Magical realism

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Book SynopsisVengeful and despairing, our protagonist discusses countermeasures with his secret crush, the reliably blunt Akashi, when Tamura, a strange young man with a bad haircut, appears.Tamura claims to be a time traveler from 25 years in the future, and shows off the time machine he uses to travel.Trade Review“While readers of the original Japanese endured 16 years of waiting, anglophone audiences got lucky with a mere year in between Morimi's novels; gratitude for both translations goes to Balistrieri, who deftly channels the frenetic fun.” — Booklist

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Book SynopsisThis "sweeping intergenerational saga" tells the story of a pampered and defiant South Korean matriarch thrust into the afterlife from which she seeks a second chance to make amends (Kirstin Chen)-and fights off a tragic curse that could devastate generations to come.

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Book SynopsisNAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORKERLONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE?If you read one debut novel in 2022, this should be it.? ?Los Angeles TimesIn the bustling streets and cloistered homes of Lagos, a cast of vivid characters?some haunted, some defiant?navigate danger, demons, and love in a quest to lead true lives. As in Nigeria, vagabonds are those whose existence is literally outlawed: the queer, the poor, the displaced, the footloose and rogue spirits. They are those who inhabit transientspaces, who make their paths and move invisibly, who embrace apparitions, old vengeances and alternative realities.Eloghosa Osunde''s brave, fiercely inventive novel traces a wild array of characters for whom life itself is a form of resistance: a driver for a debauched politician with the power to command life and death; a legendary fashion designer who gives birth to a grown daughter; a lesbian couple whose tender relationship sheds unexpected light on their experience with underground sex work; a wife and mother who attends a secret spiritual gathering that shifts her world. As their lives intertwine?in bustling markets and underground clubs, churches and hotel rooms?vagabonds are seized and challenged by spirits who command the city''s dark energy. Whether running from danger, meeting with secret lovers, finding their identities, or vanquishing theirshadowselves, Osunde''s characters confront and support one another, before converging for the once-in-a-lifetime gathering that gives the book its unexpectedly joyous conclusion. Blending unvarnished realism with myth and fantasy, Vagabonds! is a vital work of imagination that takes us deep inside the hearts, minds, and bodies of a people in duress?and in triumph.

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Book Synopsis''I am truly dazzled'' TRACY CHEVALIER''A rich tapestry of African mythology and magic'' CHERIE JONES''Bursting with magic, bright and visceral'' JENNIFER SAINT''One of the brightest stars in the literary world'' KIRSTY LOGAN''A feast of shimmering, beautiful prose'' CHIKA UNIGWESoon you will become the thing all other beasts fear.Treasure and her mother lost everything when Treasure''s daddy died. Haggling for scraps in the market, Treasure meets a spirit who promises to bring her father back - but she has to do something for him first. Ozoemena has an itch in the middle of her back that can''t be scratched. An itch that speaks to her patrilineal destiny, to defend her people by becoming a leopard. Her father impressed upon her what an honour this was before he vanished, but it''s one she couldn''t want less. But as the two girls reckon with their burgeoniTrade ReviewI am truly dazzled. Emelumadu has revealed surprising layers of our world and given me the eyes to see them. -- Tracy Chevalier, author of GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING and A SINGLE THREADAn otherworldly vision of Nigeria . . . lit up by wisecracks, folk wisdom, the idiosyncrasies of boarding-school life, and those quirky turns of phrase Nigerians have given to the rest of humanity. * Guardian *Rich in Nigerian mythology and treading into the sphere of magical realism, Dazzling is a deeply immersive, feminist read about heritage, girlhood, and justice. With a strong narrative and vivid prose, this new release is sure to keep you entranced from start to finish. * Bookstr *On starting Chikodili Emelumadu's Dazzling, I was immediately impressed by her virtuosic facility with language and fierce imagination. Enchanted by both Ozoemena and Treasure, I wondered how their parallel stories would come together. As the novel progressed, I became increasingly intrigued with its magical realism and folklore. The storylines converge in an unexpected, explosive, and deeply satisfying conclusion that had me turning right back to the beginning to appreciate all that I missed the first time round. Bravo! I envy other readers their first and subsequent reads. -- Melissa Fu, author of PEACH BLOSSOM SPRINGDazzling is a feast of shimmering , beautiful prose. Dark and humorous in places, it is an incessantly pleasurable read. Emelumadu has gifted us a thing of beauty. -- Chika Unigwe, author of ON BLACK SISTER STREET and NIGHT DANCERI struggled to come up with a line that captures the magic within. Emelumadu's singular debut is uncanny and affecting in equal measure. -- T. L. Huchu, author THE HAIRDRESSER OF HARARE and THE LIBRARY OF THE DEADA vibrant, immersive read that takes the reader on a dizzying journey through Nigerian mythology - Emelumadu does what I love best in this novel: she lays bare human weaknesses and celebrates female strength; she builds a world bursting with magic, bright and visceral; she has created two immensely memorable protagonists and woven a story that will linger in my mind for a long time. -- Jennifer Saint, author of ARIADNE, ELEKTRA and ATALANTAChikodili Emelumadu has written one hell of a book. Dazzling is bold, funny, louche, smart, shocking and very, very addictive. It seizes you by the scruff of the neck & plunges you into a world packed with juicy characters, macabre magic and plotting to die for. I loved it. -- Meg Clothier, author of THE BOOK OF EVEThis book is a masterful storm. The voices are so precise and clear they cut you. Reading through the pages took me deep into the dappled world of Ozoemena and her leopard, and I will never be able to leave. -- Doreen Cunningham, author of SOUNDINGSDazzling is an erudite, original and beautifully written first novel. Chikodili Emelumadu is a writer to watch. -- Christie Watson, author of THE COURAGE TO CARE: A Call for CompassionEmelumadu's novel is a magnificent coming of age story, empathetic in its exploration of character and culture within a rich tapestry of African mythology and magic. -- Cheries jones, author of HOW THE ONE-ARMED SISTER SWEEPS HER HOUSEI've just turned the final page of Dazzling and my heart is still thumping. This is an absolute tour de force: rich and tender, tinged with fire. The characters are alive, every page is pulsing with magic, and it has a python-like plot, so coiled and clever. Prepare to be moved and gripped and utterly invested in the story of Treasure and Ozoemena. I'm desperate to see what Chikodili Emelumadu writes next... -- Alex Hay, author of THE HOUSEKEEPERSThis book deserves its title; an extraordinary debut packed with supernatural wonders, human emotion and fiercely drawn, visceral characters. . . Gripping, otherworldly and unforgettable, this excellent novel means Emelumadu is definitely one to watch. * Cambridge Edition *An incredible debut novel about two girls on the cusp of womanhood in Nigeria. . . Vivid, compelling and original. * Big Issue *Chikodili Emelumadu is one of the brightest stars in the literary world right now. I loved Dazzling and can't wait to see her continue to ascend. -- Kirsty Logan, author of NOW SHE IS WITCHEvocative and a little mysterious, this literary fantasy is immersive and full of Nigerian mythology. Recommend this lustrous coming-of-age story to those who like to read across genres. * Library Journal *I was bewitched... I would not have guessed this was first novel; Emelumadu seems to have writing naturally in the blood -- Tracy Chevalier, author of THE GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING

