Satirical fiction and parodies

Book SynopsisFrom the veteran online journalist Doree Shafrir, a sharp, hugely entertaining story of youth, ambition, love, money and technology's inability to hack human nature.

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Book SynopsisAn ingenious novel about art and revenge, insisting on your dreams and hitting on your doctor, told in the form of 81 movie reviews.

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Book SynopsisONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S 100 BEST MYSTERY AND THRILLER BOOKS OF ALL TIME • BOOKER PRIZE NOMINEE • “A taut and darkly funny contemporary noir that moves at lightning speed, it’s the wittiest and most fun murder party you’ve ever been invited to.” —MARIE CLAIRE Korede’s sister Ayoola is many things: the favorite child, the beautiful one, possibly sociopathic. And now Ayoola’s third boyfriend in a row is dead, stabbed through the heart with Ayoola’s knife. Korede’s practicality is the sisters’ saving grace. She knows the best solutions for cleaning blood (bleach, bleach, and more bleach), the best way to move a body (wrap it in sheets like a mummy), and she keeps Ayoola from posting pictures to Instagram when she should be mourning her “missing” boyfriend. Not that she gets any credit. Korede has long been in love with a kind, handsome d

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Book SynopsisFrom the bestselling author of The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments—in the gated community of Consilience, residents who sign a contract will get a job and a lovely house for six months of the year...if they serve as inmates in the Positron prison system for the alternate months.“Captivating...thrilling.” —The New York Times Book Review Stan and Charmaine, a young urban couple, have been hit by job loss and bankruptcy in the midst of nationwide economic collapse. Forced to live in their third-hand Honda, where they are vulnerable to roving gangs, they think the gated community of Consilience may be the answer to their prayers. At first, this seems worth it: they will have a roof over their heads and food on the table. But when a series of troubling events unfolds, Positron begins to look less like a prayer answered and more like a chilling prophecy fulfilled. The Heart Goes Last

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Book Synopsis'A raucous, hilarious book . . . deadly funny.' Chicago MagazineScript idea #142: Aliens undercover as cabbies abduct the fiancée of the main character, who has to find a way to a remote planet to save her. Title: Love Trek.Script idea #185: Teenager discovers his girlfriend's beloved grandfather was a guard in a Nazi death camp. The boy's grandparents are survivors, but he's tantalizingly close to achieving deflowerment, so when a Nazi-hunter arrives in town in pursuit of Grandpa, he has to distract him long enough to get laid. A riotous Holocaust comedy. Title: The Righteous Love.Script idea #196: Rock star high out of his mind freaks out during a show, runs offstage, and is lost in streets crowded with his hallucinations. The teenage fan who finds him keeps the rock star for himself for the night. Mishaps and adventures follow. This one could be a musical: Singin' in the Brain.Josh LevTrade ReviewAleksandar Hemon is a gifted crafter of sentences . . . a rambunctious farce that includes zombies, a lot of slapstick, comedic violence, allusions to the Bible and Spinoza, and a climactic showdown involving a stoned Desert Storm veteran and a samurai sword . . . brilliant * Guardian *Dreadfully, wrigglingly, antisocially funny . . . Hemon's work often crackles with humour, but it's never been this uproarious. * Spectator *What soon becomes clear is that the jokes in Hemon's novel are not just jokes, but about something larger, whether political, philosophical, or moral. Like all the best comedy, the novel makes it impossible not to sense the melancholy beneath the sullenness and absurdity . . . A troubling, mysterious, lyrical elegy to the world in which the living struggle to maintain their fragile truce with the undead. * New York Review of Books *Exhilaratingly astute. * Sunday Times *What is exceptionally impressive about this novel is the deft control of different registers. It is like watching someone juggle with Sabatier knives. While wisecracking . . . Caustic and tender, enraged and forgiving, giggly and plaintive. * Scotland on Sunday *It's not every day you read a novel that moves effortlessly between references to the philosopher Baruch Spinoza, eruptions of the crazed undead, a po-faced TV image of George Bush, sidewinding literary references . . . The Making of Zombie Wars, the new novel from the Bosnian-American writer Aleksandar Hemon, doesn't so much move as whizz the reader from the heights of creative whimsy to the depths of human tragedy - and back again - with barely time to draw breath. * Irish Times *The Making of Zombie Wars doesn't have much to do with the undead, but it's a comic novel with BRAAAINS. That intellectual heft is to be expected . . . But Hemon is also a master at camouflaging the deeper elements of this novel amid its tomfoolery. * Washington Post *Brutal but darkly hilarious . . . Hemon has always had a gift for humor, but he's never written anything as raucously funny and surreal as this . . . Endlessly entertaining . . . The Making of Zombie Wars is crazy in the best sense of the word, and very few authors could have pulled it off. * NPR *Spinozan philosophy meets screwball comedy in this eccentric, subtly experimental novel by Hemon. * Publishers Weekly *A fast-paced, darkly comic tale set in Chicago . . . ends with a transmutational flourish that is deeply and comically satisfying. * Chicago Tribune *

