A Day Like Any Other


Isla Dewar - 2021
    You can only use the experiences you live through to make your future better, wiser. Anna and her best friend George meet every week to remember, to sigh, to laugh, to reminisce about their moments of glory, guilt and mischief and share their sorrows over a glass or three of wine. The things they've done still make them blush. Anna wanted to be a poet - a famous poet. George left home in a childish rage and years later returned with her baby.When Anna is asked to look after the boy across the road for a few hours each week, she isn't sure. She doesn't really do children. But she takes the job on and, gradually, a child's view of her world shows her a different place.George remembers a flat she stayed in when she ran away from home. It had the kitchen of all kitchens and, oh, how she'd love to see it again. Anna sets out to see if it still exists and discovers a cookbook full of recipes, intimates notes and drawings from George's life.Does all this mark an ending or the beginning of something new and marvelous for Anna and George?

In a Cardboard Belt!: Essays Personal, Literary, and Savage


Joseph Epstein - 2007
    Taking his title from the wounded cry of the once great Max Bialystock in The Producers -- “Look at me now! Look at me now! I’m wearing a cardboard belt!” -- Epstein gives us his largest and most comprehensive collection to date.Writing as a memoirist, polemicist, literary critic, and amused observer of contemporary culture, he uses to deft and devastating effect his signature gifts: wide-ranging erudition, sparkling humor, and a penetrating intelligence. In personally revealing essays about his father and about his years as a teacher, in deeply considered examinations of writers from Paul Valery to Truman Capote, and in incisive take-downs of such cultural pooh-bahs as Harold Bloom and George Steiner, this remarkable collection presents us with the best work of our country’s most singular talent, engaged with the richness and variety of life, witty in his response to the world, and always entertaining.

The Robert B. Parker Companion


Dean A. James - 2005
    Parker's novels from Spenser to Jesse Stone to Sunny Randall, plot summaries, cast of characters, Boston locations and maps, and more. Even before he was named Grand Master for Lifetime Achievement by the Mystery Writers of America, Edgar® Award-winning Robert B. Parker had assumed the mantle of dean of American crime fiction. "Taking his place beside Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Ross MacDonald" (Boston Globe), he transcended the crime genre. As one of the most prolific writers in the world, he reinvented crime writing. Now his millions of fans can discover everything about Robert B. Parker and his books: - Comprehensive biography of Robert B. Parker - Inside the Spenser novels - All about the Jesse Stone and Sunny Randall novels - Parker's stand-alone fiction - Complete cast of characters - Spenser on film - Robert B. Parker's Boston: locales, crime scenes, and maps - Memorable quotes - Inclusive bibliography - Plus, an exclusive and insightful new interview with Robert B. Parker

La profe de español: Learn Spanish by Reading


Juan Fernández - 2016
    Reading is one of the most effective and pleasant ways to learn a Foreign Language. By reading, students can learn vocabulary and grammar structures as part of a story, in context, without memorising lists of isolated words or studying endless grammar rules. However, La profe de español is not just a book to learn Spanish. It is also a good story. It is a funny, witty, enjoyable and engaging story. A story that will capture your attention from the beginning and, hopefully, will make you smile. It tells the story of María, a Spanish teacher who works in a really peculiar language school, where bizarre things happen. If you have ever been to a Spanish class, you will enjoy reading this book.

Am I Alone in Thinking...?: Unpublished Letters to the Daily Telegraph


Iain Hollingshead - 2009
    But what of all the letters that were just slightly too extreme, too off the wall, too politically incorrect, or just too barking mad, to make it to publication?

A Chancer


James Kelman - 1985
    Unable to hold a job for long, his life revolves around Glasgow bars, living with his sister and brother-in-law, betting shops, and casinos. Sometimes Tammas wins, more often he loses. But gambling gives him as good a chance as any of discovering what he seeks from life since society offers no prospect of a more fulfilling alternative.

When the Pedlar Called


Harry Bowling - 1998
    But Josie's new responsibilities don't stop her imagining a brighter future - a future she hopes to share with Jonny Francis, whom she has loved for as long as she can remember.Her younger brother Tommy, however, does not adjust so easily to the changes in family life. The mounting tension between himself and Josie reaches its peak and Tomy storms out of the house, vowing to live with his dad. But when he finds himself caught up in the notorious Pedlar's plan to assassinate an eminent political figure, he begins to wish that he'd left well enough alone, for nothing will ever be the same again...

Toefl Grammar Flash


Milada Broukal - 2000
    Suitable for learners of all levels, from the novice to the more advanced, the series is geared specifically for nonnative English speakers and is perfect as supplemental desk references.

