Humorous fiction

Book SynopsisFinally, the screenplay is complete, and Ryo and the crew can start filming for their short movie! After borrowing equipment from Himejima’s agency, they head to a faraway beach to film one of their scenes. It’s not all fun and games, however, when an argument breaks out between Fushimi and Torigoe—and that’s before Ryo learns that Fushimi and Himejima are auditioning for the same role in a musical! He roots for both, but knows only one of them can pass…

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewFascinating, funny, dark, and thought-provoking, with every sentence crafted meticulously. * Wapsipinicon Alamanac *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsDisfigured Paper AnimalsElvis The PelvisNot All The Dominoes Having Yet FallenThat Which Has No Fixed OrderEverything in Relation to Everything ElseTornadicElbowKarstMy Kind of Utmost TenderAcutely AngledTighter, GoodbyeThe CryCredits

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Book SynopsisHow can calculus help you survive the zombie apocalypse? Colin Adams, humor columnist for the Mathematical Intelligencer and one of today's most outlandish and entertaining popular math writers, demonstrates how in this zombie adventure novel. Zombies and Calculus is the account of Craig Williams, a math professor at a small liberal arts college iTrade Review"Romance! Danger! Calculus! Zombies! Adams (How to Ace Calculus), professor of mathematics at Williams College and humor columnist for The Mathematical Intelligencer, takes readers on an apocalyptic and educational adventure that's also a Spielbergian sci-fi thriller... Adams keeps the in-story math both appropriate and accessible, saving in-depth discussion for appendices at the end. Calculus fans looking for 'real-world' applications woven into a nail-biter of a story, chock-full of narrow escapes, betrayals, some plucky kids, the family dog, and even a romantic subplot, will delight in this fun, and funny pop-math book."--Publishers Weekly starred review "The author didn't intend to write a classic horror novel, he intended to write one that explained the ideas of calculus and differential equations (particularly the latter) in a humorous and unusual setting. He has succeeded admirably. This is a book that can be enjoyed by both students and by faculty members seeking a way to spice up their lectures."--Mark Hunacek, MAA Reviews "You'll laugh! You'll cry! You'll use calculus! So much for kids who say, 'When am I ever going to use calculus?' When you're trying to survive the zombie apocalypse, that's when."--Nancy Szokan, Washington Post "A fun idea, quite well realized."--M.A.Orthofer, Complete Review "The book well deserves attention from not squeamish math instructors and a wider audience of intelligent readers, curious of a new literary genre that mixes storytelling with gentle mathematical instruction."--Alexander Bogomolny, CTK Insights "Whether you agree or disagree with the idea of mixing zombies with calculus, Adams is a craftsman of the first order. Zombies and Calculus has everything: calculus, calculation of force, statistics, normal deviation, word play, heroics, romance, slapstick, and zombies. Two bloody thumbs up!"--Robert Schaefer, New York Journal of Books "The unusual and clearly explained mathematical set-pieces are appealing... I will be recommending this book to colleagues. Let's hope they're not squeamish."--Noel-Ann Bradshaw, Times Higher Education "Adams combines mathematics and zombies in an exciting, humorous way... Zombies and Calculus would be a helpful supplemental text for a student currently studying calculus as it applies the concepts in a situation--however unrealistic--that makes it easier to understand."--Tara Creel, Deseret News "I have never met a novel in which the hero is actually teaching calculus to the ones he just rescued in between blowing out the little bit of brains from zombie heads, and smashing cars with a snow plough. Quite a reading experience."--Adhemar Bultheel, European Mathematical Society "Adams is clever to employ a zombie apocalypse scenario to demonstrate the usefulness of calculus and mathematics more broadly."--Carrie Bengston, Science Book A Day "Highly recommended for those just being introduced to calculus, or those who need a user-friendly recap of the basics. It may just help them survive--their education, that is, rather than a zombie attack!"--Rob Ashmore, Mathematics Today "Adams tells his tale with gore and humor. If you are a fan of zombies and enjoy offbeat applications of mathematics, this book is for you."--Joseph Bettina, Mathematics Teacher "I think that the book is very successful at doing what it was intended to do, namely to demonstrate the usefulness and relevance of what may seem at the first glance to be very abstract maths while teaching it in an engaging way. I would struggle to name another book that manages to couch the process of solving ODEs in quite so entertaining and humorous a manner."--Andrew Simmons, Mathematical GazetteTable of ContentsIntroduction 1 CHAPTER 1 Hour 6 3 CHAPTER 2 Hour 7 19 CHAPTER 3 Hour 7 1/2 32 CHAPTER 4 Hour 7 3/4 48 CHAPTER 5 Hour 8 63 CHAPTER 6 Hour 9 80 CHAPTER 7 Hour 10 95 CHAPTER 8 Hour 18 111 CHAPTER 9 Hour 24 137 Epilogue 152 APPENDIX A Continuing the Conversations 155 APPENDIX B A Brief Review of Calculus as Explained to Connor by Ellie 191 Acknowledgments 223 Bibliography 225 Index 227

