Book picks similar to
Unnecessary Farce by Paul Slade Smith


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Everyone Left Behind: 4 minutes to chaos


Time Day - 2014
    He just wanted to retire in peace. Change descended when he accidentally shot a Peeping Tom. Though he buried him on his remote Montana property, he couldn't bury the man's curse. Haunted by it, and about to be found out, he sent up a desperate prayer. That night he had a strange dream. Priscilla's interpretation of the dream was to stockpile enough food to look after seventy people for five years because perilous times were surely coming . . .

One of Us Buried


Johanna Craven - 2021
    She is put to work at the female factory of Parramatta; a place where the women’s only hope of food and lodgings is to offer their bodies to the settlement’s men. Nell is given shelter by Lieutenant Blackwell, a brooding soldier to whom she is inexplicably drawn. Despite warnings from the other women, Blackwell’s motives seem decent, and beneath the roof of a military officer, Nell sees a chance to become more than just a convict woman sent to the factory to be forgotten. But tensions are high in New South Wales, with the young colony teetering on the edge of a convict rebellion. And as Nell treads a dangerous line between obedience and power, she learns the role of a factory lass is to remain silent – or face a walk to the gallows.

The Tall Pine Polka / Your Oasis on Flame Lake


Lorna Landvik - 2005
    For each craves a change in her life: Devera desires a break from her humdrum marital routine; BiDi longs to reconnect with her distant fourteen-year-old daughter (the only girl on the high school hockey team), not to mention jump-start a sex drive stuck in neutral. So when Devera’s husband decides to fulfill his longtime dream of opening a nightclub in his basement, Your Oasis on Flame Lake arrives not a moment too soon. Nothing fancy, it’s just a BYOB joint where you can hang out, sing, dance, tell jokes, and be yourself. But then an unexpected crisis throws both families into chaos, forcing them all to take stock of their lives—and learn the power of forgiveness.

Amy's View


David Hare - 1997
    Esme Allen is a well-known West End actress at just the moment when the West End is ceasing to offer actors a regular way of life. The visit of her young daughter, Amy, with a new boyfriend sets in train a series of events which only find their shape sixteen years later.David Hare's new play, which mixes love, death, and the theatre in a heady and original way, was sold out at the National Theatre, and transferred to the West End in January 1998.This is the definitive version of Amy's View.

The Waiting Room


Lisa Loomer - 1998
    Three women from different centuries meet in a modern doctor's waiting room. Forgiveness From Heaven is an eighteenth-century Chinese woman whose bound feet are causing her to lose her toes. Victoria is a nineteenth-century tightly corsetted English woman suffering from what is commonly known as "hysteria." Then there is Wanda, a modern gal from New Jersey who is having problems with her silicone breasts. Husbands, doctors, Freud, the drug industry and the FDA all come under examination. The play is a wild ride through medical and sexual politics, including the politics of the ever-present battle with breast cancer.

Stupid Fucking Bird


Aaron Posner - 2016
    A nubile young actress wrestles with an aging Hollywood star for the affections of a renowned novelist. And everyone discovers just how disappointing love, art, and growing up can be. In this irreverent, contemporary, and very funny remix of Chekhov’s The Seagull, Aaron Posner stages a timeless battle between young and old, past and present, in search of the true meaning of it all. Original songs composed by James Sugg draw the famously subtextual inner thoughts of Chekhov’s characters explicitly to the surface. STUPID FUCKING BIRD will tickle, tantalize, and incite you to consider how art, love, and revolution fuel your own pursuit of happiness.

Mistaken Identity (Jack Dillon Dublin Tales Book 8)


Mike Faricy - 2019
    Faricy takes things from there into a 'Can't put it down' tale that will have you riveted. A great read. - The Irish Gazette Two American women, Kate Betto and Megan Ganino, a redhead and a blonde, are arrested and cooperate with authorities to aid in the conviction of a pair of major drug dealers. At the conclusion of the trial, they're secretly flown back to the US to serve time. It happens to be the same day that Kate Murray and Megan Gaffney, a blonde and a redhead, arrive in Dublin to celebrate their college graduation, rent a car, and drive west. Things go terribly wrong almost immediately. US Marshal Jack Dillon and DI Paddy Suel investigate a torched rental car and quickly learn there's a lot more going on . . . and the clock is ticking! Grab your copy NOW!