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Elizabeth Bennet has politely declined your friend request and asks that you do not slide into her DMs again. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, will probably be verified on social media. The characters of Pride and Prejudice are navigating the same struggles on unfamiliar channels - social media channels, to be precise. When authors Claire McGowan and Sarah Day imagined how 'Pride and Prejudice on Social Media' might look, retelling the story through mocked-up social media posts, their post instantly went viral. Have you ever wondered what Austen's most famous couple might be like if it played out online? Well, here is the story in full . . .Perfect for fans of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy . . .

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Book SynopsisRead Regional 2019 – ‘Discover brilliant Northern writers’Aidan Wilson’s misfortune is to be hard as nailsIn this darkly hilarious and seriously horrifying book Williams tells the story of Aidan, a vigilante and young offender from one of Sheffield’s roughest estates. At breakneck speed, we see Aidan’s world unravel as he goes from hero to outlaw, fighting against all-comers and the circumstances he can’t escape. But is he a victim or architect of his own demise? A brutal and breathtaking account of living with violence in the English city.There are lots of crime novels, but Nutcase is something different: a novel about crime which isn’t interested in the conventions of crime fiction. The novel is based on a specific Icelandic saga: the Saga of Grettir the Strong.Nutcase explores the lives of people who live with violence on a day-to-day basis – how it shapes and distorts their lives, and ultimately becomes part of the normality that they live with.Trade ReviewA brutal, funny and heart-rending book, it hurtles towards its fate with unremitting pace, energy and cheek. -- Isy SuttieThis is a brutal book. Upon closing the last page, I felt like I had been hit by a truck. But it’s one I’d recommend to anyone. At least, anyone over the age of 18. I hope Williams has more up of this superb writing up his sleeve for us. And maybe next time I’ll figure out how he manages it. * Murder Underground Broke The Camel's Back *This novel by Tony Williams is completely magnificent. It's based on the Icelandic saga of Grettir the Strong and is set on a housing estate in Sheffield. It's horrifyingly, scabrously funny. It's one of the most distinctive and addictively readable prose voices I've encountered since Magnus Mills. If there was any justice it would be as big as Trainspotting. -- Luke KennardRead of the fortnight: Nutcase by Tony WilliamsAidan is a violent thug, but also has a heartbreaking gentleness. We rattle through the plot at 100mph, but everything is described in vivid detail. Everything is ugly and sordid, but everything is captivating and beautiful. And this is achieved seamlessly. Nutcase is one of those books that feels effortless; so natural that you don’t see the brushstrokes behind the masterpiece. I keep going back to reread sections to see how he pulls it off, and I’m honestly still not sure. But I do know that Williams is a writer on fire. There’s no escaping the fact that this is a brutal book. -- Anna Craig * Sheffield Telegraph *A powerful, if disturbing, book that will remain with you long after you finish it. * Blue Book Balloon *One of the most remarkable things about the novel is that it never loses momentum. This isn't easy when one is essentially describing the lives of a bunch of druggie layabouts; it's a milieu that can soon become a deadly bore. That it does not is both a tribute to the author's handling of pace and a vindication of his choice of style; the saga-form really does suit the material. -- Sheenagh Pugh

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Book SynopsisGiven a terminal diagnosis (actually two of them) thirty-five year old Miguel Padilla decides he must accomplish something meaningful before death. He seizes on the idea of donating a kidney to save someone’s life. Then he decides: why stop there? Why not donate… everything? Why not indeed?Trade ReviewReviews of the Transplant Tetralogy 'His wit and style are as compelling as his tightly wound thriller plots, and his thoughts on the world we live in are fascinating and, often, spot on … An awe-inspiring feat' Washington Post'Fitzhugh’s stuff is unique. It’s also alarmingly accurate. That’s what makes it so good' Clarion-Ledger'Bill Fitzhugh just gets better and better' Christopher Moore'A thrilling tale of science run amok … laugh-out-loud send-ups of the madness of modern life' Booklist'Fast, funny, deft action ... You have to experience it, hanging on tight and keeping those pages turning' New Orleans Times-Picayune'Where Bill Fitzhugh earned his Ph.D. in street smarts is a mystery. The wicked sense of humor he must have been born with' Dallas Morning News'Genuinely funny … his satiric eye spares no one' Publishers Weekly

