What sets him apart from other famous eccentrics is the fact that he had the wealth to indulge his manias to the fullest. Perhaps his greatest achievement was to have a vast network of underground tunnels built beneath his estate, from which, with his horses and carriages, he could secretly escape to the outside world. On a visit to the Duke's establishment, which still more or less stands, Mick Jackson became fascinated not only by the tunnels but by the stories that surrounded the memory of this strange man. He began to embroider them with fictional ideas of his own, and with the tales the local people passed on to him. Some of the characters' names in the book are genuine, as indeed are some of the most bizarre details. The actual narrative is, however, pure invention, filled not only with tales of the Duke, but also with the excitement and discoveries of the age in which he lived, and the mysteries that we are still exploring.

    But as Eugenia learns more of the ruthlessly ambitious man she has married and the rugged land he has brought her to, the very elegance and delicacy her husband prized in her soon prove liabilities. She is appalled by many aspects of plantation life - the convict slave laborers, the suffocating summer heat, the merciless winters. It is a maid who seems to be the real mistress of Yarrabee.

    As such, he had no right to aspire to the hand of the fair lady, Queen Vendora, not even when he saved her during the siege of her frontier castle. But aspire he did.Contains additional chapters, glossary, and author's afterword.

    

    . . but before I go there are some things you should know . . . !!!! Set in a London ad agency desperate to land a coveted big account, e follows the bureaucratic bungling, cutthroat maneuvers, and outrageous sexual antics of a group of Miller-Shanks employees as they scheme, lie, lust, and claw their way up (and down) the company ladder.Written by a former advertising copywriter, this hilarious, dead-on-target novel marks the debut of a hip and exciting new voice in contemporary fiction. With the click of a mouse, Matt Beaumont brings the novel of letters into the twenty-first century, turning his merciless, unerring eye on today's Machiavellian corporate culture-with uproarious results. Rachel Stevenson, Personnel-1/5/00, 3:09 pm to: Chandra Kapoor cc: David Cruttonre: Urgent: Please delete Carla Browne's ID from e-mail with immediate effect. Thank you.

    The truth is more complex . . . and dangerous. Ten years ago, something that happened here brought about her father's ruin and subsequent death—and Althea intends to clear her disgraced parent's name and finally lay a dark past to rest. But there are some mysteries best left buried in the shifting sands, and a devoted daughter's search for answers is stirring up forgotten memories almost too painful to endure, that propel her onward among ancient tombs, legendary treasures, miraculous discoveries . . . and ever-closer to her own threatened doom.

    Take care. Be good." She has no knowledge of her name, her past, or even her species. It takes her a while to realize that she is human — and that the beings who threaten, befriend, and violate her are other people. Some of whom seem to know all about her.In this eerie, blackly funny, and sometimes disorienting novel, Martin Amis gives us a mystery that is as ambitious as it is intriguing, an investigation of a young woman's violent extinction that also traces her construction of a new and oddly innocent self.

    They bury their doubts with their dead.Then comes the prophecy: The White Rose has been reborn, somewhere, to embody good once more…This omnibus edition comprises The Black Company, Shadows Linger, and The White Rose―the first three novels in Glen Cook's bestselling fantasy series.

    But a different fate awaits young Jason, whom Stevens, his great-uncle, believes may be the last vestige of hope in the family."Although to date your life seems to be a sorry excuse for anything I would call promising, there does seem to be a spark of something in you that I hope we can fan into a flame. For that reason, I am not making you an instant millionaire."What Stevens does give Jason leads to The Ultimate Gift. Young and old will take this timeless tale to heart.

    Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.

    Their outrageous scheme provokes a series of crises involving the White House, the CIA, and a strangely sympathetic and vulnerable Chinese president, with both countries veering perilously towards war.Buckley has drawn his most convincing and outrageous characters to date: Bird, failed novelist of amusingly awful Clancy-esque thrillers; Angel, combination Anne Coulter and Ayn Rand; Bird's demanding, equestrian wife, Myndi; Bewks, his feckless but endearing Civil War re-enactor brother; the mild-mannered Chinese President Fa and his devoted aide Gang, maneuvering desperately against sinister Politburo hard-liners Minister Lo and General Han.Blending the skewering genius of Thank You for Smoking with Dr. Strangelove 's dark comedy, They Eat Puppies, Don't They? has something to offend — and amuse — everyone.

    He had a beautiful wife, three lovely children, a nice house...and all the mistresses he desired. He had it all -- all, that is, but happiness. Slocum was discontent. Inevitably, inexorably, his discontent deteriorated into desolation until...something happened. Something Happened is Joseph Heller's wonderfully inventive and controversial second novel satirizing business life and American culture. The story is told as if the reader was overhearing the patter of Bob Slocum's brain -- recording what is going on at the office, as well as his fantasies and memories that complete the story of his life. The result is a novel as original and memorable as his Catch-22.

    Barrie. Peter Pan, the boy who refused to grow up, is one of the immortals of children's literature. J.M. Barrie first created Peter Pan as a baby, living in secret with the birds and fairies in the middle of London, but as the children for whom he invented the stories grew older, so too did Peter, reappearing in Neverland, where he was aided in his epic battles with Red Indians and pirates by the motherly and resourceful Wendy Darling. With their contrary lures of home and escape, childhood and maturity, safety and high adventure, these unforgettable tales are equally popular with children and adults.

    Barraged by the constant advisements and bickerings of Aunt Penelope and Uncle Deva, who live with their nephew in the shimmering Void, Mr g proceeds to create time, space, and matter. Then come stars, planets, animate matter, consciousness, and, finally, intelligent beings with moral dilemmas. Mr g is all powerful but not all knowing and does much of his invention by trial and error.Even the best-laid plans can go awry, and Mr g discovers that with his creation of space and time come some unforeseen consequences—especially in the form of the mysterious Belhor, a clever and devious rival. An intellectual equal to Mr g, Belhor delights in provoking him: Belhor demands an explanation for the inexplicable, requests that the newly created intelligent creatures not be subject to rational laws, and maintains the necessity of evil. As Mr g watches his favorite universe grow into maturity, he begins to understand how the act of creation can change himself, the Creator.With echoes of Calvino, Rushdie, and Saramago, combining science, theology, and moral philosophy, Mr g is a stunningly imaginative work that celebrates the tragic and joyous nature of existence on the grandest possible scale.

    Oliver Twist, published in 1838 and set in London's Victorian underworld, is a novel of social protest, a morality tale and detective story. The orphan Oliver, Viper Fagan, Bill Sykes, and the Artful Dodger are some of the most memorable characters in all of literature. A Tale of Two Cities, published in 1859, is Dickens's great novel of the French Revolution. In it he brings to life a time of terror and treason, when a starving populace rose in fury to overthrow a corrupt and decaying regime. the human story within the Revolution is the duality of the heart, embodied by two of his greatest characters: Charles Darnay and Sidney Carton.Great Expectations, published in 1861, is the story of Pip and the mysterious fortune which falls into his lap. It is both comic and tragic, filled with memories of childhood fairy tales with a twist. One of Dickens' greatest achievements, it is a novel, as Graham Greene comments, filled with secret prose giving us, "the sense of a minds peaking to itself with no one to listen." A Christmas Carol, published in 1843, is his most beloved story, as much a part of Christmas as mistletoe and carolers. Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Bob Crachit and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future all occupy a special place in our hearts and memories.(front flap)