Caliban to King Kong, Edgar Allan Poe’s stories, the films of David Lynch, Beauty and the Beast, The Wizard of Oz, E.T., Richard Yates’s domestic realism, B-horror movies, and the fairy tales of Angela Carter—how such a short novel could contain all of these disparate elements is a testament to its startling and singular charm.

    After much too long a silence, Kimball resurfaced in 1996 with Undone, a suspense novel that marked a major change of artistic direction. Now, a mere four years later, Kimball has published his third novel, Mouth to Mouth. It too is a suspense novel, and it's a beauty: a moody, brooding, Gothic account of murder, madness, and festering family secrets.Mouth to Mouth opens with a set piece in which most of the elements of the subsequent tragedy move quickly into view. The scene, ironically, is a wedding. Moreen Chambers, 17 years old and very pregnant, has just married a 27-year-old "outlaw" named Randy, a violent, potentially abusive loser who works as an enforcer for a local loan shark. Moreen's mother Ellen, whose own marriage has fallen on difficult times, despises her new son-in-law and foresees nothing but a bleak, unhappy future for her daughter. As Ellen stands contemplating the travesty-in-progress, looking like someone who is "wondering if it's possible to get away with murder," an attractive stranger whispers in her ear: "Actually, it is."The stranger, it turns out, is Neal Chambers, 24-year-old nephew of Ellen's husband, Scott. Twelve years before, in the wake of his father's suicide, Neal and his mother had left the town of Destin, Maine, behind, and have not been heard from since. As we quickly learn, the "suicide" of Jonathan Chambers was the direct result of an adulterous affair between his brother, Scott, and his wife, April. That 12-year-old tragedy, the details of which have never been fully revealed, dominates the backdrop of the primary narrative, casting a long, remorseless shadow over everything that happens in this book.Neal is a charismatic figure who exerts a powerful -- and immediate -- erotic hold over Ellen Chambers. Within days of Moreen's wedding, Neal is ensconced at the Chambers's sheep farm, having volunteered to rebuild their dilapidated barn, a task he completes, with almost superhuman efficiency, in 12 days. (Twelve, by the way, is a talismanic number for Neal, and shows up repeatedly throughout the novel.) At the same time, Neal volunteers to help Ellen resolve her son-in-law problem. Ellen's ambiguous response to this offer -- which she neither condones nor actively forbids -- comes back to haunt her when, early in the novel, Randy suffers a sudden "accident" while repairing a leak in the Chamber's dammed-up pond.The next stage of the novel concerns Ellen's gradual realization that she has allowed a psychopath to enter her life, and that her son-in-law's fate is just a single element in a complex -- and demented -- agenda that Neal has been working toward since his father's suicide, 12 years before. This agenda encompasses Neal's entire family, all of whom have been targeted -- according to a bizarre but precise numerological system -- for punishments that reflect Neal's deeply twisted sense of poetic justice. Mouth to Mouth is an intelligent, emotionally wrenching novel that does its work on more than one level. First of all, it is a tense, thoroughly professional thriller that becomes more and more absorbing as the narrative progresses. Kimball has the true writer's eye for character, action, and atmosphere, and his novel is filled with vividly constructed sequences -- a protracted drowning, a forbidden erotic encounter between Ellen and Neal, a staged conflagration in the Chambers's newly rebuilt barn, a climactic encounter in a frozen, flooded valley -- that are alternately frightening and hypnotically fascinating.But the real heart of Mouth to Mouth is Kimball's painstaking portrait of a family collapsing under the combined weight of guilt, silence, and secrecy. As Neal proceeds with his schemes, he locates the fault lines in a damaged family that has more than its share of dysfunctional characteristics to begin with. As Ellen struggles helplessly against the tidal pull of events, her marriage flounders, her personal and professional lives slide simultaneously out of control, and her distant, incommunicative daughter drifts further and further out of reach. Kimball catches all of this with sympathy and precision, and the result is a powerful, sometimes desolating account of the destruction -- and partial reconstruction -- of a deeply vulnerable family. This, more than anything, gives Mouth to Mouth its emotional and dramatic center, lifting it well above the level of its numerous, less ambitious, competitors. --Bill Sheehan

    Just a few years ago, however, Dhani thought his playing days were over. Cut by the Eagles and the Saints, he was at a professional crossroads. When the Bengals called, though, he was more than ready and in the best shape of his life. And for that, he credits his off-season.   The Sportsman follows Dhani’s discovery that the parts of his life that, to many, seemed to be distractions— including an off-season TV show that sent him around the world to learn and compete in other sports—actually served to cross-train him in ways he’d never imagined, enabling him to become more grounded, globally aware, and, most surprisingly, a much better football player. Part travelogue, part workout guide, part Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, The Sportsman is an invigorating account of Dhani’s global sporting adventures and the lessons he has learned along the way. From dragon boat racing in Singapore to carrying 300-pound rocks in Iceland to biking in Italy, Dhani’s adventures taught him to be tougher, smarter, and stronger than ever. The Sportsman is a reminder that by connecting to the world through its people and customs and the spirit of competition, we empower ourselves in ways that can surpass our craziest expectations.

    Along with such visionaries as William S. Burroughs, Neal Cassady, and Allen Ginsberg, Kerouac changed the face of American literature, igniting a counterculture revolution that even now, decades later, burns brighter than ever in Desolation Angels.In one of the major cinematic events of 2012, Jack Kerouac's legendary Beat classic, On the Road, finally hits the big screen. Directed by Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries; Paris, Je T'Aime) and with a cast of some of Hollywood's biggest young stars, including Kristen Stewart (The Twilight Saga), Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund, Kirsten Dunst, Amy Adams (Julie & Julia, The Fighter), Tom Sturridge, and Viggo Mortensen (the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Road), the film will attract new fans who will be inspired by Kerouac's revolutionary writing.

