In these fourteen stories, Hemingway begins to examine the themes that would occupy his later works: the casualties of war, the often uneasy relationship between men and women, sport and sportsmanship. In "Banal Story," Hemingway offers a lasting tribute to the famed matador Maera. "In Another Country" tells of an Italian major recovering from war wounds as he mourns the untimely death of his wife. "The Killers" is the hard-edged story about two Chicago gunmen and their potential victim. Nick Adams makes an appearance in "Ten Indians," in which he is presumably betrayed by his Indian girlfriend, Prudence. And "Hills Like White Elephants" is a young couple's subtle, heartwrenching discussion of abortion. Pared down, gritty, and subtly expressive, these stories show the young Hemingway emerging as America's finest short story writer.

    Twenty-five or so outstanding writers have been asked by Zadie Smith to make up a fictional character. By any measure, creating character is at the heart of the fictional enterprise, and this book concentrates on writers who share a talent for making something recognizably human out of words (and, in the case of the graphic novelists, pictures). But the purpose of the book is variety: straight "realism"-if such a thing exists-is not the point. There are as many ways to create character as there are writers, and this anthology features a rich assortment of exceptional examples. The writers featured in The Book of Other People include: Aleksandar Hemon Nick Hornby Hari Kunzru Toby Litt David Mitchell George Saunders Colm Tóibín Chris Ware, and more

    In a race against the clock, Nicole uncovers the dark secrets of her parents’ pasts, but can she come to terms with the truth in enough time to rescue her boyfriend?

    Taut, brooding, and densely atmospheric, these stories show us the ways in which murder can arise out of boredom, perversity can result from adolescent curiosity, and sheer evil might be the solution to unbearable loneliness. These tales are as horrifying as anything written by Clive Barker or Stephen King, but they are crafted with a lyricism and intensity that compel us to confront our secret kinship with the horrifying.

    The test is severe—sexual in method, psychological in substance… The artistic interest here has precisely to do with the use not only of erotic materials but also erotic methods, the deliberate stimulation of the reader as a part of and means to a total, authentic literary experience.—Eliot Fremont-Smith, The New York Times

    She’s career driven and absolutely married to her job, though it’s no matter—her situation seems to be going fine for her. She has no complaints, but maybe she just doesn’t know what she’s missing out on. No less, in the hope of finding some much needed time away from work, she decides to take a weekend trip to nearby Las Vegas. On the flight out from Los Angeles, Jennifer finds herself sitting next to an indomitably handsome man—Thomas. She can’t help but drift off into reveries about him, even though she doesn’t even know his name yet. Jennifer believes that’s as far as things will go, but to her surprise, she finds herself engaged in a friendly chat with Thomas that quickly leads to a dinner invitation out on the Vegas strip, which, of course, leads to much more. The feelings of attraction are mutual and neither has any intention of playing coy. As the weekend draws to a close, Jennifer finds herself comforted by the fact that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. But will Jennifer’s weekend fling simmer over into much more? Will Thomas’ skills in the bedroom leave Jennifer hooked on, and even a little tied up, by what he has to offer? And is it true that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas?

     My name’s Jack. I’m a relatively average guy working as an IT consultant. I had some interesting experiences as a soldier before I took up my current profession, but basically, I'm an average normal guy since then. It was pure dumb luck that I met a gorgeous woman on an airplane, and we hit it off. I’m usually seated next to the fat, talkative guy, sweating alcohol out of his pores. Instead, I got to sit next to an exotic beauty, and she decided to be my companion for the day. You can’t make this stuff up! It all started with that ‘truth stranger than fiction’ scenario, and yet...that is the least crazy thing about everything that followed in my life after that day. Beings of myth and legend exist. No, really! If you ever read about fantastic beings in a fairy tale or myth, the odds are they exist - or they are based on something equally fantastic. I always enjoyed reading about them, but never dreamed they existed. What really twisted my noodle is that apparently, I am one. Hold onto your knickers, while I tell you about this crazy ride I’m on. WARNING: This story is an adult fantasy for mature folks. As such, this story includes unusual interpretations of myth and legends, faerie violence, descriptions of genitalia, descriptions of sexual activities, mixing of US, UK, and Indian idioms, panamorous relationships, harem relationships, romance, bromance, BFFs, cursing, bathroom selfies, off-beat humor, eating food while naked or partially naked, drinking, going to the bathroom, the insurance industry, the IT consulting industry, and many other things that might possibly offend someone in our judgemental society. If you are offended by any of those things, then go forth to enjoy life elsewhere. I wish you the best. If you’re not dissuaded, then...

