In their intensity of perception, their neon-lit evocation of a strange world brought uncomfortably close to our own, the stories in Jesus' Son offer a disturbing yet eerily beautiful portrayal of American loneliness and hope.Contains:Car Crash While HitchhikingTwo MenOut on BailDundunWorkEmergencyDirty WeddingThe Other ManHappy HourSteady Hands at Seattle GeneralBeverly Home'

    Earth features stories by Rose Tremain, Jonathan Coe, Marti Leimbach, Kate Atkinson, Ian Rankin, Marina Lewycka, Hanif Kureishi, Jonathan Buckley and Nicholas Shakespeare, and a poem by Vikram Seth.The idea behind Ox-Tales is to raise money for Oxfam and along the way to highlight the charity’s work in project areas: agriculture in Earth, water projects in Water, conflict aid in Fire, and climate change in Air.

    Each volume’s series editor selects notable works from hundreds of magazines, journals, and websites. A special guest editor, a leading writer in the field, then chooses the best twenty or so pieces to publish. This unique system has made the Best American series the most respected — and most popular — of its kind.The Best American Short Stories 2012 includesThe last speaker of the language / Carol Anshaw --Pilgrim life / Taylor Antrim --What we talk about when we talk about Anne Frank / Nathan Englander --The other place / Mary Gaitskill --North Country / Roxane Gay --Paramour / Jennifer Haigh --Navigators / Mike Meginnis --Miracle polish / Steven Millhauser --Axis / Alice Munro --Volcano / Lawrence Osborne --Diem Perdidi / Julie Otsuka --Honeydew / Edith Pearlman --Occupational hazard / Angela Pneuman --Beautiful monsters / Eric Puchner --Tenth of December / George Saunders --The sex lives of African girls / Taiye Selasi --Alive / Sharon Solwitz --M&M world / Kate Walbert --Anything helps / Jess Walter --What's important is feeling / Adam Wilson

    Traditional resources—home, parents, lovers, friends, even willpower—are not dependable. And so the characters in these short, compelling stories have learned to depend on small triumphs of wit, irony, and spirit.A widow, surrounded by a small menagerie, comes to terms with her veterinarian husband's death; a young woman entertains her dying friend with trivia and reaffirms her own life; in the aftermath of an abortion, a woman compulsively knits a complete wardrobe for a friend's baby. Buffeted by rude shocks, thwarted by misconnections, the characters recognize that anything can finally become a reason to live.

    For each volume, a series editor reads pieces from hundreds of periodicals, then selects between fifty and a hundred outstanding works. That selection is pared down to twenty or so very best pieces by a guest editor who is widely recognized as a leading writer in his or her field. This unique system has helped make the Best American series the most respected -- and most popular -- of its kind. Lending a fresh perspective to a perennial favorite, Walter Mosley has chosen unforgettable short stories by both renowned writers and exciting newcomers. The Best American Short Stories 2003 features poignant tales that explore the nuances of family life and love, birth and death. Here are stories that will, as Mosley writes in his introduction, "live with the reader long after the words have been translated into ideas and dreams. That's because a good short story crosses the borders of our nations and our prejudices and our beliefs."Dorothy Allison Edwidge Danticat E. L. Doctorow Louise Erdrich Adam Haslett ZZ Packer Mona Simpson Mary Yukari Waters

    But when it comes to love stories, things are simpler. A love story can never be about full possession. Love stories depend on disappointment, on unequal births and feuding families, on matrimonial boredom and at least one cold heart. Love stories, nearly without exception, give love a bad name.... It is perhaps only in reading a love story (or in writing one) that we can simultaneously partake of the ecstasy and agony of being in love without paying a crippling emotional price. I offer this book, then, as a cure for lovesickness and an antidote to adultery. Read these love stories in the safety of your single bed. Let everybody else suffer." --Jeffrey Eugenides, from the introduction to My Mistress's Sparrow Is Dead All proceeds from My Mistress's Sparrow Is Dead will go directly to fund the free youth writing programs offered by 826 Chicago. 826 Chicago is part of the network of seven writing centers across the United States affiliated with 826 National, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.

    They are led to believe that here they will leave behind all the distractions of 'real life' that are keeping them from creating the masterpiece that is in them. But 'here' turns out to be a cavernous and ornate old theater where they are utterly isolated from the outside world - and where heat and power and, most importantly, food are in increasingly short supply. And the more desperate the circumstances become, the more desperate the stories they tell - and the more devious their machinations to make themselves the hero of the inevitable play/movie/non-fiction blockbuster that will certainly be made from their plight.

