Book picks similar to
The Bird Who Cleans the World and Other Mayan Fables by Victor Montejo
literature
look-at-life
mythology
paper-back
Daughters of Copper Woman
Anne Cameron - 1984
Now comes a new edition that includes many pieces cut from the original as well as fresh material added by the author. Here finally, after twenty-two years of gathering dust, is the complete version of the groundbreaking bestseller.In this, her best-loved work, Anne Cameron has created a timeless retelling of northwest coast Native myths that together create a sublime image of the social and spiritual power of woman. Cameron weaves together the lives of legendary and imaginary characters, creating a work of fiction with an intensity of style matched by the power of its subject.
The King Is Always Above the People: Stories
Daniel Alarcón - 2009
Migration. Betrayal. Family secrets. Doomed love. Uncertain futures. In Daniel Alarcon's hands, these are transformed into deeply human stories with high stakes. In -The Thousands, - people are on the move and forging new paths; hope and heartbreak abound. A man deals with the fallout of his blind relatives' mysterious deaths and his father's mental breakdown and incarceration in -The Bridge.- A gang member discovers a way to forgiveness and redemption through the haze of violence and trauma in -The Ballad of Rocky Rontal.- And in the tour de force novella, -The Auroras-, a man severs himself from his old life and seeks to make a new one in a new city, only to find himself seduced and controlled by a powerful woman. Richly drawn, full of unforgettable characters, The King is Always Above the People reveals experiences both unsettling and unknown, and yet eerily familiar in this new world.The thousands --The ballad of Rocky Rontal --The king is always above the people --Abraham Lincoln has been shot --The provincials --Extinct anatomies --República and Grau --The bridge --The lord rides a swift cloud --The auroras
The Lost Steps
Alejo Carpentier - 1953
The Lost Steps describes his search, his adventures, and the remarkable decision he makes in a village that appears to be truly outside history.
The Good Cripple
Rodrigo Rey Rosa - 1996
The kidnappers demand a ransom; his rich father does not reply. The kidnappers threaten to cut off his son's foot and still hear nothing. They then slice off one of Juan Luis's toes and send it to his father, who still refuses to act. So the next day... The Good Cripple obsessively focused, chilling, allegorical is stunningly explosive. With its enigmatic beginning, however, and its circular relentless structure, the novel is also dense with ideas: can one be whole after mutilation? Can the injured transcend violence? Rodrigo Rey Rosa's style is of a lithe pristine clarity, but beneath that calm surface cruelty, revenge, and diffidence churn darkly away. The Good Cripple is an astonishingly intense book, and as unforgettable as the sight of "the place where the foot had been severed, where a circle of red flesh, now a little black along the edges, could be seen, with a concentric circle of white bone that was both milky and glassy..."
A Year Full of Stories: 52 Classic Stories From All Around the World
Angela McAllister - 2016
The book is broken into 12 chapters, for each of the 12 months of the year, and throughout, stories are matched to internationally celebrated dates, including Valentines Day and the International Day of Friendship, as well as seasonal events and festivals. Collected and retold by award-winning author Angela McAllister, and illustrated by internally recognised artist Christopher Corr, this is a book that will be treasured by families and appeal to teachers and librarians around the world.CONTENTS --Dedication --JANUARY --New Year's Day Father Frost (A Russian story) --Wintertime The Magic Porridge Pot (A German story) --Chinese New Year King of the Forest (A Chinese story) --FEBRUARY --Candlemas The Empty Barn (A Latvian story) --Valentine's Day The Frog Prince (A German story) --The Mole's Wedding (A Korean story) --Shrove Tuesday The Runaway Pancake (A German