Klaus Wagenbach, who wrote the first major critical biography of Kafka, draws upon a wealth of new and recent information to produce a concise but finely nuanced portrait of the author, an ideal introduction to this quintessential figure of modernity.With extensive reference to Kafka's extraordinary letters and diaries, Wagenbach shows us the author of Metamorphosis and The Trial perpetually caught between the irresistible attractions of the world and his ruthless desire for solitude and isolation. It was this tension, Wagenbach tells us, that gave Kafka's writing its uncanny quality and that haunted his intense, unresolved relationships with women. And it was in this tension that both his misery and mastery inhered, making his one of the most painfully powerful voices of the experience of the twentieth century.

    This was Dora Diamant, an independent spirit who fled her Polish Hasidic family to pursue her Zionist dreams, who persuaded Kafka to leave his parents and live with her in Berlin the year before he died. Based on original sources and interviews, including never-before-seen material from the Comintern and Gestapo archives and Dora's newly discovered diary, and letters, Kafka's Last Love illuminates the life of a literary "wife" who, like Véra Nabokov and Nora Joyce, is a remarkable woman in her own right.

    When Eachann's two unruly children are expelled from school, he is even determined to wed. Following an old Scottish custom, Eachann decides to solve the problem for both himself and his brother ... Spying on a fancy society party, Eachann spots debutante Georgina Bayard basking in the spotlight. Meanwhile, pretty Amy Emerson is valiantly struggling to conceal her first broken heart. Swept away by this strange Scotsman, both young women become captives. Kidnapped and furious, Amy and Georgina have a choice: fight for the life they'd previously known --- or let their hearts get carried away.

    The theory is that since dogs evolved from wolves and wolves (supposedly) form packs with strict pecking orders and battle each other to become the pack leader, your dog will do the same within your household. In this new US edition, author Barry Eaton separates out the facts from the fiction regarding dominance in pet dogs, presenting the reader with the results of recent research into the behavior of wolves and the impacts of selective breeding on the behavior of dogs. The results may surprise you and will surely inform you.

    He never returned, dying of a fever in Babylon at the age of 32. over the world. Taking part in battles and sieges galore, Alex even finds himself up against an army of 326 elephants...

    With Venice and Paris as a backdrop, the frailty of the emotions that connect the characters is exposed through Flor's decline into insanity.

    In one story, two New Jersey siblings with substance-abuse problems relapse together on Christmas Eve; in another, a young couple tries to make sense of an increasingly unhinged veterinarian who seems to be tapping, deliberately or otherwise, into the unspoken troubles between them. In tales about characters as they age from punk shows and benders to book clubs and art museums, the promise of community acts--at least temporarily--as a stay against despair.Running throughout Cool for America is the characters' yearning for transcendence through art: the hope that, maybe, the perfect, or even just the good-enough sentence, can finally make things right.

    This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1881 edition by Bernhard Tauchnitz, Leipzig.Originally serialized in MacMillan's Magazine, Volumes CLI and XLII, November 1879 to October 1880.

    He sits motionless, like a spider in the centre of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations, and he knows well every quiver of each of them' Sherlock Holmes, scourge of criminals everywhere, whether they be lurking in London's foggy backstreets or plotting behind the walls of an idyllic country mansion, and his faithful colleague Dr Watson, solve these breathtaking and perplexing mysteries. In Arthur Conan Doyle's The Five Orange Pips and Other Cases we encounter some of his most famous and devilishly difficult problems.

    Tough and talented, Laura has always fought hard for every victory, and she knows that she has found a worthy adversary in the skilled and charismatic Kraig, a man whose fiery spirit and need to win match her own.But their intense passions will not be confined to the courtroom—as outside, a furious contest rages between them, one that could lead to incomparable joy . . . or unbearable heartbreak. Because, beneath her hard exterior, Laura Grandine is a woman who aches to love and be loved. But it must be on her own terms.

    From Venus to Versailles, Apollo to David, and Mona Lisa to The Thinker, Rick and co-author Gene Openshaw will have you marveling, learning, and laughing, one masterpiece at a time. Whether you're traveling to Europe or just dreaming about it, this book both stokes your wanderlust and kindles a greater appreciation of art, with historical context and information on where to see it for yourself.With Rick's trusted insight and gorgeous, full-color photos throughout, Europe's Top 100 Masterpieces celebrates nearly 20,000 years of unforgettable art.

    This selection of Thomas Hardy poems are selected by Tom Paulin.

    Gale

    The honeymoon is overAnd he has left for workWhistling something obvious from La BohemeAnd carrying a brown calfskin attache caseI never dreamed he was capable of owning,Having started the dayWith ten pushups and a cold showerFollowed by a hearty breakfast.(What do we actually have in common?)The honeymoon is overAnd I am dry-mopping the floorIn a green Dacron dry-mopping outfit from Saks,Wondering why I'm not dancing in the dark,Or rejecting princes,Or hearing people gasp at my one-man show,My god, so beautiful and so gifted!(The trouble is I never knew a prince.)

    Such combinations do not come into being by themselves, however; they appear only as the result of proper chess strategy. It is therefore surprising that so few books deal with this highly important subject, and understandable that Pachman's modern classic has been so enthusiastically received by chessplayers at all levels.Ludĕk Pachman, a Czech grandmaster, has long had an international reputation as a chess theorist, but until now his work has not been available in English. This present volume, which condenses his great Modern Schachstrategie, presents his ideas and theories in a form that the English-speaking world can assimilate easily. Beginning with basic concepts and the rules of the minor and major pieces, it covers the use of the Queen, the active King, exchanges, various kinds of Pawns, the center and its use, superiority on the wings, minority attack, strategical points and weak squares, methods of attack and defense, and similar topics. Pachman elaborates the various kinds of strategy that can be employed, and shows how each leads to tactical opportunities. It has been said that his section on the Rook alone make his book indispensable to the serious chess player, since the Rook is so important in both middle and endgames.Pachman presents his method in the form of a thorough, systematic, analytical text, which draws upon scores of great games for exemplification. Both classical and very recent masters are included, although stress is on the moderns: Capablanca, Alekhine, Dr. Lasker, Rubinstein, Nimzovich, Botvinnik, Reshevsky, Bronstein, Smyslov, and Spasski.