Short stories

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Book SynopsisThis collection of fourteen connected stories and a novella, From the Secret History of Human Abdel Hafez, takes us deep into upper Egypt and the village of Dayrut al-Sharif, in which Mohamed Mustagab was born. To depict a world renowned for its poverty, ignorance, vendettas, and implacable code of honor, Mustagab deploys the black humour and Swiftian sarcasm of the insider who knows his society only too well. When the stillness of a day's end is shattered by a single gunshot, poignant beauty merges seamlessly into horror, and when a police officer seeking to unravel a murder finds himself with more body parts than he knows what to do with, violence tips as easily into farce. In counterpoint, the author's ofte surrealist imagination explores the myserties of a landscape where seductive women haunt dusty paths and a man may find himself crushed like a worm beneath another's foot. Elsewhere, the horizons of 'my village' expand to include other countries (the author worked in the Arabian Peninsula for a number of years), where equally disastrous consequences follow on folly and self-delusion. Previously almost unknown in English, Mustagab's voice is both original and disturbing.

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Book SynopsisWe live in a fragmented world that has caused alienation of our lives in many spheres and at multiple levels. The fifteen stories in this collection delve into the cracks and crevices of such lives in the social, political, economic, technological, cultural, artistic, sexual, psychological and religious spheres. The book depicts levels of madness which ring in the lives of the characters caused by estrangement, isolation, desolation and loss of meaning in our contemporary world. The disheartening fact is that such alienated experiences are perceived to be normal and acceptable to many. There is still hope if we open doors of introspection and mindfulness to begin healing of our hearts and minds. These stories were originally published in Malay and have been translated into English.

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Book Synopsis'How truth thickens and deepens when it migrates from didactic fable to the raw experience of a visceral awakening is one of the thrills of Tolstoy's stories'Sharon Cameron in her preface to Hadji Murad and Other StoriesThis, the third volume of Tolstoy's shorter fiction concentrates on his later stories, including one of his greatest, 'Hadji Murad'. In the stark form of homily that shapes these later works, life considered as one's own has no rational meaning. From the chain of events that follows in the wake of two schoolboys' deception in 'The Forged Coupon' to the disillusionment of the narrator in 'After the Ball' we see, in Virginia Woolf's observation, that Tolstoy puts at the centre of his writingone 'who gathers into himself all experience, turns the world round between his fingers, and never ceases to ask, even as he enjoys it, what is the meaning of it'.The riverrun edition reissues the translation of Louise and Aylmer Maude, whose influential versions of Tolstoy first brought his work to a wide readership in English.

