The mind- and language-bending adventures of Hemon's endearing protagonist Jozef Pronek.

    From the calculating teenager who raids her parents’ liquor cabinet, only to drown her sorrows in it, to the suburban swimmer withering away with every plunge he takes, these are stories suffused with beauty, sadness, and the gathering storm of a bender well-done. Seen through the gin-lacquered looking glass of Cheever’s writing, your next drink may have you reaching for a lime and soda instead.Selected from the book Collected Stories by John CheeverVINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS.A series of short books by the world’s greatest writers on the experiences that make us humanFor the full list of books visit vintageminis.co.ukAlso in the Vintage Minis series:Swimming by Roger DeakinEating by Nigella LawsonCalm by Tim PeaksLove by Jeanette Winterson

    Sometimes we tell these stories to make people laugh. Sometimes we tell them to make people think. Sometimes we tell them so we can increase the chances we'll see the other person naked.Paul Shirley's stories are about an adulthood spent all over the world: living in Spain, playing in the NBA, and having his heart (and spleen) broken. But they're also stories about growing up in small-town Kansas: triumphant spelling bees, catastrophic middle school dances, and a Sex Ed. class taught by his mother.They're funny stories. They're vulnerable stories. Most of all, they're universal stories, just as the stories we tell on dates should be.

    Eye-witness perspective of founding band member Richie Furay, the story of an influential group, pop culture, and politics in the 60's and 70's.

    His damaged, searching narrators deliver their reports of addiction, lust, loneliness, grief, and the doomed dream of rock 'n' roll with a sly lyricism and eerie spareness that somehow redeem them. Listen to this chorus of gallows humor and goodwill sometimes gone bad and hear wild voices rise out of the din of city living: Gary is a failed punk icon turned petty drug dealer and amateur self- actualization guru; the Chersky girl makes a strange midnight discovery roller-skating through a Depression-era morgue. Pot-dazed Trotskyists, summer-camp sadists, and babysitters with an eye toward erotic humiliation also make themselves known in the lost, shattered landscapes of Lipsyte's fictions. "When you have an old soul like I do," deadpans one hero, "everything gets old really quick. Nothing is new. An avocado, a glass of beer, everything tastes like it's been sitting out on a table too long." These stories, loosely linked in character and setting, recall the stark realism of Denis Johnson and the wild humor of Barry Hannah. In these poignant, sharp-witted tales, Sam Lipsyte proves himself one of today's most visceral and fearless short-story writers.

    Grandson of George Crosby (the protagonist of Tinkers), Charlie inhabits the same dynamic landscape of New England, its seasons mirroring his turbulent emotional odyssey. Along the way, Charlie's encounters are brought to life by his wit, his insights into history, and his yearning to understand the big questions.

    The three long poems in Eye Against Eye convey the wrought particulars of intimate human relations, perceptions of the landscape, and the historical moment, tense with political exigencies. Mayan ruins invoke the collapsing Twin Towers, love between parents and child blister with tension, and a bicycle thief shatters the narcotic illusion of a private accord. Also contained is Late Summer Entry, a series of poetic commentaries on Sally Mann's landscape photographs. Eye Against Eye, Forrest Gander's third book with New Directions, cries out an ethical concern for the ways we see each other and the world, the potential to share a vision that acknowledges our commonality. As always with Gander's poetry, suspensions and repetitions drive toward a complex emotional experience, evoking the multifaceted, multi-vocal surge of our present.

    Just ask them; they'll be happy to tell you.But every girl knows that there can only be one "best."Can Sasha keep the girls from turning the arena into a war zone and still snag a spot on the coveted Youth Equestrian National Team?

     On the eve of the biggest meeting of her career, corporate lawyer Lucy Smith has been saddled with her precocious nephew, courtesy of her flaky sister’s unexpected vacation. Determined to stick to her plans, Lucy brings Nathan with her to the bank to close the deal. Instead, some nut-job robber forces her to point a gun at a cop, telling her to pull the trigger or watch Nathan die. Detective Constable Grady Harrison manages to escape with only a flesh wound. And wearing only his boxers. But he can’t seem to convince Lucy that his gut instinct—the same instinct he’s ignored since it led to disaster in Afghanistan—warns him she wasn’t just a random hostage, but a target. When Lucy’s car blows up, she’s forced to admit she needs Grady’s help, which melts her carefully ordered world into a chaotic pool of desire. But as threats pile up and Grady’s grip on his heart slips, the only thing standing between them and death is the last thing he trusts: his intuition.

    This text takes its title from the author's farm, Hard Scrabble where he lived and worked as a farmer and writer, since the 1950s.

    She has great parents, a younger brother, and two best friends who round out her better than average life. Her future is planned out, thanks to her police officer father, who strictly enforces the rules with a firm, but loving hand. Millie is a kind-hearted soul and proper daughter who respects her dad's authority...until she meets a mysterious new student who stirs emotions in her she's never felt before. A drug deal gone bad in South Boston, leaves Cash Davis' mother no choice but to move him to Tennessee. His life hasn't been easy, but Cash is tough, and plans on making his future better than his past. Those plans include keeping his head down and finishing high school... but nothing ever comes easy for Cash. His connection with Millie surprises him, and as hard as he tries, he can't stay away from her. Millie's dad arresting him before their first date is definitely not ideal for Cash, and it causes friction between Millie and her parents. Can Millie convince her parents that Cash is the guy for her? Will she still want to after secrets from his past are revealed?

    Just adding him to the picture, her stay starts to get better, even if she knows it has to end with the summer holidays.That is until Betty drops a life-shattering bomb.Roxie must make a choice that will change her life forever. What happens when a spoiled brat from New York learns the true meaning of love, loss, and forgiveness? Can Chase and Roxie find a way to be together or is this just another summer romance?

    An expert in all things extraordinary, she’s approached to lead the formation of a new team into the West Virginia wilderness to evaluate reports of a giant spider, but her quest for answers leads her to the discovery of an eight-legged monstrosity no one could have prepared for. Existing for eons beneath our earth, these aren’t your garden variety spiders. They’re bloodthirsty monsters that will rip apart anything—and anyone—in their path, and while a town fights to survive Emily and her team will have to do everything they can to beat back the terror before there’s a new species at the top of the food chain!

    Because of an unhealthy relationship with the bottle, he’s ruined his reputation as one of the South’s preeminent commissioned metal sculptors. And his desperate turn to ice sculpting might’ve led to a posse of angry politicians on his trail. With the help of his sane and practical potter wife, Raylou, Harp understands that it’s time to return to the mig welder. Yes, it’s time to prove that he can complete a series of twelve-foot-high metal angels—welded completely out of hex nuts—for the city of Birmingham. Is it pure chance that the Elbow Boys, their arms voluntarily fused so they can’t drink, show up in order to help Harp out in a variety of ways? And why did his neighbor smuggle anteaters into desolate Ember Glow? Is it true that there’s no free will?

    Falling for the nanny is so cliche.But I did.And now the nanny has kidnapped my daughter.My military training should have prepared me.But the past is a biatch.One with green eyes and curves so delicious I would sell my soul to possess her.The battle lines have been drawn.My lover is now my enemy.No good options and only 30 days to save what’s mine.Don’t cry little darlin.Daddy’s coming for you.