     Trying to find a way to relax leads Alice to Nielsen’s Stress Consulting—and more importantly to Tobias Nielsen, the CEO and owner himself. Tobias has some ideas on how to relax Alice, but can she handle his unconventional methods? For adults only, “Bent Over His Desk 1: Submission” is an 8,000 word story featuring: BDSM Domination Orgasm Control Spanking Masturbation Rough Sex One hot billionaire From the story: “If I told you to strip until you only had on your shoes and your makeup, what would you think?” Alice stared at him, shocked after he’d lulled her in to comfort, but it provided her with an answer. “I’d be shocked so I don’t know how much thinking I’d be doing.” Once her surprise wore off, a pleasant heat began building inside her. “Would you do it?” “Would you?” Tobias laughed and reclined in his seat. “Would I strip when told to do so? It would depend on who gave the order. Your answer, Alice?” She wrung her hands above her lap and watched them, avoiding Tobias’s gaze for the moment. “If you ordered me to strip right now, I would do it.”

    The characters in The Lemon Table are facing the ends of their lives–some with bitter regret, others with resignation, and others still with defiant rage. Their circumstances are just as varied as their responses. In 19th-century Sweden, three brief conversations provide the basis for a lifetime of longing. In today’s England, a retired army major heads into the city for his regimental dinner–and his annual appointment with a professional lady named Babs. Somewhere nearby, a devoted wife calms (or perhaps torments) her ailing husband by reading him recipes. In stories brimming with life and our desire to hang on to it one way or another, Barnes proves himself by turns wise, funny, clever, and profound–a writer of astonishing powers of empathy and invention.

    Two men concoct a convoluted Hitchcockian murder plot... only to discover death is far more gruesome and permanent than it appears on-screen. An aspiring assassin has a close encounter with his idol. Lawrence Block is at his sinister best in eighteen tales of drifters, grifters, and sweet revenge that are darkly comic, chillingly clever, and sharp as a razor edge.Sometimes they bite The Ehrengraf defense Strangers on a handball court Like a dog in the street A bad night for burglars Nothing short of highway robbery One thousand dollars a word The gentle way The Ehrengraf obligation When this man dies Collecting Ackermans The Dettweiler solution Funny you should ask Like a thief in the night Going through the motions This crazy business of ours And miles to go before I sleep Out the window.

    They had a lot of things in common and rocked with each other no matter what. One of those things they had in common was, they were both in love with their female best friend, Talia Webster. Talia Webster was a woman in love with two men; her two best friends Montel and Tone. One night she gives into her fantasies, after a game of Truth or Dare and drinks. The friends have a threesome which makes things even more complicated than before. The trio decide to engage in a polyamorous relationship that sends shockwaves throughout their families, careers, and lives. Find out what happens when their normal, clashes with the way the world views them and their unique relationship.

    

    She loved the sense of community and hoped to become a part of it. She’d forgotten what it felt like to belong. Love wasn’t in her future, but she’d made her peace with it. But she couldn’t deny her attraction to John Dalton and Michael Keegan, the owners of the bar in town. Their need to share was one thing, but expecting her to submit was another. She couldn’t lose control. Before she could begin an affair with them, the nightmares began, plaguing her sleep and soon she thought she was losing her mind. Worried about the change in Ava, John and Michael took charge, furious when they learned that someone was stalking her. And when they learned why, and just how much danger it meant for her, they stayed close. Close enough to know they wanted her forever. [Siren Menage Everlasting: Erotic Romance, Contemporary, Menage, Romantic Suspense, MFM, HEA]

     Wes stretched me beyond what I thought possible. One second I was breathing a sigh of relief and the next moment I was gasping for air. It was all too much. The way our lives delicately balanced pleasure and pain was like walking a slippery slope. We had our sights set on turning professional poker player, Vance Cruz, into a superstar, but the media had other plans to distract us from our daily affairs. The walls around me were closing in. And fast. I wanted to run. Wes kept his grip firm, not letting me get too far. Despite his brute strength, they were after me, and they were after Wes. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, the walls were breached. My nerves were raw and I was fatigued. I needed a break. A way out of the chaos surrounding my life. Sheila had her ideas of what I should do, and so did Julia Mabel. And when I flew home to Minnesota thinking that Wes and I were done for good, I learned something that might just save me from losing the love of my life forever. Mature audience only. 18+ This story is planned to unfold over several stories and Vol. 5 ends on a cliffhanger.

    She has a great job, money, and a beautiful home in Tampa, Florida. The only snag she has is her assistant Emma needs her help. She recently married Scott, and loves him more than life itself. The problem is, Emma says he is horrible in bed, and she does not know how to fix the problem. So she’s turning to Jean for advice. But how do you tell a man he sucks in the sack? Jean has an idea, but she is not sure if it will work, or if Emma will go along with it.