    She’s tried to work, pray, sex, sleep and smoke her problems away but she can’t escape the gloomy, grey clouds hovering over her head. Just wanting to be happy, she's blinded by love; Messiah only sees what she wants to see – always building up to be let down and ultimately crashing. She craves love and admiration but doesn’t love herself enough to know when it’s time to let go of an old flame. Directionless, she coasts along through life numb, until she meets Shyhiem, the man who will change her life forever. He’s everything she never knew she wanted, but everything that she absolutely needed. Without permission, Shyhiem marches into her life and turns everything upside down. He’s rude, cocky, angry and devastatingly handsome. To the world, he’s nothing but an ex-convict with a chip on his shoulder; but to Messiah, he’s an angel sent down from heaven who teaches her how to love again. When Messiah finds herself wasting time, daydreaming about when she’ll see or speak to him again, she knows she’s in trouble. Love wasn’t in the equation for her - especially since she still has feelings for her ex - and Shyhiem has a ghetto baby mother and two kids… Will their love prevail or will self-doubt, self-pity, and a sense of emptiness stop everything before it starts?

    She's sweet as brown sugar with candied yams... Honey-coated complexion... Music camay... Let's hear it for the girl... She's from around the way... Sade is not your typical around the way California girl. Coming from a good family, in the rough part of Compton, the senseless murder of her mother at a young age leaves her family in shambles, and Sade forging a way as a woman without the gentle guidance that only a mother can provide. With her razor sharp tongue, and free spirit, Sade is trying hard to blaze her own trail, despite the wishes of her controlling father and bougie ex boyfriend. Q is the Robin Hood of Tree Top Piru. Under the hardened, heartless exterior that he puts up, is a man longing for the stable love he’s been missing from his baby mama Camari. With enemies lurking around every corner, and treacherous women always trying to claim his heart, a chance encounter on a doomed night sets him on the path to finding the sense of calm that he’s been longing for in his chaotic life. Is Q even capable of loving someone that needs to be loved? Or has his heart been entirely shut off from love because of the ways of the women in his past? Will shared experiences create unbreakable bonds between Q and Sade? Or will secrets, lies, and jealousy rip them apart before their love affair even begins? Get into the story of Q and Sade, two star crossed lovers from Compton. Romeo and Juliet ain’t got nothing on this real hood love story!

    

    

    Emerging out oa a life in shich, the poet's words, "each day was the only day", Menasches work has a mysterious simplicity, a religious intensity, and a lingering emotional force.

    Lonely Christopher combines a striking emotional grammar, reminiscent of Gertrude Stein's Three Lives, with an unyielding imagination in the lovely/ugly architecture of his stories.Lonely Christopher is the author of several poetry chapbooks and is a contributor to the poetry volume Into (Seven Circles Press). His plays have been published, staged in New York City and internationally, and released in Mandarin translation. His fiction received Pratt Institute's 2009 Thesis Award. He is a founding member of the small press The Corresponding Society and an editor of its biannual journal Correspondence. He lives in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn.

    In these poems, which explore aspects of race, identity, and popular culture, Beatty was honing the comic, satirical voice and vivid imagination that came to full realization in his acclaimed fiction. Joker, Joker, Deuce "moves to fierce urban rhythms, both cool and hot," writes Jessica Hagedorn. "A rush of intense visual images and electric word music."