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Book SynopsisThese twelve new short stories from Astrid Blodgett explore the consequences of grief and denial and single moments that change perceptions, lives, and attachments forever. Crisp prose and unexpected plot twists move relatable characters through vivid outdoor settings and interior depths. A child negotiates adult behaviour when an injured dog is put down. An older sister bribes a younger one to go on her first date. A family canoe trip launches from Disaster Point. A woman wants to hurl her granddaughter’s birthday cake out the window. This Is How You Start to Disappear shows all the heartbreaking ways we evolve when coping with change or trauma.Trade Review“This Is How You Start to Disappear is for readers who revel in stories told with both skill and passion, stories with twists, stories without ready resolutions.” Rona Altrows, author of At This Juncture"In these precisely paced and deceptively dark stories, Astrid Blodgett sweeps out the dust bunnies of contempt and devastation from the junk drawers of her characters’ family homes. These stories do what short stories do best: every word flexes its muscles, every detail teeters on an iceberg of deeper meaning. This Is How You Start To Disappear is a complex and satisfying compilation of unsteady bridge crossings between our childhood and adult selves." Susan Sanford Blades, author of Fake It So Real“This collection is an intimate embrace of the moments and memories that define us. With pitch perfect prose and heaps of tension, Blodgett pierces so deep into her characters’ hearts and minds you feel as if you breathe their same air. Beautifully imagined and bursting with compassion, every story is a stunner!” Fran Kimmel, author of The Shore Girl and No Good Asking“With compassion and acute observation, Astrid Blodgett writes about events, large and seemingly small, that can change the trajectory of a life. Familial fractures spread like cracks in winter ice as Blodgett investigates those moments that divide her characters’ lives into “before” and “after,” whether they are loyalty tests one sister demands of another or a father so preoccupied with his new relationship that he can’t see his young daughter’s struggles at a skating party. At times, Blodgett’s characters recognize a life-changing event only after it has swept past them, but the reverberations will be felt for decades to come. These finely wrought, multigenerational stories pivot around such moments, as ordinary working people cope with the unexpected tragedy and dislocating circumstances of their unfolding lives.” Rachel Rose, Giller-longlisted author of The Octopus Has Three Hearts“Readers will enjoy Astrid Blodgett’s new collection of short stories. Her characters, plots, and incidents have originality and she engages with contemporary social problems, giving psychological depth to the stories.” Michael Trussler, University of Regina“Astrid Blodgett explores intimate relationships, with a focus on family drama and trauma, in 12 absorbing new short stories. As adults, a brother and sister recall the summer that spelled the end of their parents’ marriage. Teen girls at summer camp play a dangerous game that ends in tragedy. And a woman who has already suffered a full share of heartbreak and disappointment in life hits a breaking point when she makes a birthday cake for her granddaughter and the kid’s mother scrapes off the homemade icing and piped-on flowers.” Pat St. Germain, Edmonton Journal, August 12, 2023#5 on Edmonton Bestsellers list, September 3, 2023#8 on Edmonton Bestsellers list, September 10, 2023#1 on Edmonton Bestsellers list, September 17, 2023"In these stories Astrid Blodgett resists flamboyance. But her stories are not quiet. They simmer with a grammar of discontent." W.H. New, The British Columbia Review, September 24, 2023 [Full review at https://thebcreview.ca/2023/09/24/1937-new-blodgett/]#7 on Alberta Fiction Bestsellers list, October 10, 2023#9 on Edmonton Bestsellers list, October 22, 2023#3 on Edmonton Bestsellers list, November 12, 2023"The title of Astrid Blodgett’s latest collection of short stories succinctly describes what could happen to any of us throughout life: we may disappear at the surface, within ourselves, or within relationships.... It’s not often I come across a book of short stories written by the same author where every single story resonates or is worthy of deeper thought or discussion like this one. I’d recommend This Is How You Start to Disappear for a book club or English 101 studies as a model for form, structure and riveting storytelling." Mala Rai, Miramichi Reader, December 31, 2023 [Starred review at https://miramichireader.ca/2023/12/this-is-how-you-start-to-disappear-by-astrid-blodgett/]#4 on Alberta Fiction Bestsellers list, November 2023 https://readalberta.ca/recommendations/bestsellers/alberta-bestsellers-november-2023/#4 on Alberta Fiction Bestsellers list, December 2023 [https://readalberta.ca/recommendations/bestsellers/alberta-bestsellers-december-2023/]Table of ContentsThese People Have Nothing Devil’s Lake Everything’s Fine, Actually Alex and Clayton and Raylene and Me This Will All Be Over Soon The Fainting Game The Kite How to Read Water Dear Hector When Sleep is Easy The Night the Moon Was Bright and We Ate Pigs and Brownies and Drank Fizzy Beer and Didn’t Remember Much at All, in the End The Golden Rice Bowl

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Book SynopsisHere are the best short fiction stories, short non-fiction pieces and poetry from the Pikihuia Awards for Maori writers 2023 as judged by Emma Espiner, Carol Hirschfeld, Maiki Sherman, Mike Ross, Hemi Kelly and Robert Sullivan. This competition, run by the Maori Literature Trust and Huia Publishers, is held every two years to promote Maori writers and their work. This year, the awards sought short non-fiction and poetry, along with short fiction, from writers in te reo Maori and English. The competition attracts entries each year from writers of all ages and those who are starting out to seasoned authors. This collection of finalists' work celebrates Maori writing, introduces new talent and gives an opportunity for Maori writers to shine.