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Book SynopsisOne day Roger Welsch ventured to ask his father a delicate personal question: “Why am I an only child?” His father’s answer is one of many examples of the delightful and laughter-inducing ribald tales Welsch has compiled from a lifetime of listening to and sharing the folklore of the Plains.Trade Review"Very, very funny."—Julie Henigan, Journal of Folklore Research"As a playfully analytical look at our human penchant for the "slightly naughty" this one, like all Welsch's other collections of Plains stories, is a delight."—Nancy S. Gillis, Nebraska History"Roger Welsch is a superb writer and folklorist for the same reasons that he was a superb classroom teacher in our German class back in 1958. He has mastered his subject, he admires and respects his audience, he has an extraordinary sense of humor, and he is a thoroughly gifted storyteller."—Dwayne Strasheim, Great Plains Quarterly“Roger Welsch is a funny man. He is also dead serious about making sure the traditions of his Nebraska homeland are not soon forgotten. . . . Place Roger Welsch securely in the good company of American regionalists whose catalog of life works spans the nuts and bolts of a life well told. . . . Whether your copy sits by your bedside or toilet, on your coffee table or tractor seat, buy it, read it, and by all means share it.”—Elaine Eff, Maryland folklorist “Roger Welsch has his finger firmly on the pulse of rural Plains humor because it’s his own pulse. He knows this tradition from a life spent where it happens—in the field, the tavern, the church hall, and the pickup cab—and his ear is perfectly attuned to catch its modest, ribald hilarity.”—Tim Lloyd, executive director of the American Folklore Society “I don’t know which I admire more, Roger Welsch’s life style or his prose style.”—Chris Porterfield, writer for Time magazine, author, and producer “It would be difficult to find a folklorist more prolific and more popular than Roger Welsch, or ‘Captain Nebraska’ as some have dubbed him with great affection, following his hugely successful years as a correspondent on CBS News Sunday Morning. . . . Readers in Nebraska and beyond will be pleased to see yet another volume of good-humored Plains folklore in this latest work collected by Roger Welsch.”—Elaine J. Lawless, Curators’ Distinguished Professor Emerita at the University of Missouri and past president of the American Folklore Society “Roger Welsch is ready to deliver a smile when the moment is right. He is the Cialis of humor.”—Mike Plews, member, RW Fan Club “Welsch’s book is 100 percent humor, born of friendships in the taverns and communities of rural Nebraska. This folklore historian who has rugged good looks and a titanic sense of humor (and who owes me a drink) has knocked it out of the park—again.”—T. Marni Vos, humorist and president of Laughter’s Echo Inc.Table of ContentsForewordAcknowledgmentsA Brief but Suitably Scholarly and Boring IntroductionBut Enough about Me—What Do You Know about Me?Plain Talk about the Plains, Definitions, and What Folklore Is, Isn’t, Might Be, and Is MostlyA Lesson in Proper DictionWhy I’m an Only ChildA Special AnnouncementDad Instructs Me about Civil Ribaldry Even as I Thought I Was Instructing HimNaughty Is in the Ears of the BeholderA First Lesson in Military NomenclatureDiction FrictionEvoked and ProvokedCipherin’Thinking FastCold . . . and DeepIn-house OuthousesSpeaking of Treed RaccoonsHarvard LawUrban v. RuralThe Eternal CuckoldNow’s Your ChanceUsing the ImaginationWays of the WiseTraffic FlowSpeaking of the Innocence of the Gentler SexOh, Dat Ole! Oh, Dat Lena!Same Idea, Different NamesNo Boyz AloudThe Church of What?What Did He Say?How You Gonna Keep ’Em down on the Farm (after They’ve Seen the Farm)?Birds Do It, Bees Do ItIndiscreet SecretionsWhy Is It Called a “Fly?”Geriatric IndignitiesCallow YouthAge Has Nothing to Do with ItInnocent? Or Simply Not Guilty?Other UnmentionablesAn Afterword