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Book SynopsisWinner of the McKitterick Prize 2018."Never cover an assignment without collecting a brown envelope," Boniface had said. "It is a real life saver for all journalists in this country."Ifiok, a young journalist working for the government radio station in Lagos, Nigeria, always aspires to do the right thing, but the odds seem to be stacked against him. Government pressures cause the funding to his radio drama to get cut off, his girlfriend leaves him when she discovers he is having an affair with an intern, and kidnappings and militancy are on the rise in the country. When Ifiok travels to his hometown to do a documentary on some ex-militants' apparent redemption, a tragi-comic series of events will make him realise he is unable to swim against the tide of corruption.Building on the legacy of the great African satirist tradition of Ngugi Wa Thiongo and Ayi Kwei Armah, Radio Sunrise paints a sharp-tongued portrait of (post) post-colonial Nigeria.Trade ReviewIsong is a rare talent indeed. * SJ Bradley *Isong weaves a profoundly personal story of contemporary Nigeria even while dealing with broader societal and cultural issues. * Chika Unigwe, Man Booker International 2017 judge *Anietie Isong is a keen observer of his society, with an exceptional gift of narration. * Marina Lewycka, A Short History of Tractors in Ukraine *

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Book Synopsis'Years have passed since the Scottish Independence Referendum was held and the political landscape has changed. Big Nellie Nellis has been voted First Minister, and things are about to get interesting as all the political parties are given the benefit of her very unparliamentary sound bites!'Trade Review.Table of ContentsContents Acknowledgements 6 Preface 7 Scottish Parliament Characters in Naw First Minister 8 Introduction 11 Chapter 1 In the Beginning was the Word 17 Chapter 2 Big Nellie’s Inaugural Speech as First Minister 37 Chapter 3 Squeaky Bum Time! 43 Chapter 4 Go Ahead, Make My Day! 69 Chapter 5 The Investigation 81Chapter 6 On Desert Island Discs 91 Chapter 7 A Working Majority 115 Chapter 8 Dirty Pool 129 Chapter 9 Love and the Royals 139 Chapter 10 Intrigue 149Chapter 11 Exposed! 157 Chapter 12 Hold the Front Page! 173 BBC News Bulletin 179Chapter 13 How the Scottish Parliament Actually Operates 181 Further Big Nellie ‘Whollyrude’ observations 187

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Book SynopsisWinner of the McKitterick Prize 2018."Never cover an assignment without collecting a brown envelope," Boniface had said. "It is a real life saver for all journalists in this country."Ifiok, a young journalist working for the government radio station in Lagos, Nigeria, always aspires to do the right thing, but the odds seem to be stacked against him. Government pressures cause the funding to his radio drama to get cut off, his girlfriend leaves him when she discovers he is having an affair with an intern, and kidnappings and militancy are on the rise in the country. When Ifiok travels to his hometown to do a documentary on some ex-militants' apparent redemption, a tragi-comic series of events will make him realise he is unable to swim against the tide of corruption.Building on the legacy of the great African satirist tradition of Ngugi Wa Thiongo and Ayi Kwei Armah, Radio Sunrise paints a sharp-tongued portrait of (post) post-colonial Nigeria.Trade ReviewIsong is a rare talent indeed. * SJ Bradley *Isong weaves a profoundly personal story of contemporary Nigeria even while dealing with broader societal and cultural issues. * Chika Unigwe, Man Booker International 2017 judge *Anietie Isong is a keen observer of his society, with an exceptional gift of narration. * Marina Lewycka, A Short History of Tractors in Ukraine *

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Book SynopsisA writer in self-imposed exile in London receives a call from the Prime Minister of his former country, inviting him to return to write the Prime Minister's biography. As he embarks from his small flat in west London to the modern Caribbean island he once called home, he immediately finds himself thrust into a world of exceptional wealth, power, and corruption.In the midst of this turmoil the writer falls deeply in love. As the love affair advances, the writer's passion for the island resurfaces, until the loss of a close friend propels him to make one final, potentially cataclysmic decision that will change everything.