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Book SynopsisAnother deluxe edition of new writing and neglected perspectives. Asian ghosts and supernatural beings – from India to Sri Lanka, China to Korea, Japan to the Philippines – can be both terrifying and comforting. Underpinned by strong cultural beliefs in the cycles of life and ancestor worship, the nature of Asian spirits differs from that of their counterparts in other areas of the world. The possibility is more instinctually accepted that ghosts remain with us, as part of the world, whether we can see them or not. Featured here are all kinds of stories from across East, South and Southeast Asia: classic weird tales by the likes of Pu Songling, Rabindranath Tagore, S Mukerji, Im Bang and Yi Ruk, Lafcadio Hearn and Yei Theodora Ozaki, are complemented by stories by Asian writers of today. An egui (the Chinese version of a 'hungry ghost') is exorcised, a vicious jiangshi (Chinese zombie-like revenant) is encountered in the night, a Bengali shakchunni (the ghost of an unsatisfied bride) poignantly seeks love with devastating effect, a family is haunted by vengeful Korean gwishin, and the iconic Japanese tragedies of Oiwa and O-Kiku are revisited. New, contemporary and notable writers featured are: Joshua Bartolome, Eliza Chan, the late Eugie Foster, T.M. Hurree, Nur Nasreen Ibrahim, Frances Lu-Pai Ippolito, K.P. Kulski, Monte Lin, Usman T. Malik, Samuel Marzioli, Rena Mason, Lena Ng, Ayida Shonibar, Karen Tay, Emily Teng, Yilin Wang, Alda Yuan, Yi Izzy Yu and John Yu Branscum (translating Ji Yun). The Flame Tree Gothic Fantasy, Classic Stories and Epic Tales collections bring together the entire range of myth, folklore and modern short fiction. Highlighting the roots of suspense, supernatural, science fiction and mystery stories, the books in Flame Tree Collections series are beautifully presented, perfect as a gift and offer a lifetime of reading pleasure. Trade Review"[Asian Ghost Stories] is continually creative and absorbing. Highly recommended." -- Black Rose Writing"I will read and re-read again and again. This is a great collection to add to any horror collection and to any reader of great fiction. This is a prize-winning selection." -- The Literary License Podcast

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Book SynopsisTwo events tie together the nine stories in Monic Ductan's gorgeous debut: the 1920s lynching of Ida Pearl Crawley and the 1980s drowning of a high school basketball player, Lucy Boudreaux. Both forever shape the people and the place of Muscadine, Georgia, in the foothills of Appalachia.The daughters of Muscadine are Black Southern women who are, at times, outcasts due to their race and also estranged from those they love. A remorseful woman tries to connect with the child she gave up for adoption; another, immersed in loneliness, attempts to connect with a violent felon. Two sisters love each other deeply even when they cannot understand one another. A little girl witnessing her father's slow death realizes her own power and lack thereof. A single woman weathers the excitement - and rigors - of online dating.Covering the last one hundred years, these are stories of people whose voices have been suppressed and erased for too long: Black women, rural women, Appalachian women, and working-class women. Ductan presents the extraordinary nature of everyday lives in the tradition of Alice Walker, Deesha Philyaw, James McBride, and Dorothy Allison in an engaging, engrossing, and exciting new voice.Table of ContentsBlack Water Gris-Gris Kasha and Ansley You Can Have It June's Menorah The Sense of Touch Daughter Gullah Babies White Jesus

