The Beast in Me and Other Animals


James Thurber - 1948
    The book concludes with a sampling of articles Thurber wrote for the New Yorker’s “The Talk of the Town,” demonstrating his often overlooked skill as a reporter.Mainly men and women : My friend Domesticus --The glass of fashion --Am not I your Rosalind? --The princess and the tin box --How to name a dog --Thix --The waters of the moon --Exhibit X --The lady on the bookcase --The ordeal of Mr. Matthews --The dewey dewey fog --A guide to the literary pilgrimage --Prehistoric animals of the middle west --Here come the tigers --Look homeward, Jeannie --A call on Mrs. Forrester --The beast in the dingle. Less alarming creatures : A new natural history --Extinct animals of Bermuda --A gallery of real creatures. Soapland : O pioneers! --Ivorytown, Rinsoville, Anacinburg, and Crisco Corners --Sculptors in ivory --The invisible people --The listening women

Myth Adventures! (Graphic Novel)


Phil FoglioPaul Gadzikowski - 2007
    It chronicles the adventures of Skeeve, a hapless apprentice magician, and his demonic teacher, Aahz, who has been stripped of his powers, as they battle with an insane wizard who is determined to drain the world of magic. Long out of print, this fantasy classic is fondly remembered by and greatly sought after by a wide audience of comics fans, gamers and fantasy readers. It was also the first professional comics work by both Phil Foglio and his inker, Tim Sale. Also available in a hardcover edition (ISBN-13: 978-1-8908-5643-4).

God Knows


Joseph Heller - 1984
    You already know David as the legendary warrior king of Israel, husband of Bathsheba, and father of Solomon; now meet David as he really was: the cocky Jewish kid, the plagiarized poet, and the Jewish father. Listen as David tells his own story, a story both relentlessly ancient and surprisingly modern, about growing up and growing old, about men and women, and about man and God. It is quintessential Heller.

Archy and Mehitabel


Don Marquis - 1927
    First published in 1927, this free verse poem has become an essential part of American literature.

The Eighth Garfield Fat Cat 3-Pack


Jim Davis - 1998
    So whether he's crash-landing into a bowl of soup, modeling his favorite sandwich fashions, or prying his head from the cookie jar, GARFIELD always gets the last bite. And you'll be sure to get the last laugh!

Lost Worlds: What Have We Lost, & Where Did it Go?


Michael Bywater - 2004
    Whole libraries of knowledge, and whole galleries of secrets are gone. Our culture, our knowledge, and all our lives are shadows cast by what went before. We are defined, not by what we have, but by what we have lost along the way. Lost Worlds is a glossary of the missing, a cabinet of absent curiosities. No mere miscellany, it weaves a web of everything we no longer have. Michael Bywater, "Lost Worlds" columnist for the Independent on Sunday, teaches at Cambridge University.

Lake Wobegon Days


Garrison Keillor - 1985
    "Filled with warmth and humor, sadness and tenderness, songs and poems, Lake Wobegon Days is an unforgettable portrait of small-town American life, of why 'we are what we are' and why 'smart doesn't count for much."

The Great American Novel


Philip Roth - 1973
    "Roth is better than he's ever been before.... The prose is electric." (The Atlantic)Gil Gamesh is the only pitcher who ever tried to kill the umpire, and John Baal, The Babe Ruth of the Big House, never hit a home run sober. But you've never heard of them -- or of the Ruppert Mundys, the only homeless big-league ball team in American history -- because of the communist plot and the capitalist scandal that expunged the entire Patriot League from baseball memory.

Like a Hole in the Head


Jen Banbury - 1998
    The dwarf returns soon after with a polite assassin who wants the book back. Unfortunately Jill has already unloaded it for a nice profit, to a former child actor turned book dealer turned love interest. She isn't about to drop the dime on him, so the upshot is, Jill has to find it -- or else. What at first seems like a lucky break turns into unexpected adventure when a cast of B-movie thugs, sleazy book dealers, and ambitious Hollywood moguls join the hunt for the book. Jill finds herself leading an antic chase -- via motorcycle, station wagon, and hijacked bottled-water delivery truck -- across Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and the Hollywood Hills. Before she can retrieve the book and discover its irresistible secret, Jill will be cheated, lied to, drugged, tortured, and even forced to act as a movie extra against her will.