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Book SynopsisThis sprawling, footnoted, comedic epic centers around Vonn Carp, who travels to his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, for a funeral. He is returning disgraced and destitute, when, after a long and productive career in higher education, he was discovered to have falsified his academic credentials 20 years prior. Recently divorced and suddenly unemployable, he reluctantly agrees to join his father, Milt, in what he considers an iffy business ventureDollarapalooza, a family-owned dollar store. For Milt the shop is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream for old-fashioned mercantilism, a general store. The store falls on hard times when a massive, big box Wow-Mart opens across the street and after a nearly tragic armed robbery in his store, Milt disappears. To the surprise and chagrin of the Carp family, Vonn insists on re-opening Dollarapalooza. Along with the store''s eccentric staff, Vonn fashions an alternative business model aiming to make a difference in people''s lives one dollar at a timTrade ReviewDollarpalooza has a host of memorable and varied characters, a compelling narrative, and vivid descriptions of place. Some of the best moments for me were rooted in concrete data—like the catalog of items that were going into the dollar store and the cataloging of customer types who came to the store. I also very much enjoyed the various observations about Columbus. -- Jim Heynen, author of The One-room Schoolhouse

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Book SynopsisSet adrift when her mother sells the salon that has been a neighborhood institution for decades, Nora Rolvaag takes a camping trip, intending to do nothing more than roast marshmallows over an open fire and under a starry sky. Two chance encounters, however, will have enormous consequences, and her getaway turns out to be more of a retreat from her daily life than she ever imagined. But Nora is the do-or-die-trying daughter of Patty Jane, who now must embrace the House of Curl’s slogan: “Expect the Unexpected.”With her trademark wit and warmth, Lorna Landvik follows Nora and an ever-growing cast of characters between city and wooded retreat, Minnesota and Norway, a past that’s secret and a future that’s promising, but uncertain. Responding to a mysterious letter with a Norwegian postmark, Nora’s grandmother Ione travels to her native land to tend to a dying cousin and her husband—two people who played a painful, pivotal role in her past. Nora accompanies her and is surprised by her grandmother’s long-ago love story—but even more surprised by the beginning of her own.A book about making new beginnings out of old endings, Once in a Blue Moon Lodge invites readers to check in, set down their baggage, and spend time with the kind of people who understand that while they can’t control all that life throws at them, they can at least control how they catch it. And as anyone who has stopped in at Patty Jane’s House of Curl will tell you: you’re in for a rollicking good time with characters whose strengths, foibles, and choices will have you laughing and crying. Hankerings for coffee and gingerbread cookies may also be experienced.Trade Review"At long last! Patty Jane and her irresistible band of big-hearted merry-makers return to us. Lorna Landvik’s humor is wrapped around a core of love, common sense, and good cooking. Pull up an easy chair, pour a glass of wine, and enjoy this grand family reunion."—Faith Sullivan, author of Good Night, Mr. Wodehouse"Lorna Landvik creates characters and places so warm and real that reading Once in a Blue Moon Lodge feels like coming home (if you're lucky enough to be surrounded by people and places as weird and wonderful as Lorna's—I think I am)."—Nora McInerny, author of It's Okay to Laugh (Crying Is Cool Too)"There is a charm and warmth to this hopeful tale in which love is the glue that holds people together. Landvik's love for her characters is evident."—Kirkus Reviews"A people lover's book. This refreshingly simple family tale provides a comfy diversion from the everyday world."—Kirkus Reviews"Her characters, their gentle humor and world view, feel like home."—Always Packed for Adventure"The many twists and turns in the story will provide excellent fodder for book-club discussions."—Foreword Reviews"Landvik’s characters are generous and witty. They are big-hearted and inclusive. They inspire others, welcome strangers and appreciate practical things done well."—Star Tribune"This novel is suffused with love—between parents and children, between spouses or lovers, between people who are unrelated but considered family. There is a gentle humor and good-heartedness in all of Landvik’s books, a fondness for her characters that touches the reader."—Pioneer Press"A book about making new beginnings out of old endings, Once in a Blue Moon Lodge invites readers to check in, set down their baggage and spend time with the kind of people who understand that while they can't control all that life throws at them, they can at least control how they catch it."—Where the Reader Grows"I fell in love with the characters."—Reviews of Books On My Nightstand"The ties that bind the family and the truths that come out over time are evident and true to form for what you would expect from a feel-good contemporary novel."—Clues and Reviews"You’ll get caught up in short order, and you’ll get wrapped up even faster."—The Bookworm Sez"With pockets of humor and the lighthearted nature of a small town, this work of fiction will appeal to those who enjoy cozy mysteries."—Green Bay Press-Gazette