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Book SynopsisAs featured on The Kelly Clarkson ShowThere's something magical about Yarrow, Kentucky. The three empathic witches of the Haywood family are known for their shadow garden-from strawberries that taste like chocolate to cherry tomatoes imbued with the flavors of basil and oregano. Their magic can cure any heartache, and the fruits of their garden bring a special quality to the local bourbon distillery. On one day every year, a shot of Bonner bourbon will make your worst memory disappear. But the Haywoods will never forget the Bonners' bitter betrayal.Twenty years ago, the town gave up more than one memory; they forgot an entire summer. One person died. One person disappeared. And no one has any recollection of either.As events from that fateful summer start to come to light, there must be a reckoning between the rival Haywood and Bonner families. But untangling the deep roots of this town's terrible secrets will expose more than they could ever imagine about love, treachery, and the true nature of their power.

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Book SynopsisINTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER! A Studio Ghibli-esque work of Japanese translation “that lays bare the anxieties and desperation—and the small triumphs—of adolescence” (Locus), for fans of Mieko Kawakami’s Heaven.Seven students find unusual common ground in this warm, puzzle-like Japanese bestseller laced with gentle fantasy and compassionate insight.Bullied to the point of dropping out of school, Kokoro’s days blur together as she hides in her bedroom, unable to face her family or friends. As she spirals into despair, her mirror begins to shine; with a touch, Kokoro is pulled from her lonely life into a resplendent, bizarre fairytale castle guarded by a strange girl in a wolf mask. Six other students have been brought to the castle, and soon this marvelous refuge becomes their playground. The castle has a hidden room that can grant a single wish, but there are rules to be followed, and breaking them will have dire consequences. As Kokoro and her new acquaintances spend more time in their new sanctuary, they begin to unlock the castle’s secrets and, tentatively, each other’s. Lonely Castle in the Mirror is a mesmerizing, heart-warming novel about the unexpected rewards of embracing human connection.Trade Review★ “This sweet, kindhearted, and deeply sympathetic magical realist novel about middle school dropouts pulling each other back from the brink will resonate with readers of all ages.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review“[A] moving psychological journey . . . blazingly honest . . . Tsujimura is a master at projecting these young anxieties onto the page, offering hints and shadows and silhouettes of what the world might be like once we finally grow up, and how difficult it is to take that first step.” —Tor.com“A gorgeous, wrenching fantasy that lays bare the anxieties and desperation – as well as small triumphs – of adolescence.” —Locus“In a world where there is so much untruth, so much altered reality, so many superficial existences forming even more superficial relationships, this book turns back the clock and reminds us of what is real, and what truly matters: compassion and kindness, the strength in our bonds, and how we can find those right beside us.” —The Yorkshire Times“A moving, reflective and surprising novel . . . Anyone who has ever struggled with feeling isolated, had difficulties at school, or had mental health struggles, will find this novel to be a cleansing balm.” —Culturefly“[A] respectful, moving novel about teenage bullying in the Tokyo suburbs . . . Tsujimura shows how easily misunderstandings and miscommunications can escalate, and treats everyone—even the bullies—with nuance.” —The Japan Times“An innovative and tender blend of social commentary and magical realism.” —The Japan Society Review “Genuinely affecting . . . a story about collaboration, empathy and sharing truths, a modern, all-ages fairy tale that should appeal to fans of Neil Gaiman and Studio Ghibli animations.” —The Financial Times“Hopeful and heartbreakingly sweet without ever being saccharine, this character-focused tale of finding unexpected community unfolds remarkably gently, eschewing a typical Western plot structure. Readers will leave with their faith in humanity restored.” —Publishers Weekly’s “Best Books of 2022”“Part Miyazaki fairytale, part teen romance, it’s strange and beautiful – imagine the offspring of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and The Virgin Suicides.” —The Guardian