story) --MARCH --St. David's Day Gelert the Hound (A Welsh story) --World Wildlife Day The Bird Wife (An Inuit story) --Purim The Blue Coat (A Jewish story) St. Patrick's Day The Pot of Gold (An Irish story) --World Water Day Tiddalik, the Thirsty Frog (An Indigenous Australian story) --APRIL --April Fools' Day Rabbit and Crab (A Mayan story) --Easter The Basket of Eggs (A Canadian story) --World Health Day How the Bear Clan Learned to Heal (An Iroquois story) --St. George's Day The Glass Knight (An English story) --The Shoemaker and the Dragon (A Polish story) --MAY --May Day The Cracked Pot (An Indian story) --Springtime Spring and Autumn (A Japanese story) --Vesak The Hare in the Moon (A Buddhist story) --JUNE World Oceans Day Prince Fire Flash and Prince Fire Fade (A Japanese story) --Ramadan The Boots of Hunain (An Arabic story) --Midsummer Anansi and Turtle (A Caribbean story) --World Music Day Skeleton oman (An Inuit story) --JULY --Eid ul- Fitr Zirak and Ring-dove (An Iraqi story) --Tanabata The Weaving Maiden and the Oxherd (A Japanese story) --St. Swithin's Day Elephant and the Rain Spirit (An African Bushman story) --International Day of Friendship Heungbu and Nolbu (A Korean story) --Androcles and the Lion (A Roman story) --AUGUST --Lammas Day The Little Red Hen (A Russian story) Harvest The Ship of Wheat (A Dutch story) --Persephone (An ancient Greek story) --SEPTEMBER --Yom Kippur Jonah and the Whale (A Bible story) --International Day of Peace The Two Kings (A Buddhist Story) --Autumn Why the Evergreeens Keep Their Leaves (An American story) --The Gifts of the North Wind (A Norwegian story) --OCTOBER --World Food Day The Raja and the Rice (An Indian story) --Why the Bananas Belong to the Monkey (A Brazilian story) --Diwali Rama and Sita (An Indian story) --Halloween The Buried Moon (An English story) The Shortest Ghost Story in the World (An English story) --NOVEMBER --Thanksgiving How the Pine-tree Chief Got His Name (An Iroquois story) --The Gift of a Cow-tail Switch (A West African story) --Bonfire Night How Grandmother Spider Brought Fire (A Choctaw story) --National Tree Week The Woodcutter and the Wolf (A French story) --The Tree of Magical Leaves (A Chinese story) --St. Andrew's Day Conall and the Thunder Hag (A Scottish story) --DECEMBER --Human Rights Day The Bell of Atri (An Italian story) --Midwinter East of the Sun, West of the Moon (A Scandinavian story)
Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica
Zora Neale Hurston - 1938
Tell My Horse is an invaluable resource and fascinating guide. Based on Zora Neale Hurston’s personal experience in Haiti and Jamaica, where she participated as an initiate rather than just an observer of voodoo practices during her visits in the 1930s, this travelogue into a dark world paints a vividly authentic picture of ceremonies and customs and superstitions of great cultural interest.
GOON SQUAD 2014 Summer Special
Jonathan L. Howard - 2014
The Goon Squad 2014 Summer Special contains an introduction to the Squad, and four short stories: "Red Wolf, Red Wolf, Does Whatever a Red Wolf Can," "Changes," "No-No Dojo," and "Tale of Terror." Join Puppet Girl, the Revenant, Red Wolf, and Talos as they protect the fairly innocent, are sharply critical about modern newspapers, talk to a door in Salford, and recount the day the city nearly blew up.
Japanese Fairy Tales and Others
Lafcadio Hearn - 1936
From cautionary tales to ghostly visions, the fairy stories of Japan are characterized not only by the customary amount of fantasy but also by a welcome dose of mischievous fun. For any lover of other-worlds, dreamscapes, and magical beings, this collection of Japanese folk and fairy tales provides quick transportation to a land of miniature warriors, willow-women, and ogre-isles, beautifully accented by the unmistakable exoticism of the Land of the Rising Sun. Bohemian and writer PATRICK LAFCADIO HEARN (1850-1904) was born in Greece, raised in Ireland, and worked as newspaper reporter in the United States before decamping to Japan. He also wrote In Ghostly Japan (1899), and Kwaidan (1904).