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Book SynopsisSet adrift when her mother sells the salon that has been a neighborhood institution for decades, Nora Rolvaag takes a camping trip, intending to do nothing more than roast marshmallows over an open fire and under a starry sky. Two chance encounters, however, will have enormous consequences, and her getaway turns out to be more of a retreat from her daily life than she ever imagined. But Nora is the do-or-die-trying daughter of Patty Jane, who now must embrace the House of Curl’s slogan: “Expect the Unexpected.”With her trademark wit and warmth, Lorna Landvik follows Nora and an ever-growing cast of characters between city and wooded retreat, Minnesota and Norway, a past that’s secret and a future that’s promising, but uncertain. Responding to a mysterious letter with a Norwegian postmark, Nora’s grandmother Ione travels to her native land to tend to a dying cousin and her husband—two people who played a painful, pivotal role in her past. Nora accompanies her and is surprised by her grandmother’s long-ago love story—but even more surprised by the beginning of her own.A book about making new beginnings out of old endings, Once in a Blue Moon Lodge invites readers to check in, set down their baggage, and spend time with the kind of people who understand that while they can’t control all that life throws at them, they can at least control how they catch it. And as anyone who has stopped in at Patty Jane’s House of Curl will tell you: you’re in for a rollicking good time with characters whose strengths, foibles, and choices will have you laughing and crying. Hankerings for coffee and gingerbread cookies may also be experienced.Trade Review"At long last! Patty Jane and her irresistible band of big-hearted merry-makers return to us. Lorna Landvik’s humor is wrapped around a core of love, common sense, and good cooking. Pull up an easy chair, pour a glass of wine, and enjoy this grand family reunion."—Faith Sullivan, author of Good Night, Mr. Wodehouse"Lorna Landvik creates characters and places so warm and real that reading Once in a Blue Moon Lodge feels like coming home (if you're lucky enough to be surrounded by people and places as weird and wonderful as Lorna's—I think I am)."—Nora McInerny, author of It's Okay to Laugh (Crying Is Cool Too)"There is a charm and warmth to this hopeful tale in which love is the glue that holds people together. Landvik's love for her characters is evident."—Kirkus Reviews"A people lover's book. This refreshingly simple family tale provides a comfy diversion from the everyday world."—Kirkus Reviews"Her characters, their gentle humor and world view, feel like home."—Always Packed for Adventure"The many twists and turns in the story will provide excellent fodder for book-club discussions."—Foreword Reviews"Landvik’s characters are generous and witty. They are big-hearted and inclusive. They inspire others, welcome strangers and appreciate practical things done well."—Star Tribune"This novel is suffused with love—between parents and children, between spouses or lovers, between people who are unrelated but considered family. There is a gentle humor and good-heartedness in all of Landvik’s books, a fondness for her characters that touches the reader."—Pioneer Press"A book about making new beginnings out of old endings, Once in a Blue Moon Lodge invites readers to check in, set down their baggage and spend time with the kind of people who understand that while they can't control all that life throws at them, they can at least control how they catch it."—Where the Reader Grows"I fell in love with the characters."—Reviews of Books On My Nightstand"The ties that bind the family and the truths that come out over time are evident and true to form for what you would expect from a feel-good contemporary novel."—Clues and Reviews"You’ll get caught up in short order, and you’ll get wrapped up even faster."—The Bookworm Sez"With pockets of humor and the lighthearted nature of a small town, this work of fiction will appeal to those who enjoy cozy mysteries."—Green Bay Press-Gazette