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Book Synopsis'Great is the Soviet Union, vast its territories, warm its entrails...' 1959. Whispers of dissidence are spreading in the U.S.S.R. Texts published in the West are circulating in samizdat, tormenting the secret police. Lieutenant Ivanov of the K.G.B, under pressure from his enraged superiors, is handed the case.Leads emerge, flare up, vanish. Years pass. 'Abram Tertz' publishes another short story, a new novel, mocking the competent authority. Shielded by his fierce wife Maria Vasilyevna Rozanova, Andrei Sinyavsky, one of the Soviet Union's most renowned and brilliant figures of resistance, waits in his wired apartment, drinking, sure his days as a free man are numbered.But as Rozanova continues to taunt Ivanov with her cheerful intransigence, a crisis of confidence opens up within the regime's resolve, causing the young lieutenant to wonder, 'are we actually as competent as we claim to be?''With the unique insight afforded by his mother, Rozanova, Gran pays remarkable homage to Andrei Sinyavsky, his father, reimagining the six long years leading up to his infamous arrest, trial and conviction. Framed within a riveting cat-and-mouse dynamic; irreverent and darkly comic, Gran balances a satirical lightness with deeper meditations on dogma and freedom of expression, state control and creative resistance, the ghosts of which, at a time when political criticism is being crushed once again, are as present today as ever before.Trade Review'A masterpiece' * Le Monde *'A funny and touching novel' * Temps *'Iegor Gran recounts this paper chase with a sarcastic tone, ridiculing the actions and words of a regime that promises happiness, but offers terror ... A remarkable portrait of the Soviet Union' * Elle *

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Book SynopsisFrom the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Lincoln in the Bardo, a darkly comic short story about the unintended consequences unleashed by our quest to tame the natural world—featuring gorgeous black-and-white illustrations by Chelsea Cardinal. Fox 8 has always been known as the daydreamer in his pack, the one his fellow foxes regard with a knowing snort and a roll of the eyes. That is, until he develops a unique skill: He teaches himself to speak “Yuman” by hiding in the bushes outside a house and listening to children’s bedtime stories. The power of language fuels his abundant curiosity about people—even after “danjer” arrives in the form of a new shopping mall that cuts off his food supply, sending Fox 8 on a harrowing quest to help save his pack. Told with his distinctive blend of humor and pathos, Fox 8 showcases the extraordinary imaginative talents of George Saunders, whom The New York Times called “the writer for our time.”

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Book SynopsisA searing commentary on the lives of Africans in FranceTrade ReviewAlain Mabanckou counts as one of the most successful voices of young African literature in the French language. -- Ulrich Schreiber * Internationales literaturfestival berlin *Alain Mabanckou can be defined as the 'clear guide' of a new generation of Congolese writers. * Infopagecongo *Blue White Red stands at the beginning of the author's remarkable and multifaceted career as a novelist, essayist and poet...this debut novel shows much of his style and substance in remarkable ways...Dundy's translation is excellent. * Africa Book Club *Mabanckou's provocative novel probes the many facets of the 'migration adventure,' including the shame that accompanies migrants home when their foreign sojourn ends in failure. * Booklist *Mabanckou dazzles with technical dexterity and emotional depth. Vulnerability beckons in this masterful story about a world we always knew was too good to be true, yet reminds us that new skies appear and new seasons begin. (Starred review) * Publishers Weekly *

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Book SynopsisSet in the imaginary African Republic of Vietongo, The Negro Grandsons of Vercingetorix, begins when conflict breaks out between rival leaders and the regional ethnic groups they represent. Award-winning author Alain Mabanckou is at his satiric best in this novel that catalogues the pain and suffering caused by the ravages of civil war. Trade ReviewNearly twenty years removed from its French publication, Mabanckou's aptitude for characterization and his unflinching glimpse of plight echo within every movement of Vercingetorix. With The Negro Grandsons of Vercingetorix, Mabanckou stresses that even as violence is an accomplice to life, perseverance is synonymous. * World Literature Today *