Devil’s Knights MC: Books 5-8


Winter Travers - 2019
     Hot bikers, sassy women, and love stories to melt your heart. Gambler’s Longshot Opposites attract, or so they say. With Gwen constantly throwing sass and questioning every word that comes out of Gambler’s mouth, Gambler and Gwen maybe the first couple to prove that saying wrong. All Gambler wants to do is keep Gwen safe and that’s it. He never expected the unwanted attraction and the need to protect her no matter what. Gambler’s intentions maybe true, but Gwen has learned the hard way that things are not always what they seem. Can Gambler persuade Gwen to take a chance on him, or will all bets be off? Keeping Meg After years of heartbreak and being married to the wrong man, Meg has finally found what she always wanted with Lo. Except there’s one problem. Lo is keeping something from Meg and Meg is more than determined to figure out what it is. Will they make it down the aisle and ride off into the sunset, or will life get in the way and have Meg make a decision she might regret for the rest of her life? Fighting Demon A shared past that no one knew about until Demon and Paige’s worlds collided again. Demon and Paige both made mistakes eight years ago, tearing apart the love they had for each other. Now, Demon has Paige in his sights again, and he isn’t going to let her go. But things aren’t always what they seem. Could Demon and Paige be over before they even start again, or will the past fade, making room for the ending they’ve always wanted? Unraveling Fayth Fayth doesn’t know what she wants anymore. Torn between the life she used to live or staying in Rockton, Fayth can’t decide which future she wants. All she knows is that the one man who won’t leave her side is the one man who is taking over her heart. Everyday Slider relives the moment he thought he had lost Fayth before he even had the chance to have her. Now, with Fayth back in Rockton, he’s never letting her out of his sight. Although, someone else has other plans Danger is lurking, and Slider is the one man that will keep her safe. He let her down once. He’ll never let it happen again. The score is finally settled in this thrilling conclusion to the Devil’s Knights Series.

Jawai_Bapunchya_Goshti (Marathi)


D.M. Mirasdar - 1905
    But that was not so about his wit. At times, he behaved as if he had no sense or common knowledge at all. Finally, after a long long wait, he gets married. He gets an invitation from his in-laws place especially for the celebration of Diwali. His father warned him before leaving that he had to behave properly at his in-laws house as he is no more just anybody. On the contrary, he is now their son-in-law. So he must show attitude while being at their place.What happens then……………?

Farm Girl: Rural Life Humor from a Farmer's Daughter


Shanna Hatfield - 2014
    Do you love a good laugh? Enjoy clean rural humor from a farmer's daughter! What happens when a farmer who’s been wishing for a boy ends up with a girlie-girl?Come along on the humorous and sometimes agonizing adventures from a childhood spent on a farm in the Eastern Oregon desert where one family raised hay, wheat, cattle, and a farm girl.

Comedians


Trevor Griffiths - 1976
    Telling jokes for money offers an escape from the building site or the milk round. But the humour is a deadly serious business that also involves anger, pain and truth.' Financial Times'Trevor Griffiths has not shown his brilliance as a writer more clearly than in Comedians.' Daily Telegraph

Wonder of the World: Trade Edition


David Lindsay-Abaire - 2002
    The New York production featured knockout performances by Sarah Jessica Parker and Amy Sedaris. Ben Brantley, in the "New York Times" wrote "clearly, Mr. Lindsay-Abaire hasn't lost his playfully wicked eye, equally appalled and affectionate . . . his style both embraces and spoofs the All-American appetite for spiritual lift, sitcom perkiness, and slimy tabloid prurience." A firm believer in destiny-and inspired by a Marilyn Monroe movie-Cass leaves her husband and boards a bus to Niagara Falls, where she hopes to meet the unknown man she believes herself fated to end up with. Along the way toward the inevitable climax on the brink of the waterfall, she checks items off her list of "things to do in life," and takes the audience on an often moving, always hilarious journey.

Kiss of the Spider Woman and Two Other Plays


Manuel Puig - 1994
    This is convincing proof that Manual Puig was one of our most talented writers - no matter what the medium. Puig is the author of seven novels, translated into fourteen languages.

The Talented Mr Ripley


Phyllis Nagy - 1999
    He is sent to Italy by a wealthy financier to try and coax home the rich man's son. In the process Ripley becomes both attracted and seduced, finding the murder the only way to deal with the situation. From that point Ripley tries to cover up his crime. Patricia Highsmith's beguiling tale of morality and amorality is given a dramatic rendering by contemporary dramatist Phyllis Nagy, who knew Highsmith in her later years in Paris."Each play I see by Phyllis Nagy confirms me in the belief that she is the finest playwright to have emerged in the 1990s" (Financial Times)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest


Peter Fish - 1984
    Includes background on the author's life and times, sample tests, term paper suggestions, and a reading list.