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Book SynopsisNamed a Best Book of 2023 by The New York Times ("incandescent...hilarious...a triumph"), Oprah Daily ("surreal, absurd, lucid, and wise"), Vanity Fair ("Broder [is] a genius and a sorceress"), and more! From the visionary author of Milk Fed and The Pisces, a darkly funny novel about grief and a “magical tale of survival” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).In Melissa Broder’s astonishingly profound new novel, a woman arrives alone at a Best Western seeking respite from an emptiness that plagues her. She has fled to the California high desert to escape a cloud of sorrow—for both her father in the ICU and a husband whose illness is worsening. What the motel provides, however, is not peace but a path discovered on a nearby hike. Out along the sun-scorched trail, the narrator encounters a towering cactus whose size and shape mean it should not exist in California. Yet the cactus is there, with a gash through its side that beckons like a familiar door. So she enters it. What awaits her inside this mystical succulent sets her on a journey at once desolate and rich, hilarious, and poignant. Death Valley is Melissa Broder at her most imaginative, most universal, and finest, and is “a journey unlike any you’ve read before” (Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Friday Black).

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Book SynopsisWelcome to Cross River, Maryland. Established by the leaders of the country's only successful slave revolt, history casts a long shadow over its residents. Among them are David Sherman, a struggling musician who just happens to be the last son of God; Jim, a Robot Personal Helper desperate to escape the master who enslaves him; and James-my-man, who travels the path of the Underground Railroad year after year.Not to forget the water women who lure men to their watery graves and the screecher birds who cry out for sacrificial flesh... PRAISE FOR THE WORLD DOESN'T REQUIRE YOU: 'I wandered into Cross River, not knowing a damn thing. Now I'm shuddering, gasping in wonder, reading stories over and over, and doing just about anything so that I never leave' MARLON JAMES 'A musical and visceral explosion. The book makes you laugh even as it stabs. The truth told in a completely new way' NANA KWAME ADJEI-BRENYAH 'Flat-out unputdownable' LAURA VAN DEN BERG 'Rion Amilcar Scott doesn't hold back or tiptoe around issues about race. He's the most courageous writer I know; and this collection is an excellent example and significant achievement. He's now made his mark as a force to reckon with' NICOLE DENNIS-BENN 'Surreal, intertextual, and darkly comical... With breathtaking cruelty and devastating humor, Scott adduces the whole world in one community' NAFISSA THOMPSON-SPIRESTrade ReviewRion Amilcar Scott proves himself an impressive myth-slayer and fable-maker... The World Doesn't Require You reminds us that having to fight racism has a strange way of distorting everything one touches' * New York Times Book Review *A rich, genre-splicing mix of alternate history, magical realism and satire that interrogates issues of race, sexism and where both meet here in the real world * Los Angeles Times *Bizarre, tender and brilliantly imagined, The World Doesn't Require You isn't just one of the most inventive books of the year, it's also one of the best * NPR *A bleak and beautiful collection of short stories... Scott demonstrates the skill and long-range vision of a writer we need right now. The World Doesn't Require You requires a commitment from readers, one that will be greatly repaid in literary satisfaction' * USA TODAY *Surreal, intertextual, and darkly comical stories... Rion Amilcar Scott writes in the tradition of George Schuyler and Ishmael Reed but with a distinctive wry, playful voice that is wholly his own. With breathtaking cruelty and devastating humor, Scott adduces the whole world in one community' -- Nafissa Thompson-Spires, author of Heads of the Colored PeopleI wandered into Cross River, not knowing a damn thing. Now I'm shuddering, gasping in wonder, reading stories over and over, and doing just about anything so that I never leave -- Marlon James, Booker Prize-winning author of A History of Seven KillingsA musical and visceral explosion. The book makes you laugh even as it stabs. The truth told in a completely new way -- Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Friday BlackA bold new talent emerges with this boundary-shattering collection * Esquire *Scott joins a growing tradition of African-American authors fusing the folksy dystopian humor of George Saunders with the charged satire of Ishmael Reed and expands on it brilliantly * New York magazine. *God may have forsaken [these characters], Scott does not. The World Doesn't Require You is full of horrible, ridiculous people, but it's full of grace, too * A.V. Club. *A major unique literary talent * Entertainment Weekly *Flat-out unputdownable -- Laura van den Berg, author of The Third HotelRion Amilcar Scott doesn't hold back or tiptoe around issues about race. He's the most courageous writer I know; and this collection is an excellent example and significant achievement. He's now made his mark as a force to reckon with -- Nicole Dennis-Benn, author of PatsyPowerful and revelatory * Salon *Weaves incisive criticism, dark humor, and magical realism in profound explorations of belief, love, justice, and violence * BuzzFeed *We have so far to go and so little time to get there, Scott seems to say. Maybe spending a few hours in Cross River will help build a bridge. Or blow one up, if need be * Washington Post *An 'impressive myth-slayer'... [Scott] shows that 'sidelining' white racist characters doesn't erase the effects of slavery' * New York Times Sunday *Thought-provoking tales that will flow from page to page, steeped in abstract mysticism * Bad Form Review *Threading together tales of adrenaline, violence and rhythm, American writer Rion Amilcar Scott presents a stunning narrative that bestows its shine from its sharp edges... The World Doesn't Require You reminds us of the fruitful space between the surreal, the horrific and the run-of-the-mill. Rion Amilcar Scott is a writer that we will continue to expect great things from' * Glass *