Books of Adam: The Blunder Years


Adam Ellis - 2013
    The professor loved it. Baffled by the praise his classmate receives, and intent on becoming an artist on his own terms, Adam plots his escape to Portland, Oregon to begin his life in the real world--only to realize that adulthood is a lot harder than it looks. Based on the blog of the same name, Book of Adam details Adam's hilarious trials and tribulations in his attempt to become a functioning member of society. From his arrest after shoplifting a bottle of chocolate milk to a misguided attempt to make friends that lands him in a shack with a hippie couple who have just skinned a rabbit and are trying to entice him into a three-some, Adam is an amicable guy who can't seem to keep himself out of trouble. Paired with his signature black and white illustrations, Adam's stories weave together an uproariously funny and ultimately charming narrative about a young man trying to find his place in the world.

Surfing Samurai Robots


Mel Gilden - 1988
    They are the Surfing Samurai Robots, the invention of America's leading industrial genius, Knighten Daise.Zoot, an alien with a big nose from the planet T'toom, is exploring the mean streets of Earth to find out where all the surfing robots went. Before he can say Philip Marlowe, he meets some Malibu dudes who want to know who adjusted their surfbots with a sledgehammer. As if that wasn't enough, his life's on the line to find the inventor's gorgeous daughter.Is Zoot a good enough private eye for any world or just an alien doing a job an alien's got to do? It's a mystery that's science fiction, science fiction that's a mystery. It's a funny new book that introduces one of the hippest and most original characters of the Eighties.

Blonde Bombshell


Tom Holt - 2010
    Dirt.Oh, the bomb thought. And then its courage, determination and nobility-of-spirit subroutines cut in, overriding everything else, adrenalizing its command functions and bypassing its cyberphrenetic nodes. Here goes, said the bomb to itself. Calibrate navigational pod. Engage primary thrusters. Ready auxiliary drive. It knew, in that moment, that its own doom was near; because it was giving itself orders, and it wasn’t putting in any ‘the’s. That was what you did, apparently, when the moment came. You could also turn on a flashing red beacon and a siren, but mercifully these were optional.Oh #//+! thought the bomb, and surged on towards Dirt like an avenging angel.

Filth


Irvine Welsh - 1998
    The last thing Robertson needs is a messy, racially fraught murder, even if it means overtime—and the opportunity to clinch the promotion he craves. Then there's that nutritionally demanding (and psychologically acute) intestinal parasite in his gut. Yes, things are going badly for this utterly corrupt tribune of the law, but in an Irvine Welsh novel nothing is ever so bad that it can't get a whole lot worse. . .

When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?


George Carlin - 2004
    Ranging from his absurdist side (Message from a Cockroach; TV News: The Death of Humpty Dumpty; Tips for Serial Killers) to his unerring ear for American speech (Politician Talk; Societal Clichs; Euphemisms: 13 sections) to his unsparing views on America and its values (War, God, Stuff Like That; Zero Tolerance; Tired of the Handi-crap), Carlin delivers everything that his fans expect, and then adds a few surprises. Carlin on the battle of the sexes: Here's all you have to know about men and women: Women are crazy, men are stupid. And the main reason women are crazy is that men are stupid.

The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster


Bobby Henderson - 2006
    According to church founder Bobby Henderson, the universe and all life within it were created by a mystical and divine being: the Flying Spaghetti Monster. What drives the FSM's devout followers, a.k.a. Pastafarians? Some say it's the assuring touch from the FSM's "noodly appendage." Then there are those who love the worship service, which is conducted in pirate talk and attended by congregants in dashing buccaneer garb. Still others are drawn to the Church's flimsy moral standards, religious holidays every Friday, or the fact that Pastafarian heaven is way cooler: Does your heaven have a Stripper Factory and a Beer Volcano? Intelligent Design has finally met its match—and it has nothing to do with apes or the Olive Garden of Eden.Within these pages, Bobby Henderson outlines the true facts—dispelling such malicious myths as evolution ("only a theory"), science ("only a lot of theories"), and whether we're really descended from apes (fact: Humans share 95 percent of their DNA with chimpanzees, but they share 99.9 percent with pirates!)See what impressively credentialed top scientists have to say:"If Intelligent Design is taught in schools, equal time should be given to the FSM theory and the non-FSM theory."—Professor Douglas Shaw, Ph.D."Do not be hypocritical. Allow equal time for other alternative 'theories' like FSMism, which is by far the tastier choice."—J. Simon, Ph.D."In my scientific opinion, when comparing the two theories, FSM theory seems to be more valid than classic ID theory."—Afshin Beheshti, Ph.D.