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Book SynopsisRaising the literary bar to a new level, Jerome Charyn re-creates the voice of Theodore Roosevelt, the New York City police commissioner, Rough Rider, and soon- to-be twenty-sixth president through his derring-do adventures, effortlessly combining superhero dialogue with haunting pathos. Beginning with his sickly childhood and concluding with McKinley’s assassination, the novel positions Roosevelt as a “perfect bull in a china shop,” a fearless crime fighter and pioneering environmentalist who would grow up to be our greatest peacetime president. With an operatic cast, including “Bamie,” his handicapped older sister; Eleanor, his gawky little niece; as well as the devoted Rough Riders, the novel memorably features the lovable mountain lion Josephine, who helped train Roosevelt for his “crowded hour,” the charge up San Juan Hill. Lauded by Jonathan Lethem for his “polymorphous imagination and crack comic timing,” Charyn has created a classic of historical fiction, confirming his place as “one of the most important writers in American literature” (Michael Chabon).Trade Review"A rendering of Teddy Roosevelt's early life that spotlights formative moments in colorful, entertaining episodes. Charyn makes artful use of historical fact and fiction's panache to capture the man before he became one of the great U.S. presidents and a face on Mount Rushmore." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"Undeniably, a marvel.... Charyn’s empathetic first-person strategy keeps the tone sprightly positive." -- Jean Zimmerman, New York Times Book Review"Marked from beginning to end by restlessness and adventure.... A ripping, enjoyable yarn." -- Keir Graff, Booklist"Who wouldn’t want to grow old like Jerome Charyn? Now in his 80s, the prolific writer seems ever more daring. Charyn has found a path all his own — neither a substitute for biography nor a violation of it.... For fans of Roosevelt, this is tremendous fun.... One of the melancholy pleasures of this novel is the contrast it continually presents to our current president. The reviewer’s handbook says I’m not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but I have to offer some praise for this unusually witty dust jacket. It strikes just the right tone, as does this delightful novel." -- Ron Charles, The Washington Post"Graced with vivid, vigorous writing.... [Charyn] has written the rousing yarn advertised in his title and dust jacket, and he has written it well." -- Gerard Helferich, The Wall Street Journal"Warning: don't turn to the first page of Jerome Charyn's remarkable new work of fiction The Perilous Adventures of the Cowboy King unless you have time to be utterly swept away for the next ___ hours." -- Joyce Carol Oates"Jerome Charyn has long been one of our most rewarding novelists, and he has upped the ante in The Perilous Adventures of the Cowboy King, his frolic about Teddy Roosevelt in the West." -- Larry McMurtry"Charyn captures Roosevelt’s doubts, aspirations and ebullient spirit.... A lively, warts-and-all portrait of an irrepressible man." -- Mary Ann Gwinn, Newsday"Jerome Charyn is a one off: no other living American writer crafts novels with his vibrancy of historical imagination. If you think his novels about Dickinson and Lincoln are virtuosic works of art, The Cowboy King will astonish you anew. Here is Teddy Roosevelt as you’ve never before experienced him, and as you won’t soon forget him." -- William Giraldi, author of American Audacity: In Defense of Literary Daring"For TR, Mr. Charyn pulls out the stops offering up the man in his own voice, a magnificent mashup of macho and aristocrat.... Cowboy King is a novel at its best: engaging, immersive and compelling." -- Comics Grinder"No one rewrites America's strange history-- or its maverick characters-- with more flair, sharp-shooting wit, and compassion than the many-sided Jerome Charyn. And in The Perilous Adventures of the Cowboy King, he's done it again: he's written a raucous, poignant, charming novel about a raucous, poignant, charming Teddy Roosevelt, a man of his time, and ours. Don't miss it." -- Brenda Wineapple, author of Ecstatic Nation: Confidence, Crisis, and Compromise, 1848-1877