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Book Synopsis"Extraordinary and unforgettable characters" WORLD LITERATURE TODAY"Rich and many layered . . . fascinating" CHRISTOPHER MOSELEYWhen Baroness Valtraute von Bruegen's officer husband's body is severed in two she is delighted to find that the lower half has been sewn onto the upper body of the humble local Captain Ulste. She conceives a child only to see the return of her husband in one piece. What happens next is both indescribably funny and darkly painful. A beautifully written Surrealist novel-cum-political allegory, Flesh-Coloured Dominoes transports the reader between 18th-century Baltic gentry and the narrator's life in the modern world. The connection between the two narratives gradually becomes clear in a mesmerising fantasy of love, lust, and loss as Skijuns creates a work of sublime art that is funny, moving, enlightening and philosophical in equal measure.Translated from the Latvian by Kaija StraumanisTrade ReviewSkujins is a master at personae and a cosmopolitan writer, filling his landscapes with extraordinary and unforgettable characters * World Literature Today *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThis book is a marvel indeed—a charming, improbably generous portrait of the pleasures of small-town life and enduring values. Simultaneously funny, rueful, nostalgic, and wry, these stories embrace hope and endurance, finding the miraculous bound up in the mundane. As one character says, 'Earth was home to more marvels than he could take in.' -- Erin McGraw, author of Joy and 52 Other Very Short StoriesLike the stories of Jim Heynen or Wendell Berry, the missives found in Scott Russell Sanders's Small Marvels are finely finished finishes of bulletins and billet-doux that lap and layer 'place' into Place, creating a depth by means of gritty sanding and steel-wooled buffing on what was once the flat and dull surface of the world's old spoil. America's drama has always been between mobility and stability. These deadpan understated dispatches from the striations of Limestone are all about the staunch staying, and these tales sculpt, indeed, poetic stays against the entropic confusion found in all our hyperkinetic need for the getting up and the going. -- Michael Martone, author of The Complete Writings of Art Smith, The Bird Boy of Fort Wayne, Edited by Michael Martone and The Moon Over WapakonetaThere is nothing small about this epic, large-hearted, greatly imagined book. Of all of his serious books on the fate of our earth, this may be Sanders's most honest of all, a brave look at the realities of a struggling life in a literal holy landscape. We need this poignant, deeply comical book to remind us what a good time we can have after all in this world, right at home, with each other, in the most basic and fantastic of ways. -- Barbara Mossberg, author of Here for the Present, professor of Literature and Leadership at the University of OregonScott Russell Sanders, being a wise man who agonizes over the sinking of our traditional virtues, uses his great storytelling skills to keep buoying them up. In Small Marvels, he reminds us of the values of honest work, unselfishness, and wholesome family devotion, not by preaching but by pulling us into warm, funny, whimsical stories about the poor but happy family of Gordon Mills, a homely jack-of-all-trades who can leave no good deed undone. Gordon is the worthiest poor-folks' hero I've seen since Wendell Berry's unforgettable Jayber Crow. -- James Alexander Thom, author of Fire in the WaterScott Russell Sanders's newest book, Small Marvels, makes me feel better about the world. Each story from the lives of Gordon Mills and his family is a gift and the collection as a whole is a balm for the heart and spirit. In a time of uncertainty and division, Gordon (who is part mechanic, part everyday mystic) and his very human, always entertaining family, reminds us of all that is still right in the world and shines a light on what is luminous and extraordinary in an ordinary day. Scott Russell Sanders has a beautiful constellation of works, I have loved all I've encountered, and Small Marvels is truly another bright star. -- Carrie Newcomer, songwriter, author of Until Now, The Beautiful Not Yet, Until Now: New PoemsScott Russell Sanders's Small Miracles is its own kind of miracle, a contemporary work of short fiction where the protagonist, Gordon Mills, quietly repairs the work of entropy with love and kindness, a ready set of a handyman's tools, and an unshakable faith in community. I love this character, his family, and the town of Limestone, Indiana, a place reminiscent of Wendell Berry's Port Williams, that they call home. -- Susan Neville, author of The Town of Whispering DollsWhen I first heard Scott tell a story, I prayed the day would come he'd write a book of them, and here it is! In Small Marvels, eloquence, humor, and magic mingle together in a delicious blend. Limestone, Indiana, will no doubt take its place in the landscape of Hoosier legends. -- Philip Gulley, author of the Harmony SeriesScott Russell Sanders has created a literature encompassing the natural world, our sense of place, and the ways in which we can build community that lasts. This collection of linked stories about an unwieldy, yet loving family in what might, at first glance, seem like the middle of nowhere is a tender addition to a generous body of work. -- David Hoppe, author of Midcentury BoyJoyful, whimsical and lovely. -- Katie Noah Gibson * Cakes, Tea and Dreams *Small Marvels is an evocative short story collection that tickles the imagination as it explores the magic of a Midwestern town. * Foreword Reviews *Essayist and nature writer Scott Russell Sanders returns to fiction in his joyous, whimsical novel-in-stories, Small Marvels. The collection follows the life of Gordon Mills, a city maintenance worker in small-town Indiana, and the adventures of his loving, rambunctious family. Told in Sanders's signature rambling prose, the 24 stories recount the joys and travails of Gordon's career and family life: an overstuffed house in need of constant repair, cranky teenagers and aging parents, his own aching back. But the 'small marvels' of the title await around every corner, whether it's seeing the northern lights improbably gleam over the city dump or the pleasure of watching birds flock to a homemade yard feeder. Sanders (Dancing in Dreamtime) sprinkles his stories with quotidian wonders, placing his characters in humdrum situations where magic flashes unexpectedly. In brief vignettes with one-word titles, Sanders explores mundane challenges, such as the tight finances of a large household, and more esoteric ones, like the group of centaurs and dragons that take shelter in a local cave. With his wife, Mabel—a sturdy, practical woman—Gordon manages to keep his family fed and clothed, while also helping his four children through various growing pains. Charming and engaging without being twee, Small Marvels celebrates the simple joys of living in this world and the miracles, otherworldly or everyday, that wait for those who are willing to look. Sanders's portrayal of wonder in Gordon's world will inspire readers to look for magic in their own lives. * Shelf Awareness *Please, find a copy of Small Marvels and embrace within it your personal moments of wonderment and joy, connections and discoveries, and the simple gift of love. -- Rita Kohn * Nuvo *The only thing wrong with Scott Russell Sanders's new collection of short stories, Small Marvels, is the title. For while many of the marvels that Sanders describes may be of the everyday sort— the birth of a child, the sounds of sandhill cranes wheeling overhead—there's nothing small about them. They're the kind of wonders that fill a life with awe, meaning, and love. . . . Sanders describes Gordon as having been "seized by grace." Sanders was clearly seized by the same grace when he wrote this magical collection. -- Julie Gray * Bloom *Table of ContentsAuroraTreesSistersParentsWidowsSmokeCentaurBluesWealthMaintenanceWeightDanceCrowsRabbitFossilTrashAlligatorsWorryWolfWildernessSnowDinosaurAnniversaryFlood