The Book of the Unknown: Tales of the Thirty-six
Jonathon Keats - 2009
A liar, a cheat, a degenerate, and a whore. These are the last people one might expect to be virtuous. But a legendary Kabbalist has discovered the truth: they are just some of the thirty-six hidden ones, the righteous individuals who ultimately make the world a better place. In these captivating stories, we meet twelve of the secret benefactors, including a timekeeper’s son who shows a sleepless village the beauty of dreams; a gambler who teaches a king ruled by the tyranny of the past to roll the dice; a thief who realizes that his job is to keep his fellow townsfolk honest; and a golem–a woman made of mud–who teaches kings and peasants the real nature of humanity.With boundless imagination and a delightful sense of humor, acclaimed writer and artist Jonathon Keats has turned the traditional folktale on its head, creating heroes from the unlikeliest of characters, and enchanting readers with these stunningly original fables.
Apple and Knife
Intan Paramaditha - 2018
These short fictions set in the Indonesian everyday—in corporate boardrooms, in shanty towns, on dangdut stages—reveal a soupy otherworld stewing just beneath the surface. Sometimes wacky and always engrossing, this is subversive feminist horror at its best, where men and women alike are arbiters of fear, and where revenge is sometimes sweetest when delivered from the grave.Mara finds herself brainstorming an ad campaign for Free Maxi Pads, with a little help from the menstruation-eating hag of her childhood. Jamal falls in love with the rich and powerful Bambang, but it is the era of the smiling general and, if he’s not careful, he may find himself recruited to Bambang’s brutal cause. Solihin would give anything to make dangdut singer Salimah his wife – anything at all. In the globally connected and fast-developing Indonesia of Apple and Knife, taboos, inversions, sex and death all come together in a heady, intoxicating mix full of pointed critiques and bloody mutilations. Women carve a place for themselves in this world, finding ways to subvert norms or enacting brutalities on themselves and each other.
Coyote Songs
Gabino Iglesias - 2018
A woman offers colonizer blood to the Mother of Chaos. A boy joins corpse destroyers to seek vengeance for the death of his father.These stories intertwine with those of a vengeful spirit and a hungry creature to paint a timely, compelling, pulpy portrait of revenge, family, and hope.
Tales from Silver Lands
Charles J. Finger - 1924
In them an assortment of animals, magical creatures, witches, giants, and children struggle for a life in which good overcomes evil. These fast-moving and adventuresome fantasies provide insight into the values and culture of native South American peoples. They stress the importance of close relationships, hard work, bravery, gentleness, and beauty, and contain colorful explanations of natural phenomena.A tale of three tails --The magic dog --The calabash man --Na-Ha the fighter --The humming-bird and the flower --The magic ball --El Enano --The hero twins --The four hundred --The killing of Cabrakan --The tale of the gentle folk --The tale that cost a dollar --The magic knot --The bad wishers --The hungry old witch --The wonderful mirror --The tale of the lazy people --Rairu and the star maiden --The cat and the dream man (less)
Transformations
Anne Sexton - 1971
The fairy tale-based works of the tortured confessional poet, whose raw honesty and wit in the face of psychological pain have touched thousands of readers.
Astonishing Times #1 (comiXology Originals)
Frank J. Barbiere - 2021
Bhoomija: Sita
Anand Neelakantan - 2017
Love, passion, longing, hunger, revenge, righteousness, and truth—do all these things mean the same for the different creations of God? In this extraordinary story by the bestselling author of The Rise of Sivagami: Book 1 of Baahubali -- Before the Beginning (as also Asura: Tale of the Vanquished; Ajaya: Roll of the Dice; and Ajaya: Rise of Kali), Anand Neelakantan lets the reader into the mind of Sage Valmiki and reveals the hitherto unknown reason for his choosing the wonderfully empowered Sita as the pivot of the grand epic, Ramayana…