Meanwhile There Are Letters: The Correspondence of Eudora Welty and Ross Macdonald


Suzanne Marrs - 2015
    Though separated by background, geography, genre, and his marriage, the two authors shared their lives in witty, wry, tender, and at times profoundly romantic letters, each drawing on the other for inspiration, comfort, and strength. They brought their literary talents to bear on a wide range of topics, discussing each others' publications, the process of translating life into fiction, the nature of the writer’s block each encountered, books they were reading, and friends and colleagues they cherished. They also discussed the world around them, the Vietnam War, the Nixon, Carter, and Reagan presidencies, and the environmental threats facing the nation. The letters reveal the impact each had on the other’s work, and they show the personal support Welty provided when Alzheimer’s destroyed Macdonald’s ability to communicate and write.The editors of this collection, who are the definitive biographers of these two literary figures, have provided extensive commentary and an introduction. They also include Welty’s story fragment “Henry,” which addresses Macdonald’s disease. With its mixture of correspondence and narrative, Meanwhile There Are Letters provides a singular reading experience: a prose portrait of two remarkable artists and one unforgettable relationship.

The Hammer Story


Marcus Hearn - 2005
    The now-legendary British company went on to make such classics as Dracula (and its many sequels), making international stars out of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, changing the face of horror cinema, and inspiring a generation of Hollywood filmmakers, including George Lucas, Martin Scorsese and Tim Burton.Now, for the first time, Hammer have given their active backing to an authorised history of the company, and have provided unlimited access to their archives.The Hammer Story provides a film-by-film dissection, dripping with rare promotional material and previously unpublished photographs.

Conversations with Raymond Carver


Marshall Bruce Gentry - 1990
    Collections of interviews with notable modern writers

Fuckin' Lie Down Already


Tom Piccirilli - 2003
    He always played by the rules until a two-bit junkie hit man destroyed his family and left him for dead. But Clay won't let himself lie down until he gets one last thing: revenge

Faery!


Terri WindlingM. Lucie Chin - 1985
    McKillip13 • The Thirteenth Fey • Jane Yolen25 • Lullaby for a Changeling • (1976) • Nicholas Stuart Gray43 • Brat • (1941) • Theodore Sturgeon61 • Wild Garlic • William F. Wu79 • The Stranger • (1978) • Shulamith Oppenheim85 • Spirit Places • Keith Taylor99 • The Box of All Possibility • Z. Greenstaff109 • The Seekers of Dreams • (1963) • Felix Marti-Ibanez127 • Bridge • Steven R. Boyett139 • Crowley and the Leprechaun • Gregory Frost151 • The Antrim Hills • (1976) • Mildred Downey Broxon173 • The Snow Fairy • M. Lucie Chin215 • The Five Black Swans • (1973) • Sylvia Townsend Warner223 • Thomas the Rhymer • poem by Anonymous227 • Prince Shadowbow • Sheri S. Tepper239 • The Erlking • (1977) • Angela Carter247 • The Elphin Knight • poem by Anonymous251 • Rhian and Garanhir • (1979) • Lin Carter [as Grail Undwin]257 • The Woodcutter's Daughter • Alison Uttley271 • The Famous Flower of Serving Men • poem by Anonymous275 • Touk's House • Robin McKinley299 • The Boy Who Dreamed of Tir na n-Og • (1979) • Michael M. McNamara

Clive Barker's Shadows in Eden


Stephen Jones - 1991
    Heavily illustrated with rare photos, stills, and drawings, 16 in full color. With an introduction by Stephen King.

The Tell-Tale Heart: The Life and Works of Edgar Allan Poe


Julian Symons - 1978
    Symons reveals Poe as his contemporaries saw him a man struggling to make a living out of hack journalism and striving to find a backer for his new magazine, and a man whose life was beset by so many tragedies that he was often driven to excessive drinking and a string of unhealthy relationships. Fittingly written by another master in the art of crime writing, this volume brilliantly portrays the original creator of the detective story and reveals him as the genius and unashamed plagiarist that he was."

The Ghosts of Now


Joan Lowery Nixon - 1984
    "Your brother is dead," whispers a voice. At the hospital, Angie finds Jeremy in a coma from which he may never recover. Angie is on her own trying to piece together the events of that horrifying night. Her family is new to town. What could Jeremy possibly have discovered that led him so deeply into danger? Angie won't rest until she finds out. But she doesn't know someone is ready to do anything to stop her...