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThis book is a marvel indeed—a charming, improbably generous portrait of the pleasures of small-town life and enduring values. Simultaneously funny, rueful, nostalgic, and wry, these stories embrace hope and endurance, finding the miraculous bound up in the mundane. As one character says, 'Earth was home to more marvels than he could take in.' -- Erin McGraw, author of Joy and 52 Other Very Short StoriesLike the stories of Jim Heynen or Wendell Berry, the missives found in Scott Russell Sanders's Small Marvels are finely finished finishes of bulletins and billet-doux that lap and layer 'place' into Place, creating a depth by means of gritty sanding and steel-wooled buffing on what was once the flat and dull surface of the world's old spoil. America's drama has always been between mobility and stability. These deadpan understated dispatches from the striations of Limestone are all about the staunch staying, and these tales sculpt, indeed, poetic stays against the entropic confusion found in all our hyperkinetic need for the getting up and the going. -- Michael Martone, author of The Complete Writings of Art Smith, The Bird Boy of Fort Wayne, Edited by Michael Martone and The Moon Over WapakonetaThere is nothing small about this epic, large-hearted, greatly imagined book. Of all of his serious books on the fate of our earth, this may be Sanders's most honest of all, a brave look at the realities of a struggling life in a literal holy landscape. We need this poignant, deeply comical book to remind us what a good time we can have after all in this world, right at home, with each other, in the most basic and fantastic of ways. -- Barbara Mossberg, author of Here for the Present, professor of Literature and Leadership at the University of OregonScott Russell Sanders, being a wise man who agonizes over the sinking of our traditional virtues, uses his great storytelling skills to keep buoying them up. In Small Marvels, he reminds us of the values of honest work, unselfishness, and wholesome family devotion, not by preaching but by pulling us into warm, funny, whimsical stories about the poor but happy family of Gordon Mills, a homely jack-of-all-trades who can leave no good deed undone. Gordon is the worthiest poor-folks' hero I've seen since Wendell Berry's unforgettable Jayber Crow. -- James Alexander Thom, author of Fire in the WaterScott Russell Sanders's newest book, Small Marvels, makes me feel better about the world. Each story from the lives of Gordon Mills and his family is a gift and the collection as a whole is a balm for the heart and spirit. In a time of uncertainty and division, Gordon (who is part mechanic, part everyday mystic) and his very human, always entertaining family, reminds us of all that is still right in the world and shines a light on what is luminous and extraordinary in an ordinary day. Scott Russell Sanders has a beautiful constellation of works, I have loved all I've encountered, and Small Marvels is truly another bright star. -- Carrie Newcomer, songwriter, author of Until Now, The Beautiful Not Yet, Until Now: New PoemsScott Russell Sanders's Small Miracles is its own kind of miracle, a contemporary work of short fiction where the protagonist, Gordon Mills, quietly repairs the work of entropy with love and kindness, a ready set of a handyman's tools, and an unshakable faith in community. I love this character, his family, and the town of Limestone, Indiana, a place reminiscent of Wendell Berry's Port Williams, that they call home. -- Susan Neville, author of The Town of Whispering DollsWhen I first heard Scott tell a story, I prayed the day would come he'd write a book of them, and here it is! In Small Marvels, eloquence, humor, and magic mingle together in a delicious blend. Limestone, Indiana, will no doubt take its place in the landscape of Hoosier legends. -- Philip Gulley, author of the Harmony SeriesScott Russell Sanders has created a literature encompassing the natural world, our sense of place, and the ways in which we can build community that lasts. This collection of linked stories about an unwieldy, yet loving family in what might, at first glance, seem like the middle of nowhere is a tender addition to a generous body of work. -- David Hoppe, author of Midcentury BoyJoyful, whimsical and lovely. -- Katie Noah Gibson * Cakes, Tea and Dreams *Small Marvels is an evocative short story collection that tickles the imagination as it explores the magic of a Midwestern town. * Foreword Reviews *Essayist and nature writer Scott Russell Sanders returns to fiction in his joyous, whimsical novel-in-stories, Small Marvels. The collection follows the life of Gordon Mills, a city maintenance worker in small-town Indiana, and the adventures of his loving, rambunctious family. Told in Sanders's signature rambling prose, the 24 stories recount the joys and travails of Gordon's career and family life: an overstuffed house in need of constant repair, cranky teenagers and aging parents, his own aching back. But the 'small marvels' of the title await around every corner, whether it's seeing the northern lights improbably gleam over the city dump or the pleasure of watching birds flock to a homemade yard feeder. Sanders (Dancing in Dreamtime) sprinkles his stories with quotidian wonders, placing his characters in humdrum situations where magic flashes unexpectedly. In brief vignettes with one-word titles, Sanders explores mundane challenges, such as the tight finances of a large household, and more esoteric ones, like the group of centaurs and dragons that take shelter in a local cave. With his wife, Mabel—a sturdy, practical woman—Gordon manages to keep his family fed and clothed, while also helping his four children through various growing pains. Charming and engaging without being twee, Small Marvels celebrates the simple joys of living in this world and the miracles, otherworldly or everyday, that wait for those who are willing to look. Sanders's portrayal of wonder in Gordon's world will inspire readers to look for magic in their own lives. * Shelf Awareness *Please, find a copy of Small Marvels and embrace within it your personal moments of wonderment and joy, connections and discoveries, and the simple gift of love. -- Rita Kohn * Nuvo *The only thing wrong with Scott Russell Sanders's new collection of short stories, Small Marvels, is the title. For while many of the marvels that Sanders describes may be of the everyday sort— the birth of a child, the sounds of sandhill cranes wheeling overhead—there's nothing small about them. They're the kind of wonders that fill a life with awe, meaning, and love. . . . Sanders describes Gordon as having been "seized by grace." Sanders was clearly seized by the same grace when he wrote this magical collection. -- Julie Gray * Bloom *Table of ContentsAuroraTreesSistersParentsWidowsSmokeCentaurBluesWealthMaintenanceWeightDanceCrowsRabbitFossilTrashAlligatorsWorryWolfWildernessSnowDinosaurAnniversaryFlood

