These are the scenarios of just some of the stories in this generous new collection by Can Xue. Although rooted in the folk traditions of Chinese literature and the real conflicts of contemporary Chinese life, Can Xue's stories exist in a separate space and time where dreams and reality coalesce: tenderness quickly turns to violence, strange diseases are caught, and quaint landscapes become phantasmagorical.
A BOLD WALKABOUT ACROSS THE LAND OF VISION, IMAGINATION, AND REALITY "The stories in this book are a combination of my imagination, vision, and experiences and contacts," writes storyteller Judith A. Lewis about this compelling collection of 65 stories about the Australian Outback, the Pacific, India, and traveling. "They came to me in vivid detail and I felt compelled to share these insights into a richer way of looking at our relationship to the Earth." Her theme is the journey, across landscapes, through cultures, or into the vivid realms of visionary experience. Lewis writes evocatively about traveling, in spirit and body, across Aboriginal and cultural terrains, from meeting kangaroo spirits to long-lost fathers. But she writes with equal insight and warmth about the enigmas of the heart, its secrets, joys, aspirations, and epiphanies. A twelve-year-old girl survives an illness by communing with the waratah in bloom. A traveler in Bombay is arrested by beauty amidst the frenetic urban haze. Two twins separated in early childhood journey towards each other. A homeless man constantly walks the highways to bury his past. An Aboriginal medicine man named Waramingo meets the Dreamtime ancestors. "A lot of the visionary stories pertain to the land and its secrets and those who visit it from afar," Lewis says. "I believe that the Earth is alive and awaiting our recognition as are the other dimensions that we all could inhabit. I hope my stories help you remember what you already know, that there is no separation, that everything, from stones to stars, is part of us on this lovely planet."
New Directions, the discoverer of the greatest of the great contemporary world writerssuch as W. G. Sebald and Roberto Bolano, Inger Christensen and Bei Dao, Victor Pelevin and Javier Mariasnow puts them on display in a showcase anthology. Terrestrial Intelligence gathers the best new ground-breaking fiction from around the world, from W. G. Sebald ("one of the most gripping writers imaginable," The New York Review of Books) and Roberto Bolano ("his generation's premier Latin-American writer, [his] reputation and legend are in meteoric ascent," The New York Times) to the Russian enfant terrible Victor Pelevin and the astonishing Yoko Tawada. Not to be missed are the pleasures of Antonio Tabucchi ("the most original voice in the new generation of Italian writers," The Harvard Book Review), Javier Marias ("Spain's best bait for the Nobel Prize," The New York Sun) and Yoel Hoffmann ("Israel's avant-garde genius," Forward). These are just a few of the two dozen fascinating new writers brought to you in wonderful translations, all on one plate, in Terrestrial Intelligence. Take a trip around the worldArgentina, Brazil, Cape Verde, Chile, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Russia, and Spainand sample the intelligence: we guarantee you will never look at these countries the same way again. New Directions"long struggling and long astonishing," as Richard Eder put it in The New York Timesis always busy presenting what people in other countries are reading: these are riches which resonate in Terrestrial Intelligence from story to story, like art hanging in an international biennale. These two showcase anthologies are convenient samplers, designed to push the wealth of the New Directions' list as a whole into a more public view. "It would be nice to think," as James Laughlin, founder of New Directions wrote to Ernest Hemingway in 1950, "that virtue met its reward without exterior pushes, but it just ain't so."
Kenji Miyazawa (1896-1933) is one of Japan's most beloved writers and poets, known particularly for his sensitive and symbolist children's fiction. This volume collects stories that focus on Miyazawa's love of space and his use of the galaxy as a metaphor for the concepts of purity, self-sacrifice, and faith, which were near and dear to his heart. "The Nighthawk Star" follows a lowly bird as he struggles to transform himself into something greater, a constellation in the night sky; "Signal & Signal-less" depicts a pair of star-crossed train signals who dream of eloping to the moon; and "Night on the Galactic Railroad," Miyazawa's most famous work, tells the story of two boys as they journey upon a train that traverses the Milky Way, learning the true meaning of friendship, happiness, and life itself along the way.
Fairy tales. Prince Charming fights evil, wins the princess, lives happily ever after. Three sons, three wishes, witches, dragons, a quest, and happily ever after. These stories are part of our cultural fabric. The stories change in retellings to reflect contemporary culture, such as Princess Charming, or heroes and heroines as people of color. In this collection, queer characters take center stage in stories that grew out of questions: What if the prince falls in love with Cinderella's gay stepbrother? What if Rumpelstiltskin doesn't really want the Queen's child but rather the King himself? What if Beauty and the Beast are two men? These stories explore metaphors of magic and the magical, this time, with a gay perspective. What price must be paid for happily ever after? Duty or love? Is love worth great sacrifice? Once upon a time ...
"River Mist and Other Stories" is a collection of short fiction by Kunikida Doppo, a prominent writer of Japan’s Meiji era. The anthology reflects Doppo’s blend of romanticism and realism, exploring themes like personal failure, nostalgia, nature, and inner struggle. The title story, River Mist (Kawagiri), follows Ueda Toyokichi, a man who leaves his hometown with high hopes but returns after 20 years, defeated by life’s hardships. Doppo’s vivid descriptions of the mist-covered riverbanks capture both the beauty of nature and the melancholy of unfulfilled dreams. Through this and other stories, Doppo expresses his fascination with human vulnerability, often influenced by English romantic poets like Wordsworth. The collection showcases Doppo’s talent for introspective storytelling with moments of subtle humor, tragic endings, and philosophical reflection, revealing the author’s own personal trials and emotional evolution. 1 River Mist 2 Old Gen 3 The Bonfire 4 The Deer Hunt 5 Those Unforgettable People 6 The Stars 7 Third Party 8 Woman Trouble 9 Poetic Images The white cloud over the hill The two travelers Barren ground The wayside plum 10 Phantoms 11 Musashino 12 The Self-Made Man 13 Letter From Yugahara 14 Bird Of Spring 15 Meat And Potatoes
"The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories" by H. G. Wells is a collection of thirty-three fantasy and science fiction short stories. Though some of the stories had been published previously, all having been written between 1894 and 1909, this is a curated collection compiled by the author and science fiction master himself. These are stories he considered to be his best and that he was proud to put into the world.
A Schoolboy’s Diary brings together more than seventy of Robert Walser’s strange and wonderful stories, most never before available in English. Opening with a sequence from Walser’s first book, “Fritz Kocher’s Essays,” the complete classroom assignments of a fictional boy who has met a tragically early death, this selection ranges from sketches of uncomprehending editors, overly passionate readers, and dreamy artists to tales of devilish adultery, sexual encounters on a train, and Walser’s service in World War I. Throughout, Walser’s careening, confounding, delicious voice holds the reader transfixed.
Join a neko girl as she falls in love with a swan girl in a version of Steampunk London. See how a mail carrier deals with finding out she's a Chihuahua shifter. Go on time-traveling adventures with an old mouse woman. Run the Iditarod with an unfortunate Chihuahua. Attend magical college with a hopeful horse mage. Go on a camping trip with a transgender white-tailed deer, and more in this magical, furry collection of previously published short stories by author Ian Madison Keller. Includes "Milk and Brass", "The Monster in the Mist", "Northern Delights", "Suddenly, Chihuahua", "The Church Mouse", "Bucking the Trend", "The Pine Lesson", "The White Deer", "Fate's Answer", "Cyrano's Companion", "The Fish and the Candles", and "Origin of the Lights."