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Book SynopsisA brilliant, indelible novel of teenage alienation and adult complacency in a world whose climate and culture are unravelling.Trade Review"An American author steps out of the shadows with a dystopian novel of great power." -- Adam Begley - The Sunday Times"The pandemic amplifies the resonance of this brilliant end-of-days escapade… if the conclusion doesn’t leave you with goosebumps, then you should probably check your pulse." -- Stephanie Cross - The Daily Mail"New England children caught up in an apocalyptic storm have to fend for themselves in this powerful novel by a talented American writer who has often flown under the literary radar." -- 100 best holiday reads - The Sunday Times"Here's an idea: As the world falls apart all around us, why not read a book about the world falling apart in a totally different way? Not just any book, though, it kind of has to be A Children's Bible, the brilliant Lydia Millet's latest, in which the oblivious destructiveness of a certain self-indulgent generation of adults is rightfully skewered, as a new generation of hyper-mature teens must figure out how to live without any concrete kind of guidance." -- Best Books of 2020, So Far - Refinery29"A perfect novel for now." -- Metro"A Children’s Bible... begins in a crumbling mansion where a group of bored, surly, privileged teens are spending the summer sequestered with their ne’er do well parents. Just as it begins to seem like a summer teen romp, the story takes a dramatic turn in the shape of a cataclysmic storm. What follows is brilliant—and feels both inevitable and strangely magical. How those teens tell the story, which transforms this climate emergency into a brutally honest, funny and moving indictment of the generations leaving a broken world for them to inherit, is especially refreshing." -- Diane Cook, The Best Books of 2020 - Evening Standard"This superb novel begins as a generational comedy — a pack of kids and their middle-aged parents coexist in a summer share — and turns steadily darker, as climate collapse and societal breakdown encroach. But Millet’s light touch never falters; in this time of great upheaval, she implies, our foundational myths take on new meaning and hope." -- 100 Notable Books of 2020 - The New York Times Book Review"... in A Children’s Bible, Lydia Millet maps the consequences of an environmental apocalypse with unnerving, fable-like simplicity." -- The Best Novels of 2020 - The Telegraph

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Book SynopsisLili and Goli have argued endlessly about where their mother, Bibijan, should live since the Iranian Revolution. They disagree about her finances too, which remain blocked as long as she insists on waiting for her son—still missing but not presumed dead yet—to return from the Iran–Iraq war. But once they begin to "share" the old woman, sending her back and forth between Paris and Los Angeles, they start asking themselves where the money might be coming from. Only their Persian half-sister in Iran and the Westernized granddaughter of the family have the courage to face up to the answers, and only when Bibijan finally relinquishes the past can she remember the truth. A story mirrored in fragmented lives, Us&Them explores the ludicrous and the tragic, the venal and the generous-hearted aspects of Iranian life away from home. It is a story both familial and familiar in its generational tensions and misunderstandings, its push and pull of obligations and expectations. It also highlights how "we" can become "them" at any moment, for our true exile is alienation from others. Acclaimed author Bahiyyih Nakhjavani offers a poignant satire about migration, one of the vital issues of our times.Trade Review"Us&Them is a timely exploration of the Iranian psyche, a nuanced reflection of the Iranian character: its largesse, its rich absurdity and genuine warmth, but also its complexity, its contradictions and internal conflicts. As an Iranian born in the U.K. I found it challenging, funny, moving and I'm now fretting about where I belong: am I one of 'us' or one of 'them'?" * Omid Djalili *"With Swiftian wit and prose both pithy and poetic, Us&Them offers a searingly honest satirical image of Iranian society and its large diaspora. In the alchemy of Bahiyyih Nakhjavani's masterful narrative, this becomes a tale of the traumas of exile, and of the human condition in a troubled time." -- Abbas Milani, Hamid and Christina Moghadam Director of Iranian Studies * Stanford University *"A glitteringly poignant novel. Beautifully cadenced, drily acute about human relationships, it keeps global and local perfectly in balance and addresses one of the central topics of our time: how to live within the losses and suspensions of diaspora while grieving the dead, honouring the family and being as honest as we can." -- Ruth Padel * author of Where the Serpent Lives and Darwin—A Life in Poems, Judge of 2016 International Man Booker Prize *"Sensitive, subtle, evocative. Bahiyyih Nakhjavani weaves threads of silk with her words, skillfully filling in the silences within and between cultures. It is a rare author who can write with such clarity of vision, compassion of heart and power of words and leave us readers in awe of her wisdom at the end." -- Elif Shafak * author of The Bastard of Istanbul and The Forty Rules of Love *

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Book SynopsisWilliam Klein’s Mr. Freedom (1969) is one of the most important American satirical films ever produced, the tale of an American superhero with disastrously misguided priorities. Although it was made in France and with a largely French cast, Klein was an American expatriate, and the film’s primary topic is American culture. That it is still so largely unseen seems to have something to do with a view of it as being, in the words of critic Jonathan Rosenbaum, “conceivably the most anti-American movie ever made”.In his contribution to the Constellations series, Tyler Sage argues that to call Mr. Freedom “anti-American” is to misunderstand not only the film but the satirical tradition of American arts and letters from which it descends. The film is challenging, Sage asserts, not because it is unpatriotic but because it lays bare the ideological nature of American films themselves. By interweaving a startling range of topics, including the cultural conditions surrounding the Vietnam War, the foundations of the American obsessions with race and violence, and our contemporary superhero film cycle, Sage explores the ways Mr. Freedom compels the viewer to come to terms with the fact that the stories we tell ourselves can never be separated from the larger forces of history, culture and film tradition.