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Book SynopsisA delicious mix of East and West, of wonder and irony, The Fox and Dr. Shimamura is a most curious novelTrade Review"A wonderful and most of all wonderfully told story." -- Die Zeit"What a beautiful book!" -- Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung"The Fox & Dr. Shimamura is a cornucopia of strange pathologies and historical oddities, spanning multiple continents and languages, that breaks down the polarities between religion and science, supernatural hauntings and neurotic hauntings, and Eastern and Western cultural ideologies. Dr. Shimamura, a Japanese neurologist who travels to the hotspots of psychiatry in early twentieth-century Europe, thinks in both Japanese and German, and harbors a slight disdain for the backwardness of Japanese science; yet while he prides himself on being a supremely rational, modern man, he can’t shake the conviction that he is possessed by a fox that slithers under his skin. Christine Wunnicke takes her place alongside the Japanese-German writer Yoko Tawada as an adept celebrator of cosmopolitan intermixture and the magic of subverting monocultural systems." -- Gregory Ariail - Kenyon Review"A marvel, a wonder—a deeply strange little novel about medicine, memory, and fox possession. With her delicate prose, arch tone, and mischievous storytelling, Wunnicke proves herself a master of the form." -- Kirkus (starred review)"A mythical, mystical, and at times bizarre tale of a late nineteenth-century Japanese doctor who is sent to remote areas of the Shimane prefecture to cure women of fox possession. Wunnicke slyly reminds us that, although women are powerless, even when it comes to treating their own illnesses, they find ways to quietly assert their will over men." -- Melissa Beck - Music and Literature"Wunnicke paints nightmarishly hectic European scenes in a palette of absinthe and Toulouse-Lautrec, and alternates them with nightmarishly static scenes of Shimamura’s declining, colorless present in Japan. Connections proliferate like reflections in a house of mirrors, fascinating and also vaguely queasy — the narrative is disorienting in every sense of the word. But absurdist fiction, like psychotherapy, requires an investment of energy and a suspension of judgment. The Fox and Dr. Shimamura is worth the effort." -- New York Times Book Review"Christine Wunnicke’s glittering, absurdist jewel of a novel." -- New York Times Book Review"The Fox and Dr. Shimamura recovers the almost magical counternarratives running parallel to key moments in the history of western modernity. Shimamura is marked as someone who is navigating the hazy boundaries of gender, finding through the fox spirit some access to an internalized femininity that is rebuked by his society in the form of history’s most gendered diagnosis. Rich and engaging." -- The Carolina Quarterly"An appealingly haunting novel, slightly off-kilter, suggesting the unknown and the unknowable." -- M.A. Orthofer - The Complete Review"A miniature voyage around the world and into the not-so-distant past. Wunnicke’s deftly drawn vignettes of Dr. Shimamura’s life provide tantalizing glimpses into the manifestations of Eastern and Western psychiatry at the turn of the last century." -- Catherine Venner - World Literature Today"Wunnicke spoofs the misogynist history of psychology in this clever and rewarding novel of slippery memories tinged with Japanese myths: this gracefully amusing blend of history and imagination will beguile readers.""“Delightfully crazy—very nicely told: Wunnicke succeeds in drawing us into the logic of this mad world, where the fox moving under a girl’s skin is as vivid (and believable?) as Charcot’s demonstration of the arc of la grande hysterie.”" -- Rosmarie Waldrop