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Perhaps that is Zhadan’s greatest achievement. Transforming Kharkiv into Mesopotamia, he renders it as a place of irrepressible life and inexhaustible love. And, in doing so, he urges us out and into the world, to be with and for each other. His Ukraine is a republic of love.”—Jacob Reynolds, Spiked“To say that Serhiy Zhadan is a great Ukrainian novelist of whom you might not have heard does not begin to cover it. Serhiy Zhadan is one of the most important creators of European culture at work today. His novels, poems, and songs touch millions. This loving translation is a chance to see Ukraine in terms other than the familiar, but more importantly a chance to allow prose to mend your mind.”—Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny“One of the most astounding novels to come out of modern Ukraine. Mesopotamia is seductive, twisted, brilliant, and fierce. It brings to mind our own fiction from a time when we still felt like we had something to fight for and a chance we could win.”—Gary Shteyngart, author of Little Failure and Absurdistan“Unlike Joyce’s Dublin, the cradle of Zhadan’s civilization is a place of refuge for young people fleeing hardscrabble lives in the provinces, and a hardscrabble home for natives buoyed by desire yet adrift amid the flotsam of a spent empire. The men and women in these comic and heartfelt pages endure the dynamic paralysis that comes over those who are all dressed up with nowhere to go. They aspire, struggle, fight, fail, drink, fuck, and then they fight some more. Amid the city’s detritus, they refuse to become part of it by continuing to love and dream. There is nothing marginal about them. They insist on being seen, heard, understood. They will charm and madden you. They will haunt your dreams, and you will never forget them.”—Askold Melnyczuk, author of House of Widows“To say that Serhiy Zhadan is a poet, a novelist, a rock star, a protester, a symbol of his country’s desire for freedom and change, is to say the truth—but what is truth? Zhadan is a literary master of enormous force. At times he combines the energy of Jack Kerouac and atmospheric spell of Isaac Babel, at other times he is a balladeer of his country’s struggle. ‘Such strange things have been happening to us,’ he writes, of the streets where ‘winters are not like winters / winters live under assumed names.’ In Mesopotamia’s nine stories and thirty poems we find ourselves in the newly independent Ukraine, stunned by its grit, its rough backbone—and its tenderness. What do we discover here? That ‘Light is shaped by darkness / and it’s all up to us.’ We also discover that Serhiy Zhadan is one of those rare things—almost impossible to find now in the West—a national bard, a chronicler. This is a book to live with.”—Ilya Kaminsky“Zhadan is the rock star of lyrical melancholy, and Mesopotamia is not just a book of short stories but a cosmos with Kharkiv-Babylon at its center. We meet its lovesick citizens at weddings and funerals; their visceral, fantastical lives unfold in the intensely prophetic atmosphere of the upcoming war.”— Valzhyna Mort, author of Factory of Tears “With tales at once earthy and phantasmagorical, sentimental and anarchic, Zhadan is an exhilarating chronicler of a new kind of borderlands.”—Sana Krasikov “Mesopotamia offers a sublime experience of taking you right to the middle of a very specific world, where you eat and drink and love and fight and die with the characters, until you notice that that world has transcended the time and place and became part of the eternal human story.”—Lara Vapnyar, author of Still Here: A Novel “Serhiy Zhadan’s dazzling novel—here fantastically well translated—evokes voices that get under our skin and take us into the rich inner life of people about whom we have long known nothing.”—Marci Shore, author of The Ukrainian Night: An Intimate History of Revolution “Mesopotamia finds poetry in the most unlikely places—in the bars, tower blocks, and concrete boulevards of a Ukrainian city. By turns funny, shocking, and touching, weaving between the lyrical and the grotesque, Zhadan’s stories provide a lesson in belonging.”—Uilleam Blacker, University College London “To know Dublin, read your Joyce, for Macondo, García Márquez, and for Mesopotamia, Serhiy Zhadan. Of course this Mesopotamia is not the Birthplace of Civilization (or is it?), it’s Kharkiv, the Ukrainian Center of Nothing, located smack-dab on the Russian border, which, in Zhadan’s brilliant vision, is smack-dab in the middle of life lived beyond the fullest because any second could be your last, creaming with joy, madness, war, orgasm, stupidity, and a blinding light that smells like the essence of human spirit. We need to learn from Ukraine. Zhadan is a masterful teacher. The use of poetry as Notes—so far as I know, this has never been done before and is positively Nabokovian. This book is world-class literature.”—Bob Holman, author of Sing This One Back To Me “Mesopotamia is a portrait of post-Soviet Ukraine’s lost generation, of people who came of age in the disorienting conditions of crumbling Soviet order and stagnating social transformation. Serhiy Zhadan gives voice to his generation from Ukraine’s eastern regions bordering Russia. These are the people who have been missing from contemporary literature, whether in Ukrainian or in any other language. To understand the background to the crisis in this region, which has had such a major impact on the world recently, perhaps no other writer can provide insights as powerful as Zhadan.”—Vitaly Chernetsky, University of Kansas “Serhiy Zhadan has written a love song to contemporary Eastern Ukraine—vices, passions, and ghosts included. His Kharkiv is filled with gritty stairwells, red nightgowns, raw love, and a bit of magic. Costigan-Humes and Wheeler have brought Zhadan’s evocative prose to life for the English reader.”—Amelia Glaser, University of California, San Diego