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Book Synopsis#1 International BestsellerThe Best Exotic Marigold Hotel meets The Italian Job in internationally-bestselling author Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg’s witty and insightful comedy of errors about a group of delinquent seniors whose desire for a better quality of life leads them to rob and ransom priceless artwork.Martha Andersson may be seventy-nine-years-old and live in a retirement home, but that doesn’t mean she’s ready to stop enjoying life. So when the new management of Diamond House starts cutting corners to save money, Martha and her four closest friends—Brains, The Rake, Christina and Anna-Gretta (a.k.a. The League of Pensioners)—won’t stand for it. Fed up with early bedtimes and overcooked veggies, this group of feisty seniors sets about to regain their independence, improve their lot, and stand up for seniors everywhere.Their solution? White collar crime. What begins as a relatively straightforward robbery of a nearby luxury hotel quickly escalates into an unsolvable heist at the National Museum. With police baffled and the Mafia hot on their trail, the League of Pensioners has to stay one walker’s length ahead if it’s going to succeed….Told with all the insight and humor of A Man Called Ove or Where’d You Go Bernadette?, The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules is a delightful and heartwarming novel that goes to prove the adage that it’s not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years.  

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Killens has read his Shakespeare. With the surprises in its plot and its quadrilles of mistaken identities, ‘The Minister Primarily’ is right up there with ‘The Tempest’ and ‘The Comedy of Errors.’ The choreography of his set pieces has an effulgent warmth that is as passionately expressed as it is disarming, creeping up on the reader with such skill you hardly realize you’re being stalked by a master." — The New York Times Book Review "Killens casts a broad net, skewering everything from the heady early days of African independence to the pan-Africanism of the period among Black Americans, and, most sharply, race relations in the United States. This is a brilliantly scathing, outrageous satire as important today as when it was written." — Library Journal (starred review) “The Minister Primarily is not only a brilliantly imagined work of fiction, it is also a side-splittingly funny tale. In this newly discovered last novel, Killens’ puts on his literary fabulist hat and hands us a rich, unforgettable tale packed with ribald, humorous scenes, and wacky characters. Read this book, you will never forget it!” — Quincy Troupe, author of andMiles and Me “John O. Killens inspired many writers, myself included. Killens is a genius at his craft. He taught it, he perfected it. And Killens' mastery of satire, (please read The Cotillion as well) is on full display in his last novel. His dialogue is as clever and sly as ever.” — Tina McElroy Ansa, The Hand I Fan With and Taking After Mudear “John Oliver Killens’ The Minister Primarily highlights his exceptional skills in the use of dialogue, irony and satire. The novel is ultimately a parody of American, African and European presidents and political leaders and an exposé of the hypocrisy and exploitation generated by colonialism in Africa. His use of humor and adaptation of the trope of the trickster for his protagonist are reminiscent of Ishmael Reed, Charles W. Chestnutt, and Ralph Ellison.” — Dr. Brenda M. Greene, Founder & Executive Director, Center for Black Literature, Medgar Evers College, CUNY “It is good to see another work by Baba John Killens, a master of voice illuminating everything that stumbles within range of his biting irony and expansive literary heart. The Minister Primarily reminds us why John Killens occupies such a unique place in literature. Read The Minister Primarily and you too will understand the joy of ‘found work’ by Baba John Killens, the Great Griot Master of Brooklyn at the top of his satiric game.” — Arthur Flowers, author of The Hoodoo Book of Flowers: The Great Black Book of Generations “The absurd situation gives Killens a perfect vantage from which to satirize international race relations.” — The New Yorker “Vividly and skillfully written, this vibrant, long-missing novel, published 34 years after the death of this Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer, civil rights activist, and key figure in the Black Arts Movement, is certain to be a timeless classic of satirical fiction.” — Booklist (starred review) "An audacious final testament of an underappreciated craftsman." — Kirkus Reviews