    Amy Bloom writes great short stories. Her first collection, Come to Me, was a finalist for the National Book Award, and here she deepens and extends her mastery of the form.Real people inhabit these pages, the people we know and are, the people we long to be and are afraid to be: a mother and her brave, smart little girl, each coming to terms with the looming knowledge that the little girl will become a man; a wildly unreliable narrator bent on convincing us that her stories are not harmless; a woman with breast cancer, a frightened husband, and a best friend, all discovering that their lifelong triangle is not what they imagined; a man and his stepmother engaged in a complicated dance of memory, anger, and forgiveness. Amy Bloom takes us straight to the center of these lives with rare generosity and sublime wit, in flawless prose that is by turns sensuous, spare, heartbreaking, and laugh-out-loud funny.These are transcendent stories: about the uncertain gestures of love, about the betrayals and gifts of the body, about the surprises and bounties of the heart, and about what comes to us unbidden and what we choose.A blind mand can see how much I love you --Rowing to Eden --Lionel and Julia (Night vision, Light into dark) --Stars at elbow and foot --Hold tight --The gates are closing --The story

    Surrendering to her inner most desires Kate soon finds herself submitting to the erotic, sensual and sensitive demands of her mysterious Master.Drawn into a world of erotic love Kate quickly realises all that matters in her world is Her Master's Voice.Her Master's Voice 2The continuing story of the steamy, erotic relationship between submissive young Kate and her dominant master Dillon. With just a couple of days to go before her wedding day Kate's hopes plans and dreams are thrown into turmoil when a mysterious beautiful woman comes back into Dillon's life.

    ClubA Washington Post Notable BookAn NPR Great Read of 2013From the author of the novel Swamplandia!—a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize—comes a magical and uniquely daring collection of stories that showcases the author’s gifts at their inimitable best. Within these pages, a community of girls held captive in a Japanese silk factory slowly transmute into human silkworms and plot revolution; a group of boys stumble upon a mutilated scarecrow that bears an uncanny resemblance to a missing classmate that they used to torment; a family’s disastrous quest for land in the American West has grave consequences; and in the marvelous title story, two vampires in a sun-drenched lemon grove try to slake their thirst for blood and come to terms with their immortal relationship.Vampires in the lemon grove --Reeling for the Empire --Seagull army descends on Strong Beach, 1979 --Proving up --Barn at the end of our term --Dougbert Shackleton's rules for Antarctic tailgating --New veterans --Graveless doll of Eric Mutis

    

    FOR ADULTS (18+) ONLY. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sarah was a virgin when she was married. When she and her husband, Sam, were intimate for the first time, Sarah was amazed at the pleasures that sex could bring her. But soon after, sex became boring, monotonous. Until she discovered her husband’s secret. After discovering that Sam used to work in the Adult Film industry, Sarah confronts him and demands that they spice up their sex life. Sam agrees, and suddenly Sarah is thrown into a world of sexual adventures and fantasies she could have never dreamed of—one she can never return from. My Husband's Secret is a Novella of approximately 100 pages.

    Some money from each copy of Speaking with the Angel sold will benefit autism education charities around the world, including The Treehouse School in London, where Nick’s son Danny is a student, and the New York Child Learning Institute here in the States. This project is truly a labor of love for Hornby and the other writers involved, many of whom are Nick’s friends.These original first-person narratives come from the most exciting voices in fiction. Melissa Bank gives readers a glimpse into the mind of a modern New Yorker whose still-new relationship is a constant source of surprise in “The Wonder Spot.” In Zadie Smith’s “I’m the Only One,” a young man recalls his strained relationship with his diva-esque sister. Dave Egger’s “After I Was Thrown in the River and Before I Drowned,” is told from the viewpoint of an unfortunate pit bull. Helen Fielding offers up a new twist on I’ve fallen and I can’t get up in “Luckybitch.” And in Nick Hornby’s “NippleJesus,” a bruiser finds out that guarding modern art is far more hazardous than controlling the velvet ropes at a nightclub. Speaking with the Angel also includes stories from Roddy Doyle, Irvine Welsh, Colin Firth, John O’Farrell, Robert Harris, Patrick Marber, and Giles Smith.Twelve completely new stories, written by twelve undeniably imaginative voices. Speaking with the Angel is at turns clever, outrageous, witty, edgy, tender, and wicked. This is what they meant by original.

    Bolano's narrators are usually writers grappling with private (and generally unlucky) quests, who typically speak in the first person, as if giving a deposition, like witnesses to a crime. These protagonists tend to take detours and to narrate unresolved efforts. They are characters living in the margins, often coming to pieces, and sometimes, as in a nightmare, in constant flight from something horrid.In the short story "Silva the Eye," Bolano writes in the opening sentence: "It's strange how things happen, Mauricio Silva, known as The Eye, always tried to escape violence, even at the risk of being considered a coward, but the violence, the real violence, can't be escaped, at least not by us, born in Latin America in the 1950s, those of us who were around 20 years old when Salvador Allende died."Set in the Chilean exile diaspora of Latin America and Europe, and peopled by Bolano's beloved "failed generation," the stories of Last Evenings on Earth have appeared in The New Yorker and Grand Street.

    B. Singer's classic memoir In My Father's Court, these stories, published serially in the Daily Forward, depict the beth din in his father's home on Krochmalna Street in Warsaw. A unique institution, the beth din was a combined court of law, synagogue, scholarly institution, and psychologist's office where people sought out the advice and counsel of a neighborhood rabbi.The twenty-seven stories gathered here show this world as it appeared to a young boy. From the earthy to the ethereal, these stories provide an intimate and powerful evocation of a bygone world.