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Book SynopsisMalika Moustadraf is a cult feminist icon in contemporary Moroccan literature, celebrated for her uncompromising depiction of life on the margins. Something Strange, Like Hunger presents Moustadraf''s collected short fiction: haunting, visceral stories by a master of the genre. Here, we tune into Casablanca''s unheard: a sex worker struggling to keep warm on the streets; a housewife flirting with strangers online; a kidney patient, priced-out of treatment, facing the harsh reality of his condition; and a mother scheming to ensure her daughter passes a virginity test. Something Strange, Like Hunger is a sharp provocation to patriarchal power, and a celebration of the life and genius of one of Morocco''s preeminent writers.Trade Review'At once tender and cruel, insolent and profound, Malika Moustadraf is an exceptional and courageous writer who confronts the harshest realities of her country. Her characters, with all their humour and complexity, will stay with you for a long time.' Leila Slimani;'And how precious, how raw and mordant her voice is, poised with its serrated edge to slice through the obfuscations and lies of a patriarchy buttressed by institutionalised religion.'Asymptote Journal

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Book SynopsisA gypsy king dies, and a group of villagers seek to save him from the dishonour of a pauper’s grave. The dispute over the inheritance of a well-field becomes a struggle between the ‘old stock’ and the ‘new people’ for the very ownership of their town. A terrier pup reveals the truth of the relationship between a poacher and gamekeeper. A seasoned drinker subverts the ‘dry’ policy of a train chartered by a Pioneer pilgrimage. An old man puts on his best suit for this own wake, telling his family he will be dead by nightfall. And a blind woman only truly realizes her blindness when forced to abandon her home. Stories of enduring friendships and close family ties form the heart of Death of a King. Often hilarious, and as fresh as the day they were written, these stories delicately but potently reveal their characters’ lives in all their toughness and tendernessTrade Review‘De Faoite’s special achievement is twofold. Firstly, there is a music to the language and a rush to the heart of the matter that, combined with the natural speech rhythms of the people, give an impulse to the work that is irresistible. Secondly there is the kindliness of the vision, a kindliness not unmixed with a cool and observant eye, that make the characters of another age come alive in our own.’ – John F.Deane ‘First and foremost, Seamus de Faoite was a storyteller, stories written down, stories talked to you in his whirlwind of warm conversation. He could make everything and everybody live before your eyes.’ – Benedict Kiely

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Book SynopsisTales of horror, madness, and death, tales of fantasy and morality: these are the works of South American master storyteller Horacio Quiroga.Trade Review[Quiroga's stories] are, like Poe's, full of psychological shocks and eerie effects and are bracingly, if ruthlessly, realistic. * New Yorker *Table of Contents Introduction The Feather Pillow (1907) Sunstroke (1908) The Pursued (1908) The Decapitated Chicken (1909) Drifting (1912) A Slap in the Face (1916) In the Middle of the Night (1919) Juan Darién (1920) The Dead Man (1920) Anaconda (1921) The Incense Tree Roof (1922) The Son (1935)

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Book Synopsis The original, first-rate, serious, and beautiful short fiction (New York Times Book Review) that introduced J. D. Salinger to American readers in the years after World War II, including A Perfect Day for Bananafish and the first appearance of Salinger''s fictional Glass family. Nine exceptional stories from one of the great literary voices of the twentieth century. Witty, urbane, and frequently affecting, Nine Stories sits alongside Salinger''s very best work--a treasure that will passed down for many generations to come. The stories: A Perfect Day for Bananafish Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut Just Before the War with the Eskimos The Laughing Man Down at the Dinghy For Esmé--with Love and Squalor Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes De Daumier-Smith''s Blue Period Teddy