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Book Synopsis"I passed away at two o’clock in the afternoon on a Friday in August in 1869, in my beautiful mansion in the Catumbi district of the city." So begins Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas—at the end of the narrator’s life. Published in 1881, this highly experimental novel was not at first considered Machado de Assis’ definitive work—a fact his narrator anticipated, bidding "good riddance" to the critic looking for a "run-of-the-mill-novel". Yet in this coruscating new translation, Margaret Jull Costa and Robin Patterson reveal a pivotal moment in Machado’s career, as his flights of the surreal became his literary hallmark. An enigmatic, amusing and frequently insufferable anti hero, Brás Cubas describes his Rio de Janeiro childhood spent tormenting household slaves, his bachelor years of torrid affairs and his final days obsessing over nonsensical poultices. A novel that helped launch modernist fiction, Brás Cubas shines a direct light to Ulysses and Love in the Time of Cholera.Trade Review"One of the wittiest, most playful, and therefore most alive and ageless books ever written." -- Dave Eggers"An offbeat, invigorating classic is perfect reading for a morbid summer." -- The Economist

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Book SynopsisThis magical realist tale follows the travails of a burnt-out teacher from Queens who spends his time obsessing over the fact that he has been cheated out of living in his Grandma Rose’s Lower East Side apartment and is thus priced out of his “More Recent Ancestral Home” of Manhattan. In The Lower East Side Tenement Reclamation Association, David Rothman weaves a rich story about real estate, family, and memory. Daniel, the protagonist, is haunted by the memories of his childhood experiences in his grandmother’s apartment, a home that he desperately wants to inhabit. One day he discovers a hidden relic on Rivington Street: a tenement reclamation office run by an eccentric centurion named Hannah. When Daniel inquires about the chances of reclaiming his grandmother’s old tenement, Hannah is not impressed. “Things don’t work like that, you rude, young schlub!” And so begins Daniel’s journey to take back his past and to secure an affordable space for his family in downtown Manhattan. This is a journey full of twists and turns, ups and downs, and an ending that would make even the most thick-skinned New York real estate agent shake.The Lower East Side Tenement Reclamation Association is the winner of the Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction Novelette Prize, selected by Meg Ellison. Trade Review“The Lower East Side Tenement Reclamation Association is a brilliantly-written work of magical fiction in which both contemporary New York and the Jewish immigrant experience come alive. I loved Daniel, who wants a Manhattan apartment in the most desperate way, his sensible wife Julie, and their wise little girl, Hannah. The book is both moving and comic.” -- Phyllis Smith, author of I am Livia“Rothman’s novel lands readers in a magical New York City, where portals and keys lead to wondrous places. But moreover, it’s a story that profoundly explores the weight of loss, the complexities of family, and the power of nostalgia.” -- Noah Lederman, author of A World Erased