Gypsy in Amber


Martin Cruz Smith - 1971
    When you are a gypsy, an antique dealer, and you've been entrusted with a very old highboy in which a dead body is discovered, you have a major problem.Sorcery and the dark sciences lie at the heart of a terrible murder that threatens to force the police into a confrontation with New York's gypsy community. However, Roman Grey decides to unearth the truth about the killing, whatever the cost.

Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day: A Reader's Guide


Adam Parkes - 2001
    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 books in the series will all follow the same structure:a biography of the novelist, including other works, influences, and, in some cases, an interview; a full-length study of the novel, drawing out the most important themes and ideas; a summary of how the novel was received upon publication; a summary of how the novel has performed since publication, including film or TV adaptations, literary prizes, etc.; a wide range of suggestions for further reading, including websites and discussion forums; and a list of questions for reading groups to discuss.

The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading


Jonathan Riley-Smith - 1986
    Following what was then conventional practice among church reformers, the Pope referred to his war of liberation as Christ's own war, to be fought in accordance with God's will and intentions.Urban II called this a war of liberation for two reasons: one, to free the church of Jerusalem from oppression and pillage by the Muslims and to liberate western churches in general; and two, to free the city of Jerusalem from the servitude into which it has fallen. This summons of the lay knight to the faith between 1095 and 1096 was Urban II's personal response to an appeal that had reached him from eastern Christians.In this classic work, Jonathan Riley-Smith, today one of the world's most renowned crusade historians, approaches this central and well-known topic of medieval history with freshness and impeccable research. Through the vivid presentation of a wide range of European chronicles and charter collections, Riley-Smith provides a striking illumination of crusader motives and responses and a thoughtful analysis of the mechanisms that made this expedition successful.

Before and Afterlives


Christopher Barzak - 2013
    These are tales of relationships with unearthly domesticity and eeriness: a woman falls in love with a haunted house; a beached mermaid is substituted for a disappeared daughter; the imaginary friend of a murdered young woman stalks the streets of her small town; a mother’s teenage son is afflicted with a disease that causes him to vanish; a father exploits his daughter’s talent for calling ghosts to her; and a wife leaves her husband and children to fulfill her obligations in the world from which she escaped.

A First-Class Temperament: The Emergence of Franklin Roosevelt


Geoffrey C. Ward - 1989
    Beginning in 1905, with Franklin and Eleanor's honeymoon, it covers FDR's years as New York state senator, assistant secretary of the Navy, his early struggle to overcome the ravages of polio and ends with his election as governor of New York in 1928. Ward not only traces the development of Roosevelt's "first-class temperament" but provides dimensional characterizations of friends, enemies and family members, gallantly defending FDR's often-maligned mother, Sara, and revealing the effect on the Roosevelt children of the tensions between Franklin and Eleanor. FDR's jaunty, fun-loving nature and his "breezy duplicity" are brought into focus in the early sections, but the tone deepens in the moving account of the future president's valiant but hopeless attempt to regain the use of his legs. Going against the accepted legend, Ward maintains that "the Roosevelt who could not walk was in most respects very like the one who could."

Finding Florida: The True History of the Sunshine State


T.D. Allman - 2013
    Depopulated after the extermination of its original native population, today it’s home to nineteen million. The site of vicious racial violence, including massacres, slavery, and the roll-back of Reconstruction, Florida is now one of our most diverse states, a dynamic multicultural place with an essential role in 21st-century America.In Finding Florida, journalist T.D. Allman reclaims the remarkable history of Florida from the state’s mythologizers, apologists, and boosters. Allman traces the discovery, exploration, and settlement of Florida, its transformation from a swamp to “paradise.” Palm Beach, Key West, Miami, Tampa, and Orlando boomed, fortunes were won and lost, land was stolen and flipped, and millions arrived. The product of a decade of research and writing, Finding Florida is a highly original, stylish, and masterful work, the first modern comprehensive history of this fascinating place.

Less Than Human


Gary Raisor - 1992
    All had family waiting for them. All, except two. The town of Carruthers, Texas, has seen its share of drifters and lowlifes. But never anyone like Steven and Earl. They move from town to town. Hustling the pool halls. Raising a little hell. Drinking a little blood. They sleep by day and hunt by night--the ultimate predators. The perfect life. Until now. A barroom brawl ends in disaster. The soil from Steven's grave has been stolen. And a young boy's death sparks an all out war between vampires and mortals that will turn the local Frontier Day celebration into a blood bath....