Salman Rushdie: Midnight's Children-The Satanic Verses


David Smale - 2002
    As a novelist and icon, Rushdie has embraced both 'popular' and 'high' culture; reflecting this, the Guide brings together both academic criticism and journalism to investigate the passions and preoccupations of Rushdie's many critics, steering the reader through the inflamed debates and rhetoric surrounding this much admired but controversial author.

Shakespeare Lexicon and Quotation Dictionary, Vol. 1


Alexander Schmidt - 1874
    The lifetime work of Professor Alexander Schmidt of Königsberg, this book has long been the indispensable companion for every person seriously interested in Shakespeare, Renaissance poetry and prose of any sort, or English literature. It is really two important books in one.Schmidt’s set contains every single word that Shakespeare used, not simply words that have changed their meaning since the seventeenth century, but every word in all the accepted plays and the poems. Covering both quartos and folios, it carefully distinguishes between shades of meaning for each word and provides exact definitions, plus governing phrases and locations, down to the numbered line of the Cambridge edition of Shakespeare. There is no other word dictionary comparable to this work.Even more useful to the general reader, however, is the incredible wealth of exact quotations. Arranged under the words of the quotation itself (hence no need to consult confusing subject classifications) are more than 50,000 exact quotations. Each is precisely located, so that you can easily refer back to the plays or poems themselves, if you wish context.Other features helpful to the scholar are appendixes on basic grammatical observations, a glossary of provincialisms, a list of words and sentences taken from foreign languages, a list of words that form the latter part of word-combinations. This third edition features a supplement with new findings.

Wittgenstein's Ladder: Poetic Language and the Strangeness of the Ordinary


Marjorie Perloff - 1996
    Taking seriously Wittgenstein's remark that "philosophy ought really to be written only as a form of poetry," Perloff begins by discussing Wittgenstein the "poet." What we learn is that the poetics of everyday life is anything but banal."This book has the lucidity and the intelligence we have come to expect from Marjorie Perloff.—Linda Munk, American Literature"[Perloff] has brilliantly adapted Wittgenstein's conception of meaning and use to an analysis of contemporary language poetry."—Linda Voris, Boston Review"Wittgenstein's Ladder offers significant insights into the current state of poetry, literature, and literary study. Perloff emphasizes the vitality of reading and thinking about poetry, and the absolute necessity of pushing against the boundaries that define and limit our worlds."—David Clippinger, Chicago Review"Majorie Perloff has done more to illuminate our understanding of twentieth century poetic language than perhaps any other critic. . . . Entertaining, witty, and above all highly original."—Willard Bohn, Sub-Stance

Understanding Poetry (The Modern Scholar: Way with Words, Vol. 4)


M.D.C. Drout - 2008
    Drout submerses listeners in poetry's past, present, and future, addressing such poets as Milton, Wordsworth, Shelley, and Keats, and explaining in simple terms what poetry is while following its development through the centuries.

Nick Hornby's High Fidelity


Joanne Knowles - 2002
    The aim of the series is to give readers accessible and informative introductions to some of the most popular, most acclaimed and most influential novels of recent years - from ‘The Remains of the Day' to ‘White Teeth'. A team of contemporary fiction scholars from both sides of the Atlantic has been assembled to provide a thorough and readable analysis of each of the novels in question.

The Truth About You, Me and Us


Kate Field - 2017
    Wealthy, glamorous and bored, she longed for something more.Now a talented artist with a small business, Helen creates crazy patchwork crafts to support her young daughter, Megan. Penniless, content and single, she is almost unrecognisable.But when her past unexpectedly collides with her new life, Helen finds herself torn. She knows what the easiest choice is, but is it what she wants?

Learn Brazilian Portuguese - Word Power 101


Innovative Language - 2011
    This e-book is a completely new way to learn Brazilian Portuguese vocabulary fast - and for free! Start speaking Brazilian Portuguese in minutes with the powerful learning methods you will master in this book.The vocabulary words you’ll find in Learn BrazilianPortuguese - Word Power 101 were hand selected by our Brazilian Portuguese language teachers as the top 101 most frequently used words in the Brazilian Portuguese language. With each entry, you’ll see the word and a vibrant image to help remember the meaning. You’ll hear the word (separate free download) to master the pronunciation. Then you’ll see how the word is actually used in everyday speech with sample sentences and phrases. Learning Brazilian Portuguese vocabulary has never been easier!In this book, you’ll get: - 101 of the most frequently used Brazilian Portuguese vocabulary words - Audio with authentic native Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation *Supplementary mp3 audio files are a separate download - Vibrant photos and images to help memorization - Useful and practical sample sentences and phrases Purchase Learn BrazilianPortuguese - Word Power 101 today to start mastering Brazilian Portuguese vocabulary in the fastest, easiest and most fun way possible!