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Book SynopsisFrom the creators of The Haunting Season comes a spellbinding new collection of never-before-seen ghostly tales, authored by twelve of the biggest names in historical and gothic fictionTrade ReviewTerrific - every bit as good as an MR James collection -- ROSIE ANDREWS, author of THE LEVIATHANI absolutely devoured The Winter Spirits - every story is a gem. This collection will form part of my Christmas reading tradition. -- LAURA SHEPPERSON, author of THE HEROINESThis is another dazzling collection which bridges the gap between tradition and new writing quite brilliantly. Each author's voice is eerily distinct in stories that range from playful melancholy to outright terror. It's a wonderful anthology: chilling, moving, tremendously satisfying, and a joy to read. -- AMANDA MASON, author of THE WAYWARD GIRLSAn eerily macabre, hauntingly propulsive collection of ghostly tales -- JOANNE BURN, author of THE HEMLOCK CUREA masterful collection of spooky tales. Each one is truly original. The Winter Spirits is a real treat for the autumn and winter. -- CARLY REAGON, author of THE TOLL HOUSEThis deliciously eerie follow-up to the bestselling ghost story collection The Haunting Season is the perfect bedfellow for these cold winter nights. * WOMAN & HOME *There are ghosts, monsters and things that go bump in the night in this cracking collection of supernatural stories . . . creepy and atmospheric * DAILY MIRROR *A must for fans of The Haunting Season. Prepare to be spooked. * SUNDAY EXPRESS *

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Book Synopsis“O'Brien has written a vital, important book—a book that matters not only to the reader interested in Vietnam, but to anyone interested in the craft of writing as well.”—Michiko Kakutani, New York Times A classic work of American literature that has not stopped changing minds and lives since it burst onto the literary scene, The Things They Carried is a ground-breaking meditation on war, memory, imagination, and the redemptive power of storytelling.   The Things They Carried depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and the character Tim O’Brien, who has survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and writer at the age of forty-three.   Taught everywhere—from high school classrooms to graduate seminars in creative writing—it has become required reading for any American and continues to challenge readers in their perceptions of fact and fiction, war and peace, courage and fear and longing. The Things They Carried won France's prestigious Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger and the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize; it was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

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Book SynopsisWelcome to Broadwater Farm, one of the most well-known housing estates in Britain. A place where post-war dreams of concrete utopia ended in riots, violence and sub-standard housing. In this collection, Tottenham-born Jac Shreeves-Lee gives voice to the people of Broadwater Farm. With evocative language and raw storytelling, she compassionately portrays their shared sense of community. A community with a rich cultural heritage, comprising over forty nationalities, generations old.Trade Review'The truth and humour in this intensely fine and lyrical short story collection shines a light that is ultimately uplifting' —Martina Evans, poet and novelist; 'A voyage both unforgettable and searing' —Onjali Q. Rauf, activist and author of 'The Boy at the Back of the Class'; 'The beauty is in the complex reality of every day, summed up in skillfully written prose' —Dawn Ferdinand, Headteacher at The Willow Primary School and Broadwaters' Children's Centre; 'Moving and sharp' —Julia Bell, writer, academic, Course Director MA Creative Writing, Birkbeck; 'Shreeves-Lee recognises the power of truthful storytelling. Not only does she unearth Broadwater Farm’s complex past with incredible literary range, she leaves us feeling hopeful that the community are in control of their future' —David Lammy, MP for Tottenham

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Book SynopsisFour gems, with new introductions, mark acclaimed Indian writer R. K. Narayan's centennialIntroducing this collection of stories, R. K. Narayan describes how in India the writer has only to look out of the window to pick up a character and thereby a story. Composed of powerful, magical portraits of all kinds of people, and comprising stories written over almost forty years, Malgudi Days presents Narayan's imaginary city in full color, revealing the essence of India and of human experience. This edition includes an introduction by Pulitzer Prize- winning author Jhumpa Lahiri. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and not

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Book SynopsisThe complete, authoritative collection of Ernest Hemingway''s short fiction, including classic stories like The Snows of Kilimanjaro, A Clean, Well-Lighted Place, and The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, along with seven previously unpublished stories.In this definitive collection of the Nobel Prize-winning author’s short stories, readers will delight in Hemingway’s most beloved classics such as The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Hills Like White Elephants, and A Clean, Well-Lighted Place, and will discover seven new tales published for the first time in this collection, totaling in sixty stories. This collection demonstrates Hemingway’s ability to write beautiful prose for each distinct story, with plots that range from experiences of World War II to beautifully touching moments between a father and son. For Hemingway fans, The Complete Short Stories is an invaluable treasury.