    Both a coming-of-age story and a brave, beautifully rendered expose of a hidden, insular world . . . heartrending.--Elle.

    He is one of the symp-toms of our times—from the little man who shoves you out of the way on the street to the go-getter who shoves you out of a job in the office to the Fuehrer who shoves you out of the world. And all of us have stopped to wonder, at some time or another, what it is that makes these people tick. What makes them run?This is the question Schulberg has asked himself, and the answer is the first novel written with the indignation that only a young writer with talent and ideals could concentrate into a manuscript. It is the story of Sammy Glick, the man with a positive genius for being a heel, who runs through New York’s East Side, through newspaper ranks and finally through Hollywood, leaving in his wake the wrecked careers of his associates; for this is his tragedy and his chief characteristic—his congenital incapacity for friendship.An older and more experienced novelist might have tempered his story and, in so doing, destroyed one of its outstanding qualities. Compromise would mar the portrait of Sammy Glick. Schulberg has etched it in pure vitriol, and dissected his victim with a precision that is almost frightening.When a fragment of this book appeared as a short story in a national magazine, Schulberg was surprised at the number of letters he received from people convinced they knew Sammy Glick’s real name. But speculation as to his real identity would be utterly fruitless, for Sammy is a composite picture of a loud and spectacular minority bitterly resented by the many decent and sincere artists who are trying honestly to realize the measureless potentialities of motion pictures. To this group belongs Schulberg himself, who has not only worked as a screen writer since his graduation from Dartmouth College in 1936, but has spent his life, literally, in the heart of the motion-picture colony. In the course of finding out what makes Sammy run (an operation in which the reader is spared none of the grue-some details) Schulberg has poured out everything he has felt about that place. The result is a book which the publishers not only believe to be the most honest ever written about Hollywood, but a penetrating study of one kind of twentieth-century success that is peculiar to no single race of people or walk of life.

    A Pound of Steam presents seven poems exploring identity and alienation, a philosophical bent that can be found in her song lyrics, but here goes further to unearth truths about the human condition.

    After a nine-year affair with Jake, a married man, Kate Ennis decides to escape. She takes off, looking for something beautiful and quiet by the sea, but finds herself in a pitch dark and driving rain on a lonely Irish road. It is only months later that she learns that she may have committed a crime, but by then she is home, once more negotiating with Jake for time, for attention, and for love."

    Few writers possess Hailey's ability to combine careful, accurate research with a profound sense of human drama. (Doubleday)

    You will learn to: • Step into your royal identity as a daughter of the King and experience contentment, security, and patience in your life • Protect your purity as you see how God sees you—valued, beautiful, and one-of-a-kind • Take advantage of the waiting process and use it to become a woman of devotion, faith, and conviction • Refuse to settle for anything or anyone less than God’s best for your life Enjoy the wait, embrace the journey, and experience the extraordinary power of being a Lady in Waiting! This is a great book for when God says wait.

    This Bundle contains all six books of the Bestselling Series, BEAR CANYON BRIDES! Each book is a stand-alone romance featuring a new couple, and a new happy ending! WANTED: A Bride for a BEAR! In Bear Canyon, the men outnumber the women 3 to 1! What’s a BEAR to do when he wants to find a wife? He places an ad! This series features BBW Mail Order Brides and Sexy, Alpha BEAR Shifters! BEAR SEEKING BRIDE: TRAVIS (Book 1) BEAR SEEKING BRIDE: TYLER (Book 2) BEAR SEEKING BRIDE: TRENT (Book 3) BEAR SEEKING BRIDE: LUKE (Book 4) BEAR SEEKING BRIDE: DREW (Book 5) BEAR SEEKING BRIDE: THORN (Book 6) (Each book is also sold separately!)

    

    This outrageous and inventive short story is not just focused solely on crap itself, but the spirituality of crap. This parody of the Tao Te Ching begs the question: Is everything crap? McFergus translates Li Chang's master work from an ancient roll of toilet paper, a minor Chinese national treasure purchased on eBay, to uncover the lost legend of Li Chang.DISCLAIMER: There is no Winnie the Pooh bear in this story. There is no piglet. The only honey pot in this story has crap in it. THIS IS NOT THE TAO OF POOH.

    But how do these uncompromising and often haunting performances square with his off-duty reputation as the ultimate salt-of-the-earth diamond geezer? The answer lies in the East End of his youth. Revisiting the bomb-sites and boozers of his childhood and adolescence, Ray Winstone takes the reader on an unforgettable tour of a cockney heartland which is at once irresistibly mythic and undeniably real. Told with its author's trademark blend of brutal directness and roguish wit, Young Winstone offers a fascinating insight into the social history of East London, as well as a school of hard knocks coming-of-age story with a powerful emotional punch.

    Pierce Victorian Mansion in Gardner, Massachusetts, in 2009, they scoffed at the ghostly legends surrounding the house. They didn't believe in ghosts. The house soon proved them wrong. By the fall of 2011, they were forced from their house, narrowly escaping with their lives. Includes interviews from paranormal experts: Carl Johnson, Andrew Lake, Michael Robishaw, Lucky Belcamino, Marc Arvilla, and more. Forward written by Thomas D'Agastino. Contains photos, as well as audio and video links of evidence captured at the Haunted Victorian Mansion.