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Book SynopsisIn the vein of Such a Fun Age, a whip-smart, compulsively readable novel about two upper-class stay-at-home mothers—one white, one Black—living in a perfect suburb that explores motherhood, friendship, and the true meaning of sisterhood amidst the backdrop of America’s all-too-familiar racial reckoning. De’Andrea Whitman, her husband Malik, and their five-year-old daughter, Nina, are new to the upper-crust white suburb of Rolling Hills, Virginia—a move motivated by circumstance rather than choice. De’Andrea is heartbroken to leave her comfortable life in the Black oasis of Atlanta, and between her mother-in-law’s Alzheimer''s diagnosis, her daughter starting kindergarten, and the overwhelming whiteness of Rolling Hills, she finds herself struggling to adjust to her new community. To ease the transition, her therapist proposes a challenge: make a white girlfriend. When Rebecca Myland lear

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Book SynopsisHer quest soon lands her at the center of an international plan targeting the leader of the terrorist organization—a scheme that puts Jameela and count-less others, including her hapless husband and clever but disapproving daughter, at risk.Trade ReviewA Shondaland's "Best Books for May 2022" * A Pop Sugar "New Book That Is A Must Reads in 2022" — "Jameela Green Ruins Everything" by Zarqa Nawaz is a deliciously dark comedy that takes on America's foreign policy in the Middle East, the lengths people are willing to go to for success, and one woman's search for meaning." — Popsugar “A satire about ISIS is a big swing to take—but Zarqa Nawaz knows a thing or two about taking chances. Jameela Green Ruins Everything may be her first foray into the world of fiction, but Nawaz has made a career of being a trailblazer. . . . The book manages to weave American foreign policy and thwarting a terrorist organization with one woman’s search for faith, meaning and redemption.” — Chatelaine “Nawaz’s understated humour shines in this lovely comedy of errors—and faith.” — Maclean’s “International politics is personal in this brilliant satire from the always provocative—and deeply funny—mind of Zarqa Nawaz.” — Rick Mercer “A breezy dark comedy about serious contemporary issues." — Quill and Quire “Zarqa Nawaz is a comic genius who has done the impossible in this brilliant fiction debut: Jameela Green Ruins Everything is, all at once, an incisive examination of recent Middle East history, a biting indictment of Western imperialism, and a darkly comic satire on terrorism. Follow Jameela Green, the comic she-ro for our modern times, as she bumbles through the unimaginable on this hilarious whirlwind adventure. I guarantee you will never think about the phrase ‘East meets West’ in quite the same way again. Three cheers for Jameela Green!” — Uzma Jalaluddin, author of Ayesha at Last and Hana Khan Carries On “Zarqa Nawaz is one of the few writers around who can deftly navigate that minefield between high-stakes, war-torn, geopolitical upheaval, and one woman’s hilarious but meaningful journey to find her place in her family and community. Is it a searing satire on America’s war on terror, or a side-splitting family adventure? Well . . . yes, it is, and a crazy ride, too. Funny, moving, brilliant.” — Terry Fallis, two-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour “Finally, an action plot featuring a middle-class Muslim mom from North Dakota! Zarqa Nawaz makes ample room for her protagonist, Jameela Green, to be a multidimensional woman of color who flexes between a flawed insecure instigator to a championing hero in one humor-filled international ride.” — Pooja Reddy, comedian and cohost of Kutti Gang “Jameela Green Ruins Everything is zany, daring, and hilarious, and exactly the type of novel we’d expect from Zarqa Nawaz, creator of CBC’s award-winning sitcom, Little Mosque on the Prairie. . . . the story is a wild and humorous one—Zarqa’s use of comedy is gutsy as hell. . . . The result is a satirical masterpiece that few on earth would dare to do.” — shedoesthecity.com “A comedy of errors about an ordinary Muslim woman thrust into a high-stakes international crisis. It’s also a tale of internal struggle, interspersed with characters’ private prayers to God. . . . provocative and cheeky.” — Maclean’s “What I love about this biting satire is the initially unlikeable main character Jameela, who is messy and selfish and unapologetic—rare for a Muslim, South Asian female character, who are most often portrayed as submissive victims or perfect model minorities. But then, Nawaz has always been ahead of her time (full disclosure, she is a friend).” — Uzma Jalaluddin, Toronto Star “This black comedy explores the price of success and one woman’s search for meaning — Chatelaine “[A] biting yet warm-hearted satire from the Regina-based creator of the groundbreaking CBC sitcom Little Mosque On The Prairie [that] somehow . . . manages to interrogate everything from prejudice to foreign policy to what it means to be a ‘good person.’” — TheKit.ca “Canadians are funny people—that’s a given—and when our special brand of humour is coupled with the skill of a writer like Zarqa Nawaz, creator of Little Mosque on the Prairie, brilliant things happen.” — Canadian Living “Jameela Green Ruins Everything will keep you laughing all the way to the end. A heartwarming story of faith, family, and friendship that is only amplified by Zarqa Nawaz’s sharp and brilliant wit. All the sacred cows are skewered—what you are left with at the end is the power, beauty, and humour of one woman’s journey back to faith.” — Ausma Zehanat Khan, author of A Deadly Divide “Nawaz writes about religion and faith in an easily digestible way.” — The Canadian Press