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Book SynopsisWidely considered “one of our most rewarding novelists,” Jerome Charyn “has upped the ante” (Larry McMurtry) by re-creating the voice of Theodore Roosevelt through his derring-do adventures as New York City police commissioner, Rough Rider, and soon-to-be twenty-sixth president. Beginning with his sickly childhood and concluding with McKinley’s assassination in 1901, Charyn positions Roosevelt as a fearless crime fighter and pioneering environmentalist who would grow up to be our greatest peacetime president. With an operatic cast, including “Bamie,” his handicapped older sister; Eleanor, his gawky little niece; as well as the devoted Rough Riders; the novel memorably features the lovable mountain lion Josephine, who helped train Roosevelt for his “crowded hour,” the charge up San Juan Hill. “Graced with vivid, vigorous writing” (Gerard Helferich, Wall Street Journal), The Perilous Adventures of the Cowboy King is a rollicking work of historical fiction that will appeal to fans of Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.

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Book SynopsisThe Wraiths have raised an army of the dead. An army of the living is marching on the throne. Caught in the middle, Myla is supposed to be spying on a sorceress who can read minds. Things are not going well. Far away, Seth and Fings are trying their hardest to have nothing to do with any of this. All Fings has to do is not steal anything. All Seth has to do is not meddle with Forbidden Magics. All they have to do is lie low. And for once, it’s all going swimmingly. Until, that is, Fings sees a face he thought they’d left behind in the ashes of Deephaven. As Seth’s past catches up with him and Myla unravels the true nature of the Empire’s new Princess-Regent, the trio converge on the dead city of Valladrune. Armed with sinister secret behind an old war, they once more hold the fate of the Empire in their reluctant hands. If only they knew what the heck to do with it. File Under: Fantasy [ Tough crowd i-Spy Forbidden fun End of an era ]Trade ReviewPRAISE FOR STEPHEN DEAS"Subterfuge and skulduggery from one of my favourite fantasy writers.”– RJ Barker, author of The Bone Ships"Adventure fantasy in the classic style, as faction battles faction in a city of blood and grit and deathtrap back alleys. But it’s the storytelling that makes the pages fly by. Wit, humor, and a percolating sense of enchantment are signatures of a Stephen Deas novel, and this is Deas at the top of his game.”– Robert V.S. Redick, author of Master Assassins and The Red Wolf Conspiracy"A big, rich world, with a plot full of surprises and characters that will linger long after you finish the book… not to be missed."– Joshua Philip Johnson, author of The Forever Sea"This dark and gritty fantasy is recommended for readers wanting the scope of an epic with the grittiness of grimdark urban fantasy. It will be loved by those who are looking for stories that exhibit all the darkness at the heart of “Game of Thrones” set in the mean streets of the grittiest of fantasy cities, and/or those who like antihero protagonists stuck in a morally gray area."– Library Journal"Three unlikely characters land in the midst of political intrigue in this fun fantasy from Deas...This will most appeal to fantasy readers who love seeing everyday characters caught up in sweeping events."– Publishers Weekly"Deas's prose is witty, occasionally almost Pratchett-like...there's something vital and dangerous going on in the world, but our fun comes from the petty tragedies of three downtrodden rogues."– SFX"Readers who like their high fantasy laced with revenge and political intrigue will find this tale of interest."– Booklist