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Book SynopsisRelic species extinct everywhere else on the planet thrive on a remote archipelago. Evolution requires isolation, and these islands offer the perfect environment for genetic variation to take place, fostering new and unique forms of flora and fauna. Evolutionary biologists Emily and Roland have come on an extended field expedition to this secluded world, eager to expose its unique biosphere.As they work to gather a large dataset of dead specimens for study and description, Emily and Roland experience growing shifts in their perception, in their bodies, and even in the flow of linear time. The environment they have come to quantify acts upon them, the species they collect observe and comment upon them, and the controlled lens of science cannot save them. Succumbing to the dynamic power of isolation, they find themselves irrevocably changed.A poetic novel told through field notes, letters, and scientific data, Refugia is a story of discovery and transformation that shows the hubris inherent in the idea that humans live both outside, and at the center of, the natural world. This is a book that reveals science in all its imperfect beauty, crossing the line between observer and observed, scientist and subject, between what is known and what is unknowable.

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Book SynopsisNATIONAL BESTSELLERA NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS'' CHOICEProclaimed as “truly spellbinding,” a “great fable” that “functions as transporting romance” by the Guardian, the runaway #1 international bestseller A rich, gothic entertainment that explores what books have trapped inside them and reminds us of the power of storytelling. Spellbinding.” — TRACY CHEVALIERImagine you could erase grief.Imagine you could remove pain.Imagine you could hide the darkest, most horrifying secret.Forever.Young Emmett Farmer is working in the fields when a strange letter arrives summoning him away from his family. He is to begin an apprenticeship as a Bookbinder—a vocation that arouses fear, superstition, and prejudice amongst their small community, but one neither he nor his parents can aff

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“One of the most outstanding Latin American short novels of the year.” — New York Times “A powerful story whose narrator wields brutally honest observations on the intersections of class, poverty, and gender. Reyes’ debut is a strong addition to the growing body of Latin American crime fiction in the U.S. market. A stirring genre blend of fantasy and crime fiction that combines graceful prose and magic realism.” — Booklist (starred review) “Reyes succeeds in making the feisty Eartheater and her visions both persuasive and affecting.” — Library Journal (starred review) “In a voice that is terse, blunt, and biting, the narrator reckons with the impact of her visions on her health and relationships, as she witnesses more and more the ways fear and violence shape the experiences of the women in her community. Compelling and visceral, Reyes’ debut combines mystery and coming-of-age to evoke the stories of the victims of femicide.” — Kirkus Reviews “A raw and vital literary debut, Eartheater takes an unwavering and visceral look at systems of power through the perspective of a young woman caught in the crosshairs.” — Shelf Awareness "In Reyes' hands, this coming-of-age novel flowers into a meditation on death, and the earth all children will eat in the end." — New York Observer “Dolores Reyes’s writing is visceral and urgent. It’s also connected to a powerful tradition of fantasy and crime, and it reflects on violence against women with enormous lucidity.” — Mariana Enriquez, author of Things We Lost in the Fire "With its own shining light and singular voice, Eartheater follows in the footsteps of such essential authors as Juan Rulfo and Sara Gallardo.” — Selva Almada, author of The Wind That Lays Waste “Dolores Reyes’s harsh and sensitive lyricism explodes in your hands.” — Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, author of The Adventures of China Iron

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the Reading the West Book Award in the Debut Fiction “Swim Home to the Vanished is a lush and fantastic journey through strange lands and minds from an incandescent new voice full of my kind of melancholic brilliance and unromantic magic.”—Tommy Orange, author of There, ThereAfter the death of his brother, a grief-stricken young man seeks refuge and oblivion in a secluded fishing village dominated by a family of brujas in this haunting debut novel, inspired, in part, by the ramifications of Diné history and thought—a mesmerizing, original tale in the tradition of works by Toni Morrison, Haruki Murakami, and Gabriel García Márquez.When the river swallowed Kai, Damien’s little brother didn’t die so much as vanish. As the unbearable loss settles deeper into his bones, Damien, a small-town line cook, walks away from

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Book SynopsisA National Indie BestsellerWinner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Story Prize, and a Windham-Campbell Literature PrizeA Best Book of the Year at The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vogue, Houston Chronicle, Roxane Gay's The Audacity, Mashable, Polygon, Kirkus Reviews, and Library JournalA New York Times Book Review Editor's ChoiceUncanny and haunting . . . Genius. Michele Filgate, The Washington PostDazzling. Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh AirWhat happens when fantasy tears the screen of the everyday to wake us up? Could that waking be our end?In Bliss Montage, Ling Ma brings us eight wildly different tales of people making their way through the madness and reality of our collective delusions: love and loneliness, connection and possession, friendship, motherhood, the idea of ho

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Book SynopsisLydia Millet’s debut novel, first published in 1996, is an explosive satire that scorches our culture’s monstrous men and institutions.Trade Review"All manner of voracious American appetites—for sex, power, and possessions—are darkly lampooned in this strange, often very funny debut." -- Entertainment Weekly"Omnivores reads like a cartoon with soul." -- Los Angeles Times"If Flannery O’Connor came back from the dead and abandoned her fixation with Southern religion, she might be proud to write something like Lydia Millet’s astonishing first novel, Omnivores." -- Sun-Sentinel

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