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Book SynopsisPresents a funny portrait of British rural life in the 1930s, in which Flora, a recently orphaned socialite, moves in with her country relatives, the gloomy Starkadders of Cold Comfort Farm.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewEach page unleashes a fusillade of gags and comic sequences, careening from slapstick to blood bath and back again. . . . To borrow a line from Schuyler, the plot twists get 'more complicated than a flapper's past'-and about as fun. . . . Black No More is unsparing on the madness of racial classification but frank, and very beautiful, on the lure of racial belonging * The New York Times *Extraordinary . . . A satiric tour de force that rips into myths of white supremacy, black nationalism and the American Dream -- Maureen Corrigan

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Book SynopsisWelcome to the insane and rarified world of Professor Dr Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld of the Institute of Romance Philology. Von Igelfeld is engaged in a never-ending quest to win the respect he feels certain he is due—a quest which has the tendency to go hilariously astray. In Unusual Uses for Olive Oil, von Igelfeld experiences a series of new adventures.  First, he finds that his academic rival Detlev-Amadeus Unterholzer has been winning undeserved recognition, a situation that must be addressed. Then von Igelfeld stumbles toward a romance with Frau Benz, a charming widow who owns her very own Schloss and a fleet of handsome cars—that is, until a faux pas lands him on the curb. Later, while on the annual student study retreat in the Alps, von Igelfeld fearlessly plunges 3000 feet into mountaineering history, and turns his survival into the subject of inspirational lectures. Finally, at a dinner party, he is the only kind soul who ca

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Book Synopsis The ultimate collection from Maximilian Uriarte, author of The New York Times bestselling The White Donkey and creator of the world''s most popular military comic strip. The eagerly awaited Terminal Lance Ultimate Omnibus will finally deliver the complete collection that fans of the military''s most popular comic strip have been clamoring for. With over 500 strips, the collection will feature hundreds of the serialized comics published on terminallance.com, with additional comics previously published only on Marine Corps Times newspaper, and new, never-before-published comics. The Omnibus also includes Uriarte''s signature blog entries and previously unpublished bonus material. Covering a wide range of topics, including the rules governing the wearing of military uniforms, the most popular (and the most disgusting) MREs, the difficulty of keeping a long-distance relationship alive across thousands of miles, and the struggles marines face upon returning home, Terminal Lance Ultimate Omnibus provides a hilarious and deeply intelligent look into every aspect of life for American Marines.

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Book SynopsisNamed One of the Best Books of the Year by VOGUE and VOX. The Free Press's August Book Club pick. A 'very funny, very good' (B. J. Novak) debut novel about a graduate student who follows her disgraced mentor to a university that gives safe harbor to scholars of ill repute, igniting a crisis of work and a test of her conscience (and marriage) Helen is one of the brightest minds of her generation: a young physicist on a path to solve high-temperature superconductivity (which could save the planet). When she discovers that her brilliant adviser is involved in a sex scandal, Helen is torn: should she give up on her work with him? Or should she accompany him to a controversial university, founded by a provocateur billionaire, that hosts academics other schools have thrown out?   Helen decides she must go—her work is too important. She brings along her partner, Hew, who is much less sanguine about living on an island where t

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Book SynopsisPenny Harrigan is a low-level associate in a big Manhattan law firm. She has an apartment, but no love life. When C. Linus Maxwell, a mega-billionaire and international playboy, invites her to dinner and then whisks her off to a hotel in Paris, where he brings her to undreamed-of heights of sexual gratification for days on end, Penny is, well, pleased. However, when Penny discovers she is a test subject for a line of female sex toys so effective that women by the millions are lining up outside the stores to buy it on opening day, she understands the gravity the situation. A billion husbands are about to be replaced. What is Maxwell really up to? Erotically enabled world domination? Penny sets out to discover his motivations, and with a little help, stop him before it is too late.

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