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Book SynopsisHeir to the FIBA button factory in Lombardy, Augustus is profiting from Italy’s postwar industrial boom. Yet the dreamy young man is far from your stereotypical industrialist. He is less interested in making money than in talking to the birds in the surrounding garden and in making love to a beautiful factory worker named Palmira. But when the money-hungry Palmira schemes to have him institutionalized, Augustus finds a new love among his fellow mental patients: flute-playing flower child Serafina. Can Augustus and Serafina find a way to break free and express their love of each other and of nature in this crazy world? Newly translated into English, Giuseppe Berto’s charming 1973 novel Oh, Serafina! was one of the first works of Italian literature to deal with ecological themes while also questioning the destructive effects of industrial capitalism, the many forms spirituality might take, and the ways our society defines madness. This translation includes a foreword from literary scholar Matteo Gilebbi that provides biographical, historical, and philosophical context for appreciating this whimsical fable of ecology, lunacy, and love. Trade Review"A madcap, modern-day St. Francis who talks to the birds, Augustus is committed to an institution by his wife at a time when mental health care rested on marginalization and segregation. There he falls in love with Serafina, another outcast, in this lighthearted fable that is sometimes pointed, but never caustic."— Anne Milano Appel, award-winning translator “Oh, Serafina! is a bizarrely beautiful fable for the ages. Thanks to the deft work of translator Gregory Conti, this tale of industry, lust, mental illness, and ecological sensibility is a most welcome addition to the small but growing canon of Italian environmental literature available in translation.”— Monica Seger, author of Landscapes in Between: Environmental Change in Modern Italian Literature and Film “Fifty years ago, Giuseppe Berto wrote his fable of ecology, lunacy, and love against the backdrop of the industrialized Italy of his day. But books, fortunately, outlive their occasional contexts. In Gregory Conti's flawless translation, Oh, Serafina! shines as a tale that belongs even, if not especially, to our own time.”— Federica Capoferri, coauthor of Badlands: Il cinema dell'ultima Roma "Entertaining, profound, and timely, Giuseppe Berto’s Oh, Serafina! shows the marvels hidden in worlds that, despite their apparent marginality, teem with vitality and poetry. Perfectly attuned with the novel’s spirit and rhythm, Gregory Conti’s elegant translation prompts the rediscovery of this jewel of Italian literature."— Serenella Iovino, author of Ecocriticism and Italy: Ecology, Resistance, and LiberationTable of ContentsContents Author's Note, Giuseppe Berto Translator's Note, Gregory Conti Foreword, Matteo Gilebbi Oh, Serafina! About the Author About the Translator

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Book SynopsisA mystery, a love story, and a search through a shadowy past. Two strangers unite in this novel of family secrets by international bestselling author Marc Levy, the most read contemporary French author in the world. When London journalist Eleanor-Rigby Donovan receives an anonymous letter alluding to a crime committed by her deceased mother, her life is turned upside down. It points her to a bar on the Baltimore Harbor, where she finds a stranger who has received the same mysterious letter about his own mother. Together, Eleanor-Rigby and this young man, George-Harrison Collins, embark on a quest through the shadowy past of the Stanfields, a moneyed Maryland family full of unimaginable secrets. These secrets will transport them back decades, across continents, and to a mysterious crime long buried…until now.Trade Review“[A] breezy family drama that plays out its familiar narrative beats right on time.” —Kirkus Reviews “The Last of the Stanfields is a compelling tale of mystery, love, and a search through a shadowy past.” —Brooklyn Digest “Amusing at times, nostalgic and wistful at others…” —New York Journal of Books

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