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Book Synopsis''A treasure house of story'' Stephen King''A very fine and imaginative writer'' Sunday Times''Fiction to showcase his mastery of pastiche, his eclecticism and his knack for the juxtaposition of incongruous notions'' Independent---An elderly widow finds the Holy Grail beneath an old fur coat. A frightened little boy bargains for his life with a very persistent troll. A stray cat fights and refights a terrible nightly battle to protect his unsuspecting adoptive family from unimaginable evil . . .Anything is possible in Neil Gaiman''s rich imagination. These tales and much more await in this extraordinary book - stories to dazzle your senses, haunt your dreams and move you to the depths of your soul.NEIL GAIMAN. WITH STORIES COME POSSIBILITIES.---*** Includes an interview with the author ***Trade Review'A very fine and imaginative writer' * The Sunday Times *'Exuberantly inventive' * Kirkus Reviews *

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Book SynopsisDoris Lessing, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, invites us to imagine a mythical society free from sexual intrigue, free from jealousy, free from petty rivalries: a society free from men.An old Roman senator embarks on what may be his last endeavour: the retelling of the story of human creation. He recounts the history of the Clefts, an ancient community of women living in an Edenic, coastal wilderness, in the valley of an overshadowing mountain. The Clefts have no need, or knowledge, of men childbirth is controlled through the cycles of the moon, and their children are always female. But with the birth of a strange, new child a boy the harmony of their community is thrown into jeopardy.At first, the Clefts are awestruck by this seemingly malformed child, but as more and more of these threateningly unfamiliar males appear, they are rejected, and are exposed on the nearby mountainside, sacrificed to the patrolling eagles overhead. Unbeknownst to the Clefts, however, these baby males survive, aided by the eagles, and thrive on the other side of the mountain. It is not until a curious young Cleft named Maire goes beyond the geographical, and emotional, divide of the mountain that this disquieting fact is uncovered forcing the Clefts to accept the prospect of a now shared world, and the possible vengeance of the wronged males.In this fascinating and beguiling novel, Lessing confronts head-on the themes that inspired much of her early writing: how men and women, two similar and yet thoroughly distinct creatures, manage to live side by side in the world, and how the specifics of gender affect every aspect of our existence.Trade Review‘Lessing skilfully manipulates multiple perspectives…a bold, inventive and challenging book from a writer who continues to enlighten and astonish as she approaches her tenth decade.’ Independent 'A work of elegance, wit, humour and mystery. It may even be considered, one day, as one of her finest works…This is a deeply serious novel, but it's also humane, warm and witty…Doris Lessing, in her ninth decade, is writing fiction that is as hypnotic, perceptive and original as any wunderkind a quarter her age' Glasgow Herald ‘The author's reach continues to thrill…there's witchery in the Old She yet.’ Daily Telegraph ‘A narrative with the compelling stamp of Lessing's late tales.’ The Times ‘Doris Lessing writes movingly of the human desire for change…she conveys a powerful belief in the impermanence of any situation in which human beings find themselves and the paradoxically unchanging nature of human relations.’ Observer ‘Lessing's engaging tale is told with the simplicity of an aural history committed to memory.’ New Statesman ‘Her prose is pleasingly incantatory…the novel has a pleasing gravitational pull on a purely poetic level.’ Metro ‘Lessing writes, as ever, with such calm and assured authority…a fascinating, at times disturbing book; one can't imagine any other writer bringing it off.’ The Scotsman 'Lessing has always observed human behaviour with the dispassionate eye of a Martian naturalist…Her prose thrives on a bigness which comes from her imaginative origins on the Veld of her African childhood, and her rangy plots take vast, fast strides over the horizon, collapsing lifetimes like pocket telescopes …”The Cleft” is a return to…the Tempest-like condensation of themes that has always enlarged her work' Times Literary Supplement

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Book SynopsisIn New American Stories, the beautiful, the strange, the melancholy, and the sublime all comingle to show the vast range of the American short story . In this remarkable anthology, Ben Marcus has corralled a vital and artistically singular crowd of contemporary fiction writers. Collected here are practitioners of deep realism, mind-blowing experimentalism, and every hybrid in between. Luminaries and cult authors stand side by side with the most compelling new literary voices. Nothing less than the American short story renaissance distilled down to its most relevant, daring, and unforgettable works, New American Stories puts on wide display the